Guzzirider

I guess finding a virgin is that much more difficult these days?

Thanks for all the good wishes! I've decided I am going to ride my V11 to the ceremony- the Duke would only splatter my leg in chain lube and I am more emotionally attached to the Guzzi. Tried to convince Helen to ride her V11 too, but she wants to do the proper girlie thing and wear a dress. Guy

Thanks for posting the pics Carl- looks like a fun trip and a great way to run in your demonstrator fleet. I still think its butt ugly though, albeit slightly more palateable in red. Guzzi are quoting power as 95bhp in the press- probably so it looks closer in spec to the BMW competition. Guy

Willkommen!!! Guy

Orson! What a great trip- and thanks for posting those lovely photos. Norway looks beautiful. Nice one

I was watching the documentary on Discovery where Jesse James goes over to Iraq to tune up a Hummer and I could not believe how little the American soldiers get paid to put their lives on the line, in comparison to the British soldiers. Things have changed since WW2 when the Yanks could charm British ladies with cigarettes, silk and chocolate which your average British squaddie could not afford. Guy

Well done Martin- you certainly get about on that dirty bike of yours! When do you think you will have got all the landmarks- do you have many more to find? Hope all is well with your son. regards Guy

I took Todd's advice and went along the lidless airbox route on my V11 rather than separate filters. He mentioned that both himself and Fast By Ferracci had completed extensive testing and recommended this was the way to go. I also did the same mod on the Jackal, and in both cases could feel some extra midrange urge afterwards. I must be insensitive to noise because I do not notice it at all and it does not seem much louder than Helen's V11 which runs the same cans but still has its airbox lid. Unless you are determined to eek out every last possible horse (like me!), then I do not think it really matters whether you go for standard airbox, lidless or pods- either way its still a slow old bus. Guy

This has happened to mine, and also Martin and Mal's bikes too. Easy enough to get welded if you don't want to buy a new pipe. Guy

I don't believe they make them but you can post them your old forks and they will transform them to a much better spec and to suit your weight / riding style. I am considering taking the forks from the V11 Sport to them this winter depending upon the price. Guy

Mild adult content- tissues optional but recommended

Nice darkie there!! I wonder if I could get Corona / Pacifico to sponsor me too?

Noticed This on the factory website.

V11s are cheap as chips in the UK at the moment with prices starting at £2500 for an early V11 Sport. There is a Coppa Italia on biketrader website at the moment for about £5k- its already lost 40% of its new price. Great news for used buyers! I reckon in 20 years time when rorty aircooled bikes are history, all decent Guzzis like the V11 will be termed as "classics" although I can't ever see them reaching silly money. Maybe the Ohlins variants will be seen as the ones to have but who knows? If Guzzi never build another aircooled sports bikes I think the MGS01 will be seen as very exotic and desirable in years to come, as will the Ghezzi Brians and Magnis. Does it matter? Guy

Give Teo Lamers in the Netherlands a try- they normally keep decent stocks of parts. They speak perfect English and do swift delivery. If you have the part number you can check to see if it is stock using their webshop. Guy www.tlm.nl

Supermoto fun

Hi Carl I believe she may be in transit back to Denmark- I am trying to find out her address and when I find out where she is will send her some flowers. Her husband and teenage son were on another bike and the whole family had to cancel their holiday for obvious reasons so I will offer them a free stay in England once they are fit and well again. Guy

There is a CBX1000 owners group who have a rally near Keighley every year. They call themselves the FWE (F***ing Wide Engine) club. Guy

We got home on Monday afternoon after spending just over 3 weeks in the USA and we had a wonderful time. Packed absolutely loads of things into our holiday and started and ended the trip with some chill out time in Santa Monica. On our route we visited many places including Los Angeles, Palm Springs, Joshua Tree, Twentynine Palms, Mojave Desert, Laughlin, Grand Canyon (including helicopter trip), Kayenta, Monument Valley, Oatman, Lake Powell, Bryce Canyon, Zion, Las Vegas, Death Valley, Mammoth Lakes, Tioga Pass, Yosemite, San Franscisco, Monterey, Carmel, Pacific Coast Highway, and Pismo beach. The high points? I just loved the scenery, the rock formations and the sheer beauty of many of the places we visited. San Fransisco was fun and we found a decent boozer (Tommys Joynt). Vegas was tacky but fun, and the Pacific Coast Highway south of Carmel was awesome. Low points? It was unusually warm even for the desert (see Global Warming thread!) and 3 ladies suffered from heat exaustion. A very kind man in Palm Springs drove by us as we tended to one of our party after she collapsed in a traffic jam (was about 120 degrees F) and bought loads of bottles of cold water and handed them out to us- what a great guy! Helen and I were fine, dousing ourselves in cold water at every opportunity and filling up our helmets with ice cubes, which did the trick. Had some great water fights too. More seriously, Pia, a lady from Denmark had a nasty accident near Mexican Hat, She lost concentration while talking to her daughter who was pillion, and ran off the road at 60 mph right in front of me. The bike went down heavily on its side in a heap of dust. I stopped, dismounted and ran like mad to them, finding Pia prone on her side and her daughter covered in dust and confused. One of our guys was ex special forces so I let those who knew what they were doing tend to Pia while I looked after her daughter. There was no phone signal so one of our party sped off to a local gas station which was luckily only 3 minutes away to call 911. It took about 50 minutes for the Sherriff to arrive and another 15 minutes for the ambulance to come. Thank God she was not bleeding to death. She was taken to hospital in Farmington New Mexico with back injuries- some fractured verterbrae and unfortunately a shattered vertebrae leaving fragments of bone around her spinal cord which thankfully was undamaged. Her daughter was shocked, but in one piece. Luckily she was wearing a helmet and a light jacket which prevernted any more serious injury. On a happier note Helen and I got engaged to be married on the trip. I proposed in the gardens of Lucia Lodge, just off the Pacific Coast Highway next to the sea. We celebrated by jumping into the swimming pool at our motel in Pismo beach fully clothed. Have you ever tried swimming in a crash helmet, boots and jeans? It is hard work! Guy A few pictures

Tex makes me laugh- he has done this before- make a post like this, sit back, put his feet up and let chaos and arguments erupt! Guy

My local Guzzi dealer has one in stock if you want to buy one: http://dealerservices.autotrader.co.uk/Get...16&pageid=1 Guy

The Hampshire Brewery will be brewing a special Guzzi ale to mark the 30th anniversary of the MGCGB. It will be on sale at Fordingbridge at the V Twin rally. Hampshire Brewery

Even if you are sensible enough to remove the mount from the dash, the scallies will look for a sucker mark where you have mounted the bracket, and if they see this will break into your car anyway, in the hope you may just have left it in the glovebox. I have been happy with my Garmin Quest but it is now playing up, freezing up like an old PC and needing rebooting every couple of hours. I have had it a while and it has had a right bashing and lots of use but its still disappointing. Guy

Wow what a trip! You guys in the USA have a beautiful country and I have only explored a fraction! I'll post a few pics when I get over the jet lag. Guy

Thanks for the reply Mr Ratch. We were both doing about 50mph in opposite directions so I did not catch his bike in detail but it looked pretty nice.