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Could have stuck to history without the political commentary, but fundamentally good. Oh, and "The engines are identical" is at best misleading, and at worst, well, misrepresentation. Anybody who's ridden one knows it's not 170 horsepower, doesn't come on like a light switch- in fact, the powerband is much less abrupt than a Kawasaki Triple. Even if every part number in the engine is the same, the pipes and the porting make all the meaningful difference. On most 2-strokes, an hour by a professional and a tailored pipe can add 10-50% to any 2-stroke, depending on era and state of tune.

One of the difficulties assessing the system is that the vapor recovery (which would include water vapor) is not on the parts diagram for the ventilation system ("oil pump"), but on the "air filter" page (16-20) . . .

This is correct, crankcase ventilation/oil vapor travel up from the back of the engine through the nefarious double-bend rubber hose under the frame to the bottom of the frame spine behind the headstock. The frame cavity acts as a separator with the gaseous fraction following the path @gstallons describes (a hose visible from the fitting on top of the frame spine, behind the headstock/ in front of the tank) to the airbox, and the liquid fraction draining down through the frame cavity to the return line and back into the sump. Ideally, adequate running temperatures will evaporate the water before it drains back into the sump. Less than ideal would be short operating times, very wet environs, and long storage periods. Also, oil selection plays a part. Pure synthetics (true ester base oils) have close to zero evaporation loss from heat and aid the efficiency of a complex, closed loop, crankcase ventilation system like ours.

Hence my previous concern about a risk of contaminating the oil. It seems like it is a closed loop system, where the give and take changes in pressure take place in a rectangular steel tube. Am I seeing this right?

Note to all: Please recognize a proper response to a "wanted" topic as posted by @Pressureangle. Anyone receiving a "Personal Message" with an outside email to contact ("my buddy has one those " type-of-thing) should report that message by clicking the ellipsis ( . . . ) at the top right of the message and add any comments to the report. Thanks for helping keep door closed so the rats don't wander in!

@gstallons, take another look. On my two Sports in the shop the rubber breather hose connects from the upper rear of the engine to the underside of the spine frame at the front of the tank location. The metal braided tube at the rear of the sump land on the side of the spine approx mid tank. Pg 75 of the parts catalog shows this. Check it out and let me know what you think.

Since we touched on sound/video considerations I thought I'd start a conversation specifically about that. I had a GoPro a few years ago, video quality was good. Sound was shyte. Video editing software was not intuitive, data storage requirement was enormous- in the end, just gave the camera away. Got Innovv F&R cams on the 'Sport; video quality nearly as good, audio also shyte (neither had external mic port) direct-to-card recording at least made getting it into the PC easier. Editing software was generic, don't recall what it was. Still, not easy to use, add/subtract sound etc. So what's the easy answer? I see the cameras most common to vloggers, they still use GoPro but may have multiple brands (360 etc.) What are they using to put it all together? Ushuaia has been calling

The answer is obvious once you see it- those people can't afford $1k-$15k to have their air conditioning repaired. If I was to open a business here in South Florida, it would likely be A/C service.

Found these, not stock, certainly not cheap, but nice looking. https://www.ghezzi-brian.com/en/tuning-moto/tuning-moto-guzzi/v11-1100-sport-daytona-centauro/belly-pan/

20mm. My sideplates including footpegs and pivot pins are scheduled for delivery tomorrow, I guess I'll delay leaving town for another day to keep curiosity from eating me while away.

Has anyone got a V11 Le Mans belly pan for sale? preferably UK? many thanks. D.

NOPE . I am wrong . there is a fitting and hose at the top of the frame (visible) at the front of the fuel tank and goes back to the air cleaner housing that vents to the inside of the housing. This keeps crankcase pressure from building up and ruining things . My apologies for the heresy.

Mate, down here Rough as guts is being polite.... Shiraz time by the way ... Cheers

Great, no rust, just water.

The front brake hose going through the steering head took SOME effort

I had to go look. Yes , it is that stupid . It should be vented to the atmosphere but it isn't . I know there is a screen in the return hose to keep debris out of the crankcase .

Well , I did say I didn't care for it ! I will have to look at it again to make sure , but I think it is made that way . All my manuals are out in the shop.

SOLD!

@audiomick, that seems like a wonderful way to introduce water into the crankcase. Putting the vapors into a steel tube, then draining it back to the crankcase? I can see condensation happening in colder months.

On a motorcycle trip, I always try to schedule to avoid brutal summer sun when over 100 degrees. It can turn what should be an enjoyable ride into an unpleasant endurance test. At least in a convertible I have the option of top up with a/c on. On the freeway surrounded by trucks, the bike beats the convertible. Sports cars and motorcycles are both for fun. Sometimes in the worst conditions, the isolation of the luxury car is preferred to both.

Very true mate! I burn by the light o the Moon....so no open top motoring for me! Cheers

"In this country" is the point. Convertibles just don't make sense in Australia, even in Melbourne (in the south = further from the Equator = not as savage sun as further north). The sun is too strong in summer, and, particularly in Melbourne, it's mostly too cold in winter for open top driving. Here in Germany, I could imagine having one. Perhaps not in the absolute middle of summer, but in spring and autumn it would be pretty pleasant, I reckon.

Rag tops are a PITA as far as I'm concerned and once cars became airconditioned they became totally redundant like sunroofs. A convertible in this country means having some sort of sun protection when driving for a start and working your way through the trafficked suburbs to the nice driving roads is horrible experience in a rag top. Surrounded by massive SUV's and trucks and exhaust fumes etc. Who wants to be exposed to all that getting to the nice roads. Even our local rural roads these days are infested by big dirt trucks depositing half their load all over the scenery on the way to where they dump it. My Supra has no sunroof and A/C of course to provide a comfortable environment insulating me from the sun, outside noise, dirt and dust etc. I can't believe these days people drive around with the drivers window down. I was discussing it with my wife on a drive recently and we noted about 20% of drivers do it. Why I have no idea. To confirm my feelings I drove for a few klms with the drivers window down in a Sports car even and it was not a pleasant experience consisting of traffic and wind noise and a lack of A/C effectiveness. I still can't understand why 20% of people do it. I've also owned a few cars with sunroofs which never get used. Open a sunroof and all you get is wind noise and lack of A/C efficiency plus they reduce headroom significantly. I think sunroofs and convertibles are more about "other things" of the mind than a genuinely enjoyable driving experience. If I want a raw travelling experience and be totally immersed in the riding environment then I'll use the bike. Phil

I only got half way through that. Two mates of mine in Melbourne had RG 500s. Both rode hard, and neither of them died.