On Mon, 9 Nov 2015 10:15:34 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 11/9/2015 9:07 AM, Tim wrote:
On Monday, November 9, 2015 at 5:20:13 AM UTC-6, John H. wrote:
On Sun, 8 Nov 2015 17:43:24 -0800 (PST), Tim wrote:

On Friday, November 6, 2015 at 2:04:52 PM UTC-6, John H. wrote:
On Fri, 6 Nov 2015 01:22:02 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 11/5/2015 9:26 PM, Tim wrote:
On Thursday, November 5, 2015 at 6:28:18 PM UTC-6, John H. wrote:
On Thu, 5 Nov 2015 14:45:08 -0800 (PST), Tim wrote:

John, I think the 850t was the same engine as the old Eldorado with slightly larger valves, carbs, and maybe a hotter camshaft but not sure if that. At least the cam part. It was a great rock solid engine that was perfect for their sport format which they didn't really have...yet

Even that old 850T would leave Harleys in the dust in the twisties.
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Ban idiots, not guns!

That's one thing about European motorcycles. They were build for handling. My 500 Triumph Daytona, was quite the dancer but light. The Ambassador was much heavier but regardless, it was really nimble.



The bigger Harleys were never designed for handling or to be "fast".
They are designed for highway cruising with a bit of comfort.

Other than a couple of small Hondas when I was young (a 305 "Super Hawk
and a Honda 350), the motorcycles I had were all Harleys .. a couple of
Softails and a couple of Ultra Classics. Then, about 5 years ago, I
acquired a completely restored 1974 Norton 850 Commando. (I traded a
1965 Volkswagon mini bus for it). I rode the Norton twice ... to the
guitar shop and back. Not for me. A Norton is a young man's bike, not
an old fart used to big, fat Harleys. I sold it to a Norton collector
who still rides it.


The big Guzzis are also designed for cruising and comfort, but will handle the
twisties with ease. I've put in many 800-900 mile days on mine, and lived to tell
about it.
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Ban idiots, not guns!

I don't think Ill be riding mine that long or that hard, but next year I'm gonna be putting some miles on it....

Uh, I should have said that was a while back. Now a 400 mile day feels like a 900
mile day!
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Ban idiots, not guns!

400 is still a plenty...



The longest, non-stop (other than for gas and **** stops) motorcycle
trip I made was from my house in MA to Manassas, VA for "Rolling
Thunder". We took the long Rt to avoid Rt 95 and went via Rt 84 and Rt
81. Took about 12 hours .... about 650 miles. I had a Harley Ultra
Classic at the time and although a comfortable ride, I was dog tired by
the time we got to the hotel in Manassas. I was in my late 50's at the
time.

The ride home was worse. Heavy rain all the way home.


Very often I'd go to the West Virginia Moto Guzzi Rally which is the same weekend as
Rolling Thunder. Invariably there'd be rain all the way home, the day the Harley
folks were leaving DC. We'd get a chuckle because we always carry rain gear, but it
seems like most of the Harley folks had only their colors (vest) to wear. So, every
underpass was jammed with Harley Davidsons trying to get out of the rain.

Rolling Thunder nowadays is a mess. We got there at about 9 o'clock for the last one
I went to (year before last). By then the Pentagon North parking lot was about 2/3rds
full.

http://www.dodlive.mil/files/2015/05...7_thunder3.jpg

By noon the bikes were backed up onto the HOV lanes of I-395 (which was closed to
anything but motorcycles). The actual ride started at 1 o'clock. Four hours of
waiting for a ten minute ride. I think I had the only Moto Guzzi there. Something
like this makes the whole thing worthwhile:

http://tinyurl.com/oa4bguq or:

http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.townn...1bab.image.jpg

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Ban idiots, not guns!