muddy1100

Gday all, Am chasing an original manual as delivered with the bike - any spares out there? If there is a sales brochure as well that would make me a happy chappy!! Preferably containing some english would be good.... Pricing??? I am sure we could come to some sort of multi - can agreement... Cheers, mud

Gday, Try Frank at Eurobrit - usually has good quality 2nd hand parts for all Guzzis...check Bike Trader mag or his website. Fleabay is usually worth a poke around in as well. Have found it is the same Valeo starter for a common small car which retails for about $200 - just cannot remember which bloody car. Watch this space... Cheers, mud

Gday Miki, Welcome to what may prove to be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life! These gorgeous things really get to you - have lent / swapped my Sport 1100 with several mates - they now all own Guzzi's... Am envious - you have some fantastic roads near you - my fave is the Otway Nat Park run west of Apollo Bay - used to blast that one regularly... There are some ripper roads between Bendigo and Hamilton as well - with almost zero police presence Ho Ho! Rubber down, tin up - that's all you have to remember!! Cheers, mud PS - stick a pin on the homepage - we need more Aussies waving the flag!

Gday all, Just a quick one from a recent ride. Brisbane to Kununurra on the Mandello. Average temp was 37 C and only had about 10kms of wet roads (apologies to our members living where this is an alternate reality!) Many thanks to Gavo and family in Queensland - proud owner of the other Mandello pictured - your hospitality was much appreciated mate. Did not take many pix on the trip - just kept rolling pretty much all day. Western Qld is pretty bloody boring anyhoo! Bike did not miss a beat - thank you to Pro Motorcycles in Brisbane - new tyres, fluids etc. Uneventful trip - apart from the usual stupid *&%$# drivers, oh and two birds that removed themselves from the gene pool. A blessing to get back to the Northern Territory - 130km/h limit - watch out for the cows and buffalo tho... Gday to Pete the holidaying copper who was on tour on his brand new ST1300 Honda - fast that man (must be handy having that little card in your wallet...) Gday to the elderly couple on tour for 2 1/2 years - 220,000kms - on - wait for it - a CX500 with a trailer!!! Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Australia etc etc. All for now. Cheers, mud

Oh go on then...one more... Subject: Tools and how to use them! 1. DRILL PRESS: A tall upright machine useful for suddenly snatching flat metal bar stock out of your hands so that it smacks you in the chest and flings your beer across the room, splattering it against that freshly painted part you were drying. 2. WIRE WHEEL: Cleans paint off bolts and then throws them somewhere under the workbench with the speed of light. Also removes fingerprint whorls and hard-earned guitar calluses in about the time it takes you to say, "SH**!!!" 3. ELECTRIC HAND DRILL: Normally used for spinning pop rivets in their holes until you die of old age. 4. PLIERS: Used to round off hexagonal bolt heads. 5. HACKSAW: One of a family of cutting tools built on the Ouija board principle: It transforms human energy into a crooked, unpredictable motion and the more you attempt to influence its course, the more dismal your future becomes. 6. VICE GRIP PLIERS: Used to round off bolt heads. If nothing else is available, they can also be used to transfer intense welding heat to the palm of your hand. 7. OXYACETYLENE TORCH: Used almost entirely for setting various flammable objects in your shed on fire. Also handy for igniting the grease inside a wheel hub you're trying to get the bearing race out of. 8. WHITWORTH SOCKETS: Once used for working on older British cars and motorcycles, they are now used mainly for impersonating that 14mm or 12mm socket you've been searching for. 9. HYDRAULIC FLOOR JACK: Used for lowering a vehicle to the ground after you have installed your new disk brake pads, trapping the jack handle firmly under the footpeg. 10. 100x50 HARDWOOD WALL STUD : Used to attempt to lever a bike off a hydraulic jack handle. 11. TWEEZERS: A tool for removing splinters of wood, especially hardwood. 12. TELEPHONE: Tool for calling your neighbour to see if he has another hydraulic floor jack. 13. SNAP-ON GASKET SCRAPER: Theoretically useful as a sandwich tool for spreading mayonnaise; used mainly for removing dog faeces from your boots. 14. E-Z OUT BOLT AND STUD EXTRACTOR: A tool that snaps off in bolt holes and is ten times harder than any known drill bit. 15. TWO-TON HYDRAULIC ENGINE HOIST: A handy tool for testing the tensile strength of bolts and fuel lines you forgot to disconnect. 16. CRAFTSMAN 12mm x 500mm SCREWDRIVER: A large prying tool that inexplicably has an accurately machined screwdriver tip on one end. 17 AVIATION METAL SNIPS: See hacksaw. 18. TROUBLE LIGHT: The home builder's own tanning booth. Sometimes called drop light, it is a good source of vitamin D, "the sunshine vitamin," which is not otherwise found in sheds at night. Health benefits aside, its main purpose is to consume 40-watt light bulbs at about the same rate that 105-mm howitzer shells might be used during, say, the first few hours of the Battle of the Bulge. More often dark than light, its name is somewhat misleading. 19. PHILLIPS SCREWDRIVER: Normally used to stab the lids of old-style paper-and-tin oil cans and squirt oil on your shirt; can also be used, as the name implies, to round off the interiors of Phillips screw heads. 20. AIR COMPRESSOR: A machine that takes energy produced in a coal-burning power plant 200 kilometres away and transforms it into compressed air that travels by hose to an pneumatic impact wrench that grips rusty bolts last tightened 28 years ago by someone at Guzzi, and rounds them off. 21. PRY BAR: A tool used to crumple the metal surrounding that clip or bracket you needed to remove in order to replace a 50 cent part. 22. HOSE CUTTER: A tool used to cut hoses 10mm too short. 23. HAMMER: Originally employed as a weapon of war, the hammer is now used as a divining rod to locate expensive parts not far from the object you are trying to hit. 24. MECHANIC'S KNIFE: Used to open and slice through the contents of cardboard cartons delivered to your front door; works particularly well on boxes containing upholstered items, chrome-plated metal, plastic parts and the hand not holding the knife. 25. ANGLE GRINDER: Designed for the purpose of seeing your own living bone as it begins to dry and scab over. 26. CHAINSAW: A machine that checks whether you have enough band aids in the medicine box, and guarantees that you don't. 27. TOOLBOX: A container for every possible tool known to mankind, except the one you are looking for. 27a. CRESCENT/SHIFTER: Tool that replaces the tool required under rule 27, and rounds off anything not previously rounded off. 28. FILE: For filing flats onto all objects that had flat surfaces before being rounded. Laws of physics guarantee that new flat surface is smaller and weaker than previously rounded flat surface. 29. COLD CHISEL: Tool of last resort, used for trying to turn remainder of protruding round bolt head, usually resulting in bolt head joining the one redistributed by rule 2. 30. BEER: Solves all problems created by previous 29 rules. 31. The f***it tool: a usually expensive tool close to hand that flies across the shed while u scream F***IT!! at the top of your lungs... Usually the next tool you need. Cheers, mud

Haaaaahahahahahahahahahaha..........breath........Haaaaahhahahahahahahaha. Nice one John - A man had just settled into his seat next to the window on the plane when another man sits down in the aisle seat and puts his black Labrador in the middle seat next to the man. The first man looks very quizzically at the dog and asks why the dog is allowed on the plane ? The second man explains that he is a Drug Enforcement Agency officer and the dog is a 'Sniffer dog'. 'His name is Smithy and he's the best there is. I'll show you once we get airborne, when I put him to work.' The plane takes off, and once it has levelled out, the agent says: Watch this.' He tells Smithy to 'search'. Smithy jumps down, walks along the aisle, and finally sits very purposefully next to a woman for several seconds. Smithy then returns to his seat and puts one paw on the agent's arm. The agent says, 'Good boy', and he turns to the man and says: 'That woman is in possession of marijuana, so I'm making a note of her seat number and the authorities will apprehend her when we land.' 'Un-bloody-believeable,' replies the first man. Once again, the agent sends Smithy to search the aisles. The Lab sniffs about, sits down beside a man for a few seconds, returns to his seat and this time, he places TWO paws on the agent's arm. The agent says, 'That man is carrying cocaine, so again, I'm making note of his seat number for the police.' 'I'll be damned!' says his seat mate. The agent then tells Smithy to 'search' again. Smithy walks up and down the aisles for a little while, sits down for a moment, moans loudly and then comes racing back to the agent, jumps into the middle seat and proceeds to shit and dribble all over the place! The first man is really confused by this behaviour and can't figure out how or why a well-trained dog would behave like this, so he asks the agent 'What's going on?' The by now, very pale agent, nervously replies, 'He just found a bomb !' Cheers, mud

Gday all, Ummm Greg - would it be possible to get a few pix of the above procedure and post them next time you do one please mate? Could save a few of us a heap of time and grief in the future... Cheers, mud

Gday Richard, For what it's worth I have fitted my KTM's with Racetech valves and noticed valuable improvements. Better reaction to big hits and a very smooth ride on smaller ruts etc. If you do this, please post with your results as I am considering the same mod. Cheers mud

Gday Guy, Ummm, are you a confident, capable welder / have adequate welding equip? Clean out the old grease from inside the steering head and square away your work area, removing all flammable items - including your fuel tank... Three small beads of weld ( say 12, 4 and 8 o'clock) approx 25mm long around the middle of the race (i.e. where the bearings run) will contract the race as it cools and it will literally fall out... I have done this several times with the upper and lower outer races on all sorts of bikes and it will work every time. Done carefully, you will not even discolour the frame paint as it is fairly intense but short term, localised heat (vs heat guns etc) MIG is best for this but careful use of a stick will do the trick. Take care not to weld the race to the steering head - don't laugh - seen it happen... and take all the usual fire and safety precautions. Read again the first line and answer yourself honestly... Cheers mud

Gday Jasper, You poor sod - what a terrible commute...must be horrible on a warm afternoon... My commute is 180kms of the wildest country in WA, incredible scenery but probably not as... interestingly shaped as yours! Cheers mud

Gday Mark909, Thanks mate - have not spent that much time on your side of the paddock 'cept for the GOR, Tas, Alpine hwy, SW Vicco and SE SA - i.e. South of Sydney town all on the Sport1100. Will look at all and any options - work 2on / 2off and so have a few days up my sleeve. Thanks again all, very kind. Cheers mud

Gday all Mario Poggioli runs Thunderbike Motorcycles at 1/15 Dyer Road, Bassendean in Perth, WA. Tel/fax 08 9379 1991 thunbike@iinet.net.au Mario has been involved in M/G since the days of Stolarski's (Early Australian importers of M/G). A very friendly, knowledgeable family run business - good people to do business with. Sounds like Pete Roper is yer man in the east - looking forward to saying gday one day Pete - will get one of your sloppage trays soon - but if you're stuck in the west, give Mario a ring. Cheers mud

Gday Gavo, Good onya bloke - will track em down and give em a bell. Dunno if I'll get to Gympie...hang on... i did know a girl there once...see how we go! Just checked with Tomtom - all good - only adds a cuppla hundred kliks to the road - any excuse for an extra days riding!!! Now...what was her name again??? mud

Gday Mark909, Thanks mate - will be good to see more "pins" on the world map on the homepage as time goes on... Any suggestions as to where in Brisvegas a fella might be able to see a reasonable range of tyres? Will be passing thru Slacks Creek side of town and have found Brissy Mcycle Tyres on the web... Have a Tomtom so tracking em down is all good but somewhere on the SWest side is easy. Any tips for a 'groper far from home would be much appreciated! Cheers mud

Gday wal j, Another source of parts and advice is guru Mario Poggioli - one of the best in godzone country imho. Thunderbike 1/15 Dyer Rd Bassendean, WA 6054 Tel/fax (08) 9379 1991 thunbike@iinet.net.au Best of luck with the old girl! mud

Gday Mikuzzi, Have had good results with two packs on ABS. Must be spotless - (carb cleaner, electrical contact cleaner etc) and it helps if the item is warm. You were lucky to have both bits when you pulled up! mud

Gday Gavo - am riding from Brisvegas back to Kununurra in a few weeks. Lazy 3500km tour. Might catch up for a cleansing ale somewhere? Will let you know when have finalised dates... Cheers, mud

Gday to you mob from WA. Maybe catch up with you a bit later somewhere out there!

Gday all. Muddy. Have been around bikes all my life - all kinds - jappas, east and west euros - dirt and road. Have been fortunate enough to have owned or ridden some very rare birds, some as common as muck! Ridden in many different countries (I think about 19 - some a little hazy...); seen some amazing sights from the saddle, met some truly wonderful people; been wet, hot, frozen, dry, loved & lonely but am still rolling after around 34 years... Am gobsmacked at the depth of knowledge, help and support on this site - a bloody credit to all involved. I see we have the usual full internet spectrum - from "which spanner?" to the gurus who wee red, white and green... Looking forward to yarning with you mob - hopefully I can add a tiny percentage back to what I have already gleaned from this wealth of experience and knowledge. To the future....cheers! If anyone is doing the Lap de Oz, please drop me a line - special place up here but special rules apply as well - you can get deceased real quick if you're not prepared and careful....