The Yamaha 350 R5 was the first motorcycle I owned. I worked 3 months harvesting prunes to get her.

The R5 advertising claimed her lineage descends from the incredibly successful Yamaha roadracers that were cleaning up at that time. She certainly was fast. Handling and brakes were not on a par with the engine's performance

The engine was marvelous in it's simplicity. A fact I am very thankful for. She had this nasty tendency to burn a hole in the top center of her piston every so often. The engine was simple enough that I could replace the piston when a commercial started on TV and not miss a minute of the show.

In spite of the requirement to carry a spare piston on trips, I put more than 200,000 miles on that bike.

The Buell was without any reservation the most fun to ride. The Buell was designed for real world performance. A concept that is very hard to sell and few appreciate.

What I mean is that the Buell is extremely light, with a wonderful broad torgue range that makes it easy for any rider to ride.

The weight of the Buell is divided evenly between the front and rear wheels and designed to pivot in turns around the center of mass. Most bikes are heavy at the rear.

For the rider this means you have a very stable bike that never gets squirrelly in the turns or when braking hard. The only bike I was ever comfortable on when the riding got a bit "spirited" and the tires would slide.

The comfort of the Thunderbolt model with it's supreme handling and a very hopped up real, nothing sounds or feels like it, HARLEY DAVIDSON engine and you have my perfect motorcycle.

Of course they have discontinued this model in favor of the crotch rockets. Exact same handling and performance, but no comfort.