June 2009
Seem like every time you stop and turn around
Something else just hit the ground
Broken cutters broken saws
Broken buckles broken laws
Broken bodies broken bones
Broken voices on broken phones
Take a deep breath feel like you're chokin'
Everything is broken.
“Everything Is Broken” – Bob Dylan, “Oh Mercy” album, 1989
Maybe Bob was talking about getting old - about the decay of degenerative age change. Maybe he was talking about the world, as he knew it, and the decay of society. Maybe he was talking about relationships, and the partings, and the loss.
He could also have been talking about ageing Moto Guzzis. For they, too, suffer the vagaries of age, and decay.
Steel rusts.
Alloys decay.
Rubber cracks.
Fabric frays.
Oil thickens, and then it all starts smokin’.
Brakes don’t stop, now everything is broken.
Okay, forgive me my minor lyrical diversion. Listening to Bob always makes me want to go and wax a little poetic.
There’s a lot to do on the 750S to get it tidied up and running, and everything made of rubber has pretty much turned to crap, so in that regard, everything is broken. But there’s nothing that hard work and money can’t fix.
The calipers for the 750S have been returned from PBR at Holden Hill, serviced and shiny and clean, with new pistons and rubbers and bleed nipples and all the bolts and fittings burnished and shiny and clean. All that we’re waiting on now, in order to reassemble the front stoppers, is the lever and master cylinder assembly.
“Everything Is Broken” – Bob Dylan, “Oh Mercy” album, 1989
Maybe Bob was talking about getting old - about the decay of degenerative age change. Maybe he was talking about the world, as he knew it, and the decay of society. Maybe he was talking about relationships, and the partings, and the loss.
He could also have been talking about ageing Moto Guzzis. For they, too, suffer the vagaries of age, and decay.
Steel rusts.
Alloys decay.
Rubber cracks.
Fabric frays.
Oil thickens, and then it all starts smokin’.
Brakes don’t stop, now everything is broken.
Okay, forgive me my minor lyrical diversion. Listening to Bob always makes me want to go and wax a little poetic.
There’s a lot to do on the 750S to get it tidied up and running, and everything made of rubber has pretty much turned to crap, so in that regard, everything is broken. But there’s nothing that hard work and money can’t fix.
The calipers for the 750S have been returned from PBR at Holden Hill, serviced and shiny and clean, with new pistons and rubbers and bleed nipples and all the bolts and fittings burnished and shiny and clean. All that we’re waiting on now, in order to reassemble the front stoppers, is the lever and master cylinder assembly.
Here's the calipers and the new lines. Sweet!
Which reminds me, I need to ring the dealer – Eurocycle – and remind them that we need the assembly soon.
Speaking of Eurocycle, they recently ran their first ride day in a number of years. On offer were test rides of a Griso 1200 8V, a Stelvio 1200 4V, a 1200 Breva and a V7 Classic.
So I turned up on a cool, breezy Saturday morning and signed up for test rides of the Griso, and the V7. I bought a new helmet a month or so prior to the ride day.
My old AGV that I bought in 1980 to match my Suzuki GS1000S was well past it’s use-by date, and also had some pretty serious gouges in it courtesy of a high speed front-end wash-out on the GS1000S many years ago. I haven’t ridden all that much over the recent years, so I’d borrowed other peoples’ helmets, or worn the AGV at a pinch. Yes, I know, that’s pretty stupid putting an old and damaged helmet on your valuable head, but money was tight there for a few years. See the photo for a comparison between the old technology and the new, and note the gouges on the AGV.
So, I bought a new Shark helmet and some leather gloves.
Speaking of riding gloves, why is it that all motorcycle gloves feel like they are made for either off-road riding or MotoGP racing? Over engineered and over priced. I gave up at the bike shop and went to my local hatters and bought a set of unlined black leather gloves. I much prefer feel over bulk, and the current crop of gloves appears to be more a product of the desire of manufacturers to make a glove look safe, rather than give you good feel. I dunno how others feel, but it seems to me that one of the priorities on any bike is good braking, and I can’t understand how gloves that give you little or no feel for the modulation of the brakes actually contribute positively to rider safety.
Speaking of Eurocycle, they recently ran their first ride day in a number of years. On offer were test rides of a Griso 1200 8V, a Stelvio 1200 4V, a 1200 Breva and a V7 Classic.
So I turned up on a cool, breezy Saturday morning and signed up for test rides of the Griso, and the V7. I bought a new helmet a month or so prior to the ride day.
My old AGV that I bought in 1980 to match my Suzuki GS1000S was well past it’s use-by date, and also had some pretty serious gouges in it courtesy of a high speed front-end wash-out on the GS1000S many years ago. I haven’t ridden all that much over the recent years, so I’d borrowed other peoples’ helmets, or worn the AGV at a pinch. Yes, I know, that’s pretty stupid putting an old and damaged helmet on your valuable head, but money was tight there for a few years. See the photo for a comparison between the old technology and the new, and note the gouges on the AGV.So, I bought a new Shark helmet and some leather gloves.
Speaking of riding gloves, why is it that all motorcycle gloves feel like they are made for either off-road riding or MotoGP racing? Over engineered and over priced. I gave up at the bike shop and went to my local hatters and bought a set of unlined black leather gloves. I much prefer feel over bulk, and the current crop of gloves appears to be more a product of the desire of manufacturers to make a glove look safe, rather than give you good feel. I dunno how others feel, but it seems to me that one of the priorities on any bike is good braking, and I can’t understand how gloves that give you little or no feel for the modulation of the brakes actually contribute positively to rider safety.
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