Bikes should excite and make you grin. Not just plod along
Agreed but that can be had with fewer ponies, although I do agree that 20bhp is pretty pathetic, I can see myself getting something similar in my older age, around 175kg & 40/50bhp would be fine enough & probably opt for retro looks because most modern bikes are minging in the looks dept
Yorick wrote: Sat Feb 15, 2025 12:33 pm
Blimey. It's got a whopping 20 bhp.
Just Googled 1977 CB350. That had 2 bhp more.
Nearly 50 years newer and less power.
WTF???
Believe it or not, it's not all about horsepower. If it were, the new one would have a radiator, an extra cylinder, and cost more.
Also, there is a 0% chance the 1977 bike would have made it through Euro 5+.
Bikes should excite and make you grin. Not just plod along.
Bikes excite and make people grin in different ways though. For some it's speed, for some it's the adventure, for some it's just being out on two wheels? Not everyone requires 200bhp.
Some of us,me included got out of the Moah Powaah & looking like a Power Ranger phase decades ago,just look at the sales figures..
I saw something the other month were it was said that UK trackdays aren't as popular as they once were,eg Silverstone isn't even running any this year
We've moved on,these days we prefer just having a laugh & most people seem to find lower power bikes more fun.
Honda could have made this new bike more powerful if they'd wanted to, but they didn't. You don't always have to max everything out, sometimes that's not the point.
My bikes range from 23bhp, to 41bhp to 54bhp to 95bhp (if you believe the manufacturers fogures). All suit the role each of them have for me, but looking at adding another bike with around 150bhp for more relaxed trips across Europe.
Don't know which are the primary markets for the CB350S. Asia most probably, where sub 400 cc bikes are the big sellers, and India can churn out 100's of thousands each year. The Honda is made in Japan, with associated costs, so is it a loss leader for Honda?
Whysub wrote: Sun Feb 16, 2025 1:09 pm
My bikes range from 23bhp, to 41bhp to 54bhp to 95bhp (if you believe the manufacturers fogures). All suit the role each of them have for me, but looking at adding another bike with around 150bhp for more relaxed trips across Europe.
Don't know which are the primary markets for the CB350S. Asia most probably, where sub 400 cc bikes are the big sellers, and India can churn out 100's of thousands each year. The Honda is made in Japan, with associated costs, so is it a loss leader for Honda?
My mate when I was a kid had a Honda plac 90 with no exhaust that we used to ride around his parents' mushroom farm - awesome fun even though I was racing in either Inter 80s or Inter 100s at the time.
Speaking of MZ 250s - my brother had one, he called in on it on his way to the ferry back when I was living in Muswell Hill at around 5 in the morning one summer. So obviously I took it for a ride around town, down to the the west end, along the mall past buck house etc. (it was a bit like start of 28 Days Later). Great fun and a genuinely cherished memory. I think the bike helped.
What a set of miserable fuckers. Lets ban bikes above 200cc and all wallow around on slugs. Best keep away from dual cabbage ways and motorways.
It'll be cheaper as guaranteed no speeding fines
Yorick wrote: Sun Feb 16, 2025 7:16 pm
What a set of miserable fuckers. Lets ban bikes above 200cc and all wallow around on slugs. Best keep away from dual cabbage ways and motorways.
It'll be cheaper as guaranteed no speeding fines
Who the fk wants to ride a bike on a dual carriageway or motorway???