Today was a beautiful fall day in MI-sunny and 81F for a high-so I headed out on a trip to see a few customers. Mix of mostly freeways with some two lane blasts. I also used the panniers to hold my work gear-safety vest, safety glasses, computer and cord, and notebook-a task they handle well. I put on about 150 miles and got plenty of bug splats on the face screen-better than in my teeth! I noticed some pretty significant freeway tramlining on grooved roads previously so before I took off today I increased tire pressure to 31 psi. It seemed to be less noticeable today. I also removed the exhaust baffle plates which reduced the exhaust outlets from the mufflers from 2 1/2" to 3/4". The exhaust got both louder and lower pitch. It sounds much more powerful now. It sounds great to me though may be too much for a longer ride. My large and uncalibrated Rump Dyno 3000 tells me the bike is performing better.
To date I've put about 1600 miles on the bike. I've been riding it about 2 months now.
Went to dinner with a supplier last night and rode the bike as it was in the high 60’s and beautiful. Pulled and to a spot and removed my helmet which slipped out of my hand and hit the ground enough to mark the paint. Dang. Then turned the bars and locked her up and went in. Since I was kicking myself for marking up my helmet I didn’t notice I’d turned on the parking lights. Came out 2.5 hours later and saw it was on. Dang again. Luckily she fired up though it seemed she spun slower perhaps noticing my anxiety. On the way home low fue light came on so I pulled in to fill up. As I was doing so I heard a twin cylinder bike come in behind me though i didn’t turn around at the time. It wasn’t a H-D I knew that. Putting away the nozzle I turned to see a beautiful red Moto Guzzi sport bike as the owner says to me “what are the chances of two Italian bikes here at the same time?” His was also a 2007 and only recently acquired. It looked great! Customer visits tomorrow and Friday morning so I’ll be taking the bike and adding a few hundred more miles. Pretty stoked!
Oh man, I HATE that low battery anxiety! I just got a Moto Guzzi roadworthy and went for a long shake-down cruise with a few stops and started to imagine that it was cranking slower than before. Just before I decided to abort and head for home, I remembered that I could check my charging voltage on the Motogadget M-Ride app. I paired my phone up and saw it was charging perfectly, putting my concerns to bed. But I know that anxiety well!
I wish I ran into other Italian bikes on the road around here. Seems like all I ever come across are HD...but I also generally stick to solo back road rides, so I guess it's not much surprise that I don't cross paths with other bikes often.
Glad to hear the bike continues to serve well. Do you have any heated gear to extend the riding season?
Did you do a build thread on the Moto Guzzi? What model is it? How do you like the Motogadget m.unit?
I bought some heated gauntlet style gloves last fall. They work really well to stop the wind up my sleeves and keep my hands warm. I should buy some heated pant liners as my legs do get cold. Plenty of layers up top work to keep me warm in to the 40's.
I need to get off my butt and do a build thread. It's a '77 850 T3 I bought it as a non-running heap of parts back in March, and it's now a mostly roadworthy (but still mid-project) cafe bike.
I love wiring, so I was almost disappointed by how simple the Motogadget makes everything. Don't be deluded into believing that it eliminates a lot of the wiring work though...using it eliminates the need to wire fuses and relays separately, but there's still loads of wiring work. I'm very pleased with the unit and would purchase again for sure. There's some slick functionality, and the diminutive form factor is well suited to a motorcycle even if you aren't looking to create a full on minimalist look.
I try to ride year round here in the Northwest, so I've got a full suit of heated gear and it's fantastic. Jacket and gloves were a must for me, with pants as a nice bonus. I've done an hour of highway commuting at sub-freezing temperatures pretty comfortably. It's a load for your charging system though. On my modern bike ('07 Guzzi Griso), it can manage 14.0v with the gear cranked, but comes back up to 14.1 or 14.2 when you turn the heaters down a little. I put in a fancy alternator in the 850, and I'm curious to see if it can indeed produce what it's advertised to.
Oh that's cool! Well done. You're wiring work is an inspiration. Beautiful work.
i had a conference call come up early this morning so I had to take the truck. Temp when I plan on heading out tomorrow is forecast to be 45f so I doubt I'll ride. 
I had a hard time reading the gauges as the angle of the pod is setup for shorter riders. The aftermarket saw a need and filled it with a set of angled spacers that tilt the gauge pod up which gives me a better view. I installed them dur8ng a snow storm last Sunday. Today it was warm enough for a ride to my polling place so I rode up to vote in person. No lines or waiting. I like voting. It's nice!
Changed the oil yesterday and took a nice loop to grab some parts this afternoon. Tomorrow is the last day of t his unseasonably warm weather here in Detroit so I'm off to some customers in the afternoon.
May roll by Angry Labs for a smokey hole shot or some squid action (those that know me are chuckling right now-that ain't gonna happen).
Beautiful bike! I've loved their looks since they came out, and seemingly, they're worth more now then when they were new?
Thanks! I really enjoyed it this year. Great anti-2020 therapy for me. The GT's are holding their value pretty well. The Paul Smarts/1000s exploded in value.
Beautiful bike! A belated congratulations on the acquisition!
Thank you too! I really love the lines on this bike. So much vintage vibe and such a great sound!
I'm not so patiently awaiting spring for some two wheeled joy rides. Alas, 28F in Detroit means not today or anytime soon.
To my mind it looks great and I think that it's also awesome experience. I'd like to have the same bike, but need to work a lot to earn some money for this.
Thanks. I can't wait for the thaw to get out and ride again.
Just sprung for some Gerbing heated gear. I can't wait for first ride of 2021!
So I ordered pant liners, a jacket liner, and heated insoles. I have a pair of battery heated gloves already. I also ordered a cheap set of hand guards hoping they'll take the brunt of the wind blast and allow the gloves to be more efficient heating my hands at a lower temp prolonging the battery life. This should be plenty for my relatively local rides.
I have become addicted to GPS devices in my cars and wanted something for my motorcycle. I take my phone everywhere but didn't want to mount it on the bike to avoid the distractions of text messages and phone calls during my rides. That's my time to disconnect as much as possible and that's why they made voice mail, right? I saw the Beeline moto device and decided to try their solution. It pairs with my phone where you set your destination or route. The small waterproof removable display mounts to my bike and offers basic guidance at a glance. I think it will be perfect for my needs though I won't be able to verify this for a while yet.
In reply to wawazat :
Looking forward to a report on the Beeline. It does seem like it might be a better type and level of info for the amount of attention I want to spend down at the handlebars.
Here is a pic of the device that goes on my bike.
Arrow gives direction to destination. Dot is direction of next turn and number is distance to that turn.
Good move on getting the Gerbings gear! You'll be amazed how many more miles you put on the bike when you know you'll be nice and warm.
I've been very curious about the Beeline setup, so put me down as another reader eager for a review.
Thanks Mezz! Jacket (V2) in my size won't be available until mid-March though pants and insoles arrive tomorrow. The bike is in remote storage so I need to look at when I can get it home for wiring.
I left my office for sales calls today but forgot the Beeline. I was planning on trying it out today. I'll report back here when I get to use it for a bit.
Local sales call today and I remembered to grab the Beeline. I entered my customers address in the app on my phone and took off. The display is very basic but shows everything needed including upcoming turn direction and distance, a graph of trip time, and direction to be traveling. Enough to do the job and get you where you need to go with nothing extra and no need to mount your phone on the bike. I'm liking it so far and will report back when I have more miles on it.
I tried to post some pics of the Beeline in action last night but picture posting was wonky and didn't work. Device looks to be what I was looking for and should be a good fit for me.
I plan on wiring up the heated gear this weekend. Insoles and pants fit like, well, insoles and pants. If they fit like a glove that would be weird.
