audiomick

The question needs to go to Chuck directly, but I got the impression he might still have a couple.

Yes, I reckon I can remeber seeing Micras here (Germany) in a colour that might have been that one.

docc, the more post I read from you (and others here...) the more concerned I am becoming about what I might find when I get around to having a really good look at my Le Mans. Thanks to you and everyone else here for all the good advice and solid tips. Far better to read about those sort of things in advance and go looking for them than to discover them far from home on the way to a weekend rally that one has been looking forward to for months.

Yes. I learned that very early on, and coincidentally read an Article on the topic just recently. In about 1986 I bought a '76 Z900. It had a Michelin on the back. Tread pattern M38, if I remember correctly, but it was a racing rain tyre. Shouldn't have been on a street bike at all, actually. When it was warm, it was fantastic. But it absolutely had to be warm. I nearly chucked it away one time coming out of the parking lot at the Uni. There was a roundabout on the way out, and I gave it a bit of stick coming out. I think that was the first time I got a bike seriously sideways. The tyre was still cold, and just let go.

Mine has these on it: https://www.bridgestone.de/motorrad-reifen/sport/battlax-s21 I can't say much about them, as I haven't ridden it much yet, and that in very cold conditions on a newly bought bike, i.e. I don't know the bike at all. One of the blokes I share the garage with said they are more or less one grade short of race tires. Can anyone confirm that? I have a feeling that the previous owner might have chosen grip at all cost, and bugger the mileage. We'll see. I'll try and remember to report back when I have ridden a bit more in friendlier conditions, and got the suspension dialled in to my weight a bit. The previous owner is probably at least 20 Kg. heavier than me, and I have a feeling that he had it set up hard for his weight.

Well, that explains the tape then. That's a goog thing... Yeah, and tape instead of mounting bolts might too...

Do that. I'll be looking forward to it. I rode the V35 to work today. Only in town, and only about 4.5 km. Barely enough to get it warm. Nice and sunny, but barely above 0°C. The seat wasn't frozen solid, but was very "firm", and provided a perfect practical example of what a heat sink does.

They're heading into winter...

Get the tape off and have a look. If there is a good reason for it, you should be able to see it, and almost certainly also figure out a more elegant way to solve the issue than adhesive tape. If there is nothing obvious there, then there is adhesive tape on there distributing sticky horrible residue for no good reason, and it is time it was removed.

Ahh, yes. Sometimes one just hast to make do with what one can get. Well I do fell honoured. Unlikely that a GTR 1000 will play a part though. I crashed the first one, and am trying to sell the one I have now. The V11 has ursurped the GTRs position.

Whatever happend to be on the parts shelf at the time...

Just out of curiosity, the bike is fairly low mileage, but not pristine. From his description: Is he optimistic with the pricing, or do they go for that sort of money there?

Yes, you could put that in there. You could also put beer in there. Ok, I'm being a snob, but hey, I live in Germany... Shortly after I bought my first Kawasaki 1000 GTR, I went shopping with it. That taught me the value of the panniers on that bike. I loaded up 6 bottles of beer (half-litre, as they generally are in Germany...), two deep-frozen pizzas, and a bottle of white wine for the missus. In one of the panniers.

It's a German company, so having it sent to USA might be expensive. They have a very good reputation here, so you might like to enquire. https://www.mrashop.de/modellbezogene-produkte/motoguzzi/v11-le-mans/alle-bj/7140/v11-lemans-originalformscheibe-om-alle-baujahre?number=I4025066089666 Look around on the site. They also offer a higher screen, if that should be interesting for you. Edit: I didn't notice initially, but there is a button on there that allows the choice of "english" as language. The translation is acceptable.

I've read in the german forum a couple of times that it is possible to fit a stelvio shock on the rear of the Norge, and that this solves the clearance problems and improves the handling generally. I gather the Stelvio shock is a bit longer. That is hearsay, and only intended as a starting point for your own research! What else I have read: the Norge is probably the best ever Guzzi for two-up riding, although some Stelvio owners prefer the Stelvio.

Looking at your photo, I would run the hose off the bleed nipple a got bit further upwards before letting it curve down to the floor. 10 or 12 inches would be appropriate. Support the hose before the curve starts. The advantages are: there is less stress on the hose at the nipple, so it seals there better the straight section allows for some twist in the hose, which allows the nipple to be unscrewed enough for the bleed action without screwing the hose off the nipple the straight-up section of the hose fills with fluid, so you can see much, much better what the bubble situation is when the nipple is released for the bleed action, i.e. unscrewed to let the air out Changing my method for bleeding brakes, on the advice of a mechanic, from what I see in your photo to what I described changed the task for me from something I absolutely hated doing, and which always frustrated and angered me, to something that is merely tiresome.

I think I need to look at mine and evaluate if I need one of those. Looks really good...

That's it. Another couple of things: mp3: no. Sounds like shit. The sound is going to be added to a video, and then (probably) up-loaded to youtube or something like that . Every step along that path brings a degradation of sound quality with it. Therefore, the initial source should be as good as possible. This is not mp3. Automatic gain control: this process adjusts gain according to some algorithm that some programmer wrote according to what he reckons might work. There is a limiter involved that does things to the level that are almost never good. Far better is to work out what is a good, safe level for the recording situation, and set that manually. Better to be on the safe side, and boost the level in post-production. Digital audio workstations almost always have a "normalise" function that is intended for exactly that. Incidentally, the sound quality of the bloke's voice in the video is very poor. One on the problems is that it is repeatedly slightly distorted. The automatic gain control is not keeping it under control. The other thing is, that the automatic gain control is compressing it to death. The result here would also be much better if he were to work out (by trial and error, if nothing else) what would be the ideal manual setting, and use that, and adjust the level in post-production as neccessary.

I can't, because I haven't ever made any videos on the motorcycle. Doesn't mean I don't know how to do it, though. I have been involved in sound professionally for nearly 40 years. This is now the third attempt to write this post. The first two attempts failed due to bloody-mindedness on the part of the forum software, so this might be a bit terse.... The bloke in the video is right about the wind noise, and right about keeping the mic out of the wind and using a wind shield. Where he goes wrong is ignoring the fact that it is a stereo recorder (he refers to his "microphone", but the device in question, a Zoom something or other, is a recorder, not just a microphone...). If one listens carefull to his recordings with headphones, the sound is not "in the middle", and in fact matches what one can see in the videos, i.e. how he has the recorder mounted. The microphone capsules are easily visible on the front of the device, and they are installed in an X-Y configuration, like this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microphone_practice#X-Y_technique This implies strongly, that the recorder is also directional, i.e. is intended to be "pointed" at the source of the sound being recorded. That would be, in the case of a motorcycle, the ends of the exhaust (assuming only the one stereo recorder is being used). That is to say, the device should be mounted with its long axis parallel to the long axis of the motor cycle, and with the "front" end pointed between the outlets of the exhausts. If I were to make a recording of a motorcycle without any limits on resources, I would most likey use 8 high quality lavalier microphones (miniature mics...). There would be two between the heads (we're assuming a Guzzi here...) two at the inlets of the airbox to get the induction noise, two down near the outlets of the exhausts, and two on the seat behind the rider. That should allow capturing all the relevant components of the sound of the motorcycle, which would then be mixed to the best balance in post-production. The gear needed for that would cost about $10,000,-, which is why I haven't had a go at it yet... @docc if this goes on, it might be time to split it off into its own thread....

Nice.

That's interesting. Thanks for link. I'm about half way through there already. I'll read the rest tonight...

Hmmm, that's not what fender amps were made for. Never mind, if it works....

I'm no graphic artist, but I reckon that is a combination of no side covers and an "optically smaller" seat and tailpiece combination, which "leaves more room"* for the motor. * Considering I hate that kind of marketing speech, it's a bit depressing that it comes so easily to hand...

I must assume a harmonica, or do you prefer "blues harp".

Thanks Joe. Given that the bloke obviously has more or less no idea about how the technology works, he is doing a surprising amount of stuff right. The "dead cat" and protection from the wind is where he is most correct. His "worst mistake" is absolutely ignoring the stereo image of the stereo microphone he is using. Not knowing, or at least not being sure, what a low cut filter does is a bit like not knowing why there is a choke on your motorbike. Basic knowledge.... Edit: ok, here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-pass_filter "Low-cut" and "high-pass" are two names for the same thing. Yes, they filter off low frequencies. Given that wind noise is to a large extent low-frequency, yes, the low-cut/high-pass filter is absolutely the first thing you activate to reduce wind noise. Automatic gain control is for lazy, ignorant amateurs. Find out what the right manual setting is for the installation and the bike, and use it. Take the time, if neccessary, to do the post-production. Learn what the "normalise" function in a digital audio workstation does, and what it is good for. End of tirade... Another Edit: one more thing. There are a lot of things in this world that don't always get better in a linear relationship to the purchase price. Microphones do not fall amongst them. Of course, one has to decide what one is willing to spend, and be happy with the result that the price provides. Nevertheless.... $100,- for a microphone is cheap. No if's or but's. Cheap. Proper microphones start at more like $500,-, and if you want really, really good, it's definitely at least four figures.