500 mile Monza weekend

[SED]

Our local old bike club has an annual rally around this time.  Weather looked good so took the Monza.  It's got a V65 engine that runs sweetly.  Normally I don't take it on long trips because it needs another inch of leg room - but this is 150-200 mile days. 





Plenty of Guzzis in our club (Washington Vintage Motorcyclists).

There were 5 more Guzzis - two beautiful Eldos, a Nevada, a Griso and a Norge.  One thing that is fun is the eclectic group of bikes on any ride.




Decided on a loop to visit Grand Coulee Dam.  Also passed Chief Joseph Dam so it was a dam good ride.   


          


Stopped for lunch in Grand Coulee (La Presa Mexican) and 5 more bikes pulled in as we were leaving including 3 more Guzzis - two Grisos and new 1400 California from Canada.
This shot includes 2 '70s Eldos, Monza, California 1400, 2 Grisos, Aprila, Elgi Vincent, Triumph Speed Triple & Tiger, BMW R100S & GS and a Yamaha FJ.  That's 5 times as many Guzzis as Yamahas!






Monza got 60 miles/gallon on this loop according to Vaguelia.  The Monza has always been a likable bike, but I like it more now than ever - light, nimble and remarkably quick.
Glamor shot.  Ridden thousands of miles with their owners (mostly on the LMIII).


 


It was a great weekend with friends.  Mark is more of a Flying Brick kinda guy but his smile says it all.








 

[Chuck in Indiana]

Dam fine trip report.  A Monza with a little more power has to be a hoot.. 

[oldbike54]

 Yes yes yes , great report 

 Dusty

[Diploman]

Sweet bike!  Great idea to swap in a V65 engine - I read your excellent write-up of the project, which turned out to be a little more complicated than it might at first appear.  Glad it is working out well for you.

 I think the early series smallblocks with beveled head finning (ie, marginally adequate cooling, according to Pete) have a greater need for and benefit more from a sump extender like the one on your Monza than do the current V7 series smallblocks, which have revised heads with significantly more finning/cooling area.  The extended sump spreads out the cooling load over a larger volume of oil and more area to radiate heat.  I am also thinking of adding some aftermarket heatsink finning to the extender on my V50.  I'm looking for a good heat-transfer adhesive that will create a secure bond.  Suggestions?

[SED]

Glad you enjoyed the report.

The 650 Monza is great fun.  It seems way better than the sum of its parts - at least to me.   

Diploman - I recall seeing something about heat sink adhesive and got a lot of positive hits from google.  Looks like some of the options are epoxy so could stand up to the vibration and oils.

That said, I wonder if extra fining on the sump would do much?  The heat is generated in the combustion chamber so timing and mixture should have the biggest effect I'd think.  Perhaps the fin guards would add a little sumpthin' extra out in the breeze.

Thanks for the props on the conversion write-up too - worthwhile project! 

[Chuck in Indiana]

The 650 Monza is great fun.  It seems way better than the sum of its parts - at least to me.   

As far as I'm concerned, the 500 Monza is better than the sum of it's parts. It's a special motorcycle. A little more power would only make it better. 

[Diploman]

SED, re your suggestion about fin guards:

I fitted these Ed Milich fin guards because:

1.) They have proven tough and effective in crashes, used on all the small block racers he prepares.
2.) They attach directly to the head, drawing off heat, which is radiated from a considerable cooling surface.  In operation, the fin guards do get quite hot, so they in effect act as supplemental cooling fins.
3.) I think they look cool.

[Chuck in Indiana]

FWIW, a set of those came on the Monza I had. I gave them away.  To me, they looked entirely too strong, and I thought they could do more damage than they would prevent. IMHO, a head guard should be sacrificial. <shrug>
I've been wrong before, though.. and maybe am again. 

[Diploman]

Chuck, I agree that the principal function of a head guard is to absorb energy in a crash and thus keep the bike's cylinder heads from having to do this at the expense of damage.  The head guard, as you say, needs to play a sacrificial role.  I have some close-up experience with how these Milich head guards perform in a crash.  A Guzzisti friend (not on this forum) and I were riding together on an October morning, he on his T3, me on my SP.  His bike was fitted with Milich head guards.  Going around a medium-tight left curve at about 40 MPH, his bike suddenly went down ahead of me, rider and bike sliding separately to the side of the road in rapid deceleration.  I managed to evade both and stopped as quickly as I could. Fortunately, my friend, a stickler for AGATT, was shaken but not injured.  His T3, remarkably, had only two damaged components: a scraped muffler, and a deformed but intact head guard, whose tip was eroded from road contact by about 1/2 inch.  The head guard grinding into the road surface clearly was the major energy- absorbing feature, but the thick, sturdy guard itself was quite visibly bent from the forces it had absorbed.  The T3's left cylinder had not a scratch.  We righted his bike and it started immediately.  After he regained his composure, we continued our ride.  We determined that the crash was caused by a patch of wet leaves that were practically invisible on the road in a mottled area of shadows.  Just like hitting ice!  I was so impressed by the excellent protection afforded by the Milich head guards that I ordered a set for both my SP and my V50.  I would much rather have a headguard tip grinding away than a cylinder head if a bike goes down.   In my opinion, these headguards are a very fine accessory, well-designed, sturdy, do their intended job well and definitely worth the price.

http://www.guzzipower.com/store/Headguard.html

[Muzz]

Dam fine trip report.  A Monza with a little more power has to be a hoot.. 

Chuck, Kev's (Steamdriven) Monzada is an absolutely beautiful wee bike.  The 750 Nevada engine really transforms the Monza.