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The SPIII is a great bike for SOLO touring. It is very uncomfortable for 2-up touring. It handles great, has the best 2 valve motor Guzzi made, gets great mileage and has decent weather protection thought the fairing generates a lot of noise. I routinely got over 200 miles and as much as 275 miles from a tank of gas.
If you truly want an "adventure" style bike and it has to be a Guzzi get a Stelvio or the V85TT. If you are open to other brands I choose just about any other Adventure bike before the Quota. While the Quota is neat and the motor/trans are good the rest of the bike parts are like rocking horse poop. Also there is very little aftermarket stuff for it so unless you are a fabricator or the bike fits you as is don't you'll be out of luck trying to make it yours. I liked a lot of stuff about my Quota and it was what taught me that Adventure bikes were for me. Unfortunately I also really disliked some other stuff about it namely wind noise, EXTREAME buffeting the likes I've never experienced before and erratic fuel economy. What I liked best was signing the title over to the buyer as I was not sure Id find one. Guzzi's are the fringe of motorcycling Quotas and Converts are on the fringe of Guzzi.
If you wear size 15 cow pasture pumps like I do you won't like the SP. I like a big side stand so I can park on everything but quick sand. Mileage is only a number so 50K isn't much as I know at least 30 riders with over 100K on Guzzis. I second the idea of getting both and selling the one you don't like.Good luck,Tex
Here is some personal experience with California's and a Quota.My first Goose was a 1996 Cali 1100i, man what a comfortable bike that was with it's Ned's seat on it. I had a 2000 BMW R1100RT concurrently with it and, oh probably Sturgis of 2003 I rode it 850 miles to the Sturgis Rally instead of the RT. I parked out front of the Sturgis BMW dealer and one of the salesmen walked by and kinda snickered at it. I said "What so funny?" He said it was kind of an odd looking bike. I responded by saying "Don't laugh too hard, I have a 3 year old RT at home and I rode my 7 year old California because it is more comfortable." He just kind of curled up and walked away.The fuel injection was a little snatchy and not brilliant on the 1996 but I have no doubt it is still out there somewhere still running today. The mistake I made in 2005 was letting Jim at Ned's allow me to take a 2004 hydro motored EV11 for a test drive. The fueling on that bike was light years ahead of the 1996. I was hooked and bought one and got to live through the lifter and single plate clutch problems. Before I bought the EV I noticed the Quota sitting on the sales floor for half the price of the EV but I went ahead and bought the EV. My best friend bought the Quota with big aluminum panniers. (Man those bags could haul a whole lot of groceries)I kept the EV for a couple years. Between the time of the 1100i and the EV they shrunk the passenger seat down in size on the EV (my girlfriend barely fit and it increased my reach to the bars and would give me lower backaches on longer rides.) The EV had a fantastic engine though.Meanwhile my buddy kept the Quota for 8 years before he finally sold it to me then I ended up keeping 8 years myself. I was just musing to myself the other day, that is the longest I have ever owned any motorcycle, probably the longest of any motor vehicle.I have heard about complaunts of bad turbulence on Quotas but with the tallest Gustafsson windshield and plastic side deflectors it had a quieter pocket than my Stelvio has.Don't let any Naysayers talk you out of a Quota. I ABSOLUTELY LOVED that bike! When you'd start it it would make a mechanical cacophony and shake, rattle and roll like an old Willy's Jeep but like an old Willys it was mechanically simple and dead-a$$ reliable chuffing along.Would the Quota be the bike I would look to take 1000 miles to the Rockies? No, but that is not really the tool for 1000 miles of super-slab. I would however love to ride one through the paved curves of the Rockies.If someone told me I could only have one bike for the rest of my life, the Quota would be way up there around the top of that list trying to decide on which one to pick. The California's.... not so much, but they are great anti-Harleys.Spaghetti2009 Victory Vision2015 Moto Guzzi Stelvio
Not rocket science. It's a bike. Get the one that trips your trigger & don't look back.
So here are some more in depth thoughts about my experiences with my 2004 EV I purchased new in '05.Beautiful bike. Beautiful mellow sound.Like I said earlier they shrank the passenger accommodations on that bike, so if you are going to take a passenger on any of your trips MAKE SURE they go on a test ride with you before you buy it. She may want to kill you a few miles into the ride. Of course passengers weren't thrilled about the Quota seat either.The engines and fuel injection on those bikes were wonderful. It has a beautiful mellow sound from the pipes. The stock fairing and windshield had horrible dirty air spilling over the top and felt like it was going to tug my hair loose on a helmetless ride. The tallest Gustafsson made it just tolerable.Funny thing about the Italians, they must have short legs and ape long arms according to the riding position on this bike. The smaller passenger seat lets them put a longer driver's seat on this bike which can exacerbate the long reach to the handlebars for a 5' 8" guy. Of course there are always barbacks, but this bike put me in a rather extreme Harley slouch, which can be tolerated if your pelvis is held in a good position...... But it didn't. Hold it in a good position that is and it would really stretch the muscles in my lower back to the point of misery on a long ride. Make sure you acclimate yourself to an EV before launching cross country.A good set of Metzlers on the EV will make it feel better in curves than a Harley does on Dunlops. At least back in the day that was true.Once the cam and single plate clutch recall had been done, and I assume they all have been by now, it was a pretty sweet ride.It did leave me along side the road more than once. This bike liked to push the rubber fuel hose off the fuel pump outlet inside the tank because they did not put any barbs on the pump outlet and according to Mike Haven at MPH the Midwest's "corngas" was prone to swelling the rubber hose and that allowed it to come off the outlet via inside pressure pushing on it. Not a big deal if it happens. Pull to the side of the road take the tank off and put the hose back onto the pump. I remember carrying a 7mm wrench for just such occasions. I don't remember it ever happening with a full tank of fuel. That surely would have made for a sloppy mess and somebody doubtless would have had a spot of dead grass in their ditch. If memory serves I bought an American corngas friendly hose from NAPA. I assume this fixed it, I only kept this bike for two years. Three years is probably average for me on bike ownership. Like I said before I kept the Quota for 8 years.As for the Quota wonky fuel injection, yes the single throttle body is different. Never had ANY problems with it. I gave it one excellent synching and didn't look back. Fuel mileage with the Tour Tech aluminum cans was always 34mpg. Every. Single. Tank.It would go up if you took the bags off but I rarely did. Why would yah? There was more than once I went grocery shopping and once inside the store I forgot I didn't bring the car and bought too much. I always managed to carry everything I had accidentally overbought.The Hepco Beckers on the EV were plenty roomy even though they were only made of blow molded plastic. Good solid locking latches. Plus there is a luggage rack.So what am I saying here? If I had to choose an EV or Quota for an 800 mile trip to the Rockies? I would probably choose the EV for the Interstate riding and it would be excellent on the curvy mountain roads. Especially if you are already coming from the Harley cruiser world but, a Quota is like your favorite old blue jeans that you just don't know how you would ever get along without them. It is that that one tool at work that always seems to be in your hand for the job to be done. It is your favorite hound dog that is always there by your side. (Anybody here remember Old Yeller? Who cried when old Yeller got shot? Nobody cried when old Yeller got shot......right.) Spaghetti
Thanks for all the advice and stories. I picked up the bike today
As solid as the rocks behind it…Nice metaphor…
+1 on what Spaghetti said wrt the 7mm wrench. I also carried a little tiny Allen wrench so I could remove the gas cap when the plastic seal swelled.Internal fuel pump means submersible fuel lines are a must.MG sells both an all steel fuel cap and a submersible fuel line kit.If the motor is sorted it's a treat to drive.I bought Radguzzi's '04 and put many trouble free miles on it. The ITI speedo snit the bag years ago, but as near as I and the current owner can tell it's approaching the 400,000km mark.It's still in active service.Cheers!G
You should be renamed “WG Prophet”. Solid word your building this house out of
I’d go for WG profit…!