Most of you already know me as Sasa, short for Salvatore.
I started riding at 16 when I bought my first proper bike (after a couple of year of scooter) with the money from a summer job. It was the most sought after bike for any teenager, the might Cagiva Mito 7 speed Eddie Lawson replica, a 125cc two stroke crotch rocket! I loved that bike so much and I regret a lot selling that when I moved to Rome to go to the university!
After that I had an Aprilia Pegaso 650, a good everyday donkey, and then a Suzuki SV650S. Once I sold that I had a pretty long hiatus from bikes until I visited India in 2014... I went to Ladakh on an organized trip and fell in love with the classic 500 and bullets I saw slowly goating their way up the Khardung La pass, so when I came back to Rome I went to a RE dealer to test ride the classic 500 (still the best looking bike around IMHO) but the agricultural nature of the engine and the short gear ratio put out my enthusiasm immediately. The bike was clearly designed for indian roads and I wasn't ready yet to embrace the "ride slow" philosophy. So I jumped into the "cafè race" scene, looking for a bike to restore/transform and I stumbled upon a Moto Guzzi V65. I've always been a tinkerer by nature, so I decided, even though I had very little experience, that an air cooled engine was easy enough to dismantle completely and put back together... Things quickly got out of hands as I was changing/repairing/redesigning more and more parts on that bike. Long story short after 18 months I finished my project with more than 35 bespoke parts, designed and machined from billet aluminum. And the bike started the first push of a button, dumb luck I'd say...
Unfortunately, although the Guzzi engine was incredible, that wasn't the bike for me or, rather, for my back. So I sold it.
I then bought a BMW F650GS (800cc twin engine) 10th anniversary edition. I was under the myth of GS, and that was the only one I could afford. Nice bike and all, I sold it after 3 months and 3000kms. I couldn't stand the fact that even the easiest task, like changing sparks, had to be performed using a uber-special and mighty german special tool, that costed 150€ to an average Joe like me.
I had heard of the Himalayan and I liked the concept very much, although I knew it was going to be letargic. I test ride it and I loved it, although the "letargicness" was there.
So I sourced a second hand 2020 model and started browsing for performance upgrade, when I stumbled upon the 477 kit and HT.
From there on the story is pretty much known to everyone, didn't like the original map for the red box (it knocked very heavily in any conditions) so I decided I had to study to set things right. My background as aerospace engineer helped a lot so here we are...
The pictures show the evolution of my first "project" bike, the Guzzi that lost 50kgs in the process... Hopefully soon I'll upload the picture of the Himalayan "feather" project...
I started riding at 16 when I bought my first proper bike (after a couple of year of scooter) with the money from a summer job. It was the most sought after bike for any teenager, the might Cagiva Mito 7 speed Eddie Lawson replica, a 125cc two stroke crotch rocket! I loved that bike so much and I regret a lot selling that when I moved to Rome to go to the university!
After that I had an Aprilia Pegaso 650, a good everyday donkey, and then a Suzuki SV650S. Once I sold that I had a pretty long hiatus from bikes until I visited India in 2014... I went to Ladakh on an organized trip and fell in love with the classic 500 and bullets I saw slowly goating their way up the Khardung La pass, so when I came back to Rome I went to a RE dealer to test ride the classic 500 (still the best looking bike around IMHO) but the agricultural nature of the engine and the short gear ratio put out my enthusiasm immediately. The bike was clearly designed for indian roads and I wasn't ready yet to embrace the "ride slow" philosophy. So I jumped into the "cafè race" scene, looking for a bike to restore/transform and I stumbled upon a Moto Guzzi V65. I've always been a tinkerer by nature, so I decided, even though I had very little experience, that an air cooled engine was easy enough to dismantle completely and put back together... Things quickly got out of hands as I was changing/repairing/redesigning more and more parts on that bike. Long story short after 18 months I finished my project with more than 35 bespoke parts, designed and machined from billet aluminum. And the bike started the first push of a button, dumb luck I'd say...
Unfortunately, although the Guzzi engine was incredible, that wasn't the bike for me or, rather, for my back. So I sold it.
I then bought a BMW F650GS (800cc twin engine) 10th anniversary edition. I was under the myth of GS, and that was the only one I could afford. Nice bike and all, I sold it after 3 months and 3000kms. I couldn't stand the fact that even the easiest task, like changing sparks, had to be performed using a uber-special and mighty german special tool, that costed 150€ to an average Joe like me.
I had heard of the Himalayan and I liked the concept very much, although I knew it was going to be letargic. I test ride it and I loved it, although the "letargicness" was there.
So I sourced a second hand 2020 model and started browsing for performance upgrade, when I stumbled upon the 477 kit and HT.
From there on the story is pretty much known to everyone, didn't like the original map for the red box (it knocked very heavily in any conditions) so I decided I had to study to set things right. My background as aerospace engineer helped a lot so here we are...
The pictures show the evolution of my first "project" bike, the Guzzi that lost 50kgs in the process... Hopefully soon I'll upload the picture of the Himalayan "feather" project...
the switch gear looks alien, I have never seen switch gear like this, you turned a Pigs Ear into a Silk Purse.
