5 Used Cruiser Motorcycles You Should Steer Clear Of, According To Owners

Cruiser motorcycles are like the muscle cars of the motorcycling world. They promise riders comfortable, reliable long-distance transportation, often with that distinctive V-twin burble that we all know and love. However, not all cruiser motorcycles are made equal, and some have (rightly) earned themselves a reputation for catastrophic and expensive nightmares. 

The issue here is that, unlike sportbike owners, who accept higher maintenance as the cost of performance, or adventure bikes, which exchange mechanical complexity with off-road performance, cruisers are supposed to be unfussy and reliable. By and large, we dare say that cruisers are the most reliable class of motorbike, making up a big chunk of any "most reliable" bike lists on the internet. Thus, when a cruiser is unreliable, it's basically a complete betrayal of the segment's core promise. And the bikes on this list are possibly the worst of the lot, because they combine expensive repairs with fundamental design flaws.

We're talking everything from transmission box failures that leave riders stranded to cracked subframes and engine failures that cost thousands of dollars. What's more, every single motorbike on this list is from a so-called "legacy" manufacturer, so it should have been a safe bet for most buyers based on brand reputation. Instead, they've become cautionary tales recorded through owner complaints, NHTSA investigations, and massive recalls.

When we say "Harley Tourers," we're specifically talking about the Electra, Road, and Street models. Now, all of these models are entering that Goldilocks zone of not being too old, having great features, and having attractive prices on the secondary market — but riders should do their homework before considering one of these. A quick trawl through forums gives us gear failures, clutch failures, electrical faults, mounting faults, the death wobble, and a lot more. There were huge recalls for these models, with the two main ones concerning the clutch and the saddlebags falling off. 

The clutch one is particularly weird, as it affected bikes with black master cylinders, where the paint could react with the clutch assembly and cause it to fail. The clutch recall was one of the biggest Harley-Davidson recalls in recent history, affecting over 45,000 bikes. Overheating is another issue. 

For experienced buyers who think they can handle the problems, these models are a bargain. A 2015 Electra Glide will run you about $8,500, the Road Glide from the same year starts at around $9,000, and the Street Glide (also from 2015) begins at $8,000 on the used market. For those wondering, "CVO" on Harley bikes stands for "Custom Vehicle Operations," and is basically Harley's special-edition workshop.

The Vulcan has had many different engine displacements over the years, and by all accounts, it is one of the most legendary Kawasaki motorcycles of all time. Now, Kawasaki is not a brand that makes unreliable bikes. If anything, they usually sit at or near the top of reliability rankings by any metric. However, while their large cruiser of varying displacements is a pretty good package on the surface, there are some major caveats to look out for. The biggest one is the transmission, which nukes itself from time to time, courtesy of the output shaft failing catastrophically. The issue often flies under the radar, as the price-to-value argument usually dominates discussions about the Vulcan.

There has been no ostensible fix or upgrade to this – and it's too rare for a recall — so while it doesn't happen to everyone, it could happen to anyone. Other gripes are electrical gremlins, stator failure, and harsh engine braking (though users say the harsh engine braking is normal for these models). 

Despite extensive research, we couldn't find reliable data to narrow down exactly which Vulcan models these problems affect, but it's probably better to be cautious and thoroughly inspect the drivetrain on any Vulcan you're considering. At the time of writing in early 2026, Kawasaki Vulcan 1700s from 2015 are selling for about $5,000 on the used market. Some examples are even cheaper, making them quite a tempting buy.

The Honda Gold Wing is one of the most iconic motorcycles of all time, and it is the definitive model that first gave us a run for our money. The Gold Wing showed our homegrown, legacy makers like Indian and Harley-Davidson that the Japanese could also make a cruiser motorcycle, and that the segment wasn't safe any longer. While the Gold Wing has a reputation for comfort and reliability, certain generations and model years should be avoided. Specifically, we're recommending that buyers avoid the GL1500 Gold Wings and early years of the GL1800 Gold Wings. 

GL1500 Gold Wings from 1988 to 2000 had troubled alternators, timing belts, and gearboxes, which played up in 4th gear. The big issues came with the GL1800 generation, though, in production since 2001. This generation's introductory years had a subframe that liked to crack itself. For obvious reasons, this was a massive problem, and after an investigation, Honda had to recall the affected models. 

There was also a huge recall for early-gen GL1800s because the rear brake could lock up at highway speeds, and this initial recall was extended to other years. That said, there have been recalls of late-gen GL1800 Gold Wings as well, related to the fuel pumps (post-2020), and for loose bits in the engine, for post-2018 models.

The K1200 series of bikes from BMW came in varying flavors, such as the K1200 R, the K1200 RS, the K1200 GT, and the K1200 LT, which we're talking about today. Now, not every BMW K1200 series bike is a lemon, and the brand does make some pretty okay bikes. However, the K1200LT, which is the touring version, has a laundry list of recalls and an even longer list of NHTSA complaints. More than 100 final drive failures and repeated owner complaints led to an investigation by the NHTSA into the safety of the bike early last decade, after mounting pressure. 

However, in the end, the NHTSA didn't find any safety issues with the final drive failures (common as they were), leaving owners to foot the bill, much to their chagrin. The shocks were problematic too — but this was to be expected, as the suspension, brakes, and tires on a big, heavy cruiser would need more frequent care and replacement. Still, owners say that maintenance on the K1200 LT is a pain, with disintegrating brake lines, troublesome ABS systems, fuel system problems, and having to basically open up the whole bike to reach an awkward part. 

These complaints are a shame, as the K1200 LT was (on paper) a really nice two-up touring cruiser, with a 1,171 cc inline four-cylinder engine that made 100 hp and 85 lb-ft of torque. Too bad it's to be avoided at all costs, unless you're a die-hard BMW fan.

Here, we specifically mean Harley-Davidson models with the Twin Cam 88 engine from the early 2000s. Most of the problems we list here are specific to the engine itself, and not the overall models. The list of problems with this engine is quite lengthy, which is why the Twin Cam 88 is considered one of the worst Harley engines of all time. 

The 88 was supposed to be the next step up from the Evolution engine, but it fell flat on its face (at least in the first few years of its life). Cam chain tensioners were a problem, as this was relatively new tech, especially for Harley. They would shave off plastic bits and bobs (because metal chains and plastic shrouds don't really mix well) that would end up in the fuel pump and cause trouble in the engine, often leading to total failure. 

Other issues included crankshaft runout and breaking the whole cam bearing units, not just the problematic tensioners. Also, the tappet blocks are not replaceable, meaning any fix requires the entire assembly to be removed, replaced, and reassembled. These should be avoided, especially since they're entering extremely eye-catching price points on the used market at the moment. It's no surprise that many models with the TC88 have some of Harley-Davidson's worst resale value.

For each bike on the list, we've looked at NHTSA recalls, then looked at owner complaints that weren't addressed by recalls. We've considered the popularity of these models when new, and their current pricing that might make them attractive to the unfamiliar eye. Each of the bikes on this list is a legend in its own right, but should be left as a project or weekend bike, not a mainstay in the stable. We looked at dedicated forums for each bike — you'd be surprised at how many models/ model lines have their own forum — and we looked at several model years in every case. 

We also looked at editorial reviews from when these bikes were sold new. After collating all this data, we trawled through it to find common points of failure across multiple reviews to ensure the points we make are not one-offs. Lastly, pricing data for all bikes was sourced either directly from the manufacturer or trusted third-party news and/or editorial sources.