Minutes of a Motorcycle Addict

The Quota 1000 was Moto Guzzi's first real attempt to challenge BMW's hegemony in the Big Trailie market at the start of the 1990s. While the rest of the world obviously thought they failed, given the sales figures, I belong to a small community of fans who actually think Moto Guzzi got it right. Or right-ish.

The Quota is ideal for gravel touring as long as you don't expect the nimbleness of, say, a Husaberg. This is from a 1000 km tour I did in August last year. The place is somewhere in Osendalen valley.

I have always been a fan of the big Quota brute. I had seen it in pictures a few times but it was, and still is, a rare bird where I live. As my passion for Moto Guzzis grew, and given that I already had a taste for Big Trailies, I soon found out that I needed to have a Quota. Preferably the 1000, as the newer 1100 is somewhat lower with shorter spring travel. I had never seen any for sale in Norway, so I turned to Germany where I soon found one.

I got a Norwegian transporter to bring it in (he still owes me money btw, as my downpayment to him was more than the actual cost of bringing it here...) and just after Easter in 2007, my Quota arrived. It had not been taken good care of by its former owner, a German who amongst other stupid things had used screws intended for wood into the oil pan of the bike... Poor thing. The idiot should've been banned from owning bikes. But - the bike was cheap and I have many good Guzzi-friends who can give me good advice. And it's a GREAT ride! Its torquey engine suits the bike perfectly, with some 70 rear wheel hp.

The Quota carries heavy load with ease. It's kind of awkward to stiffen up the rear damper though. You need to take off the seat - which actually demands for you to unscrew several hex nuts - and try to turn the adjusting rings of the damper. It's not easy as it's very short of space there. I usually stick a piece of flat wood onto the edge of the adjuster ring and use a rubber hammer to whack it into the correct setting...

I needed to present it for Norwegian Vehicle Authorities to get Norwegian plates, which wasn't a problem as long as the bike had been approved and registered in Germany.

I needed to change the regulator/rectifier in the autumn of 2007 after it failed. Other than that, the bike ran flawlessly for the 15000 km's I rode it that year. We had a great year, the bike and I, touring all over Norway. With the addition of some panniers from Hepco Becker the bike started to look like a proper Big Trailie, capable of everything. I changed the somewhat soft front springs to some progressive ones from Wilbers (thanks, Maarten!), and started to tear off all the stickers and did some fine-grinding on the plastic to prepare it for re-painting. I also bought a Y-pipe to get rid of the torque-killing exhaust box or can wich was under the bike.

A Quota with a full set of alu panniers demands respect! This is from Mandello del Lario, Italy, on a tour my friend Tor and I did there in April/May 2008.

In the spring of 2008, I took it to Italy and back. Bought some small replacement spare parts at Agostinis in Mandello del Lario. The Quota is still a strong runner which is capable of long hauls. Suddenly, just before going on holiday, the bike starts cutting and misfiring on the cylinders. Both of them. It makes the bike jolt before they fire again. Just a short cut, in other words. I tried to diagnose the fault myself, by replacing coils, plugs, plug cords, measuring resistance on whatever I was able to measure on, but in the end I had to turn it in to a workshop.

In total concentration, trying to do diagnose the misfiring on my baby.

It's been there since the last week of June. The mechanic says he can't find the bug. We both suspect a bug somewhere in the electrical circuit (well, kind of obvious, actually...) so I'll bring it back to my garage, strip it down and replace the whole electrical system during the winter.

I enjoy riding the Quota so much that I will gladly use time and (some) money to get it fully functional again. I'll report on the progress during the winter!

UPDATE 2 Sept 2008: My star mechanic found the fault! The temp sensor in the left cylinder cover was malfunctioning playing havoc with the injection system. He has gone over the sensor so the Quota is now fully funciontal again! I will replace it with another which I got from my mech if it starts to foul up again. O'happy days are here again :-) :-) :-)

My workshop tank. It's an ordinary plastic petrol can into which I have put fuel lines with a open/shut valve on its sides and a line for excess petrol in the back. Works great! It's sealed with petrol resistant silicone-something.

UPDATE 5 Aug 2009: It wasn't the temp sensor after all - it was just a loose battery cable. I discovered it by chance on my way to the MC Rally Norway in late May. Embarrassing... Also I'm now overhauling the gearbox. A bit early for its km's but, as they say, a bearing can go into pieces at any given time. It's the main bearing for the clutch shaft that had worn out. Since the gearbox is off anyway I'm changing the clutch plates and even installing a new rear damper unit from Wilbers.