What did you do with your GRiSO today?

Canyon Carver wrote:

Blue wrote:

beetle wrote:

You don't touch a mans ride without permission.

Good job of staying calm. I would have kicked the shit out of him.

Oh, I was close. But he was pissed at the end of the day and we have all been there!

If he had kicked off, I had already decided on plan B. Trouble is when you think about it, if you do completely lose your temper and get that good ole Red mist it all gets out of hand and people see it and it can go too far. The great thing about being our age range [ seems a theme on this forum ] is that you have a good dollop of life experience from your youth.    

In the US, as you know, everyone has a gun. He would have at least been pistol whipped.

Yeah CC.

Here.. probably every ware there is a unwritten law ..you can look but not touch ..
Depending on the owner you could suffer various degrees of punishment to the extreme ..

Years back there were four of us  out for a ride when we decided to stop for a beer at a local pub,
We parked single file alongside the building so as to keep the bikes out of the way of traffic .
When we returned to the bikes we found one of them occupied by a fellow and at the same time he was smashing the tachometer with his keys to break the lens .
Wrong bike for him to pick as the owner Matt was a local tough and prone to a bad temper , the result was not pretty and as I remember none of us tried to hold Matt back as it wore on , we just watched until the end as the perpetrator was now unconscious .
We got on the bikes and rode off .. I always felt justification in this event especially after a few years later when someone keyed my tank ..generally you never catch these assholes .

I hear you Keener. And if he had damaged the Tenni in any way, or tried to get up and swing I was going to introduce him to my full face lid up close and personal.

We have all had 'previous' I am sure and I don't blame your mate for doing what he did for his own form of justice. To be honest since I have had the GRiSO, it has only attracted good attention. Drunk people sit somewhere else and you don't know how it's going to pan out really?

My previous are distant memories now thankfully, and you can wonder how you got through it. I consider my life to have been pretty sheltered but there was a lot of rivalry going on back then. I remember deciding in the early 80's I was going to ride scooters. It attracted a lot of attention even though I was also riding around on an Xl250 as well. You would get shouted at, surrounded by groups of Triumphs,Nortons, etc. I like both those bikes, but they hated scooters and it was as simple as that. One time a guy on a Norton came along side and tried to kick me off the Lambretta Sx200 I was on and having failed he railroaded me into a lay.by. He got off and walked towards me and drew a crowbar out of his jacket. Luckily for me I was returning from helping a mate with his RD200 and had a long ratchet sitting in the fairing toolbox. I grabbed that and we just stared at one another.....it was a bit like a Western. I can laugh now because he turned and left, but at the time I thought my heart was going to stop.

I thought about my GRiSO and went out and looked at it. It's a beautiful winters day here, 15 degrees C, sun shining brightly, no wind. Sigh.

...but I did build a map for Zathruss, sent a map to Steve Waller, ate two oranges , did my domestic duties, took offense to something in the interwebs, had a cheese & bacon roll and I'm still lounging in my PJ's at 1445.

Wow, it's so strange to hear about winter when here in Texas we expect 90f+ today.

I spent some time yesterday evening doing something similar just sitting with a beer admiring my GRiSO and thinking " This has to be the most unique, best looking motorycycle I've owned".  Good decision to make a call to MPH, not seriously expecting any interest offering a Buell trade in.  Boy, did that work out.

Another word of appreciation for your work with maps- I imagine this is the only place and bike type owners have this kind of help, that of you, Pete and others knowledgeable about Guzzis/Grisos.

Got in a 700 mile ride this weekend, mainly in West Virginia. Great roads out there; if you're anywhere near that part of the US spending a few days riding in and around the Monogohela Natl Forest is time well spent!

According to the ECU I got an avg MPG of 39.2 running the latest Zard "race" (i.e. no catcon) map [6964.2015.06.09].

I figured it'd be a great chance to record a big datalogging file, even if it would be 95% 3000-6000 rpm. Naturally the bluetooth transmitter picked this weekend to go wonky. It got power based on the LED, but the ScanM5X app couldn't find it. I'll have to recheck all the wires; possibly something came loose. I guess I'll have to go back

It rained a little on us - I actually washed my bike when I got home last night; something I never really do. The grit that came up off the road seemed like the cutting fluid for a lathe.

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Even after a quick wash it's still all over the bike. I need to find a bikini mcy wash! For charity of course.

tocino, I'm running that same map with my new Exan pipe and after ~500km I'm getting the same fuel economy (i.e. 6.0 l/100km, which is very close to 39.2 mpg).

I think I would've got 39.3 but the dirt created drag...

I'm sure I would've gotten better had I not spent a lot of the time riding in a less than respectable manner.

Yes I've been the much same so far. I'm doing a few hundred kilometers of highway cruising on the way to the good roads this weekend. It will be interesting to see if there's much of a difference in fuel economy. Then in the mountains I'll see if it goes much above 6.

GRiSO has gone in for it's first service in my ownership. Had a chat with the guy and he said, ah these take 10/60 oil don't they - so that was a good start. I asked him to check/lube the driveshaft splines and also the suspension bearings and he done these on another GRiSO so all good so far. Also doing filters and valve check at the same time.

He said he has heard a bit about Tappet failures on the 8v [ 4v] engine and would not trust them for higher mileages............sort of left a bad taste in my mouth with that comment.

Well, while I think I've got a pretty good handle on why the flat tappets fail confirming it with absolute certainty will probably never happen. There is only so much time you can sponge off a man with access to an electron microscope!

A couple of reports I have, one from the University of Leicester and one from the Czeck Republic, outline supplementary issues with getting DLC coatings to stick to a ferrous substrate but I remain convinced the moisture and poor servicing are the major causes of failure.

The two highest mileage 8V bikes I've had anything to do with are mine and Mark III's old charger. His was in the 80's when it was written off and mine is approaching 90,000. Both are/were flat tappet A5 motors, the ones that were supposed to be bombs with a smoking fuse. Neither of us are gentle on our bikes, we just maintain them. No Ju-Ju powder or magic dust. Just tuned and set up right.

You can live a lifetime worrying about if stuff is going to go wrong. Alternatively you can just flog the clacker out of your GRiSO and if the worst happens? Well, sell it or fix it!

Pete

tocino wrote:

Got in a 700 mile ride this weekend, mainly in West Virginia. Great roads out there; if you're anywhere near that part of the US spending a few days riding in and around the Monogohela Natl Forest is time well spent!

Just spent last week in WV with 6 other riders. Tremendous roads, light traffic, no police seen. Some great riding!

Pete Roper wrote:

... and mine is approaching 90,000. Both are/were flat tappet A5 motors, the ones that were supposed to be bombs with a smoking fuse. Neither of us are gentle on our bikes, we just maintain them. No Ju-Ju powder or magic dust. Just tuned and set up right.

You can live a lifetime worrying about if stuff is going to go wrong. Alternatively you can just flog the clacker out of your GRiSO and if the worst happens? Well, sell it or fix it!

Pete

That's very reassuring

I put wee beastie to bed ... 10day forecast is "Excessive Heat Warning" with daytime highs in excess of 110*F (43*C) every day for the next 10days.  No commuting for the Warg for a bit, but maybe an early morning weekend ride.

New oil in, filters done, no mayonaise on to valve covers, clearances checked, plugs are fine, suspension bearing greased, and only thing i need to start thinking about is new tyres.

The mechanic now wants a GRiSO.............

Where did you take it Ian?

Fitted the DBK and then took him out for 60k run.
Great, prefer the killer fitted, I am now going to leave it in.
Caoi

handyandy wrote:

Where did you take it Ian?

Hi Andy,

Took it here: Farmoor [ just opposite the speed camera!! ]

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He is very thorough and a nice guy to deal with. Will go back to him again.

Checked my tappets all good no adjustment needed. The reason’s are two fold, first is I took my helmet off after a run but the bike was still running what a racket when warm (the two cheese graters fornicating syndrome). Second it is due an oil change very soon and reading Pete’s theory about new oil and DLC coating, thought I should check before and after new oil. I will be using and always have used Agip 10/60 if it’s good enough for Guzzi then it can’t be far away, so here’s hoping it will be good for another 6000 miles.

Question for Pete...
friend of mine is very interested in a 2014 GRiSO as in new leftover..
How is the top end on that machine , can he expect issue similar to some of the earlier 1200..
I know they have made changes but to what degree..

and while we are at it... the 1100 GRiSO  does it have an inherit issue that us 1100 owners should be aware of as well. (overall ) some prevent maintenance that would apply ?
thankyou
Keener

By 2014 it should have a roller top end so you're golden.

As for the 1100's the only *Big* issues were with rattly gearboxes caused by inadequate springing on the input shaft shock absorber and inferior bearings in the CARC but both of these only affected early bikes up to 2006 I believe.

Pete

Went for a round trip to twiggers today for the 6250 mile service with Mrs on the back, didn't get back in time to go to work this afternoon, what a shame.......

Took the GRiSO on a spirited jaunt over Topanga Canyon to PCH and up to Malibu for lunch at the counter in Marmalade on Cross Creek road. Cross Creek has a lot of trendy shops with $200 shirts and junk. In one such clothing shop they had a vintage MC leather jacket by Bucco? It was well used with no lining and a price tag of $6,000. I almost tossed my chili. I didn't buy it.
The bike ran great back over Malibu Canyon and Mulholland hwy back home to work and nap. A fun day.

Took Bella for its first ride in about 3 months after charging the battery overnight. Thought I'd just go up Mt Glorious for coffee but detoured to take in Mt Nebo on the way. Was a little shy of traffic getting out of town and thought I might be a woose on the mount. First set of left right lefts had me throwing the old girl around with gay reckless abandonment, and the first long sweeper was just begging for more lean angle and throttle. Not saying I'm fast (well I am in my own mind), just really enjoyed being on the bike again. Turning the helmet bluetooth off meant I'd never hear the phone ringing.

After coffee ventured down the back of Mt Glorious and then kept going around the back of Wivenhoe dam, eventually stopping at "The Spit" on Somerset dam.

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From the dam I rode to Woodford via Kilcoy and the back road past the Woodford Prison Farm.
Had intended to do the Highway straight back home but couldn't resist the temptation when passing the turn off to Mt Mee. Some really good twists up through here. Fuel light had come on at 130km and chose to ignore it until I got back to Samford. I have a 16.5l modified V7 tank, took 15.2l after 205km = 7.4l/100km. Had ridden a good pace but nothing over 150, might be time for a proper "Beetle" tune and flick the PC-V although I suspect the last TPS reset is the main culprit.

The adventure continued coming back into civilisation with flashing red and blue lights filling my mirrors. Total cost of the day in excess of $600 but the Po Po was really nice and let me off Scott free, didn't even check my license or rego. Well he couldn't check the latter, the whole guard, plate and light have gone west, literally.

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I would like to say that no genuine Guzzi parts were harmed in the creation of these photos, but it appears a combination of QLD goat tracks and my leisurely speed have proven too much for my fabrication skills.

So what has broken Wayne? The caliper mounts? That would have to indicate the whole of your hub assembly would be flexing badly! Gotta fix that. I do have spare cases, as you are probably aware they aren't available as a spare part.

Pete