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488

Two three six - 236. That’s how many miles I put on my '15 FJR1300 between oil changes spanning the first full year of experimenting with retirement.

Though losing my heart to bikes as a teen and losing my mind to them as the unhealthy object of my mid life crisis, motorcycles had always been more tool than toy - little more than the preferred commuter rig. From the beginning there have been the occasional afternoon blasts but, in a typical 8000 mile pre pandemic year, I had all the fun I wanted taking the long way home from work. Since Nov '19 I’ve clocked a paltry 7000 miles with over half those in the months between a mid '23 return to office and the end of commuting days in Feb '24.

I’ve been fortunate to live in lands of 4 season riding joying environments where wildlife and asteroids were the only threats. That joy is being replaced with trepidation as the roads become increasingly inhospitable and the favored backroad haunts succumb to development. Though I still have a ride to Prudhoe Bay in mind - perhaps a Iron Butt ultimate coast to coast (UCC) - I’ve taken exactly 4 multi day road trips in 40+ years of nearly continuous ownership and the wanderlust for far off motorcycle adventures is fading at about the same rate as perishable skills atrophy. The wife only put up with the bikes because they’ve been around longer than she has. But the days have long since passed of even joking about who or what would be the first to go. My preferred local transportation is by Trek or Asics so I just don’t ride any more.

There are aspects of being a motorcyclist that I’d hate to leave behind, but the spell is fading, the need is gone, and I’m wondering if it is finally time to move on. So there is a question in all this.

Have any of you crossed this bridge? Next on the list of M’s* is a Miata so I’m not worried so much about what’s on the other side. But I am curious about your decision points - what convinced you that it was time to move on - and if you ran into any unexpected regrets or second guesses.

*M’s: Marriage - check. Never gonna figure it out completely but after 35 years she’s stuck with me. Music - check. After 3 years of fussing with stuff I’m figuring out that I don’t like to fuss and I’m blessed with lead ears and a bear budget which greatly simplifies the system and (mostly) eliminates the desire to flip gear. Motorcycles - check. Next up Miata where I’m hoping that trading a helmet for a flat cap will be a good enough compromise.

489

Bikes have a certain magic to them that I am unable to replicate elsewhere. I live in an area of wonderful roads twisty, hilly pretty.

490

Got the V7 back from the main seal fix today. Road the right lane on the interstate all the way to state road 27 home. No reason to be stuck in the middle of five lanes of interstate when something the mechanic missed pops up in a bad way (no power). All went fine and I ran a quick 100 miles to aggravate any issues. All good. Man, this bike is addictive, though. It has the perfect, for me, riding triangle and seat comfort making it literally a cross country bike. I like shorter trips now. Days on end going 500 miles or more a day aren’t my thing anymore. At 17,000 miles and counting it’s been across Ohio to California three time (5300 miles round trip) already in miles. Big 5.5 gallon tank, 54 MPG and a nice fairing. Light simple bike that has character.

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Time to stick Bridgestone T33’s sport touring tires on the V85. I don’t need ADV tires. That bike crossed 11,000 miles already. But, it is too good. The V7 has the MOJO.

Galen

491

Allan, I was in the exact same boat BEFORE I retired, though. I road my BMW R100RT just 35,000 miles in like 30 years! I sold it and bought a more “modern” bike, the Moto Guzzi V100S and road it 13,000 miles and had to admit it was to ADHD kind of bike for me. All go then all stop and no inbetween where it wasn’t happy. I realized if I wanted to get out and back home FAST why even leave? I wanted to go OUT, but not get home FAST. I wanted shorter rides, not 3,000 mile slogs.

I got a Moto Guzzi V7 Model 10 as I fell in love with the LOOKS of the bike only to fall in love with RIDING the bike. Ya, I went 30 years backwards from the V100 and have a more reliable shaft drive bike. Getting the V7 serviced, I road a V85TT strada, and ended up with a 2025 TRAVEL with a STRADA package (cast wheels, no bash plate, inner hugger fender and standard pipe guards) added. The TRAVEL has the six axis and dual channel anti-lock and my wife said it only has to work once to be worth it. So the STRADA choice was out (no six axis traction control) and the V100 was sold for the V85TT TRAVEL. For an ADV, it even looks good and of a “piece”. Both lighter and easy to manage bikes.

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Both bikes got me going again in a big way. 27,000 miles between the two not counting the 13,000 on the V100 the last two years. I go nowhere. I ride Northern Ohio backroads and just enjoy the going. Watch the seasons pass by and people in the country farms working the fields.

But yes, I hear you. My 1992 R100RT BMW really didn’t speak to me like the V7 and V85 TRAVEL Guzzis and even one, the V100, wasn’t communication in the right way. Maybe your bikes divorced you? It happened to me. It was hard to admit I screwed up twice (the BMW then the V100S). Once I figured out my MOJO (go slower, enjoy the world and smell the roses an a simpler bike and shorter trips) and the bikes that fit that, I’m off!

Galen

492

It’s been decades but I miss the joy and freedom of my little unbreakable, hilarious Bultaco.

493

Possibly. It wouldn’t be the first time. What I’m hearing all 3 of you saying is to consider continuing to work the short list. Next up would be a Bonneville Speed Twin 1200.

494

Ya, sometimes the older bikes are still great. My second motocrosser, a 1978 MAICO 250cc was just incredible and I should have kept it as I’m not a pro rider, and it went as fast as I ever could. The front fender on the one below isn’t the stock Acerbis.

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495

Similar to an early theatre encounter demonstrating that I had no business on stage, my bmx experience convinced me that self preservation started with two firmly planted contact patches. If I could go back in time I’d try to convince my young teen self that learning to handle dirt riding would make me a more competent street rider. In spite of that I have wondered if off road would be a good alternative.

Accessible dirt kind of makes it impractical and healing takes a lot longer these daze, but the Trans America Trail (TAT) and Backcountry Discovery Routes (BDR) caught my imagination/fantasy a few years ago.

496

Ever have those big ugly balance weights on your wheels? The shop said some come in black. BINGO, off goes the light bulb in my head if not in my dim witted one, even a small light seems bright. I took some black spray paint and sprayed it on a piece of cardboard and used a q-tip and painted them BLACK! So much better.

The Bridgestone true sport touring road design T33’s I put on the V85TT seem pretty good. They are dead neutral to a fault. No sudden “moves” leaning over. The bike seems less spritely because of that lack of fall-in into turns and stability. Super good on center over any road surface and cross-winds. They track stright ALL the time. The Trailmax Meridians were wandering tires and always wanting to go off the intended line and drop suddenly into corners. But, that did make the V85TT seems real zippy, if not all over the place. I miss that some, but technically the T33’s are a far more predictable tire. Ride quality isn’t better or worse that I can tell. MAYBE slightly more road texture feel. We shall see about mileage, the Meridians went 11,000 miles.

Galen

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497

That’s a great idea. Now you hardly see them. I’ve had one occasion where I had a tire mounted that was perfect and required no balance. I was so surprised I questioned the tech. He said it’s rare but it does happen.

498

Ya, the front wheel of the V85TT needed none, but the rear used five “flat” weights. The V7 was opposite, it needed none on the rear and five flat weights on the front. The flat weights stay on better (1/4-ounce per) but are awful looking being silver. I’ve never seen black one so I made them!

499

Black tire weights are readily available. But this does not matter if your shop does not carry them. :frowning:

Nice work around.

500

Near 25,000 miles on the 2024 V7 STONE model 10. Wow. I’m going to change to Bridgestone T33 radials from Michilin bias ply Road Classic OEM. The OEM rubber has been fine, over 12,500 miles per set and still maybe 1,000 from hitting the wear bars. They might be better, or worse, feeling. I doubt they will be “bad” just different. It’s all a feel thing. The use data suggests 10K mileage. Rear is the same size, front is a 110 verses 100 and lower ratio. Radials seem to come in the 110 width for 18" on the front so radials are limited to try.

All the brakes were re-done. I found out that the OEM BREMPO semi-metallic front brake pads grab the 333mm racing alloy rotor BETTER than the EBC fully sintered pads. Who’d have thought that? I changed the rear pads to the EBC HH sintered and here, with what ever SS alloy disc MG uses the sintered offer better bite but not terribly so. Technically the sintered pads offer the highest coefficient of friction. So why the semi-metallic are so darn good on the front? But, brakes are done for 20K or so.

While I was at the brakes, the MATRIS cartride fork oil was replaced. It was BLACK pouring out. I’d advise not skipping fork oil changes! The 5W oil ended up all over everything no matter how careful I was. The forks, me, the cat the dog, the floor…everything. I did manage to get a few ounces into the recycle bottle. Ha! Not a too hard process, just wear old clothes.

The little V7 lives on. Once I hit the service wrench, I’ll swap the tires out too. In the hot weather the V7 is the main ride. When it cools off, the V85TT comes out.

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Went on a quick 215 or so miles trip after the re-built forks. WAY better. I did set the compression/rebound to the “stock” starting point. I forgot where they were before the re-build. But the slippery oil or the closer to ??? proper settings on damping made a big change. So much smoother on rough Ohio back roads. I set the pre-load one notch from max to control dive when braking hard. The new oil seems to have also stopped the dive acceleration under braking. Like yes, it has proper compression damping again.

This stuff erodes SLOWLY so it sneaks up on you. The rear shocks are EOL too. Pretty soon all springs and no damping. Need to get those non rebuildable units replaced soon.

For everyone who has 20K or so miles on your bike, do yourself a favor and get the forks serviced. It’s hell in there! And if your rear shocks are rebuildable do it because after about 20-25K miles they are getting worse and worse pretty fast. The oil is sheared to uselessness. Sealed type? Replace.

Best all, Galen

501

I went ahead and got the shock factory 2WIN model shocks. I did get the silver body to match the “white” tank trim. If the shocks are the cat’s meow, I may powder coat the springs RED this winter.

I want the adjustable damping and the PROPORTIONAL valve makes it easier to get a satisfactory feel. The V7’s KYB are at 25K and kind of bouncy back there. The bike wiggles pretty bad going over the frequent railroad tracks I cross. The V85 is dead rock stable by comparison.

The shocks and the radial tires (Bridgestone T33’s) are the last service item after 25K miles. I’m not sure where people get that GUZZI’s aren’t reliable. This is the most reliable bike I have EVER owned of ANY make. 25,000 miles and just normal service. And, this is two-thirds over ROUGH country roads too and thus hardly a miles has been on smooth roads. Look at it this way, it has nearly gone around the world as the crow flies (~ 29,000 miles).

I’ll let you know how it all comes together. I can’t get a service until two weeks out and my service light cut my riding off, so on the V85TT I go. The new radial tires and new shocks will be interesting.

Best, Galen

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502

Interesting that you opted for OEM over KYB. I seem to recall you swapping out the OEM shocks. Do you not have the original shocks or am I not remembering correctly?
How is the damping valve different? Linear vs non linear?

503

Allen,

The Japaneses made KYB are the OEM shock model for the V7 and not rebuildable.

The Shock Factory 2WIN model are the aftermarket upgrade. The name is confusing, SHOCK FACTORY is the company.

Yes, I had Ohlin’s on the V7 awhile but they were AWFUL and the UNIT GARAGE in England set them up 100% WRONG. The box was labeled incorrectly as well as V7 IV shocks. NOPE.

Anreanni in the US set them back to “somewhat” right specs but the shock eyes weren’t correct-entirely wrong shock bodies were used. This was noit fixed unti I pointed it out back again. So called adapters to fix that still pinned the shock eyes such that the rear end acted almost SOLID, and cost me hundreds to do it wrong. The shocks need to rotate around the rubber insert, that can’t be “pinned” to not allow that movement. For HUNDREDS and HUNDREDS more AGAIN, Anreanni said they can get that issue “fixed” (maybe). Since it was me that was FIXING things, I gave up. Either vendor should have supplied the right shock straight-up. I have no confidence in either vendor. Sometimes you just need to walk out of the problem and not look back.

The KYB stock shocks, that worked WAY, WAY better than the screwed up Ohlins went back on for the last 20,000+ miles.

Thus I bailed on Ohlins and literally gave them away to Cardre Cycles. I’ll get a few bucks on my service account. So in come Shock Factory. These guys know the V7, how I ride it and what shock is best. You talk to the person who DESIGNED the shocks. And, less than one-half the cost and rebuildable. I decided deluxe high-end models aren’t worth the inept set-up issues and to stick with road level shocks that work over a far, far wider performance range and temperatures than “race” shocks. All this was explained by shock factory. The V7 is hardly a race bike…maybe in slow motion.

Best, Galen

504

Or…ORRRR…you just leave the brake dust accumulate so the weights are just as dirty as the wheels…

Works on mine.

Ride everywhere!

Mike in Dayton

505

What next? Audio tweaks?

506

I would seriously consider a Guzzi should my F800 ever give up the ghost. Galen is quite the brand ambassador.

507

I say it like mine are doing for me. Being hand made, each bike will sort out differently. Hand made kind of does that stuff. But two different bikes and a couple years apart bode well for consistency and…the factory that makes the V7 and V85 has been seriously updated, so better unit to unit quality.

Still, these are both gremlin excised older drivetrain designs wrapped with modern electronics, better frames, brakes, wheels, tires and suspensions. You get that old world feel but near none of the serious reliability kinks.

If you want a jewel of a watch, well, the Guzzi’s aren’t your thing. The V85TT is actually really polished for the old world charm…so much so I ride the V7 most of the time!

Best, Galen