Guzzirider

I like the Smurf idea myself. Or maybe paint it into some American Chopper style themed bike- the "Fyffes yellow banana bike" or maybe the "Heinz Red Ketchup bike" (complete with 57 varieties logo on the tank). I think the "Rampant Rabbit pink Italian vibrating bike" may be going too far. Joking aside, I reckon a nice dark metallic green would be nice- or maybe a plain burnt orange with grey valve covers and wheels. Guy

I'll be in a group of consisting of a black V11 Le Mans, a Burgundy V11 Sport, red V11 Ballabio, black Jackal (me), an 1150GS and a Tiger. 2 Scots, 1 Welsh, 1 Irish and 4 English in our party including pillions- plenty of banter to be had there. The campsite is in Lana- nice and flat- the guy who owns it has 2 nice daughters who like to practice English. Good showers, biker friendly and a little restaurant- here is a link There is a cracking little mountain pass nearby (can't remember irs name) that is well surfaced and very twisty and wider than many roads around there so you can have some fun. Hope we bump into each other! Cheers Guy

We may bump into each other then- probably won't go to Mandello this time but will go to the Dolomites for sure- normally camp near Merano. Lovely roads around there. Guy

I doubt you will have any problems. I'll be riding through those countries in June too- whereabouts are you going? Guy

Got my V11 MOT'd last week and it passed no problem with Mistrals. As Gary says, its down to tester's discretion and I just made sure I pulled into the testing centre on tickover. Guy

I had just assumed it was just an oil cooler. The regular one is tucked behind the fairing so maybe they made it bigger to cope with the increased dsiplacement and moved it lower so it was directly in the airstream to cope with the Florida weather?

Glad you managed to get out and about Martin! You got any summer riding plans apart from going the 5th anniversary meeting in the Netherlands? Guy

I have bought a few items from Rossopuro and it takes approximately 10 days to get an email reply. Remember this is a little bike shop in Italy where life is different to our countries- things take a little more time, people are a little more laid back but you will get your bits in the end! Guy

I'll pop along to Cadwell. Guy

Yes the good thing is I can remove the screen in 2 minutes- just undo the 2 headlight bolts and then she's naked. Guy

Any ground clearance with that low slung pipe?

The poor guy looks knackered but the trophy girls look happy!

I would imagine its an ITOM 50cc or similar Edit: Ryan beat me!

Chatting to a dealer last week- the 8v motor is a long way from production- maybe 2 years before it shows its face in Europe. I used to have a Sporti and sold it because of the terrible (for me) ergonomics- I did 3000 miles in a week and it about killed my neck. Wish I could have kept it as well as the V11, but at the time could not afford to. Have not ridden a 1200 Sport but have ridden a Breva 1100 (very similar) which is, in comparison to your Sporti a big comfy civilised squashy thing. I understand that the claimed "95hp most powerful road legal Guzzi ever hype" translates into an actual low 80s rear wheel bhp- same as your Sporti so I would not expect a massive power increase from the new bike. Guy

I'm just a bit worried about what Martin used to make the "suede".

Hi Gary Just had a look in the garage- yes I reckon you could refit the side panels if you really wanted to. Cheers Guy

Second race was good- 5 riders challenging for the lead for a good part of the race.

The Stelvio is about 2 years away from release so don't get too excited I am afraid!

Motorworks stock the PC545 too.

Should be good. Toseland is underrated and his WSB Championship win was devalued because of the lack of other competitive riders that year. I saw him race a 600 when he was 18 and he is top class, and he did well to get second place last year on a bike with no traction control. He will have to do well though, to beat Bayliss on his home circuit. Guy

Leading positions after Superpole: 1 T Bayliss (Aus) Ducati 1min 32.145secs 2 J Toseland (GB) Honda 1:32.198 3 T Corser (Aus) Yamaha 1:32.605 4 N Haga (Jpn) Yamaha 1:32.879 5 M Biaggi (It) Suzuki 1:32.928 6 F Nieto (Sp) Kawasaki 1:33.132 7 M Neukirchner (Ger) Suzuki 1:33.188 8 R Xaus (Sp) Ducati 1:33.367 9 R Laconi (Fr) Kawasaki 1:33.368 10 L Lanzi (It) Ducati 1:33.969 Looking forward to the races on Sunday morning. Guy

May sound a bit weird but whenver I have done a track day I have kept the fairing on- a good incentive to ride carefully and finish the day in one piece. Guy

Pink

I've sort of finished. Before After Did the conversion to pods the other day- I cut the ends of the plastic tubes that normally connect the throttle bodies to the airbox, and connected the pods to these rather than directly onto the injectors. Also fitted the Rossopuro fender eliminator today and all that is left to do is to find a suitable flasher relay which will work with the new indicators. I was not sure how it would run in comparison to the lidless airbox arrangement I had previously, but I need not have worried because she runs like a dream and I can feel a little extra low down urge, which is impressive seeing as my last dyno run produced 74 ft lbs of torque at the back wheel. Wish I had converted to pods ages ago now! Now I have got rid of the airbox, rear hugger and fender, there is much less ugly plastic to look at now. The high comp pistons have bedded in nicely after about 5500 miles (she is due to blow up in another 4500 I understand ) and the ECU reprogram by HTM has given her a really smooth power curve with a bit of a top end rush as well as the chunky midrange. I had a really nice ride on her today in the crisp winter sunshine and I dunno whether it was my imagination but I could swear that I felt the benefit of losing a little weight off the bike now. Guy