New Moto Guzzi Door Mats Available Now
I'm not trying to be obtuse, but I'm failing to see where a comma might be properly inserted in the quote, but then the quote is such a fragment perhaps I'm missing the context?
Yes you are Kev, but that's part of your charm.
A comma BETWEEN the noun "hand" and the verb "relief" would indicate relief FOR your hand...Now, a comma BEFORE noun "hand" would conjoin the noun and the verb to form the term "hand relief".Now I know you understood that, but you dragged me out anyway.
an inexpensive throttle lock to give your go hand, relief.
an inexpensive throttle lock to give your go, hand relief.
an inexpensive throttle lock to give your go-hand some relief.
an inexpensive throttle lock to give some relief to your go-hand.
an inexpensive throttle lock to provide some relief for your go-hand.
Things I wish someone would have told me when I first started riding highway at the age of 15: 1. Take the MSF Basic Rider Course. It decreases insurance premiums too. Done2. It's not a matter of IF you're going to crash, it's a matter of WHEN you're going to crash. Stay ready for it. Sad, but true.3. Wet pavement is slick. Wet center-lines are like ice. Arizona doesn't get much. When it does, I'm too busy watching it to ride in it. I'll make a point of taking a few rain rides, after I get some more saddle time, to get the feel.4. Don't ride with those that are more experienced, until you are equal. You'll only feel pressured to keep up. That's dangerous. I'll catch up. Eventually. 5. Don't worry about the bike. It'll be fine. Just enjoy the scenery and keep it out of the ditch I like the way you think!6. 98% of all motorcycle accidents are not the bikes fault. I'm invisible!7. Don't try and be cool. Keep the helmet on. Trust me on that one. I've got more cool factors than y'all can take. ATGATT makes me tolerable! A side note of opinion only...I taught the MSF course for many years. Both when I was in the military, and then upon returning to civilian life. I strongly advise AGAINST any kind of throttle assistance, luggage, riding 2-up, etc, until you have some experience with that particular bike under your belt. You're gonna be busy enough learning about the bike, its behaviors, handling, braking, etc. Don't worry about the nick-nacks just yet. It'll come to you what you need in no time. Probably will never need it.Be safe and welcome to the madhouse. THANKS!!!
I didn't get the impression that GG is a tiny shrinking violet, and with a military(?) background is probably pretty tough and gritty.If you listen to too many people you'll just end up with a hotchpotch of ideas that don't mesh and it'll get confusing and conflicting. Go to places where lots of similar bikers hang out and you'll see what works. Enjoy the bastard, good on you
One piece of advice (especially if you're riding in Arizona). Don't let it sit at idle for too long without moving. An.... hour say ... is way too long. Don't ask me how I know. Filter if you can and it's comfortable; pull over for a nice meal and something cool to drink if it's nearby. After my oops, the dealer said they don't idle the bikes longer than about 10 minutes. I'm sure that's really conservative but it's a guideline.And truly, enjoy the heck out of it. A nice bike with a lot of character. You'll have fun.
As a safety item you might want to change your tail light to a brighter bulb. The Sylvania ZEVO 2357R is a direct replacement and is available from Amazon.
One thing I found out in the last couple of days has made riding my V7 III a lot smoother - disable the traction control system! P 92 of the Stone owners manual.Unfortunately, I don't think you can disable it permanently and have to do it every time you turn on the ignition, but lowering the level to 1 helps and it will remember that setting.This will help make gearchanges much smoother. I thought it was me at first. but no, it's the traction control (on a 52 bhp motorcycle!!!)
Another um, area to consider is...underwear...
Cangrats and welcome to the crazy world of Guzzi!!
One other thing I've learned from top notch riding instructors. Take a few moments and think about what "being invisible" means. Where will you position the bike in traffic? At entrance/exit of highways? Shopping malls? Understanding how to "present yourself" in traffic?<snip>Or, looked at another way, which may assist you in the coming years. As a former professional SCUBA and mixed gas instructor (I know kev m dives so I'm sure he can relate and join in on this) I had the opportunity to train many folks with years of experience as well as new divers. One of the very first challenges presented to experienced divers was a self assessment of their skills with the question "Do you have XXX amount of years experience or do you have one years experience repeated over XXX years?" You'll never stop learning about survival on a street bike and you have a wonderful machine to explore all this with. Have fun and be safe.
Off topic: did you go to Jon's NYS track event again this year?
A good place to start is a small book by David Hough called "Street Strategies" which is a short collection of one page scenarios of typical street dangers and specific ways to handle them. I refer to mine often as a refresher.I was told at 15 by an old Harley rider that you get two buckets when you buy a motorcycle. One is filled with luck and the other is labeled experience and is empty. You job is to fill the empty bucket prior to emptying the full one.You'll never stop learning about survival on a street bike and you have a wonderful machine to explore all this with. Have fun and be safe.
I like the bucket analogy.On presentation that's a good point. YES ride like you're invisible from a standpoint of never assume they see you. But that doesn't mean you don't do things to help make sure they DO see you (lane positioning, occasional weave or use of high beam if situation arises). I think one of the most dangerous situations is say when a car is waiting to pull out from a side street on your right (left in front of you) and YOU ARE FOLLOWING SOMEONE who is turning right in front of that car. The vehicle in front of you can completely shroud/screen you from the left turner. It's tempting to accelerate and pass the car getting out of your way, but unless you can see the car trying to turn left AT ALL TIMES don't do it as they may go when they realize the car in front of you is turning and in essence blocking you and any traffic behind you. I cover the brake the whole time, avoid too much acceleration, and sometimes wait for the car in front of me to have turned and be completely out of the way and I'm as certain as I can be that the left turner isn't going to go for it before I proceed.On the Scuba thing I think the take away is that you shouldn't ever fully let your guard down. I think many accidents happen when a rider has SOME experience, maybe 6 months or a year and they start to get cocky. The think "I got this" and let their guard down then BAMN. But that doesn't mean that 20 or 30 years later we might not make the same mistake. So yeah, HONEST self-assessment. I've trained in the martial arts since high school and one thing I tell my students or fellow karateka is that "Karate is volunteering to be Sisyphus" and in some ways so is deciding to ride a motorcycle.
