I saw this beastly grocery getter outside of my local New Seasons this evening. Shortly after I felt awkwardly posh for driving my station wagon. I need to get back into the mindset of using the motos for errands. "Chrome" won't get you home but a chrome bag has gotten me home with plenty enough groceries over the years.
EDIT: My moto blog has now officially jumped the shark if I'm discussing transporting groceries, tear. Opinions on the future of this blog encouraged in the comments, negative or positive.
In my defense I did have this entire scene go through my head once I saw the bike...
Every once in a while you come across something that should just be done/finished/kaput. Then you come across something that is done but you start to wonder if it's even possibly to bring it back to road worthy status. Lastly you come across something like this bike. It's both of those even though it should clearly be in the first category. It goes on the lift later this week. It's unknown when the last time it was running and it's also unknown why it stopped being used. I do know that when it is running and returned it will give an old time bike nut a new sense of freedom and mobility and that will be worth the labor hours easily.
I do enjoy mission impossible projects too much as of late.
Finally set the 525sx for supermoto Thursday evening/ Friday morning and fun ensued. A good friend was in town and free for half a day so after a nine year span we rode together again. Sunday was a quick arm pump session on swan island swapping between the sumo and Guzzi. Those bikes couldn't be more different which keeps you on your toes.
After the tri cities run the bike was due for a bit of a makeover. Next up cylinder heads are getting big valves, cylinders are getting machined down and RPM will come up with some cam specs. Ducati 5 spokes mated to the shaft drive soon also.
2005 Monster tank was a no go, too custom.
And the Monkey tank, actually possible but just not right.
The tank actually fits the front mounts...
Done. Hugger, screen, airbox, factory CF pipes, mud flap, rear lights all removed. High mount pipes, pods, LED taillights and such added.
A friend and I took motorbikes out to the tri-cities for some power boat racing. These things are intense goosebump giving machines! Nice destination after some big miles on the bikes.
On Wednesday evening I headed out for the first practice on the 525 sx with the flat track setup. I wasn't feeling the greatest but the thought of some moto adrenaline kept me moving. I learned a great deal, improved more than i expected and had a decent good time...Hindsight I should have called Ryan with Albany MX to get a rundown on everything beforehand.
Bike ready, finally loaded up and on the road the nerves were mellow trying to work through what it will be like. With the misconception that Albany was a decent size track I was trying to work out in my head what I'll need to change up or adjust based on what I learned at the Salem indoor track on the heavy V-twin Ascot. This line of thought and process was eventually shelved for some light political ramblings and very lame jokes with my excellent driver for the evening. Lame jokes are far better for pre track prep, at least for me. Finally pulling off of the freeway nearing the track we were greeted with an ambulance needing us to yield, odd we thought being out in the middle of nowhere. Nope not odd the nerves hit a bit as we realized we were following the ambulance to that track, less than awesome mojo for a practice day.
Arriving at the gate behind the ambulance we see the sea of MX bikes and nerves calmed down. Albany runs MX practice Wednesday nights also and the track looks like a mess of fun, almost like Riverdale combined with a stretched out Woodland. Not much visual of any Flat track so before unloading the scene was taken in. Found Ryan(his attitude should be the model for anyone running anything moto, best I've interacted with) for some quick questions and also mentioned about one winter session at Salem. During the course of dialogue it hits him, "Oh you were the guy on the street bike...." yep. With the full rundown of how they do things I head to the truck to unload and gear up.
With the fatigue of a three day fever and no sleep setting in I was just about zonked kicking the bike to life, it fired up finally with a big sigh of relief. Get the bike to the track and ended up talking to another rider that was very helpful (big surprise from when Manny and I were at Salem wondering in the pits if we were going to make it out with out major trouble). He went over a bit of technique and what to expect as well as discussing the bike setup which was reassuring, he was very impressed with it.
We get the signal to head out to the track with the nerves going a bit. No matter how much you mentally prep for it the first practice session is a mind bender going into every corner wanting to use a front brake that isn't there while on the gas looking at a hay bail. Nothing is feeling right, is the bike too upright, pushing it down too much, should i be back further in the seat, should i be up on the tank and every possible combination. I'm trying to do something different in each corner to see what will work best. It turns out my pace was too slow for much of anything to make a difference handling wise. I would get some quick bar slap breaking loose coming out of the corners which a steering damper adjustment smoothed out quite a bit. As I get smoother I will be using how much I can turn the damper as a measure of improvement. Working on stepping the bike out with the rear brake at corner entry seemed to help a bit also. Kept working it with some success as the sweat is pouring out of me, fatigue is really setting in now that the adrenaline is wearing off about 15 laps into the first practice session.
Getting a decent slide out of the back corner I'm on the straight deciding on the technique to try this time when all of a sudden it happened. I'm sideways then sliding on my left hip and elbow watching the bike slide along in front of me with far more grace. All of a sudden my left heel dug in and i got catapulted in the air and on my face by the tension in the ligaments and tendons in my left leg. I was up and heading to the bike before I stopped sliding and tried to get it to life with some intense determination. The flaggers kept asking about my leg as I kicked and kicked at that lever, wouldn't start. Sure did miss the E-start I have on the 450. It was such a nice suggestion from the flagger lady that she could give my girth and the bike a push start that I let her try. Two failed attempts and the session was over, bump started it rolling off the track.
Getting off the bike I realize how exhausted I really am with each step of the Tech 6 boots feeling like they are a set of cinder blocks. I bit of a burn inside my shoulder from the tumble but I would have been more surprised if it didn't burn. Okay now to go over what I learned and do a massive process before the next session after some hydration of course. Talk to the other riders and get a few pointers trying not to assess any possible damage to myself from the whoopsie.
Second session is a go and I have a goal of trying to get the front end to push in the corners. That goal truly helped my lap times, corner speed was up a large amount over the previous session. I now have the speed up to a point were small changes to riding style make a big difference. I was feeling really positive about it even though it was a lot more physical than I had available. I was no longer a moving obstacle but someone they had to plan an work around. I wasn't too far off from the practice pace of the regulars. With that I was satisfied. Then the chain came off and I was done for the session. Great sportsmanship out there with an offer of a master link off of a bike and everything, these are guys I want to race with and against. It reminded me of my times pitting with the drag race legend Don Vandehey back in the late 90's early 2000's.
All in all it was an exciting success and I'll be out there next Wednesday going around in circles.
Here is the the end of the second practice session enjoy or get dizzy, your choice.
After I thought I lost this useful info in '08 I came across it looking for specs for some KTM suspension settings from my SMC. The scope of this is pretty impressive as far as techs go. Thanks to Ben Brace.
My Saturday may be partially planned...
Aaron:
Unfortunately our web-site SUCKS! but I cant do anything about that. Ive been trying to tell the owners they need to do something about it, but since the are around 70 years old and have created it themselves they take it as an offense and don't like talking about it, kinda funny.
Nice V-11! I imagine you have a Powercommander PCIII USB on it. Here are a few tips for you;
*The TPS sensors come WAY! out of wack on those from the factory, usually around 225+mv and should be 150mv, so the bike will run super rich stock. I set CO's at the header @ 3.5-4% and still use the .10mm A & .15mm S valve clearances.
*The pick-up sensor (timing sensor) air gap is usually way off from the factory, it should be 0.2mm but they are closer to 1.0mm. This smaller air gap will increase horsepower and allow the bike to rev cleaner,smoother, faster.
*The front forks come with a huge air gap from the factory and are usually pretty mushy feeling. I use 7.5w fork oil and set air gap to 110mm, but the front and rear suspension will probably need to be re-sprung for your weight. Shoot for sag numbers of 40mm for the front and 43mm for the rear. The key is to get the front and rear of the bike to act and react the same time, they are set-up pretty bad from the factory. Is your shock a Fox component?
*Thats a pretty heavy bike, I like using the Pirelli Diablo Strada motorcycle tires with 34f/36r psi tire pressures. You will get good grip/life out of these tires, I am a Pirelli guy myself.
*Here is an idea for you, I have one last set of stock Moto Guzzi carbon fiber air box covers that are SUPER CHEAP!. Ill take a pic tomorrow and ask the Parts Mgr what he is selling them for, as I cant remember exactly.
I was looking at a V-11 Scura awhile ago, I should have bought it! I had plans on installing the www.Ferracci.com high comp. pistons, ported heads with larger valves and a http://www.mistralspecialparts.it/homepage.html exhaust 1/2 system. It would hopefully have been a better replica of FBF's link below.
Your bike now should be making around 80hp at the wheel. Ive never dynoed an EFI Guzzi with the individual air filters. While increasing HP, I know they KILL torque on the older Ducati's (stock carbureted SS & M series). You should get yours dynoed sometime, if you haven't already, I am interested.
Sorry for all of the useless babble, Ive been working on Guzzi's for a while
Did a frame repair on a F650 BMW today. Whoever owned the bike before tried multiple attempts at welding, grinding, JB welding and bolt breaking to hold it together. All that work and they couldn't be bothered to disclose a major flaw while selling.
No engine mount bolt, crack with JB weld.
Getting everything removed you can see a layer from previous weld and the layers of metal,black paint, jb weld, black paint. Terrible.
Finished. Had to build up ground off material before I could start to build anything up. Very thin in spots. Stronger than original and i was even able to get it in the right place to put a bolt back in.
Wastefulhabits: RIP Wingman: I'm back to commuting on two wheels again which is nice, and dangerous. Riding I5 north on a weekday is akin to standing on the front lines...
A bit of over head cam 4-valve prettiness. Very rare and very cool but I'm still very fond of the push rod motors. Found at Ron's Performance Motorcycles in Clackamas.
It's been a long road but the duc is nearing completion again. Suspension will be track day ready, body work less denty and still will jump just as far.
I would like to point out that rocky point road is a terrible road on anything other than a SMC and I don't recommend riding it but does the view get any better than this?
It's finally done. I sold the best all around bike I have owned so far. If you have a chance at snagging one do it. Fantastic pine coner, long tripper, short tripper, goofing off and everything else bike.
Another Ascot has landed thanks to Manny. This time it's a FT and not VT with the 500 cc single and a chassis actually suitable for some flat track racing. I'd like to give it a run at some point to improve on my less than ideal lap times and overall performance on the VT. Now to decide which way to go with the bike, flat tracker, rat street tracker, nice street tracker, beat down Stevenson terrorizer or go with a sumo hybrid. Any recommendations or rationalizing?
I do think all of the matte poisonous frog green will be broken up with some pin striping.
This is the video from my second session on the track, third session was more fitting to my riding style.
Trying to finally get motivated to put my sumo back together. The motor is back from RPM with some fresh head bolted on and a few other bits inside. Street tires and street plate are out and ready. Now to get the bike out of some rafters and thrown on the lift. Until then this is all I gots...
This isn't moto related but rad and thought I'd throw it up here, my first full alignment project. Complete full travel front and rear alignment to make sure caster, camber and thrust angle are all matched and useable. And how many times can you use thrust angle in a sentence without it being dirty?
