Giro SW

[ranton_rambler]

Back from Giro SW now. 4 days riding covering 460 miles in my case.
As the only Ducati-mounted entry I'm glad to say the little bike kept going but has needed a bit of fettling along the way.
Sunday was 100 miles in continuous rain, from drizzle to downpours with lots of standing water and debris on the roads. Topped off by a tree fallen across the road requiring a 10 mile backtrack when I was cold and miserable. Lots of misfiring but the bike kept going, although some others ended up in the van. No scenery to comment on as we couldn't see anything.
Monday morning - no electrics as the fusebox was full of water. With a borrowed multimeter a bit of investigation ensued, followed by a new bit of wire to bypass the fusebox and we were off. The chap next to me managed to set his bike on fire when it backfired through the carb, but it was put out and he rode it for the rest of the trip. Yellow weather warning for high winds which needed a bit of concentration to stay on course along the coast, and then battling with headwinds and down to second gear on some of the climbs. Lost a bolt from the fuel tank front mounting so bodged up a repair to stop it rattling.
Tuesday morning - won't start. Did the usual basic checks and eventually got it going. A bit late starting as a consequence so skipped the loop to Land's End and had a lovely 110 miles with proper lunch stops in company with a few others.
Wednesday - going well back to base in fine weather until the front spindle nut unscrewed itself and the spindle started walking itself out. Very vague front end caused me to stop. Luckily there was a little car repair place nearby who found me an M12 fine pitch nut in their odds & sods box so all fixed.

55 starters, with Hondas dominant. Several other rare breeds with single examples - Bianchi, Terrot, Magnat-Debon, Gilera, Motobi etc.
5 bikes failed to finish for various reasons, which is not too bad.

I have a list of jobs to do now, starting with a good clean.

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[Mr R]

What capacity bikes are allowed? I have a 250 and actually live in Cornwall and would like to take part.

[Duccout]

Well done! That must have been hard going on a tiddler. There were some nice bikes there, including yours.

Cheers,

Colin

[ranton_rambler]

What capacity bikes are allowed? I have a 250 and actually live in Cornwall and would like to take part.

The rules are meant to be 175cc maximum and pre-1970 for the Giro SW, but looking at some of the bikes there, the rules seem a bit fuzzy at the edges. Russell organises various of these type of trips, both in the UK and abroad. The rules are different for each.

His email address is russell.benney@edf-energy.com if you want to get more details.

[Mr R]

Thanks for the reply/info.

[Bevel bob]

I too lost front tank bolts on my Narrow case. I found a good solution . make some sleeves from cheap alloy tube (wickes) and combine with rubber grommets (box from E bay) . If you get the sleeve length right you can fully tighten the bolts so they will not come loose but allow the tank to move on the grommets . A liitle bath mastic stops the sleeve from falling out if tank off. And its all not seen.

[ranton_rambler]

I too lost front tank bolts on my Narrow case. I found a good solution . make some sleeves from cheap alloy tube (wickes) and combine with rubber grommets (box from E bay) . If you get the sleeve length right you can fully tighten the bolts so they will not come loose but allow the tank to move on the grommets . A liitle bath mastic stops the sleeve from falling out if tank off. And its all not seen.

I had grommets fitted (as recommended elsewhere) but the slots on the tank are only a little bigger than the bolt diameter so not easy to get it all squeezed in. I need to take the tank off anyway, so will see if I can come up with a better solution.