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G'day folk's I was looking for something the other day and stumbled upon this old Instamatic photo from 1977. Sorry about the quality! This bloody thing was my second bike after teaching myself to ride on my first,a Suzuki RV75 Van Van ( yep the one with the balloon tyres ). I swore I'd never take the wee zook off road and remember 60 k's an hour feeling bloody fast. Yep , sure enough I ended up taking it off-road! After about a year, my cousin got wind of another rider in the family and dropped round to see what was what.He raced a heavily modified CR125 in local motocross and knew what he was on about,so in due course I was convinced that a CR125 race bike was what I needed for my second bike and he'd help me find one! Now as mentioned earlier this was 1977 and I was 10 stone wringing wet and all arms and legs but a suitable machine was found.At this stage the early CR was slightly eclipsed by the newer RM zook and YZ Yammie but as a weekend plaything racing amongst mates it was still a weapon! Twenty horsepower and 80 kilos in weight none the less.Better than many 250 trail bikes of the time. I clearly remember my first ride, it took a couple of goes as there's nothing below 7500 and then everything from there to 10,500 whereupon the front wheel sits straight up, the back scrambles for traction and kicks out sideways on each gearchange and you just bang thru the gears without the clutch.At full noise in 6th the front's still in the air. We used to live about 200 metres or so from the beach in those distant days which meant that almost every spare bit of time was spent hammering this wee firecracker up the street n left onto Marine Parade and within a couple o clicks we were at the end of civilization and into bush / beach fire tracks etc and FUN TIME. Now between home and the wilderness lay Dads mates diary ( to ozzies a milk bar, to people in uk the corner shop USA ?? ) which I used to fly past at 65 mph, front wheel in the air and a racket that would've outdone a hundred banshees. Lance ( Dads mate ) was a good bloke ex stock car racer, drove a big block Chev Impala and still raced go Karts occasionally.He also kept a couple of Piranhas in a fish tank in the middle of the shop which was fun watching them being fed with chunks of meat if you happened in at feeding time. Anyways rather than being pissed off about it he thought it was hilarious as when I went past it used to rattle all the cans and bottles on his shelves and cracking him up. All up I had the CR for a couple of years before getting rid of it.She'd been rebored a few times and I'd broken the frame in two places ( too many big jumps & only 4 inches of travel ) and I also needed something I could ride on the road ( legally that is ) so she had to go. But bloody hell there's nothing like a 125 screamer to teach you how to ride eh! Still brings a smile to me and my ole mates and family still all these years later too. Anyways thanks for the indulgence that is nostalgia. Cheers Guzzler Ps How about you blokes> As lifelong bike nuts we've all got plenty to reminisce about ! I I

ok, here's one... 1971 separated US Army early May. This was taken late fall same year. My hair used to grow fast. When I got out I bought the fastest thing I could find. A '69 Mach III. A couple things of note... This was taken at Geist Reservoir outside Indianapolis, when it was owned by the good citizens of Indiana and the water Co. as a resource for water. Then the inevitable... You can't get near the water now unless you walk out someone back door. All private property. All very big $. My fatigue shirt shows signs of the remnants of the heavy starch we used to have done for the level of "Strac" required for Airborne troops. A great set of boots that were lost in Jamaica that winter to a Rastafarian with a pistol. All my money was in a secret pocket in the boot. Ahhh the memories. I add this beautiful bike to the long list fo stuff I should NeVeR have parted with. Ironic that I traded it after 2 years for a 1960 Austin Healey 100 Six... which I also sold.

I'd rather not know, Guzzler. I also had a 57 Pontiac convertible that for some reason is pretty valuable. Most of us probably would like the use of a time machine occasionally.

Unfortunately I don't have a pic of myself with my first motorcycle, but see a stock photo below. Yeah, a Bridgestone 175 Street Scrambler! Hahahahaha! I actually did try to ride it off road while accompanying my older brother on a Baja trip. The ribbed front tire left a little to be desired in the soft sand two tracks. I used nearly half of my one and only student loan to buy the little rotary valve twin screamer in 1970. It was followed by tens of other bikes, including for real dirt pounders. Now down to a 2005 DR650 and 2004 V11 Naked as the riding chapter winds down to a close. Total of eleven broken bones, but it's been fun (most of the time).

I had a 64, the first year of roll up widows IIRC. Got in a baby way and traded it for a Nash station wagon.

Multi enduro and Ktm 990 are both fantastic. Couldn’t decide, so ended up eventually having one of each. 990 is most definitely a better off road machine, although still nothing like a true dirt bike. The multi is magnificent beast, but at the weight and just overall size is brutal off-road. Realizing that you’ll need a helicopter to lift it out of a ravine if you dump it makes you ride nervous, which isn’t good. But it’s a fantastic road bike that also does fire roads with glee. The Ktm lives in Alaska, and the multi is my daily rider. As a properly obsessive Motörhead I have more to offer on all that, if you’re looking at either of those for your garage, but will stop there on this thread. The v11’s are my beloved mid summer bikes, and the ones I most like to futz with all winter.

Just saying, regret is a word I never use , I'l have another IPA. Cheers tom.

Success! Got the correct voltage check at rpm's. Took her for a nice 20 minute ride yesterday afternoon and all looks good so far. Battery reading 12.9 this morning about 12 hours sitting.

It's been 5 years since my Corso passed away. I miss having a dog. I picked her up a couple weeks ago, she's a 2 month old "Blue" Cane Corso. My God, I got a refresher course on what Hell Raiser's little puppy's can be :/

Or, you can do a small job with another regulator, feeding 14.73 V idling, directly to the battery. Then you can forget about the 30amp fuse. Cheers Tom Sent fra min SM-A505FN via Tapatalk

My uncle had a powder blue 4 door 57 pontiac when I was a kid in the early 60's, It looked like a big boat family car but that thing could fly!, It had a 346 v8, with Factory Tri Power and a 3 speed Dual Hydromatic transmission..My Cousin would drag race guys in their Hopped up Chevy's with 4 speeds from a rolling start and blow their doors off..very cool car...I liked it because it was a real sleeper.

S562 is in a sales ad. Lives in Germany

No, I'm a dedicated PC545 devotee. My theory, that I practice, is 1) since the PC545 takes significant amperage to charge, and 2) the V11 has some weaknesses in its charging system (regulator diodes, vulnerable 30 amp fuse, stator wires), I propose it is Best Practice to keep the Odyssey PC545 fully and correctly conditioned with approved external chargers/method to minimize strain on the charging system. I would not leave on my Sport with the battery under 12.65 volts without conditioning it. Some find it too much of a hassle, but I prefer to avoid the otherwise inevitable major hassle of the roadside variety.

Heh he That's quite a screamer right there too mate !! Cheers Guzzler

Any thoughts on how I'm going to repair the paint finish on my RM tank. Its bubbled next to the fuel tap. Only about 3-4 mm is visible when the tank if fitted I had a fuel leak from where the fuel tap connects to the tank. I've fixed that by replacing the o-ring (they are actually oval-rings) from local supplier as Guzzi agents in New Zealand had none. Make sure you get Viton ones which are impervious to petrol

Uh, jus' sayin' . . .

I acquired a new Slime air pump. I wore out the old one because I could never get a gas station chuck to clear the Sport's rear wheel. I wore out the the threads on the old one and too many missed engagements wore out the pump seals (I guess). 10 years and $20 dollars, RIP. The new one has the quick lever engagement. Took about a minute to get the rear filled from 30 to 40lb. Downside, it's about twice the size to store as the old one and only has a cardboard box rather than a vinyl case.

If it weren't for the 1,800 replies and 144,000 (!) views in these last five-or-so years on this topic, I would have said this Scud-guy was talking to himself. . .

The problem is this wire has too much resistance, it has to carry the same 30+ Amps peak current as the Red positive wire from the battery back through the regulator to the other end of the stator winding. The Red positive wire can afford a few Volts drop, the Voltage regulator takes care of that but the Black Negative cannot afford any Voltage drop, half a Volt there is taken directly from the battery Voltage Reference. Remember the voltage regulator is hanging on a bracket that's not even grounded properly, just accidentally grounded where the paint scrubbed off. A short wire from the regulator case to a timing cover screw is like a massive cable through the mass of the engine/gearbox to the fat battery ground. It's only the earlier Ducati Energia regulators that need grounding, the later bikes have a direct connected regulator as shown, item (22)

I worked on RV's for some years. They're full of Maxifuses. I've seen a lot. What you have here is a classic case of 'shyte Chinese fuse'. See how the terminal spade is as thin as the 'fuse blow' bridge? No mystery here, the fuse is very marginal if in fact capable of seeing 30 amps. I'd wager if you blow it intentionally, you won't see 25 amps. It simply overheats the thin area and over time melts the plastic, and heats all the surrounding contacts. Simply shyte, $0.0001 saved on materials x 5 billion pieces. Find a 30A fuse that doesn't have any thin areas besides the blow bridge. You'll probably have to order online, and they'll cost $5.00 each.

Congratulations. My experience is that as soon as my wife got addicted to an evening TV show, I got to use that time productively (aka sit in the garage all night). Wiring? I got nuthin'

I think you will have a hard time finding a better fuse block than the OEM one, granted the 30 Amp is a problem although I still have mine. I doubt the M-unit will handle the charging any better than the OEM

I'm not sure I answered this very well. The HRN (horn) fuse and silver (headlight) circuit breaker get dedicated hot feeds from the terminal block. It does not stay "bare," but has a cover. Also visible is the rubber guard over the corner of the ECU which covers its ground and is vulnerably close to the positive battery terminal. The terminal block holds the hot feeds for the horns, headlights, GPS, SAE accessory plug, power to Fuses 4 & 5, and a clamping point (capped in red) for direct charging or voltage readings since the positive battery terminal itself is not very accessible. Beyond the wiring, but still electrical: labels for the row of OMRON High Current relays, relocated signal flasher, detailed fuse function chart (inverted for roadside viewing), and [CarlAllison] wiring diagram in the tool tray.

Thanks, Chuck. Good to know. I didn't even add a terminal end in order to minimize the number of connections. Perhaps this latest approach will hold for a good long time. Alternate Method E ! Which begs the question.. What gets used for wire connections in airplanes? Presumably the very best possible, most reliable connection? Can we use them here? Sure we can use them. It's just a crimped connection with an aircraft crimper.. and.. aircraft terminals. Let me dig through my pictures, and I'll be back. Maybe in the morning..

My local auto electrician offered me an automobile fuse & fuse holder. Its not red, but it is cheap, and is not so big that the seat won't latch down. See the pink fuse in the bottom RH corner of attached photo.

You see, that is Luigi's plan. If he doesn't grease the steering head bearings, everything on the front end is grounded through them.

I like DeOxit gold. I think they call it gold because of the price. It only costs a little more to go first class, though. Probably overkill for a Guzzi. Just the same, I've fixed a ton of electrical problems with it. The Kid fixed a $5000 relay on a helicopter.. So many times, it's just a little corrosion and DeOxit cleans it up and keeps it clean for a year or so. Oh. Doesn't affect plastic like a lot of contact cleaners. I could sell the stuff..