(Photo credit: www.zeefoto.com) A great source of photos while you ride Hwy 129 (a.k.a. The Tail of the Dragon)
About Me...
My home town: Knoxville, TN Country I live in: U.S.A. My Occupation: Emergency Management How I found Squadra Guzzista: Web browsing
A slideshow of images from Scott's Photo Album
More about me...
How long have I been riding bikes? 36 years
Why Moto Guzzi? Love the Griso .. it's a torque monster, and is a rare bike for my area.
How/when I first became interested in Moto Guzzi: ~2005, when I started looking at the new sportbikes Moto guzzi was offering (I had a '97 Triumph Speed Triple at the time).
My main type of riding is (competition/pleasure/commute/work): Pleasure ... love riding the twisties inn the Tennessee mountains.
About my Guzzi...
What is it (model/year): Griso 1100/2007
How long I have owned it: 2 weeks (bought it 7/8/08)
Is this my first Moto Guzzi: Yes
Other Guzzis in my stable: None
Modifications I have made and why:
7/10/2008 ... Added a carbon fiber hugger fender from Stucchi Luigi (www.stucchiluigi.it), purchased through MG Cycle Parts (www.mgcycle.com). It keeps the rear of the chassis cleaner, plus I'm a sucker for carbon fiber goodies!
7/25/2008 ... Replaced the stock exhaust with a Mistral carbon fiber high pipe. I got this through my local dealer (www.destinationmotorcycles.com) as part of the sale ... which they also got from MG Cycle Parts. I want to show off the rear wheel better, and I don't care for the huge stock exhaust canister.
7/25/2008 ... Removed the stock rear inner fender and installed a fender eliminator from SteelHorse Classics (www.steelhorseclassics.com) to tidy up the rear fender area. Again, I did this to better show off the rear wheel/tire.
8/01/2008 ... Installed a Hyper-Lite kit to augment the rear brake light. This REALLY raises the visibility of a stopped bike to following autos. If interested they are located at www.hyperlites.com.
8/01/2008 ... Installed Lighted License Plate Bolts to better illuminate the license tag. After I removed the rear inner fender on 7/25/08, the license plate was lit only by the tail light....and I wanted it to be lit with a white light to minimize "interest" by our local Law Enforcement Officials (LEOs). If interested, they are located at www.customdynamics.com.
8/16/2008 ... Replaced the stock footpegs with Rizoma (www.rizoma.com) billet aluminum footpegs. These are a two-part set-up. The mountings are for a Yamaha R-1 (I'm assuming 2007 - 2008, but no year was specififed on the parts). The footpegs are a separate part... the ones I used are black anodized. I picked these up at a local bike shop. The part numbers on the Rizoma packages were: Mounts: PE670A Pegs: N045/B [PE610B]
8/20/2008 ... Removed the right- and left-side rear footpeg brackets to create a "solo-seat" configuration. This opened up the rear wheel area and cleaned out unused components (I like tidy and functional). I ordered a replacement left-side rear foot-peg /muffler mount bracket from my local dealer (www.destinationmotorcycles.com) in order to save the original parts in case I later want to restore the rear pegs, then I ground down the footpeg and heel guard parts of the bracket to convert it into a support for the muffler only. The end result looks very cool...(I think anyway!).
9/03/08 ... Replaced the original Bar Ends with red anodized conical ones from Rizoma. (www.rizoma.com).
9/06/08 ... Installed black powder coated crash bars from Stucchi Luigi (www.stucchiluigi.it) ... purchased them from MG Cycle Parts (www.mgcycle.com). Pics are available in the slideshow below.
11/29/08 ... Replaced the stock mirrors with black Rizoma "Reverse Retro" Bar-End mirrors. This modification required me to remove the conical Bar Ends (installed 9/03/08) and install cylindrical (non tapered) ones to allow the mirrors to be mounted. I used red anodized Rizoma Bar Ends for the installation. (www.rizoma.com).
It's quirks: Sometimes the bike indicates it has shifted into 1st gear, but upon releasig the clutch it's still in neutral...probably just my shifting habits coupled with new bike break-in (if someone has advice I'm interested in hearing it).
How it compares with other bikes I've owned: Much more low end torque that my '97 Speed Triple. It flicks the twisty curves easy...much easier than I would have thought for a 500 lb bike. I'd say I like it better than my last two bikes (the Speed Triple and a '96 Ducati Monster 900).
What it's like to live with: It's sleeps in the garage...so I don't have much data to provide there.
What it's like to ride: An absolute BLAST!!!
My bike's most appealing feature is: The italian styling....draws attention wherever I go.
My bike's best feature is: The torque!
Would I recommend one like it to my best friend?: Absolutely
Would I own another, given the chance: Absolutely!
General Guzzi stuff...
What I think of current Guzzi models: Great assortment, with both styling and attitude.
If I could, the one I'd buy tomorrow: MGS-01 or the new Griso 1200
My all time favourite Guzzi: Mine!
If I were boss at Mandello I would: Give Scott Hawks a factory sponsorship (at least as a public relations theme)...and of course with lots of new stuff to show off !
My multimedia...
DEFINING SHOTS
FAVORITE VIDEOS / WIDGETS
"Dragon Slayer" (Taken onUS HWY-129, also called "The Tail of the Dragon") Photo credit: www.zeefoto.com
Video after I replaced the stock muffler with a Mistral high pipe, and removed the rear fender & installed the Steelhorse Classics Fender Eliminator kit (7-25-2008)
Here are some pics of recent modifications (Summer 2008)
Me tagged! (The keywords and phrases that best sum me up...)
Husband of best wife in the world (even let me get a new bike!), Father of 3 great kids, Member #44 in Christian Sport Bike Association (CSBA), Love twisty roads!
Say hello! Leave me a comment below, or send me a private message or compliment!
Tremendous looking Griso...interesting that you have a red one...If you look in the features pages you'll find more info on the Griso! Revlis has written about his red Griso over in Seattle, Joe Costa has created a page called Grisoholics with useful links and stuff...just type Griso in the search window and see what you find! Over on the forum you'll find more enthusiastic Guzzisti too!
Another thing you can do is to create your own album in the Photo Galleries and fill it with your pics etc!
Cheers
Joe
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