Steve G.

Awesome, great info guys. Any other info, I'm all ears. What kind of weather you think we'll hit in February? When I was in Cabo in late November, it was really nice, actually, kind of cool, like 60degF at night, and 75-80degF daytime. Nice though, no clouds, just like, well,,,,, a desert! Ciao, Steve

Mr. Dlaing and Mr. Luhbo, Please respect this series of posts. This is not a political thing. It is not a pro or anti war thing. It is simply a nod, and lowering of the head, with pride and respect, to those who gave their life, their body, their mind, in war, in combat. Nothing else. Please. Ciao, Steve

Thanks for the info Roadslayer and Jim. I will probably be asking you about more stuff Roadslayer, as I enjoy a steep learning curve about stuff I focus on. Heck, I'm even starting a quick spanish night school thing, as I really want to try to communicate to these people with more than sign language. I've been to Mexico 4 times. First was in 1976, when Grampa took a bunch of us grandkids to Tucson, Arizona, and we spent a day in Nogales. Next was 1978, when 3 of us teenagers piled into a van in the winter and drove down to get a sunburn, walking across at Tijuana for a day. That was a friggin' eye opener, we got into a bar brawl, and got chased a mile back to the border by 15 guys. Next was Cabo San Lucas in 1987, when it was still somewhat of a fishing village, 2 wks there, good times, but some weird close calls. I was jogging along the highway [i know pretty stupid] 1/4 mile out of town [near the old concrete plant], and by accident I herded some cows onto the highway. A big Kenworth with massive 'Roo" bars smashed into one, and it flew right at me, landing 2 ft away. The last time down was Puerto Vallarta in 2004. Real good time, we kids took Mom down. Did everything. Fished for Tuna. My brother and I rented bikes, and headed east up into the hills, 20 miles in, only to be stopped by a pickup truck load of guys. They didn't want us to go any further, but we couldn't understand further, so when they drove past, we stopped the bikes, and my brother walked up the top of the hill. He stopped, and ran back very fast, yelling to fire the bikes. Seems they were hearding the season's allotment of Brahma bulls down into Vallarta for bull fight season, and they were running down the road toward us!!! Once my brother & I were walking the back streets of Vallarta, and came across a construction site, and felt like pitching in, so asked for a shovel and asked where they wanted to dig. Lived through my first Hurricane [Kenda], which was absolutely fucking wild!!! Vallarta's transit system, old school buses from the U.S. & Canada, is just great fun. Once we took the wrong route, and found our tourista asses 40 miles out of town in a little dirt road village at 10:00pm. Well, we bought some beers from the store, and as most of the village turned up to see who we were, one guy with rough english told us another bus in an hour, so we sat in the centre of the village and talked to everyone, translated through the guy. To be honest, the Bandito thing is the only thing that had me thinking, to stay away from Tijuana is a no brainer. I have driven through the military check points, and I feel you should be nervous about them only if yes, you are packing, and secondly, if you have drugs. The only form of authority I can think of that would offer trouble would be the traffic police. So which border crossing would you think is best? Where do you park your car/truck while riding bike down there? My BMW has tubless tires/rims. Some guys are thinking about putting tubes in them. I'm thinking about bringing my tubeless tire repair kit, and 3 of us will have tiny air compressors. What are your thoughts? We are wanting to do the odd campout. Would you say avoid this, or just camp at privately owned camgrounds? What about those great palapas? Are they all private? And what would you bring as far as money? U.S. cash, Mexican Pesos? Have you heard about any hot springs that could be visited, wild or private? Ciao, Steve

A favorite helmet is quite different from a best helmet. Ciao, Steve

Actually, it's because Moto Guzzi has been on such a fragile financial footing for decades now, that the sourced componentry has been brought down to a price rather than up to a quality. Back in the 70's and 80's when they could have easily sourced better, perhaps the best components of the day from companies like Nippon Denso and Bosch [like Laverda], it was fiscally forced to use Marelli and Veglia. Regarding the price of M.G.'s, the higher costs are directly associated both limited production numbers, and the 'hand made' nature of the bikes. Automation would reduce the cost of each bike, even higher production numbers alone would do it, to spread out the costs of 'non-charge out ' labour, like management, secretarial, engineering, and other needed staff, who do not actually build the bikes. But to introduce automation means capital investment. As they say, if v-twins is what you make, and you can't afford re-tooling, v-twins is what you make! Ciao, Steve

Hi Roadslayer, Yes your pictures are way cool!! I've got to tell you a bit of a story. Last Thursday, our local club meeting [british] we got a member's neighbour to come in with a picture presentation of his latest Baja tour, in early Oct. this year. He's been going down for yrs. This guy's a real bushwacker, considering not only the pavement, but the graded roads off limits, prefering to find and use the "tracks", not found on any map, basically animal tracks. When we told him our plan to go using airhead and oilhead GS's, he scoffed, saying we'd never make it. Now I've done my share of off-roading, currently using a CR500 to play in the mud. I realise a GS is no dirt bike, and we have no intention of going the 'rough track' routes like him. But I think a competant rider can go in there. For example, he scoffed big time when I told him our intentionof heading into Mike's Sky Ranch, and Coco's. Sand is the tricky one, but I've done this stuff, I've been into Florence Dunes. Most of us are pretty good riders, but a couple nebiees to gravel. Are we being to over ambitious? I noted some of your equipement. Are those Sidi Discoveries? What about your tire choice? And I also noticed your flip up street helmet. What are your thoughts on that? I was also thinking of bringing a fishing rod, I hear shore casting can get you small halibut and stuff. He also threw this bandito scare at us, around Ensenada outskirts, and Tijuana. We will be 7. We won't be packing, except for a knife. Safety in numbers, or just keep your street smarts? What kind of effects can we expect from the big Hurricane that went through there? I here Mulege got hit good. Thanks man. Ciao, Steve

Well done Jim. The most important day of the year for me. My grampa, and great grampa were in the two big ones. I'm now going to visit an old friend, 90 now, a dispatch rider for the English Army in WW11, who was blown up while on his Norton in France. Both knees broken, he still rides!!! Ciao, Steve

While it may be that this subtopic on this thread may disapear quickly, I had to comment. I'm very glad that the Seimens relays are doing well for you. I however had nothing but issues with mine from day one. Many attempts by the dealer, giving me handfulls of replacement Seimens did nothing. It wasn't until I purchased [for the dizzying price of 1 pound each] those silly Chinese relays did this constant relay failure stop. I am not a proponent of the job robbing trade practices of China, and in my business I am constantly faced with installation of horrifically bad quality products from China. I can tell you that these silly little relays had a huge input into my current ownership of my V11 Sport. Without them, my bike would have been gone long ago!! And now, back to the talks of hose clamps and thread locktighton oil filters!!! Ciao, Steve

I'm going this Februrary, 5 of us, and we are all pumped. I'm about to look at your pictures. Ciao, Steve

And here I was cursing myself for using the correct torque, and then not being able to get the filter off through the porthole later. I guess I should pat myself on the back. It's nice to have a look inside anyways. Ciao, Steve

Some would argue that the TT lost it's true significance when it lost it's status as a GP stop. I'll give that comment a fair amount of due. However, the history of the place still is there, nothing has changed. I consider myself extremely lucky to be at TT'94. This was a highlight in many ways, as I witnessed the TT racing knowledge of Steve Hislop, Phil McCallen, Joey Dunlop, Robert Dunlop, as well as the incredible debut of the Britten, with John Britten front and centre. I witnessed the serious side of TT, the grief of death of Mark Farmer on the Britten in Thursday practice, I witnessed the actual crash of Robert Dunlop, as his rear Marvic wheel on his RC45 Honda imploded just outside Ramsey, and watched him bounce off the brick wall like a rag doll being shaken by a pit bull. I witnessed John Surtees and Geoff Duke having a pint at the Craig-ne- Bah public house [sorry for spelling] during Mad Sunday, which I also partook in. Afternoon tea at the Empress on the promanade, watching the Marshals, with their big "M" on the front, sail by, knees scraping, just before a race to clear the track. Doing 145mph on Mad Sunday, passing guys doing 60mph, being passed by guys doing 170mph, all at once!! The Manx Ale!!! To sum it up, if you are any kind of a motorcycle enthuisiast, you should go at least once before you can't anymore. 2007 might have been a great time, being the 100th aniversary. But, don't dismiss the Manx GP. The weather is supposed to be better, there's way more vintage bikes, and less of a zoo, so easier and cheaper accomodation and boat ride to Mona's Isle. Ciao, Steve

The thing looks like a ZX10 to me!! No one can design like Massimo Bordi [916]. Ciao, Steve

Thanks Greg, An inquiring mind that wants to learn the signs of mechanical issue. Ciao, Steve

A great idea these polls Jim. A bit of a captive audience though, don't ya think? Look at the results. Ciao, Steve

Golly I love pressing buttons. And I laugh even more [lol] when those buttons react!!! IMHO, I love it. Ciao, Steve

Sorry about the spelling Ratchet. While I very often find myself laughing out loud [Golly, sorry Ratchet, I meant LOL], after reading your entries, I'm not going to offer the percentage of times I'm laughing at you rather than laughing with you. As to the seed that started this thread growing, your initial entry had me shaking my head, and saying outloud, @#!#$# he must have alot of time to kill, or as you would say, FHMHAOTTK !!! Ciao, Steve G.

This is a question for Greg Field, which I thought best fielded on the forum, so we could all hope to see possible signs of, and avoid similar problems. A chat with former V11 owner Chris made me aware that his former bike has gone back into your shop to repair the big end bearings, a problem that has cursed this particular bike. Can you give us any details about what might be causing this issue? Ciao, Steve G.

A tough call for me. I've ridden an RGS with the 120 engine, very sweet, and unique styling. But the 180 Jota stirres the soul like nothing else. The sound it makes is very emotional, even at idle, it is well and truly alive!! Ciao, Steve

I like reading Ratchethack's posts. I very much enjoy being invited to the lofty area of where he resides, where one can look down at those who don't understand, the air is so much clearer and sweater up here. Laughter is so soothing to the soul. It is just good. Ciao, Steve

Congratulations to Nicky Hayden!! He finally proved he was champion, he just decided to wait until the last race. And I say he deserved it. While Hayden suffered most of the year with mechanical trouble with the Honda, Rossi suffered even more, with the Yamaha engineers ultimately letting the former champion down while leading or on podium on all his DNF's, all on an under-achieving machine, as evidenced by the performance of his teammate. So bring on 2008! And I say beware World Champion Nicky Hayden. A fire has been lit under the ass of the greatest motorcycle roadracer of the modern era, and he's heading your way! Ciao, Steve

Yes, the Redwoods in and around Garberville CA are cool. Head up just north of Blaine Wahington, and I'll show you the only stand of Giant Redwoods north of the 49th parallel, 5 miles from where I live. Ciao, Steve

Here's a couple rumours I could throw into the mix. For years Moto Guzzi's sent a separate kilometer guage with their bikes, so the dealer could change the guage to whichever reading the country needed. The other guage went in the garbage. So there may be guages hanging around in kilometer readings around the US. Also, I recently had a good look at the catalog of Moto Spezial in Germany, Guzzi shop. They had replacement guages for several late model Guzzis of German manufacture. Ciao, Steve

I did Baker 2 weekends ago, the second rtime this season. The last section inside the state park are great! Ciao, Steve

Your Irish, so you should get a sampling of the Irish single malt from Red Breast. Simply lovely and smooth. Ciao, Steve

So, who's James Blunt? Some flamer from the UK? Golly, first it's George Odowd [boy George], then George Michael playing with himself in some truck rest stop. It must be something in the water in the UK guys!!! Ciao, Steve G.