JackBoots

Yeah, you are correct. My wife has a 1990 FLHS and even though it's an old one, getting on that feels like I'm in a Cadillac compared to the rigid Softail. Hey didn't Harley sell some kind of Italian bike back in the early 1970s???

QUOTE (macguzzi @ Feb 25 2008, 10:34 PM) 'Fat Boy' does that discribe the riders Yeah, try describe and chuckle 1st, then we'll weigh in.

Actually, there is the urban legend that says it was a reference to the Fat Man and the Little Boy, the 2 nuclear bombs dropped on Japan. Particularily, because the 1st year of the Fat Boy was all silver like the Enola Gay bomber that dropped them. Most likely just that, an urban legend but back in the 80s when the Japanese were just starting to copy the Harley cruiser, HD did came out with an interesting advertisement. It showed a picture of a lowrider of something and then under the photo it said in Japanese. " here is your next years model"

I bought a Fat Boy new in 1992 and have logged well over 230,000 miles on her. Other than the frame, forks, tranny case, and oil tank pretty much every part on it has been replaced at least once. Its mission in life is to shake itself apart!! THAT SAID, It still puts a smile on my face everytime I ride it, and it has ALWAYS gotten me home one way or another. I have to say though, that saying on the old Harley T-shirt could just as well be on a Guzzi shirt. "If I have to explain why, you wouldn't understand" Let's face it, we choose these bikes, despite their flaws, for their character and charisma. If you want perfection buy a Honda.

You were the drummer in the Unattached! That's great! It is a small world. I saw Unattached at the Rat once and I want to say at some kind of a High School Times show at the Channel. I didn't know Jamie until much later but Unattached did stick with me as a memorable band. By the way, The Fighting Cocks played Ralph's last night.

I actually knew that he played on Ramone's albums. Some friends of mine used to be in a band called the Annoyed. They opened for the Ramones a few times and they used to tell me that Lure was behind the stage curtains playing the solos for Johnny at shows. Worcester, so we're talking Ralph's Diner now. You didn't know Jamie Severens from the Unattached and later the Fighting Cocks? He's a friend of mine from Worcester. The Rat was great. I used to love seeing the Neighborhoods play there. (hoods are playing around again by the way). I'm actually married to a Rat bartender. She was the tall dutch blonde that had her own motorcycle. She had a motorcycle only driver's license. I had to teach her how to drive a car...how's that for a switch.

You're speaking my language. I've seen most of those bands. I read somewhere Walter Lure is now a stockbroker or something. I'm from the Boston area but the bands used to go between CBGB in NY and The Rat in Boston. It was a great time for music.... and motorcycles.... that was in the days when I could get away with parking my motorcycle on the sidewalk in front of a club and not get a ticket!

I see that there is a Johnny Thunder's cover song on there... very cool! I noticed that Andy Shernoff of the Dictators NYC was wearing a Moto-Guzzi shirt in Spin magazines recent 30th anniversary of Punk issue. It kind of made me wonder if he was lirking around this site somewhere. DFFD

I just did mine last August. It was an adventure, I learned alot about my bike, and yes I removed the airbox, and for some reason the rear mudguard. I hung the rear of the frame from the rafters of my garage ceiling because I was afraid it would all collapse without the shock. I'm sure there is an easier way but in the end it all turned out OK.

actually for what it's worth I think the big twins are more like 65-70hp. My 1992 big twin HD with some performance hop ups on the dyno makes 92 at the rear wheel. No matter though, like an HD, it's the torque that makes the Guzzi fun to ride.

The same thing has happened to me many times and it was always a sign that my right rubber intake boot was loose. I would say definately something with the air intake.

In my opinion, you buy a bike because you love it. It's a heartfelt thing. The Guzzi has it's quirks but it doesn't matter, once you're hooked you're hooked. Welcome!

A nice THICK Vanson leather jacket and $15 rain gear from Target has happily gotten me everywhere on a bike for 22 years. Add heated vest for Winter weather. I had a Belstaff for a year or so. It didn't cut the wind as well as leather, and didn't keep me dry. I gave it away to a friend.

What is the verdict on the Cannon Race Craft springs?? DO they look any beefier? Has anyone had one fail? Is the popular consensus that they are better than a Guzzi spring?

Below is an Ebayer's description of the Quota that he's trying to sell. I just had to laugh. Vehicle Description My Quota. Powercommanded and dynoed. 62 blazing horsepower/62 ft lb. Hard luggage included-top case and side cases. Cosmetically fair condition-paint is sun faded and has 60k worth of scratches,dings, and other flaws. Mechanically good condition. Ujoint is in good shape. Pro Taper bars. Very comfortable for distances. Old engine blew up. Complete motor replaced. Current motor has ~20k miles on it. Chassis has 60k on it. Front tire is getting thin- ~ 30% left. Rear tire is fine !70% left. Bike is a good runner and can be ridden across country tomorrow. PLEASE NOTE: If you are an anal-retentive yuppie BMW R1100/1200GS rider with every Starbucks within 50 miles of your house logged on your GPS or such similar motorcycle wacko, you wont want this bike and you should submerge your head under water completely for 5 minutes before contacting me for details on the maintenance history,mechanical ramifications of running 42 vs 45 psi in the tires or a complete uninterrupted gas mileage history Excel spreadsheet from the minute it left the dealer. This is bike is what we call "a rider". FORZA MOTO GUZZI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ******************Here’s a little more information for the interested parties. NO. I don’t think you should take this bike 5000 miles up the Alaskan Al-Can Highway. I personally don’t think you should take ANY bike up that piece of God forsaken bear-infested road, let alone the CHEAPEST QUOTA IN THE UNITED STATES. PLUS, my crystal ball stopped working last week, so I can no longer predict the future, specifically the mechanical failures that will occur in the next 10,000 miles if you buy this, THE CHEAPEST QUOTA IN NORTH AMERICA. So you’re half way to Alaska and a tranny bearing dies and tears up a seal and blows oil all over your clutch, disabling the bike (hey-Shiite Happens). Unless you wanna drop the motor on the side of the road to fix it, you’re done. So you’re there for 4 hours before you see another car pass. You try to flag him down, but he obviously doesn’t want any company and keeps motoring on. “Sonofa…”. Meanwhile, those dark hulking shadows that you see in the distance seem to draw closer and closer…Then one day I get a call from your next of kin who say “ …but you said that the bike would make it…” I just do not need this type of mental baggage. I have had not one but TWO wacko wannabees ask about driving the bike to Alaska…it just boggles the mind. NO. This bike does not have extensive performance work. This engine is stock. You want performance? Buy a Yamaha R1. This is Guzzi’s 600 lb “dirtbike” with 60 hp out of an 1100 cc motor…more like a two wheeled station wagon with snow tires and about as much horsepower as a Yugo. HEY! I can fit $100 in groceries in the hard luggage, though, so it’s good for something. And NO you can’t stay on my couch for a few days while you tool around SoCal if you buy this, the CHEAPEST QUOTA IN THE UNIVERSE, from me. Two words: YMCA, dude. THANK YOU for the interest in the bike, and please keep the questions coming- I always need more material for my PhD dissertation on the Sociology of Internet Bike Weirdos. PS: Thank you ebay for the insertion fee sale which allows me to address all the dreamers out there in this, a very popular forum. This was well worth the $2 that it cost to insert it, and a few orders of magnitude cheaper than therapy. FORZA MOTO GUZZI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 12/08/07. Holy Toledo. 8500 hits. 150 watchers. ZERO BIDS!!!! Oh well. Add me to your "favorite sellers" list and we'll do this again real soon. Promise.

Ok well that's good. I am using a charger that is called the Deltran battery tender It's nice because it's a 4 bank charger. Is the battery that came with my 2002 a GEL? Deltran sells one charger for the standard and sealed maintenance free batteries and another one for the GEL batteries. I guess this is where my concern is.

As a new V11 Lemans owner it just occurred to me that the battery in my 2002 must be gel correct? That leads me to the next thought. My BMW K1200GT has a gel battery and I had to buy a gel battery charger from BMW as they claim it to be in some way different. My Lemans has been sitting in the garage for the past few weeks with a battery tender hooked up to the battery. Have I just killed my V11 battery or is that OK?? Please advise! Thanks

So how do you access it? From the underside bottom of the bike? IS there a cover there that you drop? I may just take you up on the assistance. I do appreciate the offer and will keep it in mind. No heat in my garage so it won't be for a while. Do you go to Moto Mart for euro night? Thanks

[quote name='tmcaf

[quote name='tmcaf

Sounds good! I actually picked up my Guzzi from the Ducati place in Beverly near you. Do you ever go to Euro night at Moto Market in Acton? I guess I have to do a little more research on how to replace the spring. I thought the shaft was also an issue and digging into the tranny may at this point be beyond my capabilities. Actually I'd assume you have to pull out the tranny no? Relays have all been changed. Still an issue so it may be time to dig under the tank. That I can handle. Ok, I guess my goal shall be to be confident in the bike by next summer's Nova Scotia trip!

Ok, gotcha.. thanks for elaborating

The Guzzi Lemans has been a dream bike of mine for many years. In my opinion it is the best looking bike ever, and I love the ride. It puts a smile on my face every time. My only issue is that I'm still not sure if I can trust her on a long trip. It's a 2002 and I have read about the known issues. Everytime the Guzzi gets a little tight going into 1st gear I wonder if the spring is going to break. When I press the start button and get nothing, I wonder if I'll be able to get her started and consider myself lucky that I'm not on the Cabot Trail hundreds of miles from any kind of a dealer. I'd love to take her to Montreal or Cape Breton Nova Scotia but I have doubts. I put over 230,000 miles on a 1992 Harley and as you might imagine I have made my fair share of side of the road repairs. I'm DONE with that. I've paid my motorcycle dues, so I admit that I am a little shell-shocked about BS motorcycle repairs. I also have a BMW K1200GT and a K100RS. Between the 2 BMWs 80,000 trouble free miles, but ya know what? AS great as the BMW's are, If I had to keep one bike, it would still be the Guzzi. On paper the BMW blows away the Guzzi but from the seat or the curb, the Guzzi steals my heart.