My cousins have a Yamaha 350 in our village and I’d like to write about what I know about the bike. First, the bike’s a monster, it can easily outrun any other bike in India which is mainly due to an amazing 32 bhp of raw power. It is the only production bike in India to achieve such amazing power. Next, many other users have compared it to the Bullet mainly because they are not 350 CC. This is not fair as the Bullet is mainly a macho bike with a great silencer beat while the 350 is a sports bike. Secondly I feel that it was too premature for the Indian bike.
Many people have criticized ’’ us Indians ’’ for cribbing about the bike’s mileage and another user on MS has written that the first thing that Indians say on seeing a new bike is ’’Mileage kitni hai?’’ Well, 15 KMPL is hardly what one expects from a bike. Let’s face it - Indians rarely buy a bike for the sheer joy of it except maybe college going boys and the Yamaha 350 is hardly a practical bike. First let’s turn to the Bullet for an example. The Bullet used to give a mileage of about 25 KMPL and then Enfield reduced the weight and managed to increase the mileage to 38. Then the Bullet Machismo was introduced with better pickup and modern Australian technology that gives it a mileage of between 38 - 50 KMPL. This can be increased further with the help of technology without compromising on performance. Hence, I feel that the 350 should be reintroduced with subtle variations like reduced weight and maybe a completely revamped engine. Then I can truly say that the bike is a great one.
That’s the main drawback of the bike and the rest is flawless except maybe for the brakes, which are terrible, but maybe it’s because our bike is driven on rough village roads.
Since it is out of production, you will have to buy it second hand for about Rs. 15000 and if you do decide to buy it, make sure it is in good condition as the maintenance is very expensive. Make sure that there is no sign of rust. Next I would recommend fitting discs and a Proton exhaust - that is you have the money. Maybe you should also fit a halogen bulb. The ride in general is very comfortable and I have already mentioned the pickup, which is the best in India. So if you have the money to maintain it and you can live with the fuel consumption I would recommend this bike but if you were looking for a practical but good-looking bike then I would still recommend a bike from Royal Enfield’s stable.