Bill Hagan

What a great thread. Was at western N.Y. rally yesterday. Saw a red Ballabio. Made me almost ache for my old one. But at risk of being banned, I think an 8v Griso would scratch more of the OP's professed itches than any V11. 1921! Bill

Just back from a grand trip to Europe. Along with five other Old Flatulent paratrooper buds, visited airborne battlefields of WWII in France, Holland, Belgium, and Germany. Inspiring and sobering. As is my wont, I have way more pix than anyone would have any interest in, but I won't do that here … yet. OK, one: Instead, I am trying to ID the Norge pilot and pillion I spoke with on 9 May at the Aire de Vironvay rest area on the way from Paris to Normandy. We chatted a bit about how cool Norge owners are. I got his card but have, sadly but predictably, lost it. Anyway, I just wanted to thank them for their friendly chat and pass along some pix of them. So, if anyone knows those nice Norge folks, thank them for me and give them the photo link. FWIW, I only saw two Guzzis on this trip. One was that Norge; the other, a Jackal (?) in the Netherlands on our way to Nimegen. LOTS of beemers, with all “other brands” a distinct minority. I also saw two Guzzi dealers; the first in Carentan; the other in Saint-Lô. 1921 … and 1944! Bill

Good morning from the top of Virginia (and Happy Apple Blossom Festival weekend!) Sent out much of the the following as an email a few minutes ago to many (who are likely deleting it like crazy ), and thought I'd post here, too. ========== This is information about and a late invitation to join me on a ride to (or meet me at) Whitesville, Kentucky, for this event on 26-27 May (yes, Memorial Day weekend). If you have no clue what I am talking about, it's probably best understood by plowing through this slideshow of the 2016 ride and feast: Mutton Stuff 2016 As some getting this may remember, I had to cancel last year as I got as sick as I can ever recall being just before — no, you haters, not after eating mutton! — launching. That won’t happen this year, though if it does, I’m blaming Europeans. I’ll have just returned from a week-plus visit with some Old Flatulent Army parachuting buddies to airborne battlefields in France, Holland, and Belgium. [As an American infantryman purportedly said after the Battle of Soissons, 27 May 1918: "We've paid off that old fart, Lafayette. What Frog son-of-a-bitch do we owe now?” If he’d only known what his sons might be doing in 20 or so years. Before any French or Francophiles flame me, I like the French! Really. ] Anyway, I'll provide routing (all back-road for me), lodging, and other info, e.g., about iconic Moonlite BBQ, to any who might be interested. You may see a similar notice on a Guzzi website or two. So, let me know if interested. Ciao … & chow! Bill

What they (all) said. While I understand that everything in life and your trip is limited, I am an "Eastern woods" kind of guy, thus cannot stress enough the joy of riding most any valley or ridge road in and along the Appalachian spine -- from NE Alabama up to NE Canada -- especially on the likes of that NTY Triumph.. If your final routing (sometimes decided on the fly! ) takes you anywhere near the top of Virginia, stop in for a bed, grappa, and more. And, of course, wherever your ride takes you, best wishes! Bill

DNR any swollen woes with my Ballabio, but, I, too, loathe the "plastic" tanks on my Norge and Griso. The Stornello's metal one reminds me of that while I curse the others. Anyway, I recently bought a "spare" for my Norge and am considering same for my Griso. I was near astonished at how much smaller the "new" Norge tank was. Slipped right in without any issues. I am drying out the original for a few months to see if shrinks! If so, may not go through the recoating challenges, but just swap 'em out every year. A pox on ethanol. Bill Bill

Great stuff. Thanks for posting. Bill

Did not know of your surgery, but trust all will be well in good time. Best wishes on the sale, but even more for a complete and rapid recovery. Bill

Thanks for the reminder of the workarounds for this. I haven't bothered but will. Have smugmug and will go that route first, but one never knows when that bunch decides to do something similar. And I wonder if that PB decision worked for them. Too lazy to look much into that, but have wondered if the fury that changed brought about resulted in more or less money for them. Bill

A bump only to say they have restocked as Amazon tells me mine's inbound. Hmmmmm ... wonder if "inbound" is a bibliophilic version of inbred? Sorry, that was first-cup-of-coffee attempt at humor, so unworthy of this sophisticated audience. Seriously, Tim, look forward to reading it. Just finishing Chernow's Grant, and will start yours. Bill

Sales must be good, as when I tried to order it, I got "Temporarily Out of Stock." As a retired Army guy, I have always found writings on leadership to be fascinating; will buy yours. Trust that the royalties will support your motorcycle habit. Bill

What a great story. Thanks for posting. I had forgotten all about Bluebird until I opened this thread, but it brought back memories of what I recall in the '50's, i.e., a small toy model of the Bluebird that I had WAY back then! None of the images I googled to bring that memory into better focus seemed quite right, but am certain I had one. I also grew up in Owensboro, Kentucky, which was in the late '60's and '70's a hub of hydroplane racing, so I know the pull of sound, water, and speed. See, e.g., ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBKFvjsTrRY It may be coming back to Owensboro, too ... https://www.facebook.com/TheHydroNews/posts/1637771259594279 Bill

Continuing the "Stornello as a Legit Adventure M/C" theme ... Just saw on Instagram that "mototrekkin" is now in Argentina and 600 miles from his goal "at the bottom." https://www.instagram.com/mototrekkin/ All this way on a virtually stock Stornello! Makes me feel pretty lame when I think about my own Stornello "adventure riding." I gave him "encouraging misgivings" last fall when he inquired on ADVRider about a Stornello v. a GS, etc. Only Toofat2fly here said "go for it." Glad he did. Bill

Concur with all of that ... including the "don't do FB." OTOH, I am a bit two-faced as, while I do not have an account, I do lurk on Kathi's. FB is a nice place to see pix, etc., of friends and family. That said, the political comments -- from both sides -- make me sad, so I won't belong or post. As for mototrekkin, he started using Instagram -- which I do use ... at least to see, but not yet post -- but seems to have found FB easier. Here's an example of his latest pix, taken yesterday near Puerto Guadal, Chile. He's WAY down the unroads to the southern tip. So darn impressive to me. Best, Bill

I'll second that motion. FWIW, and at risk of being hooted down with derisive catcalls and thrown objects for "not being serious," I will supplicatingly submit for your likely contemptuous consideration the modest Stornello. No, I am actually serious. Before you hit the "ignore" key, be aware that there is a fellow riding a pretty-much-stock Stornello in Chile "as we speak." He started from his home in southern California ... en route to Tierra del Fuego! https://www.facebook.com/johnston.julao I take mine off road and occasionally even off pavement ... ... but I do not have the testiculosity to follow in mototrekkin's tracks. Bill

I understand GuzziMoto's "[G]iven the choice I would pick an oil that only meets the older specification and not an oil that meets the newer specification," That said, such has not been especially easy (at least for me) to obtain. Moreover, given that all of my present moto-harem save the EV are "newish," I do not see the harm in the newest API rating as I am unaware of "missing additives" in that range that affect those models. I am, however, trying to reconcile the various posts and this -- http://motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/API.html-- which I presume to be authorative absent a showing otherwise. Best, Bill

At least you spelled my name correctly, but even I nearly hurled at the visual. Bill

Looks amazing Chuck but not as cool as the Smithsonian at DC and Dulles. Ciao I suppose. I live relatively near both NASM and the Udvar-Hazy, and love aircraft. Given my terminal Italophilia, my favorite is the Macchi Folgore downtown, tho the Würger also appeals to my German genes. Love all those warbirds, and, despite my admiration of that Axis metal, especially glad that "ours" won. Even so, IMO, Barber Motorsports Park scratches more of my itches than any D.C. venue (individually) -- OK, OK, mebbe the National Gallery of Art wins Best of Show, so to speak. BMS is, however, a near-breathtaking experience. I had to (almost literally) drag Kathi there the first time. She now wants to go back. If you have been there, well, "different strokes" comes into play. If you haven't, do if you can. Not sure it's worth the physical and fi$cal pain of a r/t from Oz, but it is mighty fine. Mighty. Best, Bill

As his lawyer, let me confirm that you understood him precisely. You captured not only the essential essence of his various pronouncements, but also clearly picked up the nuanced meanings between the lines . Well done, Sir, well done. Bill

I was just trying to explain to thelonewonderer what "roller motor" meant. And I kinda went a bit far. I was just trying to explain that a "roller motor" meant it had roller tappets. And yes, a 2013 Griso should have the roller tappets. I'm glad you did. I copied that explanation to use whenever I am asked about the subject by the unwashed. They should thank you, as my own explanation, aside from substantive errors, would be like drowning in words compared to your spare EXSUM. Bill

Is the one you bought a roller motor? Ciao I'm not sure what you mean by "roller motor." Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk Older Griso's have flat tappets. All 2 valve per cylinder Griso's (the 1100's) have flat tappets. When they moved to a 8 valve motor they still had flat tappets, but they didn't design the motor correctly as it ate the flat tappets. So they re-designed the 8 valve motor to use roller tappets. Later Griso 1200's (the 8 valve motors are 1200's and the earlier 2 valve motors are 1100's) came from the factory with the roller tappets. I think the switch over from flat tappets to roller tappets happened mid year in 2012. They also offer a conversion kit (actually two or three different kits depending on version) that convert a flat tappet motor to roller tappets. That the roller tappet conversion typically uses the same valve springs likely points at what the factory did wrong with the original flat tappet valve train. Quite possibly the pithiest summary of the issue on the web, Bill

Certainly an interesting man. I hadn't heard of him, so I browsed the web a bit, including his website (as it was at his death): http://thetimelessride.com/index-old.htm Hard not to like a fellow who, only a few weeks ago, said this: "Happy New Year to all. Enjoying the early morning walk along the Sacramento river with my beloved Lorraine and our daughter Jessica and granddaughter Ellie. I am so happy to have such a rich family life. California. 1/1/2018." Godspeed, Sir, and requiescant in pace. Bill

Oh, my. Tempting. Unfortunately, our travel budget for over-the-pond frolicking is already dry. In May, I will join five other 82d alums for a week or so in France for a tour of some WWII airborne battlefields. A very cool Guys Trip; no wimmen allowed … nor would any wish to be, as six Old Flatulents and luggage in a Euro minivan for a week will lose its charm after Day 2. Anyway, I remain interested in this, and sure hope you can some positive responses. Kathi and I have rented from Agostini's and ridden in that part of Italy -- still grinning, BTW -- and have traveled by cage in your great area, but it would be stupendous to ride it on two wheels. So, if you have a "Spina Razzia Italia II " let us know as early as possible. I migliori auguri con la tua idea, Bill

No apparent reason, but the spring is supposedly the same in all models - at least the replacement spring is. I'm gonna open up my low-mile Greenie, which I believe has the original spring - and will report findings. But that'll be after the new springs show up. Go open 3 beers - I think you can get through 7 pages per beer. I actually did better than that tonight, tho I did weigh in back in November. In Atlanta right now at Manuel's Tavern in Atlanta's Poncey-Highland area. Spent last many minutes but only one beer catching up. OTOH, might have had another, but off to the nursing home to sit with Mom a bit. Not many opps for that left. Chuck, you and your unindicted coconspiritors are amazing. Bill

^^^^^^^^ I, too, am easily snagged by such things. I am not even an amateur genealogist, and what I know about James Hagan is pretty much limited to what I found in Fr. Hagan’s monograph, "Thomas & Mary Hagan of Charles Co., Maryland and His Descendants in Central Kentucky to about 1850," Hagan, Harry, O.S.B., [near you at] St. Meinrad Archabbey, St. Meinrad, IN 47577, June 1996., http://www.public.asu.edu/~moore/files/hagan/Hagan1/NelsonCo_Hagans.pdf Here's an extract from there about James in the Revolutionary War: [in his pension application,] "James Hagan appeared before Nelson Co Court and gave his age as 66 years. He states he enlisted in Maryland in 1776 in Captain John Smith's Company (The 4th Regiment). His wife, aged 56 and 2 daughters, are living with him. He served in the 4th Regiment and later transferred to the Second Maryland Regiment under the command of Col Ford. He served from 1776 to August 1783 when he was discharged by Col. Brumby. He fought in the battle of Brandywine, Germantown, Camden, Guilford Courthouse and Eutaw Springs. He was shot in the hip during the last battle." I have little doubt that Corp. Hagan was a participant in the "some plundering" that Wikipedia mentions. In the course of following up on his background, I discovered that James was born just across the Frederick County (now W.V. state) line, near Clear Brook, where Winchester Motosports (once a Guzzi dealer) sits! Anyway, speaking of lines, we better take any other discussions about this off-line lest that Volunteer State Doc takes us to task. Bill

Lordy, it's as if you've been talking to a lawyer. T'wasn't I. Good morning from the frozen solid top of Virginia, where it's about the same temp as much of Lower Pa., in other words, WAY too cold. Will try (again) to make the SSR (without failing as last year) ... even tho that is the same weekend as the anniversary of the Battle of Eutaw Springs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Eutaw_Springs. My fifth great grandfather, James Hagan, Jr., was grievously wounded there. Born in 1754 not 10 miles from where I sit sipping coffee and pecking out this wandering post, he served in the Maryland Regiment of the Continental Army from 1776 to 1783. Yes, I digress -- you are surprised? -- but I knew you'd want to know. Happy New Year and best to all from (Iron) Cross Junction (where, thankfully, four visiting grandkids from Carlisle Barracks are only now just stirring; pandemonium begins anew in minutes! ), Bill