Of course, this is long; you expect nothing else.
I include a link, below, to my pix of our trip to Swanzey, N.H., for the 2015 national rally.
I have culled � tho it might not seem like it! � my bazillion pix into fewer � but still lots, and added captions.
These words accompany that collection because it is difficult for captions to tell some details of the Norge�s woes.
FWIW, I disabled �slideshow� because it would not display the captions, so you have to scroll down thru the photos.
Our group of six riders (three Norges and three �other brands,� followed by Kathi and Sue in our Mini) left Cross Junction on Wednesday morning, following the general route I had posted in the rally thread, i.e., a wide sweeping arc generally following the curve of the Appalachian spine. In other words, except for occasional pavement issues, the roads and scenery were great. Spent the first night in what has to be the newest and nicest Best Western in that chain.
We arrived in Swanzey on Thursday evening.
Kathi and I visited the rally on Friday, and then Kathi took me �hiking,� something she�d been hoping to do while there. I figured that she had put up with a lot for this trip and that the least I could do was to do that. It was way more than the �least.� Lordy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Monadnock.
On Saturday, we returned to the rally and joined the Wegmans, Joe (Mojohand), and Lannis for a local-area ride. Nice countryside, but some very rough roads. Got back into Keene and, in the middle of town, the Norge died. I got it off the road into a closed business parking lot and tried to restart. Nope.
Hmmmmmm. Bob Wegman and Joe circled back to help.
Various others appeared and left when all pretty much realized that all could be done was being done.
Symptoms/observations at the scene?
When I tried to restart, nothing.
Turning off the system and turning back on brought the regular �sweep,� but thumbing the starter did nothing, tho I could hear the click of a low battery �trying.�
Pulled the saddle and tightened the connections which were, while not loose, able to be snugged down a bit more. The dash showed the battery �in the 11�s.� We swapped out the battery with Bob�s, and it started, but would not charge.
A 30A fuse was melted into a plastic blob, and the pix show some other resulting electrical �wrongness."
I spoke with Charles Sandoz, owner of Seacoast Sport Cycles in Derry �
http://seacoastsport.com � and the supporting Guzzi dealer at the rally. As a result, I had the Norge towed there. I simply cannot say enough good things about Seacoast, with special mention to Charles, Jason, Kyle, and Pat. See
http://seacoastsport.com/our-team/ for more about them. They all went way out of their way to help a stranded Guzzi guy. Bear in mind, too, that Seacoast is a BIG Ducati dealer, with Guzzi a seeming sideline. Sure couldn�t tell that from the way they treated us.
Rather than babble on about what I think I heard, here are the service notes from my (first) visit there:
Everything seemed good when we left on Tuesday evening, intending to make it to Keene that night (where we had a room reserved) and then the rest of the way over the next two days.
The electrical problem seemed resolved.
Unfortunately, about 20 miles down the road, the Norge exhibited a new issue: at stops for lights, etc., the idle would drop to near zero, sound as if on one cylinder, and die unless kept at high RPM.
I called Seacoast, which would close before I could get back, but they waited for me. They tried a few �quick fixes,� all of us knew it needed tomorrow to be looked at properly.
So, Kathi I drove to Keene, spent the night at a �lesser� Best Western than that in Carbondale, and returned to Derry the next morning. Kathi was exceedingly anxious to get to Fort Bragg � where she is now � to help our s-i-l, daughter, and family get unpacked and settled in to quarters. But, she was most sympathetic and accommodating to our new reality. Have I mentioned that Kathi is an indulgent wife?
Here�s the second work order with comments.
The incorrect hook-up of the hoses was my fault. Should have taken pix when I took the tank off. Doh.
Unfortunately, while the Norge seemed to be OK and ran fine for first many miles (50?), the idle-drop issue returned and plagued me off and on for the next 700! When underway at speed, this was not a concern at all. And, as about 99% of my return was on near-trafficless back roads, I was able to get by as it was. Still, need to address this soon.
OBTW, as great as were the roads to N.H. my route back was even better.
From Cornish, took Vermont SR 4 to 100, then south to Wilmington; 9 to the N.Y. line and suffered through Troy and Albany a bit before wandering down the near-deserted area of, e.g., Preston Hollow, Conesville, and Grand Gorge. Then, N.Y. 30 was virtually deserted all the way down to near Hancock. Wow. Smooth pavement, no cars (including the kind with blue lights), and perfect �S� runs along a branch of the Delaware River. There�s more, but I�ll have to study my trip log to recall the specifics. No need for that now.
Did get to visit Waltr at the amazing Guzzi dealership in Lewisberry, near Harrisburg. Met Dennis and Lori, too. All great folks.
http://www.europamacchina.com/home.html See my pix, and you'll understand my reaction.
Have to say that despite the flames that the TomTom Rider draws, it did a great job for me on this trip. Took me some getting used to, but I am now comfortable with and like it.
Back to the Norge. I am going to (yes, finally, Pete & Mark!) order the Guzzidiag cables and get smart with that tool, but I am having Mike at Winchester MS do the Navigator thing and balance TB next week.
In the meantime, Jim Barron (once Jim's customer, always Jim's customer; pretty cool, really) called to muse aloud about the possibility of all of this being somehow related to the clutch switch. Obviously, he isn�t �touching� the Norge from long distance, but he had a problem with that switch that cause similar symptoms on another Norge relatively recently. I will look into that this week as Kathi�s gone and can�t hear me cursing when I chase little springs into nooks and crannies.
But, the Norge did run wonderfully on the roads at speed. I do love that sweet machine.
And, we all had a fine time in the to-and-from New England and while there. We especially enjoyed visiting our friends in Cornish �
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornish,_New_Hampshire � and going to the St. Gaudens National Park,
http://www.nps.gov/saga/index.htm.
Oh, almost forgot; here�s the link to my pix
:
http://bill-and-kathi.smugmug.com/Sashaying-to-Swanzey-in-2015/n-NR8Rrf/Bill
