The Motorcycle That Actually Remembers It’s a Motorcycle

The Honda GB350S is proof that sometimes the Japanese still get it right. Because while every other manufacturer is busy building bikes with 1,200cc engines, radar-guided cruise control, and dashboards that need a degree in astrophysics to understand, Honda has quietly gone: “What if we just built a proper bloody motorcycle?”

And that’s what this is. A proper motorcycle. It doesn’t come with panniers the size of shipping containers. It doesn’t sound like a hairdryer in a biscuit tin. It doesn’t look like it was designed by an angry Decepticon. It’s just a bike. With wheels. A tank. And an engine. And my God, it’s brilliant.

The engine itself is a single-cylinder lump the size of a small log. 348cc of “don’t worry, I’ve got this.” It doesn’t rev, it doesn’t scream, it just thumps. Twist the throttle and you don’t so much accelerate as… advance. Like a Roman legion. Slowly. Methodically. Utterly unstoppable. Riding it is like riding a very polite tractor—it won’t scare you, but it’ll plod on forever without so much as a hiccup.

And that’s the thing—because when you’re on it, you realise just how utterly stupid most modern bikes have become. Why do you need a motorbike with 200 horsepower? What are you planning to do with that—overtake a Eurofighter? You don’t. On the GB350S, you just ride. And it’s fun. Not “terrifying near-death experience” fun, but actual grinning like an idiot at 50mph fun.

Handling? Spot on. It doesn’t wobble like a fat Labrador on roller skates, nor does it twitch like a caffeinated meerkat. It’s balanced. It’s simple. You point it at a bend, it goes round. Done. Suspension? Cushy enough. Brakes? They stop. That’s all you need.

Looks? Gorgeous. Retro done right. It doesn’t look like it’s pretending to be a bike from 1962, it just looks like a motorcycle should look. A round headlight. A simple tank. Chrome where chrome belongs. Park it outside a café and people will think: that bloke knows something I don’t. Meanwhile the Ducati owners will sit there stroking their chins and wishing their bikes didn’t look like angry insects.

But then… the mirrors. Oh dear, the mirrors. For a man of my size, they’re about as much use as underwater Wi-Fi. They show me precisely nothing of the road behind—just a glorious view of my own elbows. My shoulders are magnificent, obviously, but they’re not exactly helpful when a bus is trying to insert itself into my exhaust pipe. Honestly, Honda may as well have fitted two beer mats on sticks.

And then there’s the dash. I hate the flashing for “economy ride” so much I had to cover it with a small plain black sticker. It was either that or take a hammer to it.

And yet… I adore it. Because in a world where motorcycles are becoming faster, fatter, and more ridiculous than ever, the GB350S is a reminder of what it’s all about. The wind, the road, and a thumping great engine underneath you. It’s simple, honest, and unashamedly old-school.

You don’t buy this bike to impress your mates with horsepower figures. You don’t buy it to cross the Sahara. You buy it because it makes every single ride—whether it’s to the shops or to the coast—an event.

The Honda GB350S is, quite simply, brilliant. The only thing it won’t let you see is what’s behind you. But frankly, who cares? You’ll be having far too much fun looking forward.

And I’ll say this: I’ve driven and owned many bikes in my time. But if you don’t want to beg, steal or borrow €4,800, do not take it for a test ride. Because you’ll end up buying it.