A series of fortunate and unfortunate events

[Thruxton71]

Today the Endurance was in line for a Sunday ride. Following the usual process, it popped to life on the starting hill, and soon rolled into the meeting spot (Shell station across from Von's where 33 splits from 150). Ooops..I forgot to bring a wallet, but there were only 30 miles on the trip odometer, so I had 70 to burn.. Soon a 850 cc MK3 Commando, two Miatas (non rider and a rider with a broken bone in his hand), a Corvair Trike, and.. wait for it.. a very clean V7 Sport, recently restored.. greenish tank, red frame, sparkling chrome, showed up for the ride.

My older brother, who seems to owned one of everything with two or four wheels, owned a V7 Sport new, and I got to ride it, coming away very impressed with it's handling and ease of access. We later bought two matching Le Mans SEs from an infamous Santa Barbara dealer, and It felt like a completely different motorcycle. Faster, but not as accessible, in my opinion. There was a lot of debate regarding the stock 16 inch front wheel and the effect it had on handling, but in the long run, it never let me down, so maybe I didn't remember the V7 Sport clearly. Who knows.

The destination today was the airport in Santa Paula, and being the first Sunday, it was almost certain to be entertaining. As has been my custom for over a year, I would turn before the airport and head back to Ojai, enjoying the twisty road between Ojai and Santa Paula twice.

But first, I needed to kick start my Endurance. Everyone but the Norton headed out, and I was still kicking. Barely a pop to be heard. I turned down an offer to push start, I am of the firm belief that if you cannot kick start your Velo, you should not be riding it around. They stall. In places where you do not want to stay. So, I continued to kick. After quite a bit of failed efforts I noticed that somehow the fuel petcock was in the off position. Now, I know for a fact that it was on when I left the house, and I had the wet glove tip to prove it, but somehow it magically closed while at the Gas Station. Fate?

Once fresh fuel was making it's way to the float bowl, and subsequently, with tickling, into the air stream, a few more kicks brought the satisfaction of a thumping Velocette, and we were off in pursuit of the early starters. Idle though town, then attack the Dennison grade, always fun, using the modest acceleration to race into the next curve, downshifting to ensure a steady and controlled exit, setting up for the next curve. Always a great climb out of Ojai.

Then we came across the V7 Sport on the side of the road, aimed back toward Ojai, the rider standing next to it.

There is a little bit of very fancy linkage the connects the gear shift lever to the transmission on a Guzzi and this one was broken. Here is a picture of what they should look like, with a suggested replacement - https://theguzzidoctor.com/shop/1973-v7 ... t-linkage/ - There were several problems with the bike now. One, it could not be shifted. Two, it could not be started with the starter motor and put into gear, as there was no way to shift. Three, it could not be started unless it was in neutral, due to a sensor (who would have thought this would be the case!). And four, the shift lever was hanging down toward the ground, which would be very dangerous if ridden.

A rag from the Velocette tool box was used to tie up the lever, then a strong stick pushed against the unattached transmission lever was used to force the transmission into third gear. As we were on a steep hill, the owner was able to bump start in third, heading now to Ventura and his shop. (lucky. I very much doubt that the SE Le Mans would bump start)

Commando and Endurance followed, but stopped at 33 and headed up the hill. What a brilliant day for a ride up 33!! It was cool, but not cold, and all the traffic we encountered pulled over, and best of all? When we got the one way road next to the construction that will never end, the light was green, clearly a sign from the Road God that we were to continue as far as we wanted, which was to what we refer to as the CHP lookout, a dirt side road that can view most of the accent to that point. People have been ticketed for passing over the double yellow because of this spot. We simply stopped and soaked in the fine weather. And, The Velo started again without fuss for the ride back down. I write a lot about this section of Highway 33, but I always feel so grateful that I live at the base of this road with a Velocette, and today it was the Endurance, which has enough power to make the road interesting.

Ah, nothing quite like a good ride on a Velocette.

From Ojai.