docc

Ten out of twelve of the serious, aggressive riders I aspire to ride with have migrated to the "dual Sport " style of bike. KTM whipped BMW at the game in Africa. This is not a pretenders' sport. The V11 Sport is a dicey partner on the mining roads in the mountains. The Quota was a heavy (575 pound) beast. I don't dream that Guzzi will ante up the KTM play in Paris-Dakar but some shot at the adventure-tourer game seems a'propos, no?

Here's to using the right stuff and seeing you back, Jack! It's going to be interesting to hear your comparison of the '04 with the '02 LeMans . . .

But when you swap the forks on an early Sport doesn't that mean changing axles and the fender and . . . what else? For Jack's '04 this is more straight-forward, yes?

I've played the 'outta gas ' game with my Sport on numerous occasions. Me and "Rube" are cookin' up solutions to get that extra gallon as the single malt level goes ever down . . . The electric (pet)cock is known to be sketchy in it's fuel delivery. Swapping to a mechanical unit is a good way to isolate that part of the equation. Otherwise, check that very last fuse for the 'electric cock' to be sure it is seated well.

Thanks, Alex. I had lost track of this thread . . . and apparently November as well. No Stelvio then?

The picture may be too large and the forum won't accept it. Hosted images are those you might upload to a photo site like Photobucket then cut and paste the IMG (image) tag onto the reply box. The entire image will dislay on the post but is actually not stored with the forum's server. Alternatively, you can resize the picture before posting. BTW, what gear were you using for the asphalt surfing?

From the placement of the exhaust, it looks like it would go like your arse is on fire When is the Milan show?

This time of year I do love my Tekno panniers. An extra layer or two and the Gerbings jacket. Good down to about 40F. Below that I don't think the tires are reliable.

And, so, if Guzzi twins have loop frames, Tonti frames and spine frames then what are these new frames? And do Grisos have the same frame as the Breva/Norge? Yes, and all the best to Carl and this new ride. Beware of late nights mapping itselectrical system . . .

Recognizing the difference between 'damping ' and 'dampening' is like finding out there is no 'and' in a whole number. The fastest I've seen the Sport's Veglia indicate is one hundred thirty-five. But not one hundred and thirty-five. Here in the year two thousand six ( not two thousand and six) it is common to read and hear otherwise knowledgable sorts tell you that your forks' dampening can be sorted for less than a hunderd and fifty dollars. The grammarical rant aside there is no question that sorting the Guzzi suspension is going to be the biggest improvement we can ever make.

If you hadn't noticed . . . Elvis has left the building . . .

The tipi is a remarkable shelter. Did you pack the inner walls with straw? And where are the Jeep pictures? We're motorheads, donchaknow.

The Sport wind screens mount diffferently after some point. I think it's when the instruments changed in '03. the early screens were fork mounted and the later frame mounted.

Andy, How have your Delren (sp?) bushings for the rear torque arm worked out?

Alright, alright, if you guys are starting to share women, I'd like to offer my services . . . " How many Chiropractors does it take to service a woman? Just one, but she'll have come back nine times . . ."

I tried at the local supplier, but is "Sperm Whale Oil" the same thing as "Whale Sperm Oil?' As a rule I stay away from anything to do with sperm.

I'm not convinced the swing arms on spine frames are all so carefully centered. 'Pretty close' or whatever Italian is for that. I'm not saying this is causative for crashing, just an observation that it is one more item worth tuning carefully to acheive the highest possible stability.

I was watching One Man's Island, a film about Canadian Mark Gardiner riding the TT in 2002. During one shot of bikes staging out of the paddock a Tenni rolls by, the rider in Tricolore leathers! Good film with some great onboard footage made better by a glimpse of a beautiful Guzzi.

I do remember seeing her in The Hunger getting her kit off with Susan Sarandon. Talk about some nice front to rear bias!

No doubt the Red Frames were harder to set up than the typical Guzzi. Delivered very soft with those Pirelli Dragon tires made mine susceptible to high speed weave. Weave at speed is always made worse by increasing the steering damping. Such a sudden incident like Guido's picth-off doesn't lend itself to explanation by suspension set-up or frame geometry. Sounds more like the kind of thing that happens from sudden input as you would expect from a broken chain, motor seize or a side stand impact.

Me good woman, bless her heart and other parts, bought me a nice blend of Johnnie Walker Blue for my birthday. Nice since I was expecting a shop-vac and last year I got a broke leg from my dirt bike . . . She seemed to think it would last longer since it was pricey . . . I think I'll have another. Here's one to you good chaps.

heh, yes, taking the easy way out I pronounce my MATZA-rratti as "BAY-EMM-VAY."

Possible, perhaps, that the bolt loosened up and the constant fore and aft stress on the bolt finally broke it?

I have an old Veglia that got erratic at speed. It must still have its internals to push the odometer. I'll try to bring it up to you at Corse Motorsports in Nashville in the next week or so. Maybe you can salvage what you need from it. From the South'n Spine Raid experience I know you're not as interested in how fast you're going as how far you've been . . .

I've gotten vague on those metric hardness grades: 8.8, 10.9, . . . is it? I was thinking 8.8 is equivalent to grade 5, 10.9 is grade 8?