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From personal experience I can say that TLM (Teo Lamers Motorcycles) does a lot of the things you mention. They organize bike trips to Mandello (GMG), do tours in the area, bike presentations and have a coffee corner. On saturdays when the weather is good, there are always bikers visiting, just kicking tyres. But the people from TLM always try to take the time for a small chat (with free advice if needed)

Here's a post I made previously on charger use: https://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?/topic/20617-charging-the-battery-hooked-up-in-the-bike-bad-idea/#elControls_236544_menu

I used to see this welcoming attitude and sense of comaraderie amongst the dealerships on the west coast in the US maybe 20 -30 years ago...but certainly not today imo...Yes they are nice before you buy but if you are not buying or have already bought, most have little time for us " tire kickers" nor socializing with customers. This is something that has to be created amongst riders somewhere away from the dealership, sadly...they don't get it . some may argue that point, but in my experience, many dealerships don't even remember a time when for customers it was a place to socialize with like minds and cultivate customer loyalty. Thus we have forums like this...thankfully.

We spoke about it before, but when it comes to automotive paradise, it seems the Netherlands have it all. Whatever I am looking for, vintage on four or two wheels, invariably, there will be a shop somewhere there that has it. However there is a dimension that I only found in dealerships in the USA. The "gathering and get together" idea of a go to place, even if you don't need to purchase anything. This is a concept that I never experienced before. Perhaps because the law does not stipulate that you need to close on Sundays? Many dealerships here organize events during the week-ends. The dealership becomes some sort of a clubhouse, and motorcyclists regroup there to spend time together. You can watch the MotoGP races at the Austin Ducati store, while sampling on Texas BBQ and being among fellow enthusiasts. I have never found that concept in dealerships in the European countries I visited. Also, and this is not strictly related to Motorcycle dealerships, sales' people tend to salute you and offer to provide assistance if you needed it. In Paris, you could spend hours in the Ducati store without anyone acknowledging you are even there. If you dare "disturbing" someone, you will get the appraising stare; you know what I mean.... the guy will gauge how much effort he should spare based on how you look and what probability his involvement could yield in terms of purchase. Not that you don't have this here, but there, it is the norm; here, more like the exception. Back to the Ducati store, a few years back when I had a deposit on a Panigale, they had a female sales assistant which last name was "Champion" and looking like one too; I found her more intimidating than enticing. Anybody from the Netherlands with an insight on TLM?

Disconnecting before charging a battery was also something I was raised with. But that was so many years ago. Aren't Zener diodes used to protect the regulator?

Thanks, @4corsa ! The matter of disconnecting during charging has always been debatable, yet I figured it was worth following those instructions if it helped the regulator last any longer. Here again, though, I can just pull out the service switch on my added 30 amp circuit breaker. I would risk fatiguing the female terminals by pulling and replacing the fuse every time. Certainly with regard to how we know the regulator is so very poorly grounded on the V11, we should all be able to agree that a dedicated ground is very well indicated, in our case.

It looks like there is a break in a wire. I don't have skill or tools to sort it here so I've got bike booked at local bike shop today.

Ok, here is the reply from ElectroSport regarding charging and an extra ground: "You do not need to disconnect the reg/rect when charging. I suppose an additional ground might be helpful, I cannot see how it could hurt in any way, so it is a good idea. But I would not say it is required. Every reg/rect could benefit from additional ground connections but in most cases it would make no difference." Thank you, Kyle Wood - Sales Manager Procom Engineering / ElectroSport 21 Brookline, Aliso Viejo, CA 92656 PH: (949) 305-4200 www.electrosport.com Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

@Admin Jaap shared this cleverly insightful tutorial about The Netherlands before. Worth reposting!

Unless you have a fitting that can accept the pressure switch and then attach it to some sort of air or liquid device to exert pressure, no there isn't AFAIK The switch could be tested with a compressor or even a bicyle pump if you had a compatible fitting though, but really as Phil stated it's just easier and cheaper to replace it. You could pull the plugs and injection relay and spin it on the starter without the pressure switch installed, you'll soon know if it's making pressure, but you're probably going to shoot oil everywhere, so don't do it in the front room or next to the wife's new car etc: When the oil switch is out and the lead attached to it is off and not touching anything, turn on the ignition. The light should be out, if it's on then it's grounding elsewhere. If you touch the lead onto the engine casing the light should go on.

Just replace it and be done with it. They are a known weak ling and probably should be a "hard time" component any way. Ciao

Well, here's what I STILL HAVEN'T done to my Scura: 1. Figure out the "thin" clutch engagement / feel at the lever. Related to below .... ? Some say poor adjustment due to hydraulic master, but can't suss that out. 2. Get off my ass and commit to inspecting / replacing the clutch / clutch plate or give it to someone who can get there. Looking at the plate is more of of a sense of comfort than a redline requirement, I suppose. 3. Repair / replace the shift spring and pawl bits. 4. Cam chain tensioner upgrade. I'd hoped to have done this last winter, but just waffled. Everytime I come back to the forum and the related threads, I get the overhelming sense that a guy needs to be a master machinist with an M.E. to get to the finish line. I fear that I'll end up with boxes of parts and a roller in the bed of my truck headed somewhere to correct my errors.

Go and buy yourself a set of quality ring open end spanners, same for screwdrivers, a set of feeler gauges, metric 'T" bars, a set of std Allen keys, a quality 10" adjustable spanner a set of 3/8 drive sockets and 1/4 drive sockets and your pretty much covered. Probably about $250 worth in the states. Forget buying individual items if you are serious about your maintenance. Ciao

I had Racetech Springs & valves fitted a few years ago From invoice springs fitted were 260Lx25.5IDx35.3OD 1.0Kg/mm I'm 100 kg plus 10kg of gear. I've just replaced fork oil and found I needed to build a fork compression tool to be able to completely drain the forks I copied one from Racetech's website