What did you do with your GRiSO today?

beetle wrote:

I think you'll like 4 rings.

You are right Mark
2 rings was too stodgy

300miles of twisty stuff today and the stelvio shock is a lot better
finding less bumps in the road and much more stable deep in bends.
(just not an ohlins quality magic carpet)

Got it ready for riding to Erie tomorrow.

Kathi's caging it, but I use these monthly eldercare visits to Kathi's dad as an excuse to ride.

This month, we celebrate his 99th on Saturday ... and his girlfriend's 87th!  


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Bill

That's awesome!

What year Stelvio shock did you go with?

me?
Unknown but definitely not NTX

Ok, that's the ticket I think.
So Non NTX Stelvio?

I am still looking.
Think I will also move my forks to the 4th ring, I was at 6th but the turning is too fast and I seem to be correcting my line often in corners slightly.

So after months of grey, wet, cold, wet, grey & cold.....we finally had a clear sunny day on Saturday.
Actually it was so nice it was like an early spring day.

Not wanting to waste it I purused the local maps, discarding the usual routes while looking for somewhere/something different.
I decided that the road from Braidwood to Arauluen looked intersting, so jumped on the bike and headed out there, past Pete's place next to the dead centre of Bungendore, over the hills and far away.

I had expected the road out of Braidwood to wind up and over a line of hills then down into Arauluen Valley, so was surprided to find the road go from the flat to immediately winding down a ridge line, sticking to the crest all the way to the valley below.
And a very pretty valley it is.
Turns out Braidwood is at 640m and Araluen is 150m.
(The road continues on from town as a dirt road for about 50km all the way the coast at Moruya, but it's closed at the this time)

There's excellent free camping just out of town
Alaluen Camping
And accomodation at the pub for those who'd prefer that
Araluen Hotel
so maybe we should keep it in mind for a future cabal.

After returning from Braidwood I decided to be adventurous and take the graded road over the range to Captains' Flat.
I've not ridden the GRiSO on any length of dirt before so was a little nervous, but the Local Government Area had been kind to me as the road must've been recently graded as it was totally smooth and rut free.

After the dirt the bike was very happy to open up on the run down to Queenbeyan, so much so that I had to keep catching myself from super exceeding the limit through Canberra to home.

Sunday saw the cold and grey return

Good one Craig. So a Cabal at Araluen next year. Better get some dates together...

Yay Craig!

Araluen:
- Dirty Butter Creek Road
- Quong Tart Close
- Sun Cutting Road

and there's a Long Flat Creek!

Great names one and all

Just dumped a deposit on a V85TT Travel. Will be here later this week!

Distance from the campground to the pub is about 3km.
Probably a bit far to stumble home to (whichever end is home) for most, but closer than other camp sites.

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Oz1200Guzzi wrote:

Just dumped a deposit on a V85TT Travel. Will be here later this week!

Woo Hoo

3km? too far to walk when pissed - better ride our bikes - only takes 2 minutes...

There's this stuff called "ice". You put your stubbies in it, and keeps the beer cold. If we get some of this "ice", we won't need to ride or walk 3km.

I have the recipe for that ice stuff.

I believe we have done that before, only once or twice though.

beetle wrote:

There's this stuff called "ice". You put your stubbies in it, and keeps the beer cold. If we get some of this "ice", we won't need to ride or walk 3km.

I was thinking of those that prefer to enjoy our land of fire, ice & mental shitting then retire to a comfortable pub bedroom rather than a tiny fabric abode.

They're welcome to walk (although it'll be closer to 5km due to the width).

This little black duck ain't walking.

Oz1200Guzzi wrote:

Just dumped a deposit on a V85TT Travel. Will be here later this week!

Just saw this.

Stupendous!

Friend in Florida has one; lovely machine and great mount.

Congrats.

Bill

Mine was the only Moto Guzzi at the Whistle Stop bike night[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

got out this morning while the roads were still shady and the temps were below 90 degrees and figured I'd share a little bit of eastern NC. I ride in rural areas that have a lot of open roads and farmlands. I can typically cruise in 6th gear between 4000-4500 rpms without being overly concerned with the police - tractors and farm equipment are the real hazards around here.
I tried to insert a slideshow, but the website didn't like it ....  
 
The terrain is mostly flat. there are some decent elevation changes, some good sweepers  and a few tight curves, but you have to find them.
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the smells are really good this time of year with fresh cut grass, flowers blooming and the occasional sweet waft of tobacco curing.
this area is the largest producer of sweet potatoes in the world with tobacco, soybeans and cotton also everywhere in sight. watch out for the yellow swallowtail butterflies as hitting them creates an explosion of yellow guts that will cover an entire face shield if hit just right!

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My farm report:
the migrant workers are in full force and all over the place
sweet potatoes are still in the ground and looking good
corn is abundant but a little crispy and dry
tobacco has flowered, been primed and is partially being harvested
cotton looks good and is flowering
watermelons and cantaloupe are being harvested

sweet potatoes
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tobacco
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cotton
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I like the small bags, are they attached to C-bow mounts (& howso?)

SMTCapeCod wrote:

I like the small bags, are they attached to C-bow mounts (& howso?)

I'm too cheap to buy the C-bow system so I made my own out of 3" aluminum angle.
the small fork bags simply bolt on - they stay on 99% of the time. When I travel, I use some harbor Freight imitation pelican boxes that mate up to my angle with a set of easy brackets. this gives me a key lock system on the bags and they are quick detachable.  the touring bags and the brackets are a little heavy, but I don't use them much, so I'm good with it.
one day I'll get them black anodized
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one of the best features about my brackets, is they are extremely strong. I can put a shackle on them and use them with a chain hoist to raise the bike and service it, which is a beautiful thing.  
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I gotta say that your system is really clever. The pelican boxes are a great idea. I have the C-Bows + small Hepco bags. Damn expensive and quite limited capacity but for day to day riding they're fine but no good for touring. Once you anodise those brackets black they will be perfect. Well done. Actually better than that ... bloody brilliant!!