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Al, you won't regret installing the MPH Riser Kit, easy reach. I had to buy a stainless clutch hose for a Centauro which was a little longer than the one provided in the kit.

Ahh, yes. Sometimes one just hast to make do with what one can get. Well I do fell honoured. Unlikely that a GTR 1000 will play a part though. I crashed the first one, and am trying to sell the one I have now. The V11 has ursurped the GTRs position.

Sold Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

+1 on @Joe's beer run . @audiomick now has a formal invitation to the various South'n SpineRaids. Looking forward to sampling the contents of those gracious panniers . . . B-double-E /double-R-you-in? BeerRun!

Audiomick, that was a late run to the gas station for beer run. Mind you that any real selection is 45 minute ride from Tellico Plains. Since it was happy hour, I choose Corona as the most premium found in that Shell gas station “beer walk-in cooler”. I.E. selection was nada, zilch.

Yes, you could put that in there. You could also put beer in there. Ok, I'm being a snob, but hey, I live in Germany... Shortly after I bought my first Kawasaki 1000 GTR, I went shopping with it. That taught me the value of the panniers on that bike. I loaded up 6 bottles of beer (half-litre, as they generally are in Germany...), two deep-frozen pizzas, and a bottle of white wine for the missus. In one of the panniers.

I was in Cuba about 13 years ago and there were police officers on Moto Guzzi Nevadas 750 at the time. photo: Wikipedia

So yesterday, February 19th 2023, I was at a Mardi Gras parade. A staple of my youth in my native country. It was primarily a kid's celebration. We, not the adults, would wear costumes. As the years passed by, the Mardi Gras' festivities shrank and died down. I was surprised to find it again, here, in the United States. Although, it was much more a grown up act, an interpretation of a foreign tradition brought to Louisiana. As I was looking for a spot, I witnessed the pre-job meeting of a selection of law and order riders from different agencies. The local police used Harley Davidson motorcycles. The State Troopers used BMW motorcycles. Some unmarked officers had a selection ranging from Honda Goldwing and full fairings Kawasaki. Not sure if they were SWAT, as I don't know if SWAT has a motorcycle team. I my country of origin, the Police used to be exclusively equipped with BMW. Then some Yamaha were also introduced. More recently, they created some urban fast intervention teams, riding on more agile motorcycles, such as Enduro bikes. Those are labeled: BRAV-POL. On Yamaha bikes. But traditionally, BMW has been a major provider of police motorbikes. When I was in Italy, the Carabinieri used Moto Guzzi. I don't think they do anymore. What brand does your Police use in terms of motorcycle?

I hate bleeding brakes and clutch. Even with an Ezibleeder kit I can’t seem to get all the air out. Usually end up with the brake lever spongier than the wife’s home made cakes

Readying the V11 for brake fluid flush. The clutch bleeder is always the fun part.

In case a prospective buyer that is familiar with the bike asks him about it, I let the seller know via eBay that the mileage is possibly closer to 28k versus the odometer indicated 16k, pointing him to the listing here in 2019. To get a sense of the current market for these bikes it will be interesting to see if it sells for that price and condition.

Toured with my 2014 Norge for years then sold it and started traveling with the Stelvio ( the ultimate suv of Guzzis ). Stelvio has tons of room for me as well as any passenger and with the factory top loader bags I personally will never go back to the Norge for traveling. Of course that's until I cant get it of the side stand then maybe a V85 or other. Ciao

Many thanks for the advice. I think I will go with the syringe method with the teflon tape around the nipple to restore the seal. MartyNZ I will contact you about the syringe

And much like the multiple locations that MG mounted the V11 fuel pump/filter, the photo below shows a 2002 Lemans with the fuel pump "out front" and the oil cooler mounted lower than what we see in the other above examples, using different brackets. In this arrangement, I don't think one could mount the OEM oil cooler grille due to the addition of the tab for mounting the horn above the cooler, or it would at least be very tight. The variations are always interesting. From this thread:

Docc, like the valve covers that were resprayed on that bike. Maybe the stock silver was rattle can sprayed to “clean up the look of the bike”. Unfortunately it took some of the originality off the bike. I had leaned toward the same idea until learning the Rosso came in silver originally.

All previous owners have been members here. That Rosso Mandello has some respectable provenance. Much of it probably not known to the current seller.

It’s a Ventura, high quality L- bracket system. I have two sizes(they make many sizes) of bags to choose from, a 27L and the infamous steamer trunk expandable to 60L that I had at SSR 22”. I might as well wore the cone of shame until I it came in handy on a validating tech sessions beer run.

Oi, there are logical reasons for a monster rack on a Rosso Mandello . . .

That’s one monster rack mounted luggage system. Ventura ?

I remember back in the '90's driving by the track and seeing this guy on the street the day before the "500". I said, if the cops are this cool, this is the place to party. My brother and I slept in our car parked on the street before the big race. I think the revelry stopped about 3am and then the bomb goes off at 5 to alert race fans that track parking opens up. IIRC the City police as well as the Sheriff's Dept each HAD a drill team. This was one of the coolest things seeing them to all kinds of precision riding before the start of the Indy 500. The last time I saw them was in 2000. Since then the Motorcycle Drill team has been disbanded- at least it's not there for the big race.

And of course, a refresher on the two color options for the first year 2002 V11 Lemans

The black oil cooler cover appears to have been stock on early V11 Sport models up through 2001ish, and based upon some quick Google-ing, the silver version appears to have been stock at least on the Rosso Mandello. See @docc 's post above with the part numbers for reference which confirms that observation on my part

Just a clarification on the factory silver oil cooler grill fitted to the 2001 Rosso Mandello: 1999-2001 V11 Sport Cooler grille, black GU 01582630 2001 Rosso Mandello Cooler grille, silver GU01592640

I have no qualifications to post any kind of synopsis to such an extraordinary gathering of equally extraordinary people, but I always end up with a small selection of favorite images that reflect my feelings in absentia . . .

I know my typical diner had a half a dozen choices. Usually Grappa was offered.

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.

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...

True! you have no idea how many there are, some bitter or sweet, including non alcoholic ones, some made of improbable ingredients. One of them being Cynar...made from Artichokes! I drank my Crodino every day on rigs while in Italy. And of course, I discovered Amaro Averna in Sicily; but there are so many different of those. I think everyone knows Fernet-Branca because it is used in cocktails. But it is one of those "Amaro" drinks so popular in Italy.

Enjoying the merits of equine aids but… a 6’ drop’ll work

Ha, well spotted @ScuRoo Both horses are fitted with a type of martingale. Also called a "tiedown" or a "head check". It's used to discourage head raising, which changes the angle of the pressure of the bit. If a horse is spooked or ornery, it might charge off with head raised, becoming dangerous and difficult to stop. Also stops the horse’s head from smacking the rider in the face. I imagine that the big knot has enough weight to warn the horse that the limit is approaching. See a pic of the Delaware police using another variation.

Shoud’nt they all, BUT . Cheers Tom.

+1for Scotland, dress corectly, it's green everywhere for a reason. More than 100 Whisky destilleries. Macallan, hmm. Cheers Tom. Sent fra min SM-S906B via Tapatalk

Well, they kind of have to don't they? All that weight...

I asked a buddy of mine "does Harley do anything good" ? He said "they made the best sidestand in the business" !

NZ cops are open to other transport options too.

The NZ cops have several models on the road. BMW R1200RT, Honda ST1300, Yamaha FJR1300 & MT09 Tracer. No HDs, but they do have John Deere Gator & New Holland Tractors in police livery.

When police first started using BMWs I had a friend who worked at Irv Seaver BMW (Orange County, CA). They were constantly repairing the back ends of the BMWs because the police on Harleys would crash into them when the BMWs stopped too fast.

Peru is the second poorest Country in South America. But they this year upgraded from Bajaj to Honda. Still 200cc.

Moto Guzzi has supplied models for the Italian Presidential Guard (Regimento Corazzieri Carabinieri ). In fact, part of Ing. Carcano's original V7 design statement suggested, "It should have the stature of a Norman horse " for this purpose. There is a Guardia d'onore V85TT offered to replace the aging, but stately, 1400. Will they wait for a V100 Corazzieri Especiale ? Yet, it seems the carabinieri, at large, have their own ideas . . .

I always knew that Harleys were really farm machinery in disguise...

I think it was this forum I told about CHP going from Harleys to Kawasakis. The Harleys were constantly needing maintenance , valve jobs every few months . The Kawasakis had ZERO maintenance problems . The only thing the Kawasaki would NOT do the Harleys did w/no problem was pushing stalled cars off the interstate. W/the Harleys , if the bumpers matched , you could shove it. The Kawasakis would fold the forks up and bend the frames.

The police here (Germany...) are generally on BMWs. The Berlin Police had a batch of Breva 850s for a while. If you keep an eye on the second hand market, they turn up occasionally. A quick search indicates that the Police in Melbourne, Australia are using BMW. I was on Mauritius a few years back. They had an interesting collection. The President, I believe it was, a ranking Politician at least, turned up for an official Event associated with the project I was there for. The honour gaurd was on some new Yamaha modell. On the street (there were quite a lot of mounted Police...) a couple of MG Breva 750, some Enduro thingies (maybe Honda...) and even a couple of larger scooters (Korean, I believe...), and I think I saw a couple of asian soft choppers. The country is not one of the richest in the world, and I dare say that just take whatever they can get a good deal on.

California has run through a number of makes, and I remember it was a big deal when they switched to BMW quite a few years (decades now?) ago. Here's my favorite (Come on, you can hear the theme music right now, can't you?)

The Centauro only made sense to me after Luciano Marabese said he "drew it after the Dondolino" . . .

Here's a pic of mine taken a few years ago ... with Gustaffson tinted screen on the Magni (original was clear) and Mistrals fitted ... although I still have the stock cans, which although a little heavier do have a much deeper bass to them. Hard not to fall in love with a greenie methinks!

I always loved the champagne LeMans. So elegant and classy . . .

True to Luciano Marabese's V11 design concept (monochromatic). Is the black seat cowl original or were they ever also champagne?

This was posted on a another thread (thanks sign216 and footgoose!), but deserves a place here. Luciano Marabese's original monoposto V11 Sport still with 5 speed gearbox:

http://wildguzzi.com/forum/index.php?topic=94356.0 It's been posted on Wild. Officially not-a-rally.