mdude Posted August 26, 2009 Share Posted August 26, 2009 was out driving last wednesday to the hangout. the sport behaved like a mandrill in heat: jerky throttle, spitting and fuming fuel, detonations on half throttle, nervous steering and no smoothness whatsoever. dead wrists after 20 minutes and pretty little go under 6000 rpms as well. slow as f... out of redlights. the pink matted pork chops sticking out like zits. parked it up in anger and went right up and went through the used bikes ads. Kawa zrx1200? Honda cb1300? Buell? no Ducce, I cant afford the maintenance. And strictly no harley davidson, sir. Pretty frustrated and bored with the guzzi now. then the weekend went and... i dont really want another bike (what in gods name would I do with a huge Kwak?). I want italian individuality, quirkiness and weird tech. And a lot of noise. And the cafe racer style is really my thing. So I thought again. Today I went down and gave the greenie a real good clean, degreaser, scrub, rubber renewer and polish. Talked to it and made friends. Then I went through these pages again, and browsed through images of guzzi specials to awake my spirits again. Then I ordered a PC III.... I think thats really what it wants. and promised myself to polish and paint the weathered details this autumn. guess I just keep it then. forever? why cant I like easy, commercially proven stuff? (PS: easier access to local support with a pc III, even though I still have a spare ECU to build a MyECU on...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tikkanen Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 Good to hear that you saw the light, Martin! I had it just like you last week when my pawl gear springie thingie decided to call it a day. Managed to limp home in 1st gear at 6.000 revs! I've also looked at another bikes 'just to check the market' sort of saying but I'll keep my darkie (as in Scura) until I take the final fart. Ride safe! Søren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdude Posted August 27, 2009 Author Share Posted August 27, 2009 yeah. I might be tempted by a 70s GoldWing, just to have that comfy chair. but the greenie stays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
df2 Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 When my wife told me early this summer that I could go buy a new motorcycle to replace the 88 Concours, one that I didn't have to warm up for 20 minutes every morning before I could ride to work, didn't leak oil, didn't have Junction box issues, who's petcock didn't leak and need constant rebuilding, that didn't put my hand to sleep,,,, I said alright! I said if anything goes wrong I'll just take it to the dealer, no more amateur wrenching for me... Just ride and enjoy.... So I started looking at BMW's (too expensive and boring), Honda's (too common and boring), Another Kawi (to boring) etc. etc. Well I got a v11 sporti. I couldn't help it. I fell in Love . I was warned, told I needed to constantly fiddle, that the motor was rock solid, but every thing else....that this was not a bike for an amateur wrencher... I'm no mechanic and my wife calls me Tim the Tool-man, so do I regret it. Not one bit. I love it. I'm glutton for punishment I guess.. but so far only issue was a breather hose (it is 9 years old), which I am proud to say I replaced. The motor just sings, the sound from the mistrals is so sweet. And nobody knows what it is..."it's a Moto gootsie", "a what?".... I love that. In the past my Honda Interceptor always needed something, my 76 Goldwing got an electric start to replace points, single carb kit to fix all the surging, new calipers etc (I used to have to hit them with a rubber mallet). my Concours has a new j-box, new petcock, new this, fixed that... they all had issues, it's part of having toys. Fall in love all over again and enjoy the ride. PS. you mentioned a 70's goldwing.... the 76 wing is stripped down to naked with a clear shield, is in my father-in-laws stable and runs like a champ. Very fun ride, I highly suggest one. But get rid of that way to heavy vetter fairing, it's just too ugly makes the handling a bear. Someday it may become a cafe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tikkanen Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 Oohh, good ol' Craig Vetter and his (in)famous Windjammer fairings..... And what about his one??? PS. you mentioned a 70's goldwing.... the 76 wing is stripped down to naked with a clear shield, is in my father-in-laws stable and runs like a champ. Very fun ride, I highly suggest one. But get rid of that way to heavy vetter fairing, it's just too ugly makes the handling a bear. Someday it may become a cafe. Yup, agree to that! Cheers Søren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
df2 Posted August 27, 2009 Share Posted August 27, 2009 Yup, that's the one, darn ugly thing that vetter, but at least that one's color matched, the vetter on mine was white.... Oh yeah, I said 76, I meant 75 the prettier and faster blue/green gl1000. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guzzirider Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 I can empathise Martin- V11s can be a right pain the arse, and if you use them a lot there always seems to be some sort of niggle that needs fixing. Helen and I rode down to France to visit my Dad recently and her V11 kept refusing to start, and you just don't need the hassle while you are touring. I was able to get it going each time but it was a lot of bother- eventually traced the fault with the help of a friend to a knackered regulator/rectifier which had fried the battery. My V11 is off the road with a leaking timing case gasket, and a leaking rear drive seal plus a knackered speedo- some jobs for the winter! But when they are working, you have to go someway to beat the V11 as a package of fun and practicality. Hang in there matey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dark_bike Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 I do sympathise, I have the same feelings every now and then.. in the past 20 odd years of motoring i've more than once been tempted to push ta car/bike off a cliff. I happened to live in a flat country at the time however, so I had to put up with the aggro ;-) I guess it depends on the balance between fun and aggro. You want the excitement and put up with the aggro or you want reliablility and put up with the boredom. speaking for myself: when the aggro gets the upper hand the love is over and the car/bike gets a kick.(but I havent yet managed to persuade myself to get something utterly reliable;-)...I just get something which causes less aggro) Would there be some fundamental philosophical or even biological principle at play here? We can get men on the moon..remote control space probes millions of miles away and artificial vision is just around the corner but we cant make bikes or cars that are exciting AND reliable. They're either dull and reliable or exciting and falling apart all the time. The opposite (dull and falling apart all the time) is not gertting anywhere commercially but there must be examples of it...oh yes the austin allegro springs to mind Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antonio carroccio Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 sympathy for the devil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pasotibbs Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 ..oh yes the austin allegro springs to mind I'd say just about any BL product of the 80's !! I always liked the official BL solution to water in the Allegro's boot.....take a drill and make 2 holes in the floor !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dark_bike Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 I'd say just about any BL product of the 80's !! I always liked the official BL solution to water in the Allegro's boot.....take a drill and make 2 holes in the floor !!! thats probably why they had a drain hole as a logo ..or was that because of all the state cash that went down it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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