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Me and my long time friend Docc. Not a finer person anywhere.

I feel I would be Remiss if I did not give credit to Pete Roper and all the knowledge and advise he has given me on the maintenance and preparation of my Griso ...Very appreciative . The proof is in the results...

Thanks to everyone who came out. It was truly a great time. Next year will be South’n Spine Raid XX, incredible! Hope to see you all again next year.

I did some touring and sight seeing on the way out but I had a couple 1000 mile plus days ( quite a bit different than KM..) on the way back .. I am always like an old Horse who smells the Barn once I get going home.. .

What might be a cause of that is founders of various businesses reaching retirement age. The business continues, but under new management, and things change. The old bloke who loved fiddling with machines and finding solutions is no longer active, and the new younger managemant is more focussed on the bottom line than on actually making things. For the business perhaps better in the sense of running the business, but not necessarily better for the customer.

My new friend @KINDOY2 and I @Josh after a great ride through the backroads of Tennessee.

@Pressureangleand @docc trading a Roper Plate.

This kind of effort to make a South'n SpineRaid is unprecedented. What an amazing cat, @KINDOY2, and an impressive ride/bike! (Home after some 7000 miles. Success!)

I had a great time at the spine Raid last weekend It was a great pleasure to meet all the Forum members in person and put a face to them. Everyone I met was friendly ..I'm glad I went..It will always be a memorable occasion for me and my " bucket". ( lots of good riding and roads in that neck of the woods too, (Tenn and KY) ) The Guzzi ran awesome..It was almost 7000 miles by the time I got home and it never missed a lick, not even one small problem and there are plenty of big wide open spaces between here and there that a fella wouldn't want to break down in... It didn't use enough oil to be able to see on the stick.. A larger fuel tank would have been a PLUS..but hey...no complaints!!

But the *good* kind of tired. Monday, Nic and I went up 360 through the Dragon and took 28 all the way to the end in Georgia, cutting off at Walhalla. That's the best piece of road I've seen in the East and rivals anything I've seen out West either, one section of about 10 miles you could literally set your cruise control at 35mph and enjoy it.

And , that ain't a good thing ! It seems as though anytime the patriarch gets out of the business and the kids or a new cabal takes over , things go south quickly . They "know" how to fix things and make it more ________ and then closing in less than two years .

We need to get Bill the full formal outfit.

I had a great time riding with you Cats!!..Josh you ride the heck out of that Tonti!!! It was a pleasure meeting you!

@KINDOY2 As far as I can tell, that must have been around 1,000 km a day for three days. I'm impressed. And that, apparently, on a Griso. Not necessarily known as a great touring bike, not like a GTR 1000 Kawasaki, for instance. That shows a certain amount of dedication.

My Honor to ride with you!..Thanks!

Impressive! So great to meet @KINDOY2. A real honor. (The honorable @Goofman, on the left.)

Josh's Tonti was my favorite bike there ..and might I say " He rides the PISS" out of it..Makes he want one now..Although I wouldn't look as cool as he does on it!!

Just remember why the Carabinieri always hang around in threes. They need one who can read, one who can write and one to keep an eye on the two intellectuals!

Drum brakes, the original ABS. They don’t work like 4 pot Brembo brakes. But with the application of the rear brake and a little help from the transmission they get the job done. It takes all 10 fingers and all ten toes for sure. I was definitely tired after a weekend of trying to keep up with the 1100 and 1200’s.

Can't slow down when you got no brakes... lol There were places I did not care to try to keep up behind Josh- on the Sport.

Proud to meet you. Proud to ride with you. And that cyclops LED on the left fork is bitchin', man.

Well mine are beautiful wheels but the front wheel didn't fit the bike when delivered. The rear drive assembly was a very nice piece but the rear disk brake carrier had .2mm of runout! I removed it and machined it true. The front wheel wouldn't fit as the brake calliper bodies dragged on the disks because the captive spacer was 2mm too long. I had to press that out and machine it down and then it fitted. I emailed Roland about it with images of the measurements and dial indicator readings but he just told me to send them back to PVM. Not that useful to me so I fixed them myself. I think there has been changes at PVM and maybe they aren't interested in bespoke work anymore. Don't know for sure. Add that to the many issues I've had as a foreign customer with different German suppliers over the last 2 year or so and I'm not keen to buy from them anymore. Don't know whats happened there but they are now far worse than the Italians ever were. Strange that and directly opposite to my old and pretty comprehensive dealing with them around 30 years ago. Phil

You made it back in <4 days!?!?!

So . . . It will be telling whether any (South'n) SpineRaider will ever break this record: Pretty crazy: @KINDOY2 bombs in from the Pacific Coast on his very-custom-Griso . . . Frikkin' amazing . . . The quintessential, modern, V7 Sport, some fifty years on . . .

The stuff of SpineRaids . . .

Rolling out after everyone meticulously selected their preferred routes, destinations, and derived riding partners . . . . . . our small team was fortunate to encounter a "need." I heard Josh say, "Let's try to fix it ." Having benefited from the "ideas" about the area and the lunch spot (and the lake overlook), we navigated back to The Lodge with little precip. Josh noted that our small team represented four decades of Moto Guzzi and suggested a photo op with SIX decades of Moto Guzzi at the SSR: '70s; 80s; 90s; 20s; 'teens; and 2020's . . .

I tried to "Ha Ha!" that, but got this ... OTOH, I could "laugh" at Pete's. Obviously, Sede Centrale, Carabinieri, was not amused. I am now worried about disciplinary action. Bill

Our very own, personal, Carabinieri . . .

Nice! Needed a loop and a V100 to round it out. Amazing looking at that, fifty years! The Tonti seems like only yesterday! Fu*k I'm old!

My friend V-7 Paul sent me a text Friday evening asking about info I had mentioned about a Guzzi gathering in Tellico Plains. I explained that I could not spend the weekend but would like to ride over early Saturday, meet the group, maybe have lunch and ride back home the same day. Wife is worried about the bears who like to stroll thru our back yard occasionally. Paul is up for it I get my hall pass from my WONDERFUL WIFE and we decided to meet near his house at 07:30 which means I need to interrupt my rem sleep and drag my raggedy butt out of bed before sunrise. We met at the designated location and other than the thick fog had a relatively uneventful ride to Tellico Plains. Arrived at the Lodge around 09:00 in time to see everyone. Was great seeing acquaintances from previous Raids and meeting new folks to. Paul and I started a ride after the first group left. Thinking we were behind the group we didn't waste much time on SR315. Just as were came to a rise my bike sputtered to a stops I watch Paul ride off over the horizon. At a slim and trim 215 lbs of retired lazy butt, luckily I only had to push the bike uphill about 10 yards to the driveway of the Duckett Memorial Cemetary. How appropriate, a final resting place for me or the bike if I can't figure out why it stopped running. As I was gasping for air I noticed a strong odor of gas and started looking for leaks. Look down at my right pants leg and it was wet from just above the ankle down to my boot. Since I don't suffer from incontinence I looked at the lower right side of the fuel tank and noticed the return line to the fuel pressure regulator was disconnected. Got that fixed turned the key on and hit the start button.....nothin!! It was about this time the group which had left before us go riding past, waving as they go. Checked all the fuses and relays. The plastic top of the fuel injection fuse was melted but still functioning. Replaced a couple relays with the spares I had brought- Docc. Still no neutral light! Ok I'm running out of ideas. Time for AAA which would be fine if there was cell service. Paul graciously offered his bike for me to search for cell service. Ride down the the local fire hall about five miles back, still no service. Figure that one out. Furthur down the road I stop at an intersection with a lawn sale. When I ask if they have cell service I was met with "who is your provider?". "Nope, gotta go further towards town". Wait, what's that sound rumbling thru the hills? It sounds like another group of Guzzis. And this group even stops to ask what happened to the owner of the bike I'm on. Doc, Josh, and the South Florida boys to the resue !! Head back up the road to my bike for a little roadside diagnostics. A circuit tester miraculously appears and each circuit on the bike is checked. Then someone asks if the bike is in neutral. Well it must be, I pushed it uphill onto the shoulder. Let's check again. Duh! It was caught between 3rd and 4th gear. Falls into neutral on the little green light on the dash lights. Pull the clutch lever, push the little black go button a varoom, starts right up. My bike still has the idiot proof switches for neutral safety, clutch and side stand. With the sidestand down and in gear, or between gears it won't start. Gear up and off we go. Rode to the top of a mountain and a rest stop with an awesome overlook South towards the North Georgia mountains. After a few minutes we hear thunder off in the distance. Time for V-7 Paul and I to roll. We head back South thru North Carolina and into Georgia without incident. Paul breaks off to head home near Blairesville as I continued on to Hiawassee. The closer I got to home the darker the skys got. About two miles from home the roads were wet but at least it's not raining. Just as I pulled onto my road I caught up to the rain, but with only a quarter mile to go not a concern. What an awesome day. Great riding. Close to two hundred miles round trip. Met some old friends and made new ones. The bike for the most part ran great. V-7 Paul was impressed how well 20 year old bikes ran so strong and wanted me to pass along his thanks for the great hospitality everyone extended. We are so looking forward to the 20th Southern Spine Raid. Tools, relays, and spares included.

That was up early. This was up late:

By the dawn's early light ... on Sunday at the Lodge at Tellico. A great Raid .... thanks to docc and all. Bill & Kathi P.S. Yes, more pix later.

Sat unused on paddock stands in my garage for +8 years so considering letting my Red/Grey Lemans go to a new home. Had replacement Speedo at some point before I bought so total mileage is not known but suspect less than 20,000 based on condition and conversation with previous owner. New Battery Buell mirrors and indicators Ducati Monster tail light Ohlins rear shock Roper plate MY ECU Mistral x-over and M4 silencers with dB killers Also have most of the original parts and probably more that I've forgotten. If anyone in the UK is interested please PM me for more details or pictures, located in Sheffield UK Just MOT'd replacing engine oil and brake fluid this weekend. Dave

It gives you complete confidence about the seller who put up that listing...

I don't know that the V11 is the same, but the fork lock is an entirely separate housing riveted to the top fork clamp, to which the switch screws into the bottom of. I did not explore how the key cylinder itself comes out.

My first thought is that your throttles are out of synch, and/or your injectors need cleaning.

I bought this 3 days ago https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GD49GTS?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Eric- I had a similar issue at the sKSR riding behind Josh on the v7, I was on the Rosso.

I tried to find Shin-Etsu silicon grease from many different sources but was unsuccessful;it seems that Honda has a lock on the supply. It's listed on Amazon & other places but apparently unavailable. It can be confusing because sometimes the product description has a photo of the tube & sometimes a photo of the box the tube comes in. As per Docc's post & info above; I just placed a call to my local Honda Motorcycle/Auto Parts dealer,gave him the Honda part # 08798-9013 and had the grease within a couple of days. Honda Genuine 08798-9013 Silicone Grease "Shin-Etsu"

Thank, you, Randy. I am, obviously, not dashing enough to wear that uniform, but make do with a more utilitarian uniform. Bill P.S. @KINDOY2, what’s the story on that cap? The triple-turreted insignia looks as if from an older Carabinieri rank "shoulder board," and the eagle is similar to a Mussolini-era Italian military eagle but sans the fasces. Anyway, thank you for adding to my military moto-museum collection!

Fitted new rear wheel bearings yesterday. I woke up with a little scream last night as I remembered I didn’t put the spacer in first.

I wonder what the interest is ? $28k ?

Thanks for bringing out your Air pump to top off my air pressure while there Bill....Great looking bike you have there as well!

I've had two BMWs, but I'm a slow learner. The R100RT is *quite* a bit more protective than the LeMans, but you have to put up with having a R100RT to have one. The RS is similar to a LeMans, but.. Honestly though, the fly screen on the Mighty Scura was more comfortable (for me) than the Rosso. My helmet was in clean air on the Scura. Rosie was better in rain, however. There is no perfect motorcycle, no matter what Melissa says.

Nope.

Success!

“Mine’s bigger.”

Docc, administer the snake bite kit STAT 🥃🐝🦟

Well, it’s been an interesting day. I can’t figure out how to post pictures with my phone, so my too many words will have to do. Left home about 7:30 and had a fine ride for an hour or so . Then a bee or wasp got into my helmet and started to work.. Anyway, that hurt — as in really, really hurt. I’m not a bee sting virgin. In fact, a week or so ago, two hornets got me. Those really hurt, too, but this was worse. Stopped at a Walmart and got some meds,but the pharmacist was understandably reluctant to give me anything that might make me drowsy as I was riding a motorcycle . Oh, then it rained. Lots of it. Actually, for a very short time. But long enough to douse me completely. Finally made it to the hotel. Took off my helmet, looked in the mirror… and screamed. Let’s just say the puffiness is impressive. Mitch McConnell’s wattle has nothing on mine. So, here i sit in a crowded urgent care waiting room hoping to get something better. Will see you tomorrow. Though you may not want to see what I look like! Bill