Guzzirider

Reminds me of being a 19 year old on my CB900 and braking really hard on purpose so my gorgeous girlfriend would press herself hard against me. And also accelerating really hard so she grabbed hold of ceratin parts of my anatomy to stop falling off! Now where did I leave my zimmer frame? Guy

The S4RS has arrived at the dealer and is being prepped today for delivery to me on Monday. Only problem is that the Termi race kit is on back order and I will have to wait until first service to get it fitted. Arse! Guy

Any time, mate!

Hi Phil Congratulations on your new bike! I buy Omron relays from my dealer in Shipley but places like Maplins stock them too. I use an Agostini rack Agostinis Helen uses the lighter Guzzi rack available from your dealer or Corsa Italiana Corsa Italiana Guzzi also do a decent tankbag- you can't use a magnetic one as the tank is plastic. I use Teckno semi rigid panniers- available either as an official Guzzi item or from Motomecca Motomecca Have fun on the new bike! Guy

I can recommend, and have extensively tested: Tmothy Taylors Landlors- a strong hoppy IPA brewed locally in Keighley Black Sheep Bitter- another Yorkshire ale. Tasty but not too strong Gales HSB- a reasonably strong very tasty bitter brewed in Hampshire Deuchars IPA- a very light IPA brewed in Scotland. Great for lunch hours. Ringwood Old Thumper- a strong dark ale ideal for finishing the evening with. Empire Longbow- a local ale brewed here in Huddersfield. I know the guy who brews it because he used to be the landlord of the local boozer. Its very light, hoppy and quite strong. No picture on the web because he is a very small business. Golden in colour. Looking forward to tasting some the US beers mentioned in this thread next month. I am happy to lead any forum members visiting these parts on a pub crawl around Huddersfield so you can sample the local hospitality. Guy

Some useful info Graham- thanks for sharing! Guy

Speak to Todd at www.guzzitech.com Guy

Last year when I was attending the Boxmeer Rally I got chatting to Hartmut of HTM who had a mobile dyno there and was doing cracking business diagnosing and sorting out carburation and injection issue for a long queue of clients. I was pretty happy with my PC111 set up at the time but he reckoned he could do an even better job because he could adjust both fuelling and ignition curves, whereas the PC111 was only controlling the fuelling. I decided a few months ago to give him a try and arranged to be at his base in Aachen last Thursday, the day before Boxmeer. He could not do the work at the rally because he needed an internet connection and also a few hours on the dyno. So last Wednesday morning, Magnus and I set off from Normandy for a 450 mile trip to Germany and rode all day in the pouring rain, only for my bike to refuse to start again in Aachen while we were looking for a hotel. I rang Hartmut in the morning and he agreed to collect my bike from where it was abandoned. I had correctly diagnosed a faulty starter solenoid and he happened to have a spare used one in his workshop- bike collected and fixed for 20 Euros! His business is run from his house in the countryside south of Aachen, and he has an impressive workshop and a dyno set up in his barn. Once my bike was fixed, he downloaded the necessary software onto my ECU to allow him to adjust the settings after disconnecting the Power Commander. We then went into the dyno room and he warmed the bike up to 80 degrees gradually. He asked me to turn out the lights so we could see my exhaust headers glowing bright orange in the dark! Firstly he did a diagnosis run, and adjusted the ignition. After some time optimising that, he did some more runs to optimise the fuelling. He did not take cards in payment so I took the bike for a test run to the local ATM so I could withdraw some cash, unable to resist the temptation to thrash the nuts off it as I left. Cost for the work was 400 Euros most of which is paid to the software owner. Any subsequent dyno runs and adjustments will be 60 euros now the software is downloaded. End result? Bike now feels smoother than it has ever been and the flat spot that the my previous PC111 maps could not get rid of seems to have disappeared. Top gear roll ons in particular have improved. If I was not a perfectionist I could have left my bike as is with the Power Commander and have been happy but I've come so far now so wanted perfection. I can recommend Hartmut to anyone in Europe- easy to get to from the UK (about 3 hours from the ferries) and he really knows his stuff. Please do not turn this thread into a whats best PC111 / tuneboy blah blah blah because its been done to death already- I just wanted to give Hartmut a plug cos he deserves it and also want to let everyone know there is another alternative. cheers Guy

It was busier than last year- maybe about 300 attendees but it is quite organised with taped gangways for the bikes to be ridden around the site. I feel sorry for the poor people who were camped close to our tents- I had a really annoying cough, and Magnus kept vomiting throughout the night. Very nice people though- we met some Dutch guys and gals who we hooked up with last year, and some mad Germans, one of whom was drinking whisky Viking style out of a large horn which he kept sharing around. The guys from the Islanders MCC who used to host the Bute rally were there in kilts plus a guy who called Steve who camped next to us in Erin. Excellent atmosphere and basically wall to wall partying- I hope that next year it does not clash with the Germans V11 rally which I would have loved to gone to as well. We popped up to Teo Lamers and I bought a spare starter solenoid and ordered my gearchange bracket which snapped like yours, though they warned me it may take ages. Tested my bike without luggage on an unrestricted autobahn and it pulled 140mph on the clock for a about 2 miles uphill until I had to back off because of traffic. GPS showed it as a real 129mph. There were more revs to come so I reckon downhill it will pull close to a genuine 140mph. Guy

From Boxmeer and Germany: The workshop is HTM's base in the countryside near Aachen.

Some photos from France. The shot by the seaside is me standing on Omaha beach near Port-En-Bessin. The pic with the Stars and Stripes and the Union Jack is the Royal Marine Commando memorial at Port-En-Bessin. We also went to Ste Mere Eglise and looked in the airborne museum there.

Some Erin photos:

Another mediocre England performance- I guess the draw was a fair result bearing in mind we dominated the first half and Sweden were much better in the second. At least we have won the group and do not face Germany- although we must not underestimate Ecuador and I reckon the Swedes may upset the Germans. Guy

I heard a tale at the weekend of somebody who crashed his bike after 3 miles of the Nurburgring. When they were clearing up the mess they noticed his GPS was set to Nurnberg, a completely different place in Germany! A common occurence apparently. Guy

Yes I'll be back next year for sure.

Boxmeer was brilliant! Shame I did not bump into you Jasper! Guy

I think you should put your feet up and have a nice cup of tea, Martin! Well done! Guy

Thanks again guys! Normally when we go touring we just follow our noses and pitch a tent wherever we can, but for this trip we are on an organised route with hotels booked along so I guess we won't be doing many deviations. There is even a vehicle following a few hours behind with all our luggage- lazy or what? The luxury thing is a bit of a treat to Helen who has been brilliant to me over the last year or so and has had to endure some testing times. Not sure at the moment exactly where we will be at any given time but I will be keeping an eye out for Guzzi riders for sure. Cheers again Guy

I have watched only two games so far while I have been on my travels- watched England v Paraguay in an Irish pub, and the England v Trinidad and Tobago in a Dutch bar. Both very average perormances by England but the right results- Sweden on Tuesday and we are historically poor against them so who knows what is going to happen? It was interesting travelling around different countries seeing how each country was reacting to the competition. In England there are St Georges flags everywhere, in Holland orange flags and balls, in Germany many flags too but in France there did not seem to be any open expression of support for the team. The border controls were very strict in Germany- long queues as they checked each car going into the country for hooligans Guy

I saw a Norge in the flesh at the Boxmeer rally- I guess its ok if you like that sort of thing but looking at the UK list prices I can see these being discounted heavily after the initial rush of enthusiasm. Looks like an expensive bike to damage if you dropped it. Hope it does well for the sake of MG. Guy

Just got back from Europe this morning- came back a few days early for the sake of my health- I think my liver was at breaking point and I was exhausted, sunburnt and have a bad chest infection which I can't shake off. Magnus is a broken man- the final night at Boxmeer was just too much for him- he officially had the worst hangover in history. Had a great time though- enjoyed Erin, had a great time in Normandy drinking Calvados and camping next to Omaha beach where there is a great and fitting memorial. Had a wet 450 mile ride to Aachen where my starter solenoid packed up. I abandoned my bike at the roadside and I called HTM in the morning, who I was due to visit anway. Hartmut came out in his van, picked up my bike and fitted a used solenoid he had hanging around. All for 20 euros! He then repogrammed my ECU and set new fuelling and ignition curves on the dyno. I'll post more about this in the Techy forum when I have got some sleep, but basically the guy is a genius and has a great set up. Then headed to the Boxmeer Rally in the Netherlands- great weather, great company, met some mad people and spent three days on the lash. Magnus ended up falling on his shelter and breaking it. I had to carry him into his tent and he puked all over his sleeping bag, and also outside. We had terrible hangovers the next day and decided the best thing would be to head for home- there is only so much your body can take and I want to be fit for my trip the the USA on 1st July. Pics to be posted when I get around to it. My bed beckons. Guy P.S. Won longest distance travelled award at Boxmeer, and also accepted a trophy on behalf of the Guzzi Club GB for branch turnout. Both trophies need glueing back together again after getting broken in my panniers.

Packed 'em. Signing off the forum for a few weeks now- back on 26th June. Be prepared to listen to many tales of woe and roadside bodging upon my return. Guy

Can't fit anymore luggage in! Packed enough clothes for just 6 days and I am away for 20- will have to use a campsite launderette a few times if I am to remain fragrant. Trouble with packing for European camping is that you need to be ready for snow, rain, hail or hot sunshine so am well overloaded. Guy

I'll find out on Thursday- just downloaded the maps for Erin. Guy

I wonder how much MG are charging to spec Sat Nav? Unless its really cheap, I am sure a clued up Norge owner could fit GPS themsleves for a fraction of the price. Ever compared the price of Guzzi badged hard luggage to the identical Hepco and Becker items you can buy anywhere? We are talking twice the price for the official Guzzi items. Guy