Faults:

Nothing.

General Comments:

I bought this bike back when Japan had a glutted US market of unsold models. I kept it for five years and did nothing but change the oil and fill it with gas. The old girl never failed to start and run well. I miss having such a dependable and inexpensive bike that took me anywhere I wanted to go.

Faults:

It doesn't like to start up with the electric start after it's been sitting for more than 2 days (battery in the bike goes every 2 years, depending on the battery).

It was designed for going a max of 87.5 miles an hour, so when I changed its front sprocket to a 17 tooth instead of its 16, it starts to shake the bike at 100 miles an hour (no stabilizer bar on bike; a good thing because it keeps me from going that speed).

General Comments:

Even after changing its front sprocket, which I recommend to be switched to a 17 tooth or an 18, the torque and get up and go in the lower gears is still high! With the new sprocket it gets 70 MPG (riding fast), 75 (riding nice), and the 18 tooth gets 85 MPG, and it feels like riding a 250 with a little more CCs to it!

Handles well, braking is not the quickest, but down shifting in the bike is not an issue.

Kick starts well, I like doing the kick anyway, and it's nice to have if your battery ever dies (I don't know why they ever got rid of the kick start in newer models).

Seat is nice! It's a very quiet bike! Slowly eats oil compared to bigger bikes!

If you ever need to replace the air filter, a simple double ply of lawnmower filter works better than the new bike filters for it (if you still have the metal case for it!).

Faults:

Bike wouldn't start on the electric starter after the plugs had about 1k miles on them.

Bike was totaled when I ran it into the back of a stopped car at 60 mph.

General Comments:

Great bike to learn on... it was powerful enough without having so much power that I might have been tempted to ride beyond my abilities at the time I owned it.

It was my first new vehicle... my introduction to payments and full-coverage insurance.

It was very reliable except for the aforementioned spark-plug issue.

Wreck put me in the hospital for a month, and I still have a rod in my right femur.

Bike got about 60 mpg... was a great thing to have when we had those gasoline lines back in '79.

Faults:

As soon as I bought it, I had the front tire replaced, put new carb holders on, and a new complete exhaust 2-1 as the other was rusted, all to pass the safety. There was an oil leak, which required a new gasket in the engine.

The choke became stuck, making it very difficult to start.

Main fuse blew, and melted the plastic around the fuse clips, so I had to modify it using a fuse holder for that connection.

Replaced chain and sprockets this year.

Replaced spark plug wires this year.

General Comments:

I can ride this bike all day, and often do without becoming too sore.

It began to run rough this summer, and would backfire on engine braking. I ran some higher grade fuel in it for a few tanks and it fixed itself, runs better than ever actually.

It does get blown around pretty good at higher speeds, and anything over 100 km/h gets the RPMs up pretty high.

Kick start is very handy to have, and it will be missed on future bikes I'm sure.