Cross Border meet-up

Don't get excited STEAK! Different kind of meat.
This morning I had a pre-arranged meet up with Plantboy (Gil) at Rathdowney. I came south from Brisbane, and he north from Roseberry Creek, it's not on most maps but he almost lives in God's own country. The purpose, to deliver my spare GRiSO shock, Ohlins 110 spring and re-valved. We then rode back south of the border thru the twisties, swapping bikes.

This was my first ride on a GRiSO (1200 8V) since a dealer ride day last decade. Then it was a farting vibrating hot piece of shite, hence I bought a Bellagio.
Gils bike has a pipe, snorkel removed and been dyno'd and re-mapped without all the PC bullshit, must say it is very smooth and civilised. His dyno chart showed a dip between 4 - 5K, bum dyno cant detect any lack of torque/power but the surge that comes on from 5K is very pleasant indeed. I didn't test all his 100+ ponies.

GRiSO stock suspension was reasonably smooth on the better parts of Mt Lindsey H'way, but better known for its bumps this road challenged the big girl through the turns.
As a starting point, the GRiSO is much better than a Bellagio, correct tuning applied and the divide increases. However the diet, wheels and suspension have improved Bella out of sight.

I'll let Gil offer his ride impressions of my bike ................................................

We parted company after a short break at the "Bus Stop", where another mate of mine was waiting. Kieran and I swapped bikes for the return journey to the border so now I was on a Triumph 675 Street Triple with full Wilber's treatment. This is the ride I've been waiting to have to see how far Bella has come, as Kiz and I have ridden this road together many times.

It is amazing how close Bella is to the well sorted little Trumpy, steering lightness/responsiveness, turn in speed, holding tight lines and agility in the flip-flops etc. are near on identical. The 675 wins the debate with a riding position and weight bias towards the front, it just gives that little extra bit of confidence and feel in the front. Then it has 30+ more horses at guzzillion rpm.

Now if I get new triple clamps with less offset = more trail, less wheel base, more front weight bias. ..............................

Man, you beat me to it. To say I was most impressed with your Bella fails to do her justice. Wow, what a fun bike in the twisties, especially on the varied and variable surfaces of the Mt Lindesay Hwy. I really had a ball guiding her through the bends and getting on the gas nice and early on exit. She is so accurate and light turning-in, though with plenty of feel - tracks like she is on rails. Then the nice fat power band spools up easily to illegal speeds, where wind blast starts to come into play - perhaps a small flyscreen could help out here, my G12 also needs one of these.

For the type of roads found in the Border Ranges Bella is right on the money IMO. She's a fair way in front of my big Girl right now, but I have some idea of what I need to do to improve my ride. I especially need to get quicker turn-in and feel by pushing the forks up through the triple clamps, and Wayne's upgraded GRiSO shock should also help-out. However, no way could the relatively heavy G12 ever be a match for Bella in the tight and bumpy twisties we rode. Never mind, I'm just looking for some more predictable and easy handling for a better flowing ride; where the G12's superior HP will keep most things honest on the straights.

It was also interesting to discover that both our bikes had been remapped on the dyno by the same tuner. Bella certainly pulls cleanly and powerfully everywhere in her rev range, as does my G12 - I think this surprised Wayne after his earlier GRiSO riding experience. That trick little Trumpy 675 also sounds tasty.

So much fun to be had so little time..... sigh. Many thanks to Wayne for selling me the shock at a bargain price and allowing me the privilege of riding his 'little' 950. We must do it again some time after I get things sorted and put in some practice on that magic piece of road.

Pushing the forks up??
I did what
(what was his damn name again? Wayne? no?)
did on a Wild Guzzi ride from this past spring up to Idylwild did - 6th line.
Peachy!!!!!!!!!
Steers like a Gem.
My stock rear spring is wound up nearly all the way too. But I weigh 200lbs.

Meant to say the other day, biggest difference between Bella and G12 8V apart from the power, is the GRiSO is more refined. Both bikes are smooth and civilized except for Bella's bark (very loud), but I find the older 2V pushrod motors still have a raw edge, feels like it has a bit of animal in it, this I like.

The big G though has a refinement to it (a bit BM-ish) where all the pulsations/vibes etc are more remote from the pilot. For me this gives the bike a very modern feel, or as I said, refined.