On Tue, 22 Apr 2014 12:13:54 -0400, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 4/22/2014 10:11 AM, Poquito Loco wrote:
Not bad! Round trip was 660 miles, got 45mpg going down, at 65mph mostly. Coming back, traveling
75mph mostly, the bike got 40mpg. That ten mph made a difference. The trip down was mostly rainy,
but not hard, and chilly - temps in the 40's. At the last minute I decided to throw an electric vest
into a saddle bag, and I was sure glad I did. I put it on about halfway down and what a difference.

My brother is doing as well as can be expected, I guess. The radiation and chemo has him looking
pretty bad, but his disposition is great. He's very weak and shaky, but he's hoping that'll get
better once he's done with the chemo and radiation.

The trip back was great - until I got to Fredericksburg, VA. From there to Alexandria took about two
and a half hours - a distance of about 45 miles. Stop and go, mostly stop. The bike and I got very
hot. The bike would idle fine, but one cylinder would die when I opened the throttle. I'd have to
twist the throttle back and forth and finally the dead one would kick in. Finally I pulled off the
road and shut her down. While there, a very nice young black lady offered me a coke as she was
stopped on the road. She was an angel. After about 20 minutes I took off again, and the bike ran a
lot better.

Got home about 4pm, after leaving Winston-Salem around 8:30. Moto Guzzi's do not like stop and go
traffic. I actually felt sorry for the poor bike, Milly, after overheating her the way I did. I gave
her a lot of tank pats after the stop on the side of the road. Hell, I felt as bad for the damn bike
as I have for my dog when I've walked her too far in the heat of summer. Now I carry water for the
dog, but that doesn't work on the bike!

There, that'll teach you to ask a simple question!


Vapor lock maybe?


Great minds must think alike. You, Tim, and my friend in Holland, an absolute expert on Moto Guzzi
mechanics, all thought the same thing. My Dutch friend says, "Leave it alone."

That's good. I was thinking maybe it was a coil. It acted similar to my boat engine when the coil
went south. But, cooling it off helped. And, a new coil costs $149 to replace what I have now.