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The RE5 was a disaster in many respects, and you nailed them all here. However, even though I’m not a Suzuki fan, I do consider the RE5 to be iconic in both design and statement, and therefore in a special a heroic failure category. My defence here is that there are still several still on the road, and they always draw a crowd. And as odd (in a ‘70s Sci-Fi series way) as the console undoubtedly is, it’s somehow necessary to complete the ‘out there’ look. And of course, they fetch more money when they’re present. So, I would argue, the RE5 is as necessary to the ‘70s motorcycle story as the kettle and Honda’s 6. Peace 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

The RE5 was a disaster in many respects, and you nailed them all here. However, even though I’m not a Suzuki fan, I do consider the RE5 to be iconic in both design and statement, and therefore in a special a heroic failure category. My defence here is that there are still several still on the road, and they always draw a crowd. And as odd (in a ‘70s Sci-Fi series way) as the console undoubtedly is, it’s somehow necessary to complete the ‘out there’ look. And of course, they fetch more money when they’re present. So, I would argue, the RE5 is as necessary to the ‘70s motorcycle story as the kettle and Honda’s 6. Peace 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Been riding 55 years and this is something I work on still. Great information brother! Edit : Also here in western North Carolina i have an awful problem with knuckleheads mowing their yard grass into the roadway, why they put people in that kind of danger is beyond me

Worst bike? Check out the Brazilian built Amazonas 1600.

I had my RE5 for 8 years covering almost 50k miles. Comfortable over long distances and low forties MPG. But, every 18k miles the rotor housing cracked, requiring an expensive rebuild. When it ran, it was good.

1970 the year I graduated from high school. My third motorcycle was a CB750 k2. I loved that brown metallic with a gold stripe and an orange plastic emblem on the battery case. I got it to 110 mph once when you could a three mile stretch on California’s Hwy 1. The road sloped down then up with no other vehicles. I had a 1997 CBR 1100 I got to 110 also in Hawaii. But I would have traded two of those for my old 750. I enjoy your contents keep it up.God Bless.

There is one point I'd like to make; the Aprilia RS250 used the same engine as the Suzukis of the time, and really had no relationship at all to the race bikes. The road bikes were eqipped with reed valves, while the race bikes had disc valves. It is a tribute to all those Aprilia factory riders that they managed to make those bikes go so fast, because the disc valved engines were notoriously difficult to ride because of their hair trigger throttles. I had a KR1-S at the time, and it was a truly astonishing machine to ride. It was light as a feather and flickable beyond your wildest dreams. The brakes were astonishing, even on standard road tyres and I never found anything in its character was anything less than "knife-edge" sharp. It even looked achingly beautiful and I even took it down to the South of France on the train, just to enjoy my favourite roads on a truly astonishing bike. Unfortunately, even the very best have tendons that are easily cut, and the KR's weakness was absolutely TERRIBLE reliability. The pistons would seize at the drop of a hat, possibly more easily than even that, and they were not cheap to rebore or re-sleeve. On a £ per mile basis, I can't think of any bike I've had that was more expensive in repairs than the KR1-S, but I can also confidently say that I doubt that I'll ever get more smiles per £. As for your question; small bikes are no longer seen as an end in themselves, and the only reason these bikes were so rewarding is because they were 2 strokes. Even the very best of the 4 strokes of the period were just dreadful. I had various 4 stroke 250s in the 70s, and even managed to blag a ride on the Benelli on one occasion. They were all dull as dishwater. So what is the point of trying to develop a 250, or even 400 that, just because of the need to be a 4 stroke, simply isn't going to be that much cop? Better to build something that will be "interesting enough" to entice riders on to better things. And to be fair, the Europeans really do know how to make these small capacity bikes quite interesting. I know that the Uk hardly sells any of these smaller capacity modern bikes, so the perception is that biking is dying on the vine. But I do think that a lot of that is a UK perception, the UK economy is totally shagged, and the UK's youth simply doesn't have the money to live, let alone pay for a bike. I live in Spain, and work as a teacher. And I see that very large numbers of these smaller capacity bikes are bought, about 50% of my students of this age are actively saving towards precisely this capacity of bike.

Great Story about failed bikes,may be you forgot the dnjepr👏🐗🦊🫠☀️🏍🏎🚘🔧⚙️🔩😘

Mate this is beyond words. My youngest has just bought his first bike, there are some very good on road-courses here in NZ but your video gives so much more and he now has the link. Many thanks. Oh it also shows the pure joy on being on a bike.

The hippo with bad case of diarrhoea had to be the best comment. Well done. Sorry, don't know how to spell that brown, smelly and runny word

Katana looks class

GN 400 Suzuki chains sprockets 3000 miles back tires 3000 miles swing and bearings 7000 miles 6 volt electric couldn’t see where you’re going the xp360 and dr400 quite nice bikes as a play thing, but the GN was just abysmal. Enjoy your program Michael.

I think your list is pretty good, a couple that aren't as bad but maybe deserve a dishonourable mention are the Suzuki Savage - about as savage as a slug - and the Honda FT500. This should have been OK with a 500 single cylinder in a street chassis, but with between 27hp and 335hp, depending on who you believed, it was always going to be the Flat Turd.

Thos Niken things did find one tiny market. Support bikes for the Tour de France. Still occasionally see them there. Presumably for stability when following the riders really slowly up steep climbs. Not sure, though. Still never found that I can keep balance any better going slowly on my bicicyle than my motorbike.

AH! I was wondering when the day would come when I found out the Yamaha Nikken had been dis-continued because of poor sales. Seems like it's today. Just...............WHY?????

"But it's all done in the best POSSIBLE taste!"

I heard myself saying fukin ell with each one while watching this. You have my like.

I had a Honda Dream 400AT, I was very happy with it, and is one of the motorcycles I owned I regret selling. Each to their own I guess.

Isn’t the Niken what most of the photographers are using on the cycling tours? They are definitely using a big bike with double front wheels.

The new monster doesn't look monster enough but it handles and performed better than 821 and 1200 models . And that's why it is forgiven. But i love these old OG air-oil cooled monsters even the 797 which was pegged as a beginner bike in their line-up. I hope they can make a monster out of the 698 mono engine and frame in the future. That would be diabolical for a entry level bike❤💥😌😎🤌.

The Suzuki super six was the best and was the first manufactured bike with six gears. About 90-95 mph.

woa ive seen one of those BSAs in sweden not long ago. i thougt it was some homemade contraption made by an 12 year old.

Suzuki RSV 250 2stroke beast 86'-90'era motorcycle.Kawasaki ZR-1S 250cc 2stroke 88'-91'era and yamahaRZ,RD,&TZR all 250cc 2strokes72'-91'era motorcycles'!All these 2stroke 250cc's were at the zenith of the 2stroke 250cc engineering and therefore they have to be the most powerful and fastest 250cc 2stroke motorcycles ever made,i nearly forgot the italian brand Aprilia RSV 250cc 2 stroke m/cycle 1991-2012 era also very powerful and fast m/cycle.So there is my list of fastest 250cc m/cycles according to which makes & models were available here in Australia!ta.🇦🇺🏍️🛵🤔

You forgot the BSA rocket III, one of the worst motorcycles ever.

For me it was the Honda CB 250n Superdream, in 1983 I topped 105mph i was 13 stone, and the learner legal was dropped to a 125cc just prior to my birthday! so I Ended up with a Honda H 100s which was a 2 stroke and could get me to 80mph, it just isn't the same ride..

Worst bike I ever had/rode was a Kawasaki GPz305… I love Kawasaki, but this bike was cr*p! The engine leaked oil from various places, the belt drive was ok, but the clutch was slipping and it was heavy for the power it made..which wasn’t a lot. Slow junk..

After watching Allen Millyard's channel, I'd say the Norton Nemesis easily tops this list...

Another great video. I'de have to disagree on the Niken though, I mean I would never buy one, but mechanically they seem to be fine bikes. Also the front suspension looks more complex that it is, they have regular front suspension with two extra tubes (with no springs etc) which only help for balance/rigidity.

Your footage of the Suzuki rotary maintenance is “on steroids “, too many jumps, too fast and unwatchable unless of course you are on some kind of drug yourself ☹️

X7. RLV196T on a good day just on a TON ! and i mean JUST.👍

No specials? No 427 Ci Boss Hoss? 😂. That’s a bike with the “one way street” sign on the back instead of a number plate. Or a Bourget, Eddy Trotta or West coast choppers bike with those lovely 280-380 rear tires. “A Texas two tire truck” 😂

stupidest list ever! Never heard of BMW? You are a true knucklehead sir

The Megola was a German motorcycle produced between 1921 and 1925 in Munich, with a 5 cylinder radial engine mounted inside the spokes of the front wheel. No starter! The only way to start it was a running jump start, and stopping involved stopping the engine first. Amazing!

mmm .. maybe should have made it the 20 worst , i have a love / hate relation ship with my can am gs 2008 model , the electronics are a nightmare , and can am service is almost non existent , their workshop manual has so many mistakes its incredible , for the first few yrs they even got the tyre pressures wrong let alone the way u did your wheel alinement , i could go on and on but dont want to sound like im just bitching .. BUT .. when it works its a great bike once u get use to its strange handling .. another bad bike i have is the xs250 , slow as a wet week which is strange because the xs650 bike is great

I was working for BSA Group when the awful Ariel 3 was lunched. Just before its demise demonstrators were sent around the plants in the group in an attempt to get employs to buy one, at an amazing discount. Like the Ariel 3 this was doomed to abject failure but we got 30 minutes off work to watch one being ridden round and round in endless circles. Thanks for the memory and a laff.

Shit there the ones I can afford.

What's not to like..... lmao, the only one of these I've actually seen in public is the Honda 400(Hondamatic). I actually like the way she looked but I'm glad there are folks in the know about today's bikes who can help steer me away from the trash & I do ask. I suppose that even the worst set of wheels will have those folks who made use of them & made it work for them. Like I made a moped suffice when I lost my license to drive. I made use of a POS for 3 yrs & she cost $1200 + $200 more for the aftermarket muffler & electronic timing that got me an extra 12 MPH so I could ride 42mph on the roads. IT was an awful thing I went thru on an awful pos moped but I LQQK back w/ a fondness that I got thru the time. Great video you've made for us.... I guess you saw most of these in your travels during those years but many of them never made American shores. Yes, I liked it...... 👍👍

Apparently the Boss Hoss had little good said about it. Also the reincarnation of the Norton from about 15 years ago allegedly had a howlingly awful build quality. Loved the dry humor.

A true rogue's gallery of duffers,almost enough to turn you off biking! Great vid!

You lost me at the Hondamatic. My BIL had one and it was a damn good bike. Not everything has to be a rocket ship.

Hello mate. I love this! So many manufacturers have got it wrong over the years. The worst one that I’ve owned is the first Suzuki TL1000S. To put this into context I was racing for Suzuki Australia at the time with Phillip Island as my home track and got one for the streets. No matter what myself or even race team manager did to adjust suspension set up it was borderline dangerous in high speed corners. It sounded incredible, was quick in a straight line for its time, just lacked the ability to mildly push it through corners to a point where I had the chain come off the rear sprocket, mid corner. My team manager was an Australian Champion from the early to mid 80’s and his thoughts after he rode it were the same. It just spent more time in the shop than on the road until Suzuki admitted it had “a fault” and ended up replacing it for free with the R version. This was an improvement however only had a bandaid fix to the rear setup instead of a complete redesign that it required. So, for me the S was the worst bike I’ve owned in over 40 years. Keep up the awesome work you do and provide as it’s second to none and possibly why RUclips is causing “happy days” for you. 👍😎🇦🇺

Whatever you say about the Ariel 3. The video proves it does function as such! 🤣

Does nobody get it? The Niken was especially designed for the Knights Who Say Ni. So how can there be any doubt about the proper pronunciation? 😁

The Morbidelli’s first version was indeed badly styled but as far as the rest goes I cannot really fault it. It did start as a hobby project and the decision to stop it before things became REALLY expensive was the right one. What is left is a wonderful dream turned into hardware.

Some aren't moto at all 🤣strange do you not mention the mammouth 2000

I enjoyed this. I built my second ebike lad summer, and commuted 30 miles a day all through winter. I made some bizarre looking contraption to block the wind chill, and honestly, the front fairing on the BSA was giving me some funky ideas 😂 As it is, mine has a windshield and some plastic underneath the windshield, and it gets some funny looks. Great fun though.

excellent analysis. indeed a very complicated subject. got me a few pointers i did not thought about, thx wider then "normal" tires are ... not my thing. and wider then factory tires on the same rim ... not a bright idea. modern rubber it so good that i think the normal rider should stick with the factory dimensions

I liked the look of that Buell It must be me lol

I had a good giggle listening to your description of these bikes.