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From: The Older Gentleman on 20 Apr 2010 02:23
Oscar_Lives <Oscar_Lives(a)heaven.com> wrote:

> 350 four-cylinder?

Twin. They didn't sell 300,000 fours :-)


--
BMW K1100LT Ducati 750SS Honda CB400F Triumph Street Triple
Suzuki TS250ER GN250 Damn, back to six bikes!
Try Googling before asking a damn silly question.
chateau dot murray at idnet dot com
From: Larry Blanchard on 19 Apr 2010 11:37
On Mon, 19 Apr 2010 02:49:45 +0000, paul c wrote:

> Mark Olson wrote:
> ...
>> I've ridden my buddy's SR500. Nice bike. I've also owned an SV650[1],
>> and currently own an EX500 and an EX250. Ride all three of those
>> before you dismiss them based on their LOOKS.
>>

> I don't know why so many people talk about looks, the sv650 seems like a
> very modern and capable for road use and efficient and economical bike
> to me, something Honda seems to have veered away from in the last twenty
> years.

Thanks to all for their responses. I've done a bit of looking on my own
and discussed things with the vintage club members. While a final
decision awaits some hands on time, I'm leaning strongly towards an old
Honda CB350. Why?

1. Has an electric start, but still keeps the kick start.

2. No electronic ignition - plain old points and condensor.

3. No fuel injection - simple carbs.

4. Flat seat I can move around on.

5. Over 300,000 were sold - more if other models using the same engine
are included - so parts are plentiful and there appear to be companies
still making after market add ons.

Now I'm sure I'll get lots of comments on how reliable modern electronic
ignitions, batteries, fuel injection, etc. are. And I agree. But when
they break, I have to take the bike to a mechanic. Carbs and points I
can fix myself. Usually :-).

Once again, thanks for the inputs. If anyone has reservations about the
CB350 (other than not a lot of power) I'd appreciate their inputs. Also
if there's another bike I'm missing that matches the list I gave above -
except the numbers sold of course.

P.S. One of the club members is the local Triumph/Guzzi/Enfield dealer,
so I'm still dreaming about the new Enfield even though it doesn't meet
my criteria - who says I have to be logical :-).

--
Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw
From: TOG on 19 Apr 2010 11:53
On 19 Apr, 16:37, Larry Blanchard <lbla...(a)fastmail.fm> wrote:
> On Mon, 19 Apr 2010 02:49:45 +0000, paul c wrote:

>I'm leaning strongly towards an old
> Honda CB350.  Why?
>
> 1.  Has an electric start, but still keeps the kick start.
>
> 2.  No electronic ignition - plain old points and condensor.
>
> 3.  No fuel injection - simple carbs.
>
> 4.  Flat seat I can move around on.
>
> 5.  Over 300,000 were sold - more if other models using the same engine
> are included - so parts are plentiful and there appear to be companies
> still making after market add ons.
>
> Now I'm sure I'll get lots of comments on how reliable modern electronic
> ignitions, batteries, fuel injection, etc. are.  And I agree.  But when
> they break, I have to take the bike to a mechanic.  Carbs and points I
> can fix myself.  Usually :-).
>
> Once again, thanks for the inputs.  If anyone has reservations about the
> CB350 (other than not a lot of power) I'd appreciate their inputs.  A

I think the real problem is that you're looking at a bike that is
getting on for four decades old, and really nice ones will be few and
far between. Most will be tired and will require a lot of maintenance.
Some parts will be worn out, others will be damaged, corroded or just
missing.

Secondly, while engine and service items are pretty easy to source and
cheap, some things aren't. Tinware, genuine exhausts, trim, etc.

Thirdly, if you could get a near-new condition CB350, it might be a
valid choice, but they're getting very expensive now. In Europe, the
classic racing guys snap them up. I dunno about the other side of the
Pond.

Fourthly, while I have modern bikes, I also steward, restore and
generally faff with Jap classics of this era. Old bikes require more
maintenance, not less. In fact maintenance of 1970s Jap metal is
pretty much a continuous process, rather than a "once every 6,000
miles" event.

If you want a nice classic for high days and holidays, fine. If you
want a practical day to day bike you can enjoy and ride wwithout
spending too much time on it, you're making a bad call.

Consider maybe a mid-1980s Honda 450cc twin. Kawsaki's EX500 twin -
fabulous little bike, with soul. Or better still, any of the late
1980s-early 1990s crop of Japanese big singles. Kawasaki 650 Tengai or
stock KLR650, Suzuki DR650, Honda's Dominator, and especially Yamaha's
evergreen XT600 series. These will all rip the socks off an old CB350,
be infinitely easier to live with, probaby cheaper to run, and they're
just fabulous fun bikes to ride. Downside is that some are a bit tall.
From: Mark Olson on 19 Apr 2010 15:58
Ron Gibson wrote:

> However, one thing does trouble me. Prior to that bike all my bikes
> were air cooled, except one old odd ball Triple Yamaha I had. It was a
> mess and overheated on a regular basis. I got it cheap and sold it
> cheap.
>
> I really have this feeling of dread expecting some sort of costly
> radiator or other cooling system problem.
>
> Can someone tell me that these types of failures are rare, I hope :-)

I'm no expert but I believe if you change the coolant per the maintenance
schedule, use distilled water and the proper type of coolant, you will
have very few cooling system related problems. For me, water cooling is
best because you can sit in stop-and-go traffic without having to worry
about overheating, something that was a real problem on my '81 CB900C. If
you don't commute on a bike, or live somewhere where it never gets scorching
hot, this might not be a big deal to you.


From: Oscar_Lives on 19 Apr 2010 22:21

"Larry Blanchard" <lblanch(a)fastmail.fm> wrote in message
news:hqhtb4$oqt$1(a)speranza.aioe.org...
> On Mon, 19 Apr 2010 02:49:45 +0000, paul c wrote:
>
>> Mark Olson wrote:
>> ...
>>> I've ridden my buddy's SR500. Nice bike. I've also owned an SV650[1],
>>> and currently own an EX500 and an EX250. Ride all three of those
>>> before you dismiss them based on their LOOKS.
>>>
>
>> I don't know why so many people talk about looks, the sv650 seems like a
>> very modern and capable for road use and efficient and economical bike
>> to me, something Honda seems to have veered away from in the last twenty
>> years.
>
> Thanks to all for their responses. I've done a bit of looking on my own
> and discussed things with the vintage club members. While a final
> decision awaits some hands on time, I'm leaning strongly towards an old
> Honda CB350. Why?
>
> 1. Has an electric start, but still keeps the kick start.
>
> 2. No electronic ignition - plain old points and condensor.
>
> 3. No fuel injection - simple carbs.
>
> 4. Flat seat I can move around on.
>
> 5. Over 300,000 were sold - more if other models using the same engine
> are included - so parts are plentiful and there appear to be companies
> still making after market add ons.
>
> Now I'm sure I'll get lots of comments on how reliable modern electronic
> ignitions, batteries, fuel injection, etc. are. And I agree. But when
> they break, I have to take the bike to a mechanic. Carbs and points I
> can fix myself. Usually :-).
>
> Once again, thanks for the inputs. If anyone has reservations about the
> CB350 (other than not a lot of power) I'd appreciate their inputs. Also
> if there's another bike I'm missing that matches the list I gave above -
> except the numbers sold of course.
>
> P.S. One of the club members is the local Triumph/Guzzi/Enfield dealer,
> so I'm still dreaming about the new Enfield even though it doesn't meet
> my criteria - who says I have to be logical :-).
>
> --
> Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw

350 four-cylinder?


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