Pexi's Moto Guzzi Weblog

Riding now: Ducati Monster S4R

Now that the summer has really hits these shores, the Norge has become too hot to ride: I'm just too well protected against any air stream, even when riding on fast country roads. I hate the idea of riding without any protective gear, so basically I had three options: 1) stop riding on summer or 2) change the bike or 3) buy a separate summer bike.

Buying a summer bike is not that simple when you have a limited budget and an odd restricted set of mind: no bike within my budget seems to be a perfect fit for my criteria. Finally, as I'm a big fan of Italian motors, I restricted my decision between Griso, Monster and Brutale, rejecting Brutale because of too far-away dealer support, then eliminated Griso because of recent arguing at my local Guzzi dealer: they declined to use the Agip 10W60 oil (which I supplied, and which is THE recommended grade in the manual) and insisted on using their Silkolene 15W40 oil instead. That was so amazing attitude, that it was bye-bye to Griso. That leaves Ducati Monster then. I found a red 2005 S4R with 14000 km on the clock for sale at Maison de la Moto and after two test rides I bought it.

To be honest, it (the S4R) felt almost scary on my first test ride - the front end was running wide  in corners and the engine was like crazy. It turned out that the tire pressures were low and that the suspension settings were really strange to my liking: a bit hard front end combined with soft and low rear, where rebound damping was nevertheless fully tightened. Odd mixture! Now she's back to factory settings (almost, I have not been able adjust the rear preload as I don't have the required tool) and already behaves pretty well. Even the engine feels less crazy now - fresh fuel makes wonders. Fast and beautiful she is!

More photos with higher resolution at http://pexi.smugmug.com/gallery/3051914

World's toughest riders - not me, not this time

Saddle Sore 1000 - one thousand miles in 24 hours. It's the beginner level of the iron butt rides (www.ironbutt.com) and I thought it's peanuts. Norge eats miles and I like riding, so I decided to ride the SS1000 and see how things go. Well, it didn't go so well, I didn't manage it: exactly 500 km from the start the Norge refused to co-operate so badly that I needed towing assistance... and even though the problem "disappeared" by itself and I was able to continue after few hours, I had lost too much time with the hassle and worse, I had lost confidence on the bike - so I replanned my route and headed back home.

In the end I rode 1360 km during that day. The weather was nice in the morning and "variable" in the afternoon - I think I swapped my rain gear on and off at least two million times.

Oh yes, what exactly was the problem? It was the curse of the 13th day, red light on dashboard, oil pressure symbol on. Engine off immediately, checking... all looks fine, so try to restart... and it runs fine! Great, helmet and gloves on... and it dies and wont' start again. Until after towing and after two hours it starts again nicely and runs me home without any more problems. Maybe, just maybe, it was just a bad connection to battery, but it's a wild guess. Nothing unusual was diagnosed in the 10000 km service (later). Mystery.

New tires

7500 km with the set of Metzeler Z6. It's not exactly bad, but not good either. I've read and heard people complaining that the middle section of the Z6 wears too suddenly, so that the parts of the rubber with the TWI markings are still in a good shape, but this wasn't my case: the wear is quite "balanced". I've always been pretty happy with the Z6 (two sets in Breva 1100 already), but anyway, this time I went for a set of Michelin Pilot Road2, mainly because I just wanted to test something else.

New tires always feel much better than the old ones and even though the profile of the rear tire was still quite round, the new set has now returned the lost cornering stability.