Honda GB350

[Kev250R]

the ktm I had i loved and I bought it new in '15 when they came out. My point is its very hit and miss with the factories over there. they aren't there yet as a whole, sorry. some peopel absolutely love shopping at wal-mart. same thing IMHO. Hit and miss but usually not stuff i want to waste my money on.

My Duke is a '21 so perhaps quality has improved? Or maybe I got the special one LOL! Re-sale value and demand seems to have stayed steady as well. Once a week I work at a local Military Base and Duke's are pretty popular models there (HD, Honda, KTM are the top-three makes of bikes I see there). At least in my area, KTM's aren't considered to be 'bargain bikes'.

I don't have a problem with Walmart, though I get most of my home goods from Amazon. When I do go to Walmart I'm generally more entertained by the people I see then I am with the products. Then again I was also a fan of K-Mart too

 

[Kev250R]

As an owner of a Russian motorcycle, I really don't have an issue with where a bike is made or whether it has a sketchy history of reliability.

I hear you! I regualry travel in a 55 year-old air cooled VW. 'Reliable' is not the first word which comes to mind when talking about that car, though the stories I have about the places and causes of various break-down's (and fixes) I've had over the past 22 years with that car could probably fill a book LOL!

 

[Kev250R]

If they made them better as a whole, i wouldn't either. Not a race/political/nationality thing, just what I've seen 1st hand. I've also seen a brand new ural blow the transmission right out of it about 8 years ago going from the dealership (where my ex wife worked) to the show we were going to. that being said.. the BMW's had the highest rate of warranty repairs out of any of the brands they carried there, so.... Id never own a new one of those either. reverse aspect: over engineered.

~25 Years ago I was dating a girl who bought a brand-new Toyota Corolla (I like the exciting ones LOL). A day later the Auto Trans died. Dealer towed it, gave her a loaner, repaired it and she drove it flawlessly for another couple of years until she decided she wanted something different. My point is even mnufacturers known for exceptional quality (such as Toyota) can have flukes. It happens; I choose not to dwell on them and keep an open mind. Plus things do change over time, IMO generally for the better. YMMV

 

[oldskool]

~25 Years ago I was dating a girl who bought a brand-new Toyota Corolla (I like the exciting ones LOL). A day later the Auto Trans died. Dealer towed it, gave her a loaner, repaired it and she drove it flawlessly for another couple of years until she decided she wanted something different. My point is even mnufacturers known for exceptional quality (such as Toyota) can have flukes. It happens; I choose not to dwell on them and keep an open mind. Plus things do change over time, IMO generally for the better. YMMV

True but it's a bit shortsighted to gloss over 100 failures from brand X because of the one failure from a builder of better machines. You pay your money you take your chances just enter the arena with open eyes.

 

[m in sc]

i'm not referring to flukes, I know they all have them. As said, i look at it from an engineering/industrial/mfg stds point of view.. which is what i do for a living. If qc in a country is being overseen correctly, that's one thing. KTM uses unique designs for their production. However, tier suppliers are a big part of the problem, if not the biggest. therein lies the biggest point of failures on these types of vehicles. The 1st KTMs for example, would blow the blades off the fans, and that issue persisted a few years. the 1st thing i did to mine was fit an spal fan, not something i should have to do on a new off the showroom bike.

 

[G19Tony]

If Honda brought that bike the US, I would buy one. Reminds me of my CB350R. But I probably wouldn’t have to push the new Honda home because of electrical faults.

 

[m in sc]

if they are using the same electrical supplier RE does, I wouldn't bet against it happening. they are plagued with electrical issues.

 

[Kev250R]

i'm not referring to flukes, I know they all have them. As said, i look at it from an engineering/industrial/mfg stds point of view.. which is what i do for a living. If qc in a country is being overseen correctly, that's one thing. KTM uses unique designs for their production. However, tier suppliers are a big part of the problem, if not the biggest. therein lies the biggest point of failures on these types of vehicles. The 1st KTMs for example, would blow the blades off the fans, and that issue persisted a few years. the 1st thing i did to mine was fit an spal fan, not something i should have to do on a new off the showroom bike.

My point is that perhaps their QC has improved since their first run of bikes. FWIW The fan runs pretty frequently on my Duke; I've yet to loose any blades.

A new CB350 would fit nicely in my fleet. If Honda brought it here I would likely buy one too...but not the first year they brought them here LOL!

 

[m in sc]

oh it did by the second year, the fan issue. at least for exported ones.



On the RE front: I really wanted to buy one (650 int) and like the way they looked and the idea... and joined the group a few yrs ago to see what the owner experience was like. All I can say is: best of luck since i'm pretty sure that 'honda' is coming out of the same place that builds the enfields. My 50 year old bikes are, (seriously) more reliable.

here's 2 examples from just this week, and there are many, many more on a daily basis.

 

[Kev250R]

True but it's a bit shortsighted to gloss over 100 failures from brand X because of the one failure from a builder of better machines. You pay your money you take your chances just enter the arena with open eyes.

I agree *if* there is a documented history of failures. But I think it's a bit short-sighted at best and racist at worst to take a brand or model off your list based soely on where it's made. This isn't a debate which is exclusive to motorcycles. If you want some entertainment, do a search over on one of the Tacoma forums and you'll see thread after thread of people 1) Asking how to make sure they get a Tacoma which was built in Texas as opposed to at one of Toyota's plants in Mexico (buy a Pro or a M/T) 2) Just found-out that their Tacoma was built in Mexico instead of Texas and are now freaking-out 3) People who are worried about the resale or long-term reliabilty of thier Mexico-built Tacoma. Those threads amuse me (and not just because my Tacoma was built in Texas LOL). We live in a world where parts are literally made all over the globe and then assembled wherever. Buying the first-year of any new, or significantly re-designed vehicle is always a risk, which why there isn't a new Land Cruiser parked in front of my house.

Last week I bought a new fuel pump for one of my classic cars which was made in Slovenia so it's safe to say I practice what I preach LOL!

 

[Kev250R]

oh it did by the second year, the fan issue. at least for exported ones.



On the RE front: I really wanted to buy one (650 int) and like the way they looked and the idea... and joined the group a few yrs ago to see what the owner experience was like. All I can say is: best of luck since i'm pretty sure that 'honda' is coming out of the same place that builds the enfields. My 50 year old bikes are, (seriously) more reliable.

here's 2 examples from just this week, and there are many, many more on a daily basis.

So don't buy one. But I don't think it's fair to categorize every bike, made by different manufactures in a given country as being inherently problematic.

Always good to remember that most people only turn to a forum or group when they're having problems with a given product. For example, I've never gone onto a forum or FB Group for my make of coffee maker (though I'm sure there is one) and professed how well mine works, though I'm sure if I tried I could find a group where people complain about how inferior a product Mr. Coffee has become since they moved manufacturing from X to Y And then lament that the Mr. Coffee Maker's, which were made in Wisconsin in 1973 and sold out of the back of a van are superior to the ones they sell at Walmart (where I got mine) are now. Actually I may need to look into that as I'm sure that could be an entertaining read LOL!

I've said my peace and am done posting on this topic. Bottom-line, ride whatever you think is best for your circumstance. Do your homework ahead of time. Buy it, enjoy it and don't worry about what language the break room rules was written in whatever factory your bike (or coffee maker) was made. Tonight I'm taking my India-built KTM on a ~80 mile ride after work (because my Austrian-built KTM isn't working right now). Wish me luck!

 

[oldskool]

I agree *if* there is a documented history of failures. But I think it's a bit short-sighted at best and racist at worst to take a brand or model off your list based soely on where it's made. This isn't a debate which is exclusive to motorcycles. If you want some entertainment, do a search over on one of the Tacoma forums and you'll see thread after thread of people 1) Asking how to make sure they get a Tacoma which was built in Texas as opposed to at one of Toyota's plants in Mexico (buy a Pro or a M/T) 2) Just found-out that their Tacoma was built in Mexico instead of Texas and are now freaking-out 3) People who are worried about the resale or long-term reliabilty of thier Mexico-built Tacoma. Those threads amuse me (and not just because my Tacoma was built in Texas LOL). We live in a world where parts are literally made all over the globe and then assembled wherever. Buying the first-year of any new, or significantly re-designed vehicle is always a risk, which why there isn't a new Land Cruiser parked in front of my house.

Last week I bought a new fuel pump for one of my classic cars which was made in Slovenia so it's safe to say I practice what I preach LOL!

Racist really Guess I hate Americans because I prefer a Toyota made in Japan or a GM truck made in Canada over one made here? I am not wealthy enough to let "virtue signalling" have any role on how I spend my money. I do my research and spend my money where I get the best product period.

 

[m in sc]

I gave my reasons, you want to make seem like it's based on emotional factors. Lame. So here my reasons for my statements:

I've been doing this for over 12 years, as a manufacturing engineer by trade/QC manager/design engineer.. for a living, which included travelling around the world (literally) to look at manufacturing processes that meet a companies quality requirements, assessing qc controls, methods, ISO, IRIS, and US military requirements, ISO 9001 compliance (and a whole fucking lot of acronyms I won't bother to get into) to put things onto production and source suppliers, Including the MVI sector.

This absolutely includes Mfg in: India, China, Taiwan, Mexico, Canada, and almost every state in the US and Italy, Sweden, the UK, Germany, etc.

When I ran the service/install division of CP/Desoutter my service group territory was literally, from the North Canada down to the Panama canal, with MVI being the largest sector. We also sourced and supported all the territories I mentioned above. These industries included Rail, Defense, and every type of industry where assembly of products that used automation fastening were implemented. Prior to being there, I worked in a private Military vehicle development environment (defense venture group), and before that, the rail industry (Dellner Couplers) . All doing basically the same thing responsibility wise.

But wtf do I know about global manufacturing.

And the elusion to being racist, especially to ME, is ludicrous, especially since my father is an immigrant and my mother (was) a 2nd gen us citizen if for no other reason.

If anyone thinks there aren't specific attributes and practices per country for mfg, it literally shows how ignorant they truly are about the process.

I'm glad you like your Toyota.

 

[dmonkey]

One of the new models Honda displayed at the various motorcycle shows in Japan earlier this month is the GB350 C, Classic.

【速報】新型『GB350 C』や『CB1000 HORNET』など日本初公開バイクが7台も!? 大阪・東京・名古屋『モーターサイクルショー』Hondaブースはココに注目！

hondago--bikerental-jp.translate.goog

Personally the regular model appeals to me more than this new Classic version.

 

[m in sc]

would look a lot better with spoked rims IMHO.

 

[BaldRider]

It looks like an RE350. Or maybe its just the color.