newbie which bike question.

I find it hard to believe that the vtr is slower than a spada.

I'll take your word for it. I don't have a _huge_ experience with VTRs or
spadas.

I can only go on the experience of the one guy I know with a VTR. I know
plenty of people who have been happy with GPXs. I have personally seen 170
on the speedo of the GPX. (I know road speed will be slower than speedo
speed.) And that was with a 70kg rider, wearing 10kg of protective gear, and
loaded up with a full set of panniers, and a full rack bag. (50kg all up?).
And I can vouch for its comfort and rideability doing 7 hours at high speed.
(I used to do Sydney - Armidale and back once every fortnight on one.
(Things you do for a woman, eh?)) I know BTH can vouch for it's ability to
tour around Australia, too.

 

I slipstreamed a truck once.. it was so peaceful..

TB

 

~
Only a week each way? That's not bad for a GPX!
Clem

 

heh. Back in the old days 'touring' on a Suzuki stinger (T125 MkII) I
used to slipstream busses up the Hume Hwy. It was the only way I could
maintain 70 MPH on the flat. The bus drivers didn't like it.

Moike

(sometimes suprised to discover I got to be this old)

 

In aus.motorcycles on Wed, 06 Oct 2004 00:02:44 GMT

A few years ago, the other Guzzi decided it didn't like its new
pistons[1]. I noticed this, because there was rather a lot of smoke
out the pipes, an appetite for oil, and a disinclination to go at speed.

Which got worse as I headed back up the Hume to Sydney and became absolute
about 50 km from Albury. As in the motor seized.

So I pulled in the clutch, pulled over, and comtemplated my options.

One of which was to let it cool down, see if it would go, and limp it
into Albury where I knew there was a decent Ducati dealer.

Being a rattly old roundfin, it is pretty hard to kill it utterly dead.
After a bit of a rest, it agreed to start again and continue in the
direction of Albury, although it didn't want to do more than about 80kmh.

As I limped along, a truck passed me in the outside lane, pulled in
front of me, and the bike started to speed up. Aha! Slipstream!

So I sat on his right rear quarter in full view of his mirror with my left
side indicator on. I watched for him to check the mirror, which he did,
saw the nod, and then pulled back behind him.

The bike was now happy to do the 100 the truck was doing and we sat behind
our savior for quite a while. Then suddenly his hazard lights go on!
I immediately drop back and drift to the right as the best place to be
to be seen and have room to avoid what ever it was. A second or two
later we pass over a big chunk of gravel across both lanes. I spot him
watching me in the mirror, give him a thumbs up, and drop back in behind.

As we got into Albury, I pulled up beshide him at some lights and thanked
him. He was stopping there, or I'd have followed him further as the bike
was running OK in the slipstream and I figured we'd just keep on going.

So I set off along the Hume at my unassisted top speed of 80 or so,
waiting for a suitable truck. Doing about 100, not carrying animals,
not a b-double, and when I found one, I repeated my "I'm sitting behind
you" routine and slotted in for a tow.

Had to change trucks a few times between Albury and Sydney, but it wasn't
hard to find a new one.

I didn't do it all that often on the MZ as it was a little unstable
with the handlebar fairing - front end light anyway, the fairing meant
it tended to wobble rather in the turbulence. The Guzzi weighed about 3
times as much and very little bothered it. But there have definitely been
times a little turbulence was preferable to a sodding great head wind.

Zebee

[1] teach me to be cheap and go for old pistons and sleeved barrels
instead of new Giordanis. Didn't save that much either.

 

Stop smoking the green vegi matter clem

 

one day they may hand you a medal for it..

 

<snip>
Such a nice story.. Why don't things like that ever happen to me..

TB

 

In aus.motorcycles on Wed, 6 Oct 2004 18:49:43 +1000

What, blowing up your motor when you are 500km from home?

It's not an experience I recommend...

Zebee

 

Good point..

TB

 

Neither is blowing up one's motor 1000 km from home.

[wonderful how far a $75 bus fare will get you these days - well - back
then anyway]

---
Cheers

PeterC [aka MildThing]
'81 Suzuki GS450-s
'87 BMW K100RT

www.dmcsc.org.au

 

I can't understand why you'd want to go to Sydney *that* often!


BTH

 

Losing an oil pump 300km from home ...

Cheers
Goaty

 

The 110-120 speed was with saddlebags and camping gear strapped on and
not redlining it. Got her up to 170 before.

 

Yeah, but you just had to sit in a pub while Mr RACV took care of the
bike and a sexy lady came up to drive you home.

Moike

 

In aus.motorcycles on 6 Oct 2004 16:30:28 -0700

Hah! I have got the *MZ* up to 110 with full load of luggage. ON the
flat even.

IT was redlining it, but 110 was always redlining it. The MZ appeared
to think that 8 hour days at redline (and sometimes over when passing
trucks uphill) was situation normal.

Zebee

 

Losing a gearbox 1777kms from home on a 13 month old bike.
Sending bike home on truck
Waiting two days trying to hitch a ride to somewhere I can fly home from
Getting a lift from Glendambo to Adelaide on the back of a MkIII Guzzi
LeMans (seat like a brick), in the rain, carrying the dog on my lap

Al - an experience I'll never forget

 

You should have hitched a ride on the same truck that took your bike
home.


---
Cheers

PeterC [aka MildThing]
'81 Suzuki GS450-s
'87 BMW K100RT

www.dmcsc.org.au

 

Couldn't, all the trucks running Darwin-Adelaide run two drivers, so no
room. There was a daily bus also, but they wouldn't take the dog. I knew
that there were a few people I knew following a few days behind me so it was
only a matter of waiting.

I still keep in touch with the guy who gave me a lift home and I was Matron
of Honour at his "at that time girlfriends" wedding after she married then
divorced him. Good friends. He still has the Guzzi.

Al

 

It's a tough life
<all together>
But somebody's got to do it!
</all together>

Cheers
Goaty