Whole Bl**dy bike needs a clean. Not one of my strong points
Picos on the old bus....
- Thread starter xsgraham
- Start date
Very nice.... bit more in used/abused condition now. Must give is a rub down with a damp cloth. Had it out of the shed last night and think I may be tackling a rear drive seal sometime this winter. Not too bad yet but the back tyre has a few oily witness marks on the sidewall. I forgot what it looked like with the side farings on. Took them off not long after I took over ownership to help with knee room and engine visualsJust in case you wondered what it looked like when it was clean..
The bike, not Balders!
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A lot of running in third on the best bits..... a goodly amount of engine braking and a great gob of torque on exit.... just enough time to roar up to the next curve, rinse and repeat. My V1200 Sport was the same in the Ardennes forest a few years back. Third gear and go for it.... was a bit more ummph involved but the Le Mans had that same thing going for it. Fab machines both of them. 'The other PaulG' is custodian of my old V1200 and probably recognises the fun described above from his more enthusiastic days
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coming back from Goodwood FoS 1 year , me on a mates LM! with his girl on the back ,Max Datta , on a new 1100 Sport , we arrived at the stopping point , me less than 10s behind him.
he said ....i hate LM1's .....
i said why ?
he said , i'm on the newest Guzzi , 20 years newer than yours , and you're 10s behind me ...AND 2 up. that is why Guzzi can't sell the 1100 Sport , the LM's are too good.
he said ....i hate LM1's .....
i said why ?
he said , i'm on the newest Guzzi , 20 years newer than yours , and you're 10s behind me ...AND 2 up. that is why Guzzi can't sell the 1100 Sport , the LM's are too good.
Good to see a classic being used.......to many sit in sheds and garages. 
A pannier full of tools might be the answer!
And some modicum of an idea, How to diagnose the fault and then use them to fix it / them
Yeah - took a selection of tools that I thought a bit about to make sure there weren't too many but I covered most eventualities. I'm no mechanic, but been around bikes from this era for ages and rebuilt a few engines and such over the years so have a bit of a chance in diagnosing and twiddling the right spanner to have a punt at fixing. As it was on the trip I needed a hand sourcing a coil as one went down..... but easily got one and was off again within 24 hours. Mates on modern bikes didn't take any tools as if anything happened to theirs they needed a laptop, internet connection and a sonic screwdriver.
Out of interest was that a specific Guzzi coil, or will the 850 tolerate a wider range of coils from that period?Yeah - took a selection of tools that I thought a bit about to make sure there weren't too many but I covered most eventualities. I'm no mechanic, but been around bikes from this era for ages and rebuilt a few engines and such over the years so have a bit of a chance in diagnosing and twiddling the right spanner to have a punt at fixing. As it was on the trip I needed a hand sourcing a coil as one went down..... but easily got one and was off again within 24 hours. Mates on modern bikes didn't take any tools as if anything happened to theirs they needed a laptop, internet connection and a sonic screwdriver.
Hi Paul - takes anything that's 12v and around the right output. The coil I sourced was a second hand Lucas one from a local classic bike club who answered a call for assistance.
Love it. Old school tech!
These days I would say fit modern ignition and a well serviced old Guzzi is pretty much unbreakable. Unfortunately, back in the day, I fitted Piranha ignition to my Le Mans just before a trip to the Ise of Man TT and you can guess which bit went wrong! Fortunately, I had the points with me so the day was saved.
On a recent trip (on the airhead) we met a couple of couples on 1250GSes, One had dropped his bike and dislodged the mirror which required a 14mm spanner to tighten the locknut but had been causing great concern for a few days due to no tools and no French. I never go anywhere in/on any vehicle without, at least, a basic tool kit.
On a recent trip (on the airhead) we met a couple of couples on 1250GSes, One had dropped his bike and dislodged the mirror which required a 14mm spanner to tighten the locknut but had been causing great concern for a few days due to no tools and no French. I never go anywhere in/on any vehicle without, at least, a basic tool kit.
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