My Quota hates my commute, she fouls plugs, spits, farts and gets shit gas mileage to let me know that seven miles twice a day is no way to treat a lady. I've been looking for a cheap bike (bordering on free) to take over commuting duties. I had a '00 DR200 for a while but it was too slow/small. Today a 1980 GN400 pops up on CL for $400, that's a bike right in my wheelhouse. Absolutely no collectable value, one cylinder and zero cool, my motorcycle soulmate if there ever were. I drove out to see it in the dark (never a good idea as you probably know but I've got kids and responsibilities). It was a mess, paint by Sherwin Williams, ancient tires, broken taillight/signals empty stale smelling gas tank with a nice rusty patina inside and liberally covering the rest of the bike...and it didn't run. I had a weak moment when I kicked it over and heard the healthy compression of a thumper wanting to run again but I let logic prevail. The kid wanted $400 for it, after doing the math I offered $250 due to the obvious issues. He countered to $300 but I was stretching it at $250. He's got my number, 50/50 odds he'll call me and I'll have the start of a cheap cafe'/commuter project. Watch this space.
That's the deal, they don't have carbs. Quoters use a crude open loop FI system, since it never gets warm it's always pumping far more fuel than it really needs because the sensors are telling it to. A Weber carb conversion has been done with some success, it's on the list but I have to educate myself on Weber automotive carbs first.
I know a guy who converted an R1100GS to 40mm Bings and it ran great. Wouldn't it be possible to retrograde to Dellortos or Bings or Mikunis?
Sure, on a BMW there's lots of room. I've got a set of 36mm Del Ortos with Delrin manifolds on the shelf that I'd love to bolt on but I'd have to hack big holes in the bodywork to make them fit. Early Quotas had an automotive type Weber carb that was replaced by automotive type fuel injection, the Weber carb conversion is actually easier than grafting on a set of Delortos...theoretically.
waitaminute. we're talking about converting a fuel injected bike to carbs as a definite improvement? I've died and gone to heaven
I think I'm able to read between the lines of your posts now. You came to the old school forum complaining about a fuel injected bike. You MUST be wanting us to tell you which airhead to buy. Now that we've got that out of the way I feel we can move on to the recommendations. joking aside, buying a non-running bike and expecting to turn it into a reliable commuter with little money & effort is probably not a good idea. There's gotta be a way to get that Quota straightened out. Try letting the bike warm up for an extra 2 or 3 minutes. Heck, it doesn't cost anything. At least you ride a bike as a form of transportation. That makes you a 1%er that's actually worth something. You overcame your weak moment. be proud! continue to let logic prevail!
I bought my 81 GN400 for $100. They are stone simple and if it had compression, the electric worked, and it shifted thru the gears then why not get it. They aren't bad bikes, surprisingly sporty, and would work great as a commuter. Personally I think your right on the price I wouldn't go over 200. Top resale is maybe 800 if you are lucky so when you figure the costs of repairs, parts ect, odds are you are just breaking even, but having fun doing it.
All EFI Quota's shipped to North America had serious software issues with their ecu's. New ecu's were sent out for every bike. Symptoms of a bad ecu were terrible gas mileage, spitting and inconsistant throttle response, generally shitty running. I know 3 guys who have Quota's, and had the ecu's changed years ago, transformed the machine. Steve
I've got the new ECU as well, far better than the old one but still not perfect. Modern Guzzis don't get good mileage as a rule, back in the '80s 50mpg was attainable, now 40mpg is closer to reality. My Q gets 30mpg commuting and low 40s on the road. I love my Quota, best Guzzi I've ever owned and I've owned a bunch but it's not a good short distance commuter. Did I mention my weakness for old thumpers?
Bummer the Q doesn't work better. Mine seems to handle my 7 mile commute OK, but I'm thinking of going the other direction with mine and doing a microsquirt system. But that is about number 4,578 on my projects list. You need a midrange bike to fill out the garage - the Quota is just the big blade in the swiss army knife of bikes. (And even thought it's only a decade old, the Q will always be old school in my book...)
If I had a nickel for every time I wanted to sell my Quota in the first six months I could buy a small beach house. After the first year we got along better and now it's all love....almost. Three years of fixing big and little issues, putting on some miles and learning to love the big girl with the homely face was worth it.
And I've been wanting a DR for a long time, but my Quota is family now and not going anywhere. http://seattle.craigslist.org/sno/mcy/1545998888.html It's been listed for a while, some price negotiation might be do-able. But it's not cheap enough for the winter budget.
It never hurts to ask. That's a nice DR in that ad. I have really enjoyed mine. Good fuel economy, dead reliable, handles pretty good in stock trim. If you get one, spend the bucks and buy a bigger tank. I know this is Old School, or Old Skool, or Old''s Cool or whatever their calling it this week, so I'll stop the discussion of newer bikes. The DR is cheap fun though.
The cheap and obvious solution is to stretch your commute to at least 30 miles each way. In 2nd gear.
I kept mine for almost 2 years. It spent a lot of time at the dealerships. My commute is 1.8 miles of dodging homeless zombies. The only bikes that get warmed up are my Vespa and the CB100.
