The Monkey

Thank you for that Doc! Informative article for sure. A definite aid to understanding a long running and ever changing debate.

Rats, reminds me of my 2nd year of kindergarten. Where do I check in? Is the food any good?

The fact that your on a Guzzi says that you dont suffer from an identity crisis, are capable of independent thought and inclined to believe in witches.

I've run 10% ethanol fuel predominantly for the last 40000km (2.5 seasons) with no expansion observed. I am however going to reinsulate the tunnel of the tank as I expect to be riding a fair bit in N. California this season. Hopefully the amount of expansion experienced by the affected members will be finite. Plastic or its many derivatives is the most malleable of materials so I dont think adjusting the swollen tanks will be that difficult but it will mean a repaint. From heatguns to ovens, surely the tank can be warmed sufficiently to press the leading sides to stop contacting the forks and in the worse cases modifying the stops or the receivers (forward mounts on tank) will enable a swollen member to mount the rear without issue.

The tail section is deep enough for an LED tail light with turn signals to be built in to the underside of it. The face of the light bar will probably be about 3-5cm proud of the section for visibility. If the registration plate is small enough, then the plate could go forward mounted in with the seat subframe verticals. An LED clear spot light coming out the opposite section of the light bar pointing forward toward the reg plate might satisfy the legal requirements.

Rules, rules, rules! Spiffy pawns of the rulers! and the correct violator/anarchist's ride! I will hang on to my ol FN49 thirty ought six.

Excellent! That reminds me of John Bergens shop and museum. Newest bike in the shop was a 53 scout. The musuem filled the top floor of a large baren, bikes are raised to that level using the old hay lift. Hope he is still around, havent been there for a few years, I'm sure Steve is still there. Worth checking out though for all in the area. Its located at the Roy Y (outskirts of Tacoma heading for Mt Ranier) No signs ya gotta sniff around a bit. (its on the left heading east). Thanks Jim

I like it! Did you just centre the longer steering stem in the shorter loop frame neck? Or did you have to favor the top (or bottom) to deal with any fender to generator cover or frame clearance issues? That front wheel is standout, I cant believe they didnt continue to use that rim on the current retro spokers. Here's a shot of the top secret prototype that led to the development of your 2011. This shot was taken shortly after Mr Terblanche was dragged out to a remote location in the background and left with a carbon fiber seat cover for shelter.

Satin black the header pipes and collector to match the valve covers, and consider a third color for the porkchops (gold/copper like the forks).

Wierton Willy, (or was that Jesus) just got hauled out of his cave yesterday and saw his shadow. This can mean a couple things- 6 more shitty weeks of hockey and 6 more shitty weeks of winter. In any event the end of this spell is coming, soon the bike can be back on the road! Meanwhile the Welcome Wagon has run just about all of us over here in Vancouver. Duddley Doright and the gang are on the job protecting us from that which we created. Its remarkable the jobs lost in resource and manufacturing, are being recouped in the security sector. Have to post a letter to Bin Hidin thanking his organisation for their contribution to this economy. Oh its a wicked world, time to work on the relevant skills necessary to enjoy the riding season. Cheers all.

I still order pancakes at restaurants, squall and throw my fork on the floor if there is any less than 4 on the plate Mine pulled like a schoolboy up to 220km/h then crawled on, I retuned for touring and twisties as I dont use the machine on very many superhighways. It thumps along happily 150-180, I love 160 on this bike it just feels so easy, still pulls up to 210 then begins the crawl but the tinhats take a dim view of me then lumping me in with the squids. There is a speedo error of 5-7km high on the bike (checked using the LED radar stands alongside the road) For straightlining the Mandello Meteor hit 157.9 mph unfaired and 169.9 partial streamline, modified pushrod gas last year on the flats. Although without Fred and Dan in 09 it looks like, a shame really as the more Canadians present reduces the density of the ambient air. That is impressive though. Although not quite as impressive as a 10.3 sec 1/4 mile. Maybe the rider was good enough to stand on the bike a la Mr Arai and complete the run standing with a 60km/h rolling start. Is that technically a standing 1/4 mile?

[quote name='savagehenry' date='Jan 23 2010, 08:01 PM' post='16712 I seem to be going backwards. I'm definately "tightly drafting" 50, but my bikes get better handling and faster as I do not!!! Check out Team Subtle Crowbar and the Mandello Meteor online, there is a guzzi that is currently breaking records. Bonneville is a bucket list item for any gearhead. If you have the chance to go and join in with somebody trying for a title, go for it! It looks like a barrel o fun!

I found 3 other 2WD rig manufacturers- Norton, Gnome et Rhone and FN, but not the Victoria. Looking at the pics of the sidecar rigged Victorias they used for training (KR 6 Bergmeister) there is only the frame and suspension under the car and the centre of the hub for the hacks wheel is too high in relation to the chair (for an inline drive mechanism). That guy went on about the fact that it was an older model and the engine and drivetrain were protected with steel covers. That would make it a KR8 or KR9 model. I will just have to ride the 950km of two lane heaven back to Kaslo and find the old dude to get it straight.

I would replace it, lots of things are adversely affected when the battery starts to operate below peak on these bikes, some parts are cheap (relays) others are'nt like the regulator and stator. I let mine go till it was obviously gone, it was the original battery it made it 6 years (02-08) and those are the components I had to replace the very next season. You could load test it and decide from its performance whether or not to squeak another season out of it. But it owes you nothing, like an early oil change it makes that ride more carefree.

Vig's Rangoli is the top rated Indian restaurant in the city! I have not been but you can't go wrong here, we have a major S. Asian population keeping it real. On that level for Italian dining go to Il Giardino (Hornby and Pacific), the Thai I mentioned previously is Khai Thai on Seymour at Robson not on Thurlow, Thai hot!. I gotta go check out the IPA Cheers

I suspect it is the basis for an entire philosophy

There once was a man from Australia, Who painted his ass like a Dahlia. Tuppence a smell, went all very well. But three pence a lick proved a failure!

I have memories of one particular woman and 1 particular bike (RZ350) that consist entirely of shrieking, harangue, terrible front ends, awesome back ends and costly detonation. Did the tour of bike shops yesterday, found a couple Stelvio's, sat on and pondered. Bars are too wide (easy fix) Bag arrangement is massive, ridiculously so. No hope for a tank bag either. Exhaust nuts so rusted on the used one (only 21k on it) its obvious you have to strip and sort the machine from new to elimate the potential hassles and poor quality control. Hmmm... back home took the cover off the Lemans, awesome front end, hilarious back end, roll on and stability out of a corner at speed that shifts your own internal C of G this is the reason to me for this bike and this engine. I need another 50k on this bike at least, it is that good to me. It's sorted, It'll do the job, every time, so what if it gets whapped now and then by foliage grown over the dirt road. It reminds me of the fall in the bush during hunting season, at 3000' you find all the new 4WD's, at 5000' all the old 4WD's, at 6500' and beyond its just the odd station wagon. The grass is always greener, till someone hands you the pushmower.

Food; Korean-Jo Man Jib N. side of Robson St near Denman St., Greek-Olympic on Denman St. (I had to sign a paper with 4000 others to keep the IOC off his ass, he also makes the best pizza in downtown core) Thai- Robson, Denman streets excellent one on Thurlow near the Granville Bridge (west side of Thurlow) Vietnamese- 18th and Main good Pho house there, Kingsway all the way Indian- on Comox just off Denman, otherwise head to Main and 52-54th (little India) Mexican-Los Margaritas on 4th for Texmex, for actual Mexican west side of Denman near Robson (awful chemical margaritas though) Japanese-Robson St upstairs (you'll find it) boats floating past, sake in yer blood Martinis- Foot of Davie St (Yaletown) cruise yaletown loads there, or Cin Cin on Robson St. The Financial district (Georgia and Dunsmuir) is good for afternoon drinking. Beer; Steamworks (Gastown) or Yaletown Brewing Company (Yaletown) or Atlantic Trap and Gill (east end of Robson by the Stadium this is now kind of sports bar oriented), Stella's Commercial Drive (little Italy) awesome braised tuna and other fun shit with at least 20 European brews to choose. Pubs- 12th and Commercial west side of st, free live entertainment Fri nights, good beer proper joint Coffee- Little Italy (Commercial Drive), Calabria (this is where the italian bike nuts meet on some tues of some months, like the bikes they are completely unreliable and a whole lot of fun) Continental Coffee (Commercial Drive) when the rest of N. America was still accepting speed from a drip, this was the place to accelerate! Joe's Cafe (Commercial) this is the place to have a cappo and watch the gong show, listen to the drums and be thankful you're gainfully employed Have fun out here eh! funny now that I have tried to encapsulate Vancouver, it is a small town, hit Denman, Commercial, Main, 4th, Davie you've got a good taste of this place. If staring at the water and yachts is your thing head to Marinaside Crescent (Yaletown) or Coal Harbour (downtown) restaurants and drinkeries abound Cheers Oh yeah the one greasy spoon to hit is Dockers on Powell at the foot of Victoria, as a New Yorker you will appreciate this one. '

Right on man! The Buffalo will go down as the greatest bike produced by this company ever. Anyone who has spent time with one will agree. That road with the "gravel" looked rough all right.

Of course you would, if you only ride on pavement it doesn't make any sense to grab one of these types of bike. I agree most of the "Adventure" monsters probably don't see much dirt or rock. Nothing rules the bends like a dedicated road machine, but if you start venturing out a little further ie fly rod and tent on back of bike and end up on stretches of disused logging road camped beside a lake, then one of these starts to come into its own. This is the reality for me anyway riding about BC, Wa, Idaho. I seem to be riding stretches of back country more and more in order to string together interesting trips from one twisty piece of pavement to the next. Personally I will take the gravel stretch over the 4 lane alternate (unless very short) as they are usually fun and no boredom is encountered, I mean clipons in the gravel is entertaining! Although I have had logging truck drivers laugh themselves half out of their cabs as they roll past me pulled over to let them by covering me with enough dust to fog the guages, I know it is worth it. I always thought the Yamaha TDM was a good idea when it first appeared, supermoto became popular and demonstrated the advantages of a longer travel suspension. My Lemans has done the gravel and rock trip, and no bike is more rewarding for me when I do hit the little 2 lane twisties. These roads however are not well maintained and as you bucket about over them, well I anyway wonder about longer travel suspension. My V11 works an absolute charm usually but more trips means more territory, more territory means alternate road surfaces. I think that was what the marketers were getting at when they came up with "Adventure". Whether you take advantage of it or not is up to you. I only managed 10000k last season, but 24000k the season before soon put me into the "ok been down that one too many times". Lets face it, we need more than 1 bike, why do they have to cost so much?

I like it. Seems they got it together on this bike, proper bag options, good mounting system, clean overall, accessability. I am a sucker for a single sided swingarm too. Also the tire rim sizes mean that front end wont feel so spindly, probably just my lack of road time with tall hoops but I have never felt confident with the 21 inch front rim on the big heavy trailies that I have been on. 21 is great on light dirtbike that is where they should stay. I like the fact that it is a 19 up front you should be able to jam this bike into the bends. That rim size is a more honest clue to what these rides do excell at and not some fantasy tank that when loaded is downright hazardous on anything more complex than a logging road. Odd looking fairing though (to be polite) but it is unique. No mistaking that coming towards ya, kinda like the SP1000. Its not a belly button, its a Guzzi! Too many of the same old, same old out there. This looks like a proper travelling bike, gotta go test one. Mods I can see already, front fender extender and flat black mud guard mounted on the CARC covering the offending tyre surface.

Hmmm... I was thinking (rare), I ran into an individual in the Kootenay's last summer who had been part of a large adventure about 70 yrs ago on the continent. He rode one of those 2WD rigs and mentioned a manufacture I hadnt heard of. I know of the common four that supplied this bunch of wayward folk, but this old dude ran a name past me that didn't click (not rare). He came over here, worked in BC as an engineer for the railways and the mines (not a striped hat boy but as an individual in the works) after the big adventure. I think the bike was a Victoria, but I am waiting for a book just ordered to see if that can be right as I dont know if they had the hack or the 2WD. He mentioned having brought one over here and dealing with the pinion gear being too fragile. He had to make his own as the parts weren't available anymore and got it right after 3 attempts (checking the hardness by the clarity in the ring of the steel). Now running into an individual like that makes this whole trip worthwhile, regardless of his flag. Can't help thinking about how to Anglicize one of those rigs though. I can picture the solution, but I know that old fucker can make it happen. Cheers

Now I am a long ways from Kansas. But I'm bettin the one on the Duck with all the ink and someone else's eyes is lookin fer a heart. The girl on the Japper is definitely pursuing a little courage, leaving the Goose girl shy on the brains! The yellow bricks have become a spiders web I see, but at least the story is the same. So where is the dog? Please dont say he grew and is appearing in the after hours shoot. Seems some of us have more fun in January!