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Good evening from the Moto Grappa at the top of Virginia! Here is the slideshow I made of last weekend’s Moto Grappa Tech Days 2024 [MGTD ’24], the seventh in the MGTD series. I took 800+ pix; yes, really. On the merciful side, while, of course, there are still too many, there are fewer than 1/4 of that original number of this weekend of aging Moto Guzzi enthusiasts (sans spousal units) reliving frat house days of debauchery under the guise of working on their Italian mounts. No dummy and experienced in the squalor that follows in a MGTD’s wake, Kathi, my Perfect Pillion & Polish Princess, flew to Seattle just before the event, and — aside from a cameo to swap the “airport car" for a better one — returned after the follow-on HAZMAT team left. 😄 ========= For those still reading, the link opens in landscape collage, thus allowing you to look at all at once rather than slogging through those individually. Hover your cursor over each pic to see captions. The system truncates some of those in the collage format. The best practice is to run the pix in slideshow form so the pix are larger, tho that can cause captions to disappear unless you keep the cursor in the lower left of each photo. Yes, I know a PITA. Speaking of PITA, the “buy photo” option is nuts. If, for some inexplicable reason, you want any pic, simply download it. If want higher-res, let me know. OK … at last, the link: https://bill-and-kathi.smugmug.com/MGTD-2024/n-cRqfHF Bill P.S. I did not include the following “bonus pic" in the slideshow proper. One of the MGTD attendees left early to rent and ride a motorcycle in Nevada.. He took several pix of his MGTD souvenir cap —à la "Where’s Waldo?” — Here’s one; read the sign!

The beast is alive. She starts and runs sweet now, and looks nice and tarty…. However, the new/replacement fuel pump works, but is buzzing loudly, so the good folks at MGcycle are sending along another one. Now can get that thing off my lift, after way too long, and make room for Red, who needs her annual shop-love. In other news, the beloved KTM 990 will go for sale very soon, as its time, and is the opportunity to remove the final Germanic influence from my garage.

Long after you've forgotten the cost the quality remains. Phil

An impact gun or the correct tool to hold the rotor. I have one as it's a Ducati Alternator and uses a Ducati tool. There's an Ebay seller in GB selling them for around $100USD delivered. Item number 125558788704 Phil

What sort of a maniac rides a thing like that through the bush? Oh, wait, he's Australian....

I bought folding Ken Sean bar-end mirrors. They came with horrible soft rubber plugs that allowed the mirrors to vibrate too much and would not hold their position. I bought some Delrin rod online and worked them down so they would slip into the bars. Bored them through at 8mm and cut in two at a 60º or so angle so that they would wedge into the bar. Placed an M8 serrated flange nut on the inside and it stays in place when tightening them. They were a bit of a pain to fabricate, but have worked very well.

I don't think so.... I want to keep my mind clear...

It always makes me wonder what Jimi could have come up with if he had lived on. Mostly regarded for his guitarist prowess, mostly known for his Star Spangled Banner interpretation at Woodstock 69, he was also an incredible songwriter. Few guitar players have gone without covering his songs; take all the most known ones, they all have.

Expect owner involvement.

Okay, I love this. They're blues. They're Dutch. The bassman is playing my Fender J-Bass. https://wildmenbluesband.nl/ On the cusp of the anniversary of this music thread (nine years!), what is not to love? Lead player's shirt depicts evolution from monkey to motorcycle . . .

Buddy , you are doing these things for YOU . No one else . Do it and then if you don't like it , you can go back to stock. I do my stuff for me.

I have mine for my wife she still likes riding cross country with me. The wife will take about 30 minutes on the Centauro and WILL NOT ride on the back of the V11 Champagne. Did do a few necessary upgrades for comfort like a Russell day long seat lowered foot pegs, taller windshield. Now I'm able ride my bike longer then I could sit in any car. Also when traveling with the wife I tow a Uni-go trailer if your on the road 3 weeks with the wife it helps to bring some extras. That's pretty much my kit. Make no mistake the bike is a behemoth, not as heavy as a Gold Wing. We were in Yosemite NP 2018 maybe it was us you saw. The year before we went to Ocracoke Island at the end of Cape Hatteras. Taking the fairy was interesting.

So obviously holding the rotor with a screwdriver against the rotor fin and adjacent stator housing bolt head didn't work... what's the trick to keeping the engine from turning while you remove the nut off the rotor? I need to pull the alternator to replace my leaking timing cover gasket... hopefully I haven't just cost myself $400 worth or alternator by breaking off this cooling fin? I also tried having my wife hold the rear brake with the transmission in gear but that didn't work either (too much leverage at the crankshaft I guess?) I quit for the night before I broke anything else out of frustration. And I did check the service manual but step #1 of alternator removal is to remove the engine from the bike (!!!). Surely there's a way to avoid that, isn't there?!

I hardly use my pneumatic gun once I got this unit. https://www.harborfreight.com/automotive/impact-wrenches/7-amp-12-in-impact-wrench-with-rocker-switch-61173.html This should remove that bolt, right proper!

True, there were some other factors; but I do remember a show that I watched while I was in Italy. The host was Rafella Carra; while she was working for Spain's TVE; during one of her TV broadcast, she had invited all the young Spanish motorcycling talent, including Marc Marquez. When interviewed, he said his idol of all times was Valentino Rossi. Of course, she had invited him, and Valentino and Marc embraced. I looked up YouTube, but could not find it. Anyway, from looking up to him, Marc Marquez went on to hold a grudge. The 2015 season clinched it. I don't think we will ever know what went through his mind. There was some kind of resentment, absolutely. I believe Marc and Valentino spoke about it in private. I also think that Marc offered a truce to Valentino, but it was declined. Valentino said that he is no longer angry about 2015, but I am certain he still is. After all, this was a career changing moment. I am eager to see what Marc Marquez will do on the Gresini Ducati GP23. The one year contract makes sense. Next year will be the big shuffle, so he wants to have his hand's free. I read that he was hopeful to get more Ducati assistance in case he would do well. The Qatar GP starts the 8th of March. If I was Marc Marquez, I would want to start with a bang! such as winning the first sprint or GP race of the season on a different machine. Just as VR46 did, when he left Honda for Yamaha.

Buddy , you need an impact wrench . Find a mechanic w/a battery powered impact that will break it loose for you . There is a puller that will remove it. When you reinstall , have you pal tighten it for you. HTH

@Guzzi-in-Vancouver Don't reach out to Andreani just yet. They are about to create the kit for our 40mm Marzocchi forks, using mine as a template. They are starting the build next week. Once done, they may offer a forum member discount. I'll report back afterward to let you know.

Time for a test ride on the Beemer!

Nothing like a Nothing else matters with a Symphony Orchestra to back you up!

Thank you! I just ordered it.

Ok...I am going to have to steal one of these items...French Toast made with Panettone! What a fantastic idea! Of course, the Lavazza coffee must accompany it! Nice spread for sure...lots of great cooks there it looks like!

So much fun to try and pic a favorite image . . .

Or better yet, here: https://gpiu.de/forum/ That is a German language forum run by Martin Hagemann. This is his home page https://gpiu.de/ Martin is the recognised expert for the "small block" Guzzis in Germany. His English is not brilliant, but there have been a couple of queries in English on the forum, and he manages. And I look in there pretty much every day, so if there are problems in translation, I could help.

Yeah, you need room for the shoes, don't you...

Just to end this story... the bike is back after a long winter, running better than ever, and boy, did it have problems that needed fixing... new alternator, new wiring harness, new rubber boots for the inlets, new oil sump... new forks have been ordered so I can send them to Andreani for a cartridge replacement/tune-up and I want to put the original bar-end weights back on, but they always shook loose and I don't know how to get them working well with the current red-anodized bar-end mirror mounts. I've also considered painting the valve covers red, and re-painting/anodizing the pork-chops to have everything a uniform color. Seeking opinions (and pics) of red valve covers, because I quite like this grey stealth (beat up streetfighter) look.

These bikes have always intrigued me ever since I saw one cruising years ago on the roads in Yosemite NP. It is surprising how many of these pop up for sale near me, especially late models. I can see one of these in my future, just for the thrill of that beautiful engine. It is a far cry from my '83 RT R100 which I purchased new. https://www.facebook.com/share/mVBQhNWyQPjT18SW/?mibextid=kL3p88

My brother is on his 2nd one. The first one lunched the timing chain at 70k. That's after a couple of stick coils and few other "things". He liked the bike so much, he just bought another.

No links, just a list. The music is well known, and should be easy for anyone to find. And I can't be buggered looking for the links at this time of night... Today, for the first time in a very long time, I actually sat down and listened to some music*. A couple of days ago "Joe's Garage" popped up in my head. I had actually only listened to all three acts once, and that about 35 years ago. The song itself, well, I can sing along for most of it. So I listened to the whole thing today. And then "Electric Ladyland" And then "Abbey Road". Seemed like a logical sequence to me. *Edit: In my free time, rather than at work. Listening to music is part of my job.

for the sake of completeness.... The man's name is Roland Däs. The two dots above the "a" are called an Umlaut, literally "sound changer". If writing that letter on a keyboard that doesn't have the ä (or ö or ü), the correct way to write it is with "ae" (or oe or ue). So Däs becomes Daes (or könnten becomes koennten or Müller becomes Mueller). You may find that searching for Däs Mototec works better if you try Daes Mototec. Apart from anything else, "das" is the neutral article in German ("the" for things that are "it" rather than "he" or "she"...), so Das Mototec has a literal translation as "the Mototec".

G'day mate. 20.3 litres....Wow I can only ever get 17 litres in! Mind you I do look for a servo at 250K's when the ole light comes on so not sure how much I'd get in if I ever let her run dry. After pushing a GPZ900 around the Boulevard many many years ago due to running out o gas..... I'm not about to try and find out! Cheers