Leaderboard

Hello, all. twhitaker's old champagne V11 lemans has arrived at its new home in Happy Valley, Pennsylvania; stable mates with Tenni #112, a G5, and a couple Beemers (the F800GS being the odd duck of the bunch). Many thanks to Tom Witt who went above and beyond in: 1) Letting this process drag out over a month while we navigated the holiday season and other priorities 2) Traveling a couple hours east to deliver the bike to my waiting trailer 3) Providing extra bits, a brand new, still wrapped front tire and even retrieving a nice set of prok chops he'd already parted with (to a local friend who was apparently willing to part with them himself) to sweeten the deal a bit It will take me some time figure out what I purchased, and I will start a new thread where I can take advantage of all the knowledge -- and good humor (I'm going to need it -- this bike is pretty rough) -- of the community. Cheers, Frey

There just are not any "classified ads" like this, anywhere . . . Page one: member @Randy (South'nSpineRaider) posts a random CL ad. (Comment and concern follow). Page two: We discover the passing of our longtime member : twhitaker Page three: This V11LeMans finds a new home and our honorable @witttom respects us with the outcome . . . [edit: same page @FreyZI chimes in and invites us to join his new venture!]

Yesterday I brough home the champagne '02 Lemans of former forum member twhitaker (RIP). This was a bit of a Covid Times purchase, I think: something to do, not particularly well thought out or investigated, just scratching a wild hair. Well, at least I didn't resign my job. Pros: I do actually like the color. I was afraid it was going to be too close to simlar vintage Toyota Camry old-lady beige. It isn't. Maybe more Iron Man gold. It's tasteful, yet not absolutely boring. When the snow clears, I'll get a sid-by-side photo of the Tenni and the champagne (I laid a couple stone of salt to clear a narrow path from garage - it's not great motorcycling weather in this neck of the woods). It's a Motto Guzzi V11! Started up in single digit temperature; sounded okay PO has ridden -- fast! (how fast will remain undisclosed) Cons: Cosmetic damage (mostly what I know at present -- this bike has 44K miles on the clock and it looks like it did every bit of it). This bike went down on its right side at some point. It buggered up the cylinder head guard -- which did its job rather well Damaged right fairing Bar end was replaced with something dramatically different in size (and presumably mass) Hard cases dented, abraided, and small tears Mufflers mismatched (one painted to be less obviously mismatched) Front wheel rim gouged Front fender abraided Right mirror cup abraided Rear hugger abraided Seat okay but not great Seat cowl scratched Some fuel tank anomoly and also rubbing from throttle friction device when bars at full right lock Some corrosion on fins, master cylinder cover, elsewhere Pork chops' anodized finish peeling badly and otherwise beat up Cylinder head finish bubling Engine case paint isn't perfect, but doesn't seem too bad (I'd welcome a pic of what bad looks like) Basically, bike is pretty filthy Mechanical problems Neutral light intermittent failure with concomitant sidestand-triggered engine cut-off, even in neutral judging from presence of oil on final drive outer case, possibly a bad seal Feels like steering lock doesn't engage quite soon enough Oily grime about intake at R cylinder (maybe L, too -- haven't looked that closely) Odometer 60 degree bit held together with a grocery twist tie Notable features Highway pegs (Looking forward to trying these, but worried these are actally designed to melt boots) More to come. Thanks in advance for helping with the trouble shooting! Cheers, Frey

Preview Preview 6:11

Just because we have been debating females on motorbikes; the attempts of female to win on motorbike races have been unsuccessful so far. But if you have never heard about an exceptional lady driver who won against male counterparts, here's Michèle Mouton:

That looks like a worthy project. If engine paint isn't bubbling now, it was probably redone by Moto Guzzi. The oil on the final drive is likely due to over-filling. From the pics, I'd guess the breather vent is the source of the mess. Those foot-forward, highway pegs? Wow. Personally, I'd remove those immediately. If you decide to freshen it up, I have a lot of stuff from a Champagne LeMans that I ended up stripping. The frame plates and rockers covers look fabulous in candy-apple red next to the champagne paint. If the fairing damage is more than you want to deal with, you could convert to a sport headlight with or without a flyscreen.

@Scud I received the book; I think I should be apt to share my opinion having experienced a lot of the topics first hand. I have been in both positions of leading and following; My upbringing was in a boarding school, boys only, and we would only leave the school during public holidays. I am talking about Elementary and High School. Not University. Then I joined a Military University as a civil, and did Military service. I joined Schlumberger after giving back my time, and worked in a lot of different places in the world. As a Supervisor/Lead Engineer, you would have local people under your command. There are some places in the world where a title does not make you a leader. I have been posted in countries where religion would determine your leaderhsip in a group. I also learned that age and seniority would grant you, or not the respect that you would hope to get. Visual appearance is also a factor of trust or mistrust or hatred. As I have not yet read the book, I don't know if you have touched on hurdles that come from nationality or gender. When I started my career in the oilfield, a lot of clients judged me based on my nationality. I also witnessed the difficulty of women making their way into leadership. in certain countries, you have to accept that only G.d leads and determines the outcome of whatever endeavor you embark upon. I do not know if you have studied these case scenarios during your research on leadership. Anyway, I will read the book and come back to you.

And there is Jutta Kleinschmidt, a Dakar Veteran and Champion.

@LowRyter

The Lounge Lizards.. and recently re visited the early Allman Brothers with Duane. Man he was GREAT! And combined with Dickey there's not another duo like them.

"Does anyone have a source for the actual cap-to-tank seal for our V11 cap?" [ I know , I stutter when I type. (That's how I became doc-c . . . ) ]

I've never had any luck using ARC functionality. Frustrated, I wound up using a universal remote from Harmony to control TV, DVD, amps, satellite receiver, A/V processor. With respect to over the air TV, I suspect the TV manual would provide instructions on how to send audio to other devices if that capability exists...looking at the back of my TV I was surprised to find a dedicated "Audio Out" optical connection.

New owner is in this thread.

More awesome community! Scud just posted a cross reference in his "Encyclopedia of Compatible Parts" for the outer ring gasket on the filler cap ring. Does anyone have a source for the actual cap-to-tank seal for our V11 cap?

OEM Part Name: Fuel door gasket (outer between ring and tank) Moto Guzzi Part Number: 01101700 Replacement Part Brand or Source: Aprilia Part number or other identifier: AP8120893 Differences from OEM (if any): none - same part

This is exactly what happened with my 70's and older cars. I did state it as a possibility here too. I have a conventional battery installed in my bike. New from April 2021. I have worked with Lithium batteries a lot during my professional endeavors. in the 80's, a long time ago. My company worked with a major battery company: https://www.leclanche.com/ to custom design batteries for our application. I would never put Lithium in my bike for multiple reasons, no matter the perks.

=me X - every year. Next thing you know it's time to ride. Can't wait to see how the paint turns out.

I found this little gem! unfortunately in french, so not accessible to everybody. Still, some scenes don't require translation. For those of you who were not around during those years, 1968, here's a very truthful piece about a girl riding a 450 Honda, and the early days of motorcycle fraternity in France. Her name is Arlette. Note the way dealership's mechanics interacted with their customers back then. The guy explains how the stroboscopic lamp is used to adjust the ignition. She also explains how being in a motorcycle group works, being a girl with her own motorcycle. The café were they meet is right in front the Alesia Church in Paris, 14th borough. They talk about the "Elephants" rally, that takes place in Winter in Germany. Back then, participating was like being in a special hall of fame for motorcyclist.

I found them! https://www.facebook.com/AMVAssurance/videos/2544489885837327/

I am lucky. For a couple years racing the TZ250 my wife was the mechanic. She would jet the bike (TZ250s need proper jetting to avoid seizing), and do whatever we needed done at the track. We tried to have everything good to go, and rarely did anything to extreme to the bike at the track. The worst thing we did was change the internal gearing in the trans once. That was pretty hard. But usually it was read the spark plug, change the jets, and make sure the tires were properly aired up. Later in life, after we started riding the Buells, she would do BattleTrax (which was basically autocross for bikes). She did that on the Blast at first, and then steeped up to doing it on her V11. She probably took it more serious than I did. She didn't like to loose. Sadly, they stopped doing BattleTrax when Buell was shuttered. She did highside her V11 once going for a faster time. And we always said, slow guys lowside, fast guys highside. She was a little proud of that.

*Disclaimer: The "South'n SpineRaid" only borrows the term, tongue-in-cheek. True rally raids are serious, gruesome, impressive affairs. About the most serious event at a South'n SpineRaid is figuring out how to get the stack of pizzas delivered. Mademoiselle Dautheville:

No, I won't. I see where the winds are blowing. This is why I have so many motorcycles. They don't build them how I like any longer. Nothing Ducati, Triumph or Guzzi currently build excite me. They no longer build V11s, so I bought one before doing so would be very costly or impossible. I also have a hoard of parts because that supply will dry up. I'd say gassers will be under 50% on new motorcycle sales in another 20-30 years. Plenty of time to play with gasoline...but at least in terms of style, the best years of new motorcycles and automobiles are looooong behind us.