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I tasted a Red Bull one time and that is all I needed

Did the "Decent Tune-Up" this weekend. -- Found the TPS voltage was way low, the CO trim was already at zero, and the vacuum caps on the intakes looked good but were nearly disintegrated ! Throttle bodies only needed a little adjustment to balance nicely at 2500 RPM. My 2003 LeMans is running smoothly -- Thanks to the Forum for the excellent instructions

I participated to my first Toy Drive with the Quota today. I felt a little bit out of place; except a very few, all the riders belonged to motorcycle clubs. Some of them with interesting names... It was the first time I rode in a herd, guarded by the Police. Staggered and going through trafic like VIPs. The Police were on Harley Davidson, except for the lead guy, on a Goldwind. The entire pack of bikers were riding either HDs, Indians, Victory. There were three exceptions: one Moto Guzzi Quota, one Triumph Tiger 1200, one Honda Goldwing. This was fun, especially meeting the kids that were impatiently waiting to get the toys.... I shall do it again next year...

You would be surprised how easy to ride the bike is…even at slow speeds. But aesthetics are important…no point buying a bike that one hates to look at!

I tried it twice, to make sure. I was right the first time...

There is one for sale at the Wild West Motoplex, 21k miles, 2015, 13k USD. It may be very comfortable, versatile, but it is very ugly in my opinion. The sheer size of it makes any maneuver a perilous task; I think. That being said, the clutch lever felt like there was nothing behind the actuation. I don't think I ever checked one that required so little effort to actuate. I am going to start on the google maps for the stops.

Paul, I was thinking that both KTM and Red Bull seem fishy. So tell me, how can Red Bull own a F1 team, sponsor everything from cliff diving, aerobatics, and Moto GP to tiddlywinks and full contact chess from selling crappy soda? Coke and Pepsi together don't seem to sponsor so many boondoggles. I don't get it.

I was watching for @Speedfrog to perform his unique locator talents on this one . . .

Merry Christmas, and God bless! Thankful for this community. …slidin' into 2025!

KTM could be more niche than they have been already?

The article doesn't say anything about profit and loss. I hope unlike KTM, they sold those 12B cans and they're not in some warehouse.

I’m thinking that a long weekend starting in Bandera for the flag pick up and then head out west may be a way to get the Big Bend and West Texas ones…weather permitting. Easy pickings coming back to add another 10-15 stops. Central and East Texas will be easy pickings in Springtime…

They no doubt picked up more member after the Vietnam war, but the Hell's Angels go back to just after WW II, at least according to this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hells_Angels I think the attraction of a "veterans motorcycle club" is first and foremost being amongst people who have had the same experience. I never had to go to war, and wasn't in the army. I have, however, talked to a number of Vietnam vets, including spending an evening in the club house of the Vietnam Vets MC in Albury, Australia. Is is quite obvious that they have been through stuff that no-one can really grasp who wasn't there. I can understand seeking out or forming a group of people that you don't have to explain it all to because they already know.

Live like I do , ride it til it sputters , learn how to lay it over to the left a little while , ride it til it does it again . REPEAT . Ride it til you get to gas AKA petrol .

Wow, only just found this thread, and as an owner of a 180 Jota and ex-owner of an RGS (and the similar but tuned SFC1000) I feel the need to comment. It's often said by Laverda buffs that more myths and plain untruths are perpetuated by people who've never ridden them than almost any other make, and this thread sorta fits that view. I thinks it's a product of their rarity, especially in some markets, and their position as one of the most expensive bikes you could buy back then, the two being linked I guess? 180 Jotas WERE the fastest production bike in the world for a time and had the proddy racing success to prove it, mostly in UK and Sweden. Compared to the other powerful bikes at the time (mainly Z900s, everything else was at least 10bhp less) they handled a fair bit better. They were never "terrifying anywhere near their top speed" on the road, and tended to weave predictably on the track at 10/10ths, which was, in fairness, a fair bit faster than most other's 10/10ths. A recent track day on mine (admittedly lighter than stock but otherwise standard frame) never gave me any moments and was a model of stability. I was lapping with Rob North Tridents and hitting 125mph (GPS speedo) on the short straights up to the braking points. On the road compared to my mate's 1000 Multistrada who I ride with, the suspension is woeful (30 years difference so it should be), but the stability in fast (smooth) sweepers is at least comparable. The RGS was a step up from the 180s with the smoother rubber mounted 120 engines as has been said and a lower CofG, but a 1000cc 180 (2 pistons up, one down) vibrates like a 333cc single not "one and a half bonnevilles", and my own experience of my two bonnevilles bears that out. Spares are no worse than any other small production 50 year old bike and actually much better than most. Wolfgang, OCT, Redax, Laverda Scozia, Laverda Paradies etc etc are all great sources of spares and expertise. I would put the spares prices and availability at about the same as, well, Guzzi V11 Sports. Finally the RGS was the original company's swansong and was (and still is amazingly) a superb sports tourer with advanced aerodynamics (only the R100RS could really compare at the time) and like most Laverdas, fabulous build quality (again, for the period) and reliability. A lot of RGSs are still being used for exactly what they were built for. incidentally, the two colours (red and silver) were due to use of specialist (BMW car bumper derived) flexible paint applied to Bayflex flexible plastic mudguards and sidepanels, which could literally be bent in half without leaving a mark. Possibly a solution looking for a problem but a mark of how seriously the Laverda brothers, who ran the company and were both passionate bikers) viewed their products and strove for quality. Fully adjustable eccentric footrests was another example that is yet to be replicated to this day (god knows why?) The filler cap at the front was allegedly a response to threatened crash testing being introduced by DoT in the US, which never happened and cost Laverda money it could ill afford. Advantages are easy filling with a tankbag and elimination of the godawful leaking filler cap that all the Italian manufacturers used back then! If I was asked to ride from here (UK) to say, Sicily on my choice of any 70s or 80s bike I'd choose in order (having owned and toured on all of them):- Laverda RGS BMW R100RS Guzzi Lemans Mk3 (not two up!) The RGS featured in this thread btw, was an "executive" with purpose made panniers and hand extensions on the fairing, very very rare. Sorry, I'll get off my high horse now!

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