Dodging the Wallopers.........

Had a bit of fun yesterday afternoon. I had to nip into Canberra to pick up a headlight for one of our NZ cousins and noticed that there were two highway patrol cars heading into Bungendore as I was heading out. On completing my bizznizz in town I headed back and imagine my delight when, on cresting the Bungendore hill just outside Queanbeyan I find the two opposite lanes awash with blue and red lights and no less than FIVE highway patrol cars, three marked, two un-marked, having boxed in a high performance Maloo ute and are in the process of *interviewing* the driver by the expedient method of hauling his arse out of the car! throwing him over the bonnet and cuffing him while he shouted and kicked at them! Now I have absolutely NFI what this fuquetard had been doing but given that both the HP cars that I'd seen going in to Bungendore were there along with the rest of Southern Command my guess is that he'd been clocked outside Bungendore and decided to try and make a run for it. What a tool!

Nice thing was though he had all of Southern Command tied up busting him which meant that I had a clear run back to Bungendore with very little risk of meeting anybody who would want to do the same thing to me

It was sunny, 16*C, engine hot, tyres warm. It was also Wednesday, always quiet traffic wise and doubly so because last weekend was a public holiday in Canberra and next weekend is a public holiday in New South Wales, its also school holidays so an awful lot of people in the region take annual leave or close their businesses and go to the beach. Hey kids? Its PLAYTIME!

I haven't had as much fun for ages. Its not the most exciting stretch of road but for much of it there is little road furniture, wide verges so you can see the wildlife and with little traffic and the wallopers all tied up I was really able to give the GRiSO a good work-out.

Even running the wider tappet settings this map really Honks! First feels W-A-Y too low now for rapid take offs, the front wheel is in the air and you're desperately trying to slam it into second seemingly the instant you've dropped the clutch. Second is a repeat of first, it isn't until you get to third that you really have a chance to do anything other than just hang on and try not to shit! Even then the front end is VERY light. It really does remind me of a much heavier V-Twin Tuono only much more brutal! Third, forth and fifth are all fantastic fun but fuck me drunk when you wring it out in forth and fifth you very quickly find yourself way north of 200kph, on the straight up the long hill towards the defence headquarters I was able to see the shift indicator triangle starting to flicker in fifth so I stuck it into top and it was still pulling like a serial masturbator with a new porn collection! Its not the steepest hill but its still a significant incline and the bike just flattened it!

I have in the past hit the rev limiter in top on a couple of occasions but that was before the rev limit was raised 500RPM. I didn't get there this time and I forgot to look at the max indicated before I cleared the dash, (A precaution I always take after this sort of silliness!) but it was certainly as fast if not faster than I've ever been on this bike before. Exhilarating? Certainly! Fun? Undoubtably! But the top speed thing is, at least to me, irrelevant. Its that astonishing grunt from 5,500 through to 8,000+ in forth and fifth that is intoxicating but at the same time it can be ridden like an absolute pussycat!

Power delivery on light throttle openings from 1,500 is smooth, linear, with no snatching or hiccups. You can roll on the throttle in top from below 2,000 and it'll just chug away like a traction engine. I really find it extraordinary how vastly the bike has been improved. I would never of believed it possible and remember I was someone who was always very happy with how my bike ran with the 68S map!

The only downside is that its just so difficult to stay under the speed limit on the open road. Sure it will hum along boringly at 100kph (And deliver good fuel economy while doing so!) but I just find that unless I'm really concentrating the speed just creeps up. 120, 130, 140, (Where it feels it would like to sit all day in 'Cruise' mode.) it really is going to be hard avoiding tickets unless I get a lot more disciplined!

Ah well, it'll be a long time before I get to do that again. If I'd been caught I'd of been in the same position as the idiot in the Ute outside Queanbeyan! I think I'd better ride the Mana for a few days. Its just so much more easy to be sensible on that

Anyway, thanks Mark. Your work is truly exceptional.

Pete

I love it when the stars align and you can give the fun police the middle finger! Sometimes I switch to the GRiSO from the Bonneville and forget the corresponding adjustment at the wrist. Way too easy to run afoul of the fuzz on these beasts!

Have you guys ever considered sending your maps to Mandello, or Beetle at least offering his services to the factory. Being paid to do what you love the most.

Problem is Wayne that despite getting better fuel economy there is no way in the world that any of the beetle maps would come close to meeting E3-4-5 emissions standards. There is also the fact that Italians would never accept that something developed elsewhere could be better than their solutions. Its a pride thing. They're weird like that!

Its like some of the solutions I devised for earlier problems, the sloppage sheets for broad sump engines for instance. The factory could of easily designed and incorporated something like that in the design of the motor but never did resulting in a stream of seized bottom ends. The problem was never directly acknowledged apart from obliquely after the new CARC bike sump was put into production when it was stated in press releases that it had been developed to "Address lubrication issues".

Much better to accept that there will always be stuff that will need to be addressed ex-factory and just suck it up. As long as we have people like Paul and Mark around to help we'll be OK.

Pete

Hells no!

1. These are custom maps designed for each muffler
2. They wouldn't pass emission testing anywhere
3. They wouldn't pass emission testing anywhere

..and finally

4. They wouldn't pass emission testing anywhere


Oh, and also Hells no!

Yeah I know. Bit like everything else on a Guzzi, if they made it perfect I probably wouldn't buy one.
I'm one of those weirdo's who keep trying to re-invent the wheel (no ref to BST intended), that's why I love Guzzi's so much. They present so many opportunities.

I need to be able to make things better, well at least in the deep recesses of my mind, I actually think I can.

Oh, and just for reference rolled back into Bungendore after a trip into Canberra this afternoon and filled up at 200kms just after the fuel light had come on. It took 12.5 litres. And that was after not only yesterday's silliness but a bit more slightly less grossly illegal but still quick riding over the preceding few days. I'm sure if I'd nursed it I could of got it down to 5 per litre but where's the fun in that?

Pete

Testing that map in cruise mode, I saw instantaneous usage of around 4.4-4.6 L/100.

Seriously, if one could control one's throttle hand, 290 km before the light comes on is quite possible.

I got an average of 51 miles to the gallon in the Mountains a couple weeks ago... the light came on at about 150 miles.
My bike is still bone stock by the way but the fact that I was with my wife and another couple kinda tamed my riding to a more civilized way.
I just follow behind in taller gears unless I knew where we were going so in that case, I told them I'll meet you there and went for a spiritual ride.

Yeah, but with this map and that pipe, civility goes out the window. Your throttle hand becomes possessed as insanity of Lovecraftian proportions engulfs you. You ride as if truly fleeing demons, as a shrieking laughter comes bubbling up from the Stygian depths of your soul.....


Yeah, it's hard to just pootle.

I have managed to get anywhere from 42mpg to 50mpg up in the mountains. 7000ft elevation. But my norm is 36mpg where i live around 3500ft.
which one of you weirdos has been rereading Conan the Barbarian???
stygian depths indeed!
you are in irredeemable peril of becoming my ilk.

DM

DM, I was already there.

beetle wrote:

Yeah, but with this map and that pipe, civility goes out the window. Your throttle hand becomes possessed as insanity of Lovecraftian proportions engulfs you. You ride as if truly fleeing demons, as a shrieking laughter comes bubbling up from the Stygian depths of your soul.....


Yeah, it's hard to just pootle.  

Shit I re-read my post and I didn't mean to sound content with my bike being stock...
I much rather have your map and I've got to get an e-bay account to buy those cables and down load your map, then send you monies for your effort.

I was saying that if can get this fuel mileage when riding cool when stock, then it'll be even better with Guzzidiag.
If you think that I baby this thing on average, not so... I tend to have an heavy throttle on a regular basis when I'm riding alone.

On the subject of mileage I rode down to my beach house today to drop off a CARC I had to re-seal for a customer who lives a couple of hours south of there. Using the beach house as a 'Dead Letter Drop' saves him coming up to Bungendore and gave me an excuse for a ride .

BUT, its a long weekend and in most of Oz on public holiday weekends the plod are out in force and there are double de-merit points for any offence, (As well as the roads being full of fuckwads!) so acting the goat wasn't an option.

I was able though to check fuel economy. Admittedly the run was DOWN to the beach but once there the denser air would require more fuel but riding with a light hand and sticking close to the speed limit, (ie, an indicated 110 in a 100kph zone which is the state limit on non freeways.) I got a most satisfactory 238.9 Km from a tank before the fuel light came on solid! Once again on refilling it took about 12.5 litres. Being sensible 300 from a tank would seem quite doable!

Pete

Was that the 5124 map Pete? How did it run at sea level?

Pascal, if you want to avoid eBay Amazon has them too. I got:

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beetle wrote:

Was that the 5124 map Pete? How did it run at sea level?

Because I hadn't run it down to the coast yet I left in the previous iteration so I could do a comparison. Interestingly it really crackles and pops after the fuel cuts back in a 2,750, really noticeable. Up here there is no issue at all, I'm assuming that is what you hoped to address with the temp and pressure table changes?

Jude and I are thinking of going down to MB for just one night today, (Saturday.) after the Bungendore Car and Bike show which Motomoda sponsors a minor prize in so I'd better stick around for that. If we do I might suggest we take the van and I'll fling the GRiSO in the back, re-map it and see how it behaves. Alternatively I might just ride down on Sunday. Not willing to stay down there till Monday, the Clyde mountain section will be a charnel house on Monday as all the Canberra types who can't drive meander back up the hill from the beach after a weekend of debauchery................

Pete

PS. I don't know if he copied you in on these but Ron Hartwig from Qld. sent me some figures from his trip south on his bike with temp and pressure gauges installed. Ambient temps in the low twenties and oil temp was still only getting up to about 90-95*C. In everyday conditions these engines really are monstrously over-cooled. That's only just hot enough to sublime the water out of the oil.

last week, most highway, 510km with 25.9 litre fuel needed. So could run 600km on one tank, and still not empty.

Pete Roper wrote:

Because I hadn't run it down to the coast yet I left in the previous iteration so I could do a comparison. Interestingly it really crackles and pops after the fuel cuts back in a 2,750, really noticeable. Up here there is no issue at all, I'm assuming that is what you hoped to address with the temp and pressure table changes?

Yeah, the 3DFC map will run as much as 2% richer at sea level. More if the temp is below 15 degrees. That's too much correction

Quote :

PS. I don't know if he copied you in on these but Ron Hartwig from Qld. sent me some figures from his trip south on his bike with temp and pressure gauges installed. Ambient temps in the low twenties and oil temp was still only getting up to about 90-95*C. In everyday conditions these engines really are monstrously over-cooled. That's only just hot enough to sublime the water out of the oil.

He's not riding it hard enough.  Seriously, the fuel-engine-temp correction table is still in the "warm up" area (as I call it) at those temps. I've designed it for best fueling at 96 degrees up, so at 90-95 it will be running a bit rich. If I change it, it will affect the entire map, so I ain't going too.

pauldaytona wrote:

last week, most highway, 510km with 25.9 litre fuel needed. So could run 600km on one tank, and still not empty.

Oh Paul, you and your big tank...

tocino wrote:

Pascal, if you want to avoid eBay Amazon has them too. I got:

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Oh I forgot about Amazon. Thanks.
I'll get those right now...

Dodging the Wallopers QLD style.
Lions TT & Motorcycle Festival. A 40km section of closed public road, just for bikes heading south, one bike every 30 sec. Well at the 11th hour Qld Police put the kybosch on everything north of the border. Oh, they did turn up in force, breath testing, license checking, photographing every bike and rider, hidden speed cameras. So we had a 17.5km section on the NSW side of the border down to Ripples café. With the Qld H'way Patrol sitting 25m away (in another state) rider #1 wheelied the first 100m to great cheers from the other riders waiting their turn.

I should mention, this was not a race, it was not timed. It's just a very bumpy narrow mountain road with free range organic beef and roo, pot holes, bits of gravel, Armco, cattle grids .............
We had it to ride safely (within the law) in one direction with no oncoming traffic. By the way, the speed limit is 100kph.

My turn comes and I get to chase follow the only 2 stroke on the mount. Imagine my excitement when part way down I started getting a wiff of whatever synthetic variant replaced Castrol R. So Bella performed very well, responding to all my urges (bouncing off that limiter). Only had 1 off, slight right/left kink over a crest and I'm aiming for the dirt on the inside. Play Station style - I keep it pinned! Yeah, and I kept looking at that friggin dirt. Guess where I went? Doh!

Anyhow back on track I caught and passed the NSR250, don't laugh, it's nearly got more power than Bella. He later said he tried pretty hard to follow.

Nearing the end of the run spectators were in abundance at the bridge crossings with their 90° turns into the on/off ramps, had to ham it up with a bit of tyre chirping and full engine noise braking, then hard on the gas again. Pulled into the Café (finish line) and glad it was over, don't normally ride with that level of intensity. BUT IT WAS FUN!

Shortly after I spoke with one of the southern wallopers and he mentioned some dickhead was pushing his luck. I confirmed it was a 100kph zone before offering my defence.
"But Officer, I was only trying to ride to that speed limit".

Saturdays first crash honours goes to Andrea' on a MKIII. No injuries and he got it going again.
Second was a Rocket III - collar bone and ribs.
Sunday, 3rd rider out breaks 2 bones in his leg and totals his RSV. The event was shut down. Got both bikes in the shed and mate of the Aprilia rider says he's totalled 3 bikes in 12 months.

From Ripples Café out to the H'way and back round to Rathdowney was a more leisurely ride. Definitely more pleasure riding Tantric style, surfing the torque curve thru the Mt Lindsey twisties.

A fine description of Saturday's events Wayne.  I too was there and ran the wife's V7 Stone down to ripples in a fairly leisurely fashion, only to be greeted by the finishing steward with 'nice bike, but take it easy as the cops are about to shut us down',  after the two 'offs'.  i was intending to take the GRiSO up to Rathdowney this morning for a more serious run, but just didn't fancy going all that way and coping with more aggravation from the QLD coppers and the starting delays experienced on Saturday.  

So decided to take a short run out to Ripples to to see today's bikes arriving at the finish line.  I got there just as the crash stewards were parking the well and truly binned RSV Mille, while the ambos were out attending to its pilot - I heard he was only the second runner today.  Shame is that with 3 bikes down already, the local cops and event organisers decided that was enough and shut-up shop - event over.  

Like Wayne, I too had fun, but will it happen again?  I hope so, but there are plenty of lessons from the experience that will need to learnt and issues addressed for a better event in the future.  In the meantime I'm in the fortunate situation of now living only about 6 kms from the start of the Lions Rd and hope to get in much more practice over the coming year.  In previous years the Lions was my preferred route north to QLD, but that was on my tricked-out 750 Shiver, IMO an ideal bike this notorious 'black flag' road.  Coming to terms with the Lions on my much heavier, longer etc GRiSO will be a challenge I look forward to meeting.

Wayne and PB,
What a fantastic opportunity but I think that may be the last chance you get to participate in this event, I'm gobsmacked that the cops even allowed it to start.
When I heard about it I just couldn't figure out how the organisers were able to talk the authorities in permitting it to happen, neither state is a particularly enlightened group when it comes to fostering motorcycling.

A mate travelled this bit of road about a month ago and remarked that it wasn't in great condition and felt there was likely to be carnage if a few of the young bucks tried to show who had the biggest dick.

Obviously a great opportunity to ride a bit of interesting road with the risks of oncoming traffic removed but now that it is known, every dickhead within 500 km's is going to head there to ride it and will inevitably lead to even more carnage like RSV guy.
The result of that is inevitable, the safetycrats will probably have the wallopers patrol the area mercilessly.

I hope they can keep it going as the concept of the whole event seems terrific but if the ride is shut down it may be difficult to attract the interest of the motorcycle public, especially on a double demerits weekend.