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I was at MPH (Houston, Tx) today for an unrelated trip, and I came upon a Guzzi Daytona in their workshop. Speaking to MPH's Mike Haven, the owner of this bike wants to sell it, as its just gathering dust in his garage. It is my understanding that it has not run for a while, don't know how long. Nevertheless, Mike said the bike is in top shape, and they are going over everything. As you can see in the photos below, the bike is not tagged, and has only 8698 miles on the odometer. I thought, well, since it is right there up for grabs, I should indulge. That was until I tried the clutch lever. It requires too much effort for my damaged left hand. So if any of you is interested, let me know. I can go back and take a lot more photos, and ask Mike for the owner's contact.

@PJPR01 I was at MPH today, for a quick check-in; According to Mike (Davey is out of commission for the time being), they are moving to Hempstead for certain. They will sign the deal later on this month, and will start the move in January 2025, to reopen in February 2025 if everything goes smooth. Too bad.. I am glad my two Guzzi are now working like clockwork, so unless anything major happens, I won't need their services any longer.

I have not yet mapped the stops outside of the current Texas state frontiers, to check how they tally milleage wise. I think he is testing the waters. As he said in the news letter, for the first time this year, he ran out of 50 stops tour finisher rockers. Up to now, the people that completed the 50 stops were always below 100 out of 1000+ participants. I am guessing the tour is getting more exposure? although the number of participants seem to always be around the same.

You will eventually miss your V11 and shall return to us. We shall be here, waiting for you!

This is the reason I did not embed it. It is not worth your while watching it. I extracted the data. For the Kawa 650 Z, I don't know. To me, most of the motorcycles they sell today are overpriced. I think that the Japanese still manufacture their bikes in Japan, while many other top brands get theirs done in Asia. The BMW F900R engine is made by Loncin in China, and the bike is assembled in Germany. None of the Triumph motorcycles we get in the USA are made in UK... not that it changes anything in the QA/QC.

I think most of those YouTubers are trying to make a buck or two. I did not watch his video past the "Bonneville"; that did it for me. After that I scrubbed through to get the classification. I don't know where he got his numbers, but as I said, they make sense since they more or less tally with the orientation of the market. But he is not the worse; what I really can't stand, are those that do motorcycle reviews with their camera attached to their helmets. They produced a video full of jerky head movements. They probably never even watch what they upload.

Kawasaki Z650: 45,000 units sold Honda Rebel 1100: 40,000 units sold BMW 1250 GS: 33,000 units sold Yamaha MT 07: 30,000 units sold Harley Davidson Sporster S: 25,000 units sold Honda CB 500X: 22,000 units sold Indian Scout Bobber: 20,000 units sold Suzuki VStrom 650: 18,000 units sold KTM 390 Duke: 15,000 units sold Triumph T-120 Bonneville: 11,000 units sold https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbDY6yr09_I&t=337s This guy needs to learn how to say "Bonneville"... I do not know where the guy gets its figures, but I am not surprised seeing the BMW 1250 GS among the top. That same model is also at the top in France for 2024. We also find the same Yamaha MT 07, and the Honda CB 500 F. To put the numbers in perspective, just in France, there are about 10,000 Motorcycles and Scooters sold per month. From March till July, the number jumps to 20,000 Motorcycles and Scooters sold per month. At the end of October 2024, there were 171,633 M+S units sold in France. Compared to 259,000 in the USA according to the author of that video. Obviously, the author only gives the numbers for the 10 most sold motorcycles.

This year, the tour organizer made a little video about what the tour is, the rules, and some other aspects; for those of you who are not familiar with it. The tour as an option B for this year, a separate list of stops in States that previously were part of the Texas State. @PJPR01 Are you going to try for the Option B? I am going to produce the maps at a later time, and will check what kind of mileage we are lookin at.

If you watch it on a computer, then you can get autotranslate in the settings; if you don't understand Italian.

One of Jeff Beck's staple song, "Because we ended as lovers", played here magnificiently by Andy Timmons!

Good brass players are getting rare nowadays... philarmonic orchestras are also slowly vaning.

Love that it was shot in front of a payphone! the remains of a soon completely forgotten past! the lyrics are brilliant too!

This movie stars Jodie Comer, Austin Butler & Tom Hardy. I have not yet had time to watch it, but it is supposedly loosely depicting how some rebel motorcycle riders evolved into forming modern day clubs such as the notorious Hell's Angels and the like, with chapters all over the world for some. I watched the Son's of Anarchy show which was based on what those motorcyclist gangs are. To me, it ressembled the Mafia rules that I experienced in first person while I was managing one of my companie's branch in Sicily. The biggest difference, is you need to have a Harley Davidson for transport, and ride it most of the time. The rest of the activities are pretty similar in making money the illicit way, dealing with foes ruthlessly, buying authorities and politicians. The territory respect is also similar to that of the Mafia enforced frontiers. In Italy, the regional Mafia have local names, and they are divided into Cosche, Cosche working under a Capo. As far as I understand, motorcycle gangs such as the Hell's Angels operates in a similar way, with different chapters, and each chapters having a president, some enforcers in a very similar hierarchy. When I was in Gela Sicily, the location we rented belonged to the local Capo Mafioso, Salvatore Iocolano, Capo della Coscha dei Pastori. This is where I got all my knowledge and experience about how the Mafia works. I found this post on Facebook, in Italian, that gives a good recap of what happened when I was there: https://www.facebook.com/GelaStories/posts/468794899888563/ They started a war, and bodies started to pile all over Gela. I should probably write a story about this. This was very educational for me. I got to meet the Capo Mafioso, had to accept his invitation for lunch, went there in his armoured car, body guard included. It was a business lunch, where he explained to me how things were going to work for our operations while in his premises. He had kept an office in the building. This should make for something very entertaining... you have no idea... lol... I left Sicily in January 1991. I thought I would post the translation of the small write-up on Facebook: In 1987 in Gela and in the neighboring municipalities a violent conflict began between the mafia and stidda that lasted 5 years. In just five years, it is estimated that over 300 murders have been committed between Gela, Vittoria, Niscemi, Mazzarino, Palma di Montechiaro and Porto Empedocle. Among the victims there were also many innocent people and countless injured. The war was fought by the stiddari (originally clans of shepherds from Gela and Niscemi), led by the former breeder Salvatore Iocolano, and by the mafia groups commanded by the fugitive boss Giuseppe "Piddu" Madonia (in the photo), mafia representative of the province of Caltanissetta. Piddu Madonia, a fugitive since 1983, was finally arrested on 6 September 1992 in Longare (Vicenza). Again the collaborator Leonardo Messina declared that "before Niscemi and Gela were a single family because there were few men of honor. [...] In Gela [Piddu Madonia] had affiliated Salvatore Polara to Cosa Nostra [...]. The mafia war began with the killing of the stiddari Salvatore Lauretta and Orazio Coccomini, men of Iocolano, and later the stiddari and mafia clans also hired minors as killers. In the first three years alone, between 1987 and 1990, more than one hundred murders took place in Gela, culminating in the so-called "Gela massacre" (November 27, 1990), in which three simultaneous ambushes caused eight deaths and eleven injuries. What was really incredible, is that a lot of the killings were perpetuated by boys and girls below legal age. There is actually a true story about a minor girl in Gela, who was heading a gang of minors that could be contracted for murders or enforcements of any kind. Say for example that you have an issue with your neighbor, and you want some kind of punishment to be applied; contact her, pay, and they something would happen, such as car burning, or threats... I remember reading she got arrested eventually. https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strage_di_Gela

Keep in mind that motorcycle riding in Europe is very different than what it is on this side of the world. There are some stringent rules in term of what you have to wear, and also, in some European countries, they have radars flashing you and sending the bill automatically. I have a neighbor who received a ticket from France after going too fast on a highway in his rental car. Check what the requirements are in Italy; for example in France, your helmet has to have reflective stickers. In some of the European countries, you have to wear a reflectiive "yellow jacket" above your riding gear too. If you commit an offence and you get stopped by the police, if you are non European, you need to pay the fine on the spot. There are now a lot of restricted traffic zones in major cities all over Europe. Again, if you are at the wrong place, they get your license plate photographed, and you get the bill later. The reason why I am telling you this, I looked into renting a bike while in Paris in November, and there are lot of new rules that I was not aware that changed. Plus, you have to pay parking for motorcycles too, while it was free before.

Fresh from the press, and it should not be a surprise at all, KTM AG is dropping MV Agusta from their brands. The MV Agusta production is returining to Italy where it was before KTM took over the brand. MV Agusta said it is an opportunity to finally grow on its own, without any guardianship and custodians. They have just presented a bunch of new models out of which some have already been manufactured and can be dispatched to dealership for distribution. The Varese region will help financially. The tooling and specifics are going to be moved from Austria back to the MV factory; according to the KTM AG administrator, this process will be completed by March 30th, 2025. The administrator said that he was confident that KTM AG will survive this financial turmoil. GasGas and Huskvarna are safe at this time. Now, for MotoGP, we alaready know that KTM will complete the two remaining years in their contract with Dorna. So, until 2026. That development in 2026 will be frozen will probably help, but some within KTM have said that 2025 development will be limited to make the MotoGP bike complient with the new 2025 rules. While everything seem to be continuing as planned, a test of the 2025 bike in the wind tunnel was canceled. Last, there is no certainty KTM will continue MotoGP after 2026; in fact, to be able to, they need to work on their new prototype in 2025.

If you get the opportunity, you should. Tell her the story about how she happened into a Moto Guzzi V11 Le Mans forum; she might appreciate to have suscitated some interest from forum members living everywhere in the world. I don't know if we have a Japanese member here? I think we have some members that live or have lived in Japan at some point in time.

@activpop This one seems really nice; I don't remember having ever seen one with fairings, but grey? The production dates coincides with me getting my motorcycle license in 1973. The multibrand dealership where I purchased my first motorcycle had one for sale, if I remember well. I thought it looked great, but I was only interested in 2 strokes at the time. For some reason, all the Laverda I ever saw were orange...

Very true, and from what I learned through the usual media, Ducati built its GP25 around the new Michelin tire, while the others experienced the same difficulties. I have no reason to believe it will be different for 2025, and de facto, 2026. While everybody trumpeets that KTM's involvement in MotoGP continues unchanged in spite of their financial difficulties, it is impossible to not imagine there will be some unseen effects. Unless of course RedBull fills in where needed, and maybe even take over the complete racing department if push comes to shove. As for Marquez, I think I have already read the signs. All his declarations that Bagnaia is the main reference in the garage, and that, as he puts it, "when Pecco does not win, I will, and when I don't, he will", is a testimony to his ambition. As for Ducati's dominance, I agree it cannot be predicted. While I acknowledge they have lost a major sub with Pramac, and the departure of Enea Bastianini and Jorge Martin, they also have gained a formidable asset in Marquez. Simply what he had to overcome to come back to race, then giving up a fortune to switch rides, puting himself out there again with no certainty... I think he is driven like nobody else is. Unlike Bagnaia, who's objective is as every other competitor in MotoGP, Marquez needs to beat Rossi. This is clearly an obsession, and perhaps the reason to the 2015 mishap: did not want to add one more to the tally.

@docc There is a very fundamental difference with motorcycle usage, at least in Texas, from what I can tell. Here, and I am not painting the picture with a blanket statement, motorcycles are used for leisure. To do repeat commutes, people tend to use their four wheeled vehicles. When I was in Europe, I used my motorcycle for every deplacement I had to make; school, work, whatever... rain, shine, winter. Maybe the exception to that rules are biker gangs? because they can only ride on motorcycles. There is another factor; lane splitting. In Europe, motorcycles go through the cars to save time in traffic. It is an unwritten rule, but if you ride in France, you will notice that car drivers make space for motorcycles by driving close on the opposing limits of their lanes; many car drivers add a scooter to try to minimize commute time. With the exceoption of a few, scooters are usually 125cc. @audiomick Many manufacturers are producing motorcycles aimed at a new capacity segment: 400cc. Even here, Triumph brought all its line. We agree that this segment is where Guzzi propose its V7. It makes sense for those with the car driver's licences, that only do the strict necessary to be able to drive a 125cc; or to those newly licenced which have what bike they can drive restricted by the A2 license. For Guzzi, the marketing effort is more complicated, because Piaggio decides what they can do, and they need to balance the Vespa, Piaggio, Aprilia offering. For example, Vespa released a 310cc version of their best selling scooter for 2025. This is to tap the 80 mph to give it an enhanced use for those that have to commute through highways. In France, on January 1st, 2025, cars manufactured in 2005 will have restricted access to certain zones in every major cities. One of the go around is to get a small motorcycle. This is possibly the market they want to tap. In my original post, I thought too that Guzzi is unlikely to come up with an engine that would eat into their V7 line, even if I would like them to come up with a smaller "Quota" type of bike, which unfortunately, is already preempted by the Aprilia Tuareg.

I wish they gave us the exact specifications of the wear and tear supplies, such as the o'ring size number instead of just a Guzzi part-number that means nothing.

Timken.

Sometimes, taking a ride may only be motivated by a lady running a food truck... I really enjoy the subdued, genuine authentic friendliness; I don't know you, but I get repulsed by the overly commercial fake welcoming you get a lot those days.

Having Marc Marquez racing for Ducati factory, while being a sore in VR46's flank presents some unkowns. Time has most likely smoothed the edges with the general Italian MotoGP public, even if during a recent interview, VR46 made it clear that 2015 will remain the low of his entire motorcycle racing life. Next year, ten years after, Marc Marquez is hopeful to finally equal Rossi's titles number, and in 2026, go one beyond. To make it a double dip, on an Italian machine no less. After what we have seen in 2024, I have no doubt that he will be a tough competitor for Francesco Bagnaia. If only for what I said above. He made beating Rossi a crusade, and he is going to pull all the stops to achieve that goal. It is a given he will be able to do it. I only see one equal in the pack. Even if Digianantonio will have a GP25, I don't think he is in the same league as the other two GP25 riders. In 2025, I expect Ducati to win all the races; they nearly managed it this year, minus Cota that went to Maverick Viñales. I don't see any other bike as capable as the Ducati . I hope I am wrong though. KTM was the second best last year, but I don't know what is going to happen with their development. Let us not forget that that development will be frozen for the next two years after the 2025 homologation. Those 2025 MotoGP bikes will do the 2026 Championship before the major reshuffle. The next two years will be again a Ducati internal championship.

I suggested to David to make a "5 years" patch; the tour's first year was in 2020; I am certain some riders have been tour finishes for 5 years already.

And an historic one at that... Apparently there from when the highway system started to be deployed, with places where people could make a stop and relax. This is something that is actually missing today. When I compare with what we have in Europe. Highways have rest places coupled with Gas Stations, so people can actually get out of their cars and sit to eat and exchange too. I am aware that in Texas, the simmering heat does not invite to stay outside of the AC in your car, but there are a few gas stations with some benches outside of the building.