Adventure bikes

[bbolesaz]

Yep, same situation here.  Allocation sold and they don't much care to try to interest any more customers.

[GuzziMoto]

It sounds like way back when, the Miata came out and people lined up to buy them. Dealers didn't care and often raped buyers on the price.

[swooshdave]

57 minutes ago, GuzziMoto said:

It sounds like way back when, the Miata came out and people lined up to buy them. Dealers didn't care and often raped buyers on the price.

Raped? Does supply and demand go out the window just because it's a vehicle? We blame the dealers? If the cars (or bikes) don't sell because of dealer markup then they will lower the markup. They aren't in the business of running a parking lot.

[GuzziMoto]

15 hours ago, swooshdave said:

Raped? Does supply and demand go out the window just because it's a vehicle? We blame the dealers? If the cars (or bikes) don't sell because of dealer markup then they will lower the markup. They aren't in the business of running a parking lot.

I am not trying to judge the dealer, although I have seen some dealers do crazy shady stuff to up charge their customers. Some brands, it seems, do not allow their cars / motorcycles to be sold at prices much higher than msrp. So some dealers would actually falsely sell them as new and then turn around and sell them as used to get around that.

We were looking at buying a Mazda MP3 years ago. It was a limited production car, but not in the high demand the Miata was. I walked into one dealership and they had tacked on a couple thousand dollars in "Additional Dealer Profit". The salesman asked if he could help me, I said no. I said I was interested in this car but not at that price. He said we'll, everything is negotiable. I laughed, and said that if they had the balls to put that on the window sticker like that I really doubt that we could actually get to a price where I would be happy. If they are that greedy to my face, imagine how greedy they are behind my back....

I went to a different dealer and bought one for around $1,500 below msrp. 

But I do agree that if people are willing to pay those prices it isn't all the dealers fault. But that doesn't mean the dealer isn't at fault, just that it isn't all the dealers fault. Not all dealers play those games. The ones that do can't complain when called out on it.

So far I have not heard of Guzzi dealers playing those same games, and I hope they don't. They should just be happy that people actually want to buy their motorcycles. For now.

[Tinus89]

Seems to me this is the right place for a little introduction....

Alongside my V11, I used to own a Honda Transalp 650. For in town, bit of offroad etc. With my car ageing and starting to be troublesome, I decided I wanted to do my commute by bike as well. But my Transalp is no fun on the highway. I sold the Transalp and bought another Italian*:

 

 

*Funny thing: the Honda was secretly also built in Italy, in the same year as my V11 was, 600km elsewhere...

[Scud]

I put a 19 inch front wheel up front with a street-knobby and I'm going to put a real dirt-knobby on the stock 21 inch wheel. Both wheels use the same hub, brake rotor and ABS sensor - so it's a simple swap.

If you look closely in the background, you can see snow. This is on California Hwy 1 at the south end of the Big Sur coastline. I think I will take the bike to the snow tomorrow morning.

Happy Thanksgiving.

[footgoose]

lovely. Happy Thanksgiving

[Nihontochicken]

On 11/28/2019 at 1:01 PM, Scud said:

This is on California Hwy 1 at the south end of the Big Sur coastline. I think I will take the bike to the snow tomorrow morning.

In my neighborhood.  That looks like the (rare) straight-as-a-string two mile stretch just south of San Carpoforo Creek, immediately north of which the road gets very twisty as it rises off the flat and into the coastal ridges.  It was on this segment years ago when a bunch of us on sport bikes (Duc 750 for me) were on the way to view a Luguna Seca road race.  A laggard whom we woke up on our way through Morro Bay passed me here in a red shift blur on his Yamaha R1.  When we stopped at Gorda for lunch, I asked him, a road race instructor, how fast he was going when he blew by.  He answered, "A bill and a half."  I.E., 150 mph.  So what happens when you smack a critter at that speed??? 

In any event, you picked a unique time to ride through the neighborhood, the first major rain front of the season, and a damned cold one to boot.  Snow on the coastal ridges is a fairly rare event here.  I for one am keeping Claudia (V11 Sport Naked) snug and warm in the garage, no chill rain or snow on her delicate parts.  YMMV. 

[Scud]

Thats' the spot. Here it is this morning, when I found a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow:

And a dirt road off CA1 by Treebones, North of Gorda.

Surf has been pretty good too. :-)

[LowRyter]

looks like a great time Scud.  I don't see a tag or signals, so I assume the bikes isn't street legal?

[Scud]

It's legal. The license plate broke off yesterday, you can see it in yesterday's photo. The rear signals are, shall we say... discreet.

[Gmc28]

Some great pics scud (and the others who have posted!).

I spent most of my life feeling the need to get away to distant places to find great riding, while ignoring the back yard.  Don’t know why, just did.  Then about 10-12 yrs ago finally woke up to the unbelievable riding heaven here in my back yard, the NW and more widely the western US.  Time is short with so much work, so took to starting to buy bikes and leave them spread around a bit, making it easier to maximize the free time riding where i wanted to ride (airline there and back, or at least 1-way), and less time on the super slab.

I “discovered” some of the magnificent routes you’ve shown some of along the west end, bringing a Gran Canyon back from SoCal a few yrs back.  I actually lived in SoCal for a few yrs in 90’s, but there also i was so busy with work and family that i had little clue about what lay around me. Now pretty much every year i ride from the southwest (usually from Goodyear or Tucson AZ where we have some winter maintenance work done for where i work) back to Oregon via a number of the fantastic routes.  So many great routes... i just generally outline the time i have, then watch the weather forecasts to see what route might be best, as its usually early shoulder season and hard to say what will happen.  Last spring i came up hoping to get over to Death Valley, but wind gusts to 50mph, and then heavy rain up toward the General Sherman and Sierra’s pushed me again to the west, up past Gorman, through Los Padres National forest (excellent), through Paso Robles and that little single lane paved road up toward Hollister, and so on.  Always great, and a reminder that i don’t need to be in the Dolomites to find excellent riding!

the KTM 990 stays in Alaska for getaway riding up there when i can, and i see there are some fellow DR riders on this thread too.... i favor the DR350 over the 650, with the 441 kit and a hot cam.  My own personal preferences, which change with time and age and mood, are that most of the mid-weight bikes that are coming more into vogue again would be ideal if i was younger (i’m not old, just not young any more...), and would tolerate the lack of windscreen and hp when on the tarmac.  Now i prefer something with stupid horsepower and handling when on pavement, and something easy to lift when in the dirt.  The Multistrada (enduro) is a magnificent road bike, with just enough “dirt” chops to allow it to not mind un-paved roads should they come along, while  the DR350 is simple, lightweight, loads of grunt, and with a 6th gear and plates can just get me from trail to trail via some tarmac without too much unpleasantness.  But that 701 does sound like a sweet choice for the BDR’s..... hmm, you’ve planted (or “irrigated”) another naughty seed in my brain!

[NEWELL]

On 10/5/2017 at 11:49 AM, bbolesaz said:

Didn't have much use for offroad bikes until I moved to Zonie land.  There's a lot of this state that has no paved roads.  Started with a junker Yami XT350 but needed better connector highway performance and a magic button. Picked up a Beemer R100GS and rode the shiz out of it.  All over the west and several Mexico adventures.  When the F800GS showed up, I upgraded to much better offroad suspension with similar highway manners, if a bit top heavier.

 

Still have the R100GS in the garage, too attached to it to sell it even though I hate to see it just collecting dust.

True innovator there! 

[footgoose]

If you have Amazom Prime it's free to watch now. Kinda like the Long Way Round but closer to reality. Two Germans, Germany to India, no chase vehicles, just them. Pretty good.

Himilaya Calling

https://www.amazon.com/Germany-Caspian-Sea/dp/B08KWP26Y6/ref=sr_1_1?crid=ZI3L27BTL43B&dchild=1&keywords=himalaya+calling&qid=1620359009&s=instant-video&sprefix=himalay%2Cinstant-video%2C176&sr=1-1

[Scud]

Yesterday, I took the "shortcut" between Paso Robles and home. This involved the scenic, undulating CA 58, about 40 miles of desolate dirt through Carizzo Plain, and the fabulous uninterrupted stretch of curves that is CA 33 (north of Ojai). After all that spectacular riding, I payed my dues with 100 miles of freeway, most of which was clogged-up lane-splitting.

If you want to see some fun roads, try this link to google maps and zoom in on everything North of Los Angeles.