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Big day today wandering around Mandello. Still packed with Guzzi enthusiasts. I got the hear an old bicylindrica running (the 120 degree V twin 500cc GP bike from the thirties to the 50's if memory serves) and also got to sit on a Guzzi V8. I didn't get to see it running due to timing issues (me being around) but I heard it run twice during the day from 1/2 a klm away when it was started up. I also had the great privilege of visiting the preserved workshop of Giorgio Ripamonti who was a teacher of the young Carlo Guzzi and in this workshop with his help the very first Moto Guzzi called the "GP" was built and assembled. I spent 1/2 hour talking to his grandson who spoke very good English. On this very anvil and in this tiny workshop at this hearth Carlo Guzzi and Giorgio Ripamonti created the very first Guzzi.

One for docc and scudd. The wife and I are so taken with Mandello we are looking at properties here. Six months a year here would be quite agreeable.

I could only see one Quota at 29'30. People from all over Europe. You can easily recognize the UK and German tags. They are so large!

@Lucky Phil Confermo, semi di grano 👍🏻, é uno dei tanti luoghi incantevoli del nostro Lago…volendo potrei scrivere per ore, consigliandoti come districarsi tra panorami mozzafiato, ottimi ristoranti e buon vino. Personalmente non tralascerei alcune delle attrazioni facilmente raggiungibili dalla tua base, come il Castello di Vezio, Villa Monastero e la passeggiata degli innamorati a Varenna…una volta lí, potrai bere dell’ottimo vino (a prezzi molto bassi e onesti per il luogo) dal mio amico Hermes https://maps.app.goo.gl/jJcKQ6F6hVpRUeYu6?g_st=com.google.maps.preview.copy Mandello in questi giorni é caos!!! Ma puoi provare a muoverti in treno. @Lucky Phil I'm very happy to have met you and your lovely lady, too bad about the language barrier (unfortunately it's my limit)… I would have liked to talk to you longer and better. I hope you will keep good memories of Mandello and Italy

I like YELLOW

Boy those spines are good looking bikes

You have a true Cafe Racer there Josh, and it runs and sounds great.

No "summary of changes" in the newer versions, the main difference between earlier and latest versions being the coverage of more recent models. Up to the V85TT in the latest publication(V.9)

Hey Phil - That looks like a great adventure. I got close to Mandello once, but not close enough. I had a rented BMS GS - and chased a Moto Guzzi Stelvio up the Stelvio pass. Gearing up for a 500 mile ride across central Nevada tomorrow on my Stelvio.

Thanks for the tips, I'm hoping Monday is a little less fraught and we can tour around a bit more. I plan on visiting Agostinis while I'm here just to say I've been there. I've bought stuff off them in the past including the mufflers still fitted to my bike. Images from our hotel room. We're up in the hills. Very pretty up here. Phil

We’re jealous Phil! hopefully the post-covid “revenge travel” crowds are receding for your visit. the masses of people over there have been maddening the last couple years (a topic i think elsewhere on this forum). That east side of Lake Como has for many years been one of my favorite places to visit, just hated to see such crowds jamming up everything. we usually stay in Perledo, close to Mandello, and high up the hill for the outstanding views, while the masses of people were confining themselves mostly to the towns of varenna and bellagio. the moto-touring to the east (or northeast of Mandello) to Esino and Passo Agueglio is truly enjoyable… no cars, great scenery, enjoyable roads. If up there, I recommend a great little cafe in Esino, Locanda Montefiori (sp?). and can’t remember the name of the guy upstairs at agostinis… he’s been there for years, doing parts sales and guzzi rentals. nice guy, and good to put a face with a name for if you ever order parts/gear from Ago’s.

Same for me in 1997, closed. This time I waited to make a booking online which you need to do now but they only open the bookings a month in advance. When I went to make a booking the time of my visit was booked out! Then I found out about the big Guzzi weekend thats on now and we went down to town and just walked in with everyone else. They were obviously not taking bookings over the special weekend period. Got there anyway at last. It's totally manic in Mandello at the moment with a gazillion people and streets blocked off to cars. It's no place to be seeking out alternative routes to your Hotel through the maze of super narrow back streets half of which are one way. We drove to Bellano for the day today to get away from Mandello and the drive through town was a nightmare. Will walk the 2klm into town from now on even though it's the steepest 2 klm walk you've ever seen. Just not worth the agro in the car.

More from the museum. Met up with V11_meticcio today. He rode his Guzzi up to our hotel in the mountains and we had a nice chat. Very nice guy and very happy to meet him. Grazie Mille, Massimiliano. Phil

skip , you sure look happy !

https://www.leccotoday.it/motori/motoraduno-guzzi-2004-apertura-.html

Thanks for checking in, @Skip! Fascinating train history. great to know it has been restored and plying the rails, once again . . . https://www.up.com/cs/groups/public/@uprr/@newsinfo/documents/up_pdf_nativedocs/pdf_up_media_4014_fact_sheet.pdf

Hey there Doc and all the other SSR-20 participant's , I finally got a chance to sit down at my computer and check in. I had an absolutely wonderful time hanging around with all of you, eating, drinking, a tech session, and even some time riding the Skyway and the Tale. Also had a chance to spend Friday with my son Joshua who came up from Atlanta just for the day. We took to the plains right behind Hardies and flew RC gliders and FPV drones. The reason it took so long to check in is that I decided to take a side trip to Rachelle, Illinois to watch the Union Pacific 4014 BIG BOY steam locomotive arrive and depart the old town railroad station. (and yes it is HUGE) Whistle blowing, steam hissing, black coal smoke belching, and all other kinds of mechanical noises, it was truly a site to witness. Hope everybody had a great time at the SSR-20, I'm sure you all did. I'll keep my fingers crossed in hope for next years RADE-21. Cheers to ALL SKIP

I did! And it is!

Yes, it's difficult to believe that our spine frames are in the 20-to-24-year category. I have owned my Coppa almost 10years. Keep up the good work in restoring yours. it's a labor of love. In a few years I will qualify for Historical Plates. Regards, Joe

The movie did the man no real justice in the grand scheme of things. The book is a must read as is what I'm currently reading on a totally different theme, "The Gulag Archipelago" by Aleksander Solzhenitsyn. A truly remarkable and disturbing story. Not only was it instrumental in the bringing down communist Russia but gives insight into the Russian mindset. Phil

https://www.motorwebmuseum.it/en/places/mandello-del-lario/history-of-carlo-guzzi-inventor-of-the-two-wheeled-legend/

Still watching for @Skip to check in . . .

Man, I first caught a glimpse of that pic and thought: what was Jeff Bridges doing there?

This fine fellow brought an iceboat-load of enthusiasm to share. Watching for him to check in after his long drive home . . .

This is the second SSR that @Tellico Andrew has offered to share his local knowledge and take us new places, or along new routes. Another cool cat we are lucky to call "SpineRaider " . . .

It was a beautiful ride. Hope more folks join in on it next year. I know it skips the Skyway and Tapoco but it was great.

FWIW, Andrew and Randy took a ride South that I wasn't up to, and lament; it's my regular path in and out of the 'raid. Next year I may suggest, if the weather is as nice, lunch in Helen, GA.

No Goozzees were harmed in the making of these marks! [Pirellis are replacement items, after all . . . ]

Ah, yah, man: The Cherohala Skyway. I know you are fond of this source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherohala_Skyway And this image from https://cherohala.com/ . . .

It has occurred to me that, when we asked @Randy about where his "friends" were for the BikeWash, he pretended to be deep into some sort of TechSession. mySport came home dirty . . .

Thanks to all of the SSR XX participants, it was tremendous! Great people, great roads, great location and the best motorcycles.

@Tellico Andrew on point with @Randy's Coppa Italia in pursuit . . .

Well , now that it is behind me. I just started a new job 08/12 working 6-10s w/no time off ..great money and supposed to last 18 mos. Guess what happens 09/09 ? 50% of us were laid off. I could have taken the plunge w/the same results. "life is what happens while making plans"

After twenty years, this is now etched in binary code (closest thing to stone there is ): Weekend After (US) Labor Day. Tellico Plains, Tennessee Get There. Bring Tools.

I've been suffering from acute FOMO all weekend, not being able to make it. Looks like you all had an epic time! I'm hoping to be retired in a year, and will plan to make a week of it, and meet you all in-person next spine raid! Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

And, there was "modernity" . . .

There were Sports . . .

There were SpineFrames . . .

Best regards to all Twentieth South'n Spine Raiders ! What a great bunch of people, fabulous roads, terrific weather, and proper TechSessions (without anything too dramatic) !

You blokes have good weekend. If all goes according to plan, I'll be spending a Guzzi weekend here. Tents instead of cabins, not enough "facilities", but good people and a group ride on Saturday through beautiful countryside. https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/854709452#map=19/50.706699/11.326726

The Lodge is cloudless at the moment. 3:49pm Thursday.

Anyone crossing The Appalachian Divide should know that "feels like 90º" on The Plains (of Tellico) can "feel like" the upper 40ºs on The Cherohala after a little dampness/shower/fog/cloud ceiling with wind chill at speed. FWIW, I am using the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) and other storm focused weather apps. Places like The Weather Channel™ are, IMO, entertainment focused and will show you a snowflake every chance they get. Snowflakes sell. Meteorology a dull box of cloudy uncertainty. Yet . . . The Cherohala cloud ceiling is real . . .

Days away to SSR XX . . . mySport is wiped down and battery "conditioned." All the boxes are ticked, plus a few that had to be decisively left alone. "Set down the tools, docc, and step away from the Sport !!", (Waddington said). Parc fermé . . .

I went deep into my notes and found SSR/One was July 9-11, 2004. Apparently, no photographic evidence has survived. (whew . . . There were four SpineFrames including @andy york's 2002 LeMans, a guy named "Jeff" on a LongFrame black Lemans, and someone my notes call "ballabio bill " . . . @Bill Hagan --> I left for SSR/One with 32,666 miles on mySport. Leaving for SSR XX with exactly 135,000 . . .

I am just going on record here that a SpineRaider that shows up in his truck (with tools ), but no SpineFrame , is still a SpineRaider . . .