• Ciao Guest - You’ve landed at the ultimate Guzzi site. NEW FORUM REGISTRATIONS REQUIRE EMAIL ACTIVATION - CHECK YOUR SPAM FOLDER - Use the CONTACT above if you need help. New to the forum? For all new members, we require ONE post in the Introductions section at the bottom, in order to post in most of the other sections. ALWAYS TRY A SEARCH BEFORE STARTING A NEW TOPIC - Most questions you may have, have likely been already answered. DON'T BE A DRIVE-BY POSTER: As a common courtesy, check back in and reply within 24 hours, or your post will be deleted. Note there's decades of heavily experienced Guzzi professionals on this site, all whom happily give endless amounts of their VALUABLE time for free; BE COURTEOUS AND RESPECTFUL!
  • There is ZERO tolerance on personal attacks and ANY HYPERLINKS to PRODUCT(S) or other competing website(s), including personal pages, social media or other Forums. This ALSO INCLUDES ECU DIAGnostic software, questions and mapping. We work very hard to offer commercially supported products and to keep info relevant here. First offense is a note, second is a warning, third time will get you banned from the site. We don't have the time to chase repeat (and ignorant) offenders. This is NOT a social media platform; It's an ad-free, privately funded website, in small help with user donations. Be sure to see the GTM STORE link above; ALL product purchases help support the site, or you can upgrade your Forum profile or DONATE via the link above.
  • Be sure to see the GTM STORE link also above for our 700+ product inventory, including OEM parts and many of our 100% Made-in-SoCal-USA GTM products and engine kits. In SoCal? Click the SERVICE tab above for the best in service, tires, tuning and installation of our products or custom work, and don't miss our GT MotoCycles® (not) art on the BUILDS tab above. WE'RE HERE ONLINE ONLY - NO PHONE CALLS MADE OR RECEIVED - DO NOT EMAIL AND ASK QUESTIONS OR ASK TO CALL YOU.
  • Like the new V100, GuzziTech is full throttle into the future! We're now running on an all-new server and we've updated our Forum software. The visual differences are obvious, but hopefully you'll notice the super-fast speed. If you notice any glitches or have any issues, please post on the Site Support section at the bottom. If you haven't yet, please upgrade your account which is covered in the Site Support section or via the DONATE tab above, which gives you full site access including the DOWNLOADS section. We really appreciate every $ and your support to keep this site ad-free. Create an account, sign in, upgrade your account, and enjoy. See you on the road in 2024.

possible norge owner

I saw the message heading and thought it said 'Responsible Norge Owner' Well, that rules out Bill and Sam and just about all the rest of 'em I've met so I was going to suggest he didn't buy one......:p

Pete
 
I say, I resent that! I'm a very responsible owner! I pay for a horribly expensive full-risk insurance! I even park my Norge on the side-walk to prevent her from being subject to Parisian parking practices! And contrary to some, I leave all but the simplest maintenance to qualified professionals! B)

:silly:
 
RJVB wrote:
I say, I resent that! I'm a very responsible owner! I pay for a horribly expensive full-risk insurance! I even park my Norge on the side-walk to prevent her from being subject to Parisian parking practices! And contrary to some, I leave all but the simplest maintenance to qualified professionals! B)

:silly:

You obviously haven't seen Bill's new whiskey fueled frame stiffening device. I think he's patenting it, only for Tonti's at present but I'm sure he's inventive enough to find a mount on his Norge:laugh:

Pete
 
pete roper wrote:
RJVB wrote:
I say, I resent that! I'm a very responsible owner! I pay for a horribly expensive full-risk insurance! I even park my Norge on the side-walk to prevent her from being subject to Parisian parking practices! And contrary to some, I leave all but the simplest maintenance to qualified professionals! B)

:silly:

You obviously haven't seen Bill's new whiskey fueled frame stiffening device. I think he's patenting it, only for Tonti's at present but I'm sure he's inventive enough to find a mount on his Norge:laugh:

Pete

René,

To you that invention needs to involve a bottle of good Frapin.

Say no more. B)
 
Brian UK wrote:
phordman wrote:
IMHO the only weak point of the Norge is the '59 Cadillac suspension.
Strange, I find mine quite hard, I feel all the bumps in the road. Standard suspension, and early spring, but not as set on delivery.

Let me refine my statement about the Caddy suspension. As delivered the rear shock has 8 clicks preload and the rear is soft, even downright dangerous 2-up. At 155 lbs. I eventually had the rear shock cranked to 53 clicks solo and 56 with my small wife on board. Like you I found the Norge to be hard and bone jarring. I have 10000 miles on the HyperPro and have never changed the setting. It is smoother than a wound up stock shock and has better control.
 
RacerX wrote:
Brian UK wrote:
Strange, I find mine quite hard, I feel all the bumps in the road. Standard suspension, and early spring, but not as set on delivery.
If you don't mind, what do you weigh(?), and where is your suspension adjusted. The range of the stock suspension, even with the newer rear spring is approx. 150~175 lbs.
Well, I weigh about 170lbs. I also travel with full camping gear, but no pillion so far. I use the settings in the manual, and still find it quite hard, though I think most is from the front. It is possible, since I am not the original owner, that someone has replaced the front fork oil with somthing a little too viscous, but without stripping them, I can't tell.
Wish they had a drain plug as the earlier forks had.

If the bike was delivered with just 8 clicks on preload on the rear, then it would be suicidal to ride two up without making a change.
 
Say no more? You, sir, are presenting me with a challenge I could not resist even if I wanted to!

So, Pete: no, that's right. Haven't seen Bill (H, I presume) around for a while...

Holt: you know, there's pretty good whiskey to be found in France. Smoking is done with mixtures of fresh wood, not peat, and ageing takes place in casks that have served for ageing wines (the bottle I have comes from a former Loupiac cask) and/or cognac, which makes for bouquets that are very different from the Scottish single-malts (Laphroaig remains a favourite, though :) )

Tim: a Caddy is what you put your shoppings in in a supermarket, no? I'd agree their suspension is bone-jarring B)
 
Don't drink whiskey, whisky or even visky as seen on the bag-in-box high-end level brands. I get sick of the stuff.... :laugh:

(But a nice little glass of cognac is just fine.)


As this is a Norge-thread, Larsen would be the right label, but unfortunately it isn't good enough to my taste, though fitting in the theme it would suit better. For both purposes. B)
 
pete roper wrote:
RJVB wrote:
I say, I resent that! I'm a very responsible owner! I pay for a horribly expensive full-risk insurance! I even park my Norge on the side-walk to prevent her from being subject to Parisian parking practices! And contrary to some, I leave all but the simplest maintenance to qualified professionals! B)

:silly:

You obviously haven't seen Bill's new whiskey fueled frame stiffening device. I think he's patenting it, only for Tonti's at present but I'm sure he's inventive enough to find a mount on his Norge:laugh:

Pete

This has become one of those maddening and wonderful meandering threads.

As for my Tonti achievement that Pete Roper mentioned -- which Pete is gracious about especially as he realizes now that I have eclipsed him in a rather specialized area of Guzzi engineering :laugh: -- I am embarrassed to say that iI did not know or had forgotten or whatever that this board had a Tonti section, now conveniently packaged with the other dinosaur, the Loop. Had known or recalled that, I would have had it here. I thus risk our host's ire by referring you to it elswhere, tho I trust he forgives this one lapse! :whistle:

Anyway, the full story is here:

http://wildguzzi.com/forum/index.php?PH ... ic=21825.0

As for suspension, despite parcan's attempt here in another, more focused, thread -- deceptively entitled "Suspension Stuff" -- to make it all sound technical and capable of scientific analysis, all I can say to him and that is ... poppycock. I've just finished Andrew Treavitt's new book on motorcycle suspensions, and realize now that no matter how you dress it up with formulae and ritual, it's like meteorology, i.e., no more science than alchemy. :p

No, of course, it's real, but I'll never get there. I'll pretend it's an art, and that I can finger-paint enough to muddle through. I am grateful, however, that for my purposes (riding too fast, two-up, heavily loaded and on twisting secondary roads, I very much doubt that a Norge could be better set up than mine is just now. The stock set-up was, for me, riding as I/we do, not only unsat, but dangerous, and no amount of tuning with smock-coated suspensionologists would have gotten it to tolerable, much less good. If one were to ride with ...erm ... less fighting weight than I -- 215 stark nekkid, and not a sight for civilized folks -- plus riding gear, espressoo machines, etc., and do so unladen on more-or-less straight roads with an occasional sweeper, I think the '07 stock would be OK. Otherwise, I agree with phordman about the Caddy comparison, and think "toys" may be necessary to get to something you can work with.

Oh, RJVB, I am touched that you noted my absence. Have been busier than I want to be at home and work than I wanted, especially after 12 days away (trust you saw my slideshow epic of my trip!).

Wait a minute ... this thread started with a potential buyer's query about the Norge as a reliable mount.

Well, I have mixed views of that, motorat. If I survived any event that resulted in its loss, I would buy another (along with the suspension upgrades I noted above). Without criticizing any other model, none of the Norge's titular competition gives me the visceral joy it does. No, it won't scream thru the quarter mile or 0-100 like the others, but it does so just fine. And, actually, I think roll-on from higher speeds isn't bad at all, mostly because I think that 6th is too low for the interstate, but mighty fine for rocking along secondary roads, and with oommpf to spare for passes or "Oh Shix!" moments when you really have to be somewhere else other than the space you are presently occupying, and NOW!

And, having "practiced" with my beloved '98 EV (87K miles, with about 86,998 grins in there) and '04 Ballabio (WHY did I sell it?), I was also prepared for Guzzi "character," i.e., the apologists' term for "it left the factory ready for final assembly, reassembly, and ... erm ... adjustments.

But, really, not much. To be candid, the one event that did happen was a doozy, and, happily (for everyone else), seems to have been limited to me. As I have related elsewhere, having one's oil pump commit suicide, followed by many other now-unlubricated parts going lemming-like after it into screeching metallic eternity is a bad-hair-day sort of experience. I am a lucky guy that it happened in my mom's driveway on the return from (and not in the middle of) a 1100-miler in Kentucky and Tennessee. In fairness to the Norge, tho it still begs the question about Moto Guzzi suppliers and its own quality control, the Norge had been "mentioning" some sort of oil problem all along and I and others (with the others being pretty smart Guzzi riders and wrenches) all thinking "there's something wrong with the light!" In reality, too, who would tear down a complete engine to find why a light occasionally came on?

Bottom line, motorat? I like it. Lots. Granted, I'm stupid about things Italian, but as character & behavior disorders go, I wish I could have another that brought me as much joy.

OK, too many words ... hope you got in your demo ride and liked it ... ciao!

Bill
 
The Big H is back! And you, motor(r)at, have just had a reply of the sort that got *me* solidly hooked and decided on getting me a Norge. In fairness to Bill's Norge, I should add that at the time, he had not even yet heard about the suspension upgrades he's trying to sell you (omitting that the board's host is the one to contact for that ;) ).

But, alas, no, I haven't even seen a thread with a BH Photo epic in it (note: that's not got anything to do with B&H Photo ... or does it, Bill? :silly:)
 
Back
Top