Guzzirider

Damn! Missed the Mr Haircut Northern Ireland 2010 awards again! What did you win?!! Was the other guy the runner up??

Nuffink in the South Nowt in the North I think Ratch believes too much what he reads- come over to England and I'll take you for a night out around Huddersfield to prove that most of us are happy drunks with no need for any sort of weapons! Last time I drank with some of our cousins from across the sea, they ended up falling off their bar stalls after two pints of Marstons Owd Roger- I warned them not to drink it but they were feeling a bit macho and it all ended in tears very quickly. Guy

I agree- we are in the EU and we can manage riding on the left!

Hmmmm a lot of the huge slow camper vans who are blocking the nice roads in the Alps are not Dutch.....

You've ridden abroad- youve been to Scotland haven't you?? You are welcome to join us on the ferry if you wish to tag along with some other riders- after an hour or so riding on the right will seem natural. Won't be many tolls in Germany or the Netherlands- but will be some on the motorways if you cross over into Belgium or France. You may need the odd euro in the Netherlands if you cross a canal by ferry. In Germany need to be aware of very fast BMWs, Mercedes and Audis doing 150mph on the unlimited stretched of autobahn- a dot in your mirror appears as a big black car up your arse two seconds later so need to be careful when changing lanes. Need to plan for fuel stops too- sometimes there are very long stretches of road with no fuel at all so if in doubt fill up.

Leon Haslam looking good on his Suzuki practising for WSB which kicks off next month. But is anyone going to be able to stop Johnny Rea? Times

Tell her not to worry we will be in cruise mode!

Mine revved out at just over 140 mph on the dyno so in the right conditions in theory you could achieve that on the road. Fastest I have seen on the road on my V11 is an indicated 140 mph uphill on a motorway in the Netherlands. GPS showed 129mph.

Hmmmm not much choice......

We prefer to go Hull to Rotterdam because it leaves later than the Zeebrugge ferry and we don't need to take the day off work- you disembark at 8am in the Netherlands and can be at La Chaussee for late morning easily. Will probably book next month- maybe the Thursday night sailing and come back Sunday night.

I would love to go to this and will be on my way from France this weekend but will be on my Triumph. I understand the little ciruit has a mini corkscrew like Laguna Seca. EDIT- just noticed post above- D'Oh! May come along and watch! Cheers Guy

Huddersfield is today one big ice rink. Complete chaos, cars crashing everywhere, pedestrians falling over, buses cancelled due to crashes and no grit at all on any minor roads. All I can hear is sirens from ambulances! Good job this weather is a rarity!

I saw a modern Italian film at the weekend called El Alamein, about a group of Italian soldiers who end up stranded in the desert during the war. Near the end, a young guy finds a Guzzi Alce abandoned on its side, has a hell of a job starting it, but when it fires up he manages to ride off into the sunset. Please dont let this turn into a war thread!! Guy

Antonio- if you were riding from Newcastle to Stranraer I would allow about 5 hours.

I'm looking forward to hearing about the revenge attack of the animal revenge activists two weeks later when they turn up at the bikers camp in force, hordes of them in VW camper vans armed with large sticks of organic bread. They tie up the bikers with ropes made up of recycled polar bear shit and force feed the wannabe outlaws lentils and salad, until the bikers can take no more and all their nasty skin complaints clear up. The outlaws are then forced to take a bath, then are forced to wear kaftans woven from whale placentas and made to listen to whining folk music until they sign a pledge never to wear a dead cow's skin again. The bikers are found dumped and tied up in the offices of the corporate compaines they work for on Monday morning, their fake tattoos replaced with a large Greenpeace logo permanently tattoeed on their foreheads, and a stick of rhubarb up their arse. Guy

Just read on the MGCGB site that one of the guys there bought a new Valeo from these guys: Electro-Mechanical Services Great Cheetham Street West Salford M7 2DN 0161 792 2824 Ask for Daniel. Valeo mod no D6RA21 Was about £144 which is cheap I think for a new one. Cheers Guy

That will chill their extremities- especially if they are wearing a kilt. Although I think its just English blokes at weddings who wear kilts these days!

Hi Dimitris Maybe worth trying Pete at Reboot spares- he sometimes has cheap new or secondhand starters: Reboot Have you tried swapping your V11 motor with that on your 1100 Sport just to make sure it is the starter at fault? Regards Guy

Yes the FBF pistons fitted to my bike (and Mal's) were a simple swap- no other work needed. I did get the ECU reflashed with Ultimap software and get the bike set up on HTM's dyno afterwards but Mal never bothered and his runs fine. I think I have posted the dyno chart a few years back on this forum- no extra peak bhp but useful extra shove throughout the midrange. I am sure there are better and more sophisticated ways of eeeking out extra grunt but the piston swap was a very cost effective way of getting a bit more zap just where you want it. The only downside is that she does pink on cheapo fuel but its hard to find a fuel station these days that does not sell high octane. Thinking back to the debates on that old thread, it should have blown up by now

Sounds a bit strange- be ready for a phone call to ask if you can do the event after all because Phil and his Harmonica are stuck in the snow.

Yes its a bit colder than normal and the snow has settled and been more persistent over the last three or four weeks. I can understand the media hype because, especially in the south, the weather is most unusual but that is what happens when you get cold north winds for weeks on end rather than the usually milder prevailing westerlies coming from the Gulf Stream. I dont normally feel the cold but had to admit defeat and wear gloves yesterday when digging out the drive. Roll on Spring!

New bike prices are rocketing- so I reckon come the spring the used market may be strong too- if you want to sell your Griso you may get a better price for it! Dont vist the MGCGB forum very often- too many threads not enough time to read! Would be nice to come to another Ireland meet time permitting- enjoyed my drive from Greysteel to Dublin on Sunday- blue skies and the mountains were covered in deep snow. We had driven past Lough Fea a couple of days earlier and it was completely frozen over- very scenic. Maybe having a meeting same weekend as a road race may be an idea? Regards Guy

Xander Sounds like a great event! Would you like me to publicise amongst the MGCGB? It's not too far from the ferry ports. Cheers Guy

David I know you mentioned a Scottish bash- how about joining up with the MGCGB Rally on 30th April to 3rd May at Cromarty on the Black Isle? Would save having to organise a separate event. Scottish Rally I see you have already been in the guestbook! I'm more than happy to organise another V11 meeting in the UK in 2011 but will be too busy in 2010 to sort anything. Was thinking of mid Wales-I have a few ideas but maybe Keith could suggest some locations. Happy New Year Guy