belfastguzzi

The start of 2011 riding The outcome of a plan for a New Year Destination First fine morning, with brightening sun and drying roads: Part 1) The Temple > Saintfield > Ballynahinch > Castlewellan > Hilltown > Ballyvally Mountain/Carnadranna for a new view beyond Grugganskeagh to the Mourne Mountains (looking west to Rocky Mtn, Hen Mtn etc)

Been rather pre-occupied with some things since Christmas, but wanted to get out before the end of Jan, to mark the start of the New Year. First Part of Jan was Big Snow. That's gone now and on Sunday past, the sun peeked out, slowly, faintly. I had originally hoped to go to the most northerly point in Northern Ireland and then on to the most northerly in Ireland, as a New Year destination. That's what we did on the Guzzi meet last May, Ulster 2: Ballintoy and then Malin Head, Inishowen. Short days and other things were against that. Plan B was to go to the Sperrin Mountains and do some new back roads, as in the Gaps and Passes thread. Organising a few local bikers for the event was as easy as pulling your own teeth. I went for Plan C, which was to go to a new, unfrequented hill track for a new view of the Mourne mountains (remember Spelga etc, Guzzi Ulster 1?). Then on, along the sea coast, to the most southerly point of County Down and Northern Ireland, at Greencastle/Cranfield. Half a dozen people turned up at the meet point and 7 people had a very enjoyable day (as we met 1 more in Newcastle, under the Mournes). Sorry, no Guzzi photos – it's about being out on a bike, at the start of the year, whatever.

All those bikes cradle the engine, don't they? I'd still suggest that the weak engine casing of the V11, where stressed, is its achilles heel for off roading alongside GSs. A sump plate on a V11 would protect against loose stones, for what that's worth, but to use it as a bash plate or skid plate would transfer the stress to the completely wrong places (if it's mounted to the engine casing) and invite catastrophe. That's one reason that I suggest using non-aggressive tyres as a limiting factor to where the rider might be tempted to go in the heat of chasing proper off road bikes. Just my thoughts. Could be wrong. It is indeed an interesting subject for debate and information gathering. There's just not much discussion happening... and I thought that the lack of discussion and posting of any sort was what people were bemoaning in various recent comments. So, chime up and chip in folks. The Americanos must have more experience of V11s doing longer distance off road or semi off road than the Brit based. Any pics?

Plenty of photos. When I was looking for it, I just searched under Davida to find it. Try Davida Guzzi; Zagato Guzzi... and follow around, or go to the source. There's various stuff related to Ben Part.

A quiz point to Guzzirider (again) for the V11-type suspension difference. It made me think, why didn't Guzzi do something a bit different, a bit progressive with their Café copy? It's such a close copy otherwise, that it's hard to think that the famous Part-Zagato badged Guzzi wasn't a major influence on the 'new' styling. What the styling has left out is the innovation, quirkiness, individuality, even oddness that a nice Café can-does-should have. Instead, it's got big number plates. Well of course, in terms of marketing and of manufacturing cheapness, the answers to my question are obvious and predictable. It's a pity though, that Guzzi didn't go that little bit further, by actually doing something special with their 'special'.

The correct name is toe-thingammybubs, btw. Yes, that's good thinking too. What's the story behind this Jason? Just for fun or did the originals break? And here we go. Not how I would want to do it, but gotta empathise with the thrills that the guy has had making all this. Interestingy, despite ALL the mods and the huge weight, he didn't feel the need to fit fat tyres or knobbly tyres.

The Off Roading thread reminded me about this bike, build as one person's unique vision of an overland Guzzi: oh, the Fickr video doesn't embed, you'll need to follow the link

My guess is that the V11 in those pics is built as a road bike, not for off roading. The big tyres are just for looks. Are there any pics of it going through mud or up mountains etc? I wouldn't want a fat front tyre like that off road, or on a long tour. It's a city bike.

Not sure if there are folding levers for V11. There are for Breva, Griso etc. I was thinking of the billet levers, or at least carry stock spares, and fit a set of the various billet foot levers that are available. Not to be pessimistic, but just thinking: another thing to watch out for in desert/off road conditions would be the V11's infamous rear brake calliper. It needs to be kept cleaned as it collects dirt so easily, hanging upside down. Then it sticks and literally melts. Then it doesn't matter if your foot lever is broken or not. So Baldini, is this what you were thinking when you kicked this off?

Some quite fine motivational posters for ya > Clickety HERE for more

Same. While I haven't been in Morocco/desert either, I still think that fitting a V11 with off road or trail tyres would be unnecessary and the wrong thing for a trip like this, giving much more downsides than upside. Gearing can't be lowered on a V11 either, like on a chain and sprocket bike: limiting climbing and off road ability, esp when laden. Fit good touring tyres and keep the laden weight down. The V11 is fine at scooting over slightly rough ground, like most bikes. Fit a sump guard by all means but I don't know that it's crucial. Rather, I'd be avoiding driving (riding) into any sump/chassis bashing obstacles. The V11 is frail in a lot of areas. Broken brackets and levers (and springs) are commonplace. In my opinion, the weakest part of the V11 is the frame/engine support and of course the heads & spark plugs. The critical engine support is weak: more to the point, the engine mounting areas are very weak. I say 'engine support' but of course the point really is that the engine itself is an integral part of the whole structural support system. Some of us know from experience that when a V11 falls over, in my case laden with touring gear, the shock of the (static) bike weight alone is enough to crack the timing chest. That could be the end of any trip as the crack results in heavy oil loss when the engine is running. Other areas of casing aren't the strongest either, so fitting off road tyres in order to go haring around off road multiplies the likelihood of grief arising. Dropping a V11 off road and far from a spares supplier will require some good remedial bodging skills to keep the show on the road. The weakness of the frame has been much written about; I'm highlighting the weakness of the engine/transmission casings; and everyone knows about the vulnerability of the heads and plugs as well as hand and foot levers and their brackets. Given all of that, I think it's better to see the tyres as a safety device. Let them limit the terrain traversed, rather than get into situations where the bike frame and casings are going to receive heavy shocks and impacts or fall over. Note that I say V11 above, rather than Guzzi. The V11 is probably the worst of all Guzzis to take off road, as it's structurally the weakest. The famous Tontis that have been hammered around mountains and deserts are different beasts altogether. I've been criticised here for having my Griso mildly off-road, but again, it's a lot more robust than the V11. Carrying spare hand levers is a must, of course, but also consider the foot levers. For rough terrain journeys, it could be sensible to carry spares or even replace the weak cast stock items with stronger levers that don't crack apart when you look at them.

People get close to the action at NI road racing but this....! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HjXXUyQhPE

More of the all things Guzzi related but not previously discovered or discussed. Things are now progressing extra-nicely. Thanks to the learned and concerned contributors to the What came to be called motorcycles topic, we have a 3rd new topic. 1) Bath soap – All things Guzzi hygiene. Discussion moderator: J Dental Floss RT 2) Grisotto - Tasting Guzzi Discussion moderator: Chopper Jim Remember, it's a labour of love and you want it to be smooth, creamy and oozy, not thick and stodgy. To quote Jamie Oliver: "This is an absolutely delicious recipe. It’s quite unusual, and the best thing about it is that it makes a hero of the much-underloved everyday cauliflower." 3) Start and Go - Understanding the science and semantics of a moving Guzzi Moderator of Pedantry: Baldi Knee • On Steering a horse, or, Work your way through the conundrums of the man-machine interface. Accusation A "Anything inherently stable you DRIVE, anything unstable you RIDE." Observation B "Sometimes you'll hear pilot applied to motoryclists, as opposed to driver. Rider is somewhat passive, so doesn't convey the correct nuance." Romantic Assertion (quashed) C "I've also heard people talking about piloting a motorcycle (as if they could fly)." Wild Conjecture D "Driver is more correct, since motorcycles, unlike horses, don't have minds of their own" Speculation E "I guess if your riding is just sitting on the back of something that goes its own way, then it might be... more accurately described as steering?" Rebuttal F "If you are making a m/c do what you want, not what it wants (minded or not), then you are RIDING it." Equivocation G "Riding & driving can be passive or aggressive." Political Correction H "I'd never drive a motorcycles, them motorcycles kills everybody that rides." • Start. The philosophy of getting to go and engaging gear. Push and Jump, or bump? – "Push start is push or push & jump in gear & dumping clutch. Jump start is stationary, using leads from remote battery. In the old days, one would push start a passive motor car and one would jump start an aggressive motor cycle, or horse." Jump, Dump... or Pop? – "Jump on the bike and pop the clutch..?" Run alongside your wife? – "Push start is when your wife is along and she pushes: jump start is when you have to run along side." Forget it – "The Convert has to get up to 34mph." • Engaging thought. The hazardous uncertainty of things going wrong Unresolved Question A "Could you say a driver rides a bike or would this be the sociolectic overkill? " Unresolved Question B "What if you accidentally let slip a phrase like "a horse drives its rider crazy"? "

By the footwear, I deduce that it is Finland

Erm, so, when you say, dumping the clutch.... Anyway, I say, just dump the whole bike.

Editing

In the old days, one would push start a passive motor car and one would jump start an aggressive motor cycle, or horse. Nowadays, we don't do that sort of thing.

Baldi, Copy the link select the button at the far right of the toolbar above (I think the icon is meant to look like 3 monitor screens behind each other). It's the 'Insert Media' button. Click it, paste the media url into the box and then confirm by clicking on the insert media button in the box. Or just add media tags at either end of the url. Either will give you: {media]http://www.youtube.com/bigracingcars[/media} - obviously with [ ] rather than { ] used above, so that they show - Which when posted, gives you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmCJvDUWXaY I got your PM thanks. Must reply. D Lex, Just as an item of interest – I'm intrigued by the local Northern Ireland sounds in the narration. I don't think it's an Italian speaking English. It may be someone speaking English as a foreign language: don't know where they'd be from.

Some of the all things Guzzi related, but not previously discovered, or discussed. Things are progressing nicely. We now have 2 new topics. 1) Bath soap and Guzzi hygiene. Discussion moderator: J Dental Floss RT. 2) Grisotto - tasting your Guzzi. Discussion moderator: Chopper Jim. – Remember, it's a labour of love and you want it to be smooth, creamy and oozy, not thick and stodgy. To quote Jamie Oliver: "This is an absolutely delicious recipe. It’s quite unusual, and the best thing about it is that it makes a hero of the much-underloved everyday cauliflower."

Good man. That belongs in the other topic in 24/7. Through unity of effort we advance in progression of knowledge of all things Guzzi related. I'll add it to the appropriate topic. And Anto's interpretation can't be correct: sure even Guzzi don't know if their engine is an 8V or a 4V!

Where's Baldini's modified design pic? It was nearer to the mark.