Guzzirider

When I lived in Hampshire we had the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier (not Capt Kirk's!) dock in Portsmouth and some sailors turned up at our local pub. They chose to drink some Marstons Old Rodger and after 2 pints were falling off their stools!

Do you also need a orange 1969 Dodge Charger to jump over dry river beds and escape from the cops??

You don't want to drink that pale fizzy stuff full of chemicals served freezing cold- you need some proper British real ale!! I will be happy to educate any visitors to this island as to what a good pint tastes like- Timothy Taylors Landlord and Black Sheep being my favourites.

I believe they can either issue a rectification notice making you replace the pipe with a legal one and get it inspected at an MOT garage within so many (seven?) days, or they can fine you and you can get points- I believe it is discretionary. I tend to stay away from where all the idots congregate like Devils Bridge (and when I lived in Hampshire the Lord Derby). Away from these environments, most traffic coppers seem to be ok about Italian twins making fruity noises as long as you don't get pulled for someting silly. The biggest problem for loud pipes is that some race tracks are now getting fussy- you can't do a track day at Donnington Park without putting your road legal pipes back on- and my V11 needs every BHP it can get!!!

You should be fine- many European riders of V11s ride around the continent with technically illegal pipes. I have had no problems in any country so far. In the UK, if you get stopped by the police they normally take into account your riding style and other factors. If you were riding like a complete twat through town and had no insurance then they may throw the book at you and prosecute you for illegal pipes as well. I was stopped a while back on my old 1100 Sport Corsa for speeding and they did not even bat an eyelid at my full Termignoni race system. UK police in general can't be arsed to ticket foreign riders anyway cos it is too much paperwork so they tend to let everyone off with a warning unless you were being really bad! Occasionally the police target biker meets where there has been plenty of complaints from locals about wheelies and speeding and in these situations apply zero tolerance and ticket everyone for noisy pipes / small number plates etc. I have heard that German motorway police can be strict and issue on the spot fines but on the whole I think you will be fine and will be able to enjoy the lovely echo of your motor bouncing off the mountains!! Regards Guy

The 2 stroke 500s also smelled lovely leaving the starting grid at Donnington!!

Another good reason for the manufacturers switching to 4 strokes is that they can recoup some of their R & D costs by transferring some of the new technology onto road bike engines. With the death of large 2 stroke road bikes due to emission laws, this was not possible before the switch. The change also allowed Ducati into GPs! Guy

Jupiter's Travels by Ted Simon is well worth a read. This book has inspired many riders to get on their bikes and travel the world. http://www.realclassic.co.uk/books04081600.html

Maybe all the women are far too busy cooking and cleaning to have time to surf the net! I'll get my head kicked in if Helen reads this!!

Looks like they have welded a section from my grandad's old army bugle to the downpipe!!

Sounds good! It is one of my favourite circuits- a bit like a mini Philip Island with the spectacular background of the sea, plus the added bonus of mountains. Good testing ground for doorstoppers! Guy

I hope it all works out! Do you live near the Ty Croes circuit? Have you had the pleasure of thrashing your Guzzi around there? Guy

Michael Schenker's relationship with Moto Guzzi is closely guarded. His first band UFO was actually christened due to a spelling mistake. He meant to call the band UFI as a tribute to the oil filter used in his 850 Le Mans but typed it wrong and the new name stuck. He wrote the song "Lights Out" in protest at the unrelaibility of Italian electrics, then went on to record "Feels Like a Good Thing" after pulling a 100 metre stand up wheelie on his V11. All true. Honest.

MSG? Must have been referring to the early 1980s heavy metal band Michael Schenker Group. Thinking about them makes me want to grow a mullet, a dodgy moustache and put my tight leather trousers on so I can bang my head and rock. Trouble is the trousers don't fit any more and have no hair left!

I ended up emailing them at info@rossopuroitalia.it and asked in English whether I could buy over the phone with my credit card. Paolo who writes good English (not sure about Welsh though!) asked me to send money via Paypal which is a bit of a pain cos it takes a couple of days of fiddling about to get through all the security checks if you need to set up a new account, but I persevered and they took about 10 days to arrive via UPS. The good thing is that they sold them to me net of Italian VAT which knocked a few bob off the price. Hopefully when they change the website so you can buy online it will make things a bit easier. Regards Guy

Just fitted my lovely new crash mushrooms which arrived this morning from the Firestarter garage. Piece of cake to fit and they look pretty strong- although there is only one real way to test them! Although they protude a couple of inches from the cylinder head, the bike is no wider overall as they stick out to the same level as my Mistral silencers. If you are buying from outside Italy you need to use Paypal but they are shortly to amend the website so you can buy direct with your credit card. Here is a pic.

Colwyn Bay motorcycles in North Wales are advertising an MGS01 for sale with delivery for Xmas. I have dropped some heavy hints to my girlfriend as to what I want for Xmas but I am not sure whether she has been receptive to my perverted need for an MGS01. If there is no large ribboned crate in my living room come Christmas morning I am gonna sulk! Guy

I have been reading the Long Way Round book and have quite enjoyed it- it is obvious that even though they had a support crew and interpreters etc that it was still a tough old journey taking into account the difficult route through Kazahkstan / Mongolia / Siberia etc. If anybody in the Uk is interested, Charlie Boorman is doing a tour around some BMW dealers next week to chat about his trip- ticket proceeds to charity. I may ride along to the Shipley event on the 15th. http://www.motorcyclenews.com/nav?page=mot...S_WHAT'S-ON Guy

There are a couple of unsold MGS01s arriving in the UK next week- looks as though Guzzi are struggling to sell them. £16k really is silly money even though the bikes are unique. Still, if I sold a kidney maybe........ I may just wait a few months, and if by chance some bikes remain unsold, I may make a silly offer and see what happens. http://www.motorcyclenews.com/nav?page=mot...=NEWS_NEW-BIKES

In addition to the warranty booklet and owners handbook, in Europe we also get 2 year breakdown cover and a booklet with all the details. Not sure what the deal is in Canada- maybe you get the same. Glad you are enjoying your Le Mans!!! Guy

The list prices for new Guzzi brake and clutch levers are appallingly expensive. Luckily I have yet to need replacements but I bought a couple of pattern levers as spares from Agostinis in Italy. These are identical to the Brembo originals except have silver coloured adjusters rather than gold but if this bothers you just reuse the old adjusters. They worked out at around £20 each (sterling) Contact details for Agostinis: http://www.agostiniduilio.com/negozioflash-ingl.html Reboot spares in the UK are breaking a Rosso Mandello and V11 Le Mans. Not sure what bits they have left but it may be worth dropping them an email. Reboot website http://www.rebootguzzispares.com/index.htm?mainframe.htm&2 Hope you get it fixed soon! Guy

Well you can buy a brand new Le Mans for £6495 in my local dealer. I have seen some secondhand Le Mans stuck in dealers showrooms for a long time if they are advertised at too high a price so the £4250 does not sound too bad depending on how much you are paying for the new bike you are looking to buy. Are all the problems sorted now? If so why don't you keep it and learn to love it! What are you thinking of swapping it for? Regards Guy

My local Guzzi dealer went to a dealer meeting recently and was told that the 5 MGS01s due to be imported into the UK have been built and are on their way! All sold unfortunately. Guy

I want some!! Time to get the credit card out again!