Toad On The Road

Bummer your bike is still down.

But, like you say, you could be stuck somewhere a lot worse

Looking forward to you getting back on the road and reading more of your RR

Brian

Just wanted to let you know that I found this thread about an hour ago. I guess you can officially bump your readership to eight now.

I am definitely a fan and envious as hell. Thanks for putting this up and keeping us posted. Hope the parts are in and you're back on the road.

Gerry

Add 1 more follower

Great ride and photos. Too bad the bike is having so many issues, I rode my 09 Stelvio all over the country it's first year with zero issues (appx 20Ks) with good initial service in NC and then on the road in Seattle at Moto International. They are a great bike and hopefully now between the shop and you putting up with parts delays you will have her sorted and can enjoy the rest of the trip with just routine care. There are a couple "go to" Guzzi shops around the country and it would be worth it to check on GuzziTech to get their numbers and addresses so you could take BG to them if she still is being fussy.

Safe travels and thanks for taking us along.

Hey Toad,
I love reading your ride report. I would be pissed with the bike situation.
You have more patients then me. I guess the NA reps from Motto Guzzi
don't read ADV forums. They should have a factory team getting you back on the road.
Wish you luck from Canada.

Typical Guzzi. It'll all get sorted out.
When you get to So. California, Look up Todd Egan at guzzitech.com

Thanks for all your replies. I have had several conversations with Todd and intend to pay him a visit. But this is now two days after my last post with no word form the Guz dealer. I have to check out of here tomorrow morn and am actually toying with the idea of moving over to the Christian motel (might even be able to get a third story beach room for at least 2 bills less than I am paying now) and hangin up my spurs for two more months. I mean the final destination is back in BC and I sure can't head that way for a while. And I just have no desire to deal with all the crap you have to go thru to go south of here. We will see.

Laguna Beach Christian Resort - great place! I have been there numerous times.

Church Youth group, 2009:




Family vacation, 2010 - the wife and girls found a use for my V-Strom...:eek1

Seems I am back on track. But, like they say 'Till the Fat Lady sings'. Yesterday I finally got a text saying all the parts (all the parts?) were in and he needed a day to make things absolutely right. So, tho I am ready to buzz up to Tal this morning, I am holding back because one of those thunderstorms I am so cautious about is apparently bearing down on us. And, again, all sunshine is predicted for tomorrow. So, hope to get up there end of the day or tomorrow and be back here and ready to leave by Sat. morn.
Arizona, here I come. (Maybe).

Do I understanmd correctly that you didn't ride the Blue Ridge Parkway
through North Caroina ?

If you did not....IMO...you missed the best part !!!

I hate you BTW.....(j/k......aka jeolousy)

Yep. Tires and the Guzzi dealer on the coast awaited and I had to make that call. Perhaps on day tho....

Add another- been reading this since you started it and have enjoyed it all. Hope you have better mechanical luck for the rest of the trip.

I'm sorry,man. It's your handle. I'll just call u Dick.
And Lonesome Dove? Best damned Cowboy book I ever read.

It's an age thing- on an evening some years ago after a day of preparing trails for an enduro, one of my dirt riding buddies asked me how old I was. When I told him, he said, ",,,,from now on we're calling you dickosaurus." But I really ain't so old most days.

So Friday I got the bike back. With a bunch of the warranty issues not done. As a matter of fact everything but the forks was refused. I asked Danny how bad the forks were and he said they were really worn. But, as I already stated they refused to replace the warped rotors and apparently turned down replacing the out of whack windshield. On top of that the redoing of the exhaust gaskets was refused because they said the temp fix I had done in Miami was warranty and, even tho it didn't hold, I guess you only get one strike at this warranty stuff. So sealing the exhaust cost me over $400. Can u believe the two y pipe gaskets were $50 each? Plus I had to pay for the fork oil. Go figure. The exhaust is sealed up and the almost stalling problem has dropped way off. But.... at the bike shop I climbed on and the starter gave only one crank. Tried again and one crank. Then again and it fired. Turned it off and checked ground wires and all were tight. Battery read 12.5. Rode back to PCB and filled up and it started fine.
Saturday morning I am ready to leave and it behaves the same way. It was 32 degrees F. but inquiries about this have got replies from other owners starting their Stelvios in colder temps than that. I checked the stator output and I am getting a good 14. something volts. I think it's just bad grounding again but just don't want to deal with it if I don't have to till I get to my buddies in Arizona.
Anyhoo I am on the road again after setting out Saturday morning dressed to the nines. Was not really on the scenic route but was impressed with the bays and sandy shores rolling into Pensacola. Got no pics as my camera was buried somewhere and I was determined to get some miles down. Getting onto Hwy 10 revealed a lot of the long straight nothing as I left Florida, quickly went thru Alabama and into Mississippi. The coolest part was 10 after Baton Rouge on that stretch of raised highway with all the waterways underneath it. And, of course the Mississippi river. Heavy Christmas traffic once again made photo ops dangerous so I opted out.
I am now in Port Charles because weather maps are showing nasty stuff is almost on top of me. One report is talking about dangerous thunder storms tomorrow and another is saying partially sunny. We will have to see who's right. One things for sure, I am going to be a little late for Christmas at Petes.

It's a shame your timing is messed up on this. It would have been great if you could have stopped by MPH in Houston and have them take a look at the bike, but I suspect you'll be through there while they are closed. Port Charles or Lake Charles?

If you have the time, follow US 90 rather than I10. It parallels I10 most of the way, but it is a bit more fun. I10 between Ft. Stockton and El Paso has to be one of the most boring roads in America.

jdg

Ya sorry, Lake Charles. And no time for alternate routes. Gotta try to blow by the extreme tornado warnings supposed to land here tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be past San Antonio by then. It's real warm before sunrise here this morn and the bike starts easily.:huh

Blasting out of Lake Charles I maintained good speed and it wasn't too long till I saw the big star and Welcome to Texas. A bit further and I pulled into this rest stop.

Running for the restroom I was shouted down by an attendant who informed me that I was parked on the wrong side of the yellow line. Seriously? Yep, he says, you'll have to move cause you could be run down by an 18 wheeler. As there was only one truck in the lot and maybe two cars I tried to explain how that was very unlikely but he wasn't havin any of it. So, welcome to Texas. Gave him the bird salute on the way out.
It was a good day of straight line driving and I easily made it thru Houston

and on to San Antonio. A good clean $45 hotel topped it all off. Next morning I was starting off in good warm weather and I was hopin to make some real time. Checking the weather maps was showing clear all the way in front of me but some colder temps ahead. I kept the heavy gear close by and ready to go. It wasn't ten minutes on the road and I was starting to get buffeted. Heading north west and gradually west out of the city and I soon realized my hopes of utilizing the 80mph highway ahead prolly wasn't going to happen. After a ten degree drop I pulled over and threw on everything I had.

The cuts thru the hills were playing havoc with the venturi effect and I was getting knocked about like a punchy prizefighter.

Fort Stockton and beyond was my plan for today but the aches and pains were building and the chill was actually getting thru. Plus, levelling out to the flat plain of Ozona had the wind increase and turn sideways on me.
Now, Ozona, I think, has three hotels. And, of course they can charge whatever they want because of this. I chose the Economy at $100. Im warm and cosy but do have concerns for starting the bike tomorrow. Think it will be going into the mid 20s tonight. So, tomorrow morning? May have to try and fit the bike in my room. Stay tooned.

Yup...this RR has definitely left me with a negative opinion regarding Motto Guzzi...both their products and service.

BTW, Toad, I've enjoyed your report. Too bad you weren't able to see more of Charleston. Also, it would be interesting to know how many miles you had on the MG while the problems developed.

Good luck on your trip but this type of treatment is absolutely a bunch of BS. Being sidelined as long as you were and then not having them step up to the plate and fix the stuff that failed through no fault of your own is absolutely ridiculous. A lot of folks that read about your experience will steer clear of Guzzi because of crap like this.

I hope the next 6 months are trouble free. Enjoy your ride!

Glad you are back on the road, too bad you are missing some beautiful roads due to lost time and Mother Nature, that stretch from TX, NM and AZ on 10 gets some serious Winter storms.

Not to beat the dead horse too badly, but the continued troubles are unacceptable as everyone is commenting on and I would strongly suggest you check into one of the known "go to" Guzzi shops as you head further down the road. There was a great guy in Tucson that after selling his dealership stayed on in the shop, just not sure of his status at this time. Several others in Cali and on up through WA at Moto International. I think if you invest a little time with one of these Gurus it will be well worth your time. GuzziTech has plenty of folks that can give you the latest "best" options.

I recalled that I did have one no start on my Stelvio and the push, pull, tug and wiggle :eek1 method indicated the intermittent problem was in the loom near the steering stem. It was zip tied a little tight and I guessed a wire had been stretched until it failed like I had on an older BMW. Turned out it was a pin connector not fully seated in the main harness and never had a problem after that (did add some slack to the loom). That bike was run from temps in the 20-120f range all over the US and I never had a concern about reliability including very remote camping areas. Again, please take her to one of the recommended shops and see what they can find for you.

Safe travels.