Subject: Sunday At Marsh MG -- Long version
Author: David Washburn
Date: Jun 15, 2003, 2:31 PM
Post ID: 1713398192
I rode up to Marsh in Hartford CT. this morning in the company of
"Tonti" Tom LaNasa. We left Manhattan around 7:00 AM and took a mix of
highway and single lane roads. There was a surprising number of cars
out for early on a Sunday but we enjoyed a (mostly) relaxed pace on a
picture-perfect day for motorcycling.
At Marsh it was a typical open house with food, bikes, parts tables and
pictures and clippings remembering Fred Marsh from his early days to
recent times. This was my second time at a Marsh open house. I hope
the Guzzi reorg turns them all into millionaires because a nicer, more
dedicated group could not be found. Many different marques were
represented by the people attending, Guzzi, BMW and Harley being
prevalent. There was a black (um, Charcoal, Anthracite...) Breva on the
sales floor and it looked marvelous. If this is the influence of
Aprilla how come their bikes (Tuono for one) are horribly ugly?
The Eldo/SP ran like a champion with its new 36mm PHF carbs. On the way
up I didn't notice a big change in performance, just a greater
willingness to pull fifth gear. It was on the way back that I realized
that I hadn't been close to opening the carbs all the way. To get them
open I had to take a second handful and roll it on to get things moving
in fourth and fifth. I touched 90 on the speedo for an instant before
backing out but even then I don't think I had the carbs all the way
open. I will leave the top speed testing for a day when there is less
traffic.
The brakes passed their test as well. Tom and I were in the fast lane
on 684 Southbound when a mini SUV two cars ahead of us made a hard left
into the guardrail at 65+ MPH . A huge cloud of dirt and grass exploded
up from the impact and obscured my view of the accident while steel
strands from the guardrail snaked across the lane ahead. With the
single Brembo F09 pumped by a 12mm M/C grabbing the stock 300 mm cast
iron disk and Moto Guzzi Classics "Mr. Softy" linings in the rear drum I
was in no danger of riding over Tom with his linked triple-disk 1000S.
My thanks to Mark Etheridge for his installation tips -- I think they
are quite bedded in now.
My Tach still reads half the RPMs it should but the gauge guys
(www.gaugeguys.com) have promised me a fix. I sent them a dead 'un to
work their magic on, full report to follow as I don't know anyone else
who works on the old electric Veglias.
Nothing fell off this trip thanks to the magic powers of blue lock-tite
so it is back to the commute tomorrow for the Eldo. Hope you all had a
happy and safe weekend.
David in NYC