Hello from Edinburgh

Hello,

I thought a brief intro might be in keeping with the forum etiquette.

Firstly, i'm from Edinburgh, Scotland, more or less. Over the years I've had the usual RD / GPz / GSX-Rs, then in '99 an 1100 sport carb somehow appeared in my garage and sparked the Guzzi love affair (love/hate maybe closer to the truth I suppose). I loved that bike but I was living in France at the time and spares were a nightmare (4 weeks to get a fork seal) and I got tired of singing the hairs on my legs on the cylinders . After I got back to the UK I put it up for sale and it proceeded to lunch a main bearing shell 5 minutes after i had sold it... I had it fixed to salve my conscience and then bought an MZ Supermoto, had a KTM 950 adventure for a few years after that, and then the pull of Guzzi became too much and I bought a California Vintage for a two-up tour around europe with the mrs. It carried us through Europe with no major issues but I found it fairly uncomfortable and a bit wimpy so sold it after the tour and bought a new 8v GRiSO. That coincided with the arrival of No.1 son so didnt get used that much, and so was sold off before it could lunch it's top ends. That leads me on to the current occupant of the garage:

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An '07 Bellagio, bought 2 years ago with less than 3k miles on the clock. Since the pic was taken (when I bought it) i've binned the rubbish OE rubber, fitted the standard seat, stuck in a new battery and ridden it. Well, I say that but last year I had two unscheduled visits from the deflation fairy, one total loss of electrical power followed by a stint at the side of the road (hence new batt) and most recently numerous instances of startus interruptus, despite the new motobatt. Apart from that I really love the Bellagio because the ergos are better than the Calis, it's not as 'hard' as the GRiSO, seems a bit lighter and less complicated, handles well and the engine seems like the distilled essence of what makes Guzzis so addictive. For me it's more fun than the 8V GRiSO was. On the downside, it's no longer current so bits and bobs like luggage can be hard to find (and there's no easy way to use throwovers) and it feels like the forgotten child of the Guzzi world.

I'm here because of the knowledge that's here, and because there's a lot of shared bits and bobs between the CARCs, as far as I can tell. I also like the straight-talking-no-bs attitude that permeates the place. Plus the answer to every question is not to buy something from the associated webstore.

Cheers

Mel

Bellagio. One of the most underrated of the tribe! Even though I could never understand the styling!

Welocome.

Thanks for the welcome.

Yes, the styling is different. It looks like something it's not, IMO. On the other hand, I dont really want to turn it into another V7 based caff (nothing wrong with that though - I like the ones i've seen) unless it really sticks and becomes a keeper rather than the usual 3-5 year ownership proposition

Welcome MelJ. There's a few Bellagisti lurking here. Your questions will be answered.

But since you come from Edinburgh, I have a question for you. Is the current McEwan's Export the same beer as it was 40 years ago? Then it called itself an India Pale Ale. Now it calls itself a Scottish Ale. Have they substituted heather for hops? Is it drinkable? It was once the definitive IPA, unlike the modern incarnations.

Ooof...McEwans export. Funnily enough, we dont see much McEwan's stuff here, it got a bad rep - Export  especially - and I think they only sold it in poundstretchers and the like for a while . I imagine they have changed the brew a bit over the past 40 years, it was quite chemically back then. I also recall that there was a distinction here between Export and IPA, they were different, IPA was OK and export was what we skint teenagers drank. It could be that what I know as McEwans IPA was what was sold as Export elsewhere. Maybe. Either way - I agree it was a long way off what now goes under the IPA banner, many now undrinkably hoppy.

I did find a nice Aussie IPA, Little Angels or similar it was called, that was a reasonable drop and not hopped excessively. Must see if I can find some more...

Little Creatures, methinks you mean. Western Australian brew.

This was the beer in question. A big seller, back in the day, because it came in cans.

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I remember it well. According to their website it’s the best selling canned ale in Scotland - bit of a surprise to me!

Welcome to the Ghetto, Mel!

Welcome Mel, i was in edinburgh a couple of weeks ago collecting a race bike, its a lovely city.

A long way, but you are welcome to the Cabal this weekend in Wales :-)

Welcome Mel. That bit about you singeing the hairs on your legs.... maybe you should have worn pants instead of the kilt. (Ducks for cover).

Welcome from the West Coast Mel

Hi Mel. As Sidrat says we are heading down to Brecon on Saturday. Spike & I meeting & heading down from Manchester area......if you (&/0r Angus) want to join and stay overnight in Stockport area Friday night 11th May let me know (empty nest means spare rooms :-))

wyno wrote:

Welcome Mel. That bit about you singeing the hairs on your legs.... maybe you should have worn pants instead of the kilt. (Ducks for cover).

I did have pants on, under my shorts

I must admit to considering the kilt fancy dress rather than actual clothing. Minority opinion here of course, but being originally from the Scottish borders I dont think there were many of my ancestors rustling sheep while wearing a dress. Even if that might have made things easier for them

paulbrice wrote:

Hi Mel. As Sidrat says we are heading down to Brecon on Saturday. Spike & I meeting & heading down from Manchester area......if you (&/0r Angus) want to join and stay overnight in Stockport area Friday night 11th May let me know (empty nest means spare rooms :-))

Paul that's a generous offer. I've been hanging back from committing to the event as the GRiSO is in to have some paintwork attended to (new GRiSO tank decal and the carc casing rear from some reason has been shedding it's paint). Doubtful I will have her back in time to join you all but there is still a chance.

Thanks

anguscameron1966 wrote:

paulbrice wrote:

Hi Mel. As Sidrat says we are heading down to Brecon on Saturday. Spike & I meeting & heading down from Manchester area......if you (&/0r Angus) want to join and stay overnight in Stockport area Friday night 11th May let me know (empty nest means spare rooms :-))

Paul that's a generous offer. I've been hanging back from committing to the event as the GRiSO is in to have some paintwork attended to (new GRiSO tank decal and the carc casing rear from some reason has been shedding it's paint).  Doubtful I will have her back in time to join you all but there is still a chance.  

Thanks

Who does your servicing, Angus, if you dont mind me asking? Not many Guzzi-aware places in Scotland. I tend to use Jim Allans and have had good service from them over the years.

A tip on luggage - consider the horseshoe-shaped tail bags. They sit on the seat, tie to the pillion footpegs at the front & to the rear rack at the back, don't require any hardware, & heavier stuff can be packed low in the legs. There are quire a few now on the market, but check out the Wolfman Beta series and Great Basin's Giant Loop as examples.

MelJ wrote:

anguscameron1966 wrote:

paulbrice wrote:

Hi Mel. As Sidrat says we are heading down to Brecon on Saturday. Spike & I meeting & heading down from Manchester area......if you (&/0r Angus) want to join and stay overnight in Stockport area Friday night 11th May let me know (empty nest means spare rooms :-))

Paul that's a generous offer. I've been hanging back from committing to the event as the GRiSO is in to have some paintwork attended to (new GRiSO tank decal and the carc casing rear from some reason has been shedding it's paint).  Doubtful I will have her back in time to join you all but there is still a chance.  

Thanks

Who does your servicing, Angus, if you dont mind me asking? Not many Guzzi-aware places in Scotland. I tend to use Jim Allans and have had good service from them over the years.

Jim Allan in Falkirk for me too, great service - Tommy there has had the pleasure of rollerisiong my GRiSO and also having the engine out for a warrany fail of the main seal (another design flaw of the early 8V's)..... also greased the swing arm ect when the engine was out.  If he wasn't familiar with the GRiSO before he is now haha!