What is the ugliest motorcycle ever made?

[bugszelda]

With all of the heated debates going on lately, I thought I would start a thread on a nice neutral topic.

What is the ugliest motorcycle ever to come out of a factory?

[trident_t150]

H'mmm, to answer my own question, from searching eBay it appears they had 150's, 160's, and 305's. There is a 150 right now for $25.00.

[dodogas]

Hey you forgot the 125 Honda twins and the 250,s better known as CL or CB 72.. the 305 is a 77

As far as the ugliest Honda made (and my apologies to who started this thread, but you asked) I would have to say the 6 cylinder.. other than the fact it has 6 cylinders it is not that remarkable.. take the enine by itself (very top heavy looking).. nobody rushing out to build around it.. frame.. same thing. The worst feature on them is the seam on the bottom of the gas tank.. really reminiscent of the 60,s 305,s and the top motor mounts, saved a few dollars there, but sure cost them in looks..IMO.

I know there is 6 cyl collectors and owners that absolutely love them.... but look past the, "WOW its got 6 Cylinders !!" and "The Sound",what strong points does it have??

dodogas

[wydeglyde]

In my mind it is the Boss Hoss. That bloated gas tank is ughlee.

[66panhead]

I'd have to agree with you wydeglyde....the Boss Hoss leaves a bit to be desired in aesthetical beauty!

[madmanike42]

"WOW its got 6 Cylinders !!" and "The Sound",what strong points does it have??"

It eats just about everything for lunch. More than likely, this includes what you ride.

The ugliest ride ever made? Moto Guzzi Mid 70's (no offence intended flhgirl). They should call it Moto Ugly.

[mountain_motorsports]

Yea, madman, I could tell this guy has no clue. Anyone who has ridden or owned a Valkyrie knows the virtues of that machine. It may not appeal to all, but ugly? Not by my standards. I have had a few on the floor, and no one has ever said, "What an ugly bike". Normally remarks are, "whoa! that's big and flashy and smooth and chromed, etc". But like I stated before, "ugly is in the eye of the beerholder". So, dodo you are entitled your opinion, no matter how uninformed it is.

[trident_t150]

I think dodogas was referring to the CBX. That bike certainly would qualify his description!

Benelli also made an in line six, which addressed some of the handling problems the CBX had. A collector about 20 miles from me has one.

[mountain_motorsports]

Ooooh! Ok, that explains the "top heavy" remark. My mistake. Well the CBX was fun to ride and with a six into one pipe they sound very exotic when rung out. Ugly?? Mmmmm...

[dodogas]

Gearhead, the Munch Mammoth on display in the NSU Museum has a smooth tank, and it is painted red. Pretty well all of the NSU racers there had the rough hammered (unplanished) tanks and fenders, I think it was done to save time making them and so any damage on them would be less visible. May look like an 8 yr old did it but its a bit trickier than it looks....dodogas

[gearhead_to_the_max]

"May look like an 8 yr old did it but its a bit trickier than it looks...."- BSA didn't seem to have any problem producing smooth alloy tanks.

[dodogas]

It is no problem making a smooth tank when you use dies to form the pieces, the tanks you are referring to are probably handmade one at a time. Most of the NSU racers used hand formed pieces that were not planished, the one you saw is a continuation of the tradition. The NSU factory built the motors for the Munch bikes. The Bohmerland mentioned earlier also is in that museum. One of the neatest bikes in there is a V-Twin Husquvarna road racer... a lot of the bike from there are in the book by Hugo Wilson..The Encyclopedia of The Motorcycle

[dodogas]

The first sentence should read; There is no problem making a smooth tank ie BSA , when you use dies to form the pieces, the Munch tanks you were referring to are probably handmade one at a time.

[gearhead_to_the_max]

Metalwork (shaping metal using no bondo, lead, or other fillers) isn't that "tricky". It's time consuming, but not tricky. The front fender on my bike was crunched. I straightened it using no lead, bondo, or other fillers. Just hammers, a torch, dollies, a slapper, and a file. You can't tell it was ever damaged. I've also metalworked aluminum body parts with the same results.

[dodogas]

Gearhead, I understand exactly what you are saying.

Here is what I am suggesting and I dont know if some Munch,s came with the bumpy tanks or not.

Honda has a reputation of winning 6 cylinder road racers, so they build a 6 cyl street bike to reflect that.

H-D has a history of producing flattrack racers, so they build an XR street bike, Others build hi pipes and tanks ducktails, etc to carry on the look.

Kawasaki builds a Eddie Lawson street replica, Ducati a Mike Hailwood replica..incidently Mike Hailwood won a lot of races on the Honda 6's.

Somewhere, someone built a tank, or many tanks for a Munch(not saying it is or isnt original) that was built in the same style as most of the NSU racers . At any rate those bike s all got their engines from the NSU factory, it is a modified car engine, thus the connection to the factory. I think they came out in 68 or 69 and cost around 3700 or 3800 US back then..pricey ride.

[rusty_on_drums]

Interesting thread . . .

I’ve been riding BMWs, the /2’s, /5’s and /6’s, since the mid ’70 and have heard from a lot of fellow biker folks about how ugly they look. I have to go along with riders who say the beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

What I think is ugly is what happened to Triumphs and BSAs in the early ’70 when they went to the “box” frames.

When I look at some of the classic bikes, like the Vincent Black Shadow; when they’re restored they are very nice to look at, but the design leaves me thinking they were built more for speed than for beauty.

A fellow I used to ride with in the late ’60 had a 1954 Ariel Square Four – I loved the lines of that bike. Another guy had a Suzuki “waterbuffalo” and that thing looked like an abortion – but he loved it (or said he did – he didn’t keep it very long).

So, it is all a matter of preference. One of my favorite lookin’ bikes now is a BMW RT1100 or 1150 RT (a good example is item 2460002346). That thing looks like something one could ride 600+ miles a day and still go dancing that evening (weeellll- maybe when I was 20 years younger!) I still ride a 1973 R90/6 with over 150,000 miles on it. My riding has slowed down in the last 10 years since I moved to Maine. The riding season is a lot shorter here than what it was on the coast of Oregon when a rider could ride almost year ‘round (with good rain gear). - Rusty