minor cosmetic mods ... V7III Racer

[Godfrey]

Because I am that kid who could never refrain from trying to hop up a watch—and have never owned an entirely stock motorcycle in my life—I went down to the garage this weekend to continue the slow, quiet customization of Racer to express my (and his) unique personality. Um, well, eccentric perhaps.

Brembo Mirrorless Clamps
I swapped out the stock bar end weights and fitted the ones that have a channel cut for my CRG bar end mirrors as one of my first modifications when I got the bike. Mostly because, aside from the fact that I think they look way better on a cafe racer than those ugly antennae mirror stalks, I also couldn't see with the stock mirrors worth a darn. Bar ends with a gentle convex mirror put the mirrors in a better location: I can see in a much wider arc from directly behind me to just a little forward of the rear axle.

But that left the brake and clutch assemblies with those upright mirror mounts, which look tacky. Ah, well, GT has the right Brembo replacement clamp bits. Looks clean and purdy now:

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DART Piranha
To my eye, Racer's stock number plates look just a wee bit over the top. I don't mind the ones on the monoposto seat so much (as yet), but that round silver front number plate/flyscreen just bugged me from the word go. I also wasn't so thrilled about its mounting hardware.

I don't like larger fairings, but I knew from past experience that the small Dart "Piranha" flyscreen was quite effective for its small size, was available in a darkly tinted plexi, and I like their mounting hardware. They have the right mounts for the V7III, and I had a store credit with them on some other stuff that I returned a while ago: what better time to use it up?

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Ah, that's more like it! A nice, robust mounting that fits perfectly, the screen hugs the instruments, and it doesn't look like someone bolted half a pie plate to the front of the bike. I think it will look nicer when Racer is in travel config too, with the Guzzi "Comfort Gel Saddle" instead of the monoposto seat fitted.

More to come... "I have other druthers!"

(And please pardon the crappy iPhone photos. The light in the garage is really awful and I didn't have time to take Racer out to the parking lot for another photo session.)

fun fun fun!

G

 

[Godfrey]

Oh yeah: Not so much mods to the bike, but a couple other minor things I've picked up to make Racer (and me!) happier:

• The ridiculous "run around looking for a gas station with a working air pump and a nozzle that will fit Racer's wire wheels" just annoyed the heck out of me. It's just as bad for the cars, and even worse for the bicycles—and I'm real tired of pumping up the bicycle tires with a hand-pump. Between me and my partner, we have two cars, three bicycles, and the motorcycle ... all of which need tire maintenance on a regular basis.
  
  I'm done with that nonsense. I bought a Ryobi hand-held portable air compressor. It works in the range from 0-150 psi and will fill from flat two standard car tires on a single charge. Bicycle and motorcycle tires: no sweat at all. Came in on Saturday, tested it on the Brompton folder, F's Blix eFolder, and F's car. Works perfectly, barely ate into the battery's charge too. Compressor, battery, and charger altogether were $150 ... money well spent!
  
  
• I keep a nicely finished pencil-type tire pressure gauge out of a BMW toolset in Racer's underseat tool pouch. It works but it's clumsy, and not too accurate. I have a nice compact Bourdon-tube type tire gauge from Michelin in my car's toolset ... works great for the car, doesn't fit with Racer's spoked wheels. I have another of these gauges from AccuGage for my fat ebike, but it's range is specific to that vehicle (0-30 psi). So I bought another AccuGage with a range from 0-60 psi, this time with a swivel hose and a short right-angle head. Fits Racer perfectly! I also bought two rubber cushion rings, one for each AccuGage ... It helps protect the mechanism from simple dings and bumps. The Right Stuff finally for tire pressure measurement, about $30.

It's little stuff like this that makes a huge difference in the pleasure and ease of owning a nice machine and keeping it right.

 

[GTM®]

Dart "Piranha" flyscreen was quite effective for its small size, was available in a darkly tinted plexi, and I like their mounting hardware.

Thanks for the post. I had forgotten they offered that one, and have since added it to the Store here; https://www.guzzitech.com/store/category/body-n-bags/dart/

 

[Godfrey]

Another shot of Racer, this time fitted with the seat I plan to use for touring, the Gel Comfort Saddle:

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enjoy! G

 

[Godfrey]

Racer again ... Now a front 3/4 view with the DART Piranha fairing and Gel Comfort Seat:

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(Todd, if you'd like to use a piece of this photo for your DART Piranha fly screen listing in the store, let me know and I'll send you a cropped version with more pixels that you can size to suit.)

To my eye, that fly screen looks really nice.

enjoy! G

 

[Trout]

Very Nice!
I didn't think I was going to like that seat on that bike but it actually looks very good.

 

[GTM®]

(Todd, if you'd like to use a piece of this photo for your DART Piranha fly screen listing in the store, let me know and I'll send you a cropped version with more pixels that you can size to suit.)

YES! Please do, send full size and cropped to me via email. I agree it looks 100% better than the stock MAS aluminum screen.

 

[Godfrey]

Very Nice!
I didn't think I was going to like that seat on that bike but it actually looks very good.

thanks!

The OEM seat, minus the cowling and number plates, actually looks a little nicer and is slightly more comfy, but I need the flat perch in the back for traveling so I can fit a bag on the bike. The upswept mufflers leave precious little room for panniers, but a "U" bag should work. That's the next thing I test out.

Good news is that it takes literally three seconds to swap seats.

 

[Trout]

3 Seconds! Fire them engineers why that's absurd. LOL
Wish we weren't on opposite coasts I'd love to swap bikes (Griso vs Racer) for a long fun ride.

 

[Godfrey]

... And I'd like to try a Griso myself. Ah, too many cool Guzzis out there...

 

[BearV7]

Did you get those no mirror clamps recently? I’ve been waiting months for them to be in stock I have the same CRG mirrors.

 

[Godfrey]

Did you get those no mirror clamps recently? I’ve been waiting months for them to be in stock I have the same CRG mirrors.

I ordered them on October 9 or 10th ... They arrived in the second week of January. Seems to take Brembo a long long time to send stock out to dealers.

 

[Godfrey]

Went to dinner with my usual Moto Folks last evening, riding Racer with the Dart fly screen and the OEM seat sans cowling. Every one of them said how much nicer it looks in this configuration. It's nice to get some validation occasionally, eh?

I might take the leather tank strap off and see how I like it without that. It's pretty, but there are times when it just seems a silly detail to me... I am generally inclined to more spartan styling memes: predominantly basic shapes with a few specific details to catch the eye.

Speaking of which, I need to come up with a clean looking way to remove the passenger footpegs. On the 2017 model Racer, they seem an integral part of the muffler hangers. They're only fit for the 'occasional' passenger ride anyway, and that is something that will never happen on my bike. Since they will be forever unused, the fact that they're there bugs me.

As I said, I have 'other druthers' yet to come... No rush!

 

[GTM®]

I pulled that unfinished metal flyscreen and seat cowl off every one of my Racers the minute it was in my hands. So much nicer, agreed. The tank strap is an annoyance in that it scratches the paint (or chrome on the older models). I end up running a strip of the thick 3M paint (matte) protection tape under it. I even did a knee pad area in it.

Speaking of which, I need to come up with a clean looking way to remove the passenger footpegs.

I can fab you up a set of tubular hangers for you sans pegs. Ping me direct email when ready.

 

[Godfrey]

I think what bugs me most about the leather tank strap is that it's purely cosmetic, it has no functional value, and it doesn't fit the tank very snugly, the way a proper hold-down strap would: it works its way from side to side as I ride, looking a bit 'off', and scratches the paint in the process. I mean, if you put a strap over the tank, why not make it functional and have it fit the tank perfectly? The tank should have a light depression for the hold down strap too, to keep it in place while it holds the tank down.

Things done for style only without any thought to what they are trying to mimic—why the style exists!—usually bug me like this.

Thanks about the hangers. A set of tubular hangers would be nice, as long as they included a boss for the rubber vibration mountings for the mufflers. I don't want to lose those; past experience with other bikes says that they extend the life of the muffler mounting tabs and reduce vibrations getting to the frame.

Another option; The OEM setup is a tubular hanger coupled with an aluminum casting. The casting bolts to the hanger with a bolt through the foot peg mount, the casting reaches back a little bit for the rubber exhaust mounting point. The foot peg mount also retains the toe guard. Seems to me that an easy and inexpensive solution would be to get two of the foot peg mounts, machine the boss and hinge protrusions from them that normally support the footpeg, machine the outside end to satin smooth (not mirror shiny), and fit them with an o-ring around the base to take up the slot where the toe guard used to sit. The materials cost then is just the two mounts, two o-rings, and then add the time to machine the hinge support bosses off and machine the ends smooth.

(In a pinch, I could probably do this with a couple of files, a vise, and a bit of patience using the bits off the bike...! But machined off with a lathe or milling machine would likely do a cleaner job. )

What do you think?

 

[Godfrey]

Since I had the seat off again this morning to pull out the charging pigtail (other thread...), I decided to take the tank strap off and see how the bike looks without it. Two things:

• I like the way it looks without the strap more than with.
• Damn, the strap has already scratched up the paint really badly!

So ... This strap isn't going back on unless I can line the bottom of it AND snug it up so that it stays put (I doubt it, the rear securing stay is pretty wimpy and there's no way to cinch it snug..). And just maybe I'll see if the dealer will warranty the tank. I mean, really: four months old and the paint is a mess already. The strap is a lovely trim accent, but poorly designed.

... Maybe I'll go wild and have Racer's tank painted the green color that Guzzi used to paint the factory race bikes in the 1950s. Always liked that color, and (like the 1971 V7 Sport's lime green on red frame...) a green tank against the red frame with everything else black and alloy silver just looks darn cool to me.

Fun fun fun... Of course, in the end, I love riding Racer regardless of whether the tank's paint is scabrous or perfection.

Since Racer is busy charging up, I took the Sumo fat ebike out for a ride instead. Gotta get my two wheel fix.

 

[James Dixon]

Another shot of Racer, this time fitted with the seat I plan to use for touring, the Gel Comfort Saddle:

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enjoy! G

Any thoughts on if the stock mounting hardware for the flyscreen would work on this one? I know it's only one bolt per side on the factory one, but I"m curious if the bolt position might line up for the upper one to fit the stock ones.

I'm interested in one of these for my 2014 racer as the little screen with the number on it is a bit too "boy racer' for me.

 

[GTM®]

Any thoughts on if the stock mounting hardware for the flyscreen would work on this one? I know it's only one bolt per side on the factory one, but I"m curious if the bolt position might line up for the upper one to fit the stock ones. I'm interested in one of these for my 2014 racer as the little screen with the number on it is a bit too "boy racer' for me.

Repost as I think I read your post wrong. If you're looking for this screen, it's available here; https://gtmotocycles.com/products/dart-v7-i-ii-piranha - plug-n-play, including brackets.