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Maverick Viñales and Yamaha have officially aborted their partnership. Maverick will not ride an M1 anymore. He has signed for Aprilia starting 2022. One year contract with option to continue. On another note, the Malaysian Grand-Prix has been cancelled. It will be replaced by an extra round at Misano Italy. This is a much welcome event for Valentino Rossi's fans. There is also a probability for the Grand-Prix of the America to be cancelled. Remaining the only "off-shore" Grand-Prix now. The logistics effort to displace the circus overseas may not bring enough return on investment?

I beg to differ; the culprit, at least in my opinion, are the entities that organize the events. I am going back to the 70's when 125,250,350,500, were racing on tracks with absolutely zero safety, and about zero leverage to change it. This is why we had so many death back then, simply organizers did not require the tracks to do anything to make the circuit safer. We lost some great guys; Renzo Pasolini, Jarno Saarinen, Didier Ravel, Jack Findlay, Michel Rougerie, Patrick Pons; I was there at the Charade circuit in 1973, when all the 500 stars, Agostini, Sheene threatened to not race because of the lack of safety for them. The FIM blackmailed the B list racers to never race again if they did not participate. Charade hosted both F1 and Motorcycles until 1974. I cannot speak about Pikes Peak, but I am well aware that Dorna owner of MotoGP and WSBK are mainly concerned about the economic aspect of the races. The BRNO track pulled out in 2021 invoking the 6MM Euros required by Dorna to host a Grand-Prix. Ok, they also needed to resurface the asphalt. When you think about some of the penalties, or lack thereof, the panel of stewards of MotoGP are laughable. Anyway, a lot of times, not all, car and motorcycle racing people share a passion for mechanical sports. Maybe not here in the USA. And possibly along the years, it has changed. But I used to go to both Le Mans races. 24 hours Cars and 24 hours Bikes and Bol d'Or.

The "Paris Dakar" raid is also extremely dangerous. I think any mechanical sport has some risk built into. Risks have been mitigated with technology, but still. Carlin Dunne's misfortune was due to a landslide (if I am correct).

Motorbikes have been banned of Pikes Peak before. From 1920 until 1953; from 1956 until 1970; from 1977 until 1979; from 1983 until 1990 following Bill Gross' passing away.

Well, the "fees" as you said, have gotten completely out of reason. I have seen the event parking charges go from 5, to 10, to 15, to 20 and now 25 here in H'town. Next year's Rodeo will be the big tale tell. I would not be surprised to see $30. It is now cheaper to use share rides than to go with your own vehicle.

Good wisdom decision... I found my MG on Cycletrader.com.

I purchased that 3mm short drill in that optic, to make a pilot hole. As for pedestal drill, I checked with a workshop, but they said I would have to just bring the clamp to them, and they clearly weren't interested in going out of their way to help. Now that I have purchased all the tools, I will do it myself. Even if I am not perfectly perpendicular, I should still have enough threads to affix the instruments. I am not too thrilled with the option to hold anything by hand when you drill. For safety reasons.

@Lucky Phil The spacer that I purchased has an OD of 13mm for M6; only 3mm available to grip it. No matter the height of the spacer or boss, OD still 13mm. It is going to be challenging to grip hold something too high. The best bet would be the third one from the top.

@Vtwinstorim Look at this beauty!!! this will go hand to hand with your 900SS!!! and it is for sale.... although, 15k EUR. It is a showroom bike, 4 km on the odometer...

I would say, a 900SS is quite a challenger to the V11. I am sold on the Le Mans, it is really an incredible, exceptional dream on wheels. And.... you can go everywhere with it, it will never let you down, at the side of an empty road. You know what they say about Porsche? this is also valid for a V11. Nothing runs like one...

I am going to look into getting an adequate vice grips; some have large jaws that would allow me to hold the actual spacer I have purchased to offset the clock's holding bracket from the fork's clamp. Although I am pretty confident I should be able to hand drill at 90 degrees, but I have not used my skills for so many years.

Soooooo.... Maverick Viñales has apologized to Yamaha for revving up his engine to "let out" his frustration after a succession of setbacks on track. This is something that feels familiar. Maybe not so much here in the US, but in some places, when the light goes green, people honk you, and I have witnessed revved up engines from exasperated drivers. Obviously, revving up a race engine with no load is not something you should be doing, and Maverick should have had better control of his nerves.

Anne France Dautheville deserves special credit for having been possibly the first ever "Guzzi" lady. She did the 1972 France Iran (Orion Raid), and after reaching the destination Ispahan, she continued by herself to Afghanistan. That Guzzi in the picture should be in a museum. I wonder if she knows where it is now....

When I got my "Motorbike" frenetic obsession, I was about 12 if I remember. I had to wait until 14 to get a mopped, then 16 to get my motobike's license. These were the early 70's, and Moto Guzzi was not even on the map as far as my entourage was concerned. The only bikes to be discussed were either British, German, and of course Japanese. But I read a novel written by a French journalist, who in 1972 did the Orion Raid onboard a Moto Guzzi. The Orion Raid took you from France to Iran. She went on to ride in Afghanistan. The book is interesting in that the Moto Guzzi never failed her. She had some falls, and got local "street shops" to fix her bike with makeshift parts. After that, I always associated Moto Guzzi with "reliable". Not 100% correct, but close enough. Later, during my professional ventures, I worked in Italy for 10 years, and explored all what Italian motorbikes had to offer. Starting with Ducati. I met some very passionate Italian people, and Moto Guzzi started to spike a genuine interest. But it took me a long time to capitalize on my intrigue, since I only purchased the Le Mans last year in 2020. One of the best acquisition I have ever made in the course of my life... every time I ride on it, I forget about all what is not pure joy of going somewhere, nowhere in particular. Just the feeling, the particular engine voice. I don't think I would get that from anything else, but a V11.

@grim Have you watched the "Ahhh Scusi" video?

I purchased mine from a dealership in Pensacola December last year. It was on Cycletrader, same mileage as the one you are looking at. The bike was supposedly spotless. When I went to pick it up, I found the odometer was not working. Before I purchased the bike, I had asked all the relevant questions. Turned out they had never assessed the bike, it was a "consignment". They shipped the bike free of charge to me, this was the least they could do. I had spent the money to get there to drive the bike home. But the one you are looking at is listed on eBay. So you have some protection.

GRIT? as in the food?

I am not going to translate what the guys says to the person who called him at the end.... however, he gives the blame of attempting to answer the phone to the caller. Answering a call, even with a "hands free" solution, is a distraction that keeps our mind off scanning the road and driving accordingly. I hope this guy will never attempt to answer his phone again.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CRE-aBpoEIk/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading

Have you taken the picture in the zero gravity aircraft?

Maverick is at the track, he made a video of himself "on the other side" of the track. He promised he would give a rationale will explain what happened.... in due time! possibly once he gets released from his obligations from Yamaha? Talks about him going to Aprilia are getting traction. Should we start a MotoGP thread?

Gotcha! Austin used to be my "week-end" city, especially because of the Sixth Street. As the California based companies started to spawn there, the accommodation prices went sky rocketing. But the city has a lot of good vibes. My former company had a product center there. I applied for a transfer and I got Houston instead. As for prices, its becoming ludicrous...

I thought about that; to be really efficient as a guide, it should be clamped, completely immobilized. I trust that I should be able to drill the hole perpendicular to the clamp, and concentric enough to be tapped. Before I get to the real thing, I will do a few trials. But my pilot hole should help.

I am confused; on the COTA website, they say bike parking is free of charge. When I check the Motogp website, parking is USD 50.00, no specification bike or cars. $229 for the Grand Stand? Back to back week-ends? no, there is only one GP scheduled, then they fly to Malaysia, the one before is the San Marino one. I have read that BRNO opted out of the circuit because Dorna raised the cost of hosting a MotoGP race. Noticed the teaser on COTA's website is Mark Marquez.... sign of times changing.... prices from COTA direct seem to be cheaper.