What did you do with your GRiSO today?

I went to the the New Hampshire Moto Guzzi breakfast in Keene New Hampshire today; where I had a Beetle Map installed by WCB (Doug). Thanks to Mark and Doug the GRiSO is running smooth!  

Ride Report - My first real time in the saddle other than 25-30 miles at a shot.  Yesterday had an aborted ride with a buddy (on a Harley) His alarm went on the fritz, and wouldnt start, then the battery went dead, then his shifter fell off about 30 miles from the house just as we were getting to Mt Rainier.  We went to a couple hardware stores, but no luck on a bolt, so we jury rigged (zip ties are a gift from God) and got him home. Sat around drank a few beers burned a cigar, and enjoyed the afternoon. By the time the adult beverages wore off it was raining so I got to ride the GRiSO in the Rain. First thing I discovered is the rain runs straight down the tank and soaks your nuts............  AH. But no electrical weirdness in the 30 minute ride.

This morning I got up, beautiful day 60-65 degrees, sun light breeze, had expected rain. So I finished a few projects and hit the road, headed to the Coast and up the OP to Forks. Mix of state roads, nothing technical. After 9+ years on an FJR and a Concours before that, this was my longest ride on an unfaired bike since I did my last Iron but on my XS1100 in 1993. I forgot how much the Fairing actually does, lol..... Probably just shy of 400 miles today. OK, to the GRiSO itself.

Ride comfort - The GRiSO, though it weighs as much as the FJR is a much stiffer ride. I was able to play a bit with the compression and rebound and have the front set up to be smooth and still responsive, but the rear is still a bit stiff, I need to back off the preload I think.  There is definitely a forward cant to the seating position that reminds me I was shot in the shoulder and have some broken bones, but I dont want to change out the bars or add risers yet. It wasn't as painful as some whining I have read in the boards, but I'm thinking some time upping my military and bench press will help that. If anything, the risers or renthal bars will work best for me.  The Mana bars are a bit too buckhorn for my likes. We will see how I feel after the summer.

Handling - The bike is mostly stable, tracks well, and has WAY faster turn in than the FJR which was very stable and almost resistant to turn in and 'tossing around'  Had to be careful to not run too tight in the twisties and turns. In some ways the front end is twitchy and very light and responsive as compared to the FJR which. I think the geometry is more aggressive and there are 4 lines showing in the triple tree, I may move it to 3. We will see. I Really DONT like the Diablo's they feel a little greasy to me. WIll change out for Conti Attacks or most likely Michelin Pilot Roads when they are gone. THey look pretty soft so dont expect more than 10K miles.

Power - This is a completely different experience. Other than a brief stint with an ST, I've exclusively owned inline 4's since 1984..... But I really like it and love the torque spread, the grunt even in top gear and if I want to wind it out the bike really does scream. I reset the reve counter to blink blink at 7K instead of 6.5. With the right gear selection and throttle use, the bike is surprisingly fast. I really like the way it is NO FUSS....

Seat - The factory seat is lightyears better than any stock seat I've ever owned, and ranks about even with the Sergeant WOrld Seat. 3+ hours before the burn. No seat change for me, that is a first.

Fuel Mileage - 3 tanks of fuel, looks like I get about 165 miles before light comes on, fills up with 4.1-4.2 gallons, so about 41 MPG mixed. I'be beating on it a bit as I learn the new motor

Accessories.
Footpegs - The Knight Design 2" are perfect for my build (5'11, 32" inseam) Gave me lots of room and ability to move my feet and seating position, no touchdowns yet, but I am still riding at 60% until I learn this new beastie. Still chicknstrips are pinky width and no touchdowns, so I am happy.

Dart windscreen may take some wind off the chest but it adds more blast to the helmet and a bit of turbulence. Looks good though... Also looks to be a great place to mount some small LED hi viz lights and ziptie a hidden power outlet.

MG rear rack and tailbag - These work and look great. The rack blends perfectly with the lines of the bike and the bag easily fit my cables, tire plug kit, mini compressor, volt meter, cheapo rain suit, and a few other things and diddnt need to be expanded.

Finally, EXHAUST is too quiet while at speed. Is great around town and slower speeds, but I'd like a little more noise but not obnozious. As for looks, I really do like the Stock pipe big bugger thing it is............... The other pipe I like is the Agostini Hydro Formed, really like how it mimics the lines of the bike and is unique just like the GRiSO..........

Ran into a few bikes and riders on the way. Normally Harleys just ignore me on the FJR, but I love to drop them like and anchor for fun anyway. Today, some douche on a Harley with open pipes and a penchant for revving the motor and slipping the clutch wanted to race,  was riding my tail guning up along side me, so I waited for a twisty section, and dropped him liken an anchor, got up 3-4 miles then pulled over to watch him race by like an idiot to catch me.  I hate stupid unsafe riders. So in all, my spontaneous buy is one without regrets. I had originally planned to just buy the GRiSO and keep the FJR, and while part of me wishes I kept it, my wallet and wife are happy I traded.  I likely wont do many 400-500 mile trips, but you never know, and I'm a happy camper.  Besides, its really not a 2 up bike, will have to get something like the California to make the wife happy.....    heheheh

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great ride report...Bulldog9 ..the 1100 GRiSO are great bikes eh, i have the same and plan to do some touring this summer ...I have done some two hour stints and for me the seat is just ok but i need a break and fuel by that time anyway, i have the dart Marlin screen little bigger and it works keeping bugs off my chest for sure ..
I find the engine makes good power where you need it, roll ons and midrange in the corners are as good as you could need.
As far as i have read the 1100 seems to be a pretty reliable and stout motorcycle , with probably the best of the push rod 2 valve head motors powering it along , i would bet if there looked after they last along time.
I have the Agostini SS can DB killers in , its sounds tough and not to loud  and works very well with the stock map.
I did install a Matris shock as well cured the back end , the stock shock may be ok if you are not fat like me  
PR4 are my tires of choice so far they are excellent..with great feedback..
i see you have one of the faster black ones as well , good on you.

enjoy .................

Keener

Today I adjusted the front suspension, using the specs from another thread.
took it for its first ride with the beetle map. standard exhaust.
Seems to corner better, but didn't really push it.
The fuel economy is significantly better down form 6.8 L/100 to 5.8 L/100.
This was a 50 mile round trip into the hills and back.
Power is a bit better, but could be a bit snatchy at low revs, being in mind first ride, i need to do some more riding to confirm.

Have you ensured the tune is spot on? Usually findings of 'Snatchiness' and the like are down to incorrect tuning and set-up. Once these machines are set up right they tend to need very little adjustment but the 8V in particular is very finicky when it comes to tuning. Get it right and its sublime. Get it wrong and there can be a host of niggles.

Pete

Did the valve clearances and TB balancing, but when connecting the Guzzidiag cable to my laptop, I went and connected the clips the wrong way. Didn't take but a second to understand the error and disconnect, but I could not get any readings afterwards. The blue light on the OBD2 unit still lights up, but the GuzziDiag only tells to cut the ignition a few seconds after switching on. Did I fry the OBD2 or did I damage something on the bike? No fuses were blown and the bike still runs.

Try the test connection thingy, also found on the guzzi diag site. You may have fried the chip, I did it to a set of cables early on ...... I'm sure you wont have hurt the bike

Fried the chip. No damage will have been done to bike. New cable required.




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Phhewwww! That's good news, I'll order a new one immediately and change my MO to only connecting the red. Can't go wrong with that.

Pete Roper wrote:

Have you ensured the tune is spot on? Usually findings of 'Snatchiness' and the like are down to incorrect tuning and set-up. Once these machines are set up right they tend to need very little adjustment but the 8V in particular is very finicky when it comes to tuning. Get it right and its sublime. Get it wrong and there can be a host of niggles.

Pete

Cool going for its 5K service soon, so i'll make sure they do the throttle bodies and valve clearances

Checked & reset spark plug gaps, checked air filter, set suspension settings, added a dual USB/cig lighter outlet and then went for a 200+ mile ride. While running my GPS program discovered my speedo is 4mph optimistic. Just hit 11K miles, so valve adjust soon, will also likely swap out the plugs and check TB sync they look original. A bit of pinging with top gear roll ons, but not too bad. HAVING FUN!

Replaced side stand pivot. Put the OEM 1200 seat on the 1100. Does that count as a geegaw?

Charlie J wrote:

Put the OEM 1200 seat on the 1100. Does that count as a geegaw?

Nice try.








No.





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So, got a new OBD2 thingy and reset the TPS. Idle still a bit high and when rolling off the throttle, the engine sticks at 1700 for a moment before dropping to idle. I'm guessing it runs a tad rich after balancing because both bypasses were open and now only the one that had bigger vacuum, therefore the idle should be on the rich side.
So, next step the CO2 trim then. It is late in the evening so I won't disturb the neighbours right now.

Well, I've had the GRiSO for two months-but I do have two other bikes and I was in Singapore-and (shamefully) it is now due its first service.

Gets a bit jerky in places, mind.

I traded in my 07 G11 about a month ago and got this 15 G12SE.  I had added a lot of stuff to the 07 over the years, and I pulled it all off and returned the bike to bone stock to trade it in.  I have finally finished hanging all of it on the new bike, and have added a few new items.  The full list will appear shortly over on the Geegaws thread.

All the projects, along with spotty weather, have limited my riding the thing to about 500 miles so far.  I will be riding it to the National rally in a couple of weeks, and it will be ready for its breakin service when I get back.  Still tweaking the suspension (better now but still not great), and not real  happy with fueling below 4K, as expected, apparently.  There may be a Beetle map in my future when I get back from the rally.

Il Razzo Rosso (The Red Rocket) in full touring livery:

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I'm thinking maybe Bulldog got your old 1100 John.

Steak, I think so too, especially when he said it had 9K miles. I couldn't quite tell from his pic if the bike has the newer style foot pegs. Dave and I swapped them out when I got the new bike so I could keep the wider rubber pegs.

Hey BD! Does your bike have narrow metal pegs? If it does, I'm its previous owner!

Took off my untidy 30mm handlebar risers and replaced them with Onur's 25mm ones, looks a lot better.
The 30mm ones were effective but looked shite (anyone want them, they are x Roper, he thought they looked shite too)
Cheers

Commuted. Difference was the G2 throttle thingy - makes a big difference to control for slow work ( at least for me - probably covering for steadily declining fine motor skills...). Not sure if its a gee gaw, maybe just a doohdad, but helpful. Doesn't cure my stumbling problem further up the rev range but I'll take a small win

It's a geegaw.

GNORTS wrote:

Steak, I think so too, especially when he said it had 9K miles.  I couldn't quite tell from his pic if the bike has the newer style foot pegs.  Dave and I swapped them out when I got the new bike so I could keep the wider rubber pegs.

Hey BD!  Does your bike have narrow metal pegs?  If it does, I'm its previous owner!

Sure do! Loving it! Thanks for breaking it in for me . I pulled off the front pegs & replaced with the Knight 2" drop with rubber pad. THose narrow sport bike style pegs are for the young bucks or those without one too many airborne jumps .

I sent you a private message look forward to meeting a few local guys

GRiSO took me out to enjoy the first bit of sunshine for a while, unfortunately GRiSO got a little dirty playing on the scattered damp patches.[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]" />" />

Not today but midweek after all of our rain.
Went on a ride on the Putty Road loop from the western area of Sydney metro and back in to Sydney on the North side.
Around 400 km's.
Started out cold but then turned sunny and moderately warm for the rest of the day.
No wallopers, probably resting up for the double demerits long weekend.
The road was good although a bit damp in some of the shaded areas.
Had a morning snack at the Grey Gum cafe in the middle of the Putty Road which which is setup to cater for bike patrons with special parking areas for motorcycles.
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Then on to have lunch at the Wollombi Pub before heading home.

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A nice Eldo recently purchased by one of the Guzzi Club members Grahame which is about to undergo some resto work on the mechanicals.
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A small group of 5 for the day which is good number for a ride a well restored and quick 1100 LeMans III and the now polished turd which is running very well at last. Also a triumph Tiger and a recently acquired Yamaha TDM 900 which has a sweet engine and well sorted suspension. If it didn't have tractor tyres on it would be pretty quick but they made it fun to ride on the bitumen at a more conservative pace. Also in the picture above a BMW Gs 700 recently acquired by Brent to do a bit of dirt roading.
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A fun day for all and great to be away from work.

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I installed a new Gee-Gaw by Stucchi today. I haven't gone though any puddles with it yet; maybe tomorrow.