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There are talks about Miguel Oliveira moving to the HRC spot left free; Zarco is the obvious choice with Iker Lecuona substituting him at LCR. Now, remember that Fabio DiGiannantonio is also available. How will Marc Marquez do? remember that each and every HRC RSV were developed around Marc Marquez preferences; not me saying it, but Dani Pedrosa after he left the HRC. Obviously, the Ducati is more "one size fits all". Given Marquez natural talent, I have no doubt he will be up there with the best. In any case, Marc's motivation is no secret. He wants to win at least one more world champion title to equal Rossi's. What we don't know, is who is leaving Honda to relocate with Marc... the Marquez' team is a tight knit group for whom Marc obtained top salaries at Honda. Those people will not get the same money at a private team. I have another question; Repsol main HRC sponsor is the national Spanish oil and gas company. Are they going to stay at Honda, or leave with Marc?

It is now official; The HRC has announced that Marc Marquez will be leaving at the end of the 2023 season. Remains now to get Ducati and Gresini's declaration confirming his arrival for 2024. This finally ends the rumors that have been going on for the last few months. Now there are many more new gossip in the making: Honda may have contacted Maverick Viñales to replace Marc Marquez at the HRC, when Maverick is still under contract with Aprilia. To put some more spices, some are also seeing Quartararo leaving Yamaha to replace Maverick, if..... Let's see what happens next. Jake Gagné will come to MotoGP?

@igor You may find this topic interesting;

I am trying to get some ball park amounts as it is very unlikely I would be able to do it myself. I asked MPH but did not get any feed-back yet. They may be busy relocating to Tomball from Park Ten. If I understood well, the tapered bearings were not systematically greased when installed. There are some exceptions. However, I suppose that if you take the Swing Arm apart, it is probably best to replace the bearings anyway. Do we have a part number for TIMKEN replacement?

My intention are less noble than yours... I was only looking for a second bike with more range than my present one. Even more now that my average mpg has taken a sudden plunge; the 3000 fuel hesitation has vanished, but at the cost of getting less mileage on a single tank. I really love taking those back roads that you find in Texas. They have those funny names such as Farm to Market or Ranch Road and what not. However, if you stick to these, avoiding major cities, you will not find any gas station. This is particularly true in the Western part of Texas where everyone has a truck, and a good for 700 miles tank. This last trip, I refilled at Pecos, took the I-20 down to Kent and the 118 to the McDonald Observatory. I did not see a single vehicle on the 118. There was no cell phone coverage either, or at least not for AT&T. The Gas station at the exit of the I-20 was long abandoned. I suppose it is the same in Northern Norway? I am happy with the V11, but I would welcome the Stelvio and its 30 liters tank any given day. The QUOTA has a 200 miles range, but I really dream of 300 miles range.

The most important is that we feel alive....

Something I always wanted to understand from a multiple vehicle owner. How do you decide which one you are going to ride on any given day? What is it based upon? specific use? itinerary? pillion? It is a serious question; I only have two vehicles, one with four, the other with two wheels. To me, it is always easy, because four wheels is only a back up. Two wheels are superior in every compartment of the pleasure rank. Even if a 911 is its own kind of reward, nothing beats a Guzzi. Note that I did ask a similar question to my Saudi friend, when I worked for Aramco... (he had multiple wives)

At least you do not need to provide an email and a password to log in... I always preferred analogical instruments personally. I still do. I love looking at the dash of my 911 after I switched on the ignition, witnessing all the vitals of the cars coming to life with the engine.

You get a rocker patch with the year's millesime; the patch has either one or two stars to distinguish 25 or 50 stops completed. I found it is a good incentive to ride. Even if this year, the temperatures made any venture challenging and the tropical rains are posing a problem from the safety point of view. I use the Radar app, and I plan my rides carefully. When you see what happened in New-York and New-Jersey, you need to be factoring the weather seriously. The current infrastructures were never conceived for this kind of rainfalls.

I did the last 10 stops to complete this year's Grand Tour last week-end, 22/23/24 September 2023. I have updated the report consecutively with maps, roadmap, fuel management and photos, if you are interested. I am extremely happy to have not suffered one single problem with the V11 this year; it is the first time since I got the bike in April 2021.

Just back from a I came back from a 1750 miles trip yesterday. Both Marlin's instruments are at least still on the bike; I did not loose them because they sheared from their support as with the Formotion. But that is the only positive point. The thermometer pointer was no longer connected to the sensor, or at least this is what I think happened. The clock was trailing time by several hours after I set it properly before my trip. I think it has to do with the torque from the V11; I noticed the seconds hand would have a hard time clearing between the 9 to 12 side of the quadrant while in motion. I need to make a video of the issue. Updated on September 27th 2023: I received the new thermometer from Marlin's and I replaced it. The pointer remains steady until I hit 60 miles an hour. Then it becomes unreadable, like the previous one. My conclusion is that the instruments are fine, they don't shear like the Formotion did, but the vibrations output of the V11 prevent them from working properly. I will attempt one last trial tomorrow. I will swap sides; installing the thermometer on the right, the clock on the left. If not, well at least I have determined that none of the analogical gauges will work, unless they are installed in the center of the bike.

However, the topic was about Marlin's instrument. So topic deviation happens in the same way. I agree that a "for sale" topic needs to be left demure of anything else that don't belong.

well, that happens a lot, isn't it? just take a look at my post about the Marlin's instruments. Did I see Stilettos and Daggers there too?

It is more than a rumor at this point. Ducati has confirmed that Marquez riding for Gresini is a valid possibility, since unlike Pramac, Ducati has no say in which pilot Gresini can recruit. However, I am hopeful Marquez is only doing this to stir up Honda. First, the last thing we want is to have all the best pilots on Ducati machinery. Second, Honda never let Marquez down, even when he injured himself and he could not ride, and even made the decision to come back too early, sending him back to the hospital. They kept paying him as if he was racing. Ducati has already Bagnaia, Bezzecchi, Martin.... Bassanini seems to have toned down for some reason. They don't need Marquez. Marquez said that he would tell either in India or Japan, but has now said more likely after Japan. So the suspense remain. Meanwhile Jake Gagné won his third Moto America Superbike in a row. He should get a chance to compete in WSBK?

I would not think they have a leg to stand on? the architecture of the engine is not patented; or if it was, the protection is long expired. I would say to avoid any "cease and desist" as they are going to try to sell it outside of China, and "Defender" cannot be a Trademark. Remember when Ferrari wanted to name the car to commemorate the 150 years of Ferrari the F-150? well, Ford told them no way..... even if Ferrari tentatively said there were no reason anyone could mistake a Ford pickup F-150 with a Ferrari F-150.... On the subject of what China did, still do?; To work in China, all your equipment had to be nationalized and virtually impossible to remove if you had to shut down operations. This is how they could copy absolutely everything that came through. When I worked for SINOPEC, I found that some of the equipment their Chinese contractors used were carbon copies of that same equipment that was imported back in the 80's and 90's. In the same way, when I was living in Paris (France), you could literally see Asian looking people taking pictures of all the exposed fashion in the windows of the big brands. They did the same in Italy with Ceramic and other artisan creations. But china is now well on its way to do things on their own. I don't think they need much more help because the world is completely in their hands for just about everything. Look at the masks used for C19? everybody suddenly discovered they were only made in China!!! More preoccupying, are the aircraft spares with forged documentation to identify them as OEM, while they are not.

This is the Quota 1100ES that I went to check in Boise Idaho! here's the add on Craigslist! I would have purchased it, but the HOA denied my request to leave a motorbike outside, while initially they had tentatively said they would give me the authorization. I also spoke to the previous owner who was a Guzzi fanatic and optimized the fuel mapping. I vouch for it no problem.

The wreckers are not supposed to give away the registration document without double crossing them, so the administration knows this document was not for a complete motorcycle, but just for the frame with the identifier. This was indeed the procedure to prevent fraud. Obviously, wreckers found they could get additional benefits from that, and they would request more money to not cross the document, contributing to the fraud. However, this kind of fraud is now obsolete. They now collect the bikes, and transfer them to countries that are not so stringent on origin. Normally, they do that with luxurious vehicles. Since everything is now wireless, some people have found way to hack cars that are supposed to be fortresses. This is why I love my Le Mans. No electronics, nothing can go wrong! (almost nothing....)

Indeed! it sounds like a nightmarish experience. The procedure you described was one of those used by motorcycle thieves in France in the 70's in order to resell stolen bikes. They purchased a frame from a wrecking company with the registration certificate and used it to legitimize the stolen motorcycle. The 70's documentation was easily forged. Basically a piece of grey reinforced paper with typewritten numbers. As the years went by, authorities started to be more suspicious of damaged documentation that had become undecipherable. Then engine numbers started to be recorded too.

I brought all my stuff from France to Houston via groupage, albeit before the so-called supply chain collapse. It was a 20ft container, I only paid 2000 USD including packing. That is if you accept to let the freight forwarder decide when to ship your stuff. Usually, when a ship has some non booked space. It took about 5 months before mine sailed. I am aware that today, available space is nonexistent because of all the turmoil still happening. But I recommend you check with freight forwarders directly. Do not use the various companies that propose that service to bring vehicles from abroad at your door. They are a lot more expensive. If you don't mind taking care of the few administrative issues, then you can get it for cheap(er). You may want to check the German requirements to register a motorcycle imported from outside the EU...

I spoke to the Marlin's Instruments owner; I was so surprised to even be able to speak to someone directly without first having to listen to a bot. I described the issue, and he thinks he knows what the problem is. In any case, he is sending me a new thermometer. I rode again late this afternoon, and the pointer oscillates back and forth so much that you cannot tell what temperature the gauge reads while riding. When I stopped back home, it was reading 105 degF when the ambient was in the 89 degF. Something isn't quite right.

Lol, less than a 1/4 mile out riding and the thermometer pointer was revolving like that of a stop watch.... The clock held up..... so far

I can relate to that... one of my buddy had a Pantah that spent more time waiting on repairs than on the road. Ducati has come a long way since, and the Mostro was really "a coup de maitre" from Ducati when they came up with it; was it Michele Galuzzi? I can't remember off the top of my head... All the other manufacturers copied the concept. Today, Ducati are sold in Ducati Stores, no longer sharing space with the "others"...

Here's the link to the new brand I found as an alternative to Formotion:

Foreword: I initially purchased and installed one clock and one thermometer from the Formotion brand. Twice one of the instrument sheared from its brackets. Formotion replaced it free of charge, but when it happened a second time this year in 2023, I came to the conclusion the way the dial is attached to the bracket is too flimsy. I have now installed Marlin's instruments which link is provided herewith. They have several clocks and thermometer faces, I chose white background. Hopefully, they will stay on my Le Mans longer this time. I will let you know if we get any casualty. Photo 1: Formotion Instruments Photo 2: details of the sheared clock from its mount: I found another company, Marlin's; The fixation for the instruments is articulated, and seems a lot more sturdy than Formotion. You can replace the battery in the clock, it is your typical button one. The instruments glow in the dark. Here's how it looks: Photo 3: Marlin's Instruments Photo 4: The holding bracket is articulated you can swivel and tilt the dial, and the clock can be rotated for better view; Photo 5: left hand side. Photo 6: clock details Photo 7: Thermometer details... yes, it is still hot in Texas.... 93F

No rain? I had planned to conclude the tour this week-end, but did not. I have to do the two route 66 stops and will make my way down to Marfa where I am planning to shoot the Guzzi under the starry skies, possibly the Milky Way. However, past week-end with rain precluded it. In the last "Ride Texas" magazine, they actually propose some rides in Arkansas; looks pretty!