Protection, Son. Always wear protection.

When my old man was telling me that, I don’t think he had motorcycles and the abrasive nature of road surfaces in mind. Nevertheless, it’s axiomatic that whenever there’s danger or risk, we should try to protect ourselves from any adverse outcomes.

And so it is with motorcycles.

We have come a long way in terms of protective wear.
Jackets and pants have CE armor built in as a matter of course. When I was a young man it was a bit of foam padded into the shoulders, elbows and knees, and stitched into a few rolls to provide very limited impact protection.

Jeans are available in all manner of designs incorporating Kevlar reinforced fabric and leather segments and ventilated gussets and God knows what.........

Last time I fell off wearing jeans they were a pair of camel colored Levis cords, and I was on my mate’s RD 350, and it tore the arse out of them in about a nanosecond and rendered my left buttock to the texture of mincemeat.

So after a bit of a hiatus being married and having kids and being browbeaten into not having any toys of my own, and getting divorced, and then being in another expensive and unsatisfactory relationship, and then coming to the realization that I’ve been a mug and I’m a hundred $K down the crapper, I got smart and started to please myself for a change.

So instead of riding other blokes’ toys, I got myself a bike and kitted up.

• An interim textile jacket from Starider along with some Kevlar lined jeans. They are made to a price and if you’re looking to save some bucks they are a good product.
• Some leather jeans from a site on eBay. They came from Pakistan. They, too are OK for the price. Next pair I buy will be a heavier leather, as I’m not sure how long these jeans will hang together if they meet the bitumen suddenly. Having said that, that cut was good and they fitted very well.
• A pair of DriRider Nordic boots from Pitmans Yamaha. They were well priced, and have kept the wet out, but the leather on the top of the foot has started to fall apart at one of the crease lines. I won’t go down the DriRider path again.
• Various gloves from Peter Stevens discount store here in Adelaide (thanks, Daniel). Most gloves look fancy but the workmanship and assembly is rubbish, so I treat them as disposable items and refuse to pay full price for even the so called quality names. So when they start to fall apart I don’t feel too bad about throwing them away and starting anew.
• A GT Roadmaster jacket from Jackson Racing in Rosebud Victoria. Martin Harvey is the man to talk to there, and he was unfailingly helpful, and quite prepared to put me straight at one time when I totally screwed up some measurements. This jacket is without doubt the best I have ever owned. Forget your Walden Miller and Mars products. This bloke’s gear is superior to them all – it’s a heavyweight item – which means lots of thick hide. Great wind exclusion, and excellent overall construction and fit. And quite stylish, too, for the more ‘mature’ gent like me. A mate who buys a new jacket every 18 months or so because he lives in them and ends up destroying them rates the Jackson Racing item as “outstanding”. I'm going to buy a perforated summer jacket from them in the next month or two. Oh, and Martin is a Guzzi rider and enthusiast, too, which means he’s no motorcycling dilettante – you have to have staying power to be a long term Guzzi owner.

Of course, the above opinions are my own, and others with differing experiences of the abovementioned products are free to post their own comments offering endorsement or rebuttal. I have no commercial relationship with any of the above companies or manufacturers apart from the retail purchases described.

The Orphanage - A Year On

'The Orphan' has been with me for a year now.
It's been fun. Unless it's driving rain or blistering hot - and we get both extremes and everything in between here in Adelaide, South Australia - most days the Orphan has been given an outing.

Whether it's commuting the arterial roads into the city from my home 13 kms north-east of the city, or going for a quick Sunday afternoon blat to Lobethal in the Adelaide Hills, the Orphan has been a good friend.

Along the way she has needed a bit of TLC, in the form of the following:

1. A new Dunlop 120ZR17 SportMax front tyre (Oct 2009) and a carby tune,
2. Fix differential (final drive) pinion bearing and front alternator seal (Dec 2009),
3. Metal polishing of exhaust headers - they looked more like mild steel than stainless, so bad was the tarnishing (Feb 2010) and another carby tune by Eurocycle,
4. Bitubo steering damper rebuild by Hoey Racing. Thanks, Pete, about 20% of the cost of a new one (Apr 2010),
5. Wave rotors to replace the Brembo rotors, which were undersize at 3.7mm and 3.8mm thickness. Purchased via eBay from S3 Performance Racing, and they have improved the front end bite and feel considerably. See them here, and less than half the cost of the Brembo gear, too. (June 2010),
6. Repair to leaking diff seal, overhaul of both Dell'Orto PHM40 carburettors and a proper tune-up (re-jet) of the carbys. Also involved removal of the airbox and the fitment of pod filters. Now everyone can see the beautiful White Power shock. Italian Motorcycles did the tune, and have transformed the bike. Suddenly there is no bogging down at 2500rpm, and the Orphan runs hard to 8000rpm, where before it was dropping off noticeably at 5000rpm. I reckon there's an extra 10 seat of the pants horsepower now, and a crack open of the throttle at 3000rpm in third gear leaves me glad the seat has a ducktail to stop me sliding off under power. (Oct 2010). They also fitted a new rear Dunlop,
7. A Mistral Crossover the replace the 'colostomy bag' junction box, and a sump adapter with external oil filter adapter. The 1996 carby sport model is the last of the Guzzis with the oil filter inside the sump. This adapter will be fitted by Italian Motorcycles shortly, and should make oil changes a breeze. The Mistral Crossover has been fitted this weekend and adds some low frequency note to the free flow mufflers. Both items were sourced from Stein-Dinse in Germany, and their service has been excellent. (Oct 2010),
8. Today I had to replace the gear linkage which broke yesterday (Sunday). The ball jointed linkage had snapped at the mounting. Italian Motorcycles didn't have any, but kindly pointed me in the direction of SKF Bearings about 100 metres away. Excellent service there from 'Chubby' (Robert Heaysman), who said they had none in stock and rang Phil at BSC (another 100 metres away) had them in stock so I bought and fitted them today ($30 for 2) and she's back on the road and the gearshift is a little bit cleaner as a result. (Nov 2010).

Did I mention that the crew at Italian Motorcycles have been excellent ever since I commenced my relationship with them earlier this year? They do great work - the way the Orphan (l'Orfano) is going now is testament to that, and if they can't get stuff for you, they will point you in the direction of those that can help. No wonder Moto Guzzi, Aprilia and Ducati sales are going gangbusters in Adelaide right now. These guys really know how to keep their customers happy.
I'll keep you posted on how the Stein-Dinse sump adapter fitment has gone.

New Wave Rotors - Excellent Bite and Feel



With airbox removed you can see the WP Shock.  And note the new Mistral exhaust crossover.