Greg Field

There's one place wee Val has yet to go in motorcycling, and that's the IOM. He hasn't had the balls for that. If he wants to cement his place in motorcycling, he has to give it a go. Else, he's a pretender . . .

Anybody have a line on usable forks for a Ballabio? I be needin' some.

A suthrunner like Tex might not know this, but when you cross the border into Canuck-ville, in the Central area, the pickup trucks still have gun racks by the back window, except that instead of an '06 bolt-action Model 70 Winchester (preferably pre-'64, or modern reproduction thereof) with a scope, the rack carries a hockey stick. Those effin' Canuck mofos are more gentle than us Suthrunners—until they explode a baby seals's cranium with a Louisville Slugger . . . but let's not "go there," as that would be "judgemental" or mental, or whatever . . . and we can't really judge those in another country 'till we've "walked a mile in their shoes" . . oh, no . . .

Any hillbilly-bob in the States knows them sidecovers's available thru a Guzzi dealer, so why make them?

Look, Ryland: I (and maybe Pete Roper, but he's Australian, and you know how those people can be) am the only person here you can trust. The rest of these jokers will all try to tell you that what they ride (Scuraa, Rosso, metallic-puke-colored Sport, etc.) is the one to get. They all lie, some of them knowing no better, some of them with a nefarious agenda. The best Guzzi to get, and this is now thoroughly proven beyond any dispute, is a disc-brake Eldorado, which coincidentally is what I most often ride. So, there you have it. Ignore the snide responses. Wisdom is what you need, and what I'm offering . . .

Just an idea . . . there's a Rosso M. tank hanging on the all in the shop at MI with very minor issues . . . if you really want that look . .. plus, I've got a carbon fairing to complete it . . . GF

They are better at filling orders right now than they were while being closed for two months, but that ain't saying much, is it? Right now, I'm seeing maybe a 30 percent fill rate on my orders. This is worse than before the shutdown.

These are the ITI instruments.

I took apart my damaged speedo and tach this morning to replace the broken lenses, and it could not be easier. Using a thin punch, push gently on each of the "pins" evident on the underside of the rim to loosen the rim. Then, use a thin screwdriver to pry up the rim a little at a time, all the way around, and it pops right off. Be careful not to damage the little "pins" molded into the rim. They are what actually holds the rim onto the instrument. Then, hold the lens, and carefully pry it off, too. Then, pry off the needles, take out the two screws, and the entire face comes off. The ease upon which these instruments can be serviced is one definite improvement over my Eldo. I'll reserve judgement on the rest till I can ride it.

OK, I mocked up the instruments this morning. If you have a complete b-bob setup, looks like you need four things from a V11 Sport: the two headlight mounts, the support for the instrument plate, and the instrument plate itself. All the rubber isolation mounts and most of the hardware can be plucked from your Billy Bob. In addition, I needed eight 6x25 cap screws, plus three stainles buttonhead 6x10 cap screws to fasten the instrument plate to the rubber isolators. For the headlight, it looks like I'll need some spacers. I'll either get those from the Scura or make my own—most likely the latter. May also need the spacer blocks used on V11S front turn signals. More when I'm donw, which may be a few weeks 'cause I gotta pull off the whole front end to get the forks straightened.

If any of you in the Seattle area like alt.country-type music, I can highly recommend Denver's (and now Rhode Islan's) own Slim Cessna's Auto CLub, playing Jules Mae's this Thursday, in Gerogetown. I'll be there, and if any of yu want to join in, let me know.

One other thing: I bought the mounts for the normal V11 S fairing. I shoulda bought the mounts for the Scura fairing. Why? Well the normal V11s fairing is drilled for mounts to the fairing bracket, whereas the Scura brackets attach to two of the mounts for the windshield. As a result, I will have to drill a few holes in my takeoff Coppa fairing or get the other mounts. Being a cheap bastard, I'll prob'ly pull out the drill . . .

I got a bunch of the parts today. I'll be out there at 0400 hrs. to see what's all involved. I still think it won't be too bad.

We're deeeeeeeeeeeeppppp into the "perma-gloom" season in Seattle. Just keeps raining and raining and raining some more. When it's not raining, the world's is just shades of gray kissed by the deep grean of new-grown moss. It's the gloomiest winter in six years. Even the bannana slugs have left town for higher ground. When ya wake up in the morning, it's about 42 degrees F and stays that way all damn day. There is no wonder why heroin is so popular here.

I recently had to get one of these to get a customer's bike back on the road. Knowing I could not get it from Piaggio USA, I bought one from Agostini.

I took a Breva 11 for a spin last week and came back as underwhelmed as you did with the Griso. Not enough power. OK power, sure, about like a totally stock V11 Sport, but that's not enough these days, either. Not in 2006 and for $12.5k. Decent forks, but the CARC rear suspension is horrible over choppy bumps. I have a special "suspension-test" route that I know very well how different bikes react to the bumps thereon. The Breva was as choppy—throwing my head around rather violently—as my 34-year-old Eldo with koni shocks. The Breva needs a better shock absorber. At $12,500, it shouldn't need a better shock. Steering is great at low or high speed. Brakes are similarly competent. The tranny shifts well, but for US Brevas they built a special sidestand that is bent outward a bit and thus is in the way of your foot on upshifts. WTF were they thinking???? First gear is too tall, unless they gave it more flywheel, and second is too close in ratio to first, unless you're really accelerating hard. All other gear spacing is great. It's still very easy to pull the lever past neutral into second. Practice would make it easier, I think. Also, break-in might make it easier, as it most definitely does on Aprilia Milles. Riding position is very comfortable. Controls are good, except that the clutch engagement is too near the beginning of lever travel for my liking. I could get used to that, though. Overall, it is not 34 years of progress and $9,000 better than my Eldorado, let alone the Ballabio.

Eldos are like bows and arrows. V11 Sports are like a flintlock with a freshly knapped flint.

Pete: The box does not have to come out, I think. There's a trapdoor in the left side of the box. Take that off for access to the parts. Look for new gasket goo around that trapdoor. I think Jason at MI said he could do at least two recalls in a work day. If you need more info, let me know, or call the shop. 206 297-3822.

Yes, that's what I'm doing. I wish I could read it. My front parts were all wrecked in a crash, so they need replacing. Plus, I work at MI and get special deals. . .

Sorry, I got confused. I think I talked to the original poster on the phone.

Truly, I love to be of help. I love Guzzis and want to see people enjoy their bikes. If I did that for you. it is very gratifying to hear of it. I myself have fat, hobit feet, of US size 10.5. The kit works perfectly for me. It might be a stretch for those of smaller feet.

MG has been under the Aprilia banner since 2000. That is the problem. Now it is under both Aprilia and Piaggio. The jury is still out on how much more or less of a problem that will be. Aprilia is to Moto Guzi what AMF was to Harley-Davidson.

All Guzzis of the last what, 10 years, are 50-state legal, so it wouldn't need the 7,500 miles. This is why the Breva 1100 was delayed until December, or at least that's the latest excuse those Aprilia bastards deigned to offer. And, as I think I told you on the phone, Cafe Sports, new, are $9,990. If you buy the mounts to move the silly Billy Bob fairing in so it turns with the bars, a la the Scura and Rosso Mandello, it will look kick-ass cool and offer some small increase in wind protection. This is what I am doing to my own Billy Bob, with a Coppa tank and fairing, though. It'll be almost too purty to ride . . .

Yes; the fairing and instruments will be mounted like the fairing on your bike. Much mo' betta, in my opinion.

I'm about to delve into the instruments on my 04 William Robert, too. It has broken glass and rings on both intruments, from the DPO's crash, but I got some non-functional-but-otherwise-intact instruments from MI Looking at them from the back, the gray ring presses into the white case. Tiny, round pegs on the gray ring mate into tiny holes on the white case. I'm hoping a tiny punch pushed into the back will free the gray ring. The trick is to support the case while pressing the ring out. With luck, I can put hte rings and glass onto my old instruments. I'll report back. I'm also moving the instruments, headlight, and fairing to mount like those on a Scura. It's looking good. Plus, I'm getting a very lightly scratched Coppa tank and fairing to put on. It'll be a very pretty mutant.