Leaderboard

Got it. When I arrived today, he said the turn signal fuse would blow after riding a bit. Hit all the connections involved with DeOxit. Looked at wiring we could see,of course. No Joy. Mark said he was done for the day, but I already was cutting cable ties off. In just a couple of minutes, I said, looky here. Where the wiring went to the flasher, there was one bare strand of copper that was chafed and touching the frame. I've always said that electrical issues are easy to fix..you just need to find out what needs fixing..

To put that into perspective: my de-facto father in law got a letter from his energy provider the other week. In Germany, by the way. He had been paying just over €250,- a month for gas. They informed him that as of Jan. the price "had to" go up to well over €1.000,- a month. Our provider has informed us that the price for electricity is going to double as of January. Don't know what the gas price is going to do, but it wont be pretty. Europe was, before the war in the Ukraine started, getting something over 60% of its gas from Russia. Most of it was going through pipes through the Ukraine. Also, I believe a large percentage of the diesel in Europe was coming from Russian oil. Given that diesel motors are almost the norm here, that is a not insignificant problem So Yes, this is true. One might argue that the european embargo on Russian oil is a foolish gambit in that context. On the other hand, Putin is financing the war to a large extent through fossil energy sales. I don't think anyone wants to keep financing his meglomania. Also, would it be wise to remain largely dependent for energy on a country whose leader has proven himself to be, to put it mildly, somewhat erratic? Much more importantly, to keep the industry running so the economy doesn't collapse. Lights are good too... It is worth noting that at least some of those coal power plants were supposed to be going out of service around now. Also, a couple of nuclear power plants that were scheduled to go off line will be kept going at least until the end of this winter. The bloke who had to decide about that is Robert Habek, vice chancellor and minister for the economy and climate protection. He is a member of the green party. In other words, it's all a bit complicated here right now.

Hallo. I haven't found a dedicated board to introduce oneself, so I decided to do it here. My name is Michael, but Mick is good. I turned 59 a couple of weeks ago, and have been riding motorcycles since 1985. The first one was a Suzuki GSX 250 (at the time in Vicroria, Australia, beginners were only allowed a 250), which was followed by a 1976 model Z900. I owned a couple of those 2-Stroke 3-Cylinder Kawasakis (a 250 and a 400) for a bit, but one was a basket case, and the other one had been out in the weather for several years and didn't run. In addition, I had a Honda MVX 250 for a while. The Honda got sold to an acquaintance, I don't remeber why I got rid of it, and the Kawasakis all got sold when I moved to Germany at the start of 1996. After the move, I didn't have a motorcycle for about 10 years. Then someone gave me a Honda CBX 650 E, a soft-chopper thing. Never would have bought it myself, but after the first ride I couldn't understand anymore how I had got through the 10 years without a bike. Rode that for a while, and then I made the "mistake" of going to have a look at a V35 Imola that was for sale about 20 km. away from where I was living at the time. Bought it, of course. A mate of mine who lived in the same house with me for a while in Melbourne had a Le Mans III, which was the clincher for the interest in Moto Guzzi. The Imola is "only" a small-block, but the lines are very similar, and I couldn't resist. It wasn't a runner, as it had been in a cellar (going by the waft under the seat...) since it was taken off the road in 1997 according to the papers I got with it. I took it apart, put it back together with new seals everywhere and an electronic ignition (Silent Hektik), and have been having fun with it ever since. About the same time as I got the Imola, I got rid of the soft-chopper Honda and got a Kawasaki 1000 GTR (Concourse in the USA, I believe). Not my style, actually, but I wanted a bike that could hold its own on the german Autobahn, and for that, the GTR is hard to beat. I once rode it from Leipzig (where I have been living since 2015) to the north of France. More than 800 km., rain almost the whole time. On that bike, that is a doable proposition. I broke that one (the GTR) at the end of 2017 by not noticing that a car that I was overaking in a long line of cars was about to turn into a side road. Broke both hands in the process... The GTR I broke was ok before the accident. The one I bought to replace it turned out to have a heap of problems, which leads us to why I am here. The interest in Moto Guzzi has been increasing over the last several years, and the justification for the GTR through changes in my employment situation decreasing. On top of that, I'm having a bit of "if not now, it may be too late", so I bought a V11 Le Mans about a week ago. Haven't ridden it yet, as there has been snow on the ground here more or less since the day I picked it up (slightly over 1000 km. round trip to go and get it....). I am absolutely delighted to have found a forum a) in english and dealing with the specific model, and b) with such good information. I've already read the thread about the ominous pawl spring from start to finish (65 pages, wow...). Looking forward to reading more here, and I dare say I'll be posting some stuff eventually too. 'till then Mick

I've fitted one of these cables. I found I needed to put a slight bend in the gearbox end so it clears the rod between the fuel injection units. Otherwise it works fine

Assuming "fuel oil" is what the heating plant and water heater in a house uses, yes, i.e. close relative at least. Apparently one can run at least a "low tech" diesel motor on "Heizöl" (= "heating oil", presumably what you mean with "fuel oil") That is highly illegal here, though, and is considered tax fraud. Heizöl isn't subject to the tax that transport fuels are, so using it instead of diesel avoids tax that the government is keen to have. There used to be an oil burner for the heating and hot water in the house where my girlfriend's father lives. The room in the cellar where the old tank still is, still smells faintly of diesel, even though it all got converted to gas a number of years ago. Regarding what it is exactly: the first paragraph of this Wiki article translates thus: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitteldestillat or this english Wiki article on more or less the same topic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_oil

I used to teach my students first, "You can find 99% of all electrical faults with your eyes and fingers".

Hi Joe. I very seriously considered buying that one. The differences to mine: the "pork chops" on mine are black, as is the seat. The seat on that one might be from a different model, I think. On of the "Sport" variantions maybe, but I'm not sure. Mine has about 20,000 km more on the clock, and was about €1,000 cheaper. And the bloke I bought miine off is someone I have met a couple of times through a forum here. What makes that one interesting, the text from the ad indicates a long term owner who really loved the bike. He's selling because he's giving up riding motorcycles altogether. Here's his text: For those who are wondering "TÜV" refers to the obligatory bi-annual roadworthiness tests here. I'm not 100% sure, but I think the workshop stands in the photos might be original Guzzi parts. I reckon the bike would be a good buy, but I've already got one now. As I said, I seriously considered it, but chose to buy the cheaper, higher mileage bike from the bloke I have met a couple of times. Apart from the red bits, I think it is pretty much the same as the one I got.

And Cheers Tom.

Not just one member...

Well, I say, again: You are in the right place, here. As the old adage goes, "Expect some owner involvement " . . . . Anybody that stays up to 3am to post on some random internet forum is already putting skin in the game . . .