i remember,i had hair then,dam

 

My last dirt bike was a Yamaha Big Wheel 350. It was my 1st Yamaha after many, many Honda's. I used it a lot in the Rocky Mountains, especially in the Ouray/Telluride/Silverton triangle. My last outing with it was to the Richfield Utah's Rocky Mountain ATV Jamboree. The 1st day of that Jamboree it rained and sleeted some, and my BW350 wheels jammed with mud on the ride. All those ATV's passing me while I was struggling to get the bike back upright really galled me. The mud stuck like you -know-what. As soon as I got back home, I sold it and bought my 1st ATV; a Honda Foreman 400. Being 60 years old at the time, it was probably a smart move, as it is a lot less physical riding an ATV. Now I wish I'd converted that BW350 into a 3-wheeler. There's probably some Yamaha quad rear end that would work on it. 'Course, my ATV seats are more comfortable, but I'm so old I want power steering, too. A 3-wheeler should be really easy to steer. Anyway, I had that BW350 for about 8 years and it never gave me a bit of trouble. Sold it way too cheap; the Honda dealer got twice what he gave me for it.

 

I had both the 200 and 350 years ago. Both were great bikes for just playing around on. Neither were competition machines but thats not what they were designed for. The 200 I thought was pretty under powered but the 350 was great. The electric start on the 350 was a nice touch as well. These bikes were fantastic in sand and loose stuff. I'd have fun watching guys on mx'rs get bogged down while I quietly putted along right past them. Wish I still had the 350. Might try to find one again some day.

 

Several friends of mine own BW's
Both the 200's and the 350's
Out at the sand dunes both do well, but the weight of the 350 makes it perform barely better than the 200's
One guy mounted a Yamaha 426 motor in his BW 350.. needless to say it goes like heck.
Since then the others have started modifying also.
One guy put a Yamaha 400 motor in his BW 350, but the hot ticket seems to be the two people who have mounted newer YZ250F motors into BW 200 frames.
It is alot of work mounting the engines, but once done you should see the looks they get at the Imperial Sand dunes.
There is nothing they wont climb, and people are allways saying what the heck is that.
Gas mileage does drop, but so far they have managed to not run out even on pretty long rides, although they have often been bone dry.