audiomick

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.

Sorry... The one in the film must habe been similar to this when new. I got mine at a flea market, for around €20.- I think. Works fine.

Look for the brand "Leinbrock". I hadn't done any research, but a quick look just now reveals that it is (was) a German manufacturer in eastern Germany, which means it was in the DDR after WW II. The one in the photo further up is a Leinbrock that my girlfriend brought into the relationship. She had actually only bought it as a decoration object. I decided it needed to be used, and screwed it onto the wall the first time nearly 25 years ago. I suspect that all the neighbours in the building can hear when we grind the coffee, but I don't care. The grinder is great. On a whim, I went looking for grinders at a very big flea market here in Leipzig. The idea was to have more than one grinder at home, in order to be able to grind my own blends. That hasn't really panned out yet, but the very nice "table-top" grinder that I found at the time is the same brand. Shortly after I bought it, I found a stand on the flea market with a whole table full of grinders. They were all, or at least nearly all, "Leinbrock". I have the impression that this brand was a market leader in times when hand grinders were the normal thing.

Incidentally, they got the quote wrong in the Video. It should be "better, stronger, faster"... My goodness, that is 50 years old.

@Lucky Phil I really hope the machine delivers all it promises. I've gone down a different path. Coffee is a luxury that gets shipped halfway around the world before I get to see it. I want it to be a ritual. This is what I have at home. I know how many times I have to turn the handle on the grinder for each Bialetti pot, so the beans are ground fresh every time. A Bialetti pot for every occasion, a metal pot to warm the milk for my flat white. Amazing how in-depth one can get with even the simplest of equipment.

True. I managed to watch 52 seconds of that video, and that was an effort. Wont be watching the rest...

So that would be the Philosopher's Stone then, right?

I've got a Breva 750 i.e. that pretty much fills the bill on that. It had less than 10,000 km on it when I got it for a good price. The catch is the "20 year old bike" bit. It had run a documented 800 km in the ten years before I bought it, and has the whole "change all the rubber bits" thing. So if "cheap and cheerful" is what you are after, go for the V9, if that's your thing, or one of the new V7 range, i.e. not twenty years old. If you want "interesting" as well, go for the V11 and put in the effort to get it good. It is worth it. I haven't got mine good yet, and I still love it. The Breva 750 is all good, is fun indeed, and runs beautifully, but it isn't really "interesting".

And in the crank-case breather system. There are rubber hoses involved that don't stand the test of time all that well.

Speaking of old farts.... I had a job in 2004 in Bremen. I was responsible for monitors (stage sound) for the guest artist, so when the "studio band" was playing, I spent a lot of time on stage in the rehearsals facilitating the communcation for my colleague who was doing their monitor sound. There was a bass player who appeared with the studio band, singing one of his most famous songs. A fairly unpleasant person, I found, as it happens, but that is also a fairly well known thing so I don't fell all that bad about writing that here. Anyway.... Time came to rehearse the song. The man in question came on stage with his quirky Gibson bass, and wanted to plug in to the amp that had been provided. Problem: no cable. After a few minutes of confusion, someone produced a collection of adapters, saying "this will work, wont it?". NO, says I, and went and nicked a cable off a prepared riser that was behind the stage. I then watched the approximately 70-year-old man fiddling with his bass amp, forgot who it was and only saw the old man, and asked "do you really want to do that?" (what he was doing on the amp didn't make sense to me...). He nearly exloded, and explained in no uncertain terms that he was involved in the developement of those amps, and knew very well what he was doing thank you very much (and was later proved by the sound that came out absolutely in the right...). In the course of the rebuke, I rememberd who I was talking to, and was able to back down more or less elegantly. This is the song that was played, featuring the slightly unpleasant 70-year-old man on bass, a clip from the TV show where this all happened: More name-dropping on the theme of "old farts": the bloke with the acoustic guitar is Greg Lake. The bloke with the black beanie is Chris Thompson. The bloke with the long coat on keyboards is Manfred Mann. The bloke playing flute is Ian Anderson. The dark-skinned bloke in the back-ground who is also playing bass is also up there, but unfortunately I can't remember his name. EDIT: Victor Bailey, the other bass player. Needless to say, I really enjoyed that job.

There is really something special about an old fart who has been playing his instrument for 50 years, isn't there.

Whilst I truly fully understand having and liking such a precision instrument, I really couldn't be buggered farting around that much with the valve clearance on a push-rod motor. Having said that, I respect the attention to detail compeletely. It's just me trying to curb my compulsive perfectionismus a bit. If I didn't, setting the valve clearances could cost me a week of solid work. What, already?

@Pressureangle If you can see a pun hiding in there, I have an inkling that a conversation with you might be really good fun.

Yes, but don't forget that wear can dish the gap between valve and follower and falsify the reading! (comma, period...) I've read lots of posts in various forums about valve clearance. The above, about taking care that you get a good measurement, about the benefits of leaving the clearance at the long end of the tolerance, whatever. We're talking about highly-tuned tractor motors here. And a standard set of feeler gauges goes in 0.05 mm steps (0,05 in Europe... ). I've come to the conclusion that it is sufficient if the target-clearance gauge goes through, and the next larger one doesn't.

There is a saying in Germany, with a ring of truth to it, that translates as "nothing lasts longer than a stop-gap solution"... Seriously though, well done. A very neat solution. Just keep an eye on the brass bit. If I recall correctly, the equivalent original part is steel. Maybe the brass can take it, but I'd be watching it to make sure.