Weekend motorcycle trip

[Denis]

This weekend I took the Eldorado on a 700 mile trip to the mountains and back. Other than a constantly flooding left carb, which spewed gas all over the bike and my pant leg, it was great! Only took a few pics though. The point was to ride, not stop!

Cum Park Plaza in Burlington, NC. Yep, I had to stop for this. I just noticed the sign underneath for "1st Taste Chinese Restaurant". I'll pass.


Eldo on the Blue Ridge, late Friday afternoon. Getting cold!


View looking east from the restaurant on Mt. Mitchell, Saturday morning.


Saturday breakfast. Hashbrowns the way the are intended: shredded.


Eldo on Mt. Mitchell, highest point east of the Rockies. 

[Pilgrim]

Very cool!  Neat looking bike even though I'm no expert.

Bikes (and cars) run differently at 6,000-plus feet, don't they?

[Hornisse]

Nice pics Denis!  Gotta love the Cum Park Plaza sign.  Sort of like the Kuntry Korner store just east of San Antonio on I-37.

[Freuds_Cat]

Lovely Bike and views Denis. Thanks for sharing.

[TBird1958]

Cum Park you say?   

Sorry Denis 

Seriously tho, beautiful country, I bet that was a great ride.

[Garrett]

Fine looking bike, is it a Moto Guzzi? Nice view from the lookout.

[Iome]

BELLISSIMA MOTO, FRATELLO. I immagine there's not many guzzis' in the States, i've noticed you're wearing a Guzzi shirt in your avatar. You work with bikes, right?

[ack1961]

Yeah, well done Denis.  Nice country out there.  Love that Eldorado.
We've had some gorgeous riding weather over the past 2 weekends - I spent last weekend up at Brushy Mountain on the dirtbikes - didn't see a cloud for 3 days.

[Pilgrim]

OK - ignorance admitted here - what is an Eldorado motorcycle and what company makes it?  It's pretty - that's all I can tell.

[ack1961]

OK - ignorance admitted here - what is an Eldorado motorcycle and what company makes it?  It's pretty - that's all I can tell.

Moto-Guzzi manufactured the Eldorado line (I believe they originated in the early 70's).

Denis will certainly know all the answers.  I'd also like to know what years they were made.

[OldManC]

BELLISSIMA MOTO, FRATELLO. I immagine there's not many guzzis' in the States

Actually, there are many who appreciate the beautiful lines of these classic bikes. There were many Ambassadors and Eldorados used as cop bikes here, so they are somewhat well known among bike fans (at least the ones I've known). This was my Ambassador:



The Eldo's looking great, Denis! I wish I'd never sold my Guzzi. There's definitely one on my list for one of these days.

[Denis]

Thanks, all!
That's a gorgeous Ambassador! Is it a '70 (small, solid side covers)? You are right about the police bikes and a nice Ambassador or Eldorado police bike can bring pretty good money these days. I'd love to have one someday but I'm happy with mine as it is.

The pic with the Eldo and the elevation sign was on Mt. Mitchell, north of Asheville, NC. It's the highest spot east of the Mississippi River. That's not terribly high and I've never noticed a real difference in how the bike ran on top and at lower elevations. But then, the left carb had some junk in it and was flooding slightly so it wasn't running it's best.

Iome, there are actually quite a few Guzzis in the states (I uh, have 4 of them, and a buddy a couple of miles away has 3), but Guzzi has never sold as many bikes in the US as they did when the Ambassadors and Eldorados were new. Yep, that's a Guzzi shirt I'm wearing all right, but I don't really work with them other than doing the work on my bikes. Back in the very late 1980s and early '90s I spent a lot of time at the local dealer, which later became the importer, and so I got to help put them together out of the crates and ride some of the very first examples of new models to come here. My favorite was the 1000S, which was a retro cafe bike Guzzi sold in the States between '91 and '93. It had a big cam, 40mm valves and two 40mm carbs, and it would positively fly. It pulled like a train and would pull until you were scared! Fond memories!

[ack1961]

The pic with the Eldo and the elevation sign was on Mt. Mitchell, north of Asheville, NC. It's the highest spot east of the Mississippi River. That's not terribly high and I've never noticed a real difference in how the bike ran on top and at lower elevations. But then, the left carb had some junk in it and was flooding slightly so it wasn't running it's best.

Funny that the little carb (single 38mm bore) on my KTM 2-stroke needs all sorts of re-jetting and needle adjustments to run well at Brushy Mountain (and it's only ~2,100 Ft above Sea Level). It's torture when the motor wants to bog down and quit on 70 degree up-grades.  One of my other woods bikes, runs like a champ no matter where we're running 'em.

Those are some beautiful M-G's...your Eldo does look like it could pull anything it wanted. What a beast.

[Denis]

Hmm, I'm not sure why your KTM wants to bog at only 2100 elevation change, but I'm NO expert on 2-smoke motorcyles. Compression difference perhaps? Maybe the carb needs a rebuild?

[ack1961]

It's actually very common on small bore 2-strokes.  The guys who ride in the Rocky's deal with it all the time.  It's a frustrating science to get it right...temp, humidity, altitude all take their toll on the performance.  That's why I usually bring 2 - work on one after the last run of the day.