Well I have been battling illness for the last week. It started last Wednesday afternoon as a low fever and over the next couple days became more of a fever with congestion, coughing, headache added to that. Then came the sore throat. Finally now a week later I am feeling a goodly bit better. Mostly it is gone and I am able to resume normal activities.
I have been riding my Guzzi Stelvio to work most every day. I sure do like it. It fits just right and it has more motor than the Breva, which can make for some extra fun on occasion :)
It has been beautiful weather here in Florida as we had our first "cold" front move through and this is expected to last at least a few days. With that comes cooler temps, beautiful clear and sunny skies as well as much lower humidity. All this adds up to more pleasurable times outdoors and perfect riding weather!
With that in mind I sent out an email to my Fiserv motorcycle riding cronies today imploring them to all ride to work tomorrow (Thursday) and park together in a special section of the parking lot. So this will be fun to see how many riders bring the bikes in tomorrow and see the variety of bikes.
Here is a link to the promotional video Moto Guzzi put together for the Stelvio. Yeah, it's a little over the top and melodramatic but enjoyable to watch nonetheless :)
STELVIO VIDEO CLICK ME!
Another video I enjoy is this one which highlights the new "Quattro Valvole" (4 valve) motor which is in my Stelvio as well as the new Griso.
Quattro Valvole/Griso Video Click Me!
Finally check out this video of the new V7 Cafe Classic, a really cool new 750cc bike the is soon to arrive on our shores. I love this bike!
V7 Cafe' Classic Video click me!
Until next time my dear blog readers, keep the shiny side up, the rubber side down and >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> VIVA ITALIA!!!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
A visit to the Great Plains
Pretty soon I will be making a trip to the Omaha area to work for a few days out of the Fiserv Omaha office and catch up with family and friends for a bit.
Should be a great time and along with seeing family and friends I am looking forward to some great ales at both the Nebraska Brewing Company and the Upstream Brewing Company.
Should be a great time and along with seeing family and friends I am looking forward to some great ales at both the Nebraska Brewing Company and the Upstream Brewing Company.
A nip in the air!
The first cool front of the fall season arrives in Florida this evening and there will be a chill in the air over the next few days. Time to break out my long johns and shawl collection!
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Rob's new bike
My friend Rob moved to Georgia recently due to a relocation of some resources by his company, Ford Motor. In Georgia there are all kinds of nice mountainous roads and forest trails.
So Rob decided to get rid of his Kawasaki cruiser and got a bike more suited to the roads of the area.....a Kawasaki KLR 650 dual purpose bike.
Here are a few pics of Rob's new bike, which is particularly suited to conquering dirt trails and roads.
So Rob decided to get rid of his Kawasaki cruiser and got a bike more suited to the roads of the area.....a Kawasaki KLR 650 dual purpose bike.
Here are a few pics of Rob's new bike, which is particularly suited to conquering dirt trails and roads.
Monday, September 21, 2009
The Bachelor Dinner
Life alone as a bachelor sometimes throws you a few curve balls. Like tonight. Home after work and a couple pints of ale, I faced my dinner decision.
Let's just say the cupboards were not loaded with food, nor was the refrigerator. Time to be resourceful! I have a few slices of bread left...soft oatmeal to be precise. Okay, that's a start.
Let's check the refrigerator. Hmmm, Southwestern EggBeaters in a carton. Ohhhh, the possibilities boggle the mind.
Harking back on my youth, I arrive at the perfect solution. Southwestern style french toast! Yeah! Oh yes, the flavors of peppers, tomatos and spiced egg mixture bathing the soft oatmeal bread, introduced to a hot griddle.
Cook it up, a little buttery substance and maple syrup on top and voila...the Bachelor Dinner!
Let's just say the cupboards were not loaded with food, nor was the refrigerator. Time to be resourceful! I have a few slices of bread left...soft oatmeal to be precise. Okay, that's a start.
Let's check the refrigerator. Hmmm, Southwestern EggBeaters in a carton. Ohhhh, the possibilities boggle the mind.
Harking back on my youth, I arrive at the perfect solution. Southwestern style french toast! Yeah! Oh yes, the flavors of peppers, tomatos and spiced egg mixture bathing the soft oatmeal bread, introduced to a hot griddle.
Cook it up, a little buttery substance and maple syrup on top and voila...the Bachelor Dinner!
Back to the Great Plains for a visit
I am going to be working out of the Fiserv-Omaha office from Tuesday, 10/13 through Friday, 10/16, then heading back to Florida on Sunday a.m. 10/18.
It will be nice to see family and friends I have not seen in quite a while during my time there.
It will be nice to see family and friends I have not seen in quite a while during my time there.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Stelvio...reborn
This morning I took a little ride up to Jacksonville, FL (about 100 miles there) to visit the new Guzzi dealer there and to get a new fuel injection map uploaded to the computer on my bike. The dealer is one of the locations of the Scooter Superstore of America chain(SSTAM).
Those who have been reading the blog know that over Labor Day weekend I rode the Guzzi Breva to Ohio where I traded it in on a Guzzi Stelvio. On the ride home I was noticing a fair amount of hesitation, surging, etc. from the new bike at lower rpm. Reading the web and checking out my bike found out that I had an older version of this fueling map and the newer one cures the issues I had, which are mostly attributable to the bike running way too lean.
The ride up to Jville was very nice as I stayed off the interstate completely and instead took some nice highways through the Ocala Forest. Upon arrival I was very impressed with what I saw....a really big and nice motorcycle and scooter dealership that carries all the Piaggio sccoters, Vespa scooters, Aprilia scooters, Aprilia motorcycles and of course Moto Guzzi motorcycles.
I was greeted by very friendly folks at the dealership, including John and Matt (the service technician) as well as two more fellas whose names escape me right now.
Matt took my bike to the service area and worked on uploading the new map while I perused the bikes, apparel, accessories, etc. in the store. This is not like any other Guzzi store I have been too. Its showroom was BIG, bright, clean, well laid out and stocked with loads of bikes, parts, accessories and clothing.
It wasn't long (maybe 20-30 minutes) before Matt was done with the Stelvio and I took it for a test ride. Happily all the hesitation and surging and generally undesirable low rpms behavior disappeared and the bike ran great. like a whole new and different bike!
While I was in the store Jim Albano, the regional manager of SSTAM called and one of the fellas put him on the phone with me to talk and make sure I was taken care of and happy.
He also told me some exciting news, that he was heading to San Diego in October for a dealer meeting and it was expected at that meeting that Moto Guzzi would be announcing the arrival of the new V7 Classic in the awesome black/Gold color scheme as well as the V7 Cafe in the traditional Guzzi green.
It's great to have Guzzi dealers in the area now that really give the brand the presence it deserves.
LOTS MORE PHOTOBUCKET PICS FROM TODAY'S RIDE....CLICK ME!
Those who have been reading the blog know that over Labor Day weekend I rode the Guzzi Breva to Ohio where I traded it in on a Guzzi Stelvio. On the ride home I was noticing a fair amount of hesitation, surging, etc. from the new bike at lower rpm. Reading the web and checking out my bike found out that I had an older version of this fueling map and the newer one cures the issues I had, which are mostly attributable to the bike running way too lean.
The ride up to Jville was very nice as I stayed off the interstate completely and instead took some nice highways through the Ocala Forest. Upon arrival I was very impressed with what I saw....a really big and nice motorcycle and scooter dealership that carries all the Piaggio sccoters, Vespa scooters, Aprilia scooters, Aprilia motorcycles and of course Moto Guzzi motorcycles.
I was greeted by very friendly folks at the dealership, including John and Matt (the service technician) as well as two more fellas whose names escape me right now.
Matt took my bike to the service area and worked on uploading the new map while I perused the bikes, apparel, accessories, etc. in the store. This is not like any other Guzzi store I have been too. Its showroom was BIG, bright, clean, well laid out and stocked with loads of bikes, parts, accessories and clothing.
It wasn't long (maybe 20-30 minutes) before Matt was done with the Stelvio and I took it for a test ride. Happily all the hesitation and surging and generally undesirable low rpms behavior disappeared and the bike ran great. like a whole new and different bike!
While I was in the store Jim Albano, the regional manager of SSTAM called and one of the fellas put him on the phone with me to talk and make sure I was taken care of and happy.
He also told me some exciting news, that he was heading to San Diego in October for a dealer meeting and it was expected at that meeting that Moto Guzzi would be announcing the arrival of the new V7 Classic in the awesome black/Gold color scheme as well as the V7 Cafe in the traditional Guzzi green.
It's great to have Guzzi dealers in the area now that really give the brand the presence it deserves.
LOTS MORE PHOTOBUCKET PICS FROM TODAY'S RIDE....CLICK ME!
Friday, September 18, 2009
Parking lot shot
A pic of me 'n' the Stelvio this a.m. in the parking lot. Note the use of sunglasses even though dawn was just breaking. Also the Cornhusker jersey. Sweet.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Mmmmmm soup!
Tonight I made myself some egg drop soup for dinner. I few drizzles of soy sauce in it and mmm mmm good!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Response to the Stallion
In a recent post on the blog I received a comment from Mike "Stal" Caniglia, in which he stated:
"As beautifully styled as the Stelvio is, you would think they could have done a better job on the style of the bags."
Stal's point is well taken. I suppose the styling of the hard bags are a matter of taste. I personally chose the style of bag on my Stelvio as I think the shape and design fits the demeanor of the bike, i.e. it is in the "adventure-touring" category, a bike which is supposed to be capable of some light off-road riding as well as normal street riding.
That being said, there are various styles of bags available for the Stelvio. Below a re a few pictures of some styles available.
I hope this addresses your concerns Stal.
"As beautifully styled as the Stelvio is, you would think they could have done a better job on the style of the bags."
Stal's point is well taken. I suppose the styling of the hard bags are a matter of taste. I personally chose the style of bag on my Stelvio as I think the shape and design fits the demeanor of the bike, i.e. it is in the "adventure-touring" category, a bike which is supposed to be capable of some light off-road riding as well as normal street riding.
That being said, there are various styles of bags available for the Stelvio. Below a re a few pictures of some styles available.
I hope this addresses your concerns Stal.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Saturday a.m. Jacksonville bound
Saturday morning I will take a ride up to Jacksonville, FL to get a new fuel injection map uploaded to the Guzzi Stelvio.
Hopefully this will resolve the very lean running of the bike, which results in some surging and on-off throttle weirdness at lower rpm.
Once this is done the new Stelvio will be ready for the October trip north to Birmingham for the big Vintage Motorcycle Festival at Barber Motorsports Park. The engine oil, gearbox oil and rear drive oil have all been changed as I do not like to keep the break in oils for too long. Then valves have been adjusted, the throttle bodies balanced and the TPS reset. All that is left is for that FI map to be loaded into the Stelvio computer and all should be well.
That ride ought to be a real hoot as some nice roads should be in store for the Guzzi on the way north.
Hopefully this will resolve the very lean running of the bike, which results in some surging and on-off throttle weirdness at lower rpm.
Once this is done the new Stelvio will be ready for the October trip north to Birmingham for the big Vintage Motorcycle Festival at Barber Motorsports Park. The engine oil, gearbox oil and rear drive oil have all been changed as I do not like to keep the break in oils for too long. Then valves have been adjusted, the throttle bodies balanced and the TPS reset. All that is left is for that FI map to be loaded into the Stelvio computer and all should be well.
That ride ought to be a real hoot as some nice roads should be in store for the Guzzi on the way north.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Out and about on the Guzzi Stelvio
This morning I dodged (most) raindrops and my friend Bob (HD Heritage Softail) went out for a nice ride on some back roads and to get breakfast at the excellent Soup to Nuts Diner :)
I am waiting for the local Guzzi dealer to get a piece of equipment called the Navigator which will allow them to update the electronic control unit aka 'puter :-) in the Stelvio with a new fueling map. Right now it is running extremely lean, which manifests itself in a sort of choppy on-off throttle feeling at lower rpm. Once past about 4500 rpm it is much better, but the new fuel map should resolved the choppiness.
Anyway, I am liking the bike a lot. Very comfortable, upright riding position like the Breva had, but it has better legroom, sits higher and the motor is more powerful.
My friend Andrew also stopped by on his Triumph Tiger before we left on our ride and took the Stelvio for a brief spin and gave it the thumbs up :)
Here are some pics....
I am waiting for the local Guzzi dealer to get a piece of equipment called the Navigator which will allow them to update the electronic control unit aka 'puter :-) in the Stelvio with a new fueling map. Right now it is running extremely lean, which manifests itself in a sort of choppy on-off throttle feeling at lower rpm. Once past about 4500 rpm it is much better, but the new fuel map should resolved the choppiness.
Anyway, I am liking the bike a lot. Very comfortable, upright riding position like the Breva had, but it has better legroom, sits higher and the motor is more powerful.
My friend Andrew also stopped by on his Triumph Tiger before we left on our ride and took the Stelvio for a brief spin and gave it the thumbs up :)
Here are some pics....
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Some garage time with the Guzzi Stelvio
I spent a little time today in the garage performing some maintenance/tuning on my Moto Guzzi Stelvio.
The goal today was to check adjust and the balance of the two throttle bodies (one per cylinder) and then reset the throttle position sensor(TPS) to ensure the two cylinders were running in concert with each other and as efficiently as possible.
So the tools I use are a device called a TwinMax, which is an electronic device which measure vacuum. It performs basically the same function as a set of carb sticks, which some folks are familiar with. Additionally I use computer software called VDSTS, which allows me to plug into the computer in the Stelvio and view/diagnose/adjust various settings and functions on the Stelvio.
It turns out I had to make fairly significant adjustments to sync the throttle bodies. The bike seems to be running quite well after the adjustments but I will find out more tomorrow after a more extended ride.
The goal today was to check adjust and the balance of the two throttle bodies (one per cylinder) and then reset the throttle position sensor(TPS) to ensure the two cylinders were running in concert with each other and as efficiently as possible.
So the tools I use are a device called a TwinMax, which is an electronic device which measure vacuum. It performs basically the same function as a set of carb sticks, which some folks are familiar with. Additionally I use computer software called VDSTS, which allows me to plug into the computer in the Stelvio and view/diagnose/adjust various settings and functions on the Stelvio.
It turns out I had to make fairly significant adjustments to sync the throttle bodies. The bike seems to be running quite well after the adjustments but I will find out more tomorrow after a more extended ride.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Guzzi 4 valve head
Today I took the day off to relax a little and recuperate from my motorcycle ride to Ohio/Pennsylvania.
This morning I spent a little time in the garage checking/adjusting the valve on the Guzzi. Here are a couple pics of the new 4-valve head, as opposed to the old 2 valve head on the Breva. Note there are two intake and two exhaust valves. Checking and adjusting is the same as on all Guzzi's for the past 4 decades, a simple screw and locknut system that even a monkey can do in their own garage at home.
One of the many things I love about these bikes...I can do all my own normal maintenance, saving big $$$ it would cost at a shop.
This morning I spent a little time in the garage checking/adjusting the valve on the Guzzi. Here are a couple pics of the new 4-valve head, as opposed to the old 2 valve head on the Breva. Note there are two intake and two exhaust valves. Checking and adjusting is the same as on all Guzzi's for the past 4 decades, a simple screw and locknut system that even a monkey can do in their own garage at home.
One of the many things I love about these bikes...I can do all my own normal maintenance, saving big $$$ it would cost at a shop.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Day 3 of my motorcycle trip to Ohio and Pittsburgh
I left Pittsburgh about 7 a.m. this morning, hoping to get about 500 miles behind me by the end of today, which would place me somewhere in South Carolina.
Starting out I decided to let the lil Garmin Quest GPS find me an interesting route for a while, and by did it ever! I was taken along some very narrow backroads over little one lane bridges and along roads with awesome curve after curve! But those great roads come at a price...it takes a long time and does not cover many miles.
After about 45 minutes of that I got back on track and picked up I-76 south, which then connected to state highway 19, a road with fantastic views! At one point I stopped at a scenic overlook and saw 4 folks trying to get pictures in front of the beautiful scenic mountainous backgound.
So I moseyed down to them to see if they wanted me to take a group shot of them and they were very grateful. A couple of them were from Argentina and one was from Canada. When they saw my bike from afar they first asked if it was a BMW. When I told them it was a Moto Guzzi one fella, I think his name was Jack, got very excited and in his accent said "Ah, Italia, MOTO GUZZI!" The he explained how he owns an Aprilia scooter. Very nice folks and I am glad I stopped and talked to them.
I talked to another fella later at a rest stop who spied my Guzzi and came over to talk to me about his 1976 Honda Goldwing project he is working on. You meet a lot of nice folks when riding a motorcycle!
It was a particularly tiring day though, as I was experiencing a goodly amount of discomfort in my upper back/neck sector, I think it is the trapezius muscle? Not sure but it was causing me some grief. I had to stop more often to stretch my neck and back.
Anyway I( pretty much accomplished my goal as I now sit in my Courtyard by Marriot Hotel, after a ride of about 480 miles today. Tomorrow I think I will have about 450-460 more miles and I will be home in the early evening.
Not many pics today but here are a few...
Starting out I decided to let the lil Garmin Quest GPS find me an interesting route for a while, and by did it ever! I was taken along some very narrow backroads over little one lane bridges and along roads with awesome curve after curve! But those great roads come at a price...it takes a long time and does not cover many miles.
After about 45 minutes of that I got back on track and picked up I-76 south, which then connected to state highway 19, a road with fantastic views! At one point I stopped at a scenic overlook and saw 4 folks trying to get pictures in front of the beautiful scenic mountainous backgound.
So I moseyed down to them to see if they wanted me to take a group shot of them and they were very grateful. A couple of them were from Argentina and one was from Canada. When they saw my bike from afar they first asked if it was a BMW. When I told them it was a Moto Guzzi one fella, I think his name was Jack, got very excited and in his accent said "Ah, Italia, MOTO GUZZI!" The he explained how he owns an Aprilia scooter. Very nice folks and I am glad I stopped and talked to them.
I talked to another fella later at a rest stop who spied my Guzzi and came over to talk to me about his 1976 Honda Goldwing project he is working on. You meet a lot of nice folks when riding a motorcycle!
It was a particularly tiring day though, as I was experiencing a goodly amount of discomfort in my upper back/neck sector, I think it is the trapezius muscle? Not sure but it was causing me some grief. I had to stop more often to stretch my neck and back.
Anyway I( pretty much accomplished my goal as I now sit in my Courtyard by Marriot Hotel, after a ride of about 480 miles today. Tomorrow I think I will have about 450-460 more miles and I will be home in the early evening.
Not many pics today but here are a few...
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Trip day 2
Today was a lotta fun. I got up pretty early and was on the road to cover the 250 miles from Beckley, WV to Steubenville, OH where I met up with my friend Paul Miller from North Canton, OH. I had a nice visit at the southeast Ohio Moto Guzzi dealer, Speakers Cycles. After lunch we headed to Pittsburgh, PA to meet my friend and coworker Lew.
Lew was kind enough to pick Paul and I up at the hotel we were at in Pittsburgh and he taxied us around, showing us many cool sites in Pittsburgh. What a NEAT city! Thanks Lew!
Tomorrow I am back on the road home and I will cover ~500 miles Sunday and then again Monday.
Here are some pics from today.....
Lew was kind enough to pick Paul and I up at the hotel we were at in Pittsburgh and he taxied us around, showing us many cool sites in Pittsburgh. What a NEAT city! Thanks Lew!
Tomorrow I am back on the road home and I will cover ~500 miles Sunday and then again Monday.
Here are some pics from today.....
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