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When I got my "Motorbike" frenetic obsession, I was about 12 if I remember. I had to wait until 14 to get a mopped, then 16 to get my motobike's license. These were the early 70's, and Moto Guzzi was not even on the map as far as my entourage was concerned. The only bikes to be discussed were either British, German, and of course Japanese. But I read a novel written by a French journalist, who in 1972 did the Orion Raid onboard a Moto Guzzi. The Orion Raid took you from France to Iran. She went on to ride in Afghanistan. The book is interesting in that the Moto Guzzi never failed her. She had some falls, and got local "street shops" to fix her bike with makeshift parts. After that, I always associated Moto Guzzi with "reliable". Not 100% correct, but close enough. Later, during my professional ventures, I worked in Italy for 10 years, and explored all what Italian motorbikes had to offer. Starting with Ducati. I met some very passionate Italian people, and Moto Guzzi started to spike a genuine interest. But it took me a long time to capitalize on my intrigue, since I only purchased the Le Mans last year in 2020. One of the best acquisition I have ever made in the course of my life... every time I ride on it, I forget about all what is not pure joy of going somewhere, nowhere in particular. Just the feeling, the particular engine voice. I don't think I would get that from anything else, but a V11.

I wouldn't waste my time comparing a V-11 to a Ducati if I were you...just my 2 cents. I have been riding over 55 years, every brand motorcycle Ducati's most of them..and have owned probably a dozen very nice Ducati's, I have one in my workshop now that I spent over $30k and 2-3 years building and it is a beautiful machine...3 years ago I rode my first V-11 and the Ducati has been mostly sitting with a cover over it ever since..My most enjoyable bike to ride at the moment? A $2,500 1999 Bassa V-ll Cruiser..it makes me smile and almost laugh with joy every time I start it up and listen to it...and is a pleasure to ride. It's heavy, kinda ugly, not fast..the linked brakes aren't so great, It handles decent...I can think of no rational reason to give anyone why they would chose it over another motorcycle other than it just makes me smile, It has a soul. Which is the feeling that started my love of motorcycles in the beginning. I think you either love them despite all their imperfections or you don't.. Its not a rational decision.. I

You have done well grasshopper. Stick to your plan and it will happen. All the Italian's complement each other

It is a bit of a waste to compare, but such a fun waste of time! i agree wholeheartedly with your assessment. I look back at the friendly “competition” i had with my good friend and work-mate years ago (we had a lot of time to kill together back then), him on his V11 and me on my 916, me bad-mouthing how the V11 just didn’t stack up in each of the categories we’d squabble about for fun. But now i find the V11’s to be my favorite bike(s) to ride, doing the “puts a smile on my face” thing that they do.

Anne France Dautheville deserves special credit for having been possibly the first ever "Guzzi" lady. She did the 1972 France Iran (Orion Raid), and after reaching the destination Ispahan, she continued by herself to Afghanistan. That Guzzi in the picture should be in a museum. I wonder if she knows where it is now....

McDonalds hamburgers are a commercial success. It doesn't mean they are any good.........

I have been looking for a good solution to wireless charging my phone whilst using it as a dash/satnav. After much research I found this unit from available on Amazon has plenty of good reviews, a few YouTube videos about it and was cheap but not cheap enough to be horrible. It uses the Ram ball mount, and comes with a variety of options, but I bought an M8 threaded version separately to go in the stem cap without having to drill anything out. I used an expanding anchor with this, which spreads as you tighten but drops back when undone, it doesn't permanently deform. Gif: https://i.imgur.com/QKhL9t3.gifv I soldered into the sidelight terminals inside the headlamp bucket and ran cables in a sleeves out to the headlamp multiplug. Then up to some waterproof female bullet connectors for when it's not in use. The Qi charging is not likely to blow the circuit, it runs off 5 watts minimum. This mount also has a waterproof USB out for secondary charging, like a GoPro or another phone if you get stuck. The metal parts of the mount are stainless steel, and there is a one touch clamp, and then an easy (in gloves too) squeeze top and bottom to release. It feels solid so far; I've used it over a few 100 miles with no issues, it comes with an extra rubber web to secure the phone if you need it. Also added my red led backlights (+3bhp), led sidelight and headlamp h4 bulb. Headlight has a front mounted fan and heatsink, so no extra bulk in the bucket.

Ha, Nope, the "parking" light. Little 12v bulb under the main headlamp bulb. Black and yellow wires. I soldered on to the terminals and ran the cables out the bucket in the original plastic sleeve.

NO, but frau blucher snuck in

@Vtwinstorim Look at this beauty!!! this will go hand to hand with your 900SS!!! and it is for sale.... although, 15k EUR. It is a showroom bike, 4 km on the odometer...

Personally I'd be inclined to start with a guided 3mm pilot hole. So what you could do if you have or know someone that has a pedestal drill is get anything that has 2 flat parallel faces and is around 10mm thick and approx 10mm or square or rectangular doesn't matter as long as it sits flat on the top of the clamp The bigger the better for holding by hand and put it in the pedestal drill and drill a 3mm hole through it. Then get someone or yourself to hold it flat against the surface as a drill guide. It doesn't need to be held in a really hard or complex way its just a guide, and drilling carefully means it's pretty easy to hold. After you've got the first pilot hole through you can open the hole in the guide to the finished size and do it again. The other thing to do is make up a small right angle triangle cardboard square to check you tap the hole straight as you go unless you have a tiny mini square already. Having a straight parallel hole is no guarantee the hole will tap straight, you still need to start it for the first 2 threads perpendicular to the top surface. When I make these home made drill guides I usually just hold them by hand and drill slowly with the battery drill, it's pretty easy to do. I drilled these holes for my steering stop extensions insitu and tapped them using this technique with a drill bit in my air die grinder I generally only use for porting as thats the only thing that would get in there. Perfectly straight and square. Would never have been possible by hand insitu without the guides. Ciao

It may help to also post in 'classifieds wanted' section

Yeah, dipped in the UK is the standard mode of the H4 headlight bulb, because it is dipped down and can't dazzle, the other mode is hi/full beam. We say sidelights/driving lights/daylight running lights for any bulb that is white but not part of the headlight bulb, alot of cars and bikes have them on constantly now, not even as a user selected mode.

You’re right about the V11 Sport except the gearbox. You’re thinking about the five speed. The six is way different.

Voltmeter/clock/thermometer. Draws milliamps. I have heard the "sidelight" called a city beam, as opposed to dipped beam. A lot of old VWs etc. have them.

Brilliant! The mark of an XS650 owner.

I would say, a 900SS is quite a challenger to the V11. I am sold on the Le Mans, it is really an incredible, exceptional dream on wheels. And.... you can go everywhere with it, it will never let you down, at the side of an empty road. You know what they say about Porsche? this is also valid for a V11. Nothing runs like one...

I rode one of my 900SS today, and I have no doubt the V11 is awesome, but against an air-cooled Ducati 900SS, the V11 has tough competition. Never rode a V11, so I have no baseline. All I can infer is it is heavier, wider, and probably has instant torque and an agricultural gearbox. The only Guzzi I have ever gotten to ride was an '18 V7, and I was not at all impressed. Handling, braked, gearbox, the engine, none of it felt good. The engine was torquey but weak. Perhaps it was a bad example. Unlike that anemic V7, I think a V11 LeMans would just make my day. What a sexy beast of a machine!

Hah. I have now. That's why I did some research first. This one is solid, there is also a fail-safe if the main clamps failed. PS the phone is not connected to a network, just GPS/WiFi.

Ah, gotcha - the 5 amp Fuse #6, "dipped" light," along with the tail light and instrument illumination.

The bike is there on consignment.. I exchanged e mails with the sales person a few months ago when it was first listed. I’ll be very kind… and just say He wasn’t a nice guy. I’d steer clear.

I'm willing to pay my dues by waiting. More than one person I have overheard saying that the V11 is almost too new to be a "classic", but too old to really be "new". It's kind of in the middle. Some of the last old school Guzzis, apart from the EFI. Not that Guzzis have been known as "bleeding edge" for the past 40-50 years. I think we all love Guzzi for being Guzzi. It's why I have a V11 on my immediate radar.

I purchased mine from a dealership in Pensacola December last year. It was on Cycletrader, same mileage as the one you are looking at. The bike was supposedly spotless. When I went to pick it up, I found the odometer was not working. Before I purchased the bike, I had asked all the relevant questions. Turned out they had never assessed the bike, it was a "consignment". They shipped the bike free of charge to me, this was the least they could do. I had spent the money to get there to drive the bike home. But the one you are looking at is listed on eBay. So you have some protection.

If you can be patient, I think you will be able to find another one in equal or better condition for less money. All that and close to home could take longer. Fly and ride can be fun if you establish trust with the seller. I once picked up a K75s that was not in as good condition as I expected. But I was already at the end of a one-way flight so went ahead and did the deal with a small discount.

Great taste ! I have close to the same set....my silver 2000 V11, & a '96 SS Sp. The V11 is Dorothy, & SS is Loralei.. James

Welcome aboard !

I am not going to translate what the guys says to the person who called him at the end.... however, he gives the blame of attempting to answer the phone to the caller. Answering a call, even with a "hands free" solution, is a distraction that keeps our mind off scanning the road and driving accordingly. I hope this guy will never attempt to answer his phone again.

Most of my photographic efforts are fairly rubbish, I usually forget to hold the IPhone the correct way up, thus resulting in an inverted image Shiny side down, rubber side up doh

What are you trying to power?

@swooshdave did some cool things with this a few years back. Even gave a Greenie sport at one point!

I'm not sure if this motor is actually black, but shows if your donk is big enough it's gonna draw the eye . . . (Another absolutely great image of a (very special) "V11": LuckyPhil's V10 Sport)

I'm watching a show on PBS "Through the Lens". It's all about album cover art from the '50s through now. Not surprising, The Beatles were among the the first to make it an art form. And importantly, the guys' style changes so much from '62-'70 that it served as a signpost for the times. https://www.pbs.org/show/icon-music-through-lens/

I have Mistral carbon cans ( no db killers ) with Stucchi crossover and open airbox lid. Some have read this set-up before and gone whoa way too much, but it's not at all. My wife who hates loud bikes ala open piped Harleys and inline 4's with race pipes LOVES the sound of the green one. Also most people I ride with comment favourably on the sound. My all time favourite bike note was a bevel duck with Conti's but this set up has nudged it from first place for me! Cheers Guzzler.

Expected Goose = P-47 That MGS-01 is a BEAUTIFUL bike! If I were a rich man...it would be on the track when not residing in my man cave.