850 MOTO GUZZI LE MANS

ENTHUSIAST'SMOTORCYC
LE
850 MOTO GUZZILE MANS
THE MANDELLOMASTERPIECE
She doesn'tjust start, she grinds
and growls into life, panting
f u r i o u s l y . ,W h e n y o u b l i p t h e
throttle, she tries to kick your
right leg away, and the fairing
shakes like a jelly till the motor
warms up. Rightfrom the start, I
realised that she was no
smoothie.You could hearand feel
the explosionsin the cylindersas
they kicked -the huge flywheel
round;you couldfeel and hearthe
lower gears as they fought
themselvesinto mesh as the rearset gear lever was pressed. On
pushing the brake pedal for the
first time, I found out why the
back of the tank was padded.
I found myself unexpectedly
nervous on threading my way
t h r o u g h t h e W i s b e c h t r a f fi c ,
heading home for Yorkshire. lt
crossedmy mind, two and a half
years ago, that nothing I had
ridden in the last sixteen years
had preparedme for this sort of
ride, especially the Japanese
bikes, like my RD4O0 Yamaha,
which ['d beenridingof late.Even
my regentlydepartedBSA spitfire
ProductionRacer hadn't shaken
like this, stumbling and shaking
roundtown likea latenightdrunk,
heaving and snorting when
stopped,and punchingaway from
traffic lights searchingfor open
spaces.The words of the dealer
rang in my ears, "They get
smoother after 5OOO miles."
"They'd better," I thought!
At leastthe sun was shiningnow,
and I could catch a quick glimpse
of myself in the shopfrontsas we
thuinpedpast. Just a quick pose
you understand- the bike was
definitely better looking than I
was in my traffic-stainedBelstaff.
Better fill up with petrol before
gettingout of town, ah! there'sa
garage.Ouick look in the mirror,
checkthat all's clear,a blip of the
throttle and stab down on the
gearsbeforepullingin ... out with
the clutch as first gear clangs in
and ...Aah.!Here I am checking
out the padded,tankagain,as the
rear Metzeler locks up on
compression.
As four gallonsare pumped in, I
notice one or two curiousstares
- at my riding or at my bike I
wonder. But all's well. "Nice
bike" says the boy on the pump,
25
"My dream bike, - if only I could
" The next bit
aff ord one
c o m e s w i t h p r a c t i c e ,a n d t i m i n g i s
very important, but the sequence
g o e s l i k et h i s . . . Y o u h a n d o v e r t h e
money for the petrol with one
hand, turn on, check the green
neutral light, stab the starter
button, grab first gear, and watch
h i s e x p r e s s i o na s y o u r e p l y : " Y e s ,
l've just won it in a competition."
Remember to smile as you blast
'Spot
away; and thanks,
the Ball'
- | n e v e r r e a l l y b e l i e v e dy o u w e r e
trueI
,'..
:,.ll
Out on the open road, f irst
quickly
impressions
were
cancelled. I kept below 4000
revs. as instructed, but as this
turned out to be a smooth 70
:''
high. Fourth and fifth are usually
changed with little more than a
click"
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On the seemingly accurate
s p e e d o m e t e r ,1 2 5 m p h c o m e s u p
very quickly. Tuck down behind
the fairing and there's another 8
mph to come, but it takes time. At
speed, even on bumpy roads,
s t a b i l i t y i s i m p r e s s i v e ,r o c k s t e a d y
is an understatement.
i -,1.
:.::.,:
Ê.
mph, this wasn't too much to
bear. Three days and 5OO miles
later I was back for the first free
service. I'd already learnt a lot
about the bike. She loved long
sweeping main road bends, ran
smoother as you went faster, and
'backdidn't take at all to bumpy
doubles'. where the small
Y a m a h a r e i g n e ds u p r e m e , B u t t h e
best was yet to come, as the
'running in' mileage
disappeared
and the engine, as promised,
began to loosen up.
Guzzis love miles, they shift
ground with the best. The
handbookwarns the rider never to
26
The only time the Guzzi feels a
handfulis on very bumpy, broken
roads full of potholes, of the type
best f ound in the lanes round
M a l l o r y P a r k ,o r t h e m i n i n g a r e a s
of Yorkshire. The potholes and
ridges don't upset handling or
steering even with a thirteen
1&
stone passenger. Tracking is
excellent - but you get shaken,
race the engine until warm, but
and shakenso violentlythat either
it's worth waiting for. Twist the
throttle and as the revs rise. she y o u , o r m o r e l i k e l y y o u r
p a s s e n g e r ,w i l l b e g f o r a l i t t l e l e s s
surges forward with a roar, the
power rushing in as the tacho s p e e d b e f o r e m a n y m i l e s o f
needle swings over 600O and t r e a t m e n t h a v e o a s s e d .
headsfor the red line at eight.
Guzzisseem to have a more than
healthy appetitefor tyres, which I
You have to be careful not to
over-rev. in the lower gears, c h a n g e á s s o o n a s t h e t r e a d g o e s
especiallyas the gearchange below 2mm, The last front tyre,
a Dunlop K 181 , hit 2mm
between the first two gears is
c
entre tread at a surprisinglylow
clunky, and respondsbest to a
deliberatepull up on the pedal, 4 O O O m i l e s . a b o u t t h e s a m e
m i l e a g ef r o m t h e l a s t K 1 8 1 u s e d
ratherthan a short Japanesejab.
on the back. l'm trying Pirellis
I've never had her jump out of
gearyet, even if eachgearchange n o w a n d t h e y s e e m t o b e w e a r i n g
at about the same rate. The
can be heard if the revs are too
ïr.;
original front tyre was a ribbed
Metzeler which lasted the first
6.50O miles of the bike's life.
Unfortunately, it gave a less
confident feel in hard cornering
and braking than the Dunlops or
the Pirellis.
Triple Brembos, utilizing the
famous Guzzi linked braking
system took some getting used
t o . T h e y a r e p o w e r fu l a n d
p r o g r e s s i v e ,a n d c a n s t a n d t h e L e
Mans on its nose time after time
with no apparent fade. When the
brakes were applied hard at low
speed, the front wheel used to
p u l l s l i g h t l yt o o n e s i d e .
T h i s t r a i t w a s n o t s o n o t i c e a b l ea t
speed, but I was never too happy
with the original plastic f ront
mudguard which provided little or
no bracing for the front forks.
The recent purchase of a
Crossbow steel braced front
mudguard has greatly improved
the performance of the f ront
forks, both while brakingand over
rough roads. There's a more solid
feel to the already excellent
steering, and pulling to one side
under hard braking is hardly
noticeable, even when the tyres
a r e o n t h e p o i n t o f s u r r e n d e r i n gt o
the Brembos.
lf you have small hands, the front
brake and clutch lever are a bit of
a
stretch.
Any
suitable
replacements have yet to. be
found. Like most riders,I also find
that the heavy twistgrip makes
my right wrist ache, especiallyin
cold
weather.
I've
not
e x p e r i m e n t e dw i t h l i g h t e r s p r i n g s
in the Dell'Ortos, although I've
heard
that
some
lighter'
Volkswagen return springs work
well.
One of the easiest improvements
that can be made to the Le Mans,
c o n c e r n s t h e - c a r b u r e t t o r s .T h e L e
Mans in Mkl and Mkll form is
s u p p l i e dw i t h o u t a i r f i l t e r s . P l a s t i c
bell mouths suck through a wide
mesh. The bell mouths can be
replaced by 'K and N' re-usable
Íilters which clamp straight on
and make no perceptable
difference to mixture strength or
performance.
F u e l c o n s u m p t i o n r a n g e sf r o m t h e
high fifties to the low thirties,
with about 45 mpg. about the
current average. lt all depends on
w h a t m o o d p r e v a i l so n t h e d a y .
Last year, I fitted an oil pressure
gauge which shows about 50 psi.
at 4,OOOrevs when the engine is
hot. This is about 5 psi lower than
had been expected, but C.S.C.
who supplied the gauge kit
answered my queries quickly and
fully almost by return post to put
my mind at rest.
The Guzzi uses little oil between
changes, perhaps /z to 3/+pt. at
most, every 2,5OO miles. Some
oil escapes via the breather, and
some from around the sealing
washer at the filler nut. Close
observation of other bikes leads
me to suspect that this is
u n i v e r s a lo n h a r d r i d d e n e x a m p l e s
of the marque.
The exhaust system sheds its
black paint pretty quickly, and the
silencers were showing signs of
r u s t a t a b o u t 1 O , O O Om i l e s . A
quick and ill advised prod with a
screwdriver turned this into
terminal damage around the ends
of both silencers and led to the
production of the Mark 2 exhaust
systeml (4" shorter)
By
Oriental
standards.
r e p l a c e m e n tL e M a n s s i l e n c e r sa r e
quite reasonable (about f 8O a
p a i r ) .A l i t t l e w o r k w i t h a h a c k s a w
and a welding torch comes even
cheaper. The end baffles come
courtesy of some Maxwell House
coffee jar lids, brazed together
with a set of stainless steel pastry
cutters. Necessity is the mother
of invention, and I sometimes
'bodging' just
to see
enjoy a little
what the end result will be, and
how long it will last. Although
s l i g h t l y l o u d e r t h a n t h e o r i g i n a ls e t
of tubes, the Mark 2's seem to
allow the engine to breath more
freely and power comes in at
lower
noticeably
engine
revolutions.
Since the first free service, the
bike has never been into a dealers
f o r p r o f e s s i o n a ls e r v i c i n g ,o r w o r k
of any kind. Part of the attraction
of Guzzi is that most routine
servicing can be carried out at
home, given a manual and decent
basic set of tools. l've kept to the
27
routine suggestedin the HaYnes
manual,and none of the jobs has
stretched my admittedlY basic
skills.I have alwaysthoughtthat,
for the untrained homemechanic,leavingenoughtime to
work without rushingis half the
battle.Nevertry to changethe oil
filter in a hurry. lt's hiddenaway
insidethe sump, protectedby no
less than eighteen allen-headed
bolts, all of which have to be
removedupsidedown.
The generalstandardof finish is
satisfactory, and nothing has
broken or fallen off yet. I come
from the 'stitch in time' schoolof
ownership,with plenty of routine
checks, and immediateattention
to details when necessary.My
bike is a luxury which must earn
its keep and is ridden in all the
many and perverse shades of
weather. I'm pleased to report
that the Guzzi has never let me
down. Water has never affected
the ignition system or switches,
despite once coveringover 3OO
miles in driving rain which
completely defeated my
previously unconqueredBelstaff
XL5O0 suit.
As promised, the Guzzi gets
better as the miles roll under its
wheels. The engine is much
smootherthan it was on delivery,
a n dw i l l n o w ' p l o n k ' t h r o u g ht o w n
like the most placid of tourers,
while still respondingto an opeh
throttlewith an exhilaratingsurge
of power. A friend'sHonda9OOF
will easily out acceleratethe Le
Mans in a straightline,but top
speeds of the two bikes are
identical and in the main road
twists and turns, the Guzziwins
everytime.
The Le Mans is reliable,easy to
serviceand economicalto run. On
paper it's far from the fastest
thing on two wheels,but out on
the road, on innumerablelong
haulsto racemeetings,or to visit
distantfriends its nevergivenme
cause to doubt its ability to keep
up with all but the most furiously
'any
other
ridden flagships, of
f leet.
w
-With waterprooÍ
overmittsin Ladies
and Menssizes.
Ê14.95
DAMEN
TEMPO
Availablein
Black/Red,
Black/Blue,
and Black/
BlueAl/hite.
Mens and
Ladiessizes
8170
at kneesandseat,Íully
in
linedandavailable
llï:3119",
t70
IIIIIIIIIIIII
DAVEBURTON
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