Orson

Dave, I lost my Golden Retriever of 14 years a while back. The best thing somebody told me back then was that,"at least he lived his life being loved and taken care of. That's a whole lot more than most dogs get in this world".

I have an RSV Mille back in the states and, since my Tenni is in Europe, I can't ride them back to back but, I suspect my impressions would match yours. The Mille would stomp the Tenni in a face to face confrontation. However, for my needs (sport touring), the Tenni fills the bill quite nicely. As you said, there's enough power to get you into trouble and on twisty roads where your top speed might only reach 70 mph, the horsepower advantage of the Mille isn't as much of a factor. For the record, I've left the Tenni bone stock and the handlebar vibes have never been an issue for me...nor has the stock seat, even after 8 hour days. I guess I have a hard butt. The Mille's transmission did seem a bit notchy at first but got smoother as I approached the 10,000 mile mark. The Guzzi is the wife. The Mille is the mistress

The way I see it, you should behave on the internet as you would in real life. I wouldn't want to go to a restaurant and end up sitting next to a buncha people yelling at each other, calling each other names, using abusive language, arguing about politics and in general, being LOUD. I think Jaap has just the right touch I like the clubby atmosphere here of a buncha italophile Guzzi nuts being kinda nutty

Thanks for the link I always enjoy reading travelogues. This guy lives in a great riding area. The Alps get all the press but, for me, my money is on the south of France. The Alps have unsurpassable scenery but, 47 hairpins in 10 km gets to be a little bit like work! Give me the fast sweepers of southern France!

Map of the route. November 2-5.

I bought the Guzzi at a Mom & Pop Guzzi shop in Parma, Italy. They've graciously allowed me to store the bike in their shop while I toil in Arabia. I think they're a bit tickled that I chose to buy from them rather than a big city shop in Milan or Rome. They treat me like a long lost relative whenever I return The villa I stayed at was Villa Il Poggiale. Very friendly family run place. Siena holds an annual horse race in its town center that's supposed to be fantastic to witness. I agree, Lake Como is fantastic. Be sure to see the Moto Guzzi museum. It's spectacular

Small correction...they're called the Appenines...not the Appians. Dunno where I got that Oh...ok ok ok...and maybe cars zipping thru the portal at 50 mph might have been a slight embellishment but, they were going a lot faster than I woulda!

Last one. This one's called,"take the long way home". Descending from the Appians down to the plains of Parma, the roads opened up & became faster & sweepier. Good stuff A good way to end the trip. Unfortunately, all trips have to come to an end. This one was much too short but, I cheated the weatherman by getting 3 days of glorious blue skies so, I can't complain. Tip toeing thru wet curves sucks. Totals: Mileage: 1100 km in 3.5 days Carabinieri sightings: 3 who seemed not to be the least bit interested in me pucker moments: 0 Disclaimer: No pedestrians, dogs or hotel bath towels were harmed in the making of this trip report.

Another shot from northern Tuscany. The exceedingly handsome Guzzi overlooks the town of Barga with the Apuan Alps in the background.

I was to be blessed with more blue skies on my third day! This day, I headed to northern Tuscany where the Appenine Alps lie. The roads got tighter and slower but the scenery was more of the same. The Appenines climb as high as 6000' making for cooler riding but, at least it wasn't raining causing me to tip toe thru the curves so, I wasn't complaining. Temperatures hovered in the high 60's low 70's. Here near another picturesque village called Cutigliano, the most erotic sport touring bike in the universe pauses for a breather. I'm sorry I couldn't take pictures of almost half the beautiful sights I saw. Most of the time the road was just too narrow to safely pull over and snap a picture. Y'all are just gonna have to go there & ride it yourself

I ended the day back at the villa. What a gorgeous day it turned out to be! And fabulous roads too! I sat on the veranda with a glass of port wine watching the sunset go from pale blue & hot pink to pale blue & crimson over the Tuscan hills. La dolce vita! another glass of port please!

Quite probably the most gorgeous sport touring bike in the world pauses near the town of San Gimignano. San Gimignano is a tourist hot spot as it is very beautiful. I was cruising the back streets when I came into the main pedestrian throughfare. Imagine their surprise when a Guzzi mounted hoodlum hurtled into their midst. Realizing my mistake, I did a quick U-ey, leaving the dazed tourists to wonder,"who was that masked man"?

After lunch, I turned back, going through Siena, then north thru Colle di Val d'Elsa. Here is a picture from outside the city walls.

The view from inside the portal in Monte San Savino. Cars were zipping through here at 50 mph

I stopped for lunch in the scenic village of Monte San Savino. I ate at the little bar / gelateria across the street. It's against my religion to eat at a McDonalds in Italy It's impossible have a quick meal here. If you try to get by with just one course, they look at you kinda funny Count on spending 1 hour to have a nice meal. Well worth it

Quite possibly the bike industy's most beautiful sport tourer, the Le Mans stops to take in the view near the village of Radda in Chianti.

Picture of a Tuscan farm house. I'd love to live here but, the Brits have bought up all the property driving the prices sky high.

I woke up the next morning to a vibrant blue sky Bonus! The weatherman was obviously asleep still. After breakfast, I loaded up & headed south through the Chianti foothills towards Siena, the smell of harvested grapes heavy in the air. Since I was sticking to the backroads & the towns I would be going through were centuries old, I expected the roads to be in the same condition. WOW! Was I ever wrong! The roads were fantastic! Imagine two parts Napa Valley, one part Deal's Gap, set the blender to "liquify". Enjoy! I did just that! The roads dipped and weaved through breathtaking scenery & this time of year there was hardly any traffic.

I had scheduled the first week in November to get one last ride in before the onset of winter in Italy. My intention was to take it easy, take some pictures of some picturesque Tuscan villages & generally putter about with no general sense of urgency. As the trip grew nearer, I kept checking the weather on the internet in hopes that there might be some glimmer of fall left. My hopes kept getting dashed upon the rocky shore of reality as, each time I checked, all I could see was a line of gray clouds with little rain drops eminating I kept checking again and again in hopes that the weatherman had made a mistake or the weather had taken a turn for the better but, alas, nothing but rain clouds appeared for the entire week. As I already had purchased a plane ticket, I decided to go ahead and try to make the best of a damp situation I flew into Milano, hopped onto a train to Parma & checked into my hotel. Parma is a nice city with many sights to see including a fantastic rennaisance era theater. However, that wasn't what I was here for. Things looked grim as I woke up the next morning and heard a thunderclap which was followed by a rain shower. I headed for the bike shop like a man headed to the firing squad. As I prepared the bike, the rain had stopped but, the skies were still gray. It was almost 12 noon before I was ready to get under way so, I made the decision to slab it down to Florence on the autostrada (interstate). This decision was also due in part to the fact that BIKE magazine had rated the autostrada between Bologna & Florence as one of the best rides in Europe. Around mid-afternoon I began to see vague shadows appear. The skies were getting brighter though, they were still gray but, hey, the roads were drying up & I was riding my bike. Things could be worse. As for the autostrada's great rating? I was less than impressed. It was still an interstate to me though, it did have some curves thrown in. I guess the interstates west of Denver would be comparable. The view was quite different though. Pure Tuscany. Italian pines dotted the landscape looking for all the world like the backdrop to a Leonardo Da Vinci painting. By late afternoon, patches of blue began to appear. Hey! What is this? Maybe I'll get lucky. After missing my exit and adding an extra 50 km before stopping to check the map I managed to find my way to the villa I would be staying at in San Casciano, just south of Florence. Here is a photo of the Villa Il Poggialo. This would be my home for the next 2 nights. Kinda looks like what a Tuscan villa should look like, huh. It's a family run place & me and my Guzzi were made to feel more than welcome. It felt like I was staying at someone's house. Well, it did used to be the family's house.

ermmm...I dunno if livin in Saudi is called lucky. Actually, the locals are among the friendliest people I've come across it's just that, the terrain is like living on the surface of Mars. errr...haven't looked into the Hepcos yet. I'm a purty good procrastinator I don't know if they're available in Europe. I'll probably procrastinate until I get my clothes drenched again

no no no...now pay attention I live & w*rk in Saudi...my bike leads a vagabond existence travelling the roads of Europe. Between trips, it seeks refuge at the bike shop in Parma, Italy, where I purchased it, a friend's barn in Shropshire, UK and, another friend's garage near Porto, Portugal. It's nice having good friend's (with garage space) It makes for a convenient triangle of home bases.

Ignore this post. I'm experimenting with my new mapping software

I agree with jrt for a stopping-to-look-at-map-take-a-wrong-turn-backtracking Canadian such as myself...1.5 to 2 hours wouldn't be unusual

I agree with what Jaap says but, I'll go ahead and plug Moto Guareschi in Parma, Italy. It's a little mom & pop shop. Claudio Guareschi is a former racer so, he has motorcycling in his blood. His son is Vitto Guareschi, the former factory Yamaha superbike team mate to Scott Russell & current Ducati Moto GP factory test rider. Vitto & his brother help out with mechanic chores while mom runs the front office. I've heard that Claudio has a hotline to the Mandello factory & that he's not above calling them up & doling out a tongue lashing about how certain parts should be redesigned Vitto prepped my bike personally when I bought it. Can you imagine that? The Ducati factory test rider working on your bike? Everything was snug & working properly. The motor pulled strong from the get go so, they must have done something right. If you're ever in the area & need work done, Parma lies roughly half way between Milan & Bologna.

Thanks for the great pics & ride report Northern Cal has some of the best motorcycling roads around The Le Mans looks bad ass in black What don't you like about 70-80 mph twisties? Those are my favorite! With its long wheelbase, the Le Mans is really in its element 4000-5000 rpm...yah baybee