jrt

Hi Dolph, 1) No. Guzzi's are very well built, and the basic bike uses (almost always) high quality components. Anthro is right- Guzzi owners just know how to bitch. There are some known issues, but I think- all in all- they are pretty minor and easily avoided. Now, there's a correllary to this- Guzzi's are bikes which require the owner to acknowledge and embrace ownership. If you want an appliance, then a Guzzi is not for you. If you're the type of person that accepts responsibility for the bike- does maintanence checks, preventative work, etc., if you don't mind talking to people every time you fill it up with gas and explain what kind it is, where it came from, etc. then you'll never buy another bike after you ride a Guzzi. 2. Underpowered? I would disagree. The horsepower figures are lower than some other brands, but the important point is that they have gobs and bogs of torque. A California will go -fully loaded- a lot faster than you think it will and it'll pull like a train from 3K rpm on up. Even better is that it will handle well under almost any conditions. Now, I have to admit, I'm biased. I've been riding these bikes for over 20 years, and now I have 3 Guzzi's and my wife has one too. All told, probably 400,000 miles on them. One of them, a G5 (similar, but uglier than a Cali) has about 300-350,000 on it. I'm rebuilding the motor because the upper wrist pins are worn and the frame bearings need replacing, but the bottom end is like new, the transmission like new, and the rear drive has mild wear. In all those miles, that bike made me walk one time, and that was my own fault. I've got a '01 sport with 17K+ miles on it. There were some minor issues with it that any bike might have had (broken high-beam thingy, leaky seal), but the big problem is it keeps giving me tickets. Reliable enough? The important thing is to get out and ride a Guzzi. If it 'speaks' to you, then your hooked. If it doesn't, then find one that does. And hey, welcome to the forum! Jason

That's good to know- thanks Tex. J

rain- check snow- check sleet- check

Aw, man- I just got this mental image of Gene Simmons. I'm gonna go wash my hands now. Actually, it looks as if the Scura has a hugger like you describe Al.

Hi Bruce, I'm not sure there are any updates to the charging system. Could be wrong on that one, though. The only thing that springs to mind is a 28A unit from mgcycle and I'm not sure it will work...shoot, doesn't matter anyway since that's only 340 watts. Do you have Gary Cheek's suggestions on wiring? He made some excellent notes on improving the headlight relay and running an extra grounding strap. If older Guzzi's are any indication, max charging is supposed to be at 2.4K rpm and above. I think this is optimistic. Jason

Nice! The owner of the Scura (1st&2nd pics) just joined and put a link to his website in the links section- not sure he has any pictures up yet... Also, does Quat D mufflers exhaust on either side? On the Scura, the exhaust is (presumably) on the right, on the (Ballabio?) red bike, the exhaust is on the left. Jason

'72 or '73 850 California GT- check out the webbing on the crank, the later model dual instruments, 2LS front brake and later model side panels. I'm just sayin'.... J

I'd like to add my condolences, Dave. Duchess was lucky to have someone who cared for her as much as you obviously do. J

I've carried my laptop two different ways on my sport; 1) strapped down to the rear rack (ventura rack) and it was layered between some foam house insulation to absorb bumps, 2) in the tank bag, just left the laptop in a neoprene sleeve (preferred method). It barely fit, but it did. This is a Mac ibook- 12". I don't think a bigger computer would fit. J

In a heartbeat. I couldn't get around an entire suit of puke yellow, but I can happily live with the top. I don't know why...guess I'm 33-67% dork instead of 100%. The two-piece is a little slower getting off because there are two zippers instead of one- takes like 12 seconds. Jason

Interesting Pete. I had 1L pistons in my Eldo for a year (stock "1L") and it vibrated like a sonofagun. I replaced them with an 850 kit and the whole thing is now much more smooth. Unfortunately, I didn't weigh the stock 850 pistons/pins, so I can't compare against the bigger set. I'll weigh the 1000 pistons and see if perhaps they don't match up well. On the other side, a couple years ago I rode a V7 sport that had been gone through by Manfred Hecht- all or most of the plain bearings replaced with rollers, balanced, ported, yadda yadda. Verrrry smooth to the point where it didn't 'feel' like a Guzzi. But now I'm confused- I thought the SPIII had the big-valve heads...

Thought so.

Dan, Dan, Dan.... It's more like the Michelin man and an exotic dancer had an out-of-wedlock, red-headed child. Seriously- if they look dorky, so be it. I'm comfortable with that. And does this suit make my butt look fat? I could swore I only looked 350 lbs....

You can't just toss lighter pistons into a bike and expect vibrations to decrease. They have to be balanced against the crankshaft counterweights. So, has anyone weighed the fbf slugs? J

Is it way up on the underside near the filler? If so, then it's a vapor recovery line. Easiest way to get to it is prop up the back of the tank with a 2X4 or something like that and reach up there. Mine didn't have a clamp on it. Also- be careful with the wires on the left side that go to the low-fuel indicator. If you have the in-tank fuel pump, there will be wires to that as well. Jason

A fine choice. I have hi-viz top with black pants, that I can zip off. I find in practice that I rarely remove the pants from the jacket. My favorite quote about hi-viz- 'picks up shit faster than a baby's diaper' and it's true. But it is the most un-natural, visible color available even when it's dirty....which is always. On the down-side, the 'stich suits are rather warm. I find mine is uncomfortable above about 85 °F (29 °C) even if moving. They work well in the colder, northern climates (esp. the west coast), but It would be torture down south except in winter. J

Got plenty.

Totally worth the money. J

As above, Martin- Glad you are OK. It looks like the metal on the shock mount has been oxidized for awhile (the darker semicircle). One probable explanation of this is that the shock mount has been cracked for quite a while. The rust buildup expanded and eventually broke it clean in two. Grease would have prevented rusting, but the eye would still have been weak. I would suggest that the root of the problem was in the manufacture of the shock. This is the lower mounting eye? Jason (goes to look at his bike)

Can't argue with that. J

Then I hope Vitesse got a refund...

And the tenth one was just bad......

All right then, I have to say I'm partial to my homebrew. And in it's absence, Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. Pale Ale. In the U.S. we have been fortunate that there is a revival of small breweries. Thank all that is good, right and true. J

Just a heads-up that I'm going to take this thread back in a couple of days when I get my shifter mounted up..... Game on!

Txrider, The ride from Seatle would be great. You should drive it on home yourself... I used to ride from Berkeley (Ca) to San Marcos (Tx) on a pretty regular basis- it's not a bad ride........except for Texas.....OK, west Texas is pretty F'ing boring. It'd still be a nice ride, though. J