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I am European mostly; in Europe, or at least when I lived there, our motorcycles were our day-to-day mean of transportation. Not something we would only use on our spare time. At the time, most of us could only afford one motorcycle; also because motorcycle insurance in Europe is much more expensive than here. After finding out about the guy that does the Motorcycle Texas Tour with his motorcycle on a trailer, it certainly educated me. But it is not only the bikes. I have neighbors who own exotic cars, and only take them for a spin on Sundays. I understand they don't want to put too many miles on them, but what is the point, then?

Meaning, 3500 miles in 12 years, that's about 300m/y. Am I the only one riding his bike every day?

Good for you! I would say you got it at a pretty good price. 12 years, 3500 miles.... I did that in one month! There is something I am missing here...

I did 1245 miles 17th and 18th of August 2024; That's about 2004 km. About 18 hours of riding time. I did 1926 miles in August, plus the local errands.

You asked for it!

When my home base was set in Paris (France), a member of my family worked for Euro Disneyland later Disneyland Paris since before the inauguration in 1992. I practically lived in the park and the Disney Village since I had unlimited free access. Disney also gave free access to children from a children only hospital, l'hopital Necker in Paris, with rare diseases, including cancer, most of those terminal. I saw many of these groups of kids, in the park as they were wearing a specific badge and were accompanied by nurses additionally to the usual Disney ushers. If you have never seen children in this state, this is heart tearing! you need not be told. One look... you get it right away. It makes you feel bad to be healthy! no kid should have his/her journey in this world complicated by medical situations so early in their lives. If you feel like you would like to contribute; I actually don't have anybody else to ask. I don't know anybody in the USA excepted from you guys. Here's the link: https://team.curethekids.org/team/600310

I will tell you the detail when I get the invoice today; To recap: -I purchased the bike in February 2024; I rode it from Arizona to here. -I got the State Inspection done right away, did the Texas registration. -I drove the bike to MPH Houston; the intention was to have a complete inspection and evaluation. I did the same with my V11 once it got here from Florida. Every time I gave away my motorcycle to MPH, it took no less than six weeks to get it back. Hence, one of the reason to have minimum two. I do not know why the output is so low, but I suspect I am not high on the priority list. Every time I go there to check, Davey is working on those vintage BMW. I actually see many more BMW than MGs. The Quota was promised to me for the beginning of July, but Davey went on vacation. Given that MPH is about the only shop that accepts to work on older motorcycles (except for Japanese), I am not going to make a big deal out of it. Life taught me to be patient. My V11 filled the void, and I cannot ride two bikes at once. I only use MPH for the major work. The one that requires equipment I do not have, and I also need to take into consideration that my garage is more a sauna than a place where a mechanic can accomplish great work. I do the routine maintenance, the one that I can complete quickly. I have been toying with the idea to sell my 911, and install a proper lift table, air supply, work bench... but this would not suffice; I need a full-blown AC to be able to do anything. It is not even a problem of being uncomfortable, but it is physically impossible. I perspire so much that my glasses fall off my nose each time I look down.

I am going to go get it tomorrow... It took six months!!! I am going to do a proper photo shoot with it.

According to one of those journalists that provide a GP debrief, it seems that Jorge Martin fell into a trap set by Francesco Bagnaia. Apparently, Pecco knew that Jorge was going to make a move, and he anticipated that he would not be able to brake to make the turn. This is another aspect of the racer we also need to factor in. He is capable of strategy, not only being fast on the bike. The journalist also touched upon the existing collaboration between Enea Bastianini and Bagnaia. Bagnaia explained that both riders frequently collaborate and help each others. Because they share the workload, it helps them to pick the best setup. Bagnaia explained that he did not have time to check the hard front, which Bastianini did. He simply walked to Enea and asked him what he thought. Enea told him that it was a no-go for the race. Next year, Bagnaia will not get that kind of assistance from MM93. This Austian GP was deemed "boring"; a Ducati show in KTM's territory!!

Unfortunately, those "marathon" rides are tiring, especially by this weekend's temperatures! as you go further West, it gets incredibly hot! I was impressed by the V11, which took it all without flinching. One thing I noticed, a lot of oil escaped from the final transmission oil breather. Probably due to the last portion of the ride, in sixth at 5k rpm, 104 degF temperature, long portions at sustained regime. Not sure what was the indexed one. Probably above 110 degF... if you open your visor, the hot air hits you like a blow torch! Unbelievable! Anyway, I will update the report later.

You are allowed 5 stops without your motorcycle, as long as you stand in the picture holding your flag.

@PJPR01 Saturday and Sunday I did a 10 stops hitch with the Hotel Texas as the final destination. At the Hotel another rider chimed in; Get this: his family, two kids, two dogs are on the trip. This is narrated to me... Initially, I thought this was really nice. Having your whole family coming with you. But get this: his motorcycle is on a trailer, behind the car. When he gets to a stop, he unloads it, takes the picture, and on with the road trip. I don't understand. I thought riding your bike is the gist of why you would participate. It gives you an objective, the mean reason why you would do it in the first place. I am aware that many do the same when they participate in popular motorcycle rallies, such as Sturgis, Daytona Beach, LoneStar. Well, I guess one has to see it all, and some.

No problem; enjoy Kansas! It is going to be a test for me. I have never yet ridden in a motorcycle group per se. The maximum I went out for a ride were three, that's a long time ago. Since I got a confirmation notice, it means the ride is happening; more than two people have subscribed.

Each time we purchased a new motorcycle, in the 70's, mostly Japanese, we replaced all the cruciform fasteners with Allen ones. At the time, a company sold complete kits for every popular motorcycle. The only issue, they were not stainless steel, but had a Phosphating surface treatment (makes the fastener black); unfortunately, those would rust easily.

@PJPR01 It is on a Sunday, and Montgomery is only 55 minutes from Texas says Google maps! I have submitted my candidature. My Quota is ready, said Davey, the last delay is for him to make the invoice... I have never participated to one of those. How do you raise funds? just being there and riding your motorcycle?

@FreyZI I have to command your perseverance! Nothing is impossible when you set your mind to it. I always wondered why some fasteners would refuse to come out at times. Overtorqued? repetitive bending forces? fastener material? maybe installations made to never needed to be disassembled?

Ah... now I get it! The only times we did this were when we met a new girl. The group's presentation would determine if she would be admitted. The main criterion was accepting to ride on a motorcycle. Many candidates lost privileges because of trivial issues such as messy hair and make-up because of the helmet. The major offense was always to not being able to wear the clothes they wanted, of course the shoes.... Now about opinion on vehicles... my first car, my father came with me. We could not agree on anything. I suspect that it would be identical with a motorcycle. But to a lesser extent because I do all the research behind a screen. The actual "live presentation" part is not the most important. At that point, I have already made up my mind. Besides, if excepted for my first V11 purchase in 2000, I have always asked this forum collegial opinion. A good example is that I wanted to purchase a Stelvio 1200 NTX, and ended up purchasing a Quota 1100 ES based on the feed-back.

Ha! i am with you here.... So you would like "her":

I am prepared to bet that not many of you ever knew that band: Propaganda? 80's music, but they released an incredible album(at that time). "A secret wish" that I encourage you to listen, if that kind of music is your particular flavor. Maybe @audiomick? were you there already? https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda_(Band) Claudia Brücken made my heart go "boom boom"...

I was under the impression that a good deal would mean that I, am happy. The seller maybe too, but he is not my main preoccupation. I always make my purchase the lonesome way. But I agree with your statement that it is better to be more than less. The "good cop bad cop" works that way too. Especially with dealerships. They use that trick a lot. You deal with one guy, but when it is the time to close the deal, you have to face a different person. They call it a "hand change". This is meant to kill the confidence and comfort you may have established with the sales assistant. But I do all the pre deal in writing via email, so there are no misunderstandings. Once I am satisfied that all my questions have been answered, including pricing if I disagree, then I go. Something I never do, is to try to haggle the price when on site, unless there was something that was not disclosed previously. When I accept to check the bike out, it means that I am going to buy it as is. Otherwise, I don't waste my or the seller's time to try to get the price down. As for someone trying to lower the price during the test drive, I have had that. Even when my narrative was very specific, the price was firm because reasonable.

@audiomick Nice catch! I should have thought about it immediately. What is really incredible, is they dubbed the electrical whining to make it more enticing with a real ICE sound. This is really hypocrite... Especially with current's Paris mayor, who has been on a crusade to eliminate all ICE vehicles from the city, including motorcycles. She also came up with the paid parking for motorcycles, while it had been free, and the interdiction to park outside of motorcycle dedicated spots, those dedicated spots being very scarce. Her latest idea, is to keep some of the restrictions that have been introduced for the Olympic Games, in particular the "reserved" third lane on the Paris circular road. We shall see how's that going to pan out.

I'd be tempted to say it is a Triumph Speed Triple.

I was wrong. This is not a twin, but it is either three cylinders or four cylinders. Three cylinders but not with a 120 degrees crank angle, because it has not got that typical triple sound, so it has one of those T-Plane arrangement. This is based on the sound of the motorcycle in that "behind the scenes" video.

Knowing that he actually does his own stunts, including the many jumps for his last Mission Impossible movie, he is perfectly capable to ride a bike in the middle of Paris.

To be honest, he has shown remarkable adaptation to the Gresini GP23 this season. He is yet to win one, but he has so far be the top rider on the GP23. In a slightly less efficient environment that a factory team. Next year, with Factory Ducati's top-notch entourage, with a current year machinery, it will be on him. I don't know if it is true, but Dall'Igna said that this year, the competitiveness difference between the GP24 and GP23 is more pronounced than between the GP23 and GP22. Marquez and DiGiannantonio have also said the same. Marquez also said that he still makes mistakes if he just puts himself in strictly racing mode, as his natural Honda reflexes take over. You know what they say: habits are difficult to get rid of once they have become your routine.