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It cannot be proved., but I am sure the fairing must have contributed something towards the machines progress across the tarmac, not that it is any slur on its performance, merely that the fairing enables the engine to propel its load, along at something approaching its true potential, for a naked bike has about half the frontal area of a sports car, and. the Devil knows what increase in atmosphere drag. But who complains that a car of any kind is cheating by streamlining? More than streamlining even, in my table of advantages, it kept the weather from me. Much of the riding was over wet roads, but at no time did I wear leggings, or any wet weather gear, except for a light weight anorak. Both boots and gloves remained dry except for a quite acceptable slight damping. The screen was too low to keep the rain away from my eyes and head but my chest and stomach remained comfortable. Steering lock was unaffected. As were the foot controls on either side. The pre-focus light unit was attached to the fairing, behind, a nicely curved. Perspex nose which, as far as I could tell, made little difference to the headlamp beam. Indeed, it was somewhat better than the 250s which suffered. An over diffused beam, so I can only imagine that its bulb filament was poorly aligned. | It cannot be proved., but I am sure the fairing must have contributed something towards the machines progress across the tarmac, not that it is any slur on its performance, merely that the fairing enables the engine to propel its load, along at something approaching its true potential, for a naked bike has about half the frontal area of a sports car, and. the Devil knows what increase in atmosphere drag. But who complains that a car of any kind is cheating by streamlining? More than streamlining even, in my table of advantages, it kept the weather from me. Much of the riding was over wet roads, but at no time did I wear leggings, or any wet weather gear, except for a light weight anorak. Both boots and gloves remained dry except for a quite acceptable slight damping. The screen was too low to keep the rain away from my eyes and head but my chest and stomach remained comfortable. Steering lock was unaffected. As were the foot controls on either side. The pre-focus light unit was attached to the fairing, behind, a nicely curved. Perspex nose which, as far as I could tell, made little difference to the headlamp beam. Indeed, it was somewhat better than the 250s which suffered. An over diffused beam, so I can only imagine that its bulb filament was poorly aligned. | ||
Unlike the 250 1 have very little criticism over the road holding. On the small bike it was too hard., but on this one just right. It may well be that just the 10 pounds difference in machine weight makes the improvement, or maybe I was wearing heavier clothing on the 350, but whatever it was, this time I discovered no over sprung skittering out to the edge of a bumpy bend. Bend swinging was a delight, always. Firm light and. responsive, it gave me tremendous confidence. On second thought though, could it have been the | Unlike the 250 1 have very little criticism over the road holding. On the small bike it was too hard., but on this one just right. It may well be that just the 10 pounds difference in machine weight makes the improvement, or maybe I was wearing heavier clothing on the 350, but whatever it was, this time I discovered no over sprung skittering out to the edge of a bumpy bend. Bend swinging was a delight, always. Firm light and. responsive, it gave me tremendous confidence. On second thought though, could it have been the tires only that supplied the quality lacking on the 250? For on this model a pair of Avon’s had been fitted by Reads; the rear one a GP. If it was only the tires, then the Japanese have even more to learn about than previously imagined. | ||
Braking was superb as far as stopping the machine was concerned, but I would have felt much happier with less spongier units. Only a gentle squeeze on the handlebar lever and things stopped turning as suddenly as you could wish for, but without any feeling of sensitivity. Whilst stopping, it was possible to squeeze even harder and touch lever and bar together, but without any increase in braking power which, I must underline again, was very considerable indeed. Exactly where the sponginess came from, I could not tell. Once the shoes had touched the drum I could still see movement in the operating linkage, but as no flexing was visible in the anchor plate, and no more than is usual with cable controls in the cable outers, I confess to being puzzled. | Braking was superb as far as stopping the machine was concerned, but I would have felt much happier with less spongier units. Only a gentle squeeze on the handlebar lever and things stopped turning as suddenly as you could wish for, but without any feeling of sensitivity. Whilst stopping, it was possible to squeeze even harder and touch lever and bar together, but without any increase in braking power which, I must underline again, was very considerable indeed. Exactly where the sponginess came from, I could not tell. Once the shoes had touched the drum I could still see movement in the operating linkage, but as no flexing was visible in the anchor plate, and no more than is usual with cable controls in the cable outers, I confess to being puzzled. | ||