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Good morning -- or whatever it is when and where you read this -- from the top of Virginia where we are still tidying up the battlefield and shooting the wounded after the latest iteration of Moto Grappa Tech Days. The slideshow and its captions tell the story without more, so I'll just post the link with the only intro being that it's mostly about wrenching, bench racing, competitive eating, bourbon, beer, and BS. As with my other Smugmug albums, the link opens in "landscape collage," meaning you don't have to slog through every one of the (yes, I know, too many ) pix to see all or the ones, if any, that might interest you. Hover your cursor over individual pix to see captions if you care. MGTD MMXXII Bill Logged

Well no ride report yet but it sure is purty This model has single adjustment for compr/rebound which is fine by me Straight from their facility in France < $500

I've come to regard the V11 "Stilettos" as elegant devices of magnificence . . .

Mick Doohan was just an animal on a race track. I'd love to see Jack do well but I don't see him riding a works Ducati next season. Too many young fast guys in the Ducati stable and Jack like the majority seems to lack that last 1/2% needed to be a superstar and that's all that separates all of them these days. I always use this as an explanation. The average race track lap is around 100 seconds give or take and with .4 of a second covering the first 5 rows these days that means the guy in 15th position on the grid with basically no chance of getting on the podium is less than 1/2% slower than the pole man and the other guys further up the grid are obviously even less than that. There's not much margin between podium placer and also ran these days. Millers biggest issue is tyre preservation. All these guys can lay down a lap time and Miller better than most at dragging out a quick one off lap but the the real skill is in maintaining your speed and managing tyres come race day. No good having a bike setting that gets you onto the front row which you can't use during the race because it's too aggressive a set up for the tyres and then losing your speed advantage from qualifying because you can't produce the race speed with a race setup. In other word you need to be fast with the qualifying setting and also with the race/tyre preservation setting. I worry that Miller doesn't have the "adaptability" in his style to take the final step. He seems to be more an "instinct" rider and that takes you to 99.7% not 100% where you need to be. He should look at some of the images taken of himself and Pecco at the same corners and the vast differences in their body positioning on the bike if he wants to eek out another little bit. Peccos fast and preserves the tyres so Miller might want to study and adapt his riding position to someone on the same equipment that's obviously got an advantage over him. Having said all of that nothings from this coming season would surprise me and I wouldn't dare make any sort of predictions. Ciao

I'm local and have no experience with a local rental service. But I have used Riders-Share and had a good experience when renting other people's bikes. Now I prefer it over a dedicated rental shop. I also rent my Yamaha TW200 on Riders-Share. Not too many bookings yet, but at least it gets ridden while my daughters are away at college.

Managed to get it posting the correct way up

I did not see a single bottle of Grappa though... I drunk a lot of the equivalent of Grappa before I started to work in Italy... lol.. For those of you who want to know more about Grappa: https://bespokeunit.com/spirits/grappa/ It is a spirit made from the left overs of skins, pulp, seeds after grapes are processed into wine. Not particularly tasty since it was just a liquor designed to recycle instead of throwing away. However, what initially was only a crude spirit started to be turned into something more refined, and became a more "noble" liquor and gained some fervent supporters. The French equivalent is Marc de Bourgogne. A few glasses help to make the V11 a lot lighter in weight, and a lot higher in spirit.... just kidding.... no drinking and riding... @Bill Hagan Thanks for sharing!!! I liked it a lot.

now that I have my record player hooked up, I'll have to look for the Atkins-Knopfler record. I know it's somewhere.

FuboTV shows all the races through BEIN in the USA; they have a seven days free trial, if anyone wants to give it a go; they also have Superbike and Moto America. https://www.fubo.tv/lp/MotoGP/ The Ducati is always the best bike before the season begins and the world championship is won on a Yamaha or a Honda....

Another successful Tech Days !

The lady in the background, from the local Guzzi club, standing behind the V85 owns the red V50 (the Alpinestars jacket is a bit of a giveaway) The Enfield Himalaya parked between her V50 and my black Griso belongs to her sister. They are lovely people and probably unique in the Guzzi & wider motorcycling world Docc, I’d be grateful if you can invert this photo. I’ve tried and failed miserably - thanks

Welcome CDR, judging by your picture, the bend doesn't look too severe and if you have the capabilities,( torch,vise, nut to fit the thread) it looks to be repairable. My $.02. Paul B

Have you tried one of these "Riders Share" sites? Before I purchased the Le Mans, I looked for one in Houston, but did not find any. But you may have more luck in San Diego? https://www.riders-share.com/us/san-diego-ca#! Actually, I found this V85 TT @90 USD/day

Looks like an awesome time...!

My plastic gauge back cup cracked on the road, losing a piece adjacent to the odo reset knob. I took my gauges apart probably 10 years ago and that gasket your referring to was there and intact.I do have a problem with the tack building moisture on a cold morning that will evaporate when it warms up.

If you don't know about the Goodwood festival, you should. One of the best event about motorsports worldwide. Waine Rainey will participate on his racing bike adapted to his condition by Yamaha. But the festival is much more than just that. Just check their website, and if you like West Sussex (who doesn't?) and live within reach with your Guzzi, you should go. It is incredibly friendly and a once of a lifetime experience. One of the things Britons are incredibly good at organizing....

Ordered and received promptly. Along with almost everything else I ordered. They have a lot of NOS stuff in stock, but obviously not everything. You may also need a rubber gasket that goes between the gauge cup and the dash lamps. Part 03762370

My understanding is that Fast by Feracchi FBF are closed now so no asking them. My experience; when I bought my Griso, they were the original dealer that first sold the bike & had done some recall work. When I called them up they had a record of the work done.

Alas no. It was ages ago. It came up at a good price although I can't remember what I paid. I had it shipped to MPH and had them piss off the single plate clutch and install a twin plater off, from memory, a Centauro and re-fit an original airbox rather than the shitty pods it had on it. Apart from replacing some relays that failed and a rear brake lever I broke when I tossed it away in, I think, New Mexico I never laid a tool on it and know next to nothing of its origins.

My understanding is the original owner was a Dr. from New Hampshire. Pete might know..

"hillbilly haiku"

So interesting to see the details on this rather iconic V11! I had always thought Pete had it "done-up." Obviously "more to the story" . . . Any ideas who had the initial work done by Mike Rich and FBF? ("Now there's a pride of lions to draw to.")

I've always wonder what these "pork chops" were and what they did. Personally, I prefer "pork steaks". Not quite as dry. I like to grill them with a full hickory smoke box with chips and pellets. Sometimes with BBQ rub but otherwise with garlic powder, onion power, salt & pepper. Juicy but well done. No, I never drill or put holes in my pork steaks.....since pork chops can be dry, perhaps?

Hmmm . . . this is all seeming very mysterious. In a good way! Chuck had mentioned the Ti push rods and Mike Rich, the Power Commander and suspension settings. I was wondering if it had timing gears or chain. Really, that's it. I haven't taken the time to explore the thumb drive provided with the bike. I assumed, bad on me, that this information would be contained there. I'll probably look at the files next week. Not crying, not sad. I also know from decades of working on big complex machines that when it's working you stop trying to "fix" it. Regular service, health monitoring and parts changes on time or condition. Now, what's up with this weather. I want 70 and sunny. NOW !

"He say you Brade Lunnah, Mista Deckard. You tune my Guzzi good?

If any body is curious seat, side covers, tank, battery box, air cleaner box Update on the M Shock eventually

Keith! We didn't even know whether you were alive or dead! Lovely to hear from you again. As to what has been done to the 'Mighty Scura'? Nobody knows for sure but Chuck found out it has Mike Rich heads, probably special pistons, Ti or ChroMo pushrods and who knows what other 'Whoop-te-do' stuff. When I bought it the first thing I did was send it to MPH and got Mike and the boys to swap out the single plate clutch for a twin plate and stick a factory airbox back in, (It had pods when I bought it.). It had a Power Commander on it and when bikes were running the 15M this system, although crude, could be made to work. Whoever programmed it obviously knew what they were doing. Nowadays I'd suggest just building a map but this bike runs so stupidly well, why bother. I also got the suspension upgraded because the original springs were woefully inadequate. Going to Rosso Corsa specs solved all the Scura 'Death Wish' issues. Apart from that I can tell you nothing. Chuck probably knows more.......

That reservoir bracket is "adjustable." If you bend the tabs, you should be able to position it lower and closer to the starter cover.

I recently did a suspension upgrade by adding Racetech fork springs and an Ohlins rear shock that came off of a Scura. Big improvement in the ride of the ‘01 Greenie with these on it. The Ohlins feels great. Also did a tire change before this, going from a 170 rear to a Road 5 160, and I really like the overall set-up of the bike. One thing to mention in case people would like to do the shock swap for a Scura Ohlins, is the Ohlins remote reservoir is a bit longer than the OEM unit, and will mount butt-up to the pork chop to allow sufficient clearance for the throttle body linkage. At least that was how it went for me. I am very happy with the swap, and I even like the color clash of the gold shock reservoir and the red and green of the bike.

Would you believe - just joined this forum as I have been searching hi and lo for a caliper rebuild kit - searched specifically on ebay with no joy - your link has worked for me. Am UK based which helps ...

Some of us are old, and are Guzziless.... otherwise....

Love watching the start drill that starts at 10:55. Funny on the narration, in the past I just thought that narrator's syncopation was odd and hard to listen to. I recall a software developer telling me to always play computer generated voice in another accent as it is less distracting. That is the nicest Guzzi custom I've ever seen on a lot of levels. Capped off by the onboard ride at about 8:20!

The one I posted above….