Long distance 350/4...That is your grandfathers’ motocycle..

[maquette]

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. 



virtual dice


Sorry for the picture quality. The old Polaroids don't hold up real well.

[Tkelly]

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.

[wymple]

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.

[Testarossa]

From 1973 to 82 I put thousands of touring miles on a cb500/4. No complaints!

[guzziart]

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.

[Lannis]

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

[Huzo]

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. 



virtual dice


Sorry for the picture quality. The old Polaroids don't hold up real well.

That would be a 500 Four, would it not..?

[wymple]

The CB500 was 73. The 1st 550 was 74.

[maquette]

That would be a 500 Four, would it not..?

No, it was a 550 four. Honda sold them from '74 to '78.

[Huzo]

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.

[JJ]

The very first overnight, weekend motorcycle trip I ever made was on a 1977 Yamaha RD400, blue, just like this one!  





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...

[Lannis]

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...

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

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

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.   

[Lannis]

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).   

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. 

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 ...

 

Lannis

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

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.

[JJ]

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?   (Getting old is NOT for the faint of heart!)

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!

[cliffrod]

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. 

[pressureangle]

https://photos.app.goo.gl/nkdjTdazaZ1zv1cU8

Got this one laying about in the shop. Title went missing, but can be had.

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

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.

[Lannis]

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.

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

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

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>  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. 

[Lannis]

You don't need to tell me. <guy who rides '69 V700 here> 

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

[mondtster]

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.

[SmithSwede]

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 . . .