The Monkey

I like the idea of a large displacement 4 valve watercooled mill in the future product. cali, griso, stelvio, or norge. The scrambler idea is odd to be polite but like triumph is just aimed at comfortable position for about town or a lane. I cant help but wonder about a proprietary engine or even Piaggio tooling up for 500-750cc bikes aimed for another rider and rolling it under the Guzzi badge. Much lighter and with 17 inch wheels to take advantage of the tyre technology. Guzzis to me are made beside a lake in northern Italy, that is a problem that was pointed out, but like Harley who smartly left the loyal rider in the early 80's its time to move on and I wish them luck. May they have a driven team who take pride in what they make and a whole lot of backing to make it work. Trimph under Bloor was able to capitalize on not only the engine design associated with the product, but bring back another configuration as well. Now all identify those engines with Triumph. Cant help but ponder what is still possible with a field apparantly saturated and satisfied with current layouts. May the retro thing curl up and die, innovation is something that Guzzi was a master at once apon a time. Heres hoping some old time Mandallarian spirit is present in the future product. I'm still waiting for the roads to warm up enough to hop on that great Guzzi that takes me to beautiful places. Ducatis are for pussies. Cheers

Gustafsson Plastics in St Augustine Fla. offer various heights of windscreen for the V11 Lemans. The stock one being the lowest. This or the Laminar lip will redirect the winds blast.

Great topic! For the corners after coffee it would have to be The Cult's "She sells Sanctuary", Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion", Rush "Tom Sawyer". For those days that go on too long- Bob Segers "Turn the Page" or Tragically Hip's "100th Meridian". For the upper region- going from 4th to 6th the music gets left behind in deference to the intake roar and the meld of man and machine. When we come back down again the song pulls up alongside again. Yeah, she sings alright!

Unless I am mistaken- nice corner shot of the 250 Guzzi at the 6 minute mark! Cool video. At least they mentioned the 39-45 period, something I havent seen Guzzi history cover at all. Neat how time and engineering wrap around, First the Benelli Sei and Honda CBX, now BMW's K1600.

Whew! Good to know things are ok. Slim branch this, much like the Mad Hatters tea party. Fact of the matter is that it isnt just me and that is a relief.

Heres a couple shots in the spirit of being different and reinventing the wheel. It portrays how the front end feels in those nightmares whilst riding in your pajamas. Vespas are good too, it just takes a lot of mood enhancing substances to accept it (or ride one). Final shot is tribute to the craftsmanship that has put all of us onto this motorcycle. Thanks to this forum for all the mechanical help and entertainment. Happy New Year to every one of you.

Page 4 in the How to Section covers some disassembly of the 43mm Marz fork. Happy hunting.

The engine wont have to be run if you have taken minimal storage precautions 1 Bike in a dry location 2 Fluids all changed at end of season 3 Fuel stabilizer in tank, run bike long enough to get stabilizer throughout fuel system 4 Disconnect battery (trickle charge to full once a month) Running an engine briefly in a cold environment will result in moisture accumulating on the internal surfaces due to condensation. Same as only ever doing short trips- that moisture shows up as a gooey opaque build up under the rocker covers. Also as steam billowing out the exhaust from water accumulation there. Once an engine is fired up the whole should be operated at full temperature for a decent period of time to avoid this, a little engine like our bikes have, would have to be ridden about an hour at least as the transmission and final drive also are subject to this. So unless you plan on a decent ride in the cold, leave her shut down. As an aside I remember a partner in the fleet pulling the heads off the main engine as he figured the gasket had gone on him. (The crankcase had a lot of water in it). Turns out the cause was a heater installed on one side of the engine room and an open vent spilling cold air into the other side of the ER. 3 months of cold weather, that was all it took. Hope that helps

You do have to wonder at breaking an 01 and 04 V11 that haven't been crashed. Probably pretty abused, a few badly executed stoppies could be enough stress to do that to a shock.

Hot water works well, you just have to warm up the glue and they will peel off easily. Use a soft cloth and just keep wiping on the sticker till you can get an edge started. It is amazing the amount of warnings they feel we require. However a short trip to a Box store will confirm the necessity. :!:

You should have more tuning options with that electronic ignition installed. there are some out there with different ignition maps available in the unit. Makes more sense than points, which are getting harder to find arent they? Very fortunate to find one in that condition. Love the old motor they seem mechanically quieter to me and are better looking in my view. Thats a bike to hold onto. Cheers

Dammit! How could they? Our last bastion, violated and exposed! It just goes to show you, your never alone out in the Bush. I wonder if anyone caught the antics on film regarding the fishing fleet!

A fit of anger or other violent emotion= conniption I never got a squeek outa mine they would just back right off with the resulting snort and pop. They wouldnt stay put. Had to replace the boots, I guess the rubber just gets sketchy after so many temperature fluctuations.

Their robust for Italian machinery alright. Its just the Rob and the Bust that triggers conniption.

Heres another for cold climates. Have a light bulb burning under the house (crawl space) this makes a huge difference 40-60 watt is all it takes. Insulate the skirt, or if just vertical foundation over dirt ensure vapor barrier on earth is intact. Nothin like cold to bring us back to our roots eh? Outhouses, chopping wood, frozen oil lines, plastic on the inside of the windows. Blechh!

Good shot on the tree! Funny I have all those parts and more (inner clutch,throw bearing) in a bag, timely replacement for sure. first one lasted 65,000 next one only 20,000 rivets broke free requiring early than expected (1.5 season) replacement. Inner clutch had notch halfway on spline all the way round. Often wondered why she made such a racket even before engaging clutch at idle. New pieces, Quiet now. Just put the machine away for the winter. Saw the sun out on Longbeach last week, gotta grab the beauty while you can, be thankful you have the space to do that particular job yourself. Sure wish I did. What time is it? Time for Ebay madness, Scotch and all those Turkeys Cheers

Good advice Ben. Respect to this forum. Never pay interest on an asset that devalues

I am flat out of roses! Wish new bikes didnt have so much awful plastic. Much as I dig V-twins, I would choose the Triumph, remove that headlight appendage, put it on my head for Halloween and go out as a Guzzi Coelacanth! Hmmm... I would pack a battery, It would work! Now that is a trick.

Indeed it is good practice without the plate! In fact that very practice is the only time my oil coincides with the full line mark! That said, if I was tempted to ever "launch" this tank, then I too would install that plate.

That is impressive. But 418 lbs is light enough to justify a decent front end and swingarm. The components Renard have chosen/made give it a hastily cobbled together effect. That and the peculiar unibody really bowl you over. I just cant get back up! The target market is obvious, the popularity of matt black rods is eternal. Wild Bill Gelbkie's, "Road Dog" comes to mind. I do like the soupcan speedo though.

Not good looking and definitely not light . However the Estonians do a good smoked Oolican. Reminiscent of Soviet influence, but the Mig and the Kalashnikov are the only mechanically successful items to appear thus far..... That toothy machine would look the part raised up high over an enormous square. They should stick with soup and cheap brides.

Yeah its a good idea to go slow and start with a small calibre. You know, a wee gun you can balance on your hip and chat. Jesus man, all she needs is a pith helmet!

Thats smokin down the salt on a 60's 250! Damn right you guys should be proud and partyin. Nice work. Get us a pic, would love to see the event.

Just a guess, but if it coincides with the intro of the V7 it could simply be a reference to the new layout. Another possibility is the Etruscans used the V as a U in old text as did the rest of the empire and it may be an example of Northern Pride, or being the oldest on the block. Did Guzzi ever make a chariot? I liked the phonetics on the poster "gootsy" in the other thread too.

Id never leave the shop! Is that a 750 Laverda looking out the window? sick with envy