Subject: My loops.. Long!!
Author: DannyR
Date: Jan 11, 2002, 9:23 AM
Post ID: 1709359151
At 05:22 AM 1/11/02 -0500, you wrote:
| We are now at 181 members on the list, welcome all you newbies and how about introducing yourself and of course tell us about your loop. |
I bought my first Guzzi in 1973. A 1971 750 Ambassador with 12,000 miles on
it,
from a guy named, David Smith from Ohio, who pulled a 12 foot self contained
"Puch" trailer to New Mexico. I was living in a trailer park in Tijeras NM and
he arrived and lived in his 12 foot trailer. He wanted an 850 Eldorado so he
could mount a sidecar and have more stability when pulling the trailer. So I
bought his 750 Ambassador.
I wanted a brand new 1973 850 Eldorado, but I could not afford it. Eldorados
were $1800 and I got a two year old Ambassador for $1400, still a lot of money
back in 1973. He sold his hack to somebody in Albuquerque who wrecked it and
killed himself and his rider shortly after he bought it.
I rode the Ambassador until 1978 when I blew a head gasket. I pulled the heads
and saw they were badly carboned. I checked them carefully and found the valve
guides were also badly worn. The chrome on the cylinders was also coming
off. I
lived in New Orleans by this time and I put the bike aside until I could fix
it.
In 1984 I sent the heads, cam and cylinders to Rissman Motors, Albuquerque.
Henry Rissman told me the cam lobes were worn, the lifters bad, the valve
guides worn. I bought a set of 950 LA Sleeve cylinders, new pistons, new
cam, used lifters, new valve guides. I put it all together and the bike ran
really great. We rode the bike from 1984 until 1991 when I found I could not
release the clutch as we exited the interstate and approached a red light. The
intermediate plate had warped. The transmission was whining real bad. The bike
had 24,000 miles on it by then.
I wanted a five speed transmission and rear drive any way so I bought a used
five speed transmission but found it was for a Tonti frame since the
speedometer was in the wrong place. The Ambassador rear splines were worn out
and so I bought a used wheel, hub and rear drive. I still needed a five speed
transmission so I bought my 1973 850 Eldorado in 1992, complete but needing
everything. I was going to take the five speed and rear drive from the
Eldorado and put them on the Ambassador to make my Ambassador into a five
speed model. That project went out the window when I found that this five
speed
was worn out and needed a rear cover since the bearings were loose in the
housing. I finally found a used five speed at Doc Storms shop in Dallas.
While
I chased parts I found a 1977 850 T-3, original owner, pristine condition, I
thought.
I bought the bike, with all the DB stuff on it in very nice shape. But
something was wrong with the way it ran and I worked on it until I could not
find anything else to do. I contact Godfrey DiGiorgi and he help me find the
problem. The PR had installed a Dyna III and installed Hi Performance
distributor springs in it, along with K&N filter and a new exhaust system.
This
made it run very lean. The springs made the timing advance too slow and thus
causing the headers to turn bright red, and since the Dyna sensors were not
timed properly, the right side glowed more than the left. After I installed
the original exhaust, standard distributor springs and re-jested the
carburetors, the bike runs like a sacred rabbit. But I then wanted more power
and finally gave in and bought a brand new 1998 EV 1100, in March 1999.
Finally I had my brand new Moto Guzzi.
Back in 1972 when I first fell in love with the look of the Ambassador I
thought I found the love of my life. I had lived in New Jersey and had owned a
1966 Yamaha twin jet 100, a brand new Honda 450 Scrambler, which I sold
after a
month. I had worked in the automobile business and knew of Berliner, in
Hasbrook Hts., not 10 miles from me, but I had never heard of Moto Guzzi until
I moved to New Mexico and saw the Ambassador which I bought. I wanted a new
Guzzi and could not afford one. When I could afford one the Eldorado was not
available and only the 850-T and the V7 Sport was being sold. I hated the look
of the 850-T. It looked just like all the other Japanese bikes, chrome around
the seat, dumb gas tank, polished stainless fenders. I loved the look of the
big black fenders on my Ambassador. So I did not think of buying a Tonti frame
until 1997 when I saw an 850 T-3 for sale. I bought that bike and it was only
the second Guzzi I drove. It was so different from the loop frame. It had
brakes, it steered tighter, it had a hinged seat for access to the battery,
the
gas tank attached with a rubber strap so taking it off was so much easier than
the Ambassador. But even though I am getting used to the Tonti look, I still
love my loop frames more.
The EV is a really great bike, comfortable and powerful. I just hate the
way it
looks. A couple of years ago Moto Guzzi NA wanted to know what we wanted in a
bike. I wrote to them and said I want a modern loop frame. I wanted disk
brakes, like the last of the Eldorados, I wanted a tank in the same shape as
the Ambassador/Eldorado, with the same or more capacity. I wanted the same
side
profile, the way the headlight sits on the forks and the chrome trim on the
front fender. That front fender was still used on the 1100, the EV was the
first Guzzi to get a new front fender, except the T's, T-3, G5 and a few
others. Why would they start to use that fender with the chrome bar up to the
EV and then go to a non braced front fender with plastic chrome strips pinned
on the sides?
The final thing is that I loved the loop frame battery covers and tool boxes.
The shape, size and location was perfect. The only problem with the side
covers
were the bolts are long would be very hard to screw down, this was resolved by
the snap on side covers on the early Tonti's. Problem was they were ugly. So
what did they do with the EV, they got ride of the easy to take off Tonti
metal
side covers and installed plastic screw on types, which crack where the bolts
go through. Another step back.
I got a used four speed for the Ambassador, since I now have two other Guzzi's
with five speeds. I put the transmission in and got everything back together,
up to the point where I had to install the clutch cable. The free play in the
linkage is too short and I cannot get the cable connected to the handle bar
and
still have some free play. I can get it connect with the clutch partially
released. I am using the same clutch cable and everything else from the bike,
except the transmission itself. I now have put that project aside, since I
have
the other bikes running. I guess I will have to pull the transmission out
again
and see what the problem is.
Anyway, I love my EV. I really like my 1977 850 T-3, but my real love is for
my 1971 Ambassador, which I still have, and my to be restored 1973 "needs
everything" Eldorado.
Loop frame's forever!!!
Danny