Ownership Verified: BlaRo's Moto Gutsy

[BlaRo]

I have to confess that I expend too much of my available brain power looking up motorcycle exhausts.

These are the dream build pipes: 2-into-1, with a shorty can mounted relatively low. I love the Ducati Scrambler-esque look?which is great, because it means you can build a bike without resorting to leg-melting high pipes. I dig scramblers because even if they can't actually go seriously off-road, at least they look like they can.

'Course, they're a mere $1,249. Paired with the ECU reflash, that's $1,600, or nearly 1/4 the cost of the Moto Guzzi. Which, you know, seems perfectly reasonable and sensible to do.

Fortunately, the previously mentioned Mistral shorties, in black, are literally half the cost of those 2-into-1s. So, there I go. Maybe I should launch a Kickstarter for entirely selfish reasons.

 

[BlaRo]

Bought some saddlebag frames for the Guzzi.

$125, OEM ones too, what a deal! (Especially considering the stock ones are over $400.) Picked them up at AF1 Racing, and it was a sight to watch myself and an employee trying to figure out how on earth the things actually fit to the bike. Turns out, they can only go on if the OEM luggage rack is already installed. Cost: another $359.

How much did I pay for this bad Moto Guzzi, again? Gonna try to mount the brown bags on the passenger grab handles, and see if they'll hold up that way without getting torn to shreds by the shocks. Watch this space, or the next one.

 

[CraigB]

How much did I pay for this bad Moto Guzzi, again?

Surely this has been posted here before, but if not...

 

[BlaRo]

Surely this has been posted here before, but if not...

You did, in fact.

 

[CraigB]

You did, in fact.

Dammit! Oh well, you can't have too much Cake. Music or the tasty confectionery.

 

[BlaRo]

So, I finally bought some saddlebag frames to go with my saddlebags.

They're GIVI units, and they were $77, shipped, from Italy. I thought this was too good to be true, so naturally, I ordered 'em. About three weeks later they finally arrived.

Here they are with the bags.

Naturally, being made for the Guzzi, they fit with minimal struggle.

Preliminary bag install.

The standard NOS straps, with its 40-year old leather, had its holes spaced too wide to actually hold onto the thin bars. On a test ride one of the bags flew forward and melted a small plastic tip onto the exhaust. (The leather was ok, thankfully.) So I went to Harbor Freight and experimented with Velcro straps.

Bigass roll of Velcro straps.

Wrapped it around the frame, then slipped another piece of Velcro through the loops in the leather that had been originally designed for the straps.

Surprisingly, it holds up pretty damn well. I went to the grocery store and bought a frozen pizza and some chips, and the bags don't move anywhere, and can certainly fit it all.

Oh, and I can fit a six-pack in it no problem.

 

[Der Stig]

Oh, and I can fit a six-pack in it no problem.

Might want to leave that for martinis, since they'll likely be shaken, not stirred

 

[BlaRo]

When I had my little accident last year, one of the turn signals cracked at the base. Wanting to eviscerate any reminders of schlubby flip-flop-wearing bros in Corollas, as well as replacing the semaphore-sized stockers, I embarked on a ridiculously convoluted mission to replace all four sets.

I went on eBay and bought these. Cheap, LED, metal construction, and cheap. I would've preferred amber instead of blacked-out lenses, because some sellers actually include three different sets. Oh well.

I got these in and went to install them and boy, let me tell you, what a comedy of errors it was.

1. The bolt was 10mm, the hole up front was 14mm. I bought axle spacers from a BMX shop and nylon washers from Ace Hardware.

2. I spliced the turn signal ends with the Molex connectors. Had to figure out which was ground and which was the actual wire, which wasn't too bad.

3. The fronts went on perfectly well, but the rear had my aftermarket fender eliminator on it, and the hole was apparently 10mm, and even then it wasn't big enough for the turn signal bolt. So I drilled the hole wider.

4. My crappy old wiring was shot to hell, so I had to cut all of that out and redo it.

5. I cut some of the turn signal wires too close, so they didn't look very good. Plus, the Molex connectors wouldn't fit through the holes provided by the fender eliminator?so until I get my handy dandy pin remover tool, the connectors aren't going anywhere.

6. In figuring out how to connect the tailight, I burnt out a 10-amp fuse.

7. For the three wires that go into the tailight, I experimented with spade connectors before realizing how shitty they were. So, I drove to the electronics store and picked up an entirely new set of larger Molex connectors.

8. Finally, everything works!

 

[Redliner]

I hate wiring.
I rather pay than deal with this shit.

 

[BlaRo]

Been a while since I updated this, but a lot of shit has happened!

A few months ago I took it in for its scheduled service, and I was able to get them to fix the dent left from my encounter with Schlubface McTard. In addition to filling in the dent the paint shop had to strip the entire tank, replicate the factory colors and metallics, then replace the badges.

They knocked it out of the goddamn park. It looks perfect. Didn't cost me as much as I thought, too.

Me picking it up at the dealer just in time for MotoGP weekend and the Handbuilt Motorcycle Show.

Parked amongst the hipsters.

Crossposted from the Motorbike thread: Scooty-Puff Sr. next to Scooty-Puff Jr. I bought a replacement little windshield and threw it back on.

Super Guzzi Bros, spotted yesterday morning.

 

[guzzilover13]

fender eliminator

fender eliminator

Very nice biker If you don't mind my asking where can I get a similar fender eliminator?

 

[BlaRo]

So, I got it shipped up to Vermont, where I'll be for the next two years.

Just a dude named Chadd (two Ds) and his wife, and a pickup truck full of vintage bikes.

And a dog.

Had to buy a new battery for it. $25 from Amazon. Fired right up.

I went on some nice rides.

Too damn cold now.

Bought that Guzzitech exhaust I had threatened to buy all those months ago. It sounds like this:

I don't have a scale, but it's small and light enough that I could juggle with it. This is what it looks like compared to the stock telephone poles.

Hoping to install it this weekend if I don't freeze my balls off. Texas and LA have made me soft and squishy.

 

[CrzRsn]

Do those saddle bags have any special leather treatment to deal with the exhaust heat? Or is that not a worry with bikes?

 

[BlaRo]

Do those saddle bags have any special leather treatment to deal with the exhaust heat? Or is that not a worry with bikes?

It's never been an issue. The saddlebags only get damaged if they actually touch the pipes. It's happened a few times, but these are cheap old saddlebags, and I've been impressed by how long they've held up.

 

[Adunaphel]

Bike looks awesome as ever, such retro cool.