Author Topic: Coco not a fan of the V7?  (Read 6769 times)

Offline Zinfan

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Coco not a fan of the V7?
« on: December 28, 2014, 01:13:00 PM »

Heh, Coco checks out my V7 when I stopped by Coco's Corner in Baja last week.  Bike seemed to work ok for dirt as long as I took it carefully and watched my line.  Pretty lucky with  the weather, 70 degrees, no wind and no rain made for a pretty easy run.  I can imagine it is a real chore in the heat.

The road (Mex 5) has about 20 miles of dirt to navigate with some sand (not too deep), rocks (watch your line!) and washboard as you might find on any dirt road.  My V7 could be a bit easier to ride standing on the pegs if I change the handlebars.  There wasn't a real neutral position to stand while riding like on a dirt style bike, it felt like I was always pulling myself forward in order to keep the best position.  I'll have to ditch the sump extender and find a sump guard for my big trip, just wish there was a place to get the guard as the only one I've ever seen was on an Italian web site, may go that route but it didn't look all that sturdy.


Mexico highway 5 on the way to Coco's.

Offline Mal Wright

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Re: Coco not a fan of the V7?
« Reply #1 on: January 06, 2015, 01:43:33 PM »
Hwy Zinfan, thought I would give this a bump. I am very interested in how well the V7 handles on dirt roads and off road, so thanks for your comments. Do you have any other photos from the trip that you can share?
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Offline not-fishing

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Re: Coco not a fan of the V7?
« Reply #2 on: January 06, 2015, 04:00:32 PM »
Quote
I'll have to ditch the sump extender and find a sump guard for my big trip, just wish there was a place to get the guard as the only one I've ever seen was on an Italian web site, may go that route but it didn't look all that sturdy.

What about a DIY sump guard?

A little 1/4" or so surplus aluminum plate.

A little 2" hole saw and drill.

A 2 lb "single jack" sledge hammer.

A vise or something to bend the aluminum with.

Here's a video of making an 1/8" RC Plane motor mount our or aluminum.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsQ81eLXNuI
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Offline Zinfan

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Re: Coco not a fan of the V7?
« Reply #3 on: January 06, 2015, 11:39:05 PM »
Hwy Zinfan, thought I would give this a bump. I am very interested in how well the V7 handles on dirt roads and off road, so thanks for your comments. Do you have any other photos from the trip that you can share?

Thanks for the bump!  The V7 handled ok with of a touch heavy steering in the dirt but I think the foot peg position is a bit forward as compared to a dual sport type bike so standing up required a pull on the bars rather than just using the legs alone to rise out of the seat.  If you have a V7 then try standing up while riding on the road and see if you get the same sense as I did.  Once standing up the bike worked well and the ability to just torque along in first/second gear was nice, I was not moving fast on the dirt, probably 30 mph max and I tried to avoid the sand where possible.  The little sand I rode though wasn't too deep and was no problem for the bike.  Sorry for the lack of pictures as my camera wouldn't work for the trip and I only had my cell phone, I'll see if there are any other decent pics to put up.

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Re: Coco not a fan of the V7?
« Reply #3 on: January 06, 2015, 11:39:05 PM »

Offline Zinfan

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Re: Coco not a fan of the V7?
« Reply #4 on: January 06, 2015, 11:41:04 PM »
What about a DIY sump guard?

A little 1/4" or so surplus aluminum plate.

A little 2" hole saw and drill.

A 2 lb "single jack" sledge hammer.

A vise or something to bend the aluminum with.

Here's a video of making an 1/8" RC Plane motor mount our or aluminum.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsQ81eLXNuI

May try that or look for a fab shop nearby to run something up, I think it could be a needed addition to the bike for riding on unimproved roads.

Offline cruzziguzzi

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Re: Coco not a fan of the V7?
« Reply #5 on: January 07, 2015, 07:24:54 AM »
What a waste of a thread and my time. Here I expected to see Ice-T's better half... well, 2/3 perched unhappily on the rear of his new Guzzi. Instead, what do I get?

Well, actually, a rather pleasant posting about a trip that looks to be a lot of fun. Thanks.

Don't know Coco? Then you ain't OG!

In fact, in my defense, the entirety of what I know about Ice-T's Coco comes from watching "The Soup" on "E Television" - damn funny stuff, that.

Todd.
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Offline Zinfan

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Re: Coco not a fan of the V7?
« Reply #6 on: January 07, 2015, 08:54:52 PM »
I didn't plan on writing any sort of ride report as this was just a quick 3-4 day run into Baja to get comfortable crossing the border and seeing what was there so I apologize for the poor quality/lack of photos that I took.  Two things I learned was 1) check out your gear a week ahead of time (at least) as I found out my camera that took this picture in the summer;

could no longer access the SD card to save pictures so I had to use my cell phone and my gopro to get photos, 2) Clear out the gopro memory card each day (had a MacBook Air with me so I could have done so) so that when you think you are filming, the camera has not shut off due to lack of space on the card.  Anyways here are some shots from my trip.


The beach at San Felipe where I stayed my first night in Baja.


The road south out of San Felipe (Mexico 5).  Notice the road surface just below my left hand, lots of small rocks that probably speed up tire wear.


Fly or ride?  Better take the left here.


Bacon crossing the road ahead!  Be careful!


I think this means slow down but my Spanish isn't all that good.


My first off road excursion, there was an abandoned structure just off the road so I decided to take a gander up the small hill and see how the bike did (it did just fine)


Hmm they seem in a hurry, at least they have no interest in me.


As you head south on Mex 5 you will come across Cowpatty which I'm lead to believe is a must stop so I did.  Turns out so did the Police, it was near lunch time.


So Mexican food for Lunch?  Nope they sell hot dogs  :drool. 


Last chance for gas is at Puertecitos a small fishing village, the water here was a fantastic color but the camera did not pick it up very well.


Not too far after Puertecitos the paved road ends and the 20ish miles of dirt begins.


I don't really think you need a painted rock to find Coco's corner but hey here it is.


Another picture of the desert along Mex 5, very pretty and I had great weather.


After Mex 5 deadends into Mex 1 the pavement begins again and it is smooth sailing to Bahia de Los Angles, here I am right at the town entrance and they have this sail boat thingy. My Spanish is good enough to know Alto.

Spent the night in BoLA and headed home the next day,  There was gas in town but no more until you hit El Rosaio 187 miles later.  I was sure the bike could make it no problem but I was fighting a head/cross wind and about halfway along you find this;

Gas out of drums, it was about 1.5 times the cost of Pemex gas but I figured it was good insurance that I could reach the towns on the Pacific side of Baja.  I got a gallon of gas and the bike ran it just fine.


This is the last picture I have, taken just off Mex 1 near the Pacific on my way home.  I crossed the boarder at San Isidro and it was very busy but somehow I managed to bypass most of the cars and ended up in line about 3 cars back from the border.  No hassle getting out of Mexico, just took off my helmet and showed my Passport and away I went.

So there you go, a solo trip into Mexico and I didn't get kidnapped once!  The most dangerous part of the trip was the LA and San Diego traffic I had to ride through.  Crossing into Mexico at Tecate was a good choice, nobody stopped me and it took all of 30 seconds to get out of the U.S. and into Mexico, I was laughing to myself after having so many questions about the process and what issues I may run into. 

As a final note I was in BoLA on Christmas Eve and the hotel owner invited me to a special dinner he was having for his workers.  I was sitting at a table of 20 Mexican nationals and only 3 teenagers spoke any real English but I had such a great time with the entire group it was quite an experience.

 

 



Offline cruzziguzzi

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Re: Coco not a fan of the V7?
« Reply #7 on: January 08, 2015, 09:46:16 AM »



Damn, but that looked like a good time.

How do you feel about that rear tire on wet asphalt and a lot of ass-end weight? Any concerns? My cousin wants to run down to Central America again but this time he wants to take his Tiger and has a fairly aggressive tire like that on the rear as well. Me? I'm more of a mud&snow guy.

Also curious - did you get Mexican insurance?

Todd.
« Last Edit: January 08, 2015, 09:47:55 AM by cruzziguzzi »
Todd
07 Calvin            77 TT500
95 Sport 1100      04 Breva 750
82 Katana           79 GS850G
72 "Crud"dorado
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Civilization ends at the waterline. Beyond that, we all enter the food chain, and not always right at the top.

Offline Zinfan

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Re: Coco not a fan of the V7?
« Reply #8 on: January 08, 2015, 08:12:02 PM »
Damn, but that looked like a good time.

How do you feel about that rear tire on wet asphalt and a lot of ass-end weight? Any concerns? My cousin wants to run down to Central America again but this time he wants to take his Tiger and has a fairly aggressive tire like that on the rear as well. Me? I'm more of a mud&snow guy.

Also curious - did you get Mexican insurance?

Todd.

This version of the K60 scout does not have the center rib that seems to give poor wet road performance according to the reports I read.  I didn't push my luck in the wet but it work fine.  Over on advrider.com Radioman has a fantastic report of his RTW trip but he did have an issue like you describe, here is that post. http://advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=17475779&postcount=1487

I bought 5 days of insurance from Baja Bound online the night before I crossed the border, I think it was about $50 for max liability.  No one asked to see any paperwork at the numerous police/military checkpoints I passed through, in fact I was only stopped once and that was mostly so they could look at the bike and do a quick check of my top case, no big deal.

Offline SED

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Re: Coco not a fan of the V7?
« Reply #9 on: January 08, 2015, 08:31:35 PM »
Great Post Zinfan,

Love the photos and the bright sun.  Agree the desert is very beautiful and some of the cactus's and weird trees are wonderful. I'm envious!

It is very cool that you are touring on a V7.  Well done!

But don't sleep on the beach at Bahia de LA - 3" long isopods crawl out of the gravel looking for warmth! 
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Offline Zinfan

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Re: Coco not a fan of the V7?
« Reply #10 on: January 08, 2015, 08:56:24 PM »
Great Post Zinfan,

Love the photos and the bright sun.  Agree the desert is very beautiful and some of the cactus's and weird trees are wonderful. I'm envious!

It is very cool that you are touring on a V7.  Well done!

But don't sleep on the beach at Bahia de LA - 3" long isopods crawl out of the gravel looking for warmth! 


Now you tell me!!!!  Those things look scary.

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