Why would somebody do this to a perfectly good 350/Four?

[Paul Pless]

[Mrleft8]

What's the problem, Slim?..... Doesn't appeal to your juvenile, testosterone driven sense of style?

[Paul Pless]

I don't think there's a such thing as any 350CC Honda that appeals to my testosterone driven side.

But this is a classic bike, and that windjammer is an abomination. I almost feel like buying it just to return it to its former iteration. . .

[Dan McCosh]

Looks comfortable and functional. A friend of mine had an RFD post office box bolted to the back of his BMW, where he carried his lunch on the way to work. The red flag folded down at speed.

[Gerarddm]

LOL, Dan.

[Dan McCosh]

Did I mention he was Canadian?

[BrianW]

Man. You guys and these motorcycle threads.

Always making me want to buy one.

[Norman Bernstein]

I once went from Boston to NY on the back of a Honda 350/4.... the guy who owned it was a little guy, and he said he needed the ballast

I agree, definately a classic bike.... and the fairing in the photo is truly awful... but ,hey, to each, his own.

Meanwhile, since we're talking motorcycles, how about this one:



350 cu in V8, 295 HP.... and it's a production bike! Around $40,000, before options:

http://www.bosshoss.com/view_bike.asp?x=BHC3LS300

[MiddleAgesMan]

For comfort? (relative, of course)

[Phillip Allen]

I don't think there's a such thing as any 350CC Honda that appeals to my testosterone driven side.

But this is a classic bike, and that windjammer is an abomination. I almost feel like buying it just to return it to its former iteration. . .

sorta like requiring a bicyclist to wear a helmet?

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

I don't think there's a such thing as any 350CC Honda that appeals to my testosterone driven side.

But this is a classic bike, and that windjammer is an abomination. I almost feel like buying it just to return it to its former iteration. . .

That's the wrong exhaust.

[Bob Adams]

I once went from Boston to NY on the back of a Honda 350/4.... the guy who owned it was a little guy, and he said he needed the ballast

I agree, definately a classic bike.... and the fairing in the photo is truly awful... but ,hey, to each, his own.

Meanwhile, since we're talking motorcycles, how about this one:



350 cu in V8, 295 HP.... and it's a production bike! Around $40,000, before options:

http://www.bosshoss.com/view_bike.asp?x=BHC3LS300

Or ya could build yer own:

[Old Dryfoot]

sorta like requiring a bicyclist to wear a helmet?

bark, bark, bark.... grrrrr, grrrrrr....


Still not done with that bone Phillip?

[Ted Hoppe]

Wish I had that fairing on Saturday instead of my bikini fairing. I had enjoyed a spirited ride through the wine country countryside after attending a co-workers memorial. As I was getting on the onramp to the freeway on a this beautiful warm day in town of Sonoma which had been moderately stop and go. My full face helmet polorized face sheild had been up to cool my face. Once "free" I accelerated to freeway speed without putting the shield back to full down. that's when a dark blob with wings turned into the bikes path. Just as I recognized it as a big insect, the yellow and black carpenter bee decided to collide with my face. It hit my eye lid as I flinched.. Luckily it didn't get a chance to sting but it nearly knocked me out with its girth and special built purpose. so yeah, a fairing like that does have advantages. Like norm said, to each his own. for that moment, it might have been a good thing to own.

[Cuyahoga Chuck]

Who knows? maybe "this' is better than "that". Myself, I like "the other thing". How about you?

[Concordia 33]

I don't think there's a such thing as any 350CC Honda that appeals to my testosterone driven side.

But this is a classic bike, and that windjammer is an abomination. I almost feel like buying it just to return it to its former iteration. . .

I don't think any bike under 650 should have a windjammer.

[Chris Coose]

I've never seen a bike windshield stuck up like a catboat mast. Gastly without some rake to it.

[Nicholas Carey]

I'd complain more about the ugly straight exhaust than the fairing. The fairing isn't great, either — the windscreen is way too vertical, spoiling the lines. But that's one ugly exhaust.

[Lew Barrett]

"Windjammer" was Craig Vetter's trade name and they were well engineered goods, frame mounted and considerably better integrated than the turd on that 350, however archaic it (the real deal) might seem to us today. Vetter started a minor revolution with his designs and although they never appealed to me, you can, in large measure, thank him for popularizing the integrated full coverage frame mounted fairings touring riders take for granted these days as standard issue.

Please, let us call the device in the photo what it actually is......a turdsail! It cannot aid the handling of the machine in question one bit. Lousy looking piece of kit; that's a turdsail, not a Windjammer.

[Keith Wilson]

Oh I dunno - the ugly fairing is easily removable. I'll forgive him. He could have made it into a chopper.

[Lew Barrett]

"He" whoever "he" is did what came naturally to him and built or procured what is likely a poor excuse of a windshield, but I don't hold it against him. He was clever enough to fabricate it (I think it's home-made). However, calling it a Windjammer adds insult to injury! Windjammers are frame mounted.

Added: so I guess you could say I'm with Paul on this one.....

[pipefitter]

The exhaust looks like parts of expansion chambers from a Yamaha RD or from some other 2 stroke. It is certainly some older man who rebuilt the bike. You can bet he has about every screw and nail imaginable, suspended in baby food jars above his work bench.

A friend of mine's father bought his Honda 750 SS from him so that his son could buy a car and pay off his tickets. First thing he did was take the rear of the header off and put a car muffler on it. The bike never made more than 35 mph from that day on, from his home to the pub less than a mile away each day. I should also add that his father bought Rhinegold beer by the case, to better show the inner workings of someone who would bastardize a machine in such a way.

[The Bigfella]

I had a windjammer style fairing on my K1 750cc Honda four. I used to ride it through the mountains at night in the winter (to my now wife's place... a round trip of about 600km each weekend). I much preferred the bikini fairing on my R90S, which replaced the Honda.... although I had to add what is now known as Hippo Hands to stop my hands from freezing - even with three layers of gloves (silk inners, fur-lined mittens, Belstaff over-mitts). My electric vest and gloves do a much better job than any of that stuff these days. Worst ride ever was through the mountains with falling snow for 80km.... I could barely discern the path to follow, certainly no idea where the edge of the road was.... just a field of white.

Back to the windjammer... I got blown sideways off the road one night, at speed. They were dangerous damn things in a crosswind.

[Lew Barrett]

Winjammers were heir to many issues;
1. They were owner installed.
2. One size fit all.
3. Not all machines that got them were suitable for them.

They were still the advanced touring solution for their moment. Best applications were machines like Goldwings, for which they were intended. Like I said, I never much cared for them, but however well or poorly it worked (for you or others), they were miles ahead of the handlebar mount fairings that preceded them. You'd see silly things like Windjammers on Honda 550s and 750s and or Z1s. and just as such a big fairing would not be welcome on a sporting machine today, neither were they a good solution for the sporting machines of their own era.

Motorcycle (aero)dynamics are difficult (to say the least) to get right with bolt on accessories of the size of a Windjammer.

[Gerarddm]

Charlie Perethian at Parabellum worked for Vetter and still produces a line of wind efficient windshields/fairings today. They look better than that thing.

[Lew Barrett]

I had a Parabellum screen on my K1200RS and it worked very well.

[Ted Hoppe]

I had a Parabellum screen on my K1200RS and it worked very well.

Now that is a starship with a sensible sporty fairing. Thought about giving up sailing for a summer to ride a machine like that coast to coast.

[Lew Barrett]

I shouldn't have sold it. Slow turn in (and heavy feeling steering in rapid transitions) was it's only real down side but it made me think I could do better with something else. I was mistaken. Perfect long distance bus, smooth, stable and very comfortable. Sale was a bad call.

[Paul Pless]

I shouldn't have . . .

Let's see the KZ scans!!!

[Ted Hoppe]

OK how about a bike with a fairing that can go places... and with three wheels it ain't no car.

[Lew Barrett]

Let's see the KZ scans!!!

Z1 Scans (When the king summons, you deliver.......)



'75 Z1 bought new. Has the obligatory Kerker pipe and Koni shocks, Dunlop K81s. The thing dominated me, was awfully hard to ride fast and I couldn't imagine anything being more powerful (at the time). Twenty five years late I would buy a bike off the floor with 60% more horsepower, one third less weight a far superior frame, but it didn't scare me half as much. Of course, by that time, I had done my best to make up for the weight difference. In this photo, taken on Sanchez St in San Francisco, I am seen at my prime in hunting trim. The bike is probably less than 6 or 8 weeks old as it doesn't have the clubman bars I fitted a bit later.

[The Bigfella]

Great photo Lew

[Lew Barrett]

Thanks Ian. It does bring back memories.

The lady who took it....her name was Yoni, (yes, it was) ....was most attractive but she made clear that we were strictly friends. She was a professional photographer. I modeled for her a few times and she took some pictures of me that remain favorites to this day. This photo was taken on the fly if I recall. She gave me a really nice 8X10 mounted print which has followed me around all these years since. I mentioned to Brother Paul that we should do a "Those were the days" thread where everyone kicks in a picture taken of what they think of as their happy times (youth). This one would probably be mine.

[purri]

^and your nickname was lingam? (sorry, couldn't help it...)