For a good time call...

[Goosed Again]

Had a great time yesterday, went and rented a couple of Guzzi's with a friend (Heike) who's thinking of picking up a V7 Stone but wanted a real ride instead of a dealership "once around the block". I kind of knew about Rent-A-Guzzi's Todd Eagen from the GuzziTech site as I had ridden with him years ago when I was living in SoCal full time, riding a '73 Eldo. Great guy, is the MGNOC SoCal rep these days, and had put together the national rally when it was in Southern California a few years back. He also makes performance upgrade hardware and is a highly respected Guzzi tuner. What we were after were a couple of V7's but he only had one Racer so we took that and a Griso. I felt bad for my friend as she was the one with the Griso as it's a tallish bike and I'm a shortish rider: she could flat foot and I was on my tiptoes. With a bike that weighs in at 550+, not being able to touch the ground it is a bit of a predicament when not rolling. She somehow managed the tuned 113 HP beast after a bit of a cautious start. What could have been intimidating, and for some is, is Todd's Rent-A-Guzzi location. If BumFuck was an actual location, his place would be right next door. Located out on Piuma Canyon Rd, he's practically at the peak of the Santa Monica Mountains. I remember going up there as a young punk and drinking beers not too far from his place at a location known as Top Of The World. Basically, it's an area where the local broadcast towers have no line of sight interruptions. From his house you can practically see Mexico, Canada, and maybe a bit of China. It's definitely up there and the route to and from is nothing but twisties. 

With the V7 Racer under me, I proceeded cautiously. That lasted less then 30 seconds. It's such a lite bike you can just toss it every direction and bam, there you are. I'm not sure what the upgrades were performance wise, but with Todd's exhaust, ECU and suspension upgrade it was definitely a hoot. I'd launch ahead and then back off and wait for Heika to catch up. Was kinda surprised but almost every time she was mere seconds behind me, maybe 1 turn, never more. I gave the V7 a good work out. We went down Piuma to Malibu Canyon, over to Mulholland and down to the world famous Rock Store. She had never been and I had been talking it up ever since this idea was hatched. Damn, it was closed! Apparently during my absence they dialed back their days and were now only open Friday, Sat, Sunday. Bummer. Still, we stopped, stretched, and I offered to swap bikes. Nope, she was OK for now. I thought she was feeling sorry for the short guy but we'll get into that later. Back on the bikes we had a quick sandwich just down the road at Rustic Canyon General Store. Good Pastrami for sure and it took the edge off just fine.

Back to the bikes, she still wasn't ready to give up the Griso. No problem, I was enjoying the Racer. We headed back up Mulholland, crossed Kanan and went down to Encinal Canyon. We had talked about going up Decker to grab a coffee up in Westlake Village but I F'd up and went the wrong way. We ended up taking Decker down to PCH, right next to Leo Carillo State Park where the National was held. From there I decided that maybe coffee up at Neptunes Net (county line) would be just as nice so we turned right on Pacific Coast Highway and did the 3 mile jaunt in what seemed like seconds. The road was pretty empty so we were able to open them up a bit. OK, this is not the V7's strong suit. I got the nimble little beast up to 75 mph but where on my V11 I would feel like I was riding at 35, this bike felt like I was over 100. It just felt light and not really squirily but just lacking stability. Luckily there was no crosswind otherwise the feeling may have been "like a kite". We had our coffee and it was time to start backtracking. She still wasn't willing to give up the Griso and I still had no problem with that. We did however decide that when we got back to the Rock Store we'd stop and swap. The ride back up Decker, Encinil, and Mulholland were uneventful and very fun. It's a steep ride from the coast so we were able to power through the turns we had been cautious with on the way down. The air was warm, skies clear, hills green and Guzzi's under us: really a perfect day.

We stopped at the Rock Store again, stretched, and this time we finally swapped steeds. As mentioned, Heike is interested in getting a V7 so she really had to give it a whirl and now was her turn. Me, I threw my leg over the Griso and exercising caution, got out onto Mulholland. You know, once your feet are up off the ground a big bike ain't so scary. In fact, it was a fricken blast and I now understood why she was hesitant to give up the Griso. As mentioned earlier, Todd had it tweaked to 113 HP. The bike had an incredible sounding exhaust and he had upgraded the suspension, braking and had created one of those machines that would put a grin on a toothless hillbilly with lockjaw. Damn I had fun and was sure sorry we were on our way back. The machine really packed a punch and I didn't even get a chance to open it up. Just the same, I did get to enjoy the Griso for about 15 miles of twists and turns and got both bikes back to Rent-A-Guzzi without incident. I'd sure like to take the Griso out again but I'll be heading back to Southern Oregon in a couple of days so maybe next time. 

My conclusion is if you're in SoCal and don't feel like spending $150 to go to Disneyland and want to have a real California Adventure, get hold of Todd. For those of you that can remember that far back, Todd's bikes are an E Ticket ride for sure!

[docc]

haha! "E-ticket" might date us, buddy! Thanks for sharing the ride!

[LowRyter]

113hp Griso sounds pretty cool.  I'd be happy with 95 on my Sport.

[pete roper]

Yup, there are lots of 112-115HP Grisos out there. I've ridden with a few. Strangely enough none of them seem to go significantly faster than mine which produces *About 100* at the rear wheel. I weigh a good ten KG more than most of their riders too and my bike uses significantly less petrol. Only mods are a Mistral Hi-Pipe with a dB killer installed and a custom map but if people want to keep drinking the Kool-aid.............

 

Pete

[Craig]

I gave up on flat footing ten years ago.  Right foot on the brake, and roll butt a bit to the left and left foot flat, holding clutch in.  very stable, never have to worry.  I am never in neutral except in the garage.