audiomick

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.

Correct, but... Somewhere, maybe here, I read about how someone had observed how much time it took to get the motor cold enough to be qualified as "stone cold" related specifically to valve clearance. He established, if I recall correctly, that most of the change happened in the first 45 minutes after turning off the motor. From then on until a day later, the difference was negligible. So that might be an issue, but seems unlikely to me.

Interesting, to a point. Thanks for the link @p6x Very telling what happens at about 17:18. Overtaken by a push-bike.

Ok, so we can assume that it is not just the battery. How long since you rode it last? Long enough to get corrosion on connectors? Where was it whilst it was standing around? Protected or exposed?

It would help to supply a bit of background. For instance, how long since you rode it, and how many Volts is the battery currently showing? Second to that, what happens to the voltage when you hit the starter button? The point is, try and find out if the battery is still good or not. First stop on the discovery tour of "what is wrong with the electrics on my bike?". Another one: does it start if you jump start it from a running vehicle? As I wrote, it is about trying to find out if the battery is still good or not. Everything else comes after that.

Welcome to the forum.

I've been planning for months (years?) to get a custom made pair of these. https://www.daytona.de/de/Stiefel/Uebersicht/Uebersicht-Auswahl/Classic-Oldtimer In September I actually saw someone wearing them, and was able to get confirmation that they are, at least for him, a very good boot. Custom because I need it. I don't really bother going to normal shoe shops here anymore, because they never have anything that fits. Depending on the brand, I need a 39 or 40. At least half of the shops here don't stock anything smaller than a 40, some of them not smaller than 41. My feet are very short. To make it complicated, they are also very wide for the length, with very high arches. So even if the shop has a shoe the right length, it will most likely be too narrow. The last time I tried to try on motorcycle boots in a shop here in Germany, I couldn't get in to a single one that was even approximately the right size. What I am using for riding at the moment is mostly lucky finds of ex-army boots that I found at flea-markets. The accessory shop here in Leipzig that I prefer to go to has Daytona. I really must find out if they can take fittings for custom boots. Given the difficulty of finding something that fits, I don't really give a toss what they cost. What I have read in the German forums, however, gives the impression that the boots last very, very well, and the manufacturer will repair them as needed.

You might be right there. It is a long time ago now, but for a year or so I drove regularly in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, and a couple of times in Perth. Thinking about it, I remember having the impression that the drivers in Melbourne were the least likely to give you some slack.

The only way to find out is to test ride one.

Did you get the T-shirt? Only if it is a cheap Prosecco, please. Good bubbly doesn't deserve to be desecrated.

How could you.

And moving to Germany, there is this: http://www.cafe36-online.de/ A cafe/restaurant with a grill kiosk in front of it, it is at the north end of this stretch. https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/3736190#map=12/51.3963/11.0639 Actually not that pleasant on summer weekends. Too many people with too loud motorcycles, all trying to prove they are at least as fast as Valentino Rossi. But on a week day when the weather is good, a good stop.

Mate, we're all grown-ups here. Put it out there, and assume the rest of us are capable of making responsible decisions. I don't see any need to apologise. Great idea for a thread. I went to a couple of pubs in the course of a ride with mates in Australia, but can only definitely place this one. https://www.flowerdalehotel.com.au/ It is here: https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=18/-37.320049/145.287041 Follow the road initially south, then across to Kinglake and down to Hurstbrige, and you're heading for where @Lucky Phil lives. I'd put money on him having been out that way more than a couple of times. This picture from their website speaks volumes, I reckon.

I believe there isn't. I reckon you just have to think about where you park it. Very carefully... EDIT: one does get used to it, though. That was an issue with the Kawasaki GTR 1000. 290 kg or so with the luggage empty, and relatively long and high. One really does "plan the entries and exits", but it becomes half automatic.

And this, of course.

Has anyone put this up yet? If not, it's about time. If they have, it's about time it came up again.

@docc the picture in your post was called MGX-21 Flying Fortress here, or at least something very like the picture. It looked like this, I believe. I've never seen one https://www.1000ps.de/testbericht-3002519-moto-guzzi-mgx-21-flying-fortress-test-2016-mit-video The "Audace" tag went on this one. I know someone from the German forum who has one. It is a fat bike, but that is appropriate for the rider.... Was the thing with the "Batman" Fairing called "Audace" in the USA, or was there an error in translation? @p6x I reckon you're right there, and I personally would love to see that happen.

Indeed. I'm sure, if it ever became reality, it would be a lovely toy.

That is something imagined. It is a study from Oberdan Bezzi that I have seen a number of times elsewhere, and maybe here as well. Look here: https://oberdanbezzi.artstation.com/albums/1117762 He turns out dozens, maybe hundreds, of design studies. I don't know if he has ever actually been paid by a manufacturer for a design. Maybe he has, I just don't know. Anyway, he has been pumping out design studies based on the V100 ever since it came out. Some of them are quite pretty, but it is anyone's guess whether Piaggio will ever do anything that even remotely resembles one of Bezzi's proposals. PS: where it to actually be released, and should I be in a position to consider buying such a thing, I would be very tempted.

Unfortunately, I didn't see this myself, but anyway... When I was a kid, probably about 12, my dad bought himself a Yamaha AG 100. I, as a kid, thought it was really big. What he used before that around the paddock was a Honda CT 90. Dad was pretty chuffed with the Yamaha, and even bought a helmet and got a license, so he could ride it the 7 or so km. into town. (that didn't last long...). So he's ridden the bike into town to the Cobram Agricultural Show, where the Victoria Police trick motorcycle riding squad was present. He got into a conversation with one of them. This is the Cobram Showgrounds https://www.openstreetmap.org/search?query=Cobram%2C Victoria%2C Australia#map=18/-35.920689/145.653144 The building in the top left corner is, or at least used to be, the scout hall, and there was a tree trunk lying on the ground in front of it. Maybe 3 feet high, maybe only 2 1/2, but a serious tree trunk. I can envision the situation; my dad (no idea about motorcycles, actually) with his new toy engaging the professional rider in conversation about motorbikes and such. The end of the story: the police rider got on the Yamaha AG 100 and rode it over the tree trunk. To this day, I am still impressed by that.

I'm reminded of an anecdote from a bloke in the Kawasai Z owner's club in my Z900 days. The man had a Z1000 in the police version with foot-boards. He lived near this bit of road https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/1314554571#map=13/-37.60777/145.61863 His story was how he went up there one day, followed by two young blokes on the then new Kawasaki ZXR 750s. At the top end, there was (and probably still is) a pub. He pulled in, and the young blokes did too. They were absolutely astonished at how fast and relaxed he rode up there on that bike. It's the man, not the machine.

I believe that might be the case. In one direction, I saw some videos from a German bloke (and his mates) from the black forest region. There are some really great roads there. Their theme seemed to be "safe" lines, i.e. staying in the middle of the lane, and getting as much lean angle as possible. Wankers, in my opinion. I'm more interested in a clean line from one corner to the next, and positioning my body weight so that the bike "hangs" in the corner. I developed the habit of hanging off a bit, firstly, in the eighties and early nineties, when, amongst others, a certain K. Schwantz was riding a two-stroke Suzuki with the number 34 on the front. If one watches him for a while, it is obvious that your bum has to be anywhere but on the seat to get throught the corners "properly". Secondly, I was doing it on a 1976 Z 900. That thing really did benefit from getting the rider's weight down beside the bike a bit. Middle '70s japanese frames and suspension where, shall we say, sub-optimal, and creating a "counterweight" was a good idea. On top of that, my vision. I think I mentioned here recently that I don't have 3D vision. Over the last several years, I have come to the conclusion that I personally can "see the line" better if I am looking past the handlebares into the corner a bit from the side. Parallax, or something. I lost the habit of moving in the seat through not riding for about 10 years, then a Honda CBX 650 E soft-chopper, followed by two full-dress Kawasaki GTR 1000s. I'm currently working on getting back into the habit, and have established that, for me, it is better when I hang off a bit. Doesn't have to work for everyone, though. And yes, the Police are fast. They are professionals, what do you expect.