Well done Spotty, good to see you here in the 2023 thread. Make sure you post a pic of the VMax, I'm sure the guys here will get a kick out of it.
Yesterday I felt the need, the need for self flagellation. What better way to lower your self esteem than ride a 12 BHP (on a good day) single cylinder Indian made vague copy of a long dead British bike that was never that good anyway, flat out on a public road, barely reaching the speed limit downhill, let alone up, and it's very hilly around where I like to ride. I filled it up and even though it wasn't full when Rob dropped it off, and considering that I'd done 80-odd miles the previous weekend, it only took 10 litres. That's a good thing, the lowest octane fuel I could buy was $2.07 per litre yesterday, about $1.45 USD, or $5.36 USD per US gallon. The up side of all of the above is that this thing is good for around 80 MPG, so at least you can pretend there's something good about RE 350's.
The stupid thing is that I really like it. On Saturday afternoon after my misadventures with the blue F2 I gazed upon the little beast and decided that I was going to take it for a ride, but first I wanted to change the handlebars for something less ridiculous, so ratted thru my collection and found another set of Ebay cheapies, and some fat brown Beston grips that I'd been saving for a rainy day. It didn't make a huge difference to the ergonomics, (the seat is way too close to the handlebars) but at least my hands weren't continually trying to slide off the grips at warp speed. I tried to stick to roads with a 50 MPH top speed, but at one stage got caught for a few miles on 60 MPH roads which wasn't too bad until I hit a hill, and dropped back to 50, and changing down only makes the bike louder, but all in all, it was still fun. As soon as I could I hit some lonely dirt roads, and had even more fun bouncing around the rutted roads, using all of the (rather plush) suspension. I still had to get off to take couple of pics, of course.
RE Sunday 12 February 2023 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
RE Sunday 12 February 2023 3 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
I had some leftover chicken from Saturday night's home delivery, so didn't need to stop for food anywhere. I headed back on a route where I knew there were road works, which I usually try to avoid, but on this bike, any speed restriction, is a good thing. Don't get me wrong, it's a fun bike, but is really better suited to commuting on crowded city streets (where it's spent much of it's life) than on country roads. I was telling Rob today that if I bought a RE (I have thought about it...) I'd buy a 500 and he couldn't really understand, but I've ridden a later EFI 500 and it was a lot happier at 60 MPH than the 350. Sadly the 350 has a shorter stroke as well as a smaller bore, so (and this broke Rob's heart when I told him) you can't turn a 350 into a 500, well, not easily, anyway. I got home, ate my chicken sandwich, and joined the cats in a well earned snooze.
RE Sunday 12 February 2023 4 by
Terry Prendergast, on Flickr
