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Houston town hall recommended to NOT go to work, and work from home for all those that could. All the schools are closed! I cannot remember a single time when schools were closed when I was in France and we had snow. We actually walked to school by ourselves. So maybe this is the difference with Houston. Most of the kids are driven or take buses to go to school. Tomorrow is going to be terrible, because all the snow is already melting, and once the temperatures go back down during the nice, it is going to be iced.

it is crazy, the Gulf Coast is getting snow. That said, it was -3 here this morning when we left for work. While I know other parts of the country see worse then that it is not normal here. And we have already had several snows. So, as John McClane once said, "Welcome to the party, pal!"

Quota weather!

While I appreciate the metric system for it's simplicity, I laugh out loud over the surrounding environment. For instance, American engineers produced the only machinery I've ever seen with 16 and 18mm fastener heads. I think it's simply a middle finger to metric. Having grown up with SAE, I'm perfectly comfortable with it, and for many common fasteners I'll grab whatever wrench comes to hand if it fits- 11mm to 7/16", 14 to 9/16", 17 to 11/16" etc. It's your eye that matters, if you can see the size tool you need by looking at the fastener, you're good to go. Given the use of the word 'spanner' I'm going to suggest the passenger side are Whitworth.

Well it's 12.7 actually. I'm fully conversant in both and can do the smaller calculations in my head. By instinct I measure something in fractions of a mm say .24 and immediately say to myself "oh yea that's 9.6 thou. Don't know why, no idea but my equipment in the last 20 years has been metric. I'll stop it one day I guess. Metric still makes more sense to me. Phil

60's music was great. Psychedelics, soul, hippies, MoTown.

Naming professions : James Mariner . He is the last of my counsel . He is 90 yrs old and I am not sure he finished High School . This man can explain why one carb is jetted differently than the other on a M/G bike , he can explain steering geometry , anything having to do w/motorcycles . He has owned all brands . His brand of choice : Moto Guzzi . He said one time , every die hard Guzzi owner is some type of craftsman . The owners are an authority on some kind of subject and can/do apply it to their bike. They are not riding a German bike where the owner has his grips installed at his local dealership , has someone else change the oil , etc. There are better motorcycles but Moto Guzzi is bike of choice for a professional .

Nothing special, but for Houston, it is... Last snow was in 2021; news flash, yes, we have power shortages again...

That sounds to me like you're going to have to resign yourself to 'search and destroy' mode. Every connector in every relevant circuit needs to be inspected and cleaned (Kaig DeOxit, aerosol on Amazon) I like to start from easy, working as necessary to hard; the suggestion to drain the fuel is not a bad one. I had enough water collecting in the injection hoses/barbs to give me fits a couple seasons ago. But since you know you have a voltage issue, the only thing remaining is to find the poor connection, or prove the ECU to be the problem by the test above- it isn't clear if your low voltages are at the sensors or actually at the ECU pin. Sometimes it be like that. Do you have a good clear schematic of the wiring for your particular bike?

It's not that complicated, actually. Look here. https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Festigkeitsklasse

Where I have been on construction equipment , you have to look on the bolt head for markings , 10.8 , 12.9 ,etc. or lines for grade 6 or 8 . There is NO method in the madness.

that's hilarious, and certainly reminiscent of way back when that's the way things were going in the US. when was that class, out of curiosity? clearly its all just what we're used to. i'm all-in on metric, and get annoyed when i have to reach into the "stupid" side of my alternate toolbox to dig out SAE, and gallons/liters conversion is easy because of lots of necessary practice when flying international, (etc.,) but in the same breath can say that for woodworking & construction type things, I just never made the change (because no one else really has), so its all inches and feet still in my brain.

El Paso got a half-inch of snow at the New Year, which delayed my departure a few days. I remember first time passing through EP in 1980, a small diner we ate at had a framed poster on the wall of about a half-inch of snow; they said it was 'about ten years ago' and the first time anyone there could remember seeing it.

I thought you lived in Texas ?

I don't know the wiring particulars of this bike, or modern 'Guzzi scheme, but if it was your car I'd say that you have a hot wire shorted to the sensor circuit source wire. The sensor source is typically 5 volts out to the sensors on a common feed, with individual returns to be read to the ECU. That all the sensors read 'high' means that either every sensor has failed shorted at the same time, or that 12 volts has found it's way into the 5volt feed line. Has the ECU been unplugged recently? A bent pin can do this. You can test this theory by using your multimeter to read voltage at the sensor connector with everything else connected and the ignition on. Assuming they use the common 5v sensor scheme.

There was a multitude of choices to listen to and everyone was 180 proof . Undiluted. Now , I wish I had something good to say .

Well, yes it is for most countries. Even the British who invented pounds, feet, hogsheads, barleycorns and leagues have largely abandoned the Imperial units and adopted metric. I was in a Boeing class on aircraft structures, and I asked the instructor if Boeing would ever adopt the metric system like Airbus, ATR, Embraer, Comac, Fokker, Antonov did. He said "the US system will gradually be adopted by the rest of the world". He seemed dismayed when I told him that there is only 3 countries that have not adopted metric. Or is it 2 now?

Metric isn't perfect for everything. For instance, this just doesn't play: "There's something leakin' I'm two liters low."

Not to burst anybody's bubble (heh ), but I have tied back the front brake lever on a failed bleed that I could not get any pressure whatsoever and the lever feel (pressure) came back overnight. At the time I thought the rationale was that the master cylinder, in the "activated" position, allowed air to rise into the reservoir, Do doubt, this has only worked for me with the master cylinder fluid supply line angled above the cylinder with the reservoir higher.

That. From Nate Bargatze playing George Washington on SnL last year: “I dream that one day our proud nation will measure weights in pounds, and that 2,000 pounds shall be called a ‘ton,’” Washington said. When a soldier played by Bowen Yang asked, “And what will 1,000 pounds be called, sir?,” Bargatze deadpanned, “Nothing.” Washington then waxes poetic about various bizarre American measurements, such as “rulers with two sets of numbers: inches on one side, centimeters on the other,” that “won’t line up and never will”. (except of course for 13mm.... 1/2"!)

Sanders ran an incredibly consistant race from beginning to end, and certainly deserved the win! Too bad this might be the last positive bit of news for KTM for a long time.

The logical version. Metric Phil

Daniel Sanders won the Dakar 2025 for KTM! with panache! he won four of the early stages, including three de seguito, for a total stages won of 5. Can you believe this guy is a farmer, with a special interest in bees? ha, I understand now, bees give him wings, not the energy drink....

Did you walk uphill both ways as I always told my kids that I did? Seriously, we have MANY miles of gravel roads in Frederick County here at the top of Virginia that school buses have to travel, thus the school closures on days that would, for most urban schools, be ho-hum business as usual. I do see -- in great weather -- all the parents sitting in their cars at the end of a street or driveway to take their kids the few hundred feet to their homes! I think much of that stems from fears of security. It's none of my business -- which never stops me from judging and pontificating -- but it still bothers me. I detest snow, but need to stop whining about the weather and just go down to the Moto Grappa and putz around, pretending that I am doing something useful. Bill

Mmmm . Sorta .

Simple, really- More is Bettern.

Having read thru all of the technical items....I would try draining the tank of the old gas completely and put in fresh gas. Once on my Norge the bike started sputtering very badly leaving a rally in Kansas about 15 minutes after tanking up...it took me about an hour to get to a new gas station in rural Oklahoma and I put in some gas treatment and within a few minutes, the bike was firing smoothly again. Since you're at home, try draining the tank completely, and load it up with some 93 Ethanol free if available or at the very least a can of gas treatment. Since you've checked all the fuses, it's sparking and fuel is squirting out of the injectors, I'm guessing your gas is not igniting.

The more people who stay home when it snows the better for those that actually need to go to work. As I have gotten older I have become more willing to stay home because it snows. But I still usually go to work unless it snows a lot. My work does not lend itself to working from home. But staying home if you can is the smart option. And it keeps the roads less crowded for those that go to work (or go out to have fun, which is always an option when it snows). I walked to school when I was in Elementary School, but from Jr High on I either rode a bus or drove, those schools were too far away to walk. The trend seems to be fewer schools that are larger. Those schools end up being beyond walking distance for most of the kids that go to them, so mostly kids take buses now it seems. Buses and snow don't mix well. And there is the risk of an accident in the snow, and then they will get blame for negligence having not canceled school when it snows.

Worse, nobody knows what they mean except 'more is better'. Why do I have to add 2 to those lines to get the grade? What the heck is a 'grade' anyway? Perhaps the Metric numbers are 'thousands of psi' tensile strength. Oh wait, 'K of kilograms' or something.

I have seen enough air in the system, like with new parts, cause the master to be able to overcome it and get the system pumping fluid. Car guys will often bench fill a new master before installing it and trying to bleed the system. I prefer filling the slave with fluid and using it to force fluid backwards up through the system. That way you are filling the system in the same direction air wants to go (vs filling the system from the top down while the air in the system wants to go the other way). As to the trick of tying the brake or clutch lever down overnight, since it seems to remove trapped air and not simply hide the air by forcing it to temporarily dissolve into the fluid I would say that is not likely what is happening. What seems to happen is like docc said; the higher pressure does two things, it causes the smaller air bubbles to collect into fewer larger bubbles, and due to the higher pressure those bubbles tend to rise to the top of the system (into the master cylinder in this case). Then, when you undo the lever and remove the pressure they vent out the top to the reservoir.

Interesting. And some good things to try on my end. yes, dot 4. Tying off the lever I’ll do, but maybe letting it gravity flow as suggested first for a while would be the thing. Then tie it off. All free and easy things to try. sad thing is that if that works, then I likely replaced a part or two for no good reason. Perhaps the original issue was just air in the system from it sitting outside for so long and maybe a loose fitting somehwhere. C’est la vie. But will see how it goes.

Does this "scanner" give you a live data stream ? For you to have this many codes , I would suspect a wiring problem . How difficult are these sensor connections to reach ? You should disconnect each sensor and get 5v ref. one one side of ea. terminal of each connector. I don't have a wiring diagram on a 2013 Stelvio so IDK how this is wired or color codes for the wires. Also , Phil's ? about spark and fuel injector pulse . Y or N

I will have to think about it . I went back to stock clip-ons w/my red frame and had to go back w/a stock length of brake line going down to the tee where the line splits . I had ZERO trouble bleeding the system . do you have the bike on the sidestand and the bars turned all the way to the right ? Are you still using the set-up Phil recommended with the air pressurized cap ? Have you thought of gravity bleeding the system ? Leave the cap off , top the reservoir w/fluid and loosen the l.h. bleeder screw (1/2 turn is plenty) and wait for 10 mins and keep the reservoir full . Watch for bubbles then a steady flow of fluid. tighten the bleed screw and go to the r.h. side and repeat .

That’s a weird set of faults. The fact that it’s saying the phase sensor has failed is interesting. Didn’t you say the injectors are firing and the plugs are sparking?

I'm back with a report, and unfortunately, the new plug c aps didn't do the trick. I tried a couple of times with my battery booster, and still no dice.

Just to be certain , you are using DOT 4 fluid ? This is not going to affect anything , I just want to be sure. Back in the early 80s when Ford first started using hydraulic clutches on the F series truck you could spend the day bleeding the system . AND there was no method to rely on to get the job done. .

I like it... thats the question/topic I more commonly am interested in when I'm bleeding systems, to get that last bit of air out. In this case I have no fluid making it through at all, which is bizarre for me, but in reality most of the time when i'm doing something like this what you're talking about is of key interest. at least for a "why not", i'll go lash the lever back for an overnight. I did, at least in my mind, seem to think there was a slightly different feel/sound when i released the bleed valve after holding the lever in for many seconds, and certainly notice over the years that when i get impatient and pump the lever too fast its different than when its slow and with a slight hold before opening the valve, as you'd well know. And for fun Phil, I checked for water on an old C140 a couple decades ago, only to learn the hard way that the sump drain on an unmodified 140 is mid tank, so as a tail dragger, I wasn't sumping anything but the fuel above the water that was hiding down there at the aft/bottom.... Ran great till about 800ft AGL, then I had a nice unplanned landing at my in-laws fallow field.

Not sure if I've mentioned this before but I've been trying to understand why tying the brake lever on overnight significantly improves the lever feel after bleeding. I've had the question in my mind for a few years but never had an answer. My only thought is that the constant brake pressure over a longish period dissolves any formed air bubbles back into solution in the brake fluid where they don't have an effect. In other words the compressibility of a formed air bubble is different to the same amount of air suspended in solution in the brake fluid. Naturally this has to be within reason but I wonder if it's like the fuel drain checks I used to do on jets earlier in my career where the water suspended in the jet fuel wasn't a major issue until it was enough to separate out of suspension into straight water with a dividing line with the fuel. Same concept but different. So the question is does a quantity of dissolved air or air molecules suspended in a given amount of fluid in a sealed system have less affect on the compressibility of the fluid than the same amount of air in a formed bubble within the same system. It's in the realms of a scientific question and I've not been able to find an answer. I need a physicist. Any takers to answer this? Enquiring minds need to know. Phil

Your bleed issue reminds me of a front brake problem bleeding I had on my Norton 850 that was all original. Many similarities. So simple system, but was not responding, decided to swap out master for new, then slave for known rebuilt good one off the back, still problem. Only thing left was the brake line, which was two rubber lines and a metal line in between. The rubber lines were the issue breaking up inside, causing intermittent problems. Changed all the lines and was like new.

They got AI translating in Maleysian...

Here's MM93 at the Ducati reveal for the season 2025; During interviews, he said that he will be a fair compagnon in the team. We will be the judges of that...

I always thought metric is standard.

Looking for some bass riffs for a Dylan song, I stumbled across this never-aired concert filmed at the Bellevue Biltmore Starlight Ballroom, April 1976, in Clearwater, Florida, where I graduated high school a couple months later. The link opens with the Joan Baez performance at 16:54, hauntingly beautiful. What was billed as the largest wooden hotel in the country is gone now. So amazed this video exists.

. The mention of “Paradise” is interesting for its timing. Over on ADV Rider forum, there is an entertaining and informative thread called "Pillion Viewpoint (PVP).” https://advrider.com/f/threads/pillion-viewpoint-pvp.1525703/ The “host,” a lady from West Virginia, posts great photos of the things we “pilots” only see, if at all, briefly as we are so darn focused on the literal way ahead without dying. Her narratives are also engaging. Her “groupies” (I am one) have been encouraging her to collect and publish in, e.g., a “coffee table book,” the best of her posts. Great stuff. Her husband, Wally — PVP calls him “Rider” — is a fine fellow. He is often mentioned, and occasionally seen, but don’t think he ever posts in PVP’s thread. Rider is quite a wrench, too, and has many solo and two-up miles on his beemer and his new KTM. Anyway, PVP — a retired lawyer — has an architectural bent, and her pix often include interesting buildings. Her interest in houses of all sorts led recently to this comment, "All this architectural inventiveness, fading away, and replaced by the ticky-tacky," and 60’s or so protest songs, including, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Boxes. Go to her thread if you care to see all of the interesting chatter, but I responded to the "ticky-tacky" post, including mention of "Paradise." "I understand the Little Boxes, ticky-tacky houses, and the like, and enthusiastically sang (badly) those along with my friends. That said, and I did not recognize it at the time, there is, IMO, an unmistakable whiff of elitism in that and other "suburban protest ballads." Those little boxes were the literal dreams-come-true of so many whose lives, when young, had been scarred by the Depression and then disrupted -- if they survived -- by WWII. Those folks were now raising families in those ticky-tacky homes we condemned in our songs. As a boomer, vintage '47, I lived a care-free teenage life that made it easy to complain about the wrongs of my parents' generation, most of whom were struggling and still sacrificing for their children. As one of those kids, I lived in a tract home in Daviess County, Kentucky, in the 1960's, and dated a sweet lass from Central City in Muhlenberg County, so my favorite song at the time was, of course ... Recognition of my own frailties as a young person helps me overlook and forgive the teens and young adults of today. Now ... get off my lawn, PVP, and take and post some more pix!” Whatever the socio-economic and political value then and now, it’s a great song. Bill

I've been trying to educate my kids to this very concept Bill, "deferred gratification". Sacrifice now for a better tomorrow. So while we sit at the barbeque my son complains about the difficulty of getting a deposit together for his first house and the rank unfairness of it all these days I'm looking at his 20 grand (and counting) worth of tattoos, omega watch and 8 grand guitar. A Private school education doesn't make you smart that's for sure. Sorry, thread drift. You last line struck a chord. Phil