For over 12 months I looked at this motorcycle in a local dealer's used bikes section.
Nobody seemed to want it.
In a dealership that sells Honda, Suzuki, Vespa, Harley Davidson, Yamaha, Triumph, Cagiva, Suzuki, Buell and MV Agusta, this was the one solitary Moto Guzzi.
Unloved, it sat there for over 12 months, and as it sat there my resolve firmed that this lonely Guzzi should find a home where it would be loved and appreciated.
Readers of The Guzzi Project will know by now that my place is a home where Moto Guzzis are appreciated and loved and cared for.
So I decided that I had to give this lonely, royal blue 1996 1100 Sport a home.
Negotiations commenced with the dealership.
Twelve months ago they wanted too much - over $10,000. But this Guzzi had been occupying floor space for twelve months, and there's nothing like pressure from the dealership manager to shift stock to force reality back into the pricing equation.
My investigations uncovered the ownership history - there are few Guzzis in my neck of the woods, and every Guzzi enthusiast eventually finds all the others, and the bike's history was not too hard to find out........
I discovered that the 1100 had been traded on a Triumph, for $6,500.
I made an offer, and was told it was too low.
I waited 3 months, and took it for a test ride. I discovered that the front brakes - Brembo Goldline Calipers and 320mm floating discs - had a terrible shudder that made front braking diabolically dangerous. Given that new discs were over $600 and caliper prices were similar, I wasn't going to buy the bike unless the brakes had been fixed.
Armed with the knowledge of the bike's history, and how long it had remained unsold, I made another offer. My offer was that the price - including 3 months registration and 3 months dealer warranty - had to start with a 7, or it was no deal.
They considered their options, and we settled on a price of $7,950.
The bike was registered in my name and I became the proud owner of a shiny blue 1100 Sport. I rode away from the dealership, carefully applying only the rear brake and copious amounts of generous engine braking. I rode it for 2 weeks and returned it to the dealer for repair of the brakes under warranty. Four weeks later I got the bike back and the brakes were perfect - so much stopping power using only the index finger. The delay in the fix was not the dealer's fault - the company that does the work (Awesome Discs) are very good at what they do, but speedy turnarounds are not part of their service ethos.
The next step was to have the bike thoroughly checked out by my local Guzzi dealer - the folks at Eurocycle. Brian at Eurocycle identified a problem with the starter - it needed replacing or complete overhaul - and an oil leak from the shaft seal for the alternator, and a diff pinion bearing that needed replacing.
I rode the bike regularly - weather permitting - and it failed to start a number of times during that period, including one time 100 metres from the dealership I purchased it from (Peter Stevens Motorcycles in Adelaide). Scott in the dealership realised that there was something not right with the starter, and they agreed to pay for a new one under warranty.
Now I could have purchased a new starter from a dealer in Western Australia for about $700, but I thought that price was exorbitant, so I decided on some judicious web searching, courtesy of our good friends at Google. Granted, it was not my money I was going to be spending, but fair is fair, right?
I happened upon a Colorado company - EuroMoto Electrics - who were advertising genuine Valeo (OEM) starter motors for about US$180 plus shipping. That came to about AU$260, and so I ordered it one Friday afternoon. The following Friday morning the courier delivered it to my home. The world has become a much smaller place, hasn't it?
Ten minutes after the starter was unpackaged and the instructions read, it was installed. The bike has started first time every time since.
Peter Stevens reimbursed me and I think this was a definite WIN-WIN situation for customer and dealer.
It's been a win for John Rayski at EuroMoto Electrics, because I've referred a few Guzzi owners to his company's site since.
Anyway, I've been riding the Guzzi for over 3 months now, and like all Guzzis it has its quirks. It steers like a tank at slow speed. The riding position is a long reach, and is not comfortable around town. The fuel economy around town is lousy too, because the carburation at slow speed when transitioning from low throttle to medium throttle openings is not ideal. So I tend to ride it near the speed limit in whatever gear has me revving above the transition point - which is about 2800 rpm.
But get out on the open road and some bends and twisties above 60kmh (35mph) advisory limits, and it's a different beast. It's stable, and much more comfortable, and uses less fuel.
So far I've spent about a thousand bucks on protective gear - kevlar jeans, leather pants, dririder boots and a jacket and gloves, and one of those mesh suits of body armour for riding on hot days when a jacket is just way too hot. And about another thousand on other bits and pieces - renewal of registration, insurance, disc lock, Tarozzi riser bars (on order from UK) to lift the riding position by about 2 inches, a new adjustable brake lever and rear brake pads. Oh, and a new triple compound Dunlop front tyre.
So that's where we are to date. The bike is in at Eurocycle today to have the diff pinion bearing replaced, which should make riding the twisty bits a bit nicer because right now the rear end 'walks' a bit when transitioning from lean on one side to another.
If Brian gets time he'll also do the alternator seal.
So there was spare space in the garage, and now one formerly lonely Guzzi 1100 beds down each night sharing space with the Le Mans and the 750S.
A good result.
Oh, and I couldn't count the number of people who have approached me when I've been out for a ride through the hills around Adelaide, and tell me "I nearly bought that bike, but the dealer wanted too much". Sometimes patience and persistence does pay off.
