Guzzi-in-Vancouver

As this thread hadn’t been updated in a while I went … errm looking … and found a bunch of pics but before linking them here I thought I should be prudent and ask, because they’re quite racy but not in a motoGP way!

preaching to the choir! I loved the stance of my Scura with clip-ons but the handlebars of a ballabio are so much easier on the wrists and the ride is more enjoyable as a result, but then I miss the (masochistic?) feeling of riding a ‘real’ Guzzi. The Griso was a lot easier to ride than both V11s, but how many bikes can one own‽ I see you’re busy finding that limit and it’s something I and swmbo always “discuss” … in my defence it’s only been shaft driven bikes so far (thus my Griso ghetto moniker) so at least that limits the options.

@GuzziMoto there’s a ski resort in MD‽

With a Tenni Griso that’d be the holy trinity!

It got harder when I got another! Luckily half are in the shop and my neighbour lets me use his space as well. With another car there it became impossible unless I moved the VW.

Special price for forum members. Please contact urgently if interested. I am getting no reasonable offers and would prefer for a forum member to have it if possible. No pics yet so no commitment required from you, just interest. It’s never given me trouble, all fluids changed, don’t remember if the fork oil was changed. Custom red and green seat. Lowered pegs and mirror extensions, otherwise all stock … a few scratches on the tank. Deleted the Ghetto advert below. Make me an offer — it’s not binding, and silly is fine, but I would love for a fellow enthusiast to have it. I know there’s at least one red SE in Vancouver, seen it riding around SW Marine near UBC & Spanish Banks. I just want to know if there’s any interest. Advert by a friend: https://vancouver.craigslist.org/van/mcy/7787124533.html?lang=en&cc=gb Some of my pictures: https://imgur.com/a/at9ttXH

Looks like this bike was gently dropped, I have the same scratches on the RHS exhaust front and the RHS cylinder guard. Beautiful nonetheless, please update us if you got ahold of it!

I am curious about the LED headlamp that seems to fit the fairing perfectly. Or did they use a shim?

It’s not so bad Adelaide Hills were nice, and the city itself had a feel of an untouched London in a better era. The market was real unlike Vancouver’s Granville Island market or Fremantle’s touristy excuse for one. But yes, compared to Melbourne, everything’s a village —including, and especially— Sydney.

In the land of @Lucky Phil & @pete roper and ran into the same problem at the signature places. Went to the 12 Apostles on Sunday and it was packed full of tourists, largely of Indian and Chinese extraction. I blame the tour buses. And Sundays! Experienced London in summer, and it was packed with Europeans, mostly French & German judging by the easily recognizable speech. Hereford was quiet & Cornwall quite surprisingly not crowded although the beaches were. I think the solution is to stay away from signature places and only visit in the low season as @pete roper does. But the problem really is social media (instagram, tiktok & facebook) and the hordes of people who want to experience the world and have the (fiat) means to do so. I like stumbling on nice places on my motorcycle like Whytecliff park in Vancouver … but then it turned out that it was insta-famous as I noticed there were lots of strange people taking dangerously self-aggrandizing photographs on the rocks. Or perhaps the solution is to go to places where there’s a tribe you can identify with, like say Phillip Island on a track-day. Then the strange customs become familiar and understandable — like earplugs at a racetrack in contrast to the baffling wads of coconut-oiled cotton-wool in Indian-ears at the Apostles. I really appreciate places like whale beach in the shoulder season, where one gets looks from the locals that are somewhere between curious and aloof (I hasten to add that the locals were friendly and pointed out a whale waving its flipper at us) as it’s an indication that they’re not much trafficked. Anyway, I blame much of what ails this planet on fiat money, and mass tourism is but one (most annoying) symptom of that. Now get off my lawn!!

Nice Ballabio! I’ve never seen tubes like that protecting the headers… did you make them up or was it a commercial product?

I may be biased, but I think they chose the sexiest bike :-) Were both pillion and rider the ladies who did not know anything about motorcycles? I would be hesitant having 'em ride my precious V11 ... but then I'm not privy to all the pictures that were used as persuasion! Those were my local roads, I have some footage riding around there (but mostly on a Griso).

Did you have gear on? I had a 2kmph tumble off my BMW and my right shoulder was fine. Had a tumble off my bicycle (practicing 250+kph hanging off turns in prep for trackday) and punctured a lung. Had a senior moment tumble off my bicycle (feet in straps) at zero, and tore my left shoulder ligament. I don't wear gear on a bicycle, not even a helmet, because I think a bicycle helmet looks silly on me.

I'll be around the Malverns (Ledbury down to Bath) in August! Was thinking of Cornwall on a motorbike but sadly I am with my family and am the default chauffeur.

Thanks @audiomick and @footgoose I feel much better now. I think I should probably keep having my medications as I’m prone to ranting otherwise! My friend and Guzzi expert explained it to me last night over radlers… it’s not that there’s a conspiracy to create all these ‘bad outcomes’ but rather there’s unconnected movements or phenomena that create interference waves with each other. In seeking for an explanation of the resultant phenomena we are tempted to believe in an overarching cause. Positing an Illuminati is no different than searching for a Deity to be the final explanation for the world we see. But the search for final solutions is fraught with ruinous outcomes too. Still, it does feel like we are living in the end-times… but I tell myself that’s probably just a function of age, we all remember fondly the world of our youth and how things were perfect then… especially cars & motorcycles!