belfastguzzi

Last weekend in July The Northern Ireland Guzzi group (sort of group) is wanting to get a run to meet-up with others South of the border – and there has been renewed interest from the Eire Guzzis to get-together: so a 2012 plan is shaping up for a meet in the South West of Ireland. There may be both camping and B&B options. Details will be posted when known. If interested, post your name. Kerry/Killarney area, 26/27 to 29 July 2012

The racing has been superb so far, around this huge 9 mile circuit. It can be seen worldwide at http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/northern-ireland/18006142

Please see the pictures and descriptions that are in various posts here > http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=16872&st=0

My objection to the direction Guzzi are heading is nothing to do with bringing in new tech, new mechanicals, watercooling or hating to see things change etc, etc, etc... It's this sort of crap! - styling add-ons with no function other than disguise! Design the thing right & it'll look right! Like fake plastic half bell mouths on a Fi Honda, the leatherboy straps across chromed plastic tank on the V7 Racer(Racer? Sure ) shows just who's running the show nowadays. Make us a modern, cutting-edge motorcycle - but make it true to the values of Guzzi - original thought, solid engineering, & design that follows function not just guesses at latest market trends. Sure the V7 might sell - of course MG have to sell - but does it sell more than a T3 did in it's day? It doesn't have to be a fake to sell! Decent, market-leading product & customer & dealer care - how hard should it be? But can you imagine the minds that brought us the V7Classic, the Breva & 1200 Sport with all their chromed plastic & bumper trim turning out anything that'll become an icon? What does it tell you about the Guzzi design dept that the V7Racer is the stuff of their dreams? KB For Baldini http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qdv6C9ElgE&feature=g-all-u&context=G236a80fFAAAAAAAAAAA

Jaap, I can't come for the full event as I am working on some of the Bank Holiday period. A few of us on this side of the water (NI) are wondering about the possibility of travelling over for one day only, Sunday 6th, in the hope that we could meet up with people at some point. There is a ferry that arrives in Cairnryan at 10am and departure would be 7pm, so we would do what we could between those hours. I have just sent an email to the contact addresses on the Rally website to ask for an opinion about the possibility of a few bikes coming for the day.

and

That's a bit of a tease, Ralphy. Or is it a figment?

Apparently the guy that did it was on tv a few weeks ago talking about it. JR must be right in that the lens distortion makes it look odd/unreal (to me).

Doen't look real to me.

Lucky for us, I believe that most of you guys don't have passports (or newspapers).

that's crap

Or take the opposite approach and lose/ignore the object. Moto Undone I like it. A similar concept, the non object nUCLEUS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVYYBKO6FD0

Maybe looks better in reality. In photos it looks somewhat like a bus has been crossed with a tractor and then a giant anvil has been dropped on it. Could it be that Moto Guzzi's Griso design & development work actually did result in something that is unique, special and pretty much right (90%) as a design? Seems so. Anyway, good to see other ideas and experimentation.

Hey, would one of you UK residents sign this thing for me? It doesn't allow comments, nor non-resident signatures, but having done a semester abroad in Oxford a bazillion years ago, it would be a big bonus if they approved this thing before I go back to visit. Nurburgring would be a cool visit, but I don't sprecken the Deutsch, or even verstehe ein bischen. The pommies will tell you I don't speak English either, being a 'Murrican, but at least I can usually catch the drift of the conversation & read the road signs [well, maybe not in Wales, but who can? Mind your p's & q's... ] Anyway, if they can get this thing off the ground (or rather, ON the ground! ), it has the added benefit that being a one-way loop, it eliminates the biggest hazard to fast drivers visiting the country, the fact that they all drive on the wrong side of the road over there in the UK! Anyway, I think it's a brilliant idea for promoting tourism, & if they put it in Wales it will be closer to the Isle of Man as well, for that 1-2 punch for tourism of someone going there to sample the track & then head across for the IoM TT! I might argue (but not actually measure) that IOM's handy-close to Northern Ireland: so if the imagined Burger Ring, as you other-side-of-the-pond boys no doubt say, were to be located here, it would be the best of all solutions. Come here for NorthWest 200 week (with the tourist hordes). spend another week whizzing around the Burger (avec hordes), then hop over to IOM for pudding. Eh? Ever heard of a 1-2-3 punch? You have now.

Interesting. I had paint bubbling on my 02 tank. I put it down to water getting under the paint/lacquer. I didn't think about fuel seepage as a cause, but that could have been the problem. Sheesh – those 02s!

Good point! Thanks. I original saw this posted under the heading, ' New Race track in Wales being proposed' Anyway, there's hardly any danger of happening anywhere.

Click link What's good enough for Wales must be good for Northern Ireland too? Plenty of tourists coming here for road races, as well as local enthusiasts.

Hi Euan sorry to be a pest: can you slightly amend my location for 497 to Northern Ireland? Thanks.

Thanks, I did wonder, but the leaflet didn't say. I haven't been able to find any separate info about motorbike test procedures on the NI sites either.

I got MOT reminder/info in post yesterday. I see that a check that the cat is in place is part of the test now. So oe systems will need to be kept and swapped on to pass the test if (like me) you've installed a new system without cat.

Thanks for that video reference! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CsRsZI7J9W0 I hadn't seen it before. I've canoed round the coast there and in through the Strangford Narrows, sitting on Angus Rock for a while and then on in as the rising tide floods the rock. There's a small whirlpool just after that too. The tide flows very fast through the narrows, as some of the folk here have seen. We stayed on the edge of it for the first Ulster V11 meet a few years ago.

The UK is an exception- I understand that Guzzi sales plummeted last year. Maybe due to a combination of poor dealers, high prices, recession and the fact that performance seems more of a factor when choosing a bike over here. I guess the question is will the current line up of bikes keep sales at a healthy level worldwide for the future? New motorcycle registrations in Europe decreased 8.9% in 2011, reaching its lowest level in a decade. And with the state of the economy in Europe, things might get worse. According to provisional numbers released by the European Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers, Europeans registered 1.72 million motorcycles, scooters and mopeds in 2011, down from 1.89 million registrations in 2010. By comparison,the U.S. motorcycle market is showing signs of recovery, with 2011 sales increasing slightly by 0.3% compared to 2010′s figures.

via the Tourist Board anyway

Function, perfection, reality, context, resources, seeing, vision, experience, breadth, diversity Apart from the studio subject being interesting in relation to the garage, shed and other personal workspaces,creation spaces, for me the movies resonated with the discussion, going on in another thread here and always going on, about the comparison between the Moto Guzzi as it is - and the experience that provides - as against a frame, a construction, a bike that is clinically perfect.