Added another CB to the family

[gary_imp]

We have been having some spectacular weather up here in the northwest, sorry east coast... and the wife has been dropping hints that she is getting a little annoyed with the 1975 CB360 being on the lift more than under her butt. It is getting quite long in the tooth and I admit I have not kept up on things like wheel bearings and bushings like I should.

So she let me think that I had made a decision, we were going to get her a new bike! She is a petite lady at 5' 3.4352" and doesn't have a whole lot of confidence yet. So she started looking at the Yamaha SR400, great looking bike. So I went to test ride it with her, did you know these are kick start only while being EFI? Well did you also know they they aren't easy to kick start, meaning she couldn't do it. In fact the salesman had a hard time and it took me two kicks. Not acceptable imo for a 2014 model bike. So we moved on, she isn't a huge fan of the styling most street bikes have these days, so it took a while but we came back around to a 2015 CB300F. It ticked all the boxes but the old school standard look she likes. We rode most of the day today and the smile that seems to be a permanent fixture to her face tells me that we made the right choice.

 

[ChipBeck_imp]

Good for you Gary. That's excellent.

Chip

 

[furious_blue_imp]

That's great ! In the photo it looks like she's bonding with the bike, like how one might with a horse
It's funny, I have often mused about how my CBR250R is like a 'modern CB350'..
And she went from CB360 to CB300 so I guess the CB300 is like a modern CB360 !

 

[the Ferret]

Great bike. Wise choice.

 

[flynrider]

We have been having some spectacular weather up here in the northwest, sorry east coast... and the wife has been dropping hints that she is getting a little annoyed with the 1975 CB360 being on the lift more than under her butt. It is getting quite long in the tooth and I admit I have not kept up on things like wheel bearings and bushings like I should.

So she let me think that I had made a decision, we were going to get her a new bike! She is a petite lady at 5' 3.4352" and doesn't have a whole lot of confidence yet. So she started looking at the Yamaha SR400, great looking bike. So I went to test ride it with her, did you know these are kick start only while being EFI? Well did you also know they they aren't easy to kick start, meaning she couldn't do it. In fact the salesman had a hard time and it took me two kicks. Not acceptable imo for a 2014 model bike. So we moved on, she isn't a huge fan of the styling most street bikes have these days, so it took a while but we came back around to a 2015 CB300F. It ticked all the boxes but the old school standard look she likes. We rode most of the day today and the smile that seems to be a permanent fixture to her face tells me that we made the right choice.

Ever since I first heard about the SR400, I'd wondered about this. With computer controlled fuel and ignition systems, it usually takes a few revolutions of the engine to get all the sensors responding and atomized fuel being injected into the cylinder. A well tuned carbed bike will generally start on the first kick, since the fuel system is always primed.

I noticed this when I got the CB11. After 17 years of starting my carbed CB750 it would always catch on the first revolution. I get a lot of missed starts on the CB11 because I let go of the button too early.

Good job on the new bike, Gary! Looks like the CB300 is a great fit and an excellent replacement for the old CB360. I bet your wife will be doing a lot more riding now.

 

[hb9400_imp]

Congrats!

 

[Cormanus]

Congratulations Gary and Mrs Gary. Nice looking bike. Pity you don't get the CB400 in the USA. It would have been a good choice too.

 

[NightRider_imp]

That bike is great according to the reviews I have seen on youtube.

 

[metallyguitarded_imp]

By the looks of it, your wife just made the "You Must Be This Tall to Ride" requirement. The literature supporting the CB300F indicates recommended rider height of at least 5'3.4".

Congrats to the both of you! It looks like a really fun bike.

 

[treytexag_imp]

Very cool. This has prompted me to "initiate" friendly discussions (attempted persuasive explanations from me (really)), on why it would be fun for my wife to have a bike of her own. So we could ride together. . . .

Report back on how she likes the CB300 after she has some miles on it - I'd love to hear what she thinks.

 

[ClassicVW_imp]

Good choice, lots of luck with it! Another instance where the not available in the U.S. CB400 would probably be perfect.

That Yamaha has a very fiddly starting procedure that gets annoying really fast according to all reviews. In addition to the kick starter, there's a sight glass on the cylinder head to assist you in finding the best position for compression, and a decompression lever on the left handlebar! Who the heck wants to deal with all that in 2015 when you're just running a few errands around town and stopping and starting a half dozen times? And it was worst in stopping distance in the tests.

 

[CB4ME_imp]

Great bike offered at a great price and perfect for you lovely wife. Thanks for sharing and may you an the missus have many a safe and pleasurable rides together.

 

[gary_imp]

Good choice, lots of luck with it! Another instance where the not available in the U.S. CB400 would probably be perfect.

That Yamaha has a very fiddly starting procedure that gets annoying really fast according to all reviews. In addition to the kick starter, there's a sight glass on the cylinder head to assist you in finding the best position for compression, and a decompression lever on the left handlebar! Who the heck wants to deal with all that in 2015 when you're just running a few errands around town and stopping and starting a half dozen times? And it was worst in stopping distance in the tests.

Not only that but I believe that because it is EFI and needs to fire the fuel injector it takes a fairly strong kick to get it to fire. It's quite silly.

Thanks for all the support, she reads this and gets a kick out of the replies. She put about 80 miles on it today and did great! The weather her has been just amazing, so many bikes on the road.

However, the bike sprung a small leak under a cover.

I tried a little torque on the inspection cover but it is solid. I am hoping it is as simple as a faulty o-ring. I will be letting the dealer know when they open on Tuesday.

 

[JustPassinThru_imp]

Good choice, lots of luck with it! Another instance where the not available in the U.S. CB400 would probably be perfect.

That Yamaha has a very fiddly starting procedure that gets annoying really fast according to all reviews. In addition to the kick starter, there's a sight glass on the cylinder head to assist you in finding the best position for compression, and a decompression lever on the left handlebar! Who the heck wants to deal with all that in 2015 when you're just running a few errands around town and stopping and starting a half dozen times? And it was worst in stopping distance in the tests.

I wonder how much of that was to re-create the original SR 500? Because that was EXACTLY how those 1979-81 bikes started. Use the compression release, a grip handle on the top of the handlebars, to take the compression off as you slow-rolled the engine just PAST compression. That was why the window on the camshaft.

You had to then SLAM down the kick starter and inertia would roll it through the next compression cycle. And fire. You HOPED.

Try doing that after you stall it starting at a light.

And there was NO getting around it. If you just slammed the kick-starter down against engine compression, you would bounce back up and maybe fall over, if you were straddling it. It was, IIRC, 10:1 compression and the kickstarter was geared for speed, not leverage.

When I looked at the SR 400, I didn't start it but the salesman did. He said it was a simple thing BECAUSE OF the FI. But you're right...car engine or anything, you have to spin a FI engine a bit longer to get it to start. I never thought about the feedback loop getting set up...

 

[ClassicVW_imp]

If they did all that just to recreate the fiddly original, then they went waay too far retro! Now that you mention it, I recall a bike review saying the same thing- "What if you stall it at a light that just turned green?"
I say you'd probably get run over here in Joisey.

 

[DGShannon_imp]

Good choice, lots of luck with it! Another instance where the not available in the U.S. CB400 would probably be perfect.

That Yamaha has a very fiddly starting procedure that gets annoying really fast according to all reviews. In addition to the kick starter, there's a sight glass on the cylinder head to assist you in finding the best position for compression, and a decompression lever on the left handlebar! Who the heck wants to deal with all that in 2015 when you're just running a few errands around town and stopping and starting a half dozen times? And it was worst in stopping distance in the tests.

Not only that but I believe that because it is EFI and needs to fire the fuel injector it takes a fairly strong kick to get it to fire. It's quite silly.

Thanks for all the support, she reads this and gets a kick out of the replies. She put about 80 miles on it today and did great! The weather her has been just amazing, so many bikes on the road.

However, the bike sprung a small leak under a cover.

I tried a little torque on the inspection cover but it is solid. I am hoping it is as simple as a faulty o-ring. I will be letting the dealer know when they open on Tuesday.

It may well be the other way round. One of the first (actually only) fuel injected kickstart bikes I have experience with is the Montesa 4RT which is a Honda, also marketed as the Honda RTL in Japan.

It is interesting in that it has no battery, but yet fuel injection needs some electric power. (long story, but it uses some capacitor discharge). At an rate, you would think that it would really require a strong kick. But, if you treat it that way you will never start it. If you rest your foot on the kickstart, and just easily push through the stroke, it will start right up easy as pie. That, and it is best if you just keep your hand off the throttle, as you MUST NOT give it any. Many new owners cuss the bike having one heck of a time starting it. Yet, owners that have learned the tricks make it look kindergarten simple. I would imagine that the Yamaha has it's own set of tricks that, once learned, would make it a non issue. But, aggressively kicking at it, as is the tendency of most to do with a bike that won't start, is very likely not the solution.

 

[gary_imp]

Good choice, lots of luck with it! Another instance where the not available in the U.S. CB400 would probably be perfect.

That Yamaha has a very fiddly starting procedure that gets annoying really fast according to all reviews. In addition to the kick starter, there's a sight glass on the cylinder head to assist you in finding the best position for compression, and a decompression lever on the left handlebar! Who the heck wants to deal with all that in 2015 when you're just running a few errands around town and stopping and starting a half dozen times? And it was worst in stopping distance in the tests.

Not only that but I believe that because it is EFI and needs to fire the fuel injector it takes a fairly strong kick to get it to fire. It's quite silly.

Thanks for all the support, she reads this and gets a kick out of the replies. She put about 80 miles on it today and did great! The weather her has been just amazing, so many bikes on the road.

However, the bike sprung a small leak under a cover.

I tried a little torque on the inspection cover but it is solid. I am hoping it is as simple as a faulty o-ring. I will be letting the dealer know when they open on Tuesday.

It may well be the other way round. One of the first (actually only) fuel injected kickstart bikes I have experience with is the Montesa 4RT which is a Honda, also marketed as the Honda RTL in Japan.

It is interesting in that it has no battery, but yet fuel injection needs some electric power. (long story, but it uses some capacitor discharge). At an rate, you would think that it would really require a strong kick. But, if you treat it that way you will never start it. If you rest your foot on the kickstart, and just easily push through the stroke, it will start right up easy as pie. That, and it is best if you just keep your hand off the throttle, as you MUST NOT give it any. Many new owners cuss the bike having one heck of a time starting it. Yet, owners that have learned the tricks make it look kindergarten simple. I would imagine that the Yamaha has it's own set of tricks that, once learned, would make it a non issue. But, aggressively kicking at it, as is the tendency of most to do with a bike that won't start, is very likely not the solution.

It may well be the other way round. One of the first (actually only) fuel injected kickstart bikes I have experience with is the Montesa 4RT which is a Honda, also marketed as the Honda RTL in Japan.

It is interesting in that it has no battery, but yet fuel injection needs some electric power. (long story, but it uses some capacitor discharge). At an rate, you would think that it would really require a strong kick. But, if you treat it that way you will never start it. If you rest your foot on the kickstart, and just easily push through the stroke, it will start right up easy as pie. That, and it is best if you just keep your hand off the throttle, as you MUST NOT give it any. Many new owners cuss the bike having one heck of a time starting it. Yet, owners that have learned the tricks make it look kindergarten simple. I would imagine that the Yamaha has it's own set of tricks that, once learned, would make it a non issue. But, aggressively kicking at it, as is the tendency of most to do with a bike that won't start, is very likely not the solution.

I wish this were the case with the SR400 but because my wife's kick is basically about as light as you can kick a bike and still get the motor to turn I am very skeptical that the "trick" isn't anything other than to get it to spin through a full compression stroke by kicking the crap out of it. I also tried "kicking" it with my hand because I assumed it would be easy.