Cloverfield and such

I saw the movie Cloverfield tonight. If you have motion sickness, either don't see it or take a Dramamine. It's a strange movie as the perspective throughout the movie is from a home video camera. I can't say I really enjoyed it too much. I'd give it a C-.

This morning Andrew and Alan and I rode to Mt Dora for breakfast. It was pretty chilly out and when we arrived we could not find any place open! So we walked around for a while and eventually stumbled upon a fella walking down the street...asked him where we could get breakfast and he said "follow me!". So we walked down to his little restaurant which was just opening and have a nice hearty breakfast at a table outside on the sidewalk. 'Twas good! I also got to ride Andrew's Ducati Monster S4R for the first time which was fun. I liked it. If they were simpler to maintain, like a Guzzi, I could see myself on a Ducati.

On the way home we got soaked by rain. Oh well, I didn't melt :-)

COOL VIDEO ALERT: GFR JAMS and sings Hooked on Love!

Miscellaneous ramblings.....

I saw the movie "I am Legend" over the weekend. It's about a virus that infects humankind and kills most of the human race and one man's quest to find and administer a cure. Pretty good movie. Lots of action and neat special effects, some suspense and horror as well. I liked it. B+

It's about time for the V11 Sport to leave for its home. Today I took several rides on it. What a neat bike! Feels much smaller and narrower (and faster actually!) than either of my Guzzis.

My friend Scott gave me a 20" monitor since he just got a new flat screen monitor. It is really nice and a big change from the 17" monitor I had previously...thanks Scott!!

I have been listening to a lot of comedy bits from The Phil Hendrie Radio Show. My favorite character is Jay Santos, a self-appointed Brigadier General in the volunteer Citizen's Auxiliary Police. Great stuff!!

I want to see this new movie called Cloverfield. Hopefully someone will want to go see it with me.

Baseball spring training in Florida is only about 5 weeks away. Looking forward to seeing some games!

Some snaps of all the kids together

Have been tinkering the last few days when possible with Val's V11 Sport in hopes of tracking down the problem causing the intermittent failure of the engine while it is being ridden.

At this point I suspect a relay (fuel system related electrical relay that controls pump, etc.) which was acting a bit dodgy when i ran some tests. So having replaced all the relays and checked/adjusted the valve clearances and plugs (just needed minor tweaking), I gave the Sport a bath today. Such a pretty bike I had to take a few snaps of it with its pals before the day comes when I have to send her home :=(

Another Guzzi in the garage....temporarily :=)

At the recent Guzzi gathering I met a lot of nice Guzzi folk. One of them was Val, who has a black Griso kinda like mine. However, she also has a green V11 Sport, a wickedly cool bike! Problem is, she has not been able to ride it since summertime as it has developed a nagging problem of the engine quitting and being unable to restart.

So tonight Val dropped the V11 Sport off and I am gonna keep it around the garage for a while and try to track down what might be the problem. I'll be calling upon the skills of my talented friends to assist me in the li'l adventure so we can get Val's V11 back on the road again! Like the license plate frame says..."One Less Car". Gotta love that!

Today is Moto Guzzi day in central FLA!

Today is the big gathering of Moto Guzzi riders in Mt. Dora, Florida. I am expecting near 60 riders for our lunch gathering. Watch this space for pics, etc. later tonight or tomorrow.....

UPDATE.... We had a GREAT turnout today. Estimated headcount was ~70...unreal!! What a great group of folks to boot!

I have posted my pics at this link: http://tinyurl.com/2zukm7

Other pics are also at these links: http://wildguzzi.com/forum/index.php?topic=15598.0

http://tinyurl.com/2qqjk6

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=30twm6rm.7fazvcaq&x=0&y=-sqfhhr

http://wildguzzi.com/forum/index.php?topic=15603.0

http://s240.photobucket.com/albums/ff142/rcbimmer/MG%20CFLA%202008/?action=view¤t=51232b53.pbw

The Guzzi gathering grows!

As some of my regular blog readers know, I have been trying to plan a meeting of central Florida Guzzi riders. Well, what started as an idea to get a few riders together has blossomed into nearly 60 Guzzi riders planning to gather in Mt. Dora, Florida this Saturday!

You can read all about how it has come about here.....

Bye bye ugly fender extension

UPDATE: Tonight (Monday) I installed the LED license plate bolts to light the license plate so that I am road legal. Below is a pic of the final result.

Another update: Today (Sunday 1/13) I replaced the blue LEDs with white ones as blue light is an illegal color on the exterior front or rear of a vehicle here in Florida. I added a pic of the white LEDs below.

This evening I made a modification to the Griso to remove the unsightly rear fender extension/license plate holder setup. A Moto Guzzi dealer in Virginia called Steelhorse Classics devised a simple kit to allow removal of the stock fender extension and replacement with a much tidier setup.

Here are a few pictures of the kit as well as the bike showing the fender extension in place and then a few pics with the fender extension removed. I like the new look :)













BEFORE











AFTER

Outback.....

I had the day off today. Had to go to the Florida DMV to title/license the Griso. Got a haircut, took a walk, rode to Ormond Beach on th Griso.

Saturday Marc and Jennifer are coming over and we are going to ride up to Outback Crab Shack west of St. Augustine.

UPDATE:
Only Marc and I went on the ride today. It was a most excellent ride. Marc on his red Griso and me on my black Griso. We stopped off first at the massive motorcycle mecca known as Bruce Rossmyer's Harley Davidson. This is a huge complex of stores in Ormond Beach. We checked out JP Cycles, the Arlen Ness Triumph/Ducati dealership (cool bikes!) and finally the Harley dealer.

After leaving there we meandered our way up towards Palatka where we encountered some rain on the way. Not a lot, but enough to be a nuisance. We finally got to the Outback Crab Shack at about 1:30. I had a softshell crab sandwich and some hushpuppies...Marc got a softshell crab, some gator chunks and a pile o' crawfish. Food was excellent and mine tasted even better as Marc paid for my lunch since I had done some work on his Griso. Thanks Marc!

When we came out of the restaurant a group of people were gathered around the Grisos and started asking us questions about them and such. Funny how these bikes draw such attention!

So off we went back towards home but we got detoured as a bridge was out. We had to go out of our way back through Daytona so when we got there we spied a big motorcycle dealership and decided to stop in for a peek. Nice place...lotsa parts and a good # of bikes.

After a few minutes there we headed back to the bikes and guess what? Yup, 6 guys gathered around the Grisos! They asked us a bunch of questions, etc. Man, this is weird. Never had a bike that garnered so much attention!

'Twas a fun day...over 200 miles I guess total. Can't wait to hit the road again!

A taste of winter in the Sunshine state

'Twas a brisk ride in today on the Guzzi....29 degrees Fahrenheit and a northerly wind. Chilled the bones a wee bit. Today's forecast:

AM freeze with bitter wind chills in the teens and 20's. Coastal flurries/sprinkles possible. Windy and chilly PM with highs in the upper 40s-mid 50s. Winds NNE 15-25.

I need this kind of weather occasionally to remind me of what I am NOT missing back in Omaha. Seasonal weather is returning soon....

Happy New Year!

Count your blessings that you live in a place that allows you to be a person of free will.

I hope the year 2008 will bring forth health, joy, happiness and prosperity for you all. May your life's dreams be fulfilled and your heart's desires realized.

God bless you and God bless America in 2008.