Honda CB350 H'ness

[pdedse]

Well this sure is a cutie...


I've likely mentioned that upon retirement, the Mrs. and I will be spending lengthy portions of each year in her native Costa Rica. I bought a Suzuki DR650 two years ago specifically to import to CR thinking it would be a great dual purpose bike to have there. Then I discovered the import tax on it would be around $4,500. Ouch. I started thinking maybe it would be better to use that money and simply buy something in CR and keep the DR650 Stateside. So I've been looking the last year for some possibilities.

Because the area where we will live has lots of rock-dirt-gravel roads, these two bikes are the front runners:

Honda XR150L at $3,300


The slighty larger Honda XR190CT at $3850


But then tonight I came across the Honda CB350 H'ness--it could be a kid brother to the CB1100:




I think it looks gorgeous! Wouldn't handle the jungle terrain like the others, but maybe I don't care!

I'm actually heading to CR in Jan of '25 to take a group of students from our college on a study abroad trip. I've done it 4 times before and I've either owned a Honda CGL125 or used a loaned Honda Tornado 250 as my transportation. So while I was planning on buying there when I retire, maybe I go ahead and buy now so I can use it for the upcoming trip and then it will be there for future trips.

Hmmm...What to do!?

[peterbaron]

I wouldn't want a single cylinder bike, regardless of its cc, a 350cc 2 cylinder would be fine for me.

[pdedse]

Ah, man! PB...you're gonna rain on my little Honda parade that quickly?! What's wrong with a single?

I wouldn't want a single cylinder bike, regardless of its cc, a 350cc 2 cylinder would be fine for me.

[the Ferret]

One would think the XR 150 would be plenty. I wouldn't want to ride the street-oriented CB350 on rough roads personally.

Never been to CR so don't know what speeds are generally ridden

[peterbaron]

Ah, man! PB...you're gonna rain on my little Honda parade that quickly?! What's wrong with a single?

I wouldn't want a single cylinder bike, regardless of its cc, a 350cc 2 cylinder would be fine for me.

I had a few single cylinder bikes as s teenage, so don’t want them any more

[pdedse]

One would think the XR 150 would be plenty. I wouldn't want to ride the street-oriented CB350 on rough roads personally.

Never been to CR so don't know what speeds are generally ridden

It would be; the 190 might have a little more grunt, comes with knobby tires, a rear rack and a 21" front rim vs. the 150's 19", so either would work well, but I'm leaning towards the 190.

One would think the XR 150 would be plenty. I wouldn't want to ride the street-oriented CB350 on rough roads personally.

Never been to CR so don't know what speeds are generally ridden

Not too fast. The main hiways have lots of traffic, 60mph is plenty fast. The main paved road I would travel most frequently is between San Isidro del General at 700m down to coastal Dominical. It's 35 kilometers of up and down constant hair-pin turns, lots of fun to ride, speeds at 15-45mph. Branch off either side of this two lane road and it's all unpaved, so the CB350 makes no real sense...but it's just neat looking!

We have a 1 kilometer unpaved road (earth and rock hard-packed) leading to our neighborhood...this is it:


That's my old CGL125 that I gave to the landscaper/guard in exchange for some work on our house. After 12 years in the jungle, it's still running strong, albeit rusted out some.

Ah, man! PB...you're gonna rain on my little Honda parade that quickly?! What's wrong with a single?

I wouldn't want a single cylinder bike, regardless of its cc, a 350cc 2 cylinder would be fine for me.

I had a few single cylinder bikes as s teenage, so don’t want them any more

But they would allow you to recover some of your youth! : )

[the Ferret]

190 sounds like a wise choice (didn't notice the 150 didn't have knobbies ..but they both have rear racks). A little extra grunt never hurts.

[pdedse]

i have an xr150l, it s great bike, the 200 cyl made it even better... but think im going to trade up to a new DR650S. If i were in your shoes, the 190 is the better choice if its available.

The 190 is likely the one; it's $600-700 more, but the extra umph is nice for passing when you ride along the coast where there are long straight sections.

A new DR650? I like mine well enough. Mine's a '23, the white one. Suzuki's color offerings have been the same the last few years: white w/ blue trim or black w/ orange. Are you leaning one way or another? If there ever was a bike that has aftermarket support of everything imagineable, it's the DR650. If you've been looking at them, you have probably come across procycle; if not, it's worth looking at:

https://procycle.us/

[Ollie]

Of the three I'd do the 190 for sure, but a 250-300cc would be even better on hills if they offer one.

[Cormanus]

I think you should have what you want, pdedse. You could always put knobbies on the CB350. Weight might be a consideration though.