At the weekend I was talking to a friend about motorbikes (which is quite often what I spend most weekends doing) and we were discussing rubbish ones. He asked me what the worst bike I?ve ever had was, and I struggled to answer him. I really had to think about it, because most of the bikes I?ve had, I?ve loved, even the crap ones. In fact the more I thought about it, the more crap ones I?ve had; but that doesn?t mean I didn?t enjoy owning them, and riding them. Anyway, I decided that to work out which bike was the worst I?ve ever had, the first thing I needed to do was make a short-list. And here it is.

Aprilia RS50

This was the first road bike I ever had. I rode it every day, to get to school and back. Obviously, as a typical 16 year old, I didn?t have the knowledge, money or inclination to look after the bike properly. And as you can imagine, it got thrown on the floor on more than one occasion. Needless to say, the bike didn?t winter very well, and after a year it looked rather second-hand.
But I kept riding it to school, and kept running it into the ground. I absolutely loved that little bike, it gave me what every teenager craves; independence. I didn?t have to pester friends and family for lifts, or rely on trains and busses. I could get on my bike and go wherever I wanted. And I did. I had some awesome experiences on that bike, but I also had some horrendous ones, too; there were a lot of miles pushing the thing home after the engine had seized, agai...