The New And Improved Unofficial R65 Forum V2
General Category => Chit-Chat => Topic started by: Bob_Roller on April 14, 2013, 12:58:49 PM
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Got the Lario out on the road for the first time this morning .
A bit of a learning curve on this bike compared to the BMW's .
Got about 75 miles before bringing it home, the tires are quite old, the newest is 10 years old, so I didn't want to push my luck too much today .
Got it on Interstate 10 for about 15 miles at 85 mph, engine is at about 4200 rpm .
Engine is happier at higher speeds than lower, red line is 7700 rpm .
The amount of intake noise on heavy throttle application was kind of a surprise to me, it's quite loud .
After two hours of sitting in the garage, no signs of fluid leakage, I'm glad for that, the bike has been sitting since April, '06 .
Ordering Pirelli tires for it today, I'll venture out with the bike longer after new tires are mounted .
Other than the mirrors, I have no complaints with the bike .
I know I'm riding something unique, probably won't see another one like it on the road .
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... the tires are quite old, the newest is 10 years old, so I didn't want to push my luck too much today... Got it on Interstate 10 for about 15 miles at 85 mph...
Whoa, Bob. So what is your personal 'red line' for pushing your luck? :o
Gear up heavy. Be careful out here.
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I looked the tires over before taking the bike out, they are Pirelli's and despite their age, the rubber is still 'soft' .
Cut a couple of pieces off of the tread face and they weren't weren't hardened, like I had expected them to be .
Pirelli MT75's are on the way and should be here Wednesday, from a local tire supplier American Motorcycle Tire .
They are the only supplier that I have found that has the 16 inch tires the Lario requires .
I was going to get Metzeler Lazertecs, but the tires are 16 inch diameter, the narrowest rear Lazertec in 16 inch, is a 130 width and I was told, that it won't clear the swing arm, no adjustments available like an R65 where you can install different top hat spacers on the wheel bearings to get extra clearance .
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Cool beans, Bob!
Be careful though until you've got fresh rubber. I'd love to see a new pic of your shiny road-ready Lario!
There was one for sale up here a couple years ago, but I figured my wife would kill me if I had 4 motorcycles shoe-horned into my side of the garage, along with the 2 cars...
The Guzzi engine sounds are more viscerally appealing than the BMW flat twins, though!
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You know, I haven't heard of anyone having difficulty with old tires. Have you? I know they can get hard, but some don't. In fact, I bought a durometer to check tire hardness for that very reason - I've got almost new tires on some of the bikes that have been sitting for years. It'd be a shame to toss perfectly good 'new' tires.
I've wanted a Guzzi for a while. I'm jealous!
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Good on ya Bob! I know that's been a long time coming. Were you able to get it registered, or still fighting that battle? Of course registration is a bit simpler here in Texas, so if you do have legal issues, I could probably take that bike in for adoption. [smiley=ROTFLMAO.gif]
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Got the registration issue solved, I went to a title service company two blocks from the house and walked out of there 5 minutes later with historic motorcycle plates and registration .
Aridzona MVD couldn't figure out why they couldn't get the 'system' to work and issue plates .
I'm going to avoid the MVD in the future as much as I can .
New Pirelli MT75 tires should be here Wednesday .
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When I took the title for my '89 Mille GT to the DMV office, they couldn't find "Moto Guzzi" in their computer system. Asked if I was sure it was a motorcycle, as it sat illegally out in the parking lot. I had to ride it illegally across town to have a pistol-toting marshal count the wheels and look at the VIN, and verify that it was a motorcycle.
Now, on my property tax bill, the vehicle type is listed as "other" and there in no listed value shown: my annual taxes are $40 :D
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"Now, on my property tax bill, the vehicle type is listed as "other" and there in no listed value shown: my annual taxes are $40"
Ooooh... Texas did away with the property tax on personal vehicles many, many moons ago.
I kinda think the State gave it up because so many good citizens refused to pay taxes on a vehicle that they had already been taxed on when purchased. That's just my opinion.
I know I never paid 'em and a tow truck never came for my cars. Yes, Texas is big but there ain't that many wreckers.
No State income tax either. And our motorcycles tagged with the $60.00 for five years Antique Motorcycle plates don't need no stankin' inspection stickers either.
To quote our Governor Rick "Good Hair" Perry, Come on down. Texas is open for business.
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And our motorcycles tagged with the $60.00 for five years Antique Motorcycle plates don't need no stankin' inspection stickers either.
I considered this for my Honda, just titled and registered yesterday. As usual, my concern is that if I'm cited for being extra legal in any other way, a "peace officer" might add that to the pile, e.g. not riding to or from a show, on a Sunday, with my shoes tied or untied..
It could be that I'm overly cautious due to my history of performance awards from the Commonwealth of Virginia.
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Matt,
The Texas Antique Motorcycle license plate regs state that "mechanical test rides" are permitted. No requirement as to what distance a minimum/maximum test ride constitutes.
With three classic BMWs in my shop ranging in ages from 35 to 30 years, every ride is a mechanical test ride. ;)
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Congratulations Bob! I know this has been a long time coming for you. Have you done a lot to the bike in all this time? Or was it mostly getting the title sorted out?
I can understand you riding on those tires. I did worse than that...
I once bought a totally original 1977 H-D XLCR,
right down to the raised white letter Goodyear Eagle A/T's (http://www.pbase.com/tomfarr/image/132141304/original). [size=10](not a picture of my bike)[/size]
This must have been around 1983, so they were "only" six years old, but tire technology in 1977 was NOT what it is today, or even close to Bob's "old" tires. And they had severe cracking on the sidewalls.
But besides not really having the money for fresh tires, I really liked the Goodyears. :-/
In 1987 I rode that bike from Indianapolis to Columbus, Ohio and back. The only problem I had was the oil drain plug on the bottom of the engine was stripped (I didn't do it!) and it leaked a little the whole way there & back. :)
And in 1984 the ex & I rode from the church on it. And we rode about 40 miles that day after the wedding (I picked a country church across town ::) ) to the reception and then home.
(The next day we got on our BMW's and headed to New Mexico.)
(https://bmwr65.org/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pbase.com%2Ftomfarr%2Fimage%2F71809030%2Fmedium.jpg&hash=f1724f8c26c8bbff27d8190db659d10925613903)
I claim a "Youth Defense", although I was aware of my sin, so....
I know I don't have to tell you to be careful Bob.
BTW, I have a pair of good snowflakes with a set of Bridgestone Spitfires with less than 1000 miles on them for sale! ;)
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I went through the bike from front to back .
The previous and only other owner, was a member of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) .
He has one of the FAA issued aircraft mechanics licenses, the airframe .
Some of the work he did was meticulous, other areas were 'jury rigged/bodged together', there was no telling what he had gotten into on the bike .
So to make it short, I didn't do much work to the bike, it was just a matter of taking it apart and checking to make sure things were done correctly .
I would say I have 300 hours of 'work' into the bike .
The only major issue I had, was a rusted fuel tank interior .
The only major expense so far, was new tires, about $270US for tires, mounting, balancing and new valve stems (tubeless tires) .
Got the wheels with new tires back on the bike yesterday .
The only other costs were fluids, filters, seals/gaskets, sealants, grease, just common consumable type items .
I've got about $400US into the bike on top of the purchase price .
I didn't start working on the bike until the last year, the bike would not pass emissions testing, a part of the annual registration process, that's why the previous owner parked it in April, '06 .
To get around the testing requirement requires you to have collector insurance and historic motorcycle plates, you can't get historic bike plates until the vehicle is 25 model years old .
The bike is an '87 model year bike .
What I didn't know and I just found out this past week , that in 2010, the state of Aridzona changed their requirements on emission testing .
If you have collector insurance, the vehicle is exempt from emissions testing, historic plates are not part of the requirement now .
Had I known this earlier, I would have started working on the bike a few years earlier !!!!!!
I purchased this bike along with the '84 LS (two fer special), the end of June, '09 .
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I went through the bike from front to back .
Lots of talk, no pictures, Bob. We've waited patiently...
You know what that means!!!
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I've posted pictures here a few times of the Guzzi in the past two years .
Here's a picture from two years ago, before I did anything to the bike .
http://i1178.photobucket.com/albums/x361/128as0050404/Bikes%20and%20Cars/Picture022-1-1.jpg
I've got a thread in the 'Lesser Makes' section, bunch of pictures of the bike with the tank and side covers off .
http://www.bmwr65.org/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1350957384