The Vespa buzzes back w“ ,_ {1' " +3 ; , A a K‘- .( wit‘ .u' MCM Road Test Wearing me smile European slyllng us me hlesl 5enenllml ul Hana. luuls, me cm is um as new us a: appeals lu be. me rm giveaway sign come [mm me cyllndel held when, unlll: me rz duly“, [here is only one gunman and me «Imam, mum hyo l messo 'u, in lm, . loyal exlenshm ol me popular 550, um livelier performance mun me u ed mom wilhmll lhe em. bu k 0| bigger madlinzs. me over "Isis plell’y much ll.e same as the ml 0! me '7: range, remuvmg n one «age lunhe m cm zadier sans. Amund llle hike llme are slill mole dehll (luv-52$, making il quite obvious llm me am is much man man a big-bole sso. Allwy-spoked Comshl wheels set me bill: all, me dislindive Iinzs D MARCH l 973 1 5 lop: llle 550 moio based on lhe ssae iour blfl has been developed lo give a power increase all ilirougli lhe iange. Buflolll: lwin-diss brake gives plenry ol power and reasonable wel perinmunies ol ihe seal and rank blending like a one. ece unii wiib lhe side covers. The handlebars are llnl and lhe looiresis sel back close lo lhe swing-arm spindle — lar enough back lo need a remole gearshill linkage, ll leads lo a riding posilion which works well, pulling lhe rlder’s legs back where lhey auiomaiisally lake up sudden road shocks, There is also enough lorward lean io balancewind pressure wilhoul pulling so much weighi on me wrisls ihai iraii ding gels unronilorlable The gear linkage has lhe added advaniage ihai ii gives muen liner adiuslmenl lhari lhe usual splined lever, alihough the scope was limiled by lhe erhausl immedialely below ihe pedal. Overall lhe 550 was a very (omlorlable madllne io ride, my only eriiieism being lhai ihe loolresls were loo low Allernallvely, lhe sear mighl have been loo high 7 i onically Hnnda's blurb meniions lhe ”low seal heigbl which is lraclionally lower xhan lhessos, By iheirown llgures, {his is 31 inchzs which doesn‘x exactly (ale Ihe"|0v/’descripliorl. I‘m convinced lhal lhe nalural riding posilion helps lhe general eonlrol, as well as me mmlon, 0' [he machine. Whateverlhe reason, lhe 650 was pa rlicularly easy lo use and nor so iiring as earlier bikes, especially on longrunsorin dliiicull condiiions Honda did some good work when lhey redesigned iheir dampers and now have uniis which give a superb compromise belween eonilori 3! road speeds and siab rywlieri you push lhe bike hard. M slulniy rldlngwas done in (Dndl’linns whim madelhese qualiliesoicomiori and corilrol moreinlporlanlllian usual. The Handasuileved rain, lreezing log, ice and linally show during iis iliree week lesi period. I’d had lo (overlourlDO-mile .ourneys in ihis sorl oiwealher and. despile numb i gersand ihe general nuisance level oI ihe slippery roads, I was amazed lhal lhe osowas siill so easy lo handle, ll responded so posiiively lo ’ or correcllons (hallhem was no need K0 be ullia-delltale wlIh lhe controls. It seemed lhal lhe Honda would unly slip and slide ii lhe riderwas abnormally clumsy orhil lhe lhroirle or brakes deliberalely hard enough lo pui lhe wheels oulollina Finally, wilh lhe roads covered in haidvpackzd snow and lroeen ruls leli by Dlher lrafl‘lc, I (Dyed wi|h lhe idea DI ieiching my iiail bike lrorn lhe lesi house and abandoninglhe 550. Km nalural lelhargy overeanielhe prospeelolpuiiing ine175 back logeiheragain and l aliernpled ihe homoward iourney on lhe Honda. The hard snow was lairly grippy and, along‘lne siraighls, ilwassale enou h lo worki e hike up lo war so rn h, T e only problem lhen was in being ab e lo slop or io gel round (Diners where ihe snow had been chewed upand had lrozen over. .and ihis really reslrlcled sale clulsing lo abnul 30 mph, Even al such a low speed lhe Honda would work happily in iliird, lourih and him gears, giving enough ihroiile response lobe ronlrollabie allhough lhe revs oilen dropped well below2,uoo Ridden lhlsway lhe bikewas siable V I had in our a lool oul |\vl(e in lilleen miles and one of ihose occasions was a lalse alarm. The back wheel would spin easily enough, bur ii broke away genlly and needed a sudden or deliberaie bursl oi power io make lhe wheel slep oul sideways, lia lighlweighi had sueh easy mariners il would be praiseworlhy_ lora lully»equipped 550 roadsler il seemed a highly improbable periorinance. The wealher only gave lhe Honda one problem Conlinualrunninginlheweliwlth road sali sprayed everywhere evenlually caused one ol ihe HT leads lo shori oul The spark could be seen arcing ironi lhe plug cap arross lo lhe head (iris, cleanln lhe leads and |hen ireanngiheni wilh si lCOVI spray only cured ihe problem lemporarily. The odd lhing was lhal lhe bso ran oulle happily on lhree cylinders 7 normally ii is prelly ob ious when one plug goes oul bul lhe only sympioms on lhe Hondawere a slignl loss oi power and one eold exhausl pipe. There was no uneven running or abnormal noise, the bike merely needed a bil more lhroiiie io keep up speed and lhe lirsl lime il happened il look me several minuieslorealisewh relheiaullwas. The wealher con lions were so bad dullng lhe lesl period lhalwe weren'l able lo run lhe Honda allhelraek. Orralher, we MOTOR CYCLE MECHANICS did rwo iapsand discovered lhai ihe icy palches were like riding overa quick sureession ol wei manhole covers. Consequenlly we only have engine perlormanre iigures and no speed or braking lrgures lor ihe rompiele machine. Em Ilyau had (0 lidE 1 bike a! all in such unpleasani (andihnns, ihe ssn proved ro be a good rhoire. II is comlonable, alinough nor ooire as good as me cxsm, and ihe conirols in general make [or easy. sale lldlng. ihe lwislgrip has a lrghi aclion bur mete rs shii loo mudl rravei io gel lull power wllh une llirk 0! [he wlisl. Yhe indiraiors have a larger swilch, which makes u easier ro lind and ihe mulnn oi ihe ciulrh and ironi brake is very lighr. ihe gearshill is leker ihan ihe iaivly slow dung: associaled wilh mosl Hondas — passlbly ihis was helped by being able lo adiusl ihe ieverrosuiiiherider,aiihopghrheodd ear would siiii drop on! u ilweven’l engage deilreraleiy and poxlllvely, in poor woarher you lend ro nouce lheae liirle dolarls all ihe more _ in some cases ihoy lake on a new imponance o! iheir own. Wrih nighi lalling inrhe m dieollhe alrernoon and road rondi ons varying every mile 0! mo way, ihe oualrly oi lire irghling (-1" his tmlnl. ‘thv 6511 excels, lwm lhe gosllive :WIlChES in [he puweriul 55 64 W ECIUIGHIP.MJII1 beam isas good as you‘d expecl Wilh ihal lovei ul power and mosl resenr bikes hove lew problems in rhis area. ii is lhe dipped beam whirh makes iheosn dillerenr and gives iI probably Xhz besi original iighlmg whrrh I've used like ihe (.Ibie uniis, .i has an osymmeuie col-oil. ii ihrows odi a brrghi pool ol irghi angled high enough lo lei you see pienry ol road surlau: laui noi so high as io annoy oncoming lrallir. Towards lhe lell ollhe road rho hghr lsn'l rhoppedoll, sending a powerlvl beam down ihe nears' e guirer and verge, providing good visibiiriy righl where ll is needed insiead ol plunging inio unceriain darkness or barking oil in ma lace or glaring hoadlrghls. ll was saieio keep up speed on ihe 050, a is qullL' a rarrly m origrnai ilgruing equipmenl. ihe luheless Bridgesrone ryres also played an rmponanl pan in ihe Hondz's sureloolerl handling. ihey iended lo irark along grooves in ihe road surlare. makrng ihe bike lwuch ll u rrossed a ime al a shallow angle bur mhcrwlse iney srurk io ihe surlue wheiher ll wasweiordry. puilinga nice brushing lourh lo ihe bike's conlideni handling. Braking was equally conlroliabie, ihe power oI ihe lwm dls( seemed well upio iheiob, alihough mosiol ihe lime ihe road (ondilinns walen'l exzclly eondurive io heavy braking. izam and road spray raused a loss oi power ai ihe drses whirh needed a rarelul inrrease in lever pressure belore ihe padswould bire rhrough ihe warer. The fez! drum blikewasn'l zlleded 2nd was a loi less powerlui anyway, making a useiui backup brake when rhe roads were slippery. ir muld be improved, rhough. The rad-aperaled linkage made uleel raiher spongey in operauon, as il ihe rod were ileking. ihe pedal Luuld also have been lucked in closer ro ihe engine rasings, where H would he less Dhlruswe when il wasn'l needed. The changes in chassis design berween |hi§ fiSDznd lheeallier 550 don'l seem l0 he very radical — an inch added lo lhe wheelbase, rlre sreerng head raked oul by MARCH i975 1.5 degrees and new dampers. Y2! lhey make a dillerence. the 550 had lighr handling and lairiy liglri, rapid sieerin Io go wilh u. iheosii leeis much lirmer, ihe ars reluse io rwiirh or wobble and ihe suspensmn has ihe rare abi y lo combine sieadiness al high speed wi h ihe capaeuy io soak up large bumps allow speed. The 550’s lail would go Ii hi and, under heavy braking, wool lioal around. rhe 550 is much sieadier. Aiihough we did!” or rhe ehanee io resl ihe bike’s high~spee handling, i is as good as nlher new Hondas rhere will be iiiiie m errlierse. While ihe wearher resiricled irark resiing and Cu! shon any evaioarion olihe machine's rop perlormanoe. ii also highlighied many values whldl can be pm as imoonanl Flexibillly became esseniiai on several Musluns, and ihe Honda delivered ihegoods. On ihe lew drydays, rhe engine also showed iiseil (u be quile lively. High speed (ruislng lell plenry oi power in reserve lor rapid ovenaking and ihe rlormanre was ihere insranily, ii didn-r ave lo be sou In am. On longer runs, siieking lo lega luru s, | noliced ihal ihe bike was keeping up respeclabiy high avenge speeds. For louririg, in pan' uiar. ii is qulle uselul to have a machine which will cruise ar 70mph and sun averaged] mph. il was rhis aspecl, raiher ihan aiioul perlormance, wh h made room so auraaive lor lung» .sianre runs. Top: ialesl sryling gives a romlonabie riding poslriorr combined will. a deeenr hflk site. Cenlrea uneiunered eonlwl arrarr emeril with olroke and lose box mounle above [he handlebars. hflam: liearsei resis have a Me~ioinled and quiekryadiusrabie gear nnkage. Imquc Performance & specification ENGINE SOHC incline ioul, almmnicignilionl lou116mm Keihin carbulefllrs, wel Sump lubricallon,12vliglllirlg,lz ah ballery. displacemenl clo hole X Slmkk 5‘3 I x 55.5mm compression ral momma claimed oulpul. al snoorpm n .2le al mp!“ YMNSMISSION HyVo chain drive lo (ounlevshihlrgzar drive lo clinch and live speed gea k. aI drive by char gearbox ralios. CHASSIS lronl lyre... rear lyre . wheelbase . overallwi lh dry wei hl. luellan c paclly,.. oilnpKIIVMW mroxmnc: no (insults available because olwealher con llionsallrack. FUEL CONSUMPTION range lo reserve. es usr PRICI inc VAT and dellvery £1491. warranly; 12 mnnlhs' unlimiled mileage. imporler: Honda UK, Power Road, chlswlck, London W5. eflcdive lorque m al crankshall. cranksllail rpm x lull 0 all u so Illull fie Companmenl in lhe seal rail is only big enough lor lhe Ioolkll. Honda C3650 lhebso iired up lairlyeasily, cnnsiderin lhe sub-zero condllionswhich consl le mosl ol ils cold-slam. Usually'il picked up quickly on one cylinder and l en slru led on lor a lew more seconds unlii lhe ol ers chilned in. like earlier louncyllnder Hondas. il look a Inn llme lowalm up. Even allerlhe en ' e ad been lull lor a lew minulcs, possibly lravelling a mile or so, il sllll needed a bursl on lhe slaner yels lo pull away lronl low speed. allerslow down iol a road lunulon. ior lnslance Honda's pracllce ol mllunlin lhe slarlel-lel conlrol on lhe lolk yoke loo any inconvenience oul oi lhis allhough lhe long warm-up period meanl lhere wasa lendency lo iolgei lhal lhe conlrol was slill hall-oul. Fuel consumplion was i rly lypical ior a larg|eish roadsler. fluclull ng belwcen lhe hlg 40: and perh mpg. Na doubl l we'd been able lo give ll a good beiling around a lrack il would havede irisenll lo somelhingl e 30 mpg. lbe same as all lhe olher mach e s class. One advanlage ollhe bso islha ls lour gallon rank iyesa sensible range. l lhink mosi peep e who wanl lhls kind oi machine dan’l ekpecl amazing luel econom bul lhey also don-l expecl lo re-luel evevy undred miles. rhis, like handling properlies, is someihin lhe lapanese seem lo have neglede‘filnlil quile recenlly. Nuw lhal lheyye finzlly woken up lo lhe lacl lha s uselui and may lhelelole help lo sell more bikes. lhey've done somelhing aboul ii. In lhe case ollhe Honda. lhis amounls lo a range ol 160475 miles ilom lull la reserve, wilh some lhreeouaclels oi a gallon scill lell in lhe rank. Yhe engine ilsell IS duile obviously based on rhe 5w. bu ' omes llom a refined series ol modlllrallons anda lol oi developmenl work. lhere was no nuesllon ol iusl slicklng bi er 'smns inlo all ekisling engine,l e ole llun has been reworked in order lo gel lhe lu benem. their inlenllon is equally ulwiuus _ ro gel more power and perlonnance, probably al imal cpsl,wi houl losing any ol lh 550’s a ly and yersallllly. The new molorglves a (measured) len per cenl lrlerease ln power all lhewaylrolo m uplo 95m andlhe shapes ol lhe bhp an lonlue curves eonllrm lhal a Iol oldeyelopnlenl work wenl inln lhe design. whal lhey have done is lo lake lhe bores oul by1.3nun bill. probably. beause lhe 550 was already a lon way overvsquare, lhe engine isalsoslmk by an exlra 5.2mm. The resulling 59.x x 55.8mm (unfigul ll gives a displammenl olozbcc. Tu push lhe power peak back up inlo lhe higher rev reg-ens demands more brealhing capacily; lhe curbs have grown llnln 22mm lo 26mm 1nd [7' ervalves ave used, presumably earn profiles lo malch. lhese, and lhe new lour lolwo exhausi. are lhe essenlial changes 7 lhe compression raiill remains lhe same _ and apan llomdelail desi n lhls ls all lhal dislinguishes the 650 mm [ha 550. The! much is borneoul b lhe weighls olihe lwo mac nes, ar leakg rylllebso lsokg heavier lhan ils predecessor. The ballom hallo! the Engine [allows convenlio al Nnnda . he shell.beanng crank dnyes a counlershall by Vo chain which has lhe added relmemenl o a lensloner operaled bLalI pressure. while Honda claim 5% p al mlpm, we measured iusl over tabhp al 5500 al lhe back wheel and ihis compares in 43-44th lol lhe c3550, run on lhe same dyno. The power level we saw is marginally below lhal ol lhe rsso xawasakl bullhe Hand: was run wilh onlyaoomiiesonilss .weveiound will! olher lourrcy er engines lhal mechanical losses decrease wilh iurlhel bedding in and, allera couple oi lhousand miles lhere can be a live per cenl increase in power. This would give lhe llonda lhe same oulpul as lhe kawasaki and I would guess lhal lhe road periolmance ol lhe lwu machines would be jusl aselose. Honda claim a lop speed oi “9m ll and mumlemlnn mes 0| 11.7i. w [(h seem sllghily oplinnslic, ludglng iroln lhe horsepower and road penormance ol olller machines, we'd say ll-al sobh is good lor 115<|l7mph,arldles he bi ! l5 oyergeared. lhe Cbosn was. lacl, eared ior12onlphora shade less so ll wou d probablygcl lo pull peak revs ln lop. in roany ways lh whole machine could be laken as a mmpllmenl lo road lesls » nearly everyihing we've 'lched aboul in lhe pasl has been mod .rhe len per eenl power increase has been marched by improvemenls lo lhe chassis and cycle pans. The bike has been updaled so (Ilealvely "In! [I is edsfier In lhlnk a! [I as 1 new model and nola rellnenlenl ola previous machine. lhessowas undeniably a good bike; lhe conversion lo a so doesn'l lake away any ol lhe old models desirable oualilles bur ii does add a characlel all nl us own. M only reseryalion comes wh I slep away rom lhe cam and l m lil ll lnlo an overall piclure; wilh lill e lo laull lheisso, I sllll prelel lhe cxsooon in a ouesl ior more perronnance, would ruln lo one oi lhe 7505 (including Hunda's own louravdlve model). there is no panicularaovanlage in having a 650,:supposedlnzsmmi7sa. . .bul, maps. we should iusl be gralelul lhal we ave lhe dioice. lohn Rom-marl MOTOR cchE MECHANICS