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And just when I had thought all hopes were gone.... here's Francesca!

From Ragazze in Moto:

This is exactly my experience.... I confirmed it with a long time friend of mine! she told me she never cared much for the ride; much more for the rider!!!

@docc I found a website in Italy, translating into "girls on motorbikes". Lots of day to day ladies riding their own motorbikes, but competing for views of their clichés. Only... after sifting through more than 100 pages of photos, I could not find a single lady on a Moto Guzzi!!! Most of these all around the age groups beauties are from Italy, and the great majority ride on Ducati; many Japanese, a few odds and ends like KTM Duke, even Harley Davidson (when you know how much they cost in Europe!). Sad truth is, I did not (so far) find a single one on a Guzzi, let alone a V11... The people on this site are the last of a kind...

It is probably because I am old, but I like the large round head light on the V11; it really gives its true identity as a café racer. The newer dot lights are more efficient, but in my mind, it kind of desecrates the aura.

I can no longer react today.... We should start our own photo shoot with "normal" ladies and our own motorbikes? I am going to go to Galveston today, they are having their Mardi Gras celebration, and I know there are plenty of ladies willing to pose. Unfortunately, my Le Mans is still at the hospital. So we should post our own pics with whoever we find along the path.

I was going to put a like, but I get a message that tells me I have exceeded my quota of reactions for today...

Lots of good reasons described so far. I only have one question, to which I will never be able to answer; I grew up during the two strokes/four strokes war! All my friends were racing on two strokes, and we frowned upon four strokes, until the time when Honda brought the CB 750, we did not feel threatened. If two strokes engines had not been discontinued, would I own a V11 today? I am not certain... I think maybe.

Well, you know that in Italian there are two genders, unlike in Germany for example, where you also have a "neutral" gender. So in Italian, a motorcycle is feminine. Una moto(cicletta. Delle moto(ciclette). So in English, I don't know, is it a he or a she?

In my experience, motorcycles never were chick magnets; or let me rephrase this and be more specific. In Europe, I used to go to discotheques on my motorbike. I changed before getting close to the bouncers at the entrance. My friends had cars. I quickly discovered a few inconveniences; when you hook up in the club, having a conversation in a quiet place does not translate well when you are with your motorbike.... also, none of the ladies otherwise interested in knowing me better liked that I only had a motorcycle as a mean of transportation. Apparently those expensive hair styling were more important; but it is not my fault if they forget to put on warm clothing in winter, going to a club. Which was pretty good for my wallet anyway....

I have been keeping my ears to the ground in the hope to get some update on a possible V100 Mandello release and.... nothing. Moto Guzzi (Piaggio) has made public their price list for the 2022 models, the usual V7 and V85TT; Nothing about the V100 which reinforces my idea the V100 may not even come out in 2022. However, the well known Italian designer Oberdan Bezzi came up with a few ideas which could possibly be an inspiration to Piaggio; what do you think?

So we are here, all around the bonding V11 fire; we talk MGV11, we walk MGV11, we breath MGV11, we dream MGV11... how's that? I understand why I have one. Not by chance, an educated decision, even if it took a long time. I wanted a V11 Le Mans and it had to be red. I wanted a Moto Guzzi since 1972, it only took me 51 years to fulfill my quest. Ok, I will give you that my initial love was the V7 Sport, the green one from 1974. I am intrigued by those of you who elected a Moto Guzzi as a high prize. What bugged you then?

All the adhesives come with the kit that you purchase when you elect to participate; this is why you also see SIMA (Royal Enfield distributor in France) Ipone, Continental.. The 21 adhesive was most likely included. In any case, the individual number does not mean much any longer. All the classification is done via the transponders. The number is just there so the public has a chance to understand who went into the gravel trap. The last time I was at a racing track, I could not even read the number because of the speed.

@Lucky Phil Sadly Zard has nothing in store for the V11 at present; as Erika says, keep monitoring just in case...

@Lucky Phil They look like Arrows to me. Arrows have these signature "flutty" with counter cones at the end of the pipe. But I am not certain. Arrows usually welds the cone; in the picture, it seems held by pop rivets. They don't have anything specific for the V11, but look at the Arrows for the Griso But I know a specialist of Pots d'échappements in the country where the picture was taken. He only sells exhausts for motorcycles. I asked if they recognize it. I don't know if I am going to get a reply. I tried to contact Brian-Ghezzi too, for a purchase, and they never replied. Edit: they replied! Zard or QD. Zard is an Italian company: For your RE For the Grizo (QD)

The other one....

Bingo.... the clue was in the title of the photo if you checked the server....

Did you notice the swirling on the tank? pfff.... terrible. Please answer the quiz with the previous photo, page 23.

Bonus points for who will find the name of the castle the picture was shot from:

There another factor you have to consider; People who normally take their vacation abroad are now going domestic. It would be easy to think that should balance for those foreign tourists, but as I discovered last year at Yellowstone and Grand Teton, everything was mobbed. It is actually good for some of the businesses to be "on demand" again after a period of drought. Too many have succumbed from the habit changes of their usual customers. Around where I live, a lot of restaurants have permanently closed. Those who have managed to survive can't find or keep personnel. Hence, the reason why prices have jacked up so much. I really would like to be able to travel internationally, but I can't plan anything with the continuous changes in what is required to be freely admitted in the countries I am targeting.

The French importer of the Royal Enfield motorcycles is organizing a "low cost" championship for those would be amateur racers, or as they put it: "gentlemen riders". What a nice initiative! obviously, you still have to invest a little bit to participate, since you need to install a specific racing kit on your Continental GT, 2000 EUR. But the total cost to participate to all races is 1,400 EUR, or 200/300 EUR if you only want to do one, which you can... Have a look at the kitted Continental GT 650... looks almost as good as a Le Mans, no? unfortunately, the kit is only available to those who subscribe to the event as it says in the top photos here below. I like the spirit of that competition; old gizzards getting together for a mano a mano.... Here's the announcement from Moto.it

For those of you who don't understand the difference between Illy and Lavazza; This is Illy: