Motorcycles BS Thread 2.0

Did my first oil change on the bolt since it had one right before I bought it. The oil was good and still honestly newer and looked good and smelled fine. But now we are good for another 6k miles which I don't think I'll hit this season but wait and see I guess lol.

 

Oooo what you end up with?

 

They'll be here tomorrow, I'll see what they look like before I expose my cheapness.
I'll still have time to return and get a different set if needed.

 

let me know what you think. I've got the larger Fantik and dig it. May grab this one to commit to the bags.

Under rated.

 

my story's been (over)told here. Dirt bikes pre marriage/family. Took 25 years off. Got back on a cherry Guzzi 13 years ago to commute around Chicago, and am now fully afflicted with an obsession and a mission: Save. Them. All.

Fortunately they're cheap and easy to work on. Or unfortunately, if you ask my GF.

The GRiSO (the white bike), which ya'll are sick of seeing so I won't post again here.

1000S 1/19 in NA



G5. 112K miles in 45 years, and still humming along (it's done the entirety of Rt66, Chicago to LA and back, 2 times.



Jackal - my 'Cruiser'



And just cuz we need more Chin Fairings!

The last Guzzi to win internationally. Beating a Honda factory supported team in the 80's. My bud and I saved this bike from a garage a couple years back. Then he bought me out. Now he's moving to France and it looks like it's coming back...

Who's old enough to remember when a 16" front wheel on sport bike was a 'good' idea?

85 LeMans

 

I put the red reflective on my 2014 FJR1300 as first I'm not a huge fan of black rims and second, increased visibility is NEVER a bad thing.



Coworkers headlights rally lit them up one morning and he came right into the office to talk to me about them. He was quite impressed. I'm not sure red would look good on my 2013 with the Stone Grey paint so I'm just putting on the black strips that reflect almost white. I'll install them and my 90 degree valve stems at the next tire change when the wheels are off the bike.

 

I got a chance to ride a LeMans of that vintage. Neat bike but serious shaft effect when getting on the gas. A friend of mine used to race Guzzis back in the 1980's. He owned a small shop at that time and was their area dealer. Fellow named Blaine Paulus.

 

Got it in yesterday, promptly used it to check all the tires on my bikes and pump them up to spec. (R3 was dangerously low but I haven't ridden it since the track so no big deal). Honestly it's a great little unit. A little loud/vibey but to be expected in something so small. It almost fits under my BMW OEM pillion seat, it would fit if not for the power commander mounted in there. Gonna switch to the plastic cowl that came with the fairings and it should fit just fine under there. Would definitely recommend for the price. I used it on 4 tires, and it didn't seem to lose any battery life. Interface is pretty simple and intuitive. The only complaint I have is that the air hose is a screw on, which is a bit tedious, but seems the have a locking chuck hose you can buy which I might go for.


That rim tape is sweet...is that gold? might have to do the same...

 

Holy cow, that 1000S is a looker.

Reminds me of maybe late 70's, coming home from a date one Friday night and drove by Storms Cycles in Grand Prairie TX. About 10 PM we stopped to look through the window, not a big shop but they had BMW, Ducati, Norton and Moto Guzzi. I had a 72 CB750 at the time and was jonesin for a "real" bike. Standing there leaving nose smudges on the glass when an El Camino pulled in, guy hopped out, said howdy and see anything you want. LOL He was a mechanic there who had left something he needed at home. Unlocked the door and said come in.

He stood there and discussed the bikes with me, they had a silver and smoke BMW 900S, a silver Ducati 900SS, a white metalflake Norton Interstate and a red 850 Guzzi Lemans. The Ducati had all the flash, the BMW just looked high quality, but the Guzzi looked like a sledge hammer. Just a brute. He told me, the Guzzi is the strongest bike on the lot, the BMW, Ducati and Norton have claimed top speeds, but you will only see it downhill with a tail wind. The Lemans will hit claimed top speed every time you ask it.

 

Okay gang, I need help! Trying to find the “perfect” tires for the scrambler. I’d like them to be reasonably affordable as I’m a broke university staff employee. It’ll realistically see maybe 10% off-roading. Some dirt or gravel, but I expect it’ll mostly be on pavement for the next set of tires. I’ll be riding in literally any kind of weather, year round. I was looking at the Michelin Annakees, but apparently they don’t make the rear in my size anymore. Front is 120/70/19, rear is 140/80/17.

 

Like I told @Calamity_taco

D Sports




I don't have any experience, but what about Kenda K761



or Shinko 705

 

i have the tusk adventure tires on the klx lol

the cruiser wont be getting knobbies or tires like that lol

 

Very cool story.
The 1000S was Guzzi being atypically ahead of the curve. That model was new in 89 as a retro nod. They took their fire breathing LeMans 1000 drivetrain (which had track wins under its belt) and tweaked the tin to look like their goundbreaking ‘72 750S.


They couldn’t give them away.


They ran for 4 years and gave up. 1600 bikes GLOBALLY over the 4 years. In ‘93 only 19 of the black n green bikes came stateside. Now they can fetch 30k if the stars align. I’m lucky to have one.
That freight train character is the secret sauce.

 

I have 761's on my KLR, I wouldn't hesitate to buy them again. They outlasted any tire I have put on the KLR in the last 10 years, very good street manners, good on fire roads, mud is a different story. But I havent really found anything for mud other than knobbies, and they suck for longevity and street manners.

 

I ran the K761s on the Grom for a long while and enjoyed them. (Total different use case but I like them on both the dirt n street)

 

Makes them seem like a decent choice for the Triumph Scrambler.

I've gone down the damn Grom rabbit hole again

Really dig this XR650 tribute one





Here's the vid.

 

They are a good affordable option. And by the way, this was the first time I have washed the KLR in probably 3 years. LOL It normally got washed when I rode it in the rain.

 

Lights showed up, seem well built, all aluminum including the switch and the potted circuit box.


Testing with a spare RV battery, wiring harness is simple and the connections are water tight.
But the light output/cutoff limits how they are mounted, must be vertical, can't be hung which was what I needed and the lens is not reversible, already tried.



I would like to see the light drop lower, keep the upper cutoff and come with a mount that can be adjusted that way. Might be returning them as mounting options are limited with these.

$83 BraveWAY Motorcycle Fog Lights 60W 18000LM 7 Modes Strobe LED Driving Spotlight Auxiliary with Amber White Dual Color Offroad Aux Light Plug and Play Wiring Harness Kit and 2 Mounting Brackets

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CRYWXTP2?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1

Edit, decided to send them back. Gonna try something else. Gotta love the Amazon return policy.

 

This gives me it's cool as fuu and whyyy vibes. Knowing how much power a stock Grom motor doesn't make... To push those big tires oooof

I have a very spot LED bar on my tenere and I need some sort of flood to supplement the sides.

One of these. Great light output but quite spot like, neat DRL bar

$85 Nilight 9" Single Row Slim LED Light Bar 2PCS 30W 3365LM Anti-Glare Spot Beam DRL IP68 Offroad Driving Lamp w/ 16AWG DT Wiring Kit for Pickup Truck SUV ATV UTV Boat 4x4 Jeep

https://www.amazon.com/Nilight-Anti-Glare-Offroad-Driving-Warranty/dp/B0BKJKCVBZ

I'm torn on either removing the current one and doing something like this in its place.

$43 Nilight LED Light Bar 8" 9LED Dual Row Spot Fog Night Vision Off Road Driving Lights Screw-less w/ 18AWG Rocker Switch Wiring Harness Kit for Truck ATV UTV

https://www.amazon.com/Nilight-Screw-less-Harness-Driving-Warranty/dp/B0CNDDSZDL?th=1

But unfortunately the center flood/fog light isn't switched different from the spot setups on the sides.

So I'm looking at something like those things you linked to mounted on my crash bars. Thanks for the links!

 

Ended up going with these as the mount seems much better and the beam is more of a flood.

$100 Motorcycle Auxiliary LED Light Driving Spotlights White/Amber Fog Lights with Mount Brackets Wire Harness Waterproof Offroad Work Lights Compatible with Motorcycle J-eep Car Truck 60W Driving Lamps

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0C37HMZMF?ie=UTF8