Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125840
If a 250 4-valve is good, shoalda'i a 350 be bell...? This _ not a particularly easy exploit to accomplish. even off a diff. :Jbe weighty front end wanted to point down. Stock D.350 Photos by John Huetter, Larry Langley and John Ulrich Friedman: It sucked, but the powerband was alright, and, er... Schoonmaker: It's the most mediocre bike for doing everything. Ulrich: It seemed awful heavy but it sure went up hills good. Langely: Too ---ing heavy, but I almost won an enduro overall on it. Huetter: Sure vibrates a lot. Rafferty: I didn't ride it. Culp: It's not as good as the Triumph. Discounting the Limey freak who is known for occasional attacks of anglophilia, every body had the same reaction, i.e., a mixed one. They liked it OK, but... Usually, that "but" focused on the weight of the XL-350, a mo'sickle which is the logical outgrowth of Honda's irrationally successful XL-250 four-stroke single playbike. The 350 is, succinctly, more of everything that the 250 was. It has more power, more refined controls, more suspension, more torque, and more weight. It still has the key hidden under the tank. The 350 scales out around 315 pounds dry and it feels like over half of that weight is somewhere two inches above the fork crown when you're riding it off·road. True to the somewhat tenuous heritage of All Big Singles, the XL 350 vibrates: At low RPM, you sit there with all your extremities shuddering in 4/4 time. Part of the problem is break-in time. The Honda gets noticeably smoother as more miles accumulate on the odometer and smooths au t most anytime to a nice humm somewhere around redline. Running a fresh (less than 500 mi.) engine at redline is not a normally swell practice but it sure went smoother up there. Vibration does not, Pipe gets bashed up due to nonprotection of minimal skid plate but there is a small bypass built in next to the smashable section. Ah. but it would slide with the best of the heavy· weights. Trials tires helped this scene. by any stretch of the imagination, go away, however. It is right tiring in a long stint, on or off-road, and tends to put one or both hands to tingle-sleep. Trials tires? Well, OK, compromises continue but it seems like a 350, especially a heavy one, could stand a 3.50 on ,the front end. The stock front rubber is too narrow compounding the front end twitchiness in sand, between rocks, etc. While on the subject of "Things to do to your XL-350", take the pipe and remove it. Now, try and lift it. Grunt, strain. Not only that but it sure does collect dings since the bash plate doesn't do much except encourage bashes. It is a token protector. The pipe seems to have inherited some left·over SL-350 twin styling and performance characteristics, which it doesn't need. A better choice could even have been one of the tuck-in side pipes from Honda's street scrambler twins. Maybe make it look like an ole Goldstar and pick up some nostalgia sales. Well, that's just about what everybody didn't like about the XL 350. What was liked, even appreciated, was a stone reliable big bore motor with go-anywhere power and stop all the time braking power. Excellent wheels, hubs, and stoppers. It really did take a class win in an enduro in stock form, with the tum signals still on it. It makes seemingly impossible hills, the loose shale at a 60 degree angle kind, possible. And you never worry much about it breaking and leaving you stranded. Toward the end of the test period, one' of the exhaust pipe flange moun ling studs snapped off without being provoked. A couple of nuts also worked loose. That was the extent of the problems with it. The Honda rear shocks work acceptably well and might be very good with 50 or so fewer pounds bouncing up and down on them. Power gets to the ground pretty well even with a 4.00 profile trials tire. A larger knobby would help the rotary to forward motion transfer even more. The fron t forks work well on the street but seem overtaxed in off-road work. This is particularly noticeable because the fran t end just doesn't come up easily. It wants to stay quite heavy up there and make those XL forks work. They-almost make it. In sand, it gets pretty interesting. We suspect the pipe to be restrictive as that four-valve head, adequate displacement, and all the other run-strang-forever Honda goodies have the paten tial to do some heavy horsepower work. Carb response is not the best with the stock Keihin, either. It will stumble when rolled on hard before catching up. Electrics were Honda reliable as was the five speed gearbox which is ratio'd pretty well for an intended on and off the road life, Grips and pegs were better than usually found on trailbikes; more like c~mpetition itell)s. They sure tin I~, Low speed motor is good, but you remember the weight. 'though. Fenders are plastic a la XL-250 - semi-breakable. Handling is a function of its weight, apparently. The more you take off. the more it goes like an OK dirty machine and stops getting too top-heavy around 90 degree street comers. It is the right bike to ride out of the garage, down the street, and off on a trail through the woods or over the hills, if that kind of activity is available in your neighborhood. It will do this with more power, morc ease, and initially, more vibration than the XL·250. There is plenty of get lazy and forget the shifter torque in low and mid RPM ranges. If you plan to get more serious with it, it just won't make it without some changes, which we talk about some in the following articles. The motor is a real, live marvel. The en tire machine needs to have the design concept run through once more by all the engineers involved to get it right. We know you can do it, Honda. The motor's a giveaway. CeDe Cannady's Modified 350 Data and Photo By Larry Langley Motorcycle cop Gene Cannady took third overall in the 200 milll'plus 1973 Check Chase on an XL 35'0 Honda. Modifications to his machine were surprisingly few to account for one of the 'highest overall finishes by a four-stroke in recent memory. The stock Honda rear shocks were replaced with 13" Kanis carrying 88 lb. Girling springs. They are a half inch shorter than the regular shocks and bring the swingarrn more parallel to the ground while effectively raking the front end out just a tad. A Barum ISDT 6-ply tire, 4.75 size, went on the rear and a 3,50 X 21 Cheng Shin on the front. That helped a lot of things right away, like handling and power to the ground. The ligh ts and accompanying wiring went and the smallish front fender was replaced with a deep scoop sand deflector. Engine mods that Gene will admit to were virtually nil. He took the wire mesh out of the aircleaner box and drilled holes in the box to permit better breathing. The stock Keihin carb was retained, though. Gene used an XL 250 chain (which is lighter) and gas tank, since the latter holds a little more gas, surprisingly enough. The stock pipe and bash plate went. A Torque Engineering silenced pipe that wraps around the side resulted in a four horsepower increase over stock, which is no giant surprise if you've inspected the stock pipe. A big case protector was bolted on. Gene allowed as how it handled surprisingly well with no significant rear end hop despite the weight. He had only 200 miles on the engine at the beginning of the Check Chase and the XL was running better at the end of the race than when he started. This experience paralleled ours with the stock test bike, which improved noticeably with break-in. Given that Gene Cannady is one of the most competent, versatile off-road racers around, it stiD seems that the XL can give a decent account of itself and, with fairly standard modifications, work well as a desert sled. Now, as for motocross... # It looks pretty much like a regular 01' X L350 with the lights off and that's pretty much what it is.