Gambalunga* is the bi-monthly magazine of the
Moto Guzzi Club of Great Britian and the Oct/Nov 2011 edition had a number of
articles which I found interesting.
- The club hold a rally called the 'V Twin Rally' in Fordingbridge and this year was its
35th Anniversary. The pictures from the rally included mainly, as you would expect, Moto Guzzis
with a sprinkling of Hardly Dangerous motor bikes. There were two mystery guests; a JZR and a
2CV powered Pembleton. The hopper's registration mark was W504MBT and it appeared in three
pictures. Does anyone know more about the car and its owner?
- Another article in Gambalunga is one of a series about a couple touring the world
on a Moto Guzzi. At the moment they are in Australia and broke down, yet again, this time with
erosion of the cylinder head due to detonation thought to be caused by using E10 petrol.
The locals claim that engines run hotter on E10 and all the local bikers avoid it like the plague.
Curious because methanol based fuels are supposed to run cooler than petrol powered engines but
this might be true only for high powered racing engines. I know methanol is not the same as ethanol
but not that different. It sounds to me more like
low octane fuel is the root cause of detonation.
- The last item of interest to Pembleton owners and builders was about an upgraded voltage
regulator for Moto Guzzis and BMWs. The author suggested that crankshaft speed alternators
struggle to provide enough output at low revs. The improved regulator gives more volts
(and hence amps into the battery) at low revs. They come from Germany and the suppliers
website is www.emrtec.de.
* Gambalunga derives from the 1946 500cc racing Guzzi and means 'long leg' in Italian.
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