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Hi Bill; I think I had that "Grappa" discussion with you sometimes last year? For those who have not been formally educated, Grappa, and other derivatives such as Marc égrappé, are preferably consumed early in the morning with your coffee. My father was from Burgundy, and I got my initiation at an early age. There is a variation to "Marc" though. It is named "Calvados", shortened to "Calva". Often mistaken but all original to Normandy: https://drinkcalvados.com/en/ As with Marc, Café Calva was popular until year 2000 I guess? the new generations no longer.... Anyhow Bill, very nice setup that you have there! Having your workshop in your living room gave me an idea.... Nice food and as far as the wine is concerned I am now completely versed into Spumanti or Prosecco types. Ci vediamo doppo...

Took the DB killers out of the Mivvs today, she is woke now , wow, I like the engine braking almost as much as acceleration. She ain't stock now..... Plus I have an oil cooler guard, in silver I've only owned this bike about a year & a half...

I like my motorbikes to look like they came out of the assembly line yesterday. Independently of their millesime. I am not so much on time erosion. My V11 exhibits plenty of signs it has been here and there, and some of them make me cringe and unhappy. My right hand side initially immaculate exhaust has a small scratch, after I dropped the bike. Each time I wash the Le Mans, I try to ignore that it is there, but I can't, and it brings pain. I considered replacing that exhaust just for that, but Stay in Tune did not Stay in business. When I was young, a friend of mine had her nose broken playing sport. The patina rationale did not hold water. The nose job did.... There is also a great debate on artificially aged guitars. All my guitars look like new. I take great care of them. If you follow a little bit the guitar market, you will find out that people are willing to pay more to purchase a guitar that looks like it was used and abused for several years. So, I guess Patina makes sense. Not to me though. I like my glaciers to remain as they were before...

The guard on my oil cooler is either homemade or aftermarket. It screens out rabbits and low flying seagulls, but I cleaned out about a cupful of dirt and grit from between the cooler fins before I painted it. I think I need a fender extender.

Have you read the comments in the "No Clutch!" post? https://www.v11lemans.com/forums/topic/22529-no-clutch/?do=findComment&comment=259113 On 11 April 2021 @Tinknocker suggested zip-tying the clutch lever to the grip overnight. This assumes that you have got most of the air out of the system. The theory is that pressure in the system makes the air-bubbles smaller, so the bubbles can rise to places where they can escape in the next bleed attempt. Then on 24 April @Lucky Philsuggested pushing fluid up from the slave with a syringe. Lots of good advice there. I have some disposable 60ml syringes that you can have. It is good practice not to let the reservoir get close to empty. With 6mm level remaining in the reservoir, I have seen a tiny whirlpool of air bubbles sucked down into the master cylinder when the lever is released quickly. As @gstallons suggests, having the anti-drain loop above the slave cyl bleed nipple avoids the possibility of air being sucked in as the lever is released.

2001 oil cooler quard. Cheers Tom. Sent fra min SM-S906B via Tapatalk

Take and post plenty of photo's fella's... Love seeing these Guzzi get togethers eh! Cheers Ps just enjoyed Bill's Moto Grappa shin dig....Brilliant

Ha ha Weegie, you're right about the grog in Scandinavia though... I seem to recall 5 pound pints when they were 85 pence in the UK! Needless to say didn't drink much there! But I do recall bumping into a group of mad Swedes travelling through Norway somewhere north of Oslo and their WICKED moonshine... They also couldn't afford to drink so brought their own with them and invited me and my mate to have a drink with them! Heh he wicked shit that was....! Cheers Guzzler

I got this high-quality custom kit with my 03 Le Mans, and thought I might install it one day but have decided against it. Very nice billet aluminum risers with Guzzi logo etched in two spots. The brake and clutch lines are Spiegler braided stainless lines. Instructions included. Rise is 2.5" $135 shipped (in the lower 48). Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

Every February for the past several years, I have invited Guzzisti — and, now and then, even a worthy Other Brander — to “Moto Grappa Tech Days” here at the top of Virginia. [If bored beyond the telling, you may find pix of previous events somewhere in the bowels of this forum.] This year’s event was last weekend, tho the run-up started before that, and shooting the wounded extended it until Tuesday. Kathi (who escaped during the time to one set of our grands in N.C.) would say that recovery operations are still ongoing! In many respects, MGTD are way more about beer, bourbon, food, & BS than any real "tech" work, but the gatherings are great fun. As I usually do, I have these on Smugmug in “landscape collage” form. That way, they all open in collected thumbnails first. You can then hover your cursor over the individual pix to read, if desired, the captions. You can make the pix bigger and see (again, if you wish) all of captions in larger text size if you select the slideshow option and let it roll. Here they are: MGTD 2023 Bill

I found a wrap or two of Teflon® tape (plumber's pipe thread tape) around the bleeder's thread necessary to bleed effectively and stop any weeping fluid from the bleeder.

Also installed Joe Kenny head guards, they look good against the patina'd Rosso valve covers..

PM sent

The oil cooler protector grille is the OEM Moto Guzzi part that was fitted to the early V11 Sport, up until 2001, then after that MG discontinued it. One has to keep an eye out for one used or occasionally NOS (new old stock) like this one I ran across earlier this week on eBay. They show up every once in a while.

I would probably have Jim Hamlin rebuild the front forks and replace the rear shock to set it up properly for two. I agree with PJPRP01 about installing a Corbin seat, possibly w heat. Other than that I found a low mileage 2V Norge, clean overall condition at a good price, need to make a deal first.

Looking at your photo, I would run the hose off the bleed nipple a got bit further upwards before letting it curve down to the floor. 10 or 12 inches would be appropriate. Support the hose before the curve starts. The advantages are: there is less stress on the hose at the nipple, so it seals there better the straight section allows for some twist in the hose, which allows the nipple to be unscrewed enough for the bleed action without screwing the hose off the nipple the straight-up section of the hose fills with fluid, so you can see much, much better what the bubble situation is when the nipple is released for the bleed action, i.e. unscrewed to let the air out Changing my method for bleeding brakes, on the advice of a mechanic, from what I see in your photo to what I described changed the task for me from something I absolutely hated doing, and which always frustrated and angered me, to something that is merely tiresome.

You can put in another hydraulic hose and position the bleeder valve much higher. This is what all the CARC bikes do. Here is a link to the part:

I bought a reverse bleed system from Motion Pro . This will force fluid back from the slave to the master cylinder . Trust me , this is a deliberate (pronounced - SLOW) and rewarding procedure . I assume you ARE using DOT 4 fluid ? If you are doing this w/o a tool , as it looks in your picture , fill the vent tube of bleed hose with fluid and make a loop before putting the end of the hose down into the full (of fluid) catch bottle.

Many years riding 2 up on my Norge...but my wife is not as long legged, more like 30 inch inseam I think...34 inches may be a bit cramped for a long trip...but for a few hours, certainly not a problem. Definitely look to get a good seat as the stocker is painful for both rider and passenger. I have a Corbin with a backrest so it provided some good support...handles on the side are great for holding on. I've never thought about lowering the rear pegs, but possibly a Knight Design 1 or 2 inch drop might fit as well like they do on the fronts. Many of us have upgraded the front pegs to Goldwing 1800 pegs for the driver, 1/2 inch lower, and wider...more comfortable than stock. Bike is fantastic, but you're going to find that the stock shock is really not suitable for 2 up riding...you'll scrape a fair amount. I ended up years ago upgrading to a Wilbers shock, and it made a world of difference in terms of handling riding 2 up with gear.

Another good reference photo, from @Tomchri https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20230224/9118f9f421ca55d15db3cefa802796b4.jpg

I can't, because I haven't ever made any videos on the motorcycle. Doesn't mean I don't know how to do it, though. I have been involved in sound professionally for nearly 40 years. This is now the third attempt to write this post. The first two attempts failed due to bloody-mindedness on the part of the forum software, so this might be a bit terse.... The bloke in the video is right about the wind noise, and right about keeping the mic out of the wind and using a wind shield. Where he goes wrong is ignoring the fact that it is a stereo recorder (he refers to his "microphone", but the device in question, a Zoom something or other, is a recorder, not just a microphone...). If one listens carefull to his recordings with headphones, the sound is not "in the middle", and in fact matches what one can see in the videos, i.e. how he has the recorder mounted. The microphone capsules are easily visible on the front of the device, and they are installed in an X-Y configuration, like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microphone_practice#X-Y_technique This implies strongly, that the recorder is also directional, i.e. is intended to be "pointed" at the source of the sound being recorded. That would be, in the case of a motorcycle, the ends of the exhaust (assuming only the one stereo recorder is being used). That is to say, the device should be mounted with its long axis parallel to the long axis of the motor cycle, and with the "front" end pointed between the outlets of the exhausts. If I were to make a recording of a motorcycle without any limits on resources, I would most likey use 8 high quality lavalier microphones (miniature mics...). There would be two between the heads (we're assuming a Guzzi here...) two at the inlets of the airbox to get the induction noise, two down near the outlets of the exhausts, and two on the seat behind the rider. That should allow capturing all the relevant components of the sound of the motorcycle, which would then be mixed to the best balance in post-production. The gear needed for that would cost about $10,000,-, which is why I haven't had a go at it yet... @docc if this goes on, it might be time to split it off into its own thread....

Just an update, we will have quite a few people stopping by or staying at the spring KSR. So far Bill, Kale, my father(78) and myself are in the cabin. We will try to accommodate almost anyone and will have a garage space for the "tech Sessions" and maybe a fire pit in the back yard. If everyone arrives I anticipate 15+ for the rides and kicking tires, as I have quite of few riding buddies(Triumph/Moto Guzzi V85's) that will be attending the Euro Rally in Burkesville and plan on dropping by Saturday to kick tires and tip Bourbon. John Barnes and company are going to be riding down to Barber Motorsports Park on Friday and plan on stopping by also. All joking aside, we probably won't be fishing at all, (sorry Bill ) but you could if you like. Most likely my dad will trailer down his V7 850 Special, I will make sure we bring extra coolers for ice, and maybe try to cook brats or something on the grill. If everyone arrives I anticipate 15+ for the rides and kicking tires, which according to Docc is a successful SpineRaid. If you haven't made final plans its not too late to call and make reservations in the lodge or sleep on the couch. https://parks.ky.gov/burkesville/parks/resort/dale-hollow-lake-state-resort-park

I'm comin' !

A place of honor on the gun safe for now. Thanks Again!

Been to both and have to say... They both have stunning scenery! Cheers Guzzler

The differcultly was ring gear & clutch plate were in the wrong way around. Looking a picture's on phone didn't show ridge on plate and indent on ring gear. Printed photos out and bingo the problem was obvious. Gearbox now fits onto clutch- easy. Now in process of putting bike back together.

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