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It may sound corny, but finding a good helmet that is comfortable to wear is like finding a good pair of shoes. It is not always easy, and in today's Internet purchases, it sometimes takes many attempt and returns. Plus, the added enticement of having a real way to actually touch and feel and weigh the helmet. Two years ago, I think, Shoei opened the "Shoei Gallery" in Paris, avenue de la Grande Armée, where many of the Motorcycle dealerships have set camp. It is the opposite avenue of the best known Champs Elysées, and it also has the major advantage to be outside the prerogative of Paris mayor. There is another main location for motorcycle dealership and gear in Paris, at "La Bastille", or in the 12th arrondissement. There, the Paris mayor has prohibited transit traffic; but never mind that for the moment. Shoei, at their Paris gallery, takes the mensuration of your head, and fully customize your helmet of choice to your particular skull. According to the vendor, they use the same application for their pilots, only their padding is custom-made at the factory. For the vulgus human like myself, they just add padding where required to make the helmet a glove to your head. After the modification, they made me try a standard to compare, and I must admit you feel the difference. Does it change anything to safety? I can't tell. How does the custom padding age? we shall see. Nevertheless, they took out all the colors in the series, NXR2, and they had a red one... I could not resist. The NXR2 is not sold in the USA. Its equivalent is the RF1400. However, they did not have red at my local outfit, and they did not have the Personal Fitment either. The Shoei NXR2 is ECE 22.06. I also purchased the photochromic visor, which taint itself when exposed to UVs. It is not as convenient as a dedicated sun visor. First, it takes about 2 to 3 minutes to darken, and I suspect the Texas sun is most likely going to make it age very quickly. The photochromic visor is not made by Shoei, but by a specialist that does it for Formula One and other dedicated sports that require that kind of oddity. I was really happy to have a sun visor in my Shark I3, I really think it is convenient. Until then, I have a second pair of prescription glasses for UVs. The Shoei is also supposed to be quieter than my Sharks. In any case, it is RED!!!

Further to this docc I happened across this Aussie guys youtube channel a few years ago and was revisiting it because he's a Guzzi owner and has some interesting Guzzi tech stuff as well as some unusual bikes he rides and maintains and his wife also rides a Guzzi or did until recently. Anyway he's around our age lives in Melbourne, rides and maintains a few Guzzis and does pretty down to earth basic reviews. This one is 5 years old and has a few detail spec errors but is worth a viewing if you are interested in RE 650's and engine performance from an old guys perspective who also happens to ride and own a Guzzi and Benelli 1130 TNT and a rather nice Gilera Saturno. Phil

The issue with vacuum bleeders is they can suck air around the bleeder screw threads and into the clear bleeder tube and give erroneous indications of air in the system. You dont get this issue with pressure bleeders. To combat this during bleeding just wipe a fillet of grease around the bleed nipple threads between the visible threads and the calliper housing where the bleed nipple drilling is to seal it from sucking air. Wipe it off when you're finished the bleed. The other air point on the V11 is the master cylinder connection which traps air due to the bar angle. Remove the master and tip it up and jiggle the lever and watch the air bubbles come into the reservoir. I've thought quite a lot about why clamping the brake on overnight improves the lever hardness and my theory is the constant pressure in the brake system dissolves any air bubbles back into suspension in the brake fluid where they have no or next to no compressibility issues. In other words dissolved air or small amounts of air effectively in suspension in the fluid has no compressibility effect where actual formed bubbles do. Anyone have thoughts or scientific info to back this up or shoot the theory down? I don't see why the brake secured on overnight technique wouldn't be worth trying on the clutch as well although you won't generate the same line pressure so it may not be as effective. I don't really get the whole remote bleeder thing for the clutch. It just adds weight and complexity. Sure it's a bit of a fiddly job to bleed but you only need to do it every couple of years or so. Not worth the added weight and failure points for mine.

I'm guessing over time the female receivers in the fuse block can lose their tension then the contact with the blade is poor and any variation in the thickness of the fuse blades will have an affect on whether or not the fuses make contact. I'm also going to assume the fuse blade contacts have a dimensional tolerance per the standards and the El cheapo fuses probably don't hold well to those tolerances as is the way often with El cheapo stuff.

A test light is the best tool to use . When I am checking for no-power on a circuit , I test EVERY fuse in that fuse block to see one that is not working. Yes , it never is bad to use the BEST consumable parts available . IDK what is happening with the parts quality in the States over the last 25 yrs. AZ and other stores sell trash parts. You have to find reputable stores and patronize them . AFA the video Phil posted ; boring , over the top and technical= yes. Important= yes . I watched this some time ago and it is necessary to know . Watch it a few times until it gets familiar . This kinda testing is familiar in a classroom environment . There is a reason for this "saturation" on a subject . I posted a while back where I posted having purchased a fuse kit that lights up when the fuse is open AKA blown or broken. Terrific if you are broke down at night . These things light up and there is no guessing ! Pricey......yeah ! Worth it .... yeah ! This last place I worked at had a fresh-outta-college KIA in purchasing and everything he purchased was from Amazon or eBay. All the bulbs we installed , half of them would burn out w/in seconds of installation . His response "you must not be putting them in correctly" ?

I'm still laughing at this. My first 2 years roadracing, '87-88, there was a guy who owned a Suzuki shop in ... Missouri? He was older, and fast enough to be a real problem getting around but he literally rode *exactly* like the mast on a sailboat. Sometimes had to remind myself not to sit behind him just to watch and be amazed. (Behind, you caught that?)

About the video: if the man can't sort out his audio so that it is not distorted, I'm out of the game. Can't take him seriously, even if he really does know what he is talking about. As far as fuses go, you don't need a "nano-ohm" meter. If your 10 dollar multi-meter shows no continuity through the fuse, it is no good. Full-stop.

The connection issue made me wonder if the cheapest fuses use very thin blades to minimize materials and better fuse blades are more robust and, therefor, make better contact. I have also experienced poor connection with females in other aspects, but let's not go there . . .

Last update tonight. While waiting to see if the clutch hydraulics are going to play ball I have fitted the new throttle bodies I sourced off German eBay after corrosion saw off one of the original ones (see earlier posts). The freshly serviced and tested injectors went in without apparent drama so before the inaugaral fire up I needed to set the TPS. I ordered some AMP superseal connectors I THOUGHT were the right ones, but of course they weren't. AMP make a few variants beyond just the number of pins apparently. Anyway, no worries, I made up a lead to clip the multimeter to using just the pins from the connectors, as in reality you only need to use this lead for a few minutes every year or two at the most? The TPS that came with the "new" TBs looked to be in better condition so I went with that one, and after a bit of fiddling (as pretty much everyone on this forum is aware) I got the reading as near as dammit.. I had also performed a compression test on the starter motor and both cylinders were within a few % and healthy reading, albeit on a cold engine. Tank back on (after being aired empty for a few weeks with cap open and pump and filter removed) and fresh fuel. Ignition on, (after refitting the pump relay) and everything seems to be ok, except fuel leaking from one of the injectors, possibly due to the hose being kinked due to poor routing forcing the injector to not sit properly in it's seat. Anyway I was too impatient to remove tank etc, as the leak isn't bad and went for it! Success! The motor fired after about a second of churning and sounds super healthy, no smoke, rattles or nasty noises. A real landmark in bringing the princess back from her slumber. I've only run her up a handful of times as the clutch/swingarm/rear subframe episode has taken over, but she sounds sweet, even on standard pipes and collector. Next steps after the clutch ok (hopefully) and refitting rear end are new tyres booked in for this week (pair of Pirelli Angel GT2 s). I just need to work out how to support the bike so i can take BOTH wheels to the tyre fitters rather than two 30 mile round trips. I'm starting to get excited!

Here's a pic of the remote bleeder I made up with some stainless hose and fittings. The actual bleeder is from these guys, they do a zinc plated version and stainless so I treated myself! https://www.competitionsupplies.com/remote-bleed-fitting/remote-bleed-fitting-stainless-steel However, although the clutch had been working fine before I touched it (going purely by lever feel), it proved impossible to bleed up with the remote setup, air getting in somewhere? I ended up fitting a banjo with a bleed nipple at the master cylinder end (I had one spare from when I rebuilt my Guzzi T3 linked brakes which were a nightmare to bleed afterwards!) and reterminating the hose fittings on the bleeder, in case I'd trapped some stainless wire from the hose cladding inside an olive or something? In the end I was able to bleed it up ok with my vacuum bleeder and all the nipples ptfe taped to prevent air coming in. I am waiting to see if the clutch lever remains firm despite lack of any obvious leaks, before I refit the swing arm etc. Possibly in bleeding (and obviously pumping the clutch lever repeatedly) I've exposed an issue with the master cylinder which has presumably sat for years unused, but everything looks nice and dry? This has proved to be the most frustrating aspect of the recommissioning so far!

and here's the thrust bearing with a new o ring and washer, note slight witness marks;

You might be right Docc about the bleed nipple on the clutch slave. I removed the rear subframe, which is a swing arm out job and checked over the slave cylinder. No leakage apparent and piston in immaculate condition. The thrust washer on the end of the clutch pushrod had tiny (and I mean tiny, no surface corrosion evident with a fingernail test) witness marks from the radial bearing it sits against - see pic. Presumably because it's been sat in that position for over a decade and the oil film broke down on the top half? Anyway, nothing to worry about. I flipped the hardened washer around so the clean side is against the bearing, changed the o ring that seals in the gearbox oil and replaced everything with A4 stainless fasteners (copper greased) after respraying the corroded paint with etch primer and the VHT case paint. Looks a lot better and a good match for the rest of the cases. THEN I decided to fit a remote bleeder setup (as Guzzi did with the Griso), what a pain that turned out to be! More later...

That seat looks very good and comfortable. The leather looks awesome and while it will require more maintenance, @ChrisPDX is the perfect person to tend to it. Me, on the other hand, would have it rotting in a week. Chris has mentioned to me that he'd like to take the bike touring. As he road races now (and has for a very long time) he doesn't the urge to drag pegs on the street. That's only for posers who don't actually race.

If you look at the picture posted up above earlier in this thread the fast idle cable and it mechanical linkage can be seen just to the left of where it says "Throttle Linkage". Not where the arrow is point, but just to the left of those words. To see it you want to be looking up from below on the right side. You can see the cable, and the cable is connected to the plate that when it is pulled on by the cable it makes contact with the throttle and slightly opens it. The throttle cables attaches to the left side throttlebody, the fast idle cable attaches to the underside of the right side throttlebody. It is a purely mechanical set up, you pull the fast idle lever, the cable connected to it pulls on a plate that as it is rotated by the cable it slightly opens the throttle butterfly. Since both throttle butterflies are connected by a linkage, opening one opens both. If the cable has lost its adjustment, if it has too much slack in it, the limited amount of travel that the fast idle lever has might not be enough to make the plate push the throttle open that slight amount that is required. You can see in that picture that there is a bolt that tightens down on the cable, you need enough slack so it does not open the throttle when you turn the handlebars from side to side but you don't want too much slack in the cable or it won't open the throttle when you pull the fast idle lever. Also, there is a known issue where a number of V11s, if not all of them, came from the factory with what appeared to be the fast idle spring and the seat release springs swapped. The springs have different stiffness's, and if they are swapped it can be, as I recall, hard to open the seat latch. But I might have that backwards. It has been a long time.

Fuses simply carry electricity from one connection to another. If the fuse can't do that, it is bad. There is no magic there, no mystery. Fuses can "blow", where the sacrificial link that carries said electricity overheats and melts. That is usually obvious to see, assuming the fuse is translucent. That sacrificial link can also break, which can be really hard to see. The fuse can also fail at its job because the method it uses to connect to the electrical harness in the fuse block don't work. This can mean the spades on the fuse simply don't make good contact with the connections in the fuse block, or even that there is enough corrosion or some other surface coating in the connection to prevent it from making the required connection. Even paint or, oddly enough, electrical grease, can cause that. As people here have mentioned, in the end what counts is does the fuse get electricity from one side of the fuse block to the other. If it doesn't, the fuse is failing to do its job, whatever the reason for that failure is. I have long since stopped using a visual inspection to check fuses. Either a meter set to check continuity or a test light to show that the voltage from the supply side gets to the fused side will tell you all you need to know.

The fuses weren't new. I replaced them all like I replaced the relays a few years ago. I've had some connection problems with fuses on this bike before. In this case, NONE of those replacement fuses would work in that slot after I cleaned it. The old fuses I had stashed as spares in my tankbag worked fine, even one that was corroded. @docc Now that you mention it, the replacement fuses were the opaque type, the old ones are transparent. None of the fuses were blown, it's just the newer ones didn't work in that particular slot. Drove me nuts.

it is not a "one step" operation .

Yea I remember 1987 right at the beginning of radial road tyres and when the cutting edge sports bike of the day a GSXR750 had a 140 rear tyre which was considered wide. Motorcycles change and so do riding styles. Only old duffers ride like that these days on modern bikes.

I put a very expensive seat (don't recall the maker at the moment, and paid $50 because I guy found it lurking in the garage a decade after the bike was gone) on my '04 BMW GS Adventure. It's better than stock, for sure, but I did 10k on that and the stocker on my '97 1100 Sport-i and I'd take the Sport seat every single day over the 'nice' beemer seat. The bucket is better for the first 3 hours, but then becomes constraining and I can't shift weight away from the contact points. As stated, on the centerstand it turns into a swimming pool. (not that you can get a GSA on the centerstand) Everybody gets their opinion on that, and miles matter. Leather is best, but *must* have Mink or Saddle oil. Bicycle shorts are an absolute must. I wear Underarmor in my riding suits, because they already have padding but I wore bicycle gear under jeans for years. Don't forget your Thorlo synthetic or Hollow Alpaca boot socks and Gold Bond foot powder.

Nobody can tell you are wearing them unless you are silly enough to ride your motorcycle in skin tight stretch jeans instead of a "comfortable fit" jeans/trousers. Nicks are padded more in the crutch and the bone of the pelvis that contacts the seat when sitting down not the glutes. Anyway have you ever looked at the arse of full leathers or leather riding pants? Unless you're a GP rider with the race suits with lots of inner stretch panels then they aren't exactly a great look around the rear. People commenting on things they have never tried just imagined! I offer a cheap and practical solution but people would rather imagine things and spend tons of money on impractical stuff like leather seats, lambswool covers or heaven forbid wooden bead covers. @Kevin-T mentioned he has no interest in "dragging his knee" with regards to the seat shape! Good lord you don't need to even attempt to drag a knee to use shifting your arse two inches either side of centre for better cornering control. How the hell do people ride their bikes in the corners? sit there rigidly centred and act like the mast on a sailing boat?

The last Moto Guzzi EICMA display/introduction that got me motivated, 1997 . . .

Reminds me of @gstallons's saying, "Use a test light." The time has come to test light new fuses before installation . . .

Indeed. I don't really expect Moto Guzzi to bring out any "serious" sport models in the foreseeable future. Aprilia is the designated Marque for that in the Piaggio concern. The best we can hope for is a "sport classic" or "retro sport" like the Paul Smart Ducati model a while back. Still, I would be happy to see that, even if I probably couldn't afford to buy one.

A good exercise for me was to "extract" the starter circuit myself. Helped me understand what is happening there a lot.

So, just some musings as EICMA 2024 comes to a close. First, thanks to everyone here who has shared images and videos. Most especially our Man on the Scene, @v11_meticcio ! In particolare il nostro uomo sulla scena, @v11_meticcio ! While Moto Guzzi, predictably, did not offer anything new, they did have a spacious and well appointed display. I recall the introduction of the entirely new V85TT as a single bike in a faux desert scene complete with a big plastic camel. Not even a bored-looking girl on the sand. FWIW, I like the Guzzi line. I think it has a lot to offer the broader audience without becoming a clone of the greater market. I see what looks like some nice fit and finish and an admirable effort to retain brand identity. I see Piaggio's "Travel" assignment for Moto Guzzi's brand purpose coming through, yet with a lot of very approachable models for the younger riders as well as those of us that may consider a smaller displacement, lighter and smaller bike at some point. Sure, I am a little disappointed the "V7 Sport" moniker got pasted to a cooking V7 even though I appreciate the brake an fork improvements. Maybe some clip-ons and more "V7 Racer" style rear-sets would have been in order. Without the rubber footpegs that hardly say "Sport." That said, I do like the light blue V7Sport. It has a lot of nice touches and details, IMO . . . I particularly like the V100 Mandello in rosso/nero with the winglets veiled by the graphics. Nice looking bike with the gold accents. "Wind Tunnel ", baby! https://www.motoguzzi.com/en_EN/landing-page/v100mandello-wind-tunnel/

I think it is a cruel hoax to make the fuse link harder to see. That is, after all, what they were designed for. Not counting all of the 30 amp "charging" fuses mySport burned, melted, or charred, I have only "blown" one fuse. It was because of a loose connection on the battery positive side. Seems @LowRyter's new fuse failure is an all too common example of poor quality control in new parts and a seemingly unavoidable state of affairs in the modern supply system. I understand this is a huge impediment to updating the world's nuclear energy establishments. The chance that a defective component, or system, could be installed in the place of a known working component/system is a dire concern in the aircraft industry, yet ever more so in the nuclear arena.

If we are having a discussion about what makes sense and is practical and cost effective then the seat shown here misses out on all counts. It's leather which has practicality issues, it represents about 20% of the total worth of the bike and the shape is wrong for a sporting motorcycle as well. The idea is to have a flat to slightly rounded seat on a spots bike so the rider can slide himself laterally from one side to the other a little or a lot depending on the riding style. The sporting motorcycle seat shape is designed to NOT lock your arse into a little bucket like a mini lounge chair. If your V11 Sport is fitted with a centre stand then this style of seat basically turns into a bird bath if the bike is left in the rain as well. If you want long distance comfort then as I've mentioned ad nauseum you buy these and wear under your riding pants(see link) They make sitting on a bicycle seat all day relatively comfortable so on a motorcycle seat they are perfection. The cost is dirt cheap, they add no weight to the bike they allow the rider to still move around the bike for proper control and you chuck them in the wash with other stuff to clean them. For some reason people lose all rationality when it comes to motorcycle seats. Forget practicality, forget purpose, ignore the massive investment in dollars and the additional weight. It's like trying to make a sensible argument for a leather jacket over a jacket made of modern materials for road riding, pretty much impossible. I own 2 of these custom seats, one for the V11 and one for the Ducati 1000ss and both are stored under the house gathering dust. Both came with the bikes when I bought them and if the bikes are sold will be passed on to the next owner someday I guess. The rational, thinking mans choice, or any other of the thousands of similar versions. Aussie dollars remember, so about 5 bucks USD on Amazon in the USA I guess. https://www.99bikes.com.au/knicks-endura-xtract-lite-grey

I know there's Ed's in Albany. Is that what you were thinking? I have a card for him somewhere...with my notes.