audiomick

The lady sings very well indeed. However, let's do the piece properly, shall we? Ludwig got it exactly right the first time round, and it doesn't need anyone buggerising around with it making "easily digestible" arrangements or any of that sort of rubbish. Here, the link is set at the start of the relevant last movement. Take the time to listen to all of it (about 25 minutes). It builds up so well, it is really a shame just to jump to the "hit" and leave out the rest. And this is the reason why I chose that recording...

Yes, there is something in that. But let's be generous and concentrate ourselves on "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". I'm sure the constructor meant well, and perhaps there were unforseen difficulties in aquiring an exhaust system that was not an ugly piece of shoeshine.

I shared a house in Melbourne with a couple of mates of mine for the last several years before I moved to Germany. It was something of a meeting point for motorcycling friends, and perhaps a bane for some neighbours. One of the blokes who lived there had a Moto Guzzi 850 Le Mans III, a Honda CBX 1000, a Yamaha XT 500 (awful...), and a Honda NS400 R. At the time, the Motorcycle Rider's Association https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorcycle_Riders_Association_of_Australia was really on a roll, and they organised track days at Calder Raceway a couple of years in a row. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calder_Park_Raceway (On the flat bit, not on the banked "thunderdome" bit.) So, my mate let me ride his NS 400 R whilst he had a go on my 1976 Z 900. My mate was not the fastest in the bunch, and I was reeling him in. At the end of the long straight I could see him ahead of me in the 180° turn, and thought "I'll get him on this lap". The next thought was "oh dear, I know that noise" (of fairings and such scraping across the asphalt...). The culprit was the Avon tyre that my mate had fitted to the front wheel of his (according to the standards of the time) super-sport bike. The tyre was a middle price, long-lasting touring tyre, and not up to race-track shenanigens. To give my mate credit, there was not much choice available at the time for the 16" front wheel of the NS, but the Avon was definitely not a good choice. So, I've had a bad experience too. On the positive side, I've got Avon Spirit ST on the Kawasaki 1000 GTR, and those tyres on that bike are a really good choice.

Hi docc. I'd be quite interested in the film, but all I see is this: Video not available This video contains content from Tele München Fernseh GmbH + Co Produktionsgesellschaft VOD. This partner has blocked the video in your country for copyright reasons. Can you summarise the Video in a small number of very short sentences with mono-syllabic words?

to me, it looks like a Griso 1200 motor, exhaust and drivetrain in (perhaps) a spine frame with a V11 tank and a fairing that approximates or is derived from a Sport 1100. If it is well done, potentially a very exciting motorcycle. Poorly done, a potential nightmare. In the picture it is pretty enough. Something about the proportions irritates me, but I'm not sure that the problem there is not simply an artefact of a very short focal length lens on the camera that took the picture. ( @Admin Jaap it's about time we had that "scratching his head and thinking heavily" emoticon here...)

Are they really good for anything? I ask as someone who has recently bought a low-mileage Breva 750, i.e. prime marketing target for those tyres. Reading the blurb for Roadrider, I've always had the impression that they are probably that which I and my friends in Melbourne in the late 80's would have referred to as "Taxi tyres", i.e. tyres which last well but don't offer all too much in the way of grip, handling, or whatever.

Amazon has always been my last resort. To the extent that I honestly believe that I have never bought anything from Amazon. anyway, the pertinent question of the moment seems to me to be this one:

Good call, @NicoNZ Furthering that thought: milky looking headlight. Brake discs have seen a good bit of use, the way they look. I can't say for sure, but the tread pattern on the tyres looks to me to be quite a bit more modern than to be expected on a 20 year old bike. My guess would be that the clock has gone around (at least...) once.

You apparently didn't read my last post, immediatly before yours with that question, all the way to the end. Here it is again...

Mine doesn't rub, but the bracket on the left is closer to the tank than on the right. I think it might have to do with the left cylinder being further back than the right, but I didn't have enough time to have a really close look at it after I noticed the "problem". I have been informed by someone who really knows what he is talking about that there can be problems with contact between fairing, sidecovers and tank, and ensuing wear and tear. He suggested a thick washer or two under the rear mount of the tank to raise it a couple of millimeters. I haven't had a really close look yet to see exactly what it will acheive, but the first glance indicated that this might be a really good idea.

Have a listen to this woman. I heard her a couple of months ago. Fairly young, and quite brilliant. Unfortunately the recordings here are a bit shitty. https://www.bryndisgudjonsdottir.com/media

Yes, exactly. Getting the alternator cover off is complicated on mine, as I have the crossover between the headers which sits in front of the alternator cover. Nevertheless, I prefer a spanner (socket) on the alternator to turn over the motor. Whatever the method is to turn over the motor, the straw is very useful. Actually, I prefer to use a piece of heat shrink tube. Because: it happens to be lying around in easy reach of the work bench, it is soft enough to not damage anything inside the motor, and tough enough to not get chewed up if it does get jammed in there a bit. The "straw" is useful because it means I can be watching the valves whilst turning the motor with one hand and feeling what the "straw" is doing with the other. I turn the motor until it gets to TDC. Generally it kind of pops past the precise point. I've always assumed that this has to do with what the valve springs on the other piston are doing. So, I go back a bit and approach the point again. I have observed where I was at with the spanner on the alternator and what the straw was doing, and can find the TDC on the second approach very precisely. By the way, the reason for always approaching the TDC in the correct direction of motor rotation is to ensure that all the slop in the cam chain and so on is being taken up be the tensioner in the way the manufacturer intended, i.e. any backlash or whatever is there where it will be at when the motor is really running. Seems logical to me...

Yes, that is correct. I did the valve clearances on mine recently, and found a mark for TDC for the left cylinder. I don't remember what it was, though. I'm not quite sure, but I reckon I didn't find a mark for the right hand cylinder. Should be easy to check though: with the rocker covers off, watch what the valves are doing. Find the combustion TDC, go back a bit, and turn the motor slowly past the TDC whilst keeping an eye on the flywheel through the hole. That's how I found the mark for the left cylinder. The most difficult part of the process was getting the cover off the alternator to be able to put a spanner on the front of the motor and turn it over in a controlled fashion. What a pain in the proverbial...

Off ramps are tricky. You never really know what you are going to find at the bottom. I tend to take them a bit easier. On ramps, on the other hand... All things being equal, they lead here very often on to an unlimited section of Autobahn, and it is in your interest to hit it (the Autobahn...) already doing a respectable speed. Except if you have to tuck in behind a truck (speed limit 80 km/h), or there are road works, or there is a traffic jam, or there is lots of traffic and you have to juggle to get in, or.... So yes, I enjoy (on) ramps that I know, but always with a bit of reserve for unforseen circumstances.

Whatever you reckon. Just remember, red is 10% faster....

So the Dunlop and Avon product pallettes are both being rigorously rationalised. Hmm, we'll see how that developes...

Feel free to do that if you want. You're the one that will be seen riding it... Seriously, though, what about red bar end weights. I'm repeating myself there. Someone here was looking for suggestions for a bit more red on the front, and that occurred to me. I think it would work on yours too, Phil. And yes, the mudgaurd is much better in green.

Wow, that's practically nothing. Still, that doesn't mean one could buy it and just start riding it. I bought a Breva 750 a couple of weeks ago. Less than 10,000 km. on the clock. At first glance, it looks like new. I've since discovered a couple of scratches, but never mind. The bike has only done about 500 km in the last 10 years, based on records of a tyre change at the bike shop that took care of the sale for the owner. The Breva runs ok, but... It needed a complete fluid change. At this point, I've done engine and gearbox oil, but still have to do final drive and brake fluid. On the basis of previous experience, I'm inclined to really open up the brake calipers and see what they look like from the inside. And the rear brake doesn't feel right anyway, so... The tyres on it are no doubt the ones put on at the bike shop in question 10 years ago. They look almost new, but I'm more and more convinced that they are just too old. The bike has "startus interruptus". I think the battery is still in an acceptable condition. Going by the look of it, it might even have been put in for the sale. Nevertheless, something has to be done about getting a decent 12V supply to the solenoid on the starter. It seems to be more or less the same problem that blights our V11s in that respect. For some reason, the idle speed is far too low. It is supposed to be around 1100 rpm, and can only be influenced by the bypass screws on the throttle bodies. It is, however, not 1100 but rather more like 850 rpm. So a tune up is in order, even though the bike is "practically new". I'm hoping that when those things, and that which is still to become apparent, is all sorted, I'll have a reliable and stress free bike to ride into town and do errands on. Time will tell...

Ok, that is starting to make sense. Going back to the Wiki article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brake_cleaner in the section on "Composition". I could see something with a chlorine base producing Phosgene when heated, although I didn't find any hard facts. By the way, Phosgene here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosgene However, as can be seen in the quote I included, the chlorinated brake cleaner is sometimes sold as "non-flammable". Clearly this is then not suitable for finding leaks in the intake system of a combustion engine. The brake cleaner I was referring to, and incidently the only type I have come across, is the sort that is hydrocarbon based (see, once again, the "Composition" section of the Wiki article). That is most definiitely not "non-flammable".

Yeah, I know mate. But can you put braided lines on something that didn't have them as standard, or is it still illegal? By the way, your Guzzi is very, very nice.

Yes, ether would work. But getting back to the brake cleaner; are we talking about the same thing? I mean this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brake_cleaner not anything that chemically has anything to do with brake fluid. Incidentally, that Wiki article looks like an automatic translation of the German Wiki aricle on the subject https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bremsenreiniger but that is a bit beside the point, I think. The stuff I mean is very nasty. Agressive, no doubt poisonous, you don't want too much of it on your skin or to be breathing it in too much, but it is hydrocarbons. That means the by-products of burning it must be similar to exhaust gases, i.e. not exactly healthy, but mostly CO, CO2 and water. Apart from that, I can't see how the stuff I mean could be a danger to a welder, because the point of it is that it evaporates and leaves absolutely no residue. By the time the welder gets on to the part, there should be absolutely nothing left to burn. If I'm missing something, please let me know.

yes, I know about that one. Here, the spray of choice is brake cleaner. Makes sense to me, as it is extremely volatile.

Just as a matter of curiosity, Phil, If I recall correctly, when I was still in Melbourne it was not legal to install braided lines on a bike that didn't have them as standard. Is that still the case?

Yes, I believe some bikes were or will be recalled in Germany. A quote from here: https://www.motorradonline.de/tourer/moto-guzzi-v-100-mandello-rueckruf/ From what I've read in the german forum, there were some rear shocks that were missing a bush, or it was installed incorrectly. The result was that the end of the shock is clamped tight in the mounting bracket and can't rotate as it is intended to be able to. This overstresses the eye on the end of the shock, and it can fracture.