audiomick

R.E.M. : it would be nice if the bloke could sing more than four tones. On the subject of french vocals and distorted guitars (ok, the song is from Belgium...) this came out when I was 14, or maybe 15 by the time it came to Australia. I loved it. As far as I can tell, the chorus means something like "it's all ok for me". I found this quote in the Wiki, which I find very appealing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ça_plane_pour_moi

in that category, shitty video, but this lot played in the pub in Melbourne where I was house technician for about two years. One of the best evenings in the entire time, and I don't even really like the style of music.

Tight as a duck's arse. Fantastic. Regarding the "finnish attitude", look at this. Don't pay too much attention to the guitar playing. That is a bit rough, but that is not what the man does for a living. Listen to the voice, and take note that he let his obivously overwhelmed cousin film it and post it on the 'net. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPc7Se3SmkY Dan, the singer, is a member of the ensemble in the Opera in Leipzig where I work. Lovely bloke. This is an indication of what he does for a living. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtmM1IaolYE The point is, someone from another culture who does the opera thing for a living would have threatened to kill the cousin if he didn't take the video down from the net. I spoke to Dan about the video one time, and I don't think he is really happy that it is out there, but he is ok enough with it to not take action. I like that.

@Cabernet re: born to be wild Brilliant. Canny intuition and an internet search machine led me to find out more about them. https://stevenseagulls.com/ The name alone is really high class satire, and the rendition is brilliant. Proof of the ethos if you want to perpetrate musical silliness, make sure you can play your instrument really, really well first. The band is from Finnland, which somehow doesn't surprise me. Interesting people with a very cultivated sense of humour.

Very nice film. The quote from Helen Keller at the end says it all.

Thanks for the tip, but... it is not just leaking a bit. I went for a ride, about an hour and a half, and all was good. When I came out the next day, or the day after, I discover the entire oil content of the left fork on the ground under the bike. It is definitely not just a bit of grit under the seal. The seal has, for whatever reason, shat its pants and given up. On top of that, the bike has about 70,000 km on the clock, and I have no evidence that anyone has ever had a look at the innards of the fork. Given that I can't be sure that this has been done in the recent past, it is about time to have someone who knows what he is looking at do that. The forks will be going to a professional. I'm just not sure yet if that will be the workshop that I take my "too hard or I don't want to do it myself" things to, or if they will go to a suspension specialist.

I agree with that principially, but in the specific case of KTM, I'm pretty sure that the brand will endure at least for a while. As @p6x already wrote, it seems that the company administration is determined that the brand will endure, and I think they will manage to acheive this.

And they all look like orange Transformers.

Nothing on the V11. It's sitting in the garage waiting for me to start in on the leaking fork seal, the farting between 2 - 3,000 RPM, the Roper Plate installation, the gear shift spring, the lucky phil extender and "blueprinting" the shift mechanism. Today I looked underneath the V35. I had it apart to change the seals that face the clutch, and install a V9 clutch (brilliant, much lighter...). Now it's back together, and the more than a year overdue Roadworthyness Certificate has been renewed. But it is still dropping some oil. I think it is just the seal on the big oil drain plug at the front of the motor. Maybe not tight enough, maybe I should have changed the seal after all. Here's hoping it is just not tight enough. The good thing is, the look underneath it today confirmed that it is just dripping a bit, not pouring out.

So that's what he looks like.... Merry christmas everybody.

Ah, ok. Again, I don't think so. Not that I have ridden all that many different models here, but none of the bikes I've had here had one.

@docc you've said (writen) it before. It's amazing where and how this (motorcycle) forum brings things to ones attention and opens ones horizons.

Ok, so the young lady has discovered Cuban music at some point, and has got most of it right. I had the very good luck to spend a couple of evenings with a cuban band. Brilliant. Compared to what the young lady in the video is doing, it is like, I imagine, a group from Boston trying to play delta blues or something. Whatever, this was very commercial, but the music was authentic, I think, and this is what the young lady was trying for. I reckon. https://youtu.be/zEjTNTJsIf4?feature=shared&t=261

I don't think so. As far as I know, amongst other sources from here, the CX was a US only model. https://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/moto guzzi/moto_guzzi_cx100.html Apart from that, 55 mph translates to 88.51425 kmh, anything other than a round figure and not relevant to any speed limit that I can think of that might have applied at any time in Europe. What I have seen here is 70, rarely 80, 90 in the Czech Rebuplic, 100, 120, 130 (all not only in Germany) and in Germany unlimited. 88 and a bit doesn't rhyme.

Sounds like a good buy to me. I'd have it if a) I had the money and b) I wouldn't have to ship it half way around the world to get it home.

Yes, "Gummikuh". Refers to things like the R80 and R90. Softish suspension, but still surprisingly fast.

Indeed it is.

First up, I've seen a nine T "in the flesh", and thought it was not a bad try for BMW. Secondly, BMW's have the nickname "HTG" in the German Guzzi world. Look here: https://www.deepl.com/de/translator#de/en-us/hängetitten guzzi Says it all, I reckon. Keep the V11. You'll find room for it, and in a couple of months you'll ride it and think "what was I thinking of?" In the meantime, have fun with the HTG.

Same here in Germany.

Sounds like a bloke I could get on with.

Indeed, and that this thing "Z" is a "Zed", and not a "Zee". On top of that, how is it that someone who is convinced that his opinion is worth making a Video for posterity (in as much as one can consider You Tube as such...) doesn't take the time to read the instruction manual of his microphone and find out where the front is, i.e. which side should be pointing at his mouth. That bloke got it wrong. Fail on all counts.

Good move.

France: as far as I know, your gloves have to have an intact CE tag in them as well. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CE_marking bloody annoying, actually, because they are usually sewed in just inside the cuff of the glove, and get in the way. I always used to cut them out until I learned of that ruling. Not that I am likely to go to France on the motorcycle, but you never know.

The pool and a Sauv Blanc sounds good to me.

No, never mind. He annoyed me with his quick and unexplained reference to "3dB". What most people seem to not understand is that a decibel is not a defined quantity of something, but rather expresses a ratio related to a reference. If you want to, look here. It might well make your brain hurt. I only retain enough of it to give sensible instructions to my colleagues (make it 3 dB louder...). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_pressure#Sound_pressure_level https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_energy_density https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decibel