Announcing The San Diego GUZZI RALLY October 13-14 2017

[Chuck in Indiana]

This was the first real "shake down" run for the MZ. I'd only ridden it once out in the Mountains, and it was a cool drizzly day. Iwasn't too comfortable with it, but it turned out to be fine.
When Ifinally found the elusive cabin 13, I was greeted by Norm and Tom H, beer in hand. Here's the Normster..
2017-10-15_01-33-17 by Charles Stottlemyer, on Flickr
I passed on the beer because Iwanted to see what the MZ would do, so ran up Palomar mountain. It's been 12 years since I did that. (!) The observatory looks the same, of course.. and the ride up was cosmic still.
2017-10-15_01-34-31 by Charles Stottlemyer, on Flickr
Thought to myself, "I think I'm gooing to like this scooter.." after I came back down the mountain.
Back to camp and these ruffians were waiting.. JJ, TomH, and Brian (bbolesaz)with his Scura "Valdez" 
2017-10-15_01-34-01 by Charles Stottlemyer, on Flickr
Stay tuned..

[oldbike54]

 Looks like a buncha hippies 

 Dusty

[Chuck in Indiana]

Looks like a buncha hippies 

 Dusty

If the shoe fits..

[Chuck in Indiana]

Pounded a couple of Norm the Enabeler's beeers
2017-10-15_01-35-15 by Charles Stottlemyer, on Flickr
and walked down to rally center. You have to give it to Bill and groundhog105.. this was deluxe. I'll apologize in advance for not taking enough pictures.. I should have channeled Hagen..  but here's what I have.
Andy? Alex, Nolan Woodberry's son, Nolan, GrisoGirl (sorry, forget her name)  ? and Bill Ross. Google the Mandelo Meteor..
2017-10-15_01-36-58 by Charles Stottlemyer, on Flickr
Seriously fast and nice guy Richard Rodriquez, complete with new knees. I havent seen Rich in 5 or 6 years. He's just started riding again..
2017-10-15_01-35-37 by Charles Stottlemyer, on Flickr
JJ and Alex checking out the Strada barn find I rescued a few years ago. Bill Ross is keeping her now, and I hear that he shows sqids how to go around corners..  It's a small world when you play with Guzzis.
2017-10-15_01-36-13 by Charles Stottlemyer, on Flickr
More later, have to find some electrons.

[Chuck in Indiana]

True to their word, people brought me beer.    Then Norm the Enabler brought a really nice bottle of ta kill ya. It would have been inpolite to refuse, of course.. so much of Friday night is foggy. I remember a fire..and much laughing. talked to jdgretz.. he'd made it on his wife's scooter. 
Saturday morning,  Norm said I hadn't snored at all.. in fact, Iwas so quiet he was beginning to think he'd go down in the annals of WG as the guy that killed Chuck in Indiana.  He *does* snore, however, but I have ear plugs and know how to use them.
After a hearty breakfast at the resort, people started bringing bikes to the parking lot. There was a *nice* gaggle. Sorry, no pix.  There were 3 rides planned, a scenic, a ride to the coast, and a "spirited" ride. There were Scuras, LeMans, etc, and a lonely looking MZ .
This is GrisoGirl's Grease O.
2017-10-15_01-41-22 by Charles Stottlemyer, on Flickr
She was smooth and confident. I understand that back in the day, she was a fashion model in France..
At any rate, our spirited ride took about 6 hours, and I have no idea of where we went. I bonded with the MZ on it. 
 When we returned, Tim (Scud) asked if I'd like to do the South grade on Palomar (much twistier than the east grade I'd already done..) "Absolutely!" So, he led a flight of two Scuras, a LeMans Mk3, and a putt putt MZ.    It was a hoot. We took a break at Mother's on the way up..
2017-10-15_01-44-43 by Charles Stottlemyer, on Flickr
2017-10-15_01-45-02 by Charles Stottlemyer, on Flickr
Stopped at an overlook on the way down. The (by now Mighty) MZ managed to keep Scud in sight.
Scud.
2017-10-15_01-45-41 by Charles Stottlemyer, on Flickr
Looking for a nebula
2017-10-15_01-45-23 by Charles Stottlemyer, on Flickr
Lake Henshaw
2017-10-15_01-46-02 by Charles Stottlemyer, on Flickr

[Chuck in Indiana]

The bbq was going on when we returned, but this gearhead special was in the parking lot.
2017-10-15_01-37-46 by Charles Stottlemyer, on Flickr
Some really nice fabrication..
2017-10-15_01-46-53 by Charles Stottlemyer, on Flickr
Shot the breeze with Todd Egan and Kevin LA for a bit and headed down to the bbq.
Had a visit from the wine lady..
2017-10-15_01-47-26 by Charles Stottlemyer, on Flickr
A guy came by and said, "You're Chuck, aren't you?" I've seen some of your projects.. Will Creedon. (!)
2017-10-15_01-47-07 by Charles Stottlemyer, on Flickr
We talked airplanes and motorcycles for a long time. Never had met him before..
So that's an overview. Sorry for leaving out many people and details, but THANKS to all for doing this.
It was a *really* good time..

[oldbike54]

 Chuckie , did you tell Griso Girl about your friend in Oklahoma who knows how to cook ?

 Dusty

[Chuck in Indiana]

Chuckie , did you tell Griso Girl about your friend in Oklahoma who knows how to cook ?
Do you do French cuisine?
 Dusty

[oldbike54]

 Sure do Chuckie , I can still make a mean coq au vin .

 Dusty

[Tom H]

To start with I was a bit nervous when I realized I was in cabin 13 on Friday the 13th with Chuckie and Norman. Not sure where this was gonna go. We also had Brian, so between us I felt we could fend them off on Friday the  13th.

Chuck pretty much covered it and much better pictures!! Great people and great bikes!!!!

To put a bit of a story, I rode up to the hard to find Cabin 13. All others were clearly marked excerpt this one. Well I found Norm out back and he invited me to stay.  Glad I did!!!!! Except for the woodpeckers that left the side of the cabin looking like Bonnie and Clyde had target practice on it and the rustling sound inside the wall during the night.
Except for that it was GREAT COMPANY!!!!!!

I want to thank ALL that put this on!!!! And to Norm that took this wayward soul in!!!!!

If this comes up next year, I'll pen it in, not pencil!!!!

Tom

[oldbike54]

 Just an observation , Norm "looks" normal 

 Dusty

[normzone]

Yes, [Dusty], apparently norman normal for me is standing around with a drink in hand.

When I was a much younger man, I incurred the wrath of an old gypsy woman (her daughter and a bunch of black and white film was involved) and she placed a curse on me. " There will never be any photographs of you in motion " and it has remained to this day.

I am in the first rally picture in the thread. The curse lingers on. You can see a fraction of Josie, the Bassa Rat, at my shoulder. 

I rolled in around eleven and [groundhog105] immediately materialized and informed me I was first in, and offered me a cold beer. I declined since the need for breakfast was in the queue ahead of that.

As [Tom H] mentioned, Lucky Cabin #13 is the stealth location - all the others could be identified by a small child, but you have to ride around ours for a while looking for the painted over chisel marks.

Tom was first to wrestle his bike over the gullys - all the other cabins have driveways, but ours was apparently designated for dirtbikes. We immediately began comparing sensors and hardware - and that was what EVERYBODY did all weekend. My first rally, and I enjoyed it greatly. I'm just glad we weren't all surgeons, or it would have been a "thoracic alignment deviation" study or something all weekend. Oh, and I took the rally award for "worst fuel economy ". The concern was palpable.

Chuck rolled in next, and we exchanged gang handsigns before he forded the supercross arena surrounding our palatial digs. One finger, then three on the gripping hand (Larry Niven reference), and he knew he was in the right place.

I promptly stole his key. I felt bad in a few minutes and returned it, but it was a fun moment. Oh, and in visiting some old friends who live in that area, I left my car/house/work keys there. Karma is a bitch .... Gotta go back up the hill next weekend.

[bbolezaz] rolled in next, and got the fold out couch, aka torture rack. The cabin is alleged to sleep seven, but they'd have to be small and friendly.

Yes, I thought I'd killed Chuck. He helped me greatly with the beer and tequila, and had warned me that he snored. I was last into the cabin, and sneaking around in the dark trying not to wake anybody, I couldn't tell if Chuck was in bed or not. Silence. Finally towards dawn there were a half dozen snores, and I quit worrying I'd be known as " the guy who killed Chuck "

Chuck pointed out Richard to me, and told me he was a VERY FAST rider. He said don't try to keep up with him, and if you find you are keeping up with him, slow down.

[oldbike54]

 

 Dusty

[Tom H]

LMAO Norm. You can write, wish I could do the same.

Well we were wondering where the seventh would sleep. When I got up and was going for my boots, I found a slide out or something mattress under my bed. Maybe my bed converted to a bunk bed, or you just slid this out. On the 13 13 thing, I remember a movie about Moma being rolled out from under a bed and a really bad case of Deliverance going on. Glad I found that on the way out

Did I say thank you for the room Norm?? If not, THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!

Tom

[normzone]

Tom, I think you can keyboard a tale just fine.

Yes, you thanked me for the room, and despite my efforts to cover that expense, you and every resident forced cash on me, ruining my only nonprofit exemption I had planned for this year.

[Scud]

For a moment, it seemed that a dark cloud would threaten the event... but it turned out to be three Scuras:



Here's a few of the bikes on Saturday morning, including JJ's, which stands out like, well, a... yellow Centauro.



This one caught my eye.



Chuck - at this point, you were on top of Mount Laguna, going North on Sunrise Highway. Bob led us on the following roads: Mesa Grande, 79 South, Wynola Road, 78 East, 79 South, Old Highway 80 East, S1 (Sunrise Highway) North, then 79 North and back almost the same way.



And here is a view down at a few turns on Palomar Mountain's South Grade.



This would make a fine stable:  Scura, Eldorado, Daytona RS, V7, Griso.



Another picture of the Daytona, because... we don't really need an excuse to take pictures of Daytona's right?



And I do not know who owns this. But I apologize for drooling on it. 

[Chuck in Indiana]

Thanks for the pix, Tim.. I've always been a sucker for the Marlboro LeMans. Fortunately, I had an attack of common sense, and  didn't buy that one in Minnesota 2 or 3 years ago..

[PJPR01]

Great pics indeed...a Tri-Fecta of Scuras!  Molto bene!

Chuck...I hope they plied you with a few IPA's to make up for the trouble of getting there...looks like a good time was had by all!

[Chuck in Indiana]

Great pics indeed...a Tri-Fecta of Scuras!  Molto bene!

Chuck...I hope they plied you with a few IPA's to make up for the trouble of getting there...looks like a good time was had by all!

Uhh, yeah! Not only Norm the Enabler, but Bill Ross had a beeg IPA for me. All were yummy.

[jdgretz]

A very fun weekend.  Good to see the folks from Arizona again and to meet a bunch of folks from way south in SoCal.  Wish I could have been on the Norge, but at least I did make it - and on an Italian scoot.

Time to head back to the garage to see if I can make some progress on that bolt.

Thanks to all who pulled this together - I'm looking forward to doing this again next year, along with Cottonwood.

jdg

[bbolesaz]

Some of my pix from the weekend.

On our way up, we stumbled into an IAC aerobatic competition being held in Borrego Springs.





Mike's Scura was acting up on the way up the hill.  It had recently been serviced and after some debug, Scud's sharp eye noted that the rubber tubes had been blown off of the fuel injector bodies, allowing the bike to suck air. We suspect someone forgot to tighten the clamps.




However, it did act up again once on the way home, so the story is probably not finished on this one.

This lovely old beast was tooling around the area.



No Joy !


That's dark.


Palomar, Check.



Ready to head back to the Valley of the Sunstroke.


Decending into Borrego Springs.


This could be fun on a dirt bike.


On the cutoff from Mecca to I-10

[bbolesaz]

My Route - High Mileage Award ?

[bbolesaz]

Saturday morning loop.  Hope I have it right.  Wow, what fun.

[bbolesaz]

Finished Saturday off with a run up Palomar.  Check that one off of the list ! 

[normzone]

My Route - High Mileage Award ?

Brag all you want to - I'll bet you couldn't use as many gallons of gas as that would take me.

Reading the Guzzi Diag thread now   

[LowRyter]

We've discovered that Scud is a Spineframe savant. 

[JJ]

A great rally and weekend!!  

A BIG slice of Julian Apple Pie to Bill Ross, Bobby, Tim and all the other SOCAL volunteers who made this happen!!   God willing, we will be there again in 2018!!  A few more memorable photos...

[Arizona Wayne]

I really like that car/trike.    Would like to know more about it.   Have ridden in a Morgan Guzzi but nothing with a flip up roof and fat tires like that 1.   

[JJ]

I really like that car/trike.    Would like to know more about it.   Have ridden in a Morgan Guzzi but nothing with a flip up roof and fat tires like that 1.   

It is called a "Blackjack-Zero" (kit car) and this one was highly modified and customized.

[huklbery]

Enjoyed meeting the Friday night crowd, clutch cable and two rallies in the same weekend was perhaps overly ambitious this time.