Chris Page's Lemans progress

Chris's bike so far: engine is out, cleaned and ready for some cylinder work and a freshened top end. Sorry the pictures are placed randomly but I'm still learning the subtleties of blog layout....

The wheels are out being black powder-coated (notice a theme) as is the frame and black bits. Parts orders have been placed and Chris's spare bedroom looks like a store room at Mandelo del Lario.

My street bike.

Originally a CX100 it's now a Lemans1 lookalike.

Black snowflakes

I'm helping a friend with his Lemans3. We just had the wheels powder-coated semi gloss black and mounted new tires. Bridgestones: BT45 front and 11R rear. Great combination. Soft front and sport touring rear. They stick well too. It's what I have on my street Guzzi. The rear 110 is skinny but the bike handles great.

2010 plans

Last summer I decided to enter the vintage endurance races set to be held at Spa Francorchamps in July 2010 (Bikers Classic). My friend and fellow Honda 160 racer Chris Page agreed to be my riding partner as there is a minimum of 2 riders per team with a maximum of 2/3rds race distance for any one rider. Being an all round good guy and an accomplished racer and instructor Chris would be the perfect team mate. He even bought a Guzzi Lemans 1 a few months ago. It's being restored to original condition and will be his practice bike. Chris asked me my opinion on whether to buy a Guzzi or an old BMW as he had a hankering for a vintage bike. Let's just say he saw sense and chose a Guzzi. See below.

While I got started rebuilding my Guzzi Spa announced the event was off. By the time they reinstated it I had decided to wait a year which is probably wise as it's only 6 months away and the bike is still in pieces. I also worked myself into a lather about doing AHRMA events this year as they are holding a race at Portland the weekend after the LA round. 2 weekends in a row thrashing a Guzzi takes some beating.

In the meantime I'm setting the bike up for endurance but making everything removable so I can run the required stock bodywork in AHRMA events. In endurance anything goes: see here

Planned changes to the bike include: endurance bodywork, lighter wheels, new rearsets, new exhaust system, and general weight saving.

2009 Bikers Classic winning bike: Team Moto Bel

Astralite wheels

Lemans 3 tank courtesy of Mark at Moto Guzzi Classics with flush filler (thanks for the fabrication Ralph).

Guzzi Magni Sfida seat from Teo Lamers

The next step to Guzzi Nerdom

This was me about 3 months ago. Plans are afoot. More to follow.

Winter tear down

Not sure why I'm calling it a winter tear down. LA winters consist of 2 weeks of temperatures below 70 degrees and we might get a bit of rain if we're lucky.

After September's racing I thought I'd have a look and see how the engine was holding up. Everything looked great except the rod bearings. Theories are: not using synthetic oil, oil starvation or lack of clearance between the bearings and the crank. And revving a big Guzzi up to 8700rpm trying to keep up with Steve Arnett probably didn't help.

Solutions: from now on I plan on using full synthetic, either 10/40 or 20/50. Candidates are Amsoil, Mobil 1 V Twin or Brad Penn. Also had the rods honed to give a bearing to crank clearance of .0018" as per Mike Rich's recommendation. Hopefully this will prevent torched bearings.