The roadtrip began today as I headed North on Rt. 129 into Georgia. The trip was uneventful but for a minor gasoline spill and one wrong turn. I left Tampa at 4 a.m. and arrived in Blairsville at 7:30. I had originally planned to stop and camp along the way, but decided I would go ahead and ride the entire distance in one day. I was quite surprised that the Moto Guzzi was as comfortable to ride on a long haul as was the much newer BMW I rode to Alaska in 2004. The MG, loaded with an estimated 80 pounds of gear, pulled very well through all of the back roads in Florida and Georgia. The most difficult part foe the bike were the hours between noon and 3 p.m. The heat was stifling and very oppresive leaving Florida. There was no breezeand the feels like temperature topped 100 F. At several points, the Guzzi misfired in low rpms, and started to ping after the motor heated up further. Until the shadows lengthened, and the temperatures dropped somewhat, there was no relief from the pinging without stopping and letting the motor cool down. Once the afternoon turned toward dusk, the motor staryed to purr smoothly and quietly. I'm very pleased that there were no other issues for the Moto Guzzi on this long, hot ride. The accompanying photograph
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