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Spent 10 ripping days zigzagging from Biarritz on the Atlantic across the Pyrenees to the Mediterranean on my Scura R with a couple of English mates where we discovered Carajillo after Foie Gras to power the nights. Lucky to get a few hours morning sleep in a hammock. Outstanding! Politically correct is caving to the vagaries of over bloated offence. Stuff ‘em Vive la Basque!🪿

Officially "3 mos. before this event ", now. Get Uranus in gear, @gstallons . . . I need to start addressing my Waddington Effect.

Unfortunately, it is in French, and there are no English subtitles. Triumph was created by a German, Mr Bettman and with manufacturing in both UK and Germany! Beginning of the 19th century. During WW1, Triumph in Germany will also start producing office equipment. Some of us may have seen Triumph typewriters? Following WW1, Triumph Germany started to deviate from the motorcycles built in UK. They were producing small capacity two strokes like the one shown at the beginning of the video. In 1929, Triumph UK and Triumph Germany separated completely. One of the clause was that Triumph Germany would not be allowed to commercialize motorcycles outside Germany using the Triumph name. For the Export, they were named TWN for Triumph Werke Nürnberg A.G. The production was almost exclusively 2 strokes. The BD250 was exclusively produced for the German Army, using innovative techniques for the time. Aluminium engine, the carburator is at the crank level, feeding a rotating disc which was later used in competition. This was designed in 1939... Triumph Germany will vanish in the middle of the 50's, bought by Gründing, a consumer electronics company. it is thought that Gründing bought Triumph Germany for their office equipment. Triumph motorcycles Germany activity will definitively cease in 1957. The second part of the video is about the German made motorcycles that served under WW2. Germany was the only country with specific motorcycle regiments involved in the war. The BMW R12 was equipped with a carburetor heating system, and conceived with a low compression ratio to be able to use low octane gas/petrol. The other two motorcycles shown are D.K.W.; they were the most common during these times. Their usage was mostly message delivery between units. The riders spent up to 18 hours riding them...

I was 7 when that was broadcast. Am I now a member of the Geritol generation?...Yikes! At least the sponser wasn't Ex-Lax.

After close review of gstallons original request, I find myself less enthusiastic about " riding 'his' anus" to get there (bring tools). Would a real pretty RSVP card do? 💌😁

"Carajillo !" What a concept! https://vinepair.com/cocktail-recipe/carajillo/

All true. Phil

I don't see the switch at MGCycle (GU01738800) Seems that switch was also used on various Ducati (Monster?) and others back in the day?

That is why it is best to purchase the factory part and part # . Sometimes it matters .

Received it today.... Faster than the Skwal I3 that came from The Netherlands.

What a view So picturesque!

I have a hydraulic press and I can straighten it out .

"La vallée d'Aspe" is incredibly sumptuous! You go to Oloron Saint-Marie from Pau, and then you follow the N-134 all the way through to Spain! It is completely untapped from the mass tourism. On a motorcycle, it is grandiose!

The switch has a broken piece of plastic in it or I would be happy to . I will get the lens from MG Cycle tomorrow . Maybe the switch too ?

It is "Pyrenees". It is the chain of mountains that separates France and Spain. Interestingly, it is the home territory of the Basques. The frontier has done nothing to change it. The Basques speak the same language either side of the frontier, and some have even fought to get their territory back from either country. There are some hydrocarbon wells, and I was lucky to work there for a little while. It is beautiful and absolutely worth visiting on a motorcycle. Wilder and less beaten by tourists than the Alps. It's actually on my list of things to do the next time I go there. I spent time in one of the village where they raise Ducks and Geese to make Foie Gras (I know that it is not politically correct since the birds are force fed).

I just ordered my copy from Italy - can't wait to receive it! Also, as discussed (apparently on a separate thread i can no longer find), i finally got around to writing to Piaggio Italy and North America urging them to produce a Dr. John tribute livery for the V100 Mandello. Here is the english text (also sent in Italian). Hopefully it will get them thinking about it if they aren't already. I will let you know should i get a non-automated response: "As you are likely aware, one of the most important individuals in Moto Guzzi history, Dr. John Wittner, died earlier this year. After discussing with dozens of other Guzzisti, we firmly believe that it would be fitting for you to produce a V100 Mandelo tribute model to this legend, similar to what you have done over the years for Omobono Tenni. Certainly, Dr. John's contributions to Moto Guzzi are every bit as important as Tenni's. A new book called "Dr. John's Moto Guzzi" was just released two months ago, and should provide all the information you need to make this tribute livery. Not only is this the proper thing for Moto Guzzi to do, I am quite certain that it would be a highly sought-after model. Thank you for your consideration."

The Ohlins forks will fit the original triple clamps too. Been there, done that

So long-ish story... but the essence is that the sale didn't work out and now she doesn't want to leave. So I put her up on the rack and will sort out the remaining little bits and try to get her running as well as my Scura does. Maybe I'll even get adventurous and finally try installing the Caruso timing gears I've been sitting on.

Of course they did because they have the tools to remove the caps and compress the springs again if needed and are charging by the hour to do it. All things being equal the qty of oil by volume will equate to the desired air gap give or take an amount that's moot for most road riders. Is measured level a better way to go? Yes but for most of us mere mortals it's not a huge deal. Setting the levels with the forks out of the bike and the springs removed and the fork bled and fully compressed is the ultimate way to do it but who wants to do that every time you are fine tuning the forks oil level? Support the front of the bike and remove the caps and springs, collapse the forks measure the oil level, adjust level up or down as required and reassemble and ride. Decide on more or less oil height depending on the test results and repeat. I mean seriously who has the time for that? Oil height level tuning is in the domain of the race track prep with the tooling and the mechanics to play with it. For the average road rider it's fill by recommended volume. The level doesn't affect the damping performance only the overall spring rate and only then biased to the second half of the fork travel. What's the other alternative? Fill to volume and ride the bike. If you think you need to go one way or the other then park the bike remove each cap individually one at a time and either add 10ml by volume or suck 10ml by volume and ride it again. Don't get bogged down in the minutia of exact measured levels because even having a small level difference between legs wont matter. Are the springs guaranteed to be precisely the same rate on both sides? No, and they won't be so getting too anal about precise levels is a waste of time. Phil

These fork seals on USD forks have the least amount of "tension" I have ever found on anything labeled as a seal so these need TLC. The most attention , the most care , the best fork oil , the BEST seals PERIOD . I remember reading an article on USD fork maintenance where Yamaha was recommending removing the seal spring ang cutting X number of turns out of the spring to get a better seal and reduce seal weeping. Be careful when you are working on these forks , one bad move w/a screwdriver , hammer or anything can leave you with a pile of scrap.

So many jokes, so little time

I received the Skwal I3 today, and I have not yet ridden with it. I tested the three lighting options; I am most likely not going to use the front lights, still or flashing. Reason is the lights bounce on the fairings of the Le Mans, which makes it a distraction. My father would have said those lights look like a brothel' sign... Tomorrow, I will take it out for a spin, to check loudness.

On the plus side, the number of women spreading their arms...and legs...in order to be in 4 states at once was...entertaining.

Sure , keep me posted ! Now , there is a plastic cover in the switch that is broken and occasionally hangs . Result ; not good .