audiomick

And what doesn't get mentioned in all of this is your water supply. Perhaps a little more important for a good cup of tea, but also for good coffee. If the water is not good (too hard, too much chlorine, whatever...) the product wont be good. I remember a job I did in the first couple of years in Germany. I'm talking about tea here, but the point applies. The job was here: https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/240059372#map=16/46.87158/11.02950 altitude just over 1900 metres. So we are talking about "pure mountain water". Up to that point I had been a little frustrated with my attempts to make a good cup of tea in Munich, and then the caterer there served a cup of tea that was absolutely fantastic. I'm sure that a commercial caterer wasn't making any great effort in the choice of tea, or the precise preparation. It was just the water. The same applies to coffee. If your water isn't good, you can try what you want, it wont be really good.

That's it. About a year ago, in the process of rationalising getting rid of the GTR 1000 to myself, I did a back-to-back ride over a stretch of road heading north out of Leipzig. The GTR 1000 on the one hand (about 91 hp, 290 kg) and the V35 Imola on the other (something less than 30 hp, around 170 kg). I came to the conclusion that I wasn't using the extra 60 hp on the Kawasaki, even taking the extra weight into consideration. A moderately powered bike, as long as it is fairly light, is enough to have immense amounts of fun.

Yeah, me too mate. I had an inkling that coffee nerds exist, and that bloke it the proof in the pudding. And I'm sure he is definitely not on the payroll at Gaggia. The grinder looks really good. Over 60 dB is still pretty loud, actually (and we wont get into the measurement method or whether his meter is calibrated or anything like that), but he did mention the pertinent point: it allegedly doesn't sound annoying. Have fun with it, Phil.

Looks like this: although, if they haven't done it already, it will probably in the near future have Charlie on it instead of Betty.

Yes please. I would also be most interested in having that explained.

@p6x : regarding having chose the wrong brand, listen (again) carefully at around 5:03 where he says "or my Moto Guzzi Griso"... As far as the philosophy goes, yes, he hit the nail on the head. I too have experienced the value of a bike with "no power". My V35 Imola. The handling is good for its age. The motor claims to make about 30 h.p., but probably doesn't really do even that. That bike fits perfectly to what he said about "thrashing the bike without getting too far into illegal". Fantastic. And it is beautiful into the bargain. I don't need to tell anyone here about the joys of the V11, I expect. Still, it is "too fast" for public roads, actually. It seems to be happy about 140 km/h, and that is 40 more than legal, and definitely fast enough to get into trouble a bit too quickly. Still, even though it has lots of issues to be fixed, I'll be keeping it. The one that surprised me is the Breva 750 i.e. . I'm still not quite sure about the looks. The seating position is too upright for my taste, and it will get some clip-ons at some point because of that. Despite that, the thing is really good fun to ride. Moderate in all things, but just nice.

I know the thread is about espresso, actually, and I've been writing about coffee with milk in it. The espresso it still the point. If that's not good, the flat white wont be either. So anyway, these are, in my humble opinion, the fundamental requirements around which a good breakfast can be constructed.

Two Australians. For those not in the know, the coffee culture in Melbourne has got to be one of the most refined in the world, I reckon. It started around the early '80s, I think, and has been developing and refining itself ever since. Driven by the large Italian immigrant population, but no doubt also influenced by the equally large Greek community. Anyway, to put it into perspective... My experience over the last couple of visits "back home" is that if you have really bad luck, and make a really bad choice of cafe in Melbourne, you might get served with a coffee that is only just better than mediocre. In comparision, here in Germany, if you get really lucky, on a good day, in a cafe that is an inside tip from someone, and the person making the coffee is having a good day, you might get a coffee that is nearly good. The term "Flat white" is starting to turn up here. Probably introduced by people who where on holidays in Australia, and saw it there. Every time I see it on a menu, I give it a go. Mostly it turns out to be a half a cup of foam, made with UHT skimmed milk, with about a thimble full of something liquid underneath it that may have seen a coffe bean at a distance. I love my Bialettis. PS: as far as the grinder goes, I was informed that the grind for a Bialetti should not be so fine, so the old hand grinder is ok. Seems to work well, at least.

Settle down, Pete. It works ok, and what "retro" model these days can afford to ignore the Hipsters?

I'm sure it is. I took a test ride a couple of years ago on a V7 Special. I found the level of mechanical noise a bit surprising, but otherwise it was an extremely pleasant motorcycle. I don't expect that Piaggio has gone backwards in the intervening years.

Me too.

I prefer a flat white to an espresso, mostly. For those that don't know: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_white So we are talking about a double espresso topped up in a fairly small receptacle with steam-heated milk. I "discoverd" the variation in Melbourne in the '80s, consistent with the Wiki aricle. Contrary to the article, it is usually served in a glass, not a porzellan cup. Anyway... I can do something very close at home with the Bialettis and a pot to heat the milk. The annoyance is, cafes here in Germany have discovered the term, and are starting to include it in their menus without finding out what it really means. What you tend to get is A cup half full of foam: WRONG: "flat" means without foam with just enough liquid milk to be able to say that it is not black coffee: WRONG made with UHT skim milk, fat content 1.5%. WRONG on two counts. The cream is what it is all about, and UHT milk tastes terrible. So I regularly take the risk and order a "flat white" here, in the hope that they may have understood the one true way. Mostly, they haven't. Maybe I'll learn one day...

Yeah, been there and done that with another forum where I am an Admin. You go with what you got. No worries.

@docc I think there are only two, the V85 "series", and the V100. The V100 is really new, water cooled, modern, and will probably (my opinion) be the basis for a number of new models. The V85 and derivatives is a development of the "small block" motors that were introduced about 50 years ago. The big step, as far as I see it, is getting away from the Heron heads. They were praised as "efficient" and what-have-you, but in fact, as far as I can tell, the biggest advantage for the manufacturer was that they were cheap to produce. They have inherent limitations regarding how much fuel-air mixture can be inducted on the intake stroke, and limitations on the size of the valves. The V7 IV, I believe it was, went to a head design with angled valves. Much better. The V 85 stayed with that, and made some more ground with it, as far as I can tell. As far as the difference between the V85 models and other new "small blocks" goes, I reckon the V85 and the new V7 850 have basically the same motor, but the V7 range is "reduced" to be cheaper to produce, and, more importantly, to maintance a difference to the "premium" V85.

So the forum software doesn't like that, because it is obviously not appropriate to talk about male body parts in vernacular. Starts with "D", and ends in "ick". And it is the most common nickname for people named Richard. Let's try, for the sake of equality, boobs, or pussy. Edit: Hmmm.... 'notheredit: I'm in for the valve clearances.

So somewhere between a bee's @#$$#! and a poofteenth. Thanks mate.

Which is exactly the point. The big block motors exhibit loads of character, but they are tractor motors. The small blocks (I've got a V35 Imola and a Breva 750) are also boat anchors, but they are a bit lighter. A more or less modern motor with a proper cyclinder head (i.e. not Heron) should work fairly well. The V85 TT has never been interesting for me, because I don't like chook chasers. However, the motor has been praised in many tests, and also by many people that I know personally. That new V7 with the "good" motor would possibly be exactly the combination that I would like. As long as it has clip-ons. But it's all day-dreams anyway. Just nice to think about....

Without knowing any of the details, I think there is a bit more to it than that. Although most of it might be in the engine management, I suppose. As far as the 80 hp goes, the original only had about 70, didn't it? So what do you want for nothing...

Yes, so do I.

Yes, definitely. The tyres on my Breva 750 had done 800 km when I bought it, after having been mounted ten years previously. They looked, predictably, brand new. Last winter and during the summer I got by with them, albeit aware that they were not really all that good. As this winter started, it was obvious that it was time. Still lots of tread on them, but they were just too old and were not providing any grip in the cooler, damper conditions. At least I got about 2,500 km out of them. With the new tyres on it, it is not like a new bike, but like the same bike with usable tyres on it.

No, not done, if you have the money. I bet that the V85 motor would just bolt straight in. Practically impossible to get it legally registered with that here, I fear, but a really tempting idea.

Can you do that one again in metric, please? I'm getting splinters under my fingernails trying to convert it.

Yeah mate, I know. I just like using the manual grinder, and the Bialettis. As I wrote further up, I want it to be a ritual, and those things do it for me.