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@docc @audiomick I did not specify because I anticipated that you guys remembered that before the Quota, I was actually looking for a Stelvio. That was before the V100 came out. I renounced after I tried one in San Antonio; at that time I did not know the seat had a lower position, and the sales assistant did not either. The Stelvio I am about to get is a 2013 model, in Orange. Yes, I know, not red. This is the add for that bike: I went to see the bike, and the guy selling it is shorter than I am, if younger. He had the seat in the lower position, and he had also filed down the rubber mounts so I can have both my feet almost flat on the ground. The bike looks very good. He has the two additional beams fused, but he has never taken the CARC apart, so the bearings are as they were installed by Antonino. He has a CB/Weather radio, and a Garmin that I offered him to keep, since I do not use anything that can distract me from driving. This guy has a workshop that has absolutely everything an apprentice mechanic could dream about. I offered him the Quota, but he wants a VT85 which is more modern and lighter than the Stelvio. The bike is pretty clean. I don't like the California Scientific windwhild, even if it offers more comfort. I told him that I ride the Quota without much of a front shield without any problem. The bike is very comfortable, but it is really truck heavy. He has an aftermarket exhaust, and the ECU was tuned to it. I did not try the bike as I never drive anything I don't own. I wish the exhaust made less noise, but he said he got it like that. Another issue is the stiffer clutch lever which is going to be a problem for my damaged left hand. Both the V11 and the Quota have softer actuation. I will not be able to actuate the clutch too many times in traffic, so I will only use the Le Mans around town. Unless of course, I install a radial piston pump. I may have to do that anyway. This is why I can't keep the Quota. I had one option when I managed to park the V11 behind the 911, and the Quota at the edge of the small access ramp. Parking the Stelvio side by side would make it a difficult task each time. Unfortunately, Mick, the HOA (Home Owners Association) says nothing should be parked in the street. As long as I am on the ramp, I am good. I am sad to need to part with the Quota.

I can see. There is a Ford in the way. Can't you park that on the street or something? Seriously though, I hope you find a suitable buyer. And I'm as interested as @docc in knowing whether it will be the new Stelvio or the old one, and if the old one, which one?

Ahh. What popped up in my mind was "Verkehr" (traffic) and some kind of abbreviation of that.

I had a second look at those test reports. I assumed that it was two different bikes, but it seems it was two tests of the same bike. That makes it very interesting, because the numbers are different. So what had changed? The wheel diameters (Durchmesser) are different. Going by the dates on the report, I could imagine that the bike had got a new front tyre, but was still on the same rear. That would explain the front being a couple of mm bigger, but the rear a few smaller. The trail in the second report is marginally shorter, the wheelbase about 5 mm shorter. Maybe the forks got pushed a bit higher through the triple-clamps? I can't really imagine what might have caused the changes in the numbers in the last section, unless through pushing the forks up a bit they got a little out of line (one slightly higher than the other...), causing a bit of a twist between the front and rear wheel. And an interesting question is why the bike was tested twice within less than a year? That sort of test generally is not for free, and would not normally be made without a reason.

GERMAN. Cheers Tom.

A first generation Stelvio or V100 Stelvio, I wonder . . .

Nice Guzzi wagon. No dog onboard, always a 30kg mangan bag in the sidecar. Quite a few G's possible in left corners . Don't let of the gas coming in to fast right corners, brakes have to be used correctly. Cheers Tom.

I thought it would be close enough to "werke", because we are limited to 5 characters if you want your own plate...

I am only testing the waters, as this site is for hard core V11 lovers, but just in case someone wanted to get into the odd stuff. I am going to purchase a Stelvio, and unfortunately, I do not have the space to keep three motorcycles. If anyone is interested here, I will provide all the details necessary, including videos. I am about to take it out this week-end to do some of the stops of the Motorcycle Grand Tour of Texas. I have registered it with a year correct number plate, which I will keep if you are not from Texas. It is registered until 2029. It has been fully conditionned by MPH after I brought it from Peoria AZ. Tires are Dunlop Trailmax in good condition. All the history I got from the bike is in a binder, including what the previous owner had done.

Sorry, don't get that. As far as the photos go, yes, not enough light. Most of them are in focus (more or less) somewhere in the picture, but not for the whole bike. Too little light = small f-stop number/ large iris opening = poor depth of field. Taking "art" photos matches the light-hearted text, but yeah, he could have done better.

Special treatment for some Girls. Not to bad for a 20year old Guzzi. And forgot to mention how happy l am figuring out handling problems with the german hot rod Greenie. She has a bit more punch, and realy enjoy 5k+. Cheers Tom. Sent fra min SM-S906B via Tapatalk

Quite a few members of the German forum keep a sidecar for the winter. Favourite choice seems to be a Ural, with which the concerns about the frame not holding up to it are a non-issue because they are built as a sidecar. On a completely different note, one that I haven't seen other than on photos but would like to, and would like to ride: It was built by the bloke in the second picture, a fellow administrator of the German forum that I am active in. To put it into perspective, Holger is about 5'4" tall. The motor is from an 1100 California, with a Doc Jensen cam and a bit of tweaking. The really impressive bit: at first glance, or on the photos, you don't notice any lights apart from the headlight, but the thing is road-legal and registered. That, in Germany, is quite an acheivment.

This one is dedicated to you, see the tag?: "VERKS".

Some of the pics are a little bit soft (out of focus). The seller should have taken photos in better light conditions; he seems to have wanted to give it an artistic touch, but when you want to sell a motorcycle, you need to give as much details as you can to your audience.

Another easy explanation, the krokodilla (crocodile) mention, I have to be more home taking care of Daffy the rottweiler when there is nice weather. Why not a side car next thought. Me think close to26000 km with the dog in the sidecar And a very happy and proud dog. K1100RS, with a german made sidecar, made by doctor professor ingeniør. Good experience, but no dog no sidecar. Cheers Tom.

@4corsa thanks for that. What a brilliant text. And it appears to have the rather nice Magni fairing on it. If it wasn't in the wrong country, I could well be seriously tempted. http://www.magni.it/v11_fairing.htm

That's actually why I don't like Honda much. I've had two, they both worked very well, and were both a bit sterile. For the big luggage factor, I had a GTR 1000 Kawasaki for quite a while, and liked it rather a lot. It also worked well, was very reliable, and wasn't nearly as sterile as a Honda. My Guzzis arguably don't work as well as any Japanese bike, but they are anything other than sterile. I like that about them.

Sure - here is the description:

Any chance you could copy and paste that to here? It sounds like it might be fun to read, but one apparently needs a facebook account to see the ad, and I don't have one.

Yes, because some people find them fun. A mate of mine had a double-boot on a CB900. Sitting in the boot was fun, hanging out in the corners and such. Riding it was interesting. I picked it up for him after he had a sky-diving mishap, and rode it about 100 km home (somewhere down near Dandenong up to Macleod, for those who know the territory...). It was fun to ride somehow, even though it pulled to one side pretty heavily. The mate was about 30 kg heavier than me, the thing was set up well for him, and with me on riding it didn't want to go straight. So I can see why people like them, but don't want one. The reasons why not are pretty much exactly what @Lucky Phil wrote. I would like to have a go on a serious racing sidecar, though. Both as rider and as swinger.

Not many PC800 riders around. It is a very different bikenality (not personality) than the V11. That's for sure.

Yet they remain.

Sidecars, good lord sidecars. All the worst aspects of a car and a motorcycle rolled into one and then made even worse. A case of less than the sum of it's parts. The sidecar is what the poor working class in the early 20th century bought to attach to their motorcycle to transport the family because they couldn't afford a car. They were a poor persons transport band aid and nobody worried about the obvious dynamic shortcomings which not only make them suspect to operate but also destroy the motorcycle itself mechanically. A motorcycle chassis isn't designed to cope with side thrust loads so the mechanicals take a beating and you end up with chassis cracking and high wear on everything including the driveline lugging around the extra weight. The advent of the Austin 7 or Baby Austin, in the early 1920's, an affordable car that the working class could afford killed off the sidecar manufacturers almost entirely and with good reason. Phil

I had to look that one up ;-). There was this one time at Americade I went into the demo lot for Harley. With a muffler on it it was a quiet bike. As I was rolling through I could hear on the the people I passed say "It's one of them f***ing electric ones."