Falcone Touring

[pehayes]

I just completed the annual Moto Melee out of San Francisco on my Savoia Blue Guzzi Falcone.  I have often missed this annual event because of conflicts with Laguna Seca racing or Falcone Club tours in Europe. Third time this year.

Bike was flawless on some VERY rough roads.



Day-1 = 267mi/430km
https://goo.gl/maps/AVfC6obXavNzpEub9

Day-2 = 344mi/554km
https://goo.gl/maps/uh2CjgP5tFuhEpyL7

Day-3 = 225mi/362km
https://goo.gl/maps/GRHTBB48KyuT7zWQ6

Total = 836mi/1346km

That second day was brutal distance.  8am to 6pm without taking a lunch break!  Day-2 gas instructions:


At the finish banquet they awarded a perpetual trophy for spirit.  Bike has to run the entire route.  Have to add some bonus loop sections. Have to stop and help other people.  Have to show enthusiasm at hotels and along the way.  I was quite surprised when my name was called.


Among the 116 pre-'75 entries there were 2 loopframe Guzzi and 2 Nuovo Falcone as well.

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

[Markcarovilli]

Nicely done Patrick

Mark

[Nick]

Congratulations!

[Tom H]

 

Tom

[SED]

Thanks for the post.   
It takes quality work to be able to ride on old bike that distance 3 consecutive days - especially on rough roads!  Congratulations! 

Excellent route (appreciate the map links).  Now I want to go ride the "longest continuous ridge road in the world".  Was it all paved?

[pehayes]

Was it all paved?

"paved" is a subjective term.  We rode south to north.  The first ten miles was serious potholes within potholes.  Why is it always that the biggest ones are within the tree shadows?  You would aim between two and directly at the center of a third.  Worried about bending a rim or pinching a tube.

You should enter for next year.

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

[SED]

"paved" is a subjective term.  We rode south to north.  The first ten miles was serious potholes within potholes.  Why is it always that the biggest ones are within the tree shadows?  You would aim between two and directly at the center of a third.  Worried about bending a rim or pinching a tube.

You should enter for next year.

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

Had that pothole experience on the Lost Coast road with the '39 Ariel about 4 years ago - ugh!  Fortunately a short 150 mile loop. 

I'd love to enter, but the GTV's not quite ready...   Maybe an Ariel.  How do you enter?

Also, bikes have to be pre-'71, but some photos show newer bikes - Tonti Guzzis and '70s BMWs.  How does that work?   

[pehayes]

Maybe an Ariel.  How do you enter? 
Also, bikes have to be pre-'71, but some photos show newer bikes - Tonti Guzzis and '70s BMWs.  How does that work?   

You ask to be put on the mailing list.  I'll check it out for you.

The ride does have a bike age standard.  However, it also has a rooming capacity or participant maximum.  If they don't reach the capacity with qualified applications then they start letting in 'like-design' bikes from a few years newer.  I've seen V50's before.

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA

[Lumpy Idle]

i'd like to give this a try next year.  the bike that i have that comes closest to the age limit (just over) is an old honda cb350. the bike needs a carb but i have a year to get it sorted. if they let me in as an over the age limit add-on then i can go. sounds like great fun.

[Lannis]

It DOES sound like fun and I've got plenty of bikes that would qualify .... but it's a very long way from here so I'll content myself with reading about it and enjoying the pictures, which we ALL appreciate.

There were FAR more rough roads in the world back in the day when those bikes were built than there are now!   I expect they'll continue to do pretty well.

And I remember in 1999, when I made my first ride up to the Ohio Valley BSA Owner's Club rally, and won the "Longest Ride to the Rally on a BSA" (it was 450 miles or so), the trophy was about the size of the one you've got there.   If you think about that for a minute, and figure you're giving the trophy to a guy who RODE to the rally and therefore has only his bike to get him home ... well ....

The next year, I sponsored the award, and it was a nice little plaque that would fit in the bottom of a Craven pannier ... !!

Thanks again and congrats!

Lannis

[Lumpy Idle]

patrick can clarify this but it appears that the trophy has a number of plaques on it. this leads me to suspect that you don't actually take the trophy home but you get your name on the plaque and then the actual trophy resides in the ...uh...well, the uh... moto melee hall of fame and dance pavilion.

nevermind.  looks like he took it home.

[Chuck in Indiana]

I should have never let Mark at MGC talk me out of the one he had cheap.  "I know how you like to ride, and this won't do that.. "

[pehayes]

nevermind.  looks like he took it home.

Yes, one of the 'benefits' of trophy winning is that you get to take it home to disrupt your family room decor for a year.  Regina is mighty tolerant.  Yes, every year they add a plaque for the new winner.  Alas, I never get to see the plaque.  I have to return this thing a few weeks ahead of next year's event.  The plaque will then be applied so that the next victim gets to see it.  I just weighed it at 35 lbs.  Good thing I had my little truck to transport it home with my moto.

Patrick Hayes
Fremont CA