Moto Guzzi, redux

Well, yesterday I took the new (to me) motorcycle on a trip with some other riders who I know from the Baltimore Ramblers Motorcycle Club, a club of which I am a member.

It was an eclectic mix - a Triumph, my Guzzi, a BMW, a Suzuki Burgmann superscooter, a Harley Trike and about 5 Harley 2-wheelers.  The route was set by Jeff Hutchins, the club president, and was a really pleasant back road tour to see the leaves (although I spent more time looking down the road to see what I had to do than looking around) and included some rough roads, some twisty roads, and some turns that were not easy to make.  I was somewhere in the middle of the group, and managed everything pretty well, although I did go wide at one intersection and ride up on the grass.   Happily all I got for it was a muddy boot.

The day before, a group had gone on a ride that covered about 300 miles.  What I learned yesterday is that my arse isn't good for much over 100 miles, and I run out of strength soon after the 100 mark is hit. I don't actually collapse, but my skill erodes to the point that I really need to get off the bike and into a car if I am traveling farther.

Getting old is really a bummer - I used to think nothing at all of 300 and 400 mile days - now I don't even think about them because I am not strong enough to manage them, although there is hope if I get more weight off and finish healing this leg that I broke that it will become easier.  My fear is that I'll have to get my knees done first - and that is something I don't really look forward to.  I keep telling myself if I could get off another 60-70 pounds, my knees might stop yelling at me.  Then again, they might not.

But the Guzzi is one of the most pleasant bikes I have ever ridden. It is right up there with my old BMW's as nimble, and I don't exactly get on it and ride it - it's more like I pull it on and wear it.  Lean angles are (or seem to me to be) easy; very little requirement for counter-steer; no flex laid over in a fast curve, flexible power (although the engine does prefer to be kept over 3000 RPM,) good power delivery from the fuel-injected engine, and even decent mileage.  I'm slowly getting used to the brakes (the right hand lever controls one disk on the front - the other disk and the back disk are actuated by the rear brake pedal, and the proportioning valve is apparently set up very well.)  The pedal placement is not ideal after riding the Big Suzi, but I think I can get used to it (or change it if needed).  The shifter is the same, but the weakness of my knees and upper legs make the problem a lot worse than it has to be - maybe I'll get more strength back in the coming months....

But riding it is a real giggle - it doesn't need muscled - it seems as if all I have to do is drop a hint what I want to do, and it satisfies. Hands-off it tracks straight and true for as long as I am that silly, and it even has a steering damper that it doesn't need.  No shakes at all, no temperment at all - a wholly friendly ride.

This lack of strength is beginning to bug me.  It isn't apparent in the car (of course, the car isn't as much work to drive) but it sure makes itself known on the bike.  The commute ride is OK at 25 miles each way, and there's plenty of recovery time, but spending a couple of hours in the saddle wears me out to the point that I begin to scare myself (and possibly the folks around me, although they don't say anything....) and I am not happy about that.  Motorcycles have been a part of my life for so long now I hate to think that the day will come that I can only look at them and drool...

However, within my own limits, I am enjoying the Moto Guzzi a whole bunch, and the weather has been cooperating enough that it hasn't yet come to the time to put it up.

Anyone out there need a big Suzuki (VL1500, 2004?)

Until later - I'll have more to say about family changes as time goes by - right now, we are all feeling very positive, and thankful that we feel that way.