Guzzirider

I've recently had the pleasure of riding on some roads in Southern California and there are a few interesting surfaces- and that stuff they use on the freeway which is all corrugated- that is not very nice either. But it is bumpy as anything around here- we are talking uneven and hilly moorland roads and they are probably just as bad if not worse. My Le Mans stays very stable though- and I am probably not riding it very hard. Guy

If it lets you down sell it? Just a second hand motorbike? We are talking about my V11 here- a Guzzi is for life not for Christmas!! I use it throughout the winter at weekends anyway so am used to riding it in crap weather. The finish holds up ok because I always hose off the salt before I push it in the garage and reapply Scottoiler F365 spray which keeps the worst of the salt at bay- if it gets a bit tatty anyway then so be it. Riding it on cold wet roads is not a problem because of the friendly low power and I have no issues with the fuelling- the only concern I have is the likely need for regular late night fixing and maintenance if I am to use it daily. Maybe I am being a bit too paranoid and it will run like clockwork with routine servicing- in any case I have decided to give it a go and see what happens. There are about 10 days each winter when you can only get to the main road if you have 4 wheel drive so it will get the occasional rest! Guy

I think that should be down to the riders. I watched the UGP on telly last week and it looked effing dangerous to me, but as long as there are riders who want to race then I think it will continue. Maybe if there were some decent purpose built short circuits in Ireland things would be different. Imagine a Knockhill in the Antrim mountains, or maybe a scaled down Philip Island on the Donegal coast? The romance would be finished but it would be a lot safer and still bring in the tourists. Guy

Decided- gonna use the Guzzi and see how I get on. If it turns out to be too unreliable or too much hassle then I may get a hack.

Hi Mal I've just had a ruthless clear out and chucked away loads of crap, and boxed up tidily all those bits of bike that were lying about. So I reckon I can squeeze in one more small bike with a little organisation. I have seen a Ducati Monster replica monkey bike on the internet which looks cool! Guy

I was thinking of the BMW- a mate of mine uses one daily but they are so expensive compared to the Aprilia which shares the same motor. Guy

The location of my job has moved to Leeds which is 22 miles away, and the commute in a car takes about an hour and a half in rush hour because the M62 motorway is chocka with traffic. Having done this commute before I am considering travelling by bike each day- I dont mind a bit of rain and sleet if I am wearing the right gear. The question I have is should I use my Guzzi as a daily winter hack? I used to ride my old 1000S as my daily transport (did not take a driving test for a car until I was 26) and was often up till midnight fixing and maintaining the thing so it would stay on the road, and I have a funny feeling that I would be doing the same on my V11, which has had its, errmm, quirks. So the question is, should I use my Guzzi and live with the hassle or should I buy a bike just for commuting- I was thinking of a big single cylinder trailie like a Pegaso or an XT660? What do you reckon? Guy

Ummm......maybe I'm riding like a big girl's blouse!

My Guzzi is mainly constructed of irony and the rest finished in heavyminium.

Something had to be done..

Well ten out of ten for being different Giovanni! Very minimalist- not sure if it really suits the bike as it is a fat lardy lump of a machine and the pipes are slim, but if you like it then great! Regards Guy

Just wondering why you need a steering damper? Mine has always been set to minimum. I always thought it was a waste of time having one on a Le Mans as they are so stable. Guy

She has not got much up top- is that a family trait?

So who won bush of the year??

Mine went years ago.

Helen fell off her R6 on the Splugen 2 years ago while we were headed for Mandello. An Austrian BMW car had taken a wide line around a hairpin forcing her off the road. By the time I arrived at the scene (we had shot off ahead and it took a few minutes to realise she had disappeared) my friend Magnus was already there. He lied and told me the 2 Austrian men had stopped to help because he did not want me to cause an international incident. Helen was fine and her bike not too bad except for the front brake lever had snapped off and was unrepairable. The bike was fuly laden with luggage and the back brake hardly does anything on an R6 so it was pretty dangerous to ride on those steep bends. I offered to ride it for her but Helen decided the safest thing was to call out a breakdown truck using her insurance. We waited 6 hours at the restaurant near the border post (very nice family they were!) and by the time the truck arrived from Italy, it was after midnight, pitch black and freezing. After loading the bike in the van, I agreed to follow the van driver back to his base somewhere near Lake Como. I put on my winter gear and thought this should be simple. How wrong could I be? He was going flat out at 150kmh through blind tunnels with huge potholes in them, doing the same speed through villages the wrong way down one way streets and generally drove like a complete lunatic, doing really dangerous overtakes and scaring me silly 'cos Helen was in the van too. I had to stay in touch because if I lost him then I would not have had a clue where he was based. By the time we had descended I was sweating like a b**tard because it was suddenly a lot warmer and was togged up. Bike was sorted the next day, and I now always carry spare brake and clutch levers, but Antonio is right- the Splugen is spicy! Guy

It still has a dry clutch- and if you realy wanted you could buy an exhuast kit to have a pipe each side. In the UK, S4's go for really cheap money second hand- you can get a good one for £3500, and if you are lucky you can still find the old S4 Challenge race bikes which had £7000 of Ducati Performance extras but have still proved reliable. And yes- I use my Guzzi every weekend too! Guy

Welcome Joe! I am sure you will love your new bike! Guy

I'm with you both- if you don't like the sound of an unsilenced free breathing Italian twin then buy a Honda Deauville or a Volvo. Or maybe we could have a Nancy Boy forum just for such persons!! Guy

If you want some new Ohilins then the German guy who bought all the V11 spares is selling them for about the equivalent of £900. I am tremoving Helen's forks next week and taking them to Maxton- this is a clip from their email to me explaining what they are going to do: We throw everything inside the forks away and start again with our own Maxton cartridges. This conversion also replaces the fork tops with out own Maxton forks tops that are adjustable for rebound damping and preload. The Maxton cartridges have rebound damping and compression damping in both legs and have springs fitted to suit you rider weight. The cartridge conversion costs £380.00 + V.A.T, this includes new forks seals. If you sent thee forks to us at the moment it would take about 2 to 3 weeks to convert the forks. Its quite pricey but their reputation is excellent and I know from others who have had their forks modded by Maxton that Helen will be very pleased with the end result, and still quite a saving on Ohlins. Guy

Now that I have owned the S4Rs for a couple of months I have begun to do some minor mods. So far: Termi slip ons with ECU and filter Quat D cat replacement pipe- this was a pig to fit (needed hole in mounting bracket opening out) but looks beautiful and weighs nothing in comparison to cat. Black screen Motrax bar end mirrors- cheaper than most but fitted in 2 minutes and give a great view. Have a Monza carbon fibre bellypan waiting to go on but this needs some cutting to fit. Also have some R & G crash mushtrooms ready to fit. Got a radiator and oil coller cover on the way too. Bike is mentally fast for my slow brain and makes me want to do a poo whenever I ride it. A similar specced bike has just made 133rwbhp on the dyno. Sounds like armageddon itself! Guy A few pics:

Another clip from the cult comedy show Big Train from a few years back- written by the same guys who wrote the brilliant Father Ted.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn6Z9djh8eA...ted&search=