Guzzi and Carrera Cross Country Sprint - reflections on a perfect match

[juicersr]

Like all nutball odysseys, this one begins with two guys, some beer, and a little imagination. I needed to get one 01 V11 Guzzi and 86 Carrera from LA to NC and really didn't want to ship them. Where is the fun in that?? As i am always looking for excuses to circumvent the monotony of the daily grind, i approached a fellow pelican (Pete Koch aka pkracer) during Turbopalooza and asked him if he would care to do a cross country journey with me. But this would be no ordinary cross country trip. Knowing that Pete was an ex-ducati racer as well as Porsche (turbo) nutter, i figured he would bite when i told it involved a combined riding a bike as well as driving a 911. Of course he said yes.

So, the week before last, we packed our stuff, and with my trusty girlfriend along for the ride, we flew in to LA. As ususal, the sun was bright and shining, and Pete and I took care of oil changes and some minor maintennance stuff.

A little about the car. I had been looking for a solid, preferably black, Carrera for some time and i found this 86 at a dealer in LA. I kept an eye on it for a while, noticing the price kept dropping. When it hit my range, i sent my LA buddy over to drive it and do a PPI. Was expecting a dog, but it drove great, motor rebuilt 5000 miles ago with great leakdown, zero oil leaks, but sloppy tranny and a few cometic things that i could care less about as it was going to be a project car. This was what probably put a lot of purist west coast guys off. So i low-balled the dealer, and waited, and waited. Finally got the call last november and the car was mine for literally a steal. This is the first 911 i have ever owned where everything works, central door locks, A/C, cruise, etc!. Pete and i nicknamed it 'The Limo'

As for the V11, needs no intro to those who know Guzzis. 1100cc lateral opposed v-twin tractor motor that will run forever. Great dual purpost bike, great for long cruises, but loves being flogged in the twisties and will surprise many sportbikers with it's abilities. Picked it up from a friend in San Fran last year at Monterey historics.

The trusty steeds


Can't do maintennance without ass-crack


Believe it or not, after sitting for several months, both fired right up... Although it was Sunday, we took a spin in the Carrera around the block to make sure everything felt good. As TRE was in the neighborhood, we stopped by just to see the place, and one of the guys was working on his pit bike motor, allowed us poke around. Really cool shop with lotsa neat stuff going on as everyone here knows.




After the block spin, we decided to do a REAL shakedown, and headed up to Topanga canyons for some flogging, with Pete on the Guzzi and my girl and i in the Carrera. You guys and LA have it made with these roads so close!!!! The afternoon sun was fantastic and the LA smog made for a great sunset.

Usual suspects



Yup, first gear grinds... i'm right at home
YouTube - Topanga 911

And then, next day it was on to the PCH...

[juicersr]

Soooo, next day we packed up... amazing how much stuff you can fit in a 911


As we started to discover at least one item that was not working in the Limo, the cigarette lighter, we had to ghetto-wire the twin plug adapter for our Valentine-1 and cell phone charger


And then we were off, leaving LA in the only proper direction, that of the PCH. The canyon roads north of Malibu truly are fantastic. Wish i could drive them regularly.

On the way to PCH through canyons
YouTube - Topanga to PCH

Traffic through Ventura/ Santa Barbara... didn't see any older model 911's in Cali


My view of Pete most of the time on the PCH


Me riding like a grandma through PCH... YouTube - Guzzi and Carrera PCH
u are caught between awesome scenery (cliffs and sea-lion herds) and need for watching for lane crossers, falling boulders, etc. Really is spectacular

Driver change... bike or car will never be this clean again


Pete, aka 'Robocop', destroyer of PCH switchbacks... fcuker rode the balls off that bike


More awesome scenery


As we rolled into Salinas with $hit eating grins our Pete and my face, we noticed that we had worn the rubber of the front of the Guzz as well as the Carrera which was understeering like a big dog...

[jpnovak]

Justin, You have a sickness. btw,you are going to need a bigger garage.

[chris.817]

Didn't we recently see a European vacation to Sicily to deliver our SC to our home there??? You sure get around.

Be safe headed East.

[juicersr]

Originally Posted by jpnovak

Justin, You have a sickness. btw,you are going to need a bigger garage.

I know.... but i can stop anytime i want, i swear.

[juicersr]

Originally Posted by chris.817

Didn't we recently see a European vacation to Sicily to deliver our SC to our home there??? You sure get around.
.

Road trips in 911s r just too much damn fun.

[Nine17]

Wow, you put together some nice trips. The documentation is well done and greatly appreciated!

One naming convention which you may not be aware of: the "Pacific Coast Highway" is a Southern California icon which begins in Dana Point and ends in Ventura where California Route 1 joins U.S. 101. When Route 1 diverges again just north of Gaviota it's known as the "Cabrillo Highway" from there through the Big Sur Coast all the way to the San Francisco County line. Central Coast locals generally just refer to "Highway 1" or "One" for that stretch of road. I care because my street intersects with it...

Keep those updates coming!

[juicersr]

Wellll. we got up first thing in the am and found the only tire shop open in Salinas at 7am to get new shoes for the front of the Carrera... Lamar Bros tires (est 1929)

Any you guys from Salinas? This place rocks. Old pot-bellied stove out front for chilly mornings, and a row of quick jacks lined up ready for action like the pits of Lemans


Matt Bauer is the man at Lamar Bros. He got Pete and i laughing right away after we told him about our crazy road trip, and pointed us down the street to the bike shop for a tire on the Guzzi. Thanks Matt for hooking us up with the hats and 205's!



After throwing a tire on the Guzzi (we were hoping to stop at ex-AMA racer Doug Chandler's shop but not open yet) we headed up to Sacramento

Welllll everything was going well until just out of Sacramenty, when we stopped for gas, the Carrera wouldnt start. I swear, every 911 i've ever sat in at one time or another had starter issues. Luckily, there was juice to the ignition, and we were able to roll start her.... which we did for the rest of the trip.

Well, through the rest of NorCal to Nevada, the weather turned to $hit. All of the fun stuff through Yosimite got blocked off, and we took 50 through to Tahoe.

There are no pix of this because it was not fun. Rain, 32 degree and slush are not fun on a bike and i have never been colder in my life. Luckily, there was the Limo, and Pete and i switched in Tahoe. Will never forget Pete passing a Suby WRX is the rain and sleet, knee down, like he was standing still!

Finally tho, we made it through 50 where we passed Fallon and were greated by sunny skies and sweeping vistas.



But the best stuff was yet to come

[jimbauman]

Cool! But please, no more crack pix!

[wolf76]

Great photos of what looks like a great trip. Thanks for sharing.


Chris

[911st]

You are living the dream.

My buddy has a Guzzi with the Olin front and rear shocks in black with red heads and a bunch of carbon fiber.

Has some Italian I think carbon fiber special mufflers on it and it sounds like no other sport bike. He always brags about having fun with the young turks on there crotch rockets in 'his' twisties where he grew up on a Honda 750 cafe racer in the 70's.

His Porsche of choice is the last year 944 3.0 four valve.

We are an esoteric bunch.

[juicersr]

Whoever said that america doesn't have an autobahn has never been to Nevada. More precisely, highway 50 that cuts straight through the middle of the state, also dubbed the 'loneliest hightway in america'. Long strectches of arrow-straight but slightly undulating pavement surrounded by majestic peaks off in the distance, all separated by mountain segments with incredible twisties and long high speed sweepers just to break up the monotony of doing 130+ for miles and miles at a time, and .......not a cop in sight!! Now THIS is what both of these machines were MADE for, and they ate it up, mile after mile. Just a sample of some of this stuff that Pete and I hauled azz through in record time, grinning our faces off, switching leads with each other at triple digits.





The only problem with running that fast for extended periods is gas, and with the Guzzi's tank being somewhat smaller than the Carrera's we were always stressing about running out as we had no idea where the next station was. Fortunately, soon after the fuel light came on halfway through NV, there appeared an oasis in the middle of nowhere.... Middlegate Station, an old Pony Express stop that hadn't changed much in about 140+ years, complete with tumbleweeds blowing through!





A slightly slower form of transport from simpler times...


High speed driving, cold beer and new and old friends.... can't think of a better way to spend the day! Some of the local characters at Middlegate Station's watering hole. We aske these guys about cops, and they said 'Yeah, that would be Charlie Brown, but he's off for the day. You're good for the next hundred miles' LOL

[juicersr]

Well, after Middlegate station, we decided to push on to the silver-rush mining town of Eureka, catching more good road and some incredible sunset on the way.

[juicersr]

The town of Eureka is typical of towns in the middle of nowhere NV that somehow manage to cling to life dispite the long-gone rush. A couple of saloon/casinos, an 'opera house' gas station and few hotels, and not much else.

Rush hour traffic in the morning


Ready for another day on the 'Nevadabahn'


More sick stuff outside of Eureka, great for high-speed testing!







Long distance cruising bike hijinks... you gotta do something to keep from getting stiff (and in this case, keep wear on the rear tire down when trying to make it to next bike shop for new rear)


The great thing about doing cross country in both a bike and car, is that it definately helps to break up the monotony of being in the car for hours and hours, and vice-versa, helped to allow a break in the fatigue of long-distance bike riding, when u could hop back in the car after a few hours and sip a latte while your bro got some fresh air, or in my case fresh air and a break from the girlfriend's *****ing that we were not stopping anywhere to do some hiking and other stuff.

[KCinBR]

WOW I am sooooo phreaking jelous, one of the things on my bucket list is to do a road trip like this in a P car.

[pkracer21j]

In the words of Gabe,(reaper935) EPIC. I'm no word-smith so I'll keep my contributions to the thread minimal, but Justin you must include what happened Friday evening when we were headed to the hotel in Raleigh, and some of the other events we briefly reminisced about the other day as I'm sure you will. And to anyone passing through middlegate, we left a dollar on the ceiling with our names, date, and rides. shouldn't be too many dollars up there with 911 Carrera and Moto Guzzi on them!

[bart1]

Love the story! Keep it coming!

[dienstuhr]

This is awesome stuff... I just drove my '85 Carrera back from Tacoma to Winnipeg, across Washington, Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota... had a great time, just me, my wife, the car and the road... love your travelogue, keep it coming!

Cheers

d.

[joe payne]

Holy crap! Have fun! By the look of the speedo you are flying though Nevada.
Be safe and watch out for flying cops.

[911jettat]

Some of the local characters at Middlegate Station's watering hole. We aske these guys about cops, and they said 'Yeah, that would be Charlie Brown, but he's off for the day. You're good for the next hundred miles'

I know you had a lot of miles ahead of you until NC, but I might have been tempted to drive flat out for 80, turn around and head back to the watering hole and do it all over again. Miles and miles of uninterrupted speed...

Next stop Europe!