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Well, then, I owe you another one, mate . . . I just cannot stress enough how the V11 just devours this cool, dry air. While the cylinders ring like trumpets at the gates of heaven . . .

Yessir. 101 miles. Not bad for riding between weather fronts. And work days.

Removed the swing arm and driveshaft to grease the u-joints and sliding joint. All looked to have been done fairly recent! Swing arm bearings were fine. Valve clearance was checked and were left as found - .004 intake, .006 exhaust. Also put a quick disconnect on the tank vent, and re-routed the vent line.

My greenie loves the cool air as well... Let her rip and enjoy mate!

Alright, she doesn't just live on that dais with the footlights . . . I love these old train stations. Makes me feel kind of bold and enduring to be stopping by with a rare locomotive on the route . . .

That's really an interesting assortment of vintage motorcycles, many of which I've never seen before But to answer as aspect of the question I think you are asking; I hope manufacturers do not feel the need to create fake engine noises for electric motorcycles of the future. While the sound of the engines is inspiring, it is enjoyable to me because it is reflecting the genuine nature of the machine, not because I personally love all aspects of a loud internal combustion engine all the time ...as I've gotten older, I'm actually becoming more and more attracted to quiet exhausts About 20 years ago I did something that is really not recommended for many reasons, where I killed the engine on my FJ1200 and coasted all the way down the mountain from Crater Lake in Oregon. As I recall I had been really enjoying taking-in the quiet of the mountain, which I then obliterated by starting the FJ with its loud aftermarket exhaust, and then wondered what it might sound like to turn off the engine. It was great. It was much like riding a big bicycle, with just the sound of the wind, tires, and chain... so serene I thought even then how cool it would be to have a silent motorcycle, to be even MORE a part of the outdoors, as motorcycling is often marketed to be. So I actually look forward to the unique sounds of electric motorcycles. And they won't be silent anyway. There will still be plenty of mechanical noises, just those that are genuine to that machine! And just like the amazing performance we are seeing now with the reintroduction of electric automobiles, I think we'll be astonished with the performance that electric motorcycles will eventually bring. But there will always, or at least for the forseeable future, be a place for the ICE motorcycles and their own unique mechanical symphony

Uhhhh... I can declare this sound will never be confused with noise .

Dutch classic from years ago

Was that from today's spin ?

Ha ha Mate it's not far off your temps here at times... We seem to get a day or so of heat then it's back to winter for a day or two and repeat! Been a CRAZY summer. Cheers

Wait . . . what? It's >winter< here and >summer< there?

Hallelujah......

Looks like you're starting to get good weather. It's slowly warming up (a bit...) here, but it is still crappy. And there hasn't been enough rain yet to really be sure that the last dose of salt has been washed away...

A man can get lucky every once in a while.

Lots of Sturgill and Jason Isbell recently.

Beh, in questi giorni il Festival della canzone italiana di Sanremo a curiosity ... In 1986, Depeche Mode performed on the stage of the Sanremo Festival in the "company" of a Moto Guzzi V35 Custom used to evoke the sound of the sampled engine that characterized the introduction of the song. https://www.gazzetta.it/motori/la-mia-moto/12-02-2023/sanremo-i-depeche-mode-e-una-moto-guzzi-sul-palco.shtml

Tire/Rim size fitment recommendation: 180/55-17 => 5.50-6.00 170/60-17 => 4.25-5.50 These 2 tire sizes have different aspect ratio and although you could go either way on the 5.5" rim that came with the later models, mounting a 180/55 falls on the lower side of the recommended rim width where the 170/60 is on the higher side. The 170/60 will definetly sit a bit flatter on a 5.5" rim but the 180/55 with a smaller recommended rim size span would be just right. In fact, next tire size up, 190/55-17 will only properly fit on a 6.0-6.5" rim. There are so many other factors to handling performance not only with tires of different brands - even between models within the same brand - with different actual size and shape but also tire pressure, carried weight, ergonomics, etc. and most importantly suspension setup that it all comes down to personal experience with your own setup when it comes to tire choice. Don't forget that motorcycle tires have come a long way in the last 20 years and the 180/55 - 5.5" rim combo is pretty much today's standard for most sport/sport touring liter bikes. I personally favor that combo on my bike - it looks right and it feels right - again just a personal choice... YMMV

A one man shop with a clear passion for the brand. Really Piaggio? What harm is there to your multi brand international corporation. It is thanks to people like Stefan that the reputation of Moto Guzzi as far more meaning and long lasting power then any corporate advertising campaign could achieve. Do you think so many people would be interested in your new products or even know you existed if it wasn’t for the brand evangelists(Guzzisti) of this world? They should be given credit and support and be promoted as brand ambassadors. Instead they are treated with total disrespect and petty squabbles over the use of the Guzzi name. I bet the founders of Moto Guzzi would be delighted to see their venerable name and creation embraced by those artisans. In this fast spinning world we found ourselves living in, it seems that a lot of traditional values - respect, kindness, compassion - along with the freedom to follow your dreams, are being eroded by the power of the all-mighty corporation and their army of lawyers, and as a result the little people - creators, inventors, artists, etc..- are being squashed into submission and brought under control. Sad to see that such is the case with the brand that we all love and share here. End of rant. And sorry for the black cloud... Thanks to Jan @biesel for sharing the portrait of Stefan and Radical Guzzi which was a pleasant discovery!

Thanks everyone for the positive comments. If anyone decides to tackle this, my advice is to draw the cuts you want to make, take your time and leave generous excess to trim down. It’s not a lot of work, but it matters to get it looking how you want!

This! Never understood why Moto Guzzi decided to cover all that cool swing arm tubing. But I still wanted a nice hugger. Turns out there is a pretty nice hugger waiting to be let out of its abs cage. It was a little scary when I did it on my Silver bike, but it came out perfect. So I checked my old photos and broke out the dremel!

Nice find! Where did you source those from?

@FuelCooler Great work on the hugger modification I've always been on the fence a bit with the OEM hugger's styling and bulkiness, and I think this is a great way to keep the OEM look and durability but lighten it appearance. This may go "on the list"

http://www.ghezzi-brian.com/en/modelli/dr-john-tribute-2

I don't know if I posted these before, but I have high rez scans of Marabese design proposal to Guzzi for the V11 LeMans. Mike

Andy, it looks like Photobucket is holding your photos hostage The aluminum flywheel is an annoying dilemma. There's no guarantee it will fail. I don't doubt some will last forever. The lack of confidence finally got to me. New Ram clutch installed this month. 13,500mi. No signs of doom on my flywheel, but I wasn't terribly impressed with the casting.

It's a swap and go. The clutch kit has everything you need except for the schnorr washers (for the flywheel bolts) and medium loctite. However, I would not use your new HF lift. I highly recommend a platform jack and a front wheel chock. The front wheel chock will lift the front end a few inches, and the platform jack will support the engine. You can slide the platform jack on the floor with the engine on it, but you will have a very hard time doing that over the lip of the HF lift. Once the engine is out, swapping the clutch is even easier than the twin plate. Yank the old one out, put 6 bolts into the new flywheel and torque them - it's cool that the RAM clutch is assembled and just bolts in as one piece. I think the only special tool you will need is the starter ring gear lock - to stop the engine from turning when you remove/install the flywheel. I'd be happy to talk you through it on the phone.