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Word Salad: What is a tube amplifier anyway? in my language, a tube is an elongated cylinder which usually carries fluids; such as liquid or gas. It is also used to contain toothpaste or glue. In London, the Tube carries passengers through tunnels. In UK, a Tube Amplifier is a valve's amplifier. What is a valve amplifer anyway? a valve is usually a mechanical device used to close or open a passage in a pipe or duct. In a trumpet, you have valves, which are also called pistons. So you have taps and faucets in an amplifier? In France, a Tube/Valve Amplifier is called an Amp with light bulbs (Amplificateur à lampes). Because when you turn on the Amp, they glow. Now, I get it. A light bulb is a light bulb everywhere, ins't it? well, I heard about glow plugs too, but nobody called them Glow Plug Amps as far as I know. I wonder what they call Tube/Valve/Bulb amps in other languages???

A couple weeks ago, while riding the Grand Tour and listening to The Highwaymen while out on the road, I visited the town where Waylon Jennings was born, even has a street named after him! It's a real pity to see now that Willie Nelson is the last of the Highwaymen to be still standing. Kris's first daughter Tracy went to my High School in Palo Alto...a beautiful girl then, and still today. Anyway, in the spirit of emotion and reminiscing, I leave you with another song that entertained me during my 2000 mile journey thru Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and back home from Greg Allman and All My Friends album. Enjoy the harmonies and camaraderie on stage!

i don't know where all the members live concerning this Hurricane Helene / Tropical Storm / one helluva rain storm / bad weather. i hope / pray everyone w/ family & close friends in the pathway of this are safe and doing well. Please post about their conditions, etc. so we can be aware and hopefully relieved for them

My V11 odometer just passed 30k. Its been decent weather this Fall for commuting. Also, my second season with the Road 5s and they don't show any noticeable wear yet, as far as I can tell. Maybe have put 4-5k on then so far... And, I like the stock airbox sound. Definite improvement. My next task - maybe this Winter - is to either rebuild my leaky steering dampener or get a new one. Any recommendations?

I'm assuming it's not an original, but a re-issue Fender Bassman; you're the 1st modern player, I've ever heard of running a bass rig through either one of them. Tbh iirc,both were known as killer tone monster amps for both harp & guitar; relatively good tone down low & a nice crunchy meaty brown tone, when pushed hard at higher volumes,,, those tonal qualities & characteristics are working against you running a bass through them,,, IF your goal is a loud, clean sound. No idea re the tube layout & good substitutions,,, forums like The Gear Page, Modern Blues Harmonica or TDPRI (sp?) would be good resources to check out,,, but they're not really focussed on bass info,,, maybe there are other equivalents in the bass world,idk. The speakers may be shot & flabby,,,,,, but it sounds like it's doing what it's designed to do,,,

Thanks, but no need. I have his contact info if I needed it. He might list it later, and if he sold it, somebody got a beauty.

I followed Docc's lead on a Shindy damper for one of my past bikes and was happy with it. The stock/upgrade Ohlins unit is prettier, and fits easily. Any aftermarket unit might take a little more work, but I recall the Shindy being pretty easy to fit. I've heard nothing but positives about the Hyperpro, but not tried one myself. Unless you are really riding hard, the damper is basically there to prevent head-shake (aka tank slappers) in normal street-riding conditions. So anything that prevents large rapid movements will do that job.

The above post is correct, 30" of rain running down valleys was the issue, we have rivers here that have been turned into lakes by dams, the lakes can absorb the rain and the dams can control the lake levels. We saw no real flooding, but 30 minutes down the road in Erwin and Greenville which are right at the base of the mountains, had major flooding, look for videos of the Nolichucky dam.

Seems HyperPro has been a popular option for our V11:

In a way similar to Harvey here, tons of inches of rain, all cascading down mountain valleys...end results of floods. Remember Houston had 60 inches of rain with Harvey spread out over a relatively flat area...the Carolinas in some spots got 30 inches of rain in mountain valleys...horrific flooding/momentum of the water washing structures and roads away as if they were toothpicks. Just awful.

Pretty certain owner of these bikes is not a member Docc. Re your question Activpop... might be able to get more info... if its still for sale etc... if anyone is interested. Also owner misquoted size of rear rim re Greenie, its 5.5 inch. I lucked out recently, managing to snare the c/f chin pad, titanium cans & hangers along with the 5.5 inch rear rim as owner returned to original condition.

Yes, Fender American Professional J-bass. Interesting solution, changing the pre-amp tubes. I had just assumed the amp's previous owner had blown up the speakers. Any advice what pre-amp tubes to source for my application?

I always assumed you played a 6 string electric,are you playing a bass through that Fender Bassman? No wonder it's breaking up at stage volumes,lol I've forgotten most of what I knew about tube amps, but if those speakers normally have a decent reputation & you like them otherwise;perhaps consider changing your preamp tubes to something with less gain; would be cheaper & easier. fwiw idk.

We got it pretty good in the tri-cities area of TN. A few trees down in the neighborhood, lost power for about 7 hours, we are on a water boil notice, but 30 miles south they got hit hard. A friend's grandmother's house got washed away in Erwin (house was empty). I have seen pictures of some of my favorite roads around here, Hwy 58 out of Damascus, and they are out of commission for a long time. One of my concerns is for the Wheels through Time museum, can't find any information on it. There were some very rare bikes there, and it was right on a creek. If anyone in the area needs help and is on this side of the mountains, let me know.

What you want is a group 4 full (proper) synthetic oil with the lowest cold number you can get for good flow at start up but with the narrowest viscosity spread for minimal VI improvers. So for the old BB 2 valve engine a 0W-40 such as Mobil1 0W-40 or a full synth 10W-40. The M1 spread is on the limit but I ran it for years without issue and you might need to change it slightly more regularly but it’s a great oil. The M1 also has enough zink for the lifters as well. Too much zink is a bad thing and actually leads to greater engine wear. A case of too much of a good thing. Even in a moderate climate you want the lowest cold number you can get while keeping the viscosity spread within reason. My Daytona engine runs 10W-60 which is a bit to much spread but that engines has “special needs” phil

Ah. I am the Goofman and I approve this idea.🛫

You guys have quick answers. Scura's and Tenni's single plate clutch is a potential problem, so I'm fine without it on my best bang for the buck, unlimited '02 Lemans. I'm sure my Lemans revs up slower in neutral without it. I can live with that. Titanium nitride coated forks sound nice. Perhaps longer lasting? I wonder if any other Moto Guzzi's have titanium nitride coated forks. The coating I've heard of on Jap bikes for low stiction is teflon. That doesn't sound as durable, does it? I'm happy with my '02's wrinkle paint. So perfect, that I'm sure the engine cases were replaced under warranty. A tiny touch up on my gearbox case was easy enough.

Wandering the streets of Roma and Milano you rarely see any Guzzis. Considering they build the things only 65klm's from Milano you'd think they would be commonly seen on the streets of Milano but nope. Here's a few I've spotted. The most common non scooter around the cities? The big BMW GS's in all their forms over the last 15 years or so. Hundreds of them. I've even spotted 2 old BMW K100RS's a blue and a red one both in beautiful condition the same as the new ones I toured Europe back in 84 and 86. Blue in 84 and red in 86. Guzzi's though are rare birds. Off to Mandello tomorrow. Sure to see some Guzzis there, maybe.

That is well put. The chassis, exhaust, engine management, and suspension are all 2002 LeMans. I really do love the Tenni color scheme. Yet, it is pretty well known here that I love ALL of the V11 SpineFrames.

I wonder where this one went? They were both in pristine condition.

One for docc and scudd. The wife and I are so taken with Mandello we are looking at properties here. Six months a year here would be quite agreeable.

The museum! Nice!! The only time I’ve visited it was closed unfortunately…but just being there is wonderful! I really wanted to see the original Norge…what a grand adventure he had on that bike! Do you suppose that V11 also has a cough at 3 k RPM’s? 😊

I did offer to practice with applying the insulation tape ….

Stoner's Trim Shine. $6 at Lowes Learned from a codger that rode up on Beemer 750 triple. Looked like brand new. Tried it. He was right. Works great to restore UV.

I just cover my naked self in baby oil and glitter, tie a brilo pad to my knob and writhe all over the motorbike. It may not clean it up a lot but it guarantees that the space surrounding it is empty and devoid of admirers so as long as the bike works who cares?

This was a particular favorite. I shared the magazine in 8th grade English class. A rotten friend took an eraser to it and erased her eyes. I was relieved a few months later when they brought the ad back.

Yeah, back in the day, during the 60s & 70s, it was a word we used a lot. In fact in my later teenage years the pursuit of this activity seemed to be the main aim in life

I'm thinking there was a direct correlation between advert sexual innuendo and how slow/fast a product was selling. but...

In the same vein . . . somehow "breeding" could be involved!

OK, slightly off topic, but just look at these Norton Commando ads from the early 1970s. Whoever wrote the copy for these ads - Rideability ? Is this referring to the Norton or something else - genius!

Ok, here we go. The Hyperpro steering damper arrived today. UPS is a bit of a pain in the arse, but that's another story. The Hyperpro damper looks really well made, and it is quite pretty. A test by pushing the shaft through the damper slowly and suddenly faster indicates that the advertised "progressive" damping rate actually works. A good start. The best thing about the new damper is this: That number starting with KBA is the certification number that means I can legally use the damper here. The damper is made in the Netherlands, so it is no wonder that it has a German KBA number, but it is still good. Here are two photos of the original damper and the new one. In the first one, they are lying with the "base" lined up to show the length of the shaft. The shaft on the Hyperpro is a bit shorter. In the second one, they are actually lined up at the head, but the parallax caused by me not shooting straight makes it look like the aren't. The point is, the bracket on the Bitubo is placed where the easily visible wear marks indicate that it was mounted there. The destructions provided with the Hyperpro stipulate 39 mm from the base end to the bracket, so I am convinced it will be able to be mounted. The bad thing is, the mounting bracket does indeed have a ball joint. (Note, what looks black on the ball joint is actually chrome. I was using a flash on the camera, and shiny surfaces come out like that with a flash. Has something to do with physics, I think...) Funnily enough, the more than adequate destructions sheet shows a drawing that is recognisably the original mount on the lower triple clamp. I'm starting to wonder if they disagree with Phil's assertation that one shouldn't put two ball joints "on top of each other". I believe @Lucky Phil entirely, what he wrote makes sense, but I think I want to bolt up the mount to the mount and see what really happens there. Anyway, here's the destructions, and the provided screw, nut, washers and o-rings. And the best thing of all is, you get stickers!!! I'll be plastering them all over the Le Mans for sure, wont I?

Yes. That probably does back to the post-production people. "Carry on as usual", so to say. Motorcyle sounds are always dubbed in in films. I don't know how many times I've seen a 2-stroke chook chaser doing the stunt riding in a film, and heard a multi-cylinder sport bike. Or a big V-Twin that sounded like a 4-cylinder. The list goes on. I think the pinnacle was some '70s american police film. One sees police-spec Harley's engaging in the chase. After a bit, it gets exciting, and there is footage of motorcycles riding down stairways and such. Suddenly, we are seeing chook chasers with fake panniers and bad recreations of the Harley police-spec fairing. And then they are suddenly on Harleys again. I'm not that sure anymore about the sound, but I think it was "Japanese 4-Cylinder".