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| 1969–71 Bridgestone 350 GTO |
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| Performance |    |
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| For its time, the Bridgestone was an absolute screamer. It would be sorta fast for a 350cc bike even today—able to beat a 250 Ninja in a drag race, and only a few ticks behind an 883 Sportster (although an RZ350 would beat it by well over a second in the quarter mile). |
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| Handling | |
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| Better than Kawasakis and Yamahas of the time, but that isn't saying much. Drum brakes are pathetic. |
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| Looks | |
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| They have that cobby, somewhat confused and disjointed look common to most '60s street bikes, but the scrambler exhaust is cool. |
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| Reliability | |
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| They were built to highly precise tolerances, but the chrome bore meant no over-boring was possible. |
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| Practicality | |
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| Too peaky and punishing for most riding duties, and good luck finding parts. |
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| Desirability | |
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| Kind of funky-cool, and certainly rare, but not too high on my want list. |
| Overall | |
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| Bridgestones were designed to be clearly superior to their Japanese rivals. They arguably were, but never sold well—proving that that people won't always pay more for a better quality machine. |
TOMORROW: Suzuki 1200 Madura
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