It's B-A-C-K!!!!

All the way from sunny Queensland.

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And I was able to take it for a proper ride for the first time.

Suspension still needs a bit of fiddling with but it's much better than standard. The huge screen may well be the ugliest thing ever to besmirch the front of a GRiSO but by golly it's effective. For a round Oz trip it will be awesome.

We stuck the beaten up Mistral Hi-pipe on it this morning and remapped it before going out. I'm going to have to do some spacing out of the pipe as it'll interfere with the pannier racks if I don't but that's no big deal. It runs sweetly. Not as sweetly as the Yellow Peril but OK for a crashed out munter. A bit more tweaking and it should be perfectly acceptable.

Nice save, Pete!

Given the popularity of the Tenni green bodywork I'm thinking I might get the old Tree Frog bodywork repainted for this one.

They never made a blue one did they? How about a blue one? I

Wasn't there a blue 1100?

Pete, that windshield looks close to what mine had when I first bought it. I actually liked it at the time. But it finally gave way to the forces of air around 130mph. Upon removing the broken shield I then learned quickly the bike was actually a real sport bike as far as handling goes.[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

beetle wrote:

Wasn't there a blue 1100?

An egg-shell blue. Very fetching.

There are several things with 'The Shitter' that are non standard ergonomics wise. Firstly it has Mana bars, which quite closely emulate the rise of a set of Onur's lower risers, but with a bit more pull back.

It also has fat foam grips, which are way beyond awful. They'll be going quick-smart an anyway I need heated grips.

Another reason to opt for a different paint scheme is the seat. Yeah, it's brown, (Never, ever, thought a fucking BROWN seat could look good on anything!) but it's also awful compared to my Corbin but I reckon if I sweet talk MJM inGoulburn he'll be able to construct something stupidly comfy.

Footpegs have to go lower. How low? We'll see.

People spend a lot of time whining about the small tank on the GRiSO? My fuel light has been consistently coming on at 227-230km! That seems to be pretty standard regardless of how I'm riding as long as I'm not really wringing it's neck, (Which I still do from time to time, but I'm old and fragile, and I can't be arsed any more....) so 300Km on a tank will be easily achievable. On a round Oz trip there is NO stretch where fuel isn't available in 300Km, but even so a fuel bladder or 5 litre rotopax type bottle will render even that headache minor.

I reckon it'll make a fantastic tourer. Right now Peter Hill is here and we're planing an exploratory run from Townsville to Bungendore soon with our mate Greg so any modifications can be made to enable us to do a 'Three GRiSO Lap' of Oz in the next 18 months. As long as Greg can resist the temptation of fucking himself up pulling into a roadhouse like he did last time we tried to ride North/South we should be golden! It's only 12,000km! What could possibly go wrong!??!

I was going to insert a gratuitous pic of Wackley making a prat of himself with some delightful paramedics in Emerald in Qld. Sadly I can't find it.......! It was spectacular. How can you break your pelvis falling off at 15kph on gravel in a road house forecourt! He does get credit for riding another nearly 200km down the Gregory Development Road with said aforementioned broken pelvis before keeling over in Emerald. Some people would claim they build them tough up there. Peter and I just think they build them brutish and stupid!

Pete Roper wrote:

Suspension still needs a bit of fiddling with but it's much better than standard.

Is this the one with the Hyperpro rear unit?
How do you rate it?
Did you do anything with the front suspension?

I really like Hyperpro shocks. I've had one on the Mana since forever. The one on the shitter needs dialing in as any shock does but it feels like it's sprung right and has a wealth of adjustments.

As for the forks? It's embarrassing. I can't remember if I had Laurie go through them or not! I don't think I did but I also don't know if the previous owner has done anything with them as they don't actually feel as mediocre as the stock forks usually do. It's hard to tell though as I'm so horribly spoilt by the suspension of the Yellow Peril which is now outstanding! Peter Hill took it for a run on Sunday and came back gibbering about how awesome it is so I'm pretty proud of having got it that good.

Thanks Pete, that's good to know about Hyperpro.
If I ever upgrade from the Stelvio shock I like the idea of a locally manufactured unit, although the adjustable length of the Matris is something that interests me.

beetle wrote:

Wasn't there a blue 1100?

Yes there was. I was one on sale in CH not too long ago.
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Re fuel range - on the 30,000km trip around Oz a few years back, the V7 Classic had the original, 300km plastic tank. Ran into a couple of places in northern WA where it was a bit dicky - once I blithely rode past a servo, only realising 100km later I wouldn't make the next one & had to go back. The longest stretch between fuel stops was between Camoweal & Barkly Station (289km - the modern looking servo in between had closed down). The first time on that stretch was a bit of a worry, but the 2nd time I knew I could make it. You get in the habit of filling up whenever you can.

Mind you, just about the first thing I did once I got home was to put the metal tank on. A 500km range is a delightful convenience.

Gootzibird13 wrote:

Pete, that windshield looks close to what mine had when I first bought it. I actually liked it at the time. But it finally gave way to the forces of air around 130mph. Upon removing the broken shield I then learned quickly the bike was actually a real sport bike as far as handling goes.[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Like them crash bars, ugly as f**k but certainly practical, where did you get them please?

Those beauties were on it when I bought it along with the windshield, long gone. Didn't keep in touch with the original owner either.