Horns, roads and old bikes

[tobinh]

I am 73, retired, living in Angels Camp, California. I started riding about around 1971. Suzukis. 350 twin, GT380 triple, GT550 triple, 250 dirt, all were 2 stroke. Then a GS650 4 cylinder shaft drive. Stopped riding for about 30 years. Last October I bought 1984 HONDA V4 Liquid Cooled Magna V30. I had it shipped from the Seattle area. Then decided to get something completely different. After reading about various makes and models, I settled on a 2017 Moto Guzzi V9 Roamer. I shortly found one I couldn’t walk away from. It had 2400 miles and over $5000 spent on accessories, came with a new battery and 13 months paid registration. And I could ride it home as it was less than 2 hours away.

I had most of those Suzukis as well I especially loved my GT550, just a thoroughly pleasant motorcycle.

 

[Roamer]

I had most of those Suzukis as well I especially loved my GT550, just a thoroughly pleasant motorcycle.

I recall the 550 being smooth as glass and lots of torque.

 

[Roamer]

Congrats, welcome and thanks for posting your info and pics! I had to look up Angels Camp. Being in the foothills, you have some amazing riding there! Enjoy the V9R. If you ever want to run even better, I have some great solutions on the STORE tab, i.e. https://gtmotocycles.com/products/gt-motocycles-v7-v9-ecu-re-flash-tool -- you can read the reviews there.
Hope to see you here often! Enjoy!

Will check it out. Thanks.

 

[scottmastrocinque]

I love your Bobber (I do love those chunky wheels so much!) except for the ugly exhaust tape.

That stuff is terrible.

Consider getting the pipes ceramic coated and the heat will stay in the pipe and exit out the back, and they will look so much better.

Especially if coated in satin black. They will match your Agostini exhaust perfectly.

This is what Jet Hot Coatings did to my Stelvio. Best thing I ever did to the headers.

They look like this still, several years later.

 

[Theomarakas]

I love your Bobber (I do love those chunky wheels so much!) except for the ugly exhaust tape.

That stuff is terrible.

Consider getting the pipes ceramic coated and the heat will stay in the pipe and exit out the back, and they will look so much better.

Especially if coated in satin black. They will match your Agostini exhaust perfectly.

This is what Jet Hot Coatings did to my Stelvio. Best thing I ever did to the headers.

They look like this still, several years later.

View attachment 26959

View attachment 26960

I love the Stelvio. Had I found one in new condition, I'd have bought it. I do like the V85TT a lot, I wish that it had a 1200cc engine. I like the weight and ease of riding in the congested streets of Manhattan. The Stelvio is a bit too chunky for tight traffic BUT an awesome long distance tourer. If a Stelvio, the last year of production, comes around and it has no miles on it....I'll buy it in a heartbeat.

 

[scottmastrocinque]

Welcome! You are so lucky to live where you do. I’m originally from San Diego and I miss Southern California roads so very much.

Ohio has the worlds most boring roads to me after 18 years living here.

 

[Louisv97]

Ohio has the worlds most boring roads to me after 18 years living here.

Indiana would like to contest for that title

 

[Used2Bfast]

Like you two gentlemen and most folks, I spent my life and working career in some part of Flatastian where the closest thing to a curve is a entrance ramp. It was a plan, and decades of hard work that allowed me to retire in an area I used to only be able to visit.

 

[Used2Bfast]

Here's an update photoView attachment 26952

Where did you get that bag or bags, whatever it is, need on for my bobber.

 

[GerryAZ]

Scott is right—Ohio has the most boring, flat roads and they have lots of local revenue enhancement locations (speed traps). I used to visit frequently because my wife was from the Dayton area and had relatives near Findlay.

Used2Bfast,
Enjoy those roads and your new ride!

Scott,
What is the black piece on the engine guard near the skid plate in the last photo of your Stelvio?

 

[scottmastrocinque]

Like you two gentlemen and most folks, I spent my life and working career in some part of Flatastian where the closest thing to a curve is a entrance ramp. It was a plan, and decades of hard work that allowed me to retire in an area I used to only be able to visit.

Oh I fully intend to be retired in the not so distant future and then my weekends will be spent riding around Lake Como and the Alps.

 

[scottmastrocinque]

Scott,
What is the black piece on the engine guard near the skid plate in the last photo of your Stelvio?

Ah! My Denali air horn.

There is no such thing as a “too loud” horn.

 

[Used2Bfast]

Oh no sir
I live in southern California where every twist and turn one can dream of is within an hour's drive. I visited Indianapolis and Richmond and let me tell you that this socal native was itching and twitching for some sort of pavement with some radius.
don't get me started on the corn either.

Sorry if I accidently stepped on some toes, Socal makes me think of freeways, traffic jams, cholos, overcrowding- things I avoid. Every time I see a video of someone riding what they call "twisties" on the West Coast I think "those aren't twisties- look more like big sweepers to me", for every one turn out west there in a given distance there are about 5-6 turns here. Just like there is a difference between hills and mountains. For reference, local roads in this county are about 3 times tighter than the "Dragon". I guess we just dream about different roadway geometry.

An hour? Guess I must be old and spoiled, road is less than 30 sec from my front door and out the back door- well this is the South. My rides on the KTM are a 16 mile out and back on the tightest section (about 15-20 min) and I'm done plus tires are cooling off, but since I'm riding much slower on the Guzzi I can ride for about 45- 60 min tops. By then knees and butt are hurting, I'm ready to get off. We probably agree that corn is for food, around here we can get ethanol free 93 octane here and a vehicle inspection is a safety inspection-no emissions bs.

 

[GTM®]

Socal makes me think of freeways, traffic jams, cholos, overcrowding- things I avoid. Every time I see a video of someone riding what they call "twisties" on the West Coast I think "those aren't twisties- look more like big sweepers to me", for every one turn out west there in a given distance there are about 5-6 turns here. Just like there is a difference between hills and mountains. For reference, local roads in this county are about 3 times tighter than the "Dragon". I guess we just dream about different roadway geometry.
An hour? Guess I must be old and spoiled, road is less than 30 sec from my front door and out the back door- well this is the South

So this is a massive issue, and touches a deep nerve with me. This thought process kept many Guzzisti away from my National Rally in 2008 here in Malibu. Some were downright @ssholes about it, and collectively kept most of those who wanted to attend away. Not even the grand poohbah of the MGNOC himself attended, in which he had never missed even one and still hasn't BTW. Those that did attend couldn't believe how amazing and barren it is.

I'm not posting this as a East vs. West debate mind you... However, some
facts: 1. California is a HUGE state. Don't even remotely think that there's not a BIG handful of America here. There is. There's plenty of good books and road maps written about this State. 2. I grew up the Mid-Atl region and did ~1 million miles East of the Mississippi before moving West. I did the Dragon and feeder roads almost every weekend from Front Royal, VA down to the southern tip of the BRP and everywhere in between. The smallest of random roads in the SoCal hills laughingly mocks the Dragon tenfold, and there's far better tight bumpy backroads here too. 3. There's not one spot on the East Coast that rivals even the tiniest part of CA. Don't fool yourself into thinking that's the case. 4. Any good riding up and down the East Coast is stifled with low speed limits and repressed ego-driven law enforcement that is designed to be a revenue generator... which doesn't happen here to my amazement. 5. I've now spent nearly half of my life in CA, and have lapped the country multiple times, including nearly all of the Moto hotspots, and I still get paid to ride for weeks all over the country. That said, I'm always so happy to return HOME to SoCal.
Like you... I'm fortunate to live in the foothills, so the good riding is out my back door too. I've been lucky this way since I moved here in 2000. My Moto resume HERE if you care to read it.

My $.02 and last comment on it.

 

[Theomarakas]

You guys have no idea how bad the NYC area is to ride.
1. Awful roads to downright dangerous at times. Bad pavement and even worse clueless Uber drivers.
2. Traffic everywhere. At all times. I finish my shift at midnight and it takes me over an hour to go 20 miles.
3. Speed cameras and cops menacing everybody. NY is a very blue state, always broke and dysfunctional, looking to rip people off
4. If you live in NYC you must ride at least an hour or two before you can find some decent riding backroads. By the time you deal with traffic and get there...you're already exhausted and you know the trip back will be even more atrocious in traffic.
Nevertheless, I'm fortunate to have a garage and 6 bikes in it. That's a rarity around here.

 

[GTM®]

You guys have no idea how bad the NYC area is to ride.

I sure do. I used to meet up with a bunch of friends in NYC for the urban assault game there.

 

[scottmastrocinque]

I'm from San Diego, California. I cut my motorcycle teeth riding San Diego County roads, and especially Mt. Palomar, South and East grades.

I've ridden every "fast" road in the USA I think. I tell you with true honesty, NOTHING remotely compares to Mt. Palomar. Between the decreasing radius turns all over the place, to the significant elevation changes, the scenery, the million ways to get killed flying hundreds of feet off of the cliffs to your death, and the sheer fun of Nate Harrison grade for a Stelvio descent of the mountain, devoid of pavement, there is nothing that can compare.

In total, Southern California roads are just so damn plentiful and abundantly stocked with all of the tastiness one could ever wish for on a motorcycle road. San Diego County reigns supreme in this category. Hands down.

If you've ever had the pleasure of a day blasting Mesa Grande, Sunset Highway, S6, S7, South Grade, East Grade, Montezuma Grade, Old Highway 80, Highway 78, Lyons Valley Road, Hellhole Palms Loop, Ortega Highway, Wildcat Canyon Road and MANY MORE - ALL IN THE SAME DAY! Often times, TWICE in the same day, then you know what Todd and I are talking about.

Southern California is motorcycle road paradise. Period. I miss it terribly.

LINER NOTE: The only thing missing from this video, is the approximately 4,285,643 Highway Patrol Officers that now cruise this road almost 24/7/365. When I was young, we could go up Saturday or Sunday morning at 6am and the place was a ghost road. Not anymore from what my buddies in CA tell me...

 

[Used2Bfast]

So this is a massive issue, and touches a deep nerve with me. This thought process kept many Guzzisti away from my National Rally in 2008 here in Malibu. Some were downright @ssholes about it, and collectively kept most of those who wanted to attend away. Not even the grand poohbah of the MGNOC himself attended, in which he had never missed even one and still hasn't BTW. Those that did attend couldn't believe how amazing and barren it is.

I'm not posting this as a East vs. West debate mind you... However, some
facts: 1. California is a HUGE state. Don't even remotely think that there's not a BIG handful of America here. There is. There's plenty of good books and road maps written about this State. 2. I grew up the Mid-Atl region and did ~1 million miles East of the Mississippi before moving West. I did the Dragon and feeder roads almost every weekend from Front Royal, VA down to the southern tip of the BRP and everywhere in between. The smallest of random roads in the SoCal hills laughingly mocks the Dragon tenfold, and there's far better tight bumpy backroads here too. 3. There's not one spot on the East Coast that rivals even the tiniest part of CA. Don't fool yourself into thinking that's the case. 4. Any good riding up and down the East Coast is stifled with low speed limits and repressed ego-driven law enforcement that is designed to be a revenue generator... which doesn't happen here to my amazement. 5. I've now spent nearly half of my life in CA, and have lapped the country multiple times, including nearly all of the Moto hotspots, and I still get paid to ride for weeks all over the country. That said, I'm always so happy to return HOME to SoCal.
Like you... I'm fortunate to live in the foothills, so the good riding is out my back door too. I've been lucky this way since I moved here in 2000. My Moto resume HERE if you care to read it.

My $.02 and last comment on it.

Wow, I wondered where that post went. Not every person has the same tastes, like/dislikes. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. You guys in Socal like where you live and the roads there-that's great, all the points you made where based on your perspective. My perspective is different- I like hearing the mountain stream in my backyard 24/7/365 and hearing only the sounds of nature, zero city noise, having a shooting range in the backyard where deer, turkey and bear stroll through- you couldn't pay me to live in CA period. Since you brought up your resume- I think that former AMA and Moto GP champion Ragun Cajun Jamie James resume is as good if not better and he thought that this area was the best so he retired here, aged now he's since gone back to be with family in Cajun Country. Revenue generation-nonsense the only way you will ever see cop around here is if they are serving a warrant or if a wreck happened. Most rides I'll see less than a handful of other vehicles.

 

[scottmastrocinque]

Chocolate, vanilla, strawberry.

Everybody has their preferences.

I was just saying commenting that the Southern California roads are regarded by virtually anybody who has ever ridden them extensively, as being the best riding roads, in the best location in the best weather, the USA has to offer. This is why more people travel to California by motorcycles, for motorcycle adventures, than any other state, by far. It doesn't mean that it's the best place to live. You are confusing the two different ideas. I don't even live in Southern CA anymore. I moved away.

Because I cannot afford to buy a beachfront home in Del Mar, I don't live there anymore. It sucks, I know.

Now...

Used2BeFast, that was really uncouth. What possible positive outcome did you expect from that uncalled for bitch slap? Honestly...

GTM ECU V7 & V9 Flash Tool

Noticed a drop in power past 4500-5000rpm on my V7II - is this because of the slip-ons just installed (no remap yet so it's probably running too lean)? Or is it due to something else and the slip-ons just make it more obvious?

www.guzzitech.com

The Flash tool is discussed in about a billion posts here in the forums, You need only SEARCH and read. It's not that complicated at all. It will store your original map, and your revised map, and allow you to switch back and forth the maps should you need or choose to do so. The tool works with ONE motorcycle which it is registered to when you use it the first time. On the earlier motorcycles, and I believe some of the newer ones too, it allows for a TPS reset. Everything about it is listed right where they are offered for sale. I don’t know why you would do that and what you are hoping to accomplish... Whatever it was, it didn't play out the way you wanted it to...

People who email communications to shops, need to realize that we get a bazillion email a week. I'm just a repair shop (not a retail store) of one guy, and I get 100+ emails a week easily. I cannot even imagine how many Todd gets a day. Hundreds I am sure.

For my shop, they come from regular email, from Google, from Messenger, from a half a dozen platforms I didn't even know that I could receive email from. People send communications from every conceivable direction you can imagine. I cannot even keep up.

Then, if I didn't see it, they yell at me "Didn't you get my email?" and I say "Where, when?" and they say, I sent it to you via Square (my credit card processing system) and I didn't even know I could get an email like that!

The other thing is that people never utilize the SUBJECT field to really clarify what they are wanting. I use things like "PRE PURCHASE QUESTION" or "REQUEST FOR INFORMATION", or "I HAVE A PROBLEM REQUIRING YOUR URGENT ASSISTANCE", or something very descriptive like that. I always seem to get replies and I am the THE WORST at writing stuff on the internet. I admit it openly that non-verbal communication just befuddles my mind. Honestly, people can take the most benign statement and turn it into something totally different, based upon nothing but their interpretation of what they read.

Also...You don't think we have business email and other forms of communications for customers to reach us, so we can just sit back, laugh and ignore them do you? That's not logical at all.

Also, a lot of my responses go directly into that sender's junk mail folder because although they love to send emails, they have every blocker known to mankind on their computer and invariably my stuff ends up in their junk mail box and they don't even realize it.

Truly, the worst is the phone. I have considered removing my business phone just like Todd. I get 30 calls minimum a day. Most start out with "Hi. How are you? I am working on my motorcycle and I ran into ... or I cannot figure out ..., or can I ask you a "quick" question, which is never quick and always takes 30-45 minutes of my time. The phone destroys my day in nothing flat. There are days when I literally will not answer it because I cannot get anything done for all of the phone calls wanting to ask questions. Hell, they even call me to ask "how's my bike going?" to which I reply, "It's not, because I'm talking to you on the phone instead of turning wrenches". Life is funny that way.

However, this next year, I am truly trying to make it my mission to lighten up as much as I possibly can in all aspects of my life. I am striving to realize that we are all human and we all make screw ups. None of us are perfect yet we are so adamant to want to hold others to that very unobtainable standard that we ourselves cannot possibly meet.

We all need to soften up a bit I think. It's been 6 years of high stress in this country, and it has really taken its toll on everybody.

 

[Used2Bfast]

I'm from San Diego, California. I cut my motorcycle teeth riding San Diego County roads, and especially Mt. Palomar, South and East grades.

I've ridden every "fast" road in the USA I think. I tell you with true honesty, NOTHING remotely compares to Mt. Palomar. Between the decreasing radius turns all over the place, to the significant elevation changes, the scenery, the million ways to get killed flying hundreds of feet off of the cliffs to your death, and the sheer fun of Nate Harrison grade for a Stelvio descent of the mountain, devoid of pavement, there is nothing that can compare.

In total, Southern California roads are just so damn plentiful and abundantly stocked with all of the tastiness one could ever wish for on a motorcycle road. San Diego County reigns supreme in this category. Hands down.

If you've ever had the pleasure of a day blasting Mesa Grande, Sunset Highway, S6, S7, South Grade, East Grade, Montezuma Grade, Old Highway 80, Highway 78, Lyons Valley Road, Hellhole Palms Loop, Ortega Highway, Wildcat Canyon Road and MANY MORE - ALL IN THE SAME DAY! Often times, TWICE in the same day, then you know what Todd and I are talking about.

Southern California is motorcycle road paradise. Period. I miss it terribly.

LINER NOTE: The only thing missing from this video, is the approximately 4,285,643 Highway Patrol Officers that now cruise this road almost 24/7/365. When I was young, we could go up Saturday or Sunday morning at 6am and the place was a ghost road. Not anymore from what my buddies in CA tell me...

You are 100% correct, I was confusing idea of the best place to live for me with place that actually has the best roads to ride. I actually stopped riding a few of years after moving here when had 2nd cervical fusion done, one reason my rides are fairly short. Also, GT Moto simply didn't get my first email, but it has been resolved now and hopefully good news on mapping for the V85 E5 motors is coming soon. All is well, we can go back to riding whatever roads we have available and most importantly come back safely.