Is motorcycling allowed?

[IceCreamMan]

2 hours ago, sawystertrance said:

Beaut. Old Bikers never die...

<add your line here> 

Mine is "They only hit neutral more often."

They end up buying Harley’s

[i24]

7 hours ago, Andymann said:

My Dad is 86 and has been a biker since he was 15.  As he got into his late 70's the three Sons have kept an eye on him because he still wants to ride like he is 15.  He finally got to a point where he felt he couldn't ride anymore as the old Velocettes were getting to heavy and difficult to start.  We all breathed a sigh of relief as it looked like the he had made the decision himself, rather than us having to make it for him.

On Wednesday he arrived home with this on the trailer.  It's a classic and it has electric start he proudly proclaimed.....

Here we go again....

 

Wow, that is the same as my Guzzi! I hope I can keep riding mine when I am 86+

Is it that the original red paintwork? Mine is blue but it needs a respray. I always liked the red ones and am considering getting a change of colour. But I have seen many shades of red on re-furbished Guzzi's and I would like to find out which was originally used on the V50 Mk II. I think the some of the Le Man's might have been a different shade. If it is let me know.

Your fairing and tail piece don't look original for a '79 V50 Mk II, maybe they are off a later bike.

If you need help with stuff, give me a shout. I have been tinkering on mine for nearly 40 years and I have learned some things the hard way. There is lots of documentation available on line, including full workshop and spares manuals.

There is a local guy, Charlie, near me in Cape Town who has working on Guzzi's for decades. He is a useful contact and has accumulated a garage full of spares. I can pass on his contact details if you like.

Finally you probably want to follow http://www.guzziriders.org/.  That has mainly UK contributors. There are many V50's in the UK but they never made it to the USA, so it is a more useful resource than some of the other forums.

I have been buying spares from https://www.stein-dinse.com/en/. They have a very comprehensive catalogue although some parts are no longer available. You have to persuade them to courier, not post via SA Post Office, or make another plan for delivery.

Have fun!

PS: This is obviously not the one advertised on Gumtree, anybody know if that was sold?

PPS: Don't trust the side stand if it is original. They are spring loaded to retract automatically and not very stable. Basically guaranteed to drop the bike sooner or later! Your Dad will have to master using the centre stand.

 

[i24]

Looking at your photos. The master cylinder on the handle bar is not from a Mk II, maybe it is off a MkIII. Mine front brake has a cable going to a master cylinder under the tank. My front brake is very heavy and not very powerful, but the foot brake is coupled to the 2nd disk on the front as well as the one on the rear and it is dangerously effective.

Does yours have electronic ignition? That was only on the Mk II, they went back to a distributor with points etc on the Mk III.

[Andymann]

On 10/27/2023 at 5:36 PM, i24 said:

Looking at your photos. The master cylinder on the handle bar is not from a Mk II, maybe it is off a MkIII. Mine front brake has a cable going to a master cylinder under the tank. My front brake is very heavy and not very powerful, but the foot brake is coupled to the 2nd disk on the front as well as the one on the rear and it is dangerously effective.

Does yours have electronic ignition? That was only on the Mk II, they went back to a distributor with points etc on the Mk III.

Thanks for all the info!  I haven't see the bike physically yet, but there are a few things I have spotted off the pics - the tailpiece is definitely not right - something odd going on there because there is that gap at the back of the seat.  From what I can see from online pics, the rear mudguard and light on a V50 look to be very similar to what was fitted to my 850 LM3 so I'm guessing those will need to be found.  I also see the light switches are from a Yamaha.  I remember the side stand on my LM3 was very sketchy - what I did was I took it off and then filed the stop on the frame slightly so the stand went past the 180deg mark - that helped a bit, but if I had a choice I would always use the center stand.  Finally the one side cover has been modified - apparently it's cracked and the guy repaired it with a piece of Aluminum.  I'll need to source a side cover too I guess.

As far as I know, the bike was brought in from Italy to SA by an Italian who then sold it here.  It's never been registers on the NATIS system so we have a small issue there - but luckily not as bad as something which has been archived on NATIS.  That's a nightmare.  I'll have a close look for you so see if there is overspray, but from what I understand, that red is the original colour.

I'll check on the ignition for you.

 

 

 

[Hairy]

Any other tyre fitment center in CT other than Tracmac?

[mazambaan]

On 10/30/2023 at 11:10 AM, Andymann said:

Thanks for all the info!  I haven't see the bike physically yet, but there are a few things I have spotted off the pics - the tailpiece is definitely not right - something odd going on there because there is that gap at the back of the seat.  From what I can see from online pics, the rear mudguard and light on a V50 look to be very similar to what was fitted to my 850 LM3 so I'm guessing those will need to be found.  I also see the light switches are from a Yamaha.  I remember the side stand on my LM3 was very sketchy - what I did was I took it off and then filed the stop on the frame slightly so the stand went past the 180deg mark - that helped a bit, but if I had a choice I would always use the center stand.  Finally the one side cover has been modified - apparently it's cracked and the guy repaired it with a piece of Aluminum.  I'll need to source a side cover too I guess.

As far as I know, the bike was brought in from Italy to SA by an Italian who then sold it here.  It's never been registers on the NATIS system so we have a small issue there - but luckily not as bad as something which has been archived on NATIS.  That's a nightmare.  I'll have a close look for you so see if there is overspray, but from what I understand, that red is the original colour.

I'll check on the ignition for you.

I have a bike like this but brought over from Canada and never registered here so very interested to see how you can get this sorted.

 

 

 

[Hairy]

Would not mind building up one of these, and it only takes 14min according to YouTube.

 

 

[Andymann]

1 hour ago, mazambaan said:

 

It depends if the Model was originally introduced into NATIS - getting a model code loaded is very difficult but just adding a bike to an existing code is a little easier.

[Headshot]

What say you okes about the new D 698 engine and the motard it comes in?https://www.ducati.com/us/en/bikes/hypermotard/hypermotard-698-mono

[IceCreamMan]

1 hour ago, Headshot said:

What say you okes about the new D 698 engine and the motard it comes in?https://www.ducati.com/us/en/bikes/hypermotard/hypermotard-698-mono

I would have one if I won the lotto. Think these are perfect for our roads and plod. But it’s going to be expensive I reckon. That will put ppl off. 
 

but it throws the gauntlet to the KTM/husky 690/701 models. This motor will be used in many derivatives for Ducati. 

[Headshot]

30 minutes ago, IceCreamMan said:

I would have one if I won the lotto. Think these are perfect for our roads and plod. But it’s going to be expensive I reckon. That will put ppl off. 
 

but it throws the gauntlet to the KTM/husky 690/701 models. This motor will be used in many derivatives for Ducati. 

Yes it will be over R200k. Perfect traffic commuter and mountain pass bike. 

[Hairy]

1 hour ago, Headshot said:

Yes it will be over R200k. Perfect traffic commuter and mountain pass bike. 

light weight Desert X option

[Hairy]

1 hour ago, Headshot said:

Yes it will be over R200k. Perfect traffic commuter and mountain pass bike. 

If you add some of their bling things you end up just short of 400K

 

[Hairy]

@Headshot how is your bike build coming along?

[RocknRolla]

I have a trip (un)planned for this coming weekend. 

I have a destination, with accommodation for two nights in Hilton. And I have someone showing me some routes in the area for Saturday.

Friday and Sunday's route is a general direction, with as much dirt as possible (conditions depending.) 

I have tried planning last weekend, but I find basecamp with the maps loaded on my GPS to be clunky and not intuitive.

Anyhoo, I have nervous excitement about not having a route, and perhaps this is a good way of doing it.

Now for the hours to tick by frustratingly slow.

[Hairy]

1 hour ago, RocknRolla said:

I have a trip (un)planned for this coming weekend. 

I have a destination, with accommodation for two nights in Hilton. And I have someone showing me some routes in the area for Saturday.

Friday and Sunday's route is a general direction, with as much dirt as possible (conditions depending.) 

I have tried planning last weekend, but I find basecamp with the maps loaded on my GPS to be clunky and not intuitive.

Anyhoo, I have nervous excitement about not having a route, and perhaps this is a good way of doing it.

Now for the hours to tick by frustratingly slow.

Take Pitcha's, and lots of them please.