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Purchased this bike in 1976 for going to work transport when we were traveling around Aust. Eventually it became unreliable with loss of spark so I purchased the Cortina and parked the bike in the shed. Got it out the other day and after a Google search on the spark problems I found someone said the earth between the frame and motor corrodes so with a new earth it started on the second try. It needs pulling to pieces, frame painted,new chrome,tyres,chain,and brakes. Good job over the summer in the shed with the air-con going. Cheers John

You must have a pretty dry, clean atmosphere in that shed John. That bike looks to be in pretty good nick.
Should be a great project for you. Not sure that the handlebars are original. Everything else does though.

Neat.
Bernie.

No. The handlebars were on it when purchased but I have been told they are not original. It has been shifted around the place a bit and unfortunately it spent some time in a shed where apricot drying trays were stored. As the trays carry a lot of sulphur residue it put a lot of rust pits on the chrome.
Cheers

need a sidecar now John

need a sidecar now John

Bruce had a Honda 350 that he used to ride to work, sold it to his brother who used it to ride to Gosford station for years to travel to Waterloo in Sydney to work, Bruce always thought it had to much power for its’ weight.
First time out with Bruce was on the back of a Triumph Bonneville, no helmets in those days.

Dot wrote: ↑Thu Nov 02, 2023 10:48 pm need a sidecar now John

Now that's the go, I'm in the process of looking at sidecars, to fit my Honda VTX1800, which bought recently because we aren't playing at the moment, our drummer passed away the other week and no luck getting one so far. So have resigned myself to maybe not playing much again and a VTX came up for sale at a really good price, so bought it. Was so good to get back on a bike after a couple of decades, amazing acceleration from the VTX, but scrapes on hard corners so getting a chair for it as have 2 dogs and no kids to carry now. Just hope don't kill myself, already had the glean in the eye syndrome and rapped it on a few times scaring the hell out the pillions, but being a cruiser, don't have that racing feeling, just sit back relax and cruiser the highway.

Had a sidecar back in the 80's when my kids were young, we carried two kids and a big white German shepherd in the chair on a yammie FJ1100, beautiful outfit and real pleasure to ride. Loved taking novices on rides and lifting the chair for them round corners, making right hand turns at speed and doing 360 spins on wet roads just to give them a thrill. For some reason many didn't want to get in the chair again, wonder why

Nice looking 350 yammie you've got there John, good bike those and have seen some of a similar age advertised for more than double their new price on gumtree. Seems the younger set are getting into retro bike riding. I'd take the plugs out, pour a bit of oil down into the cylinders and turn it over a few times slowly before really firing it up to free rings etc. Sitting for a few years really dries them out and starting in that condition can scar the cylinder walls or crack rings if you're unlucky. Enjoy riding again, but you may need a bigger bike once you've sat in the saddle a few times.

The 350's were never popular in NSW, the rego tax went from under $100 yr to more than $300 yr over 250cc, so there was a great racket in putting the bigger barrels, pistons and heads on the 250 bottom end

There was a Yamaha Virago 250 V twin, complete with a towbar and a trailer, in the workshop, the fire didn't do it a lot of good, the trailer was outside but the plastic top/body part has melted ..... my hips, knees and licence won't tolerate me having another big, so if anyone wants the trailer, it's yours ....
After owning two Norton 750 Commando's and a very early model Honda Goldwing GL2000, the 4th one made according to the engine number, a 250 was never going to stir up the passion for getting cold and blown off the road by B double truck drivers, it just travelled over on the back of the truck and then sat there for 7 yrs ...... I did think about converting it to electric ... but that was a project that never happened

T1 Terry

John,

Good luck with the next restoration project!

We hope to visit sometime in Feb '24 to inspect progress.

T1,

There was a Yamaha Virago 250 V twin, complete with a towbar and a trailer, in the workshop, the fire didn't do it a lot of good, the trailer was outside but the plastic top/body part has melted ..... my hips, knees and licence won't tolerate me having another big, so if anyone wants the trailer, it's yours ....

Pics please Terry?