Pexi's Moto Guzzi Weblog

Tinkering with the Guzzi

So what do you do if you can't ride? My left eye is now almost blind, so there is no hope of riding for some time, aaarrgh! To escape from my frustration I washed and polished the Breva, then decided to check the valve clearances after the first service. And what did I find out?

Spark plugs showed nice fueling.

Right and left cylinders both are at exactly same settings, 0.06mm intake, 0.15mm exhaust. Very small intake gap left me wondering if it is ok or not?!? I Couldn't find correct values from the user manual, so I left them as is for a moment, even though posts in WildGuzzi forum suggest settings 0.15mm intake, 0.20mm exhaust, WTF? Eh? Something might not be right here now...

Usage Statistics for October 2004

Here are October 2004 usage statistics for the old site, before relocing the site here in pexi.blogs.com.

Total number of hits: 30319
Unique visiting sites: 1274
Countries: 30+

Busiest day was October 21st, when the site received visitors from 332 different locations. It's a big Thank You, readers!

I hope this new relocated and redesigned site will deliver faster download/refresh times and less connection downtime. As a downside of the relocation, I won't be able to get this good statistics any more, as the server is no more located in my cellar and I don't have control over it. But let's see.

Keep checking this site!

No riding today

Too bad, it has been raining all day and on top of that, my left eye is quite badly infected and the medication blurs my vision, so no riding today.

To test the weblog platform I'm using, I'm sending this log entry via email, let's see if this appears decently on the log...

Free rpm, time to do the Italian tune-up!

Now the first service is done and I can I accelerate out of the bends without worrying too much about rpm, finally! Cool!

I didn't even get wet in the morning while riding the Breva to Aigle Motos in Nice. The sky was covered, but I survived with only few drops. Yet those few drops were quite enough to make the roads incredibly slippery! And when it's raining here, it means accidents - immediately. I avoided one in the morning: a small Pug 206 driving against the indicated direction on one-way street, coming towards me without any lights (in the rain and morning dusk!); luckily there was enough room to let the braindead pass. I guess she didn't understand at all why I was honking, poor lady.

Breva's modest power makes revving it a bit useless, but it's Italian engine anyway, so it requires Italian tune-up from time to time. I burned the black stuff out of the engine this evening, as the roads were dry again: Italian tune-up well done.

First service tomorrow

The odometer shows more than 2300 km and I finally get the bike in for 1000 km service! Unfortunately the weather forecast does not look too good, so I'm afraid it means 25 kms in the rain tomorrow morning.

Never mind, finally I can stop watching the rpm!

24 days with Guzzi now, 2200 km.

First service is still due, until Oct 27th, even though I made the reservation for it on the day I picked up the bike. Four weeks queue for the service! After a friendly advice/warning from wildguzzi forum I decided that I'll change the oil NOW even there's only few days until the service.

To warm up the oil before draining, I drove up to Gourdon. The sky was clear and temperature a bit chilly - which was good for testing the winter riding trousers I found yesterday from Marseille. Then it happened again, I couldn't stop riding... down to the small village of Courmes, until finally returning back to home.

Back at home I drained the now hot, blackened oil out of the engine. There were practically no deposits at all attached to the magnetic drain plugs, so nothing to worry about.

Fresh oil is in and Guzzi goes again, two up riding to the coast. Thanks for the photo shoot service, Bernt!

Day off, my 1st day at the age of 44 years

Yesterday was my 44th birthday, Missus had bought a bottle of my favourite champagne and all, life is good. Anyway, starting quite early to my standards (no hangover), I rode to Nice and tried to find some riding stuff, water proof trousers mainly, but no luck. Never mind, jeans are warm enough still. After a nice sandwich at lunchtime on the seaside, I headed to the mountains again, to learn something on emptier roads. Weather is nice (24C) at the coast but there are some clouds developing in the high altitudes - as usual.

Going up to the mountains, only few kilometers/miles from where I live. The village in the background is Gourdon, village of artisans, the château over there is built on 13th century.

Down again, where the river le Loup (wolf) has made his traces in the rock. It's difficult to decide which is more beautiful, Guzzi or the nature.

Guzzi enjoys the autumn sunshine in Greolieres, which is an unspoiled village at the altitude of 800 m. You can see clouds hanging just above the village, trying to conquer it.

I had to stop and take some photos from the road back to home via St Vallier de Thiey as the autumn colors were so magnifique.

Nothing beats the mountains

After two rainy and cold days during the week, the Sunday appeared crisp clear and sunny again. Eh hop, riding to Gorges du Loup I go!

Breva is so confident inspiring and nimble bike on these narrow and twisty mountain roads, that even though it's still waiting for the first service and I'm keeping it below 5000 rpm and taking it reaally easy, I catched up a vintage 911S and was easily able to keep up with it.
The gentleman with the 911S was driving quite decently but reasonably, taking the hairpins and curves without risks, then accelerating hard out of each curve. Loud boxer sound and blue smoke coming out of the exhausts proving that the classic was really driven. What a nice ride it was!

The light and colors can be stunning in this part of the world. Air is chrystal clear. This valley is Gorges du Loup, picture taken from Bar sur Loup.

This is a close view of the Saint Jeannet, the mountain that you most likely have noticed if you have ever visited Nice. It's bigger than it looks in the picture!

Black Guzzi hits Nice again

Mandatory Sunday cruising to Nice, Promenade des Anglais. Two weeks since I got my Guzzi and it's been "mainly fine and sunny" every day. The way it should be! And yes, Breva looks so much better without the monster top-box!

Saturday ride two up

It was time to try two up riding again. This was second time Missus was on a motocycle, plus one short ride on the scooter (which is now locked up in the cave, LOL). I rode as carefully as I could and all went well, bien sur. The weather was still incredibly hot for October, so we rode down to Cannes, then to Juan les Pins, St Laurent du Var and back to home.

Had to take the photos too... Missus and me posing.

Breaking in

I read from the manual that if possible, you should ride the Guzzi in hills and mountains with varying loads during the break in period. So, I booked a day off and headed to Route des Grand Alpes, Col de Turini. I think I really learnt something.

I took quite a lot of pictures too, have a look at my photo album - the link is also on the right hand side bar, look under the title Photo Albums!

Breva is brand new

Picked up the bike on Friday afternoon, 1st of October. First ride took me to the seaside, Côte d'Azur from Théoule to Monaco.

Morning of October 2nd, my Guzzi is brand new and the road calls.

The weather is nice in Théoule-sur-Mer.

Ile Ste-Marguerite in the background.