The Phantom absolutely sucks, and it's a shame because it's one of the best looking vehicles in the game. So, why does the Phantom suck so much?

For starters, the Phantom lacks in the two most important stats (speed (most important stat) and drift (2nd most important stat), the latter much more so than the former) and it's an outside drifting bike, and as we all know, outside drifting bikes are trash. Sure, its acceleration, handling, and off-road range from okay to good, but they don't matter and are the least important stats (acceleration is 5th, off-road is 6th, and handling is 7th). Vehicles with low acceleration can overcome their low acceleration by performing a Standstill Mini-Turbo, meaning those with an acceleration stat of 32 or higher benefit more from accelerating normally. Usually, you will almost never need handling in Mario Kart Wii because drifting matters far more, but because the Phantom's drifting arc is so terrible, it relies way too much on handling to correct itself and to make tight turns, which causes it to lose a significant amount of time. You don't want to go off-road in the first place because in Grand Prix, you get heavily punished with a penalty that multiplies the time you spend off-road by 2.5, so whatever the Phantom gains from having a good off-road stat barely amounts to anything. It has decent weight (3rd most important stat) and okay Mini-Turbo (4th most important stat), but that isn't enough when you lack in the two most important stats. Also, the Phantom is highly impractical in most situations, as it has to take specific lines just to avoid crashing into a wall or falling off the track.

It also goes without saying that the Phantom is awful at taking most shortcuts due to it being difficult to drive without any degree of accuracy, and what little accuracy it has that can't be mustered anywhere is absolutely lambasted by its large hitbox, making it a nightmare to avoid getting hit.

Overall, these shortcomings practically require that the Phantom be driven with a slow, overly analytical, and cautious approach, which is the antithesis of a good vehicle. So, in short, this is why the Phantom sucks.

Honestly, I feel like this vehicle's super overhated, and I personally have fun using it. Even if it has the worst drift stat, I don't struggle taking turns too much as long as I go at the right angle at the right time, and it can feel really satisfying when you successfully utilize the outside drift mechanics to pull off some tricky movements. It has good handling, too, so if you don't think that you'll make a turn with drift, you can cancel the Mini-Turbo by releasing A and let handling do the rest. And even for it's awful drift, all of its other stats range from okay to great, notably its off-road as it's the best of the large vehicles.

I was trying to figure out the 'RS' and 'KC/BK' variations, but now I know the 'RS' handlebars are closer together and the 'KC/BK' handlebars are further apart.

Rocket Harley Davidson.

This is considered by many to be the worst vehicle in the entire game. While it isn't necessarily slow, it has the worst drift in the game. Much like the Wario Bike, the Phantom is an outside drifting bike with a terrible drift stat, and that is probably the worst combination besides being slow and light.