belfastguzzi

I might make it obligatory for all attendees at the 2009 UK meet to come suitably attired. And imagine the smell around the campfire: oily wax seeping from the riders and unburnt 'Euro lll' lean emissions wafting from the bikes ~ memorable ~ PS I have 3 jackets of various design and size and 1 very old pair of trousers, so if you can't afford to buy into The Look (you fibber, Orson) we could set-up a hire service for the weekend. (I'm thinking that a photo thread is called for, both to illustrate examples of 'suitable attire' – and to vet aspiring event attendees.)

Illogical: moi?! Saw this: "Speaking of The Look, the Barbour is also instantly recognizable by its classic signature tartan interior cotton lining, which is also very comfortable. And best of all is the "Made in England" label, along with its gaggle of Royal seals, attesting to Barbour's official appointments to various Kings and Queens. The International certainly doesn't replace any of the modern motorcycle jackets with their high-tech fabrics, CE-approved armor, Gore-Tex liners and Nylon zippers. The decision to buy a Barbour International comes from the same set of illogical emotions that "force" one to come to the decision that only a Moto Guzzi Le Mans, Ducati Paul Smart 1000 or Triumph Thruxton will do as the next bike. Owners of those classics or any other vintage British or European make will surely want to complete The Look by going all the way with an International. And while you're at it, how about a pudding bowl helmet and some stringback gloves?"

Funnily enough, the place where I bought my Griso sells jet skis. There's foresight for you.

The Ulster Grand Prix at Dundrod had to be abandoned of course. This new £104 million road upgrade. through Belfast, is submerged under 20' of water. Road engineers, eh! This guy is standing on the roof of his car. I really think that we have as much chance of summer weather in May next year, as we have in 'the summer'.

har har that's the last time I stand behind that moto-bicycle!

Thanks Jaap We'll stick with the 22-25 May weekend. There are pluses and minuses to having it on the Bank Holiday, but the big important plus is that it will make it easier for some people to take an extra day. If you are thinking of taking a longer holiday again at that time, the NW 200 roadraces may be on the previous Saturday. You could also have a good visit around Donegal. If so, I could also try to get some extra days off that week.

Follow the links to see / hear video. You may need to have QuickTime 7 to see it. We had one day of dry weather this week so I took some time and went out on the Griso with a video recorder, to capture the exhaust sound. There aren't loads of high speed roars as I kept to small roads, where the police wouldn't be. I don't think that they would take kindly to finding a bike with both a loud exhaust and a video camera on it. The ride does show a range of conditions: low revs, high revs, up hill, down hill, level. The sound should be pretty good with decent in-ear phones or headphones, or a mighty hi-fi! There is a short snippet that will download quickly. The main movie is 12 minutes long, so you need broadband and a bit of patience, but once it starts loading you can play it while it continues to download. Short snippet The ride – the full 12 minute movie

Does the Bank Holiday weekend date actually help many people?

Well I'm still assuming that the NW will be on the previous weekend. We won't know until October announcement. It worked ok for me this year, as I was crossing in the opposite direction:

Yes, yes, Mrs Guzzirider can come.

And Stelvios are more than welcome, I say. Perfect Stelvio riding roads, I say.

Oh no, very sorry to hear that, as others will be too. Do let me know if you ever think that you can get a few days off and want to come over any other time. D

Summer has now moved in the annual calendar to May, I reckon. It's certainly not in July or August anymore. So Ulster Rally next May, bank holiday time, Friday 22nd to Monday 25th May 2009? Every now and again the bike mags feature the North Coast road. The current issue of Bike (Sept 2008) has a cover feature, 'Seven Days in Northern Ireland'. It covers part of the route that I'd do during the V.11 / Guzzi meet: coast road and Torr Head. Have a look. It also mentions the Sperrins, which was part of the wish list. The other main area that I mentioned before is 'St Patrick's Country': Strangford lough and down to Newcastle / Mourne mountains area – you could call it the south coast road. The biggest problem is finding somewhere suitable to stay. The Slaney Inn, that I mentioned before, is apparently closing. Nothing to do with the Harley Davidson rallies I'm sure. I'll try to get out and about a bit in the next couple of weeks to see if I can spot somewhere else. Maybe 15 to 20 people? The ones who indicated before that they're interested are: BFG Guzzirider Helen Ballabio Bertie Baldini Antonio (has Antonio got a bike now?) MacHaggisGuzzi Martin Barrett Jaap plus loose Danish women Gary Wambiker Grossohc Ferguzzi Soren plus loose Scots kilt

Celebrations. You'll be having twa neeps for tea on Saturday then!

Yeah. Weasels and haggis both. Dumb animals.

Unless they say they're for the 1200, I'd assume that they are for the 1100. Where makers do specify which bike the exhaust is for, the 850 and 1100 take the same exhaust: the 1100 and the 1200 are different models, or at least different part numbers. Edit: whether that means that the internals are different or not, I don't know.

Ahh – on Guzzi's Italian website they now list two different Termi pipes: one for the 1100 and one for the 8V. The UK site still only shows one (and still doesn't acknowledge the 1200 8V on the Accessories page at all). I wonder what the internal difference is?

Pity we can't see the other side. I wonder what sort of exhaust it has?

Sounds very nice and looks good too. I have fitted an open pipe to my 1200 8V. It looks great, but the fueling is badly effected. Performance below 3k, particularly below 2k is shot to pieces, with much stumbling, lurching and cutting out. Lots of backfiring unless its on the throttle and accelerating. According to owner reports, the 1100 engines have accepted new pipes with satisfactory performance. I'm wondering is the 8V not so flexible when it comes to fiddling with the exhaust? Guzzi have the Termignoni option for the 1100. I think that I saw it fitted to the 1200 in a press review recently – if so, it must work ok. Can anyone confirm? I don't remember if it was in a local paper or maybe a French / European magazine. I would love to hear the experiences of any other Griso 1200 owners who have changed exhausts, or even Stelvio riders though their mapping is slightly different. I think that an outlet restriction, some sort of baffle / pipe insert, will help. I see that your pipes have a narrower outlet. I made a temporary end plate with a smaller diameter outlet and it both sounds better and performs better - though it doesn't 'fix' the fueling problem, it's just a bit of an improvement.

On that site there is also an ! Action Hero Name Generator ! some good ones turn up Grunt MacHaggis – Turnip Thrasher may, or may not, have been one of the names that it produced

This is the address: http://www.dshed.net/harvest/ I don't know what application/helper your browser needs to play it. Edit: I suppose it's a QuickTime plug-in D

The truth hurts

Try this – specially for Jihem – Creative Juice

Guzzirider 'comes out' as a chair:

Is that a U or a W?