My brother-in-law’s step dad just told me a story of how he rode from Colorado to Washington D.C. on a 1974 CB350F. I think that is just INCREDABLE!!!! How did that little engine power him on freeway speeds? How was that even bearable with the wind fatigue? Just the shear logistics of that little 347cc being able to do that with a 220lb man is blowing my mind.
Just some Specs for you:
34hp inline 4; 4 stroke
4 Carbs
Clamied Top speed of 94mph
393lbs DRY
Does anyone else have incredible stories to tell about them on their classic bike? No bikes from 1990 on please. . . . . . . . .
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Never Trade the Thrills of Living for the Security of Existence.
Two-upped with my first wife out of state on my '74 Yamaha RD350 (two stroke) fairly regularly. And don't forget luggage for the trips. Strapped a small suitcase on the back of the small sissy bar/backrest, and away we went.
We never saw it as a challenge....it was just fun!
I rode from San Jose to Santa Cruz on a 78 CB125S in the rain once. I had to down-shift to second to get up the big hills on Highway 17. The other people on the road were not impressed.
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Preschool - Kawasaki 100 enduro
Grade School - Honda CB 125
High School - Honda 400 Hawk
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I rode from Baltimore to Wyoming (crashed & repaired the bike in Illinois). Then I went hiking in the Beartooth mountains in Montana for a month. After that it was down to Colorado where I hung out for about a month living in a very rustic X-country ski lodge at the top of Red Mountain Pass. Then back to MD. This was all on a '75 CB750f - no windshield. So a little more power but same exposure as the little 350. This was probably somewhere around 1980.
My first road bike when I was 16 was a mid-70's CJ360. I had a lot of fun on that bike. It would have been about 10 years old at the time. It was a great little bike. I guess I could imagine touring around a bit on it when it was newer. It was all relative. For the most part, bikes didn't produce big power numbers, so there wasn't much to compare it like putting its 35 hp against anything on the road today. It was also a light bike for the day.
I rode from Baltimore to Wyoming (crashed & repaired the bike in Illinois). Then I went hiking in the Beartooth mountains in Montana for a month. After that it was down to Colorado where I hung out for about a month living in a very rustic X-country ski lodge at the top of Red Mountain Pass. Then back to MD. This was all on a '75 CB750f - no windshield. So a little more power but same exposure as the little 350. This was probably somewhere around 1980.
Ouray Is one of the most beautiful town we have in Colorado. The million Dollar Highway is also breath taking. I want to ride it this upcoming summer. Way to unpredictable weather in the fall, winter, spring to do it now.
WOW some 100cc doing some incredible things!!!! I just know my little GPz550 was a complete dog on the highway. She was meant for the twisties or the track. So it just boggles my mind that these 100 and 350 were just abused for touring.
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Never Trade the Thrills of Living for the Security of Existence.
Ouray Is one of the most beautiful town we have in Colorado. The million Dollar Highway is also breath taking. I want to ride it this upcoming summer. Way to unpredictable weather in the fall, winter, spring to do it now.
WOW some 100cc doing some incredible things!!!! I just know my little GPz550 was a complete dog on the highway. She was meant for the twisties or the track. So it just boggles my mind that these 100 and 350 were just abused for touring.
I love that whole area. We spent a week in Silverton back in August. Jeeping in the San Juans is a blast.
1976 my wife and I quit or jobs loaded up our bikes ( Raliegh Professional, Cinelli Supercorsa ) my Raliegh weighed 94lbs loaded. We headed west on North Ave out of Chicago, no route planned just get to California. Chicago, Denver, Phoenix, Las Vegas, LA and Monteray Bay, best vacation of my life nothing to do, nowhere to be, no time to be there. Less than one HP.
1976 my wife and I quit or jobs loaded up our bikes ( Raliegh Professional, Cinelli Supercorsa ) my Raliegh weighed 94lbs loaded. We headed west on North Ave out of Chicago, no route planned just get to California. Chicago, Denver, Phoenix, Las Vegas, LA and Monteray Bay, best vacation of my life nothing to do, nowhere to be, no time to be there. Less than one HP.
Rich
That had to be cool.
In 1974 during summer break from school I took my dad's CB550 Four all over the northern and western parts of the US. I was gone 2.5 months with nothing more than a sleeping bag and a gym bag strapped onto the back. Time of my life.
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My brother-in-law’s step dad just told me a story of how he rode from Colorado to Washington D.C. on a 1974 CB350F. I think that is just INCREDABLE!!!! How did that little engine power him on freeway speeds? How was that even bearable with the wind fatigue? Just the shear logistics of that little 347cc being able to do that with a 220lb man is blowing my mind.
Just some Specs for you:
34hp inline 4; 4 stroke
4 Carbs
Clamied Top speed of 94mph
393lbs DRY
Does anyone else have incredible stories to tell about them on their classic bike? No bikes from 1990 on please. . . . . . . . .
Granted i wasn't around in the 70s, but I'm pretty sure the speed limit on the highway was 55mph. Which a CB350f can comfortably run all day long. I'm looking forward to finishing the rebuild on my cl350 so I can take it on a semi-epic ride from Evansville, IN to Knoxville, TN all on back roads. Once I get her tuned and running right, I have no doubt the bike will handle it.
I read an article in CycleWorld once where they got a couple honda 305 hawks, and rode them cross country. They said the tires didn't like the heat in the dessert, but other than that the bike ran like, well... Hondas So I've got no doubt they cb350f would easily make a cross country ride.
I bought a CL 350 when I was 16, it could certainly hold road speed all day long.When I left the Army I was without car and drove that 350 all winter every day to work and back in six inches of snow sometimes.That machine seemed unbreakable and not effected by cold conditions, though I couldn't say the same for myself. Sometimes the thrill of the ride can overshadow the fatigue, I'm sure any long ride is possible on a smaller machine.
I bought a CL 350 when I was 16, it could certainly hold road speed all day long.When I left the Army I was without car and drove that 350 all winter every day to work and back in six inches of snow sometimes.That machine seemed unbreakable and not effected by cold conditions, though I couldn't say the same for myself. Sometimes the thrill of the ride can overshadow the fatigue, I'm sure any long ride is possible on a smaller machine.
I too had a CL350. It was a 1970, my Dad bought it new and in 1972 I bought it from him.
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Granted i wasn't around in the 70s, but I'm pretty sure the speed limit on the highway was 55mph. Which a CB350f can comfortably run all day long. I'm looking forward to finishing the rebuild on my cl350 so I can take it on a semi-epic ride from Evansville, IN to Knoxville, TN all on back roads. Once I get her tuned and running right, I have no doubt the bike will handle it.
I read an article in CycleWorld once where they got a couple honda 305 hawks, and rode them cross country. They said the tires didn't like the heat in the dessert, but other than that the bike ran like, well... Hondas So I've got no doubt they cb350f would easily make a cross country ride.
Yeah 55Mph was the national speed limit enacted in the mid-'70's lasted for 20 till 1995. I know for a fact that Colorado was 75mph in 1993 when I moved here and was 65mph in Kansas and Texas. So not sure if that 55mph was set through all the states he drove through or not. But more than likely it was.
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Never Trade the Thrills of Living for the Security of Existence.
Mostly various "roads" north of Silverton, all around Eureka, Animas Forks, parts of the Alpine Loop. Most of them are called something gulch, like Picayune Gulch, for instance. We also went over Imogene Pass to Telluride, then came back over Ophir pass. That's a pretty full day.
1974? cb175 put 8k miles on it (first street bike when i was 15-16) in 1 summer, always following a friend on a 98 magna 750 learned alot, like you cant pass cars or semi trucks like he can or dont ride to highest point in the NE (mt washington) on it cuz on the way down it will flood itself to death and takes about 2 miles to start running right. o and that was about 8 yrs ago.... come along ways
In 94 or 95, a friend of mine bet me I wouldnt ride a CSR305 that had been in the garage as long as I can remember from Ann Arbor, Michigan to Norwalk Raceway Park in Norwalk Ohio... Had the needle bouncing off the redline the whole way there and all the way back into the wind the next day...That'll never happen again!
When I was nineteen, which was in 1978, I had an older friend who had a 1973 CB350F that she no longer rode. (had something to do with a divorce) She loaned me the bike and it was my first real street riding experience in which I wasn't riding pillion. I put several hundred miles on that little bike, mostly on two lane highways, cruising between 55 and 60 mph. I remember it being a really competent bike and I felt like I could have ridden it anywhere.
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To follow up on this thread of traveling long distances on small bikes. In the spring of 1984, I acquired a 1977 Yamaha XS400 that was in really nice shape. I put 20,000 miles on that bike in a year's time. It was very dependable and cruised at any speed that I cared to go. I took good care of it, but I rode it awfully hard at times. I took countless trips on it carrying what I needed in a small duffle bag strapped to the seat behind me. I remember once stopping at a highway rest stop to take a leak and listening to a couple of guys that had just swaggered in off of their Harleys. They were both complaining of sore butts and one proclaimed how he had just ridden over 60 miles! I almost laughed out loud as I had already been over 350 miles that day and had another 50 or so before I got home that night. I chose to be quiet and not engage them. I still had riding to do and my butt was still doing okay.
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So I've got no doubt they cb350f would easily make a cross country ride.
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