Wildguzzi.com
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: chuck peterson on August 21, 2020, 08:15:18 AM
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Are those the highly sought after Buco bags?
https://nh.craigslist.org/mcy/d/moultonborough-74-honda-350-4/7181216728.html
(https://i.ibb.co/pQ6R8nv/6-B5-EF25-C-E292-4-C7-E-8-A51-B62-D0-A9772-B4.jpg) (https://ibb.co/pQ6R8nv)
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That's a real period piece right there!
Back in the 70's, a Honda 500-4, a Suzuki Titan 500, or a BMW R60/5 was considered to be a completely competent and sufficient transcontinental touring bike when equipped with a windshield, Buco or Bates bags, and highway pegs. We're different people now, in many different ways.
Lannis
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That's a real period piece right there!
Back in the 70's, a Honda 500-4, a Suzuki Titan 500, or a BMW R60/5 was considered to be a completely competent and sufficient transcontinental touring bike when equipped with a windshield, Buco or Bates bags, and highway pegs. We're different people now, in many different ways.
Lannis
You are right it’s only been in the last 30 or so years that these large displacement motors have been seen as a must for touring. Back in the early 80s my cross country bike was a 750 Honda custom with a large rack on the rear. A large duffle bag housed everything I needed for a week two weeks on the road with no issues.
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I doubt that 350/4 was a "long distance" rider, more likely a commuter bike. I saved one from rotting away under a tarp and resurrected it. One ride was all it took to figure out it wasn't for me - revs at 55 mph were sky high and not much power.
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I doubt that 350/4 was a "long distance" rider, more likely a commuter bike. I saved one from rotting away under a tarp and resurrected it. One ride was all it took to figure out it wasn't for me - revs at 55 mph were sky high and not much power.
True - that's why I specified the 500 or 550-4 Hondas. I KNOW many of them were used cross-continent.
The 350-4 and 400-4 survivors are sky-high in Britain as the definitive period sport-bike!
Lannis
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True - that's why I specified the 500 or 550-4 Hondas. I KNOW many of them were used cross-continent.
The 350-4 and 400-4 survivors are sky-high in Britain as the definitive period sport-bike!
Lannis
I was responding to the subject line "Long distance 350/4", not your post.
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I was responding to the subject line "Long distance 350/4", not your post.
Well ... you COULD ride it a long distance, I suppose. Then again, people have ridden Velo-Solexes from Cairo to Capetown, too .... ! :thumb:
Lannis
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Well however ill suited a 350/4 was for touring in 1986 a friend and I rode one from Asheville N.C. to Buffalo N.Y. to see Dylan and The Dead on july 4th. I don't remember taking much with us, my friend may have had a small backpack, we stayed with friends or wherever we could crash.While not the greatest touring bike it did the job, many fond memories of that bike !!!
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Well however ill suited a 350/4 was for touring in 1986 a friend and I rode one from Asheville N.C. to Buffalo N.Y. to see Dylan and The Dead on july 4th. I don't remember taking much with us, my friend may have had a small backpack, we stayed with friends or wherever we could crash.While not the greatest touring bike it did the job, many fond memories of that bike !!!
Once upon a time, we just rode what we had. From 1970 to 1999 I never had more than one motorcycle at a time, and it had to do whatever I needed to do. Tour, commute, weekenders, didn't matter, we just did it.
Too old and lazy to enjoy doing that any more ...
Lannis
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Well however ill suited a 350/4 was for touring in 1986 a friend and I rode one from Asheville N.C. to Buffalo N.Y. to see Dylan and The Dead on july 4th. I don't remember taking much with us, my friend may have had a small backpack, we stayed with friends or wherever we could crash.While not the greatest touring bike it did the job, many fond memories of that bike !!!
Better you than me. :wink:
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Many folks put lots of miles under them on 400cc and smaller bikes. This was back when "hogs" were considered behemoths.
900 Sportsters were "huge". 650 Triumphs and Geezers were considered to be the road burners.
The popular bikes were 350 Hondas and the like so that's what was used. We didn't have all the Interstates back then so it was the US highways or state highways. The smaller bikes did fine at those speeds. Two up it was cramped and with any gear it was overloaded. But they did the job without complaint.
I put many a mile on a 73 350-4. At 60 it was spinning at 6k so you didn't go much faster. It would do the ton if asked but that was it.
I rode a friend's 250 Rebel and his wife's 450 Rebel. It reminded me why I liked the 350 so much. You went slower so you enjoyed the ride and not the destination.
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A few years ago three of us went for a ride, 1 1000 strom, 1 TU250 and me on an R75/6. Yes it was quite a collection. 400+ miles later we all made it home. So I guess if you wanna ride a smaller bike then go for it.
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I rode my CB400-4 nonstop from SF to Denver, 1200 miles, in a bit over 24 hours. This was over 40 years ago, long before I knew any better or could spell “BMW.” My butt still hurts.
(https://i.imgur.com/LUG0sir.jpg)
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I doubt that 350/4 was a "long distance" rider, more likely a commuter bike. I saved one from rotting away under a tarp and resurrected it. One ride was all it took to figure out it wasn't for me - revs at 55 mph were sky high and not much power.
That was my experience with the 350-4 , even more gutless at 5K RPM's than a 350 twin Honda . Guessing that windshield really kills whatever performance it does possess .
Dusty
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I managed to ride a Suzuki 380 two-stroke triple from Kansas City to LA back in the late 70's. I was young and didn't know (nor could afford) any better. Just a Bates windshield bolted to the handlebars. I remember pushing headwinds in Arizona that forced me to downshift as far as 3rd gear to just barely maintain 55-60 mph and leaving a trail of blue smoke behind me. Rode in the middle of summer...not the smartest idea. Was so hot in Needles, CA that I couldn't stand in one spot before the hot pavement would start to burn my feet. (Tennis shoes...motorcycle boots? What's that?). I made it, but the trip did the bike in...trashed a roller bearing on the crank, sold it within a couple of weeks of getting to the coast. 30 years later I made the same trip on a Harley Electra Glide...much easier! :wink:
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Grandfather's bike? More like "our" bikes. By '74 I had moved up to my Norton and had crossed the country on it in '72, but before that was a 350 Yamaha. Furthest I went on that was 300 miles one way to Woodstock. It could do 65 all day but got a little buzzy.
Pete
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Back in the late 1975 , I bought a new Honda CBT- 500 Twin. Like the one below: Not as smooth as the 550 Four. but cheaper. Had it for about 15 years.
..........Learned how to ride on it.
(https://i.ibb.co/Jp46VxZ/Honda-CB500-T-1975.jpg) (https://ibb.co/Jp46VxZ)
how to put in images in html (https://imgbb.com/)
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Back in the day, I went all over the place on a Honda CB-550. That was my big bike. Also went all over on a Kawasaki KZ-200 4 stroke single.
Heck, even in the modern era I’ve done many multi-state road trips on a 2012 Kawasaki Ninja 250 with a Corbin seat. You just have to get used to spending all day cruising at 10,000 rpm. The engine is fine with that—some humans just have a psychological aversion to it.
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Back in the day, I went all over the place on a Honda CB-550. That was my big bike. Also went all over on a Kawasaki KZ-200 4 stroke single.
Heck, even in the modern era I’ve done many multi-state road trips on a 2012 Kawasaki Ninja 250 with a Corbin seat. You just have to get used to spending all day cruising at 10,000 rpm. The engine is fine with that—some humans just have a psychological aversion to it.
I know I do. A Harley loping along at 2800 RPM sounds natural ... A Guzzi cruising along at 4200 RPM is right where it wants to be for maximum gas mileage and engine comfort. A BSA twin at 4000 RPM sounds just right and pulls hard when you open it up.
But a little 250 twin or a 600 four running 6000 - 10,000 RPM at cruise? They're built for it, and they'll do it forever, but my mechanical sympathy gene makes my head ache and my teeth hurt when I hear them .....
Lannis
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But a little 250 twin or a 600 four running 6000 - 10,000 RPM at cruise? They're built for it, and they'll do it forever, but my mechanical sympathy gene makes my head ache and my teeth hurt when I hear them .....
That was the main reason I traded my RD400 for an XS-2 650 back in '81. I was tired of screaming around (it didn't help that it had Bassani expansion chambers) everywhere I went. The 650 was more relaxed, but was a bit of a paint shaker. My brother went from a '79 CB750F Super Sport to a '75 R90S around '83 and after one ride on that I knew I needed to move on from the Yamaha. Bought the bike that planted it's seed in my brain in '76 - my first Convert.
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Your problem was the Bassani's. :laugh:
I rode my RD400 around the country in 1978. 12000 miles in 6 weeks, camping all the way. I started the trip with $600 and finished with $50. I remember the trip far more fondly now then when I first got home.
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Your problem was the Bassani's. :laugh:
I rode my RD400 around the country in 1978. 12000 miles in 6 weeks, camping all the way. I started the trip with $600 and finished with $50. I remember the trip far more fondly now then when I first got home.
My '76 RD400C was arguably the "best" motorcycle I ever had. 70 MPH was about 5400 RPM as I remember, the engine was rubber mounted, you felt no vibration, the stock mufflers were very quiet, and it had plenty of pull at that speed for hills or whatever ...
Lannis
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Contrast your RD400C to my ex-‘73 RD350. This wasn’t a bike I enjoyed spending more than an hour on, and not even my rose-colored goggles make it seem any more charming or fulfilling. Buzzy, peaky, and lousy brakes.
(https://i.imgur.com/C50dNvl.jpg)
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I had a 350/4 in the red as my second bike. It died after a conrod broke. I don't think they were meant to be ridden on motocross tracks.
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Those 73 REs were all those things stated but they shore were purdy and went like stink.
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Back in the day, I went all over the place on a Honda CB-550. That was my big bike. Also went all over on a Kawasaki KZ-200 4 stroke single.
Heck, even in the modern era I’ve done many multi-state road trips on a 2012 Kawasaki Ninja 250 with a Corbin seat. You just have to get used to spending all day cruising at 10,000 rpm. The engine is fine with that—some humans just have a psychological aversion to it.
My first motorcycle was a KZ200. I put 18,000 miles on it in three years. In New England. I would have ridden it more but I bought a pumpkin orange Yamaha XS360 the third summer I had the KZ so it was sharing the miles.
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Speaking of getting use to rpm sounds, my first actual “full dress” bike was a Honda GL500I. It was geared so the little 500 twin could haul 300lb and do it at 70 mph all day. At 60 mph it was tacking 58rpm, at every speed the rpm was just a couple huge under. It redlined at 10500 so at 70 there was plenty left. Once my mind got accustomed to the 7K rpm on the slab, if really was no big deal. I put 30k on that little bike be going to a 750 Honda custom.
(https://i.ibb.co/FxpkcXf/B2-CA2309-6742-44-E3-8-D45-575-A7-B92-C16-E.png) (https://ibb.co/FxpkcXf)
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Contrast your RD400C to my ex-‘73 RD350. This wasn’t a bike I enjoyed spending more than an hour on, and not even my rose-colored goggles make it seem any more charming or fulfilling. Buzzy, peaky, and lousy brakes.
(https://i.imgur.com/C50dNvl.jpg)
My first high-mileage road bike was my '72 bronze and black Yamaha R5 350. Even with the TLS drum brakes, it was a MUCH better all-round motorcycle than the '73 - '75 RD series. I guess Yamaha did what they felt like they had to do in turning a nice solid motorcycle into a peaky nickel rocket like the RD350, but they sure fixed all that when they came out with the RD400!
Lannis
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It reminded me why I liked the 350 so much. You went slower so you enjoyed the ride and not the destination.
:thumb: :thumb: :thumb:
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My 77 GS400. Rode it 41,000 miles before getting the T-3. 6K rpm at 70mph. 9K was stock redline. After some major motor mods it would go to 10.5. Not really buzzy just busy. Did a lot of midwest touring on it, much of it using a home made paisley duffle bag. Nobody bothered that. :grin:
GliderJohn
(https://i.ibb.co/WtHhptY/DSC06205.jpg) (https://ibb.co/WtHhptY)
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I had a '74 Honda 550/4 (first year) that I rode all over the place. I really like it, but eventually got a 750/4. Should have kept them both. And yes, I did have an Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser. :grin:
(https://i.ibb.co/RTmsDrR/IMG-2174.jpg) (https://ibb.co/RTmsDrR)
virtual dice (https://freeonlinedice.com/)
Sorry for the picture quality. The old Polaroids don't hold up real well.
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Gary Ilminen set the speed record at 87 a few years ago and wrote a great book about the experience. The Unlikely One is the title I believe.Gary also write for Ultimate Motorcycling.
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My first high-mileage road bike was my '72 bronze and black Yamaha R5 350. Even with the TLS drum brakes, it was a MUCH better all-round motorcycle than the '73 - '75 RD series. I guess Yamaha did what they felt like they had to do in turning a nice solid motorcycle into a peaky nickel rocket like the RD350, but they sure fixed all that when they came out with the RD400!
Lannis
I also had a 72 R5, and it was a wonderful, sneaky fast little sucker. I should have never let it go. I moved up to larger bikes, a Suzuki Titan 500 and TX650 Yamaha. I liked them all.
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From 1973 to 82 I put thousands of touring miles on a cb500/4. No complaints!
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I rode my '69 CB350 in '70 through '71 from Cleveland, Ohio to Lima, Ohio every weekend, a 360 miles round trip, to see my collegiate girlfriend. I thought the bike did just fine screaming at 70 mph on I-90 or 50mph+ on US30. I don't think I'd do it again these days because I'm not 17 years old and 120lbs. anymore. I do have a cl350 that I'll run 60-80 miles on for a vintage night meet, etc. but no touring! The CB & girlfriend are now fond memories.
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I rode my '69 CB350 in '70 through '71 from Cleveland, Ohio to Lima, Ohio every weekend, a 360 miles round trip, to see my collegiate girlfriend. I thought the bike did just fine screaming at 70 mph on I-90 or 50mph+ on US30. I don't think I'd do it again these days because I'm not 17 years old and 120lbs. anymore. I do have a cl350 that I'll run 60-80 miles on for a vintage night meet, etc. but no touring! The CB & girlfriend are now fond memories.
Your experience sounds like it's common to most of us ... and there seems to be a theme here ... which is ...
The old Motorcycles would do it then and can still do it now. But the old men and women either can't, or don't want to!
I wonder how many youngsters that I see with backpacks, fleece hoodies, and sneakers on their Ninja 250s and Honda CBR600 beaters that are zooming up and down the road with the back of their shirt flying up around their neck are doing exactly the same thing as we did; riding a motorcycle not meant for that job, using whatever gear they happen to have, a lot of miles to go see their girl, and will be telling the tale about it in 2070 .... !
Lannis
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I had a '74 Honda 550/4 (first year) that I rode all over the place. I really like it, but eventually got a 750/4. Should have kept them both. And yes, I did have an Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser. :grin:
(https://i.ibb.co/RTmsDrR/IMG-2174.jpg) (https://ibb.co/RTmsDrR)
virtual dice (https://freeonlinedice.com/)
Sorry for the picture quality. The old Polaroids don't hold up real well.
That would be a 500 Four, would it not..?
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The CB500 was 73. The 1st 550 was 74.
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That would be a 500 Four, would it not..?
No, it was a 550 four. Honda sold them from '74 to '78.
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No, it was a 550 four. Honda sold them from '74 to '78.
Fair enough.
Over here, the 550 had the pipes all exiting on one side, the bike in the shot was a 500 here in Oz if memory serves.
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The very first overnight, weekend motorcycle trip I ever made was on a 1977 Yamaha RD400, blue, just like this one! :thumb: :cool:
(https://i.ibb.co/r59FDD6/Screen-Shot-2020-08-27-at-6-15-54-AM.png) (https://ibb.co/r59FDD6)
I was only 21 at the time, and I rode a few hours north from my home in upstate NY to beautiful Lake George, NY, in the Adirondack mountains! With all the faults and buzziness of the little two-stroke twin put aside, I was just happy to be "In The Wind" and traveling on two wheels... :thumb: :cool:
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With all the faults and buzziness of the little two-stroke twin put aside, I was just happy to be "In The Wind" and traveling on two wheels... :thumb: :cool:
That's the way we all were, once. How'd we get so jaded and "particular" and worried about not enough dealers and horsepower-conscious ... and OLD!
Can we go back? I'm thinkin' about it ....
Lannis
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That's the way we all were, once. How'd we get so jaded and "particular" and worried about not enough dealers and horsepower-conscious ... and OLD!
Can we go back? I'm thinkin' about it ....
Lannis
Not "all". I never trusted any of my first couple of bikes more than 100 miles from home. I guess that I was never as "adventurous" as most of you.
My first "big" street bike, a Yamaha YDS7 250, was prone to fouling plugs. Once I started using Bel-Ray Si7 injector oil instead of Yamalube, that issue went away. But, it was rebuilt from a "barn find" and I never really trusted it too far. The replacement RD400 w/Bassani chambers was great for long Sunday rides with my brother and his friends, was dead reliable, but I still didn't take even an over night trip on it. Same with the pair of XS-2 650s that came after it. I put quite a few miles on all of them riding around my area though.
There was no far flung girlfriend to go visit, no real reason to wander far for me. Plus, I had obligations at home, car projects that were of more interest at the time and a full time job that was 10 hours, 6 days a week.
Some of that changed in '82 - different job that paid more, with a better schedule (four day weekends ever third week!). Car projects were fading in importance, motorcycles and riding more became my primary focus. Better job meant more time to devote to home obligations as well. In '83 I bought my first Guzzi, a well used '76 Convert and almost immediately started doing long weekend camping trips and attending rallies (New Cumberland, WV in '84 was my first).
So, not a lot has changed - I'm still riding a Convert, riding as often and as far as my life/lifestyle will allow. Think what you want about my early days and reluctance to torture myself by riding some buzzy little bike to Timbuktu. :wink:
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Not "all". I never trusted any of my first couple of bikes more than 100 miles from home.
Boy howdy, see how things can turn around in just part of one lifetime.
Here you were, not riding any of your bikes far because you didn't trust them or know how to fix them ... and NOW you can take a bike apart down to the big-end bolts and put it back together better than new.
And there I was with a 200cc Yamaha, a 350cc Yamaha, a 160 Honda Dream, a BSA twin, and two clapped-out Panheads riding all over the place, with no more idea how to fix them other than "On The Job" training than the man in the moon ... and even now, forty-five years later, I'm only a Shade Tree Mechanic Third Class (Brevet). :grin:
So, not a lot has changed - I'm still riding a Convert, riding as often and as far as my life/lifestyle will allow. Think what you want about my early days and reluctance to torture myself by riding some buzzy little bike to Timbuktu. :wink:
My excuse at the time was that I didn't know it was torture, I thought it was just "riding a motorcycle" and that's the way it had to be. I guess "How you gonna keep 'em down on the farm, After they've seen Paree" applies here ...
:thumb:
Lannis
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Boy howdy, see how things can turn around in just part of one lifetime.
Here you were, not riding any of your bikes far because you didn't trust them or know how to fix them ... and NOW you can take a bike apart down to the big-end bolts and put it back together better than new.
Lack of mechanical ability was not one of the reasons - my father was a welder/fabricator by trade, but also an excellent machinist, good mechanic, passable carpenter, plumber, electrician, etc. Along with friends and relatives, he built the house I live in and the shop I work out of. My brother and I were out in the shop working with him as soon as my mom would let us - probably around age 5 for me. We each learned a lot from my father before he died way too soon at 60 years old. But, we developed mechanical skills a bit beyond his at a fairly young age. We would scavenge old bicycles, mowers, boat motors, etc. from the local dump and learned to fix them. That lead to buying old "barn find" motorcycles (Hondas, Suzukis, Kawasakis, Yamahas and even a Zundapp) that we spotted on our paper route, tearing them down, fixing what needed fixing, reassembling them and then selling them off and moving on to the next. Sometimes we'd need to combine three Honda Mini-Trails to make one good one. We started fixing other peoples bikes in our early teens. So, it wasn't a fear of something breaking far from home and not being able to fix it.
My brother has traveled much more than I, starting much earlier than I. Looking back I was content to ride the area backroads and never really felt the need to roam. My parents were/are both that way, so perhaps I take after them more than him. I was always the more responsible/reliable brother, "wise beyond my years" according to an uncle. Like I wrote earlier, '83 was the year things changed somewhat, perhaps because I was making good money, had more days off, paid vacation, etc. and had been exposed to a lot of people outside my usual social circle. Some were even well known adventurers (Sir Edmund Hillary for one) and maybe they sparked my interest in traveling a bit more.
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That's the way we all were, once. How'd we get so jaded and "particular" and worried about not enough dealers and horsepower-conscious ... and OLD!
Can we go back? I'm thinkin' about it ....
Lannis
I know...and getting old is pathetic, isn't it? :laugh: :grin: :wink: (Getting old is NOT for the faint of heart!) :shocked: :rolleyes:
These days, I worry / hand-wring about riding in the heat, riding in the rain, not riding on the weekends, riding alone on long trips, etc., etc.
I want to go back also...(*SIGH*), but that ain't happening...so we all must soldier on! "ONWARD THROUGH THE FOG!"
With all that's happened in the last six months of 2020...I guess we are all just lucky we haven't just jumped off a cliff! :laugh: :grin: :wink:
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Lack of mechanical ability was not one of the reasons - my father was a welder/fabricator by trade, but also an excellent machinist, good mechanic, passable carpenter, plumber, electrician, etc. Along with friends and relatives, he built the house I live in and the shop I work out of. My brother and I were out in the shop working with him as soon as my mom would let us - probably around age 5 for me. We each learned a lot from my father before he died way too soon at 60 years old. But, we developed mechanical skills a bit beyond his at a fairly young age. We would scavenge old bicycles, mowers, boat motors, etc. from the local dump and learned to fix them. That lead to buying old "barn find" motorcycles (Hondas, Suzukis, Kawasakis, Yamahas and even a Zundapp) that we spotted on our paper route, tearing them down, fixing what needed fixing, reassembling them and then selling them off and moving on to the next. Sometimes we'd need to combine three Honda Mini-Trails to make one good one. We started fixing other peoples bike in our early teens. So, it wasn't a fear of something breaking far from home and not being able to fix it.
My brother has traveled much more than I, starting much earlier than I. Looking back I was content to ride the area backroads and never really felt the need to roam. My parents were/are both that way, so perhaps I take after them more than him. I was always the more responsible/reliable brother, "wise beyond my years" according to an uncle. Like I wrote earlier, '83 was the year things changed somewhat, perhaps because I was making good money, had more days off, paid vacation, etc. and had been exposed to a lot of people outside my usual social circle. Some were even well known adventurers (Sir Edmund Hillary for one) and maybe they sparked my interest in traveling a bit more.
Very cool, Charlie.
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https://photos.app.goo.gl/nkdjTdazaZ1zv1cU8
Got this one laying about in the shop. Title went missing, but can be had.
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Maybe next year, I'll "go back in time" and do a multi-day tour on my Sears Allstate SR250. Maybe down the Skyline Drive and BRP a ways, over into WV on the way home. Got to get it registered soon so I can "work the bugs out" of it before Winter.
(https://i.ibb.co/yfHhmRW/OLYMPUS-DIGITAL-CAMERA.jpg) (https://ibb.co/yfHhmRW)
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Maybe next year, I'll "go back in time" and do a multi-day tour on my Sears Allstate SR250. Maybe down the Skyline Drive and BRP a ways, over into WV on the way home. Got to get it registered soon so I can "work the bugs out" of it before Winter.
(https://i.ibb.co/yfHhmRW/OLYMPUS-DIGITAL-CAMERA.jpg) (https://ibb.co/yfHhmRW)
Just got to Take Your Time, not get in a hurry, ride like it has 1960s brakes and suspension; the roads you'll be riding on haven't changed since the bike was new, and neither has most of the traffic in those parts. At reasonable speeds, they don't even buzz, rattle, or break down!
Lannis
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Just got to Take Your Time, not get in a hurry, ride like it has 1960s brakes and suspension; the roads you'll be riding on haven't changed since the bike was new, and neither has most of the traffic in those parts. At reasonable speeds, they don't even buzz, rattle, or break down!
Lannis
You don't need to tell me. <guy who rides '69 V700 here> :wink: Ever ridden a Sears/Puch 250? At pretty much any speed, it buzzes, rattles, intake honks loudly and a bunch more sounds. With present gearing 50 mph is about all the faster it seems to like. I plan to go up one tooth on the front sprocket which gives a little less frantic cruising, yet doesn't kill it's hill climbing ability.
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You don't need to tell me. <guy who rides '69 V700 here> :wink:
Well, I've followed your Loopframe around your Maryland and Pennsylvania "home territory" roads before, and although I didn't fall back off the pace, I was glad I was riding something with 90 HP and three disk brakes! Otherwise there would have been two separate rides ....
Ever ridden a Sears/Puch 250? At pretty much any speed, it buzzes, rattles, intake honks loudly and a bunch more sounds. With present gearing 50 mph is about all the faster it seems to like. I plan to go up one tooth on the front sprocket which gives a little less frantic cruising, yet doesn't kill it's hill climbing ability.
Although I've ridden a bunch of other '60s 250s (Bultacos, Yamahas, Bridgestones) in my long and checkered riding career, I must confess to never having specifically ridden a Puch 250. "Sounds" are part of the experience, and my hearing protectors knock those down, although they can't completely dampen my mechanical sympathy. "Buzzing" can't be much different from an old Spanish bike of the same era, though! 55 MPH sounds right ...
Lannis
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I managed to ride a Suzuki 380 two-stroke triple from Kansas City to LA back in the late 70's. I was young and didn't know (nor could afford) any better. Just a Bates windshield bolted to the handlebars. I remember pushing headwinds in Arizona that forced me to downshift as far as 3rd gear to just barely maintain 55-60 mph and leaving a trail of blue smoke behind me.
My uncle had a GT380 and toured on it in the mid to late '70s. He did a few midwest to west coast round trips on it in that time after outfitting it with a Pacifico fairing and luggage rack. In 1980 he upgraded to a Gold Wing (big jump!) that he's still riding today.
About a decade later, I inherited the 380 as my first street bike. I remember my dad and uncle talking about how it was a high mileage bike but I don't remember it having over 15k miles on it when I got it. That's a far cry from the mileage people are putting on bikes today. I rode that bike all over the place but never really toured on it. Despite being heavy for what it was, it was a fun bike. Oftentimes, I wish I had it back because it was a real nice example of a classic '70s bike.
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Maybe this makes me a weirdo, but I don’t think I ever outgrew the old style bikes, and I still ride all over the place at 57 years old. I’m happy as a clam with a small block V7 and a carbed Ducati 900SS. Vintage technology.
I tried “upgrading” to modern things like a Yamaha FJR, a Honda ST1300, a BMW R1200GS, and a Triumph Street Triple SRX. Nope. Nice bikes. But they just don’t trip my trigger.
I like *light* and fairly simple. I want to feel the bike working; modern bikes seem too effortless. I really like air-cooling, since with that technology I don’t ever have to worry about a critical subsystem like engine cooling.
That being said, I gratefully acknowledge cast wheels and tubeless tires. O-rings chains are a god-send. Modern oils and tires are great (but I still run bias ply tires). I appreciate disc brakes over drums.
And gear is much better. I love my Aerostich and Goretex stuff over my old leather jacket and constantly getting soaked in mild rainstorms.
Beyond that? Meh . . .