Subject: First Guzzi Ride & She's gettin a few mods..
Author: Lannis
Date: Apr 8, 2004, 7:16 PM
Post ID: 1716508728
Les Lampman wrote:
I got another ride in last evening; still learning to shift the 'right' direction, finding the best rpm band and getting used to the cornering. I'm really liking it so far! :-) Les |
Les -
I'm getting used to mine too; I'll ride the Eldo three or four days,
then ride the Centauro and realize what a difference 23 years of
technology makes. Doesn't make the Eldo any less fun though.
I've taken it down for a bit though. The controls and switches just
weren't right. The starter button was mounted too far back, couldn't
reach it with my hand on the throttle. The Tommaseli front brake lever
clamp was slid way too far up the handlebar because the switch mounts
wouldn't let it get closer. The turn signal switch couldn't be reached
without taking your hand off the grip.
With the sprung seat, and the footboards with the heel/toe shifter, and
the brake pedal where you have to pick your foot up to press it, I would
sometimes find myself with both feet off the footboards working the
pedals, one hand off the bars reaching for the turnsignal, and the rest
of me floating on the sprung seat. I felt like I wasn't even connected
to the bike sometimes, just travelling along above it. I can fix part
of that anyway.
By the way, I have a strong respect for the cops that used to ride these
bikes 90 MPH weaving through traffic chasing speeders, or those
stuntriders in Magnum Force spinning donuts and stuff. I guess it's
just experience and familiarity and a pair of bronze goolies.
I'm going to:
1) Make a new mounting plate for the starter button to move it out where
I can just slide my thumb over and press it.
2) Find an old Japanese switch cluster, or maybe buy a Baja Designs
dirt-bike street kit switch cluster (thanks Ron K.!), and wire the
high-beam, signals, horn, and lights where I can get to them. Wish I
could find a switch cluster the same as on my Centauro; it's real nice
and easy to use.
3) Find a better mirror and put two of them on. The one I have has a
good, long, solid shaft and pivot and a good clamp, but it's old and has
gone dark on me. Is there a decent brand of clamp-on mirror that's not
one of these cheap $13.95 Emgo types that dangles like a dead sunflower
after 2 months? I use Napoleon bar-ends on my other bikes but those
won't work on the police bars.
4) Take the starter off and have it looked after. When cold, she'll
spin all day long. When hot, you have to bump it 10 times to "rock" it
over compression and then she'll fire in half a turn. The timing's
spot-on per the strobe, clean solenoid contacts, clean wiring, new
relay. It's a Bosch, and my VW bug guy tells me it looks exactly like
a VW starter, so I'm hoping the local starter rebuilder (who's done
hundreds of veedub starters) won't choke at the sight of it.
Hey, who's that bidding against me for those Wixom bags with Eldo mounts
on Ebay? I'm costing someone some money. I didn't hear back about a
tank bag, so I'm bidding on one of those too.
Eldo'll be down for a bit, but lots of miles planned for this summer...
Lannis