Modern Vespa

I was speaking with a fellow today who's been in the scooter/motorcycle business for quite some time. He stated that the BV 350 will out-perform the Honda Shadow 750 in all aspects. This surprises me, but being rather inexperienced in the powered two-wheeler world I have no reason to refute what he had to say.

Anybody care to weigh in?

I am not certain that "outperform" is the right expression.

I have no experience of the VT750 however I have owned a BV350 for over 3 years/13,000 miles and for most of that time also owned a Honda Integra 700 which I imagine is roughly comparable to the VT750. I traded in the Integra for a Yamaha Tracer 700 a few months ago.

The BV is about as fast as the Honda, weighs much less and has slightly better fuel economy.

The Honda, with a full set of luggage, can carry more gear for touring and has true motorcycle handling although because of its far greater weight any advantage over the BV is minimal and in certain circumstances the BV is better.

I eventually got rid of the Honda because I was using the BV for my day to day commuting and found the Honda too uncomfortable, slow and heavy for long trips (age and a dodgy knee are unfortunately affecting my ability to handle heavy bikes). The Yamaha's performance is far superior and although I miss the DCT transmission, I have no regrets so far about the trade.

Not top speed.
I owned a shadow. The BV handles the twisty's better. But the most important thing is twist-n-go. I've got about 150,000 miles shifty experience and about 60,000 twist-n-go. Car, truck, van, motorbike, doesn't matter. I'll never go back.

I owned a VT 750. I'm not surprised that a BV 350 would out perform it.

A difficult comparison, they are so different animals.

Heck, my 125cc Sprint could outperform a large motorcyle in twisties, if the rider of such machine was not very experienced.

BV is a light bike with a relatively big engine - and twist and go events out any lack of skills in acceleration / take offs in twisties

And Honda shadow....well, I would guess reliability is an area it could outperform many bikes? And in being a japanese, lightweight, easy to ride cruiser ?