guzzler

Well after a week of wild wind (up to 100kph blasts) and rain it looked like a window of opportunity opened for a ride into the office yesterday. So, much to my wife's concern come hell or high water I'm riding in... Of course, the brief lull in the weather was but a ruse to fool me into thinking it'd be a lovely early spring morning ride. Up at 4.30am togged up and riding out the driveway at 5.00am. Holy shit it's windy but also a balmy 17 degrees. Now normal folk would realise that with this much wind and such a balmy temp that trouble is brewing and indeed it was! But with only a few rides in the last 3 months I was oblivious to reason! It was bloody windy as hell on the higher ground and the drizzle was starting (so much for the rain radars dry corridor) and after gas at the servo I was on my way again.Oh well wind and a bit of drizzle a small price to pay. Then once I'd dropped down off the higher ground Hell decided to unleash the high water and it began urinating with enough force to have some considering a second Ark! Jesus (no he was no help) this was getting crazy, dark, blowing a gale, very very wet and 4 lanes of heavy traffic! But actually I was grinning like a loon and loving it! The bike despite all that was going on was stable and planted and the Angel GT 11 tyres were fantastic and handled it all brilliantly. So, by the time I got to the office at 6am I was soaked ( upper body as did put wet leggings on... just in case ha ha ) and within minutes the place looked like a laundromat. Once I had the computer up and running, I saw news that we'd had a peak wind gust of 154 kph down on the coast! Jesus ( maybe he did look out for me after all ) what a morning. Anyways it all abated about 10 am was even sunny by the time I fired the bike up at 2.30pm for the ride home. Glad to report that although a bit windy but nothing like this morning I ENJOYED a little Italian tune up/ cobweb removing jaunt on the funway home... Of course, a Shiraz by the fire was in order and somewhat well-deserved I thought....

A good ole Italian tune up.... They work wonders for both man and machine!

Think there might be more breeding than mechanical work going on in those er workshops....

Fingers crossed it's not so bad mate!

I remember the first time I heard a CD and thinking gee it sounds a bit brighter than Vinyl or tape too.... Also have an Onkyo amp that I've had for nigh on 30 years as well and still working great. I did hear Onkyo's famous build quality took a nose- dive sometime after we bought our amps mate! One of these days I'll update to a pre/power set up and have my Dali speakers serviced..... Cheers

No worries DGI. Mate we can only dream of that sort of attitude to speed here in Victoria....it really is ridiculous. A couple of kays over and it's a 2 or $300 donation to the Policemans ball and 2 or more points off your licence.If you really let er rip you can end up in jail and lose your bike too. Sooo glad I gave it heaps back in the day as tolerance is long gone. Tassie (Tasmania) has a much better attitude and some brilliant roads and riding but I believe the roads like everywhere else here in Oz are going downhill too. It's a bit of an effort/cost in getting your bike down there too. It was a riders paradise back in 87 on my GPZ900. My native NZ has great roads too but a similar attitude to speed as here in Victoria.....arghhh. Just gotta make the best of what we've got I guess and be ever watchful for Mr Plod. Actually, that's where the Guzzi is handy in that you can still enjoy yourself without going over the top.I don't know how you could run a modern litre bike or even a smaller sport bike and keep your licence for any length of time. I've got a Hyperpro shock on the rear and have 15mm of preload* on it now and 28 of 50 clicks rebound ( Both comp and reb are set together on a fixed ratio on these emulsion shocks) and forks sorted resprung/valved and adjusted for me. She's still firm but worth it for the way she handles. Mate the best thing you can do on the red frame V11 is sort the compression leg ie block those holes so oil goes thru valving and not everything damping wise in the last 25mm of travel and hydraulic lock! Then correct springs for your weight and adjust accordingly. I may add 5mm to the shock down the track to put a bit more weight on the front. Mate, I look at some of the photos of the roads in the States and the condition of them, and think wow they' be fun especially with that tolerance so you can enjoy them. Anyway's we can still have some fun and enjoy ourselves down here all the same. Ha ha enjoy mate and keep that Oz licence handy as it seems to be doing the trick eh! Cheers * up from 10mm.

Yep,I agree mate. I reckon the synthetic fuel Porsche is working on is the go for the future as well and keep an ear out to catch up with how they're going with it! It has to be the way forward with the ability to utilize the existing infrastructure with minimal if any change to that and our vehicles too no doubt. Electric as much as the green contingent blather on about it is no alternative especially here in Oz and Hydrogen although better than electric would mean a big change in infrastructure to accommodate unless I'm mistaken. Oh well I'm off to cut some wood now so I can burn it and play my part in the emergency..... Cheers

G'day mate. Yeah, like everywhere else in the state...bad and getting worse! It is a bloody disgrace that a supposedly first world country has main roads and national highways in this condition whilst what money that is available is being squandered on ever more ridiculous pursuits not to mention budgetary blowouts due to incompetence and bureaucratic bullshit ( Victorian public service has grown 30 + percent under this very hard left government ) whilst roads health education you name it suffers.... Anyways back to topic in hand,I ride this road a fair bit so know where and what to watch out for but geez it'd be something else if it were in perfect nick! Only a bloody fool would ride the backroads hard without knowing them but having said that it's only a decent deluge/ frost/ heavy windstorm away from disaster so you never can be sure what's around that next corner! Cheers

G'day Dave. Mate, having owned 14 Guzzi's you should've opened with..... Hi, my name is Dave and I have a Guzzi problem....(ha ha it's a glorious problem to have by the way!) Cheers,good luck with the Coppa and welcome back to the madness.

Update. Well I've adjusted the preload another 5mm and gotta say......Woo bloody Hoo! Should've done this years ago when I put on the extra kilo's. Only had one ride so far but I'm bloody chuffed with it,doubt any more weight on the front but front and back seem much more together or cohesive if that makes any sense? She was good before but even better now. My usual test road has a bit of everything (and is a great test for suspension) was quite a revelation! Bloody hell the sections where $1.20 was pushing it a bit previously (road conditions mostly) left me thinking maybe try that a bit harder next time ha ha. Then again watching the mail for a couple o weeks gets old eh! Just another piece in the jigsaw puzzle of V11 ownership slotting into place! Cheers Ps I'll live with it like this for a while and determine whether or not to go the 5mm extension on the shock later on eh. Pps still buzzing and still amazed that having owned this bike for nigh on 15 years she still delivers on all fronts for me and can't wait for the next ride! No other bike has....

I won't put it in the car let alone my bike.....

My mate in WA has an XK8 Jag which whilst another great car...is giving him a few wee hassles. He'll probably move it on soon as he's had his fun with it. Cheers

Yeah,that does makes sense Mick..... There you go problem solved for us right hand drive folks. Now Mick, you got the winning Lotto #'s so I can put one in my driveway too? Cheers

Mate, what a beauty! Love Astons, you're a lucky man Tom. That song from Fiddler on the roof springs to mind... .If I were a rich man! Cheers Ps Reckon I could live with the dodgy bonnet latch eh

Ha ha, same here! Electric, yeah bout as useful as an ash tray on the Greenie..... Cheers

Mate Once you have it mounted and ride, you'll find it works fine...... No issues with mine. Cheers Ps I bought a shock at the same time and got HEAPS of stickers too!

Ha ha, I think Ms Saucy is the more desirable of the two..... But well done Austin.

Saucy indeed.....

Mate He's on the Suzuki T250/350 with the white helmet... Ha ha, yep I've got Stone on Bluray too! Cheers

Indeed, the hills do look a little er sheepless.....

G'day folk's I just checked my Hyperpro and it's exactly like ChrisPDX only mine sits flat like LP's where it attaches to the frame closest to the camera... Cheers

Ha ha, what a hoot! Sorry to interrupt this broadcast but we Kiwi's never got it ( Matlock Police ) in NZ back in the day and seemed to have missed any re-runs when I lobbed into Oz at the end of 85. I had heard of it though. Recognised one of the er... outlaws (?) as matey who starred as the Norton riding undercover cop in Stone and of course Paul Cronin aka Mr Sullivan from The Sullivans. Actually,the pub scenes in the Sullivans were filmed at a wee local in Abbotsford called the Retreat.In the eighties I used to work a few hundred metres away from it and we'd have Xmas drinks in there...Great wee place. Cheers Ps My wife had a Monaro just like the one in the clip ( long before we met though ) and we laugh about it sometimes and wish she still had it tucked away in a shed.... Pps apologies for adding to the thread drift but I'm sure normal transmission will be resumed shortly.....

I can't send any photo's of mine I'm afraid. My emails were hacked earlier in the year and although the geeks sorted the issue I have the side effect of not being able to transfer or send photos.... I need to get them back to address this but unfortunately have other things to do beforehand. Also have 3 x tonne of wood that's just been dumped in my carport which needs to be moved and stacked this arvo before I can do anything but will take a closer look at my set-up and report back later. Cheers Guzzler

Pretty happy with my Hyperpro damper too mate... Been about 70,000 kays and no issues. Cheers

Yeah, I'm with leaving it black too...