Guzzirider

If you use your left hand it feels as if someone else is doing it for you.

I have to say good riddance to Ratch- for someone so obviously clever he spouted some unbelievable shite- and reams and reams of wasted words cramming up our broadband. Wonder if he ever got to ride his bike or have any sort of fun? Hope he has found a new home with some like minded fellas. Guy

Hey I dodge the pies these days! But I am looking forward to an uitsmijter in Sibbe! My definition of an engine is something that pisses oil on my garage floor and takes all my cash.

Yes Conny is definitely coming- and she will be joined by her brother Fedde (she has yet to tell Paul he will be sharing the room with her). Both Conny and Fedde ride SV650 Suzukis (cough). Both would like BBQ please. Cheers Guy

Andy, Linz, Magnus, Mal, Helen and myself all coming for sure. Please put us all down for the BBQ. Cheers Guy Edit- I will contact Conny to double check she is coming and check about BBQ

I love that new RSVR V4- sooo small and compact. The reality is I will stick with what I have got. Now that the Jackal cafe racer is finished, when I can afford to do it, I will be sourcing a Daytona or Centauro motor, getting it bored out and tuned, then fitting it to my V11, which I know is possible. I will cover some of the cost by selling my V11 motor. More radical clip ons, deep black gloss paint, single seat unit, Motogadget instruments and custom made exhaust- I want to make an animal of a Guzzi that I can have fun with on the track too. I can do this for less than the cost of a new Nevada (spit) and in the absence of any true sporting Guzzis in the new model range, this is my preferred route.

Just 6 weeks away now! Hands up who is excited?

Go for it!

P.S. And I also want a pair of these to match the Maxton forks!

After 600 miles or so of shakedown runs I'm pretty pleased with her but there a couple of niggles I need to sort: 1/ Front brake lever travel- despite new hoses and fresh fluid, the old Jackal master cylinder can't cope, and comes close to crushing my fingers under braking, so I have sourced a 16mm Brembo MC as fitted to V11 / Ducati 916. Brand new, with silver lever and reservoir was £70 plus postage from Italy from an eBay seller- cheaper than some of the prices breakers were quoting me for old corroded stuff! 2/ Tyre sizes- for some reason I'm runing out of front tread on the edges while at the same time have some impressive chicken strips on the rear. May drop down from a 140 to a 130 when the rear tyre is worn out, which will also allow me to run a higher rear profile. 3/ Because the rear upper frame rails have been straightened, the old Jackal luggage rack now sits too low obscuring the tail light. I've had great fun with an angle grinder cutting off all the unnecessary bits but its needs a fair amount of modification and rewelding to make it for so I can go camping later this summer when we tour France before Sibbe. 4. Rev counter calibration is still not quite right- need to get that Motogadget manual out and actually read it! Cheers Guy

Nice pic btw- somewhere in the Highlands?

The Tuono is basically a full on sports bike (RSVR) with nose fairing and flat bars- the 1200 Sport is a nice bike but is basically a soft practical touring machine heavily based on the Breva. A Tuono will have 40bhp more than a 2 valve 1200 Sport (20bhp more than a 4 valve) and weigh much less so I guess it will always feel more sprightly, but on a long trip the 1200 Sport would be much more comfortable I am sure.

Great progress Jaap! Do you think you will save much weight by the time you have finished?

Cheers guys! Just ordered a brand new V11 master cyclinder with silver lever from eBay very cheap- should sort out my issues with lever travel before I take her on the track. I want to know why Søren does not have wild long blonde hair and a big ginger beard? This is what a real viking looks like:

Yes I have done 500 miles on her now- she goes and handles well, although I will tweak the tyre sizes when these wear out. Needs an uprated brake master cylinder for the twin discs upfront so I am looking out for a V11 master cylinder. Cheers Guy

I love the Motogadget- a friend help me install it and it probably took about 6 hours in between cups of tea and banter. Still calibrating the rev counter so its spot on, but the speedo seems very accurate. Build quality seems very good- you need to have your own switch to toggle through the functions so I bought a cheap lucas style kill switch, and I wanted the speedo sensor tucked away out of sight so made a liitle bracket so it can hang from the rear caliper mounting.

...I have been mainly thrapping the tits off my cafe racer on the empty Yorkshire roads in the sunshine....

Great pics Trevor! Donegal is a lovely place to ride a bike! Harry's bike looks a bit dirty

Well here is the plan- Andy, Linz, Mal, Helen and myself will be heading to the V Twin Rally in Fordingbridge the weekend before. We are then getting the ferry from Portsmouth to Le Havre 8.30am on Monday 30th, and will spend the next few days stripping Normandy of all its wine, beer, cheese, bread and Calvados like a plague of locusts, before heading up to Sibbe for the V11 meet. We are meeting our Dutch friend Conny at the V Twin and she will join us for the French leg. Heading home on the Sunday night ferry from Zeebrugge to Hull. Mal and I are planning to be on our cafe racers- can't wait

Damn I wish we were coming too!

I stayed at the Fieldhead last month- nice site, a couple of nice pubs too:

This is a nice campsite in the Peak District: My link Plenty of B & Bs My link

Yes I did get your email Keith- sorry if I did not reply probably lost the plot while I was working away- we did not go in the end due to the snow, but will be there from Friday night if you want to meet up. Dutch guys- I can't get any time off work- but if you are within striking distance I may be able to meet you somewhere in the evening. Antonio- you were asking about a campsite / B & B near Birmingham- well Birmingham itself is not a pleasant place to camp- its a big busy industrial grey city (sorry Brummies!)but I will try and find you a nice campsite nearby- if you camped North of Birmingham you would be in the Peak District, which is on the way to Wales anyway.

Yes I would book ferries in advance just in case- may be cheaper too. It is also Bank Holiday weekend so there will be a lot of travellers heading for the ferries. When I have a bit more time I will give it some more thought and come up with some ideas, but at the moment I am thinking Peak District / Mid Wales. I was at the National Motorcycle Museum a few weeks ago- very interesting collection of British bikes- I would stay away from the area in rush hour though- maybe aim to get there late morning, and get away early afternoon- it is on the busy outskirts of Birmingham. Maybe I could get a day off work and meet up with you- we are heading to a campsite at Dinas Mawddwy at the bank holiday weekend ourselves- there is a nice pub called the Red Lion where you can stay if you like- nice roads around there with little traffic. Red Lion

Remember there is a documentary about Joey tonight on BBC1 NI.