So I left Guernsey yesterday morning with less than 20 miles on the bike . I’ve now added another 200 and it’s already loosening up .
Ok, with 20 bhp it’s never going to be fast but it pulls just fine .
Tests such as MCN or Bike mag pitching it against the HNTR350 and Triumph Speed 400 then saying the Triumph is the best because it’s got twice the power to me is utter bollox .
Personal preference but I had a Speed 400 as a loan bike for the day and hated it.
Granted it had poke but I hated the suspension and glitchy fuelling , plus it doesn’t look retro to me and it’s too small for me at 95kgs and 6’1”.
The GB350S is quite a large bike physically.
I’m staying with a mate who has a new BSA Gold Star and the 350 is bigger with a taller seat .
We swapped bikes for 30 minutes today .
Personally I didn’t like the BSA. With my dodgy back I found the low seat and high bar riding position uncomfortable and worst of all was the very soft rear suspension. Riding on bumpy roads it was like a pogo stick , and he’s got preload wound up to one below max.
He was impressed with my Honda and said it was far nicer than his Royal Enfield 350 Classic that he traded in for the BSA.
My bike actually goes better than I expected. The long stroke motor has nice grunt .
It needs working but that’s part of the fun .
Fifth gear is like an overdrive but the bike will do 80 no problem.
But it’s best sat at 50/60 where it’ll do 115 mpg .
I filled it up at 175 miles and it said I still had 160 miles range .I put in 7.4 litres and it’s a 15 litre tank so that’s 350 miles to empty !!!
Sounds great with the Red Rooster exhaust I fitted and the panniers work well .
I think it’s a bloody bargain . It’s cost me under £4k and that’s with exhaust, Honda luggage, bikini fairing and USB-C charger .
No wonder it’s selling so well .