Leaderboard

Took the Rosso Corsa to this evenings Guzzi Club meet

I feel the need for speed...

Your "the looks and feel of that raunchy girl from high school." had me musing on the memories for longer than an old guy should. And, your nice new one seems more like the popular cheerleader. Anyway, good luck with the sale; still miss my Ballabio. Bill

A few facts that I gleaned from the latest GPMAG magazine: The stats are correct up to end of June 2024; 1.042 seconds is the average time between the winner and the followers for the seven first GPs; this is the smallest gap ever recorded during the motoGP era (2002-2024). Aprilia only needs 3 hours to rig down their pit stand after the race. The slowest teams take 4 hours. I would have preferred to have the figure for the rig up. Maverick Viñales winning the Austin GP became a member of the 3 wins on 3 different machines; Suzuki, Yamaha, Aprilia. The others are: -Mike Hailwood (Norton, MV, Honda) -Randy Mamola (Suzuki, Honda, Yamaha) -Eddie Lawson (Yamaha, Honda, Cagiva) -Loris Capirossi (Yamaha, Honda, Ducati) 600 grams is the rubber loss per GP of a racing tire (Barcelona 112 km) The oldest winner of the top motorcycle racing category is Fergus Anderson; he won the Spanish GP when 44 years old. The youngest winner is Marc Marquez 20 years old COTA in 2013. Did you know? BREMBO the brakes specialist: 1961 company created initially a small mechanical workshop 1964 started to produce brake rotors for the automobile industry 1972 produced the first complete braking system for motorcycle for both Moto Guzzi, then Laverda. 1975 start to equip Ferrari's F1 racing cars. 1980 aluminium and carbon rotors, initially only for F1 cars. today: 32 production sites over the world, 9 R&D centers. 15632 employees worldwide. 600 titles.

Then, someone comes along to cheer my sorry-ass up . . .

After 21 years with my V11 Sport it's time to move on. I lack the time, space, and dedication to maintain it and I'm wanting something lighter for my occasional backroad rides. The good: one adult owner, most of the usual V11 tweaks/fixes/upgrades and regular maintenance have been performed, strong low-mileage engine (about 21,500 mi) runs well, nearly roadworthy, and it's got the looks and feel of that raunchy girl from high school. Sale will include a good number of new and used spares and consumables. The bad: cosmetically rough, non-functional speedo/odometer, and it's got a clutch (or clutch actuation?) issue that I don't understand. It's initially ridable when cold, but begins misbehaving in an erratic/intermittent way as it warms up. The clutch slave was recently dealer serviced to no avail, so I'm opting out. I think that there's a good opportunity here for someone who wants a potentially easy project or near complete parts bike. $1200 OBO; local pickup only. PM if interested.

Indeed, particularly out where you are. Toorak, maybe, but out on the fringes?

I looked at the Wiki link and there was an image there of the iconic Bugatti type35 which reminded me of the one that's seen on the streets of my suburb from time to time. From a quick internet surf the last one sold was in 2022 for 4 million euros. Quite a car to be pottering about in in the Melbourne suburbs. Phil

Phil, you're right in all points, but the CBX motor was a wonderful thing. That's worth some points that don't have anything to do with practicality or common sense or any of that stuff.

A classic that we used to listen to, many of us not understanding the lyrics, especially the gals.... lol...

When I come back on earth, I want a job like this one. The tow is free of charge, and they do all the hauling. Cherry on top, there is no crowd!!!

@docc I saw Samantha Fish and a bunch of other guitar ladies at the Dallas Guitar Festival. I liked her better when she played her fish alike Telecaster, and before she changed her hair to the Marilyn look. I like Lari Basilio's music. She is also pretty good on guitar!

My struggles with the black frame continues . the gasoline in this bike was worse than anything I've seen in 55 yrs. I am gonna remove the throttle bodies , send the fuel injectors to have them inspected . Remove the pressure regulator and test it.. Whew. The moral of the story . Watch where you buy gasoline . You know what I mean !

ill report back on that but ill need a week or so because.... life!!!

Well, "I don't want a pickle " . . . Edit: Just to make this right, musically:

This just happened, so I may need to update garage signage. The V11 is still here/for sale and even so, I occasionally experience seller's regret

I completely forgot this happened to mySport five years ago! In that case, @TomH, be certain your inner rear wheel spacer measures correctly and use high quality bearings (I settled on KOYO) . . .

Sometimes I get the blues. Real bad blues . . .

2004 V11 Ballabio

The original SpineFrame sold for $22000 (plus buyer's premium). I am secretly hoping it appears at Barber Motorsports Museum, but if you want to bring it to the South'n SpineRaid, it would be most welcome (whoever you are) . . . https://briggsauction.bidwrangler.com/ui/auctions/122350/16254138 The original LeMans endurance racer (#93) sold for a paltry $11,500. Another bike I would love to see . . . https://briggsauction.bidwrangler.com/ui/auctions/122350/16254164

330km now, have a good feeling about clearances and everything. Winther project with a clean bill of health. Must admit she has an easier willingnes to curbs than myV11. I actually have a feeling for my keepers, yes IPA TIME. Cheers Tom. Sent fra min SM-S906B via Tapatalk

I think life would be boring if viewed only through rational eyes.....

Not sure if that was a lesson or judgment day. I attend Portland Cars and Coffee here in my town regularly. There are usually about 20 bikes, sometimes more, that come park under the big overhang in front of the building. All types, all years, just like the cars in the lot. One regular there has a beautiful CBX. The vehicles are different, the passions are the same. I am always amazed at the abilities of all these owners to keep their stuff in tip top shape, no matter the year. Except for me though. I was there with my bug splattered Stelvio after 12 hours riding to and from the rally. It was a mess. Better on the bike than on me.

On airplanes, the cylinder needing checked is put at TDC compression stroke. The prop is dangerous and is held tightly before turning on the air. The regulator sets the first gauge at 80 psi, and the second gauge shows the leakage. The prop then can be turned back and forth a degree or so to get the highest reading. A normal cylinder will be 75 psi or above. I don't get terribly concerned until it reads 70 or under. This will show leakage from rings at the crankcase breather, intake valves at the carb, or exhaust valves at the (wait for it) exhaust stack. It won't tell anything about valve guides, but since it is at TDC you can feel how much clearance there is by wiggling them around. Edit: I would put an on/off valve on the hose to the cylinder on the pictured rig. It makes things simpler.

I’d say that while yes, it is a ‘Western World’ phenomenon it is generally more of an anglophone western phenomenon, certainly my experiences in non-English speaking cultures in the last couple of decades have generally been more favourable. There is also the simple matter of history. History and sums! For the last half millenium at least western culture has been, both geographically and politically dominant. The historical narrative, at least the one most people absorb, is western and Eurocentric. Now other countries and cultures are becoming wealthier a proportion of their citizens will want to travel and when you are looking at countries like China and India with populations of over a billion a piece it doesn’t take many as a percentage to mean that their chosen destinations will become overwhelmed. Throw in ‘Our’ own boomers who have retired and want to see a bit of the world, often in a cocooned and ‘Safe’, ie, familiar environment that never takes them out of their comfort zone and it all turns into a rapidly evolving train wreck! I don’t think that the majority of these people are bad or unpleasant. Just boorish impatient and demanding. The way Jude and I tackle it is probably a bit unusual in that we try to avoid big ticket ‘Name’ destinations like the plague and if we do want to go somewhere where you know it’s always going to be insanely busy we go, as we do in most places, in the depths of winter as this tends to thin the tourists out a bit. On top of this we like to go to, and actively prefer, to stay in poorer, less developed and smaller towns and villages. Apart from the fact locals in bars and restaurants are always fascinated by WHY these strange, little old white haired pensioner people have come all the way from Australia to their little turdpoke village in Abruzzo or wherever! Then they want to know if you are on first name terms with their cousin in Griffith in the Riverina in NSW or their son Claudio who is a waiter in Adelaide etc etc ! In the UK we only drop down below the imaginary line we’ve drawn between the Bristol Channel and the Wash to visit relatives as anywhere below that line is an overpriced zoo with far, far too many people, most of whom think they are terribly special and are crying out for a good ‘Throat Punch’! Above the line things are infinitely better. There are still pockets of asshattery and some of the cities are really grim after 45 years of almost uninterrupted Tory destruction but the population density is way lower, it’s cheaper and the locals, (Outside the grim cities.) are friendly and helpful. It is also the cradle of the Industrial Revolution with history and museums to die for. The countryside, even in mid winter when it can be pretty bleak, is beautiful and once you get into Northumbria and Northumberland and thence on to Scotland the geography and landscapes are simply breathtaking. There is plenty of interesting Roman history to tickle my fancy in the borderlands areas and once into the highlands the austere magnificence is hard to beat although the lack of trees in the far north can cause issues! In January on one trip we were travelling around the A9 across the top of Scotland and had picked up some picnic vittles in Wick. After nearly getting stuck when it stated snowing the weather cleared and we continued but Jude got a bee in her bonnet about finding a picnic table and eating out of the car. Somewhere just west of Thurso she spotted a side road with a sign depicting a picnic spot so we hung a right and went down to the small rest area on the coast. It had a beautiful little beach, (Surprisingly devoid of naked Germans because as you know wherever you go in the world if you find a nice beach it will have some ageing banker from Düsseldorf and his hausfrau lying around with their kit off! Even in Scotland in January!) The absence of trees though belied the fact that it was in fact blowing about a force five gale! As we gathered up our meal of some cold cuts and proper English Cheddar the sun broke through the clouds and shafts of sunlight speared down onto the snow covered Orkney islands to the north, it was like the dawn of the world and stunning to behold! When we got out of the car though the gale was all too apparent but my darling helpmeet insisted we go and sit at the table, which we duly did and I set about hacking up the Baguette I’d bought in Wick. Jude unwrapped the 1/2 Kg of delicious cloth wrapped cheddar and sat it down on the table just as a particularly strong gust of wind hit, picked it up and sent it whistling off in the direction of Stromness never to be seen again! One assumes some lucky guillemot or puffin probably dined well that day! Anyway, after that even Jude thought discretion was the better part of valour and we retreated back to the car! And continued our trip! Sure, in the summer it would have been warmer, the wind would probably of been gentler and we might of got to eat some cheese! But at the same time the A9 across the top of Scotland is in some places only a single lane road with passing pull-offs. In summer it would be gridlocked with morons towing caravans and other assorted mouth breathers! We were probably lucky to see two cars an hour! Anyway! Enough. My main message is pick the ‘Wrong’ time to travel and you’ll find it’s likely to be the ‘Right’ time!

I fear he is sadly no longer amongst us. Something he wrote a while back to the tune of "I will never achieve that now"...