Teutonic Terror and Italian Stallion Ride Again

This fine Saturday in Florida I took advantage of the nice mid 80 degree day to get out for a motorcycle ride with my friend Andrew. Andrew recently got a new (to him) BMW K1300GT. I call it the Teutonic Terror as it is from Germany and it is FAST. I rode my Moto Guzzi Stelvio, aka the Italian Stallion, which is no slouch either.

We started off by taking the back route to PCS Daytona, a motorcycle shop that is doing some engine work on my 2002 Moto Guzzi LeMans. They are installing new piston rings and valve seals as the left cylinder has lost some compression due to a faulty fuel pump, which caused overly lean running and overheated the cylinder, At least that's the theory.

After that we stopped by the Helmet Shop in Daytona, where I bought a new motorcycle jacket. My old jacket had seen many tens of thousands of miles of use and it was just time for a new one. The new one includes both a removable rain liner and quilted liner for warmth so it will be good for year round use here in Florida.

Next we headed to coastal highway A1A and rode it up to St. Augustine, where we stopped for lunch at A1A Ale Works. Anyone who has been to St. Augustine knows the challenge of finding a parking space. It is usually a nightmare. Not so on the motorcycle! As we entered town Andrew spied a pedestrian walkway/alley with a bunch of mopeds parked in it. So naturally, we pulled in and joined the mopeds! No more than 30 yards or so from A1A Ale Works...awesome!

Speaking of A1A Ale Works, they have awesome beer brewed on site and their food is great too.

After a great lunch we took State Road 11 back down towards DeLand. It is a very lightly trafficked 2 lane highway and you can really open it up on the bikes. Really a load of fun!

CLICK THE PICS TO ENLARGE

Ocean smackdown

Sunday I took a trip to Port Orange, FL to meet up with my friends Andrew, Jayne, Carl, Teener and their kids. With Hurricane Katia churning away several hundred miles off the coast we were feeling its effects in increased wave intensity/activity.

Andrew had his new underwater camera case and was taking some snapshots. He caught several of me having my butt handed to me by the power of the mighty Atlantic Ocean.

A tale of two horns

As a motorcyclist, I am vigilant about the hazards around, which could easily do me harm or worse yet accelerate my voyage to being buried under 6 feet of terra firma.

I speak mostly about other vehicles...cars, trucks, etc. that may not see me as readily because a motorcycle is comparatively small.

With that in mind I was lucky enough to be given something by my pal Andrew which will help to make my presence known...a FIAMM horn!

The horn which was delivered on my Guzzi Stelvio is a rather anemic sounding little chirper. I'd be surprised if another vehicle could even hear it.

The FIAMM on the other hand is much more bold and brash.

So this morning I swapped the horns and here are little vid clips displaying the difference in their tooting power :)

Stock horn


FIAMM horn

1986 ALFA Romeo Spider Graduate - 25 years old

Well just a few pics of my little Spider after I gave her a washing today. She still looks pretty good. One of these days I need to give her a new paint job, back to the original ALFA Romeo red.

Here's a link to all the pics on Facebook

2011 Guzzi Beach Bash pictures

I rode down to Melbourne Beach on my Moto Guzzi Stelvio today to attend the Annual Moto Guzzi Beach Bash. A pretty good turnout with about 25 bikes or so I guess.

Here are a few pics. Click the pics to enlarge them.

Guzzi Beach Bash

I think I will fire up my Moto Guzzi Stelvio today and head south about 100 miles to Melbourne Beach, FL.

It's the annual Moto Guzzi August Beach Bash at the historic Sebastian Beach Inn. Looking forward to a nice ride down historic Hwy 1 and coastal highway A1A.

Fizzled

Well Tropical Storm Emily faded away well before reaching Florida. The most we got out of it was some decent waves on the east coast beaches, which I took advantage of over the weekend with some great body surfing.

So now time to wait for the next one to appear. Hurricane season is always interesting here in the Sunshine State.