Frenchbob

Ooooooh.........so many good old Brits...............OK, done it!

Why does it have to be a Guzzi or close to a Guzzi [or even Italian], Ben? You've made your choice and you've chosen a superb bike that many of us would choose to add to our stables, if we had the dosh - authentic, Ben. You'll love it. I love it. Sh*t, I'm jealous: of your youth, your bike and your good taste! Ride carefully when you go very, very fast.

Wow!

No you didn't! And whoever's been riding that Griso hasn't had it over far enough in the bends. And the girl's plastic

Yes, you should be concerned: you're ill. It's a disease we all have. There is no cure. Indiscriminate buying of Moto Guzzis as and when they become available is a form of mental illness, currently being researched by the finest medical minds. So there is truly no hope. Welcome to the sanatorium, I mean forum.

And I don't usually lol!

Lovely bike. There's something about that fairing that is redolent of the Mark 1 and the original 900SS Duke: that era.

Saw this on satellite news this morning, Ben. Glad you weren't on it. Very sorry for those who were.

I think it means, "Go into corners really hard...........and when you've scraped enough of that awful green paint off the fairing you'll have an excuse to paint the whole thing a lovely, deep wine-red".

Thanks guys! I have two featherbeds, the slimline with the pre-unit 650 Trumpet in it [and close-ratio Norton box], and my wideline which has a Norton twin in it, but not the original engine. I love them both and I do think the featherbed frame is still a reference point for judging good handling and roadholding. The Triton is the quicker of the two [neither motor is standard] but the all-Norton bike is very sweet-running, and not slow!

Thanks for the comments. The photo was prompted by the fact that I rode it yesterday for the first time this year.

Sorry it's not a V11. Not even a Guzzi! My baby, though.

Yes, you're sick, Ben. We all have it. There is no cure. If you want an enduro, buy something you can pick up without inducing a hernia, because you're going to drop it a lot.

There you go. It's what happens when you let your special baby go. Could you not have sold your children into slavery instead? She's likely being abused some uncaring bastard who used to own a Suzuki.

Modern petrol can leave residues of varnish in carbs [throttle bodies too, I suppose] after a winter's standing - my 750 S3 suffers from this if I don't drain the carbs before putting it away for the winter and the result is just as you describe. Just a thought.

Superb.

I'll ask him - thanks.

It's at the Le Vigeant circuit in Vienne, France. Google it.

My V11 seems to have two cocks...........but I don't like to crow about it

Got it in one, Martin. Yes, I used to take my cock out on the V11.................... Ben, a quiz point to this man, surely?

Elves always have a problem with the crash-helmet..........it's the ears, you see. I used to take ........................[perhaps Ben will award a quiz point to the first forum member who can be bothered to finish the sentence].

In the interests of science, I put this to the test but didn't get very far - all my beer spilled!

A good meal is generally more of a priority here, too!

Hi, Ratchet. Luigi got you, too, eh? He gets around, that guy. Yes, an engineer friend told me I shouldn't threadlock helicoils, too. I should have asked. The problem will come, as I said, when I next need to take the plug out - or maybe I'll be lucky since I used it carefully and sparingly. Your policy's a good one, but the proviso means an earlier trip to the dealer's for some than for others, depending on their level of competence, kit, etc. I haven't had mine there yet, but there'll come a time when I need someone with mechanical skill, Guzzi knowledge and the right equipment- I've been busy building up my list of local contacts!

Terry, I've had my 2002 V11 since 2005 but I don't ride it much because most of my riding now is shorter trips and done on my older bikes or my Armstrong trail bike. The V11 has done about 12,000 km altogether, of which I've only covered about 4000km. Before it my "modern" bike was a 1994 Triumph 900 triple: I did quite a few long trips on it, owned it for 10 years and apart from two sets of fork oil seals had no problems at all - just serviced it every year and put tyres on now and then. Considering the use I've had from my V11, I seem to have suffered quite a few problems with it: non-starting because of poorly-assembled wiring and then recently a stuck solenoid on the starter motor, faulty relays, thread on the oil pan stripped at the factory so the plug came out with the thread the first time I changed the oil, and poor running because the throttle bodies and valves had been hopelessly badly set up....is the current list. Add to that potential problems from a grease nipple on the shaft I can't get to without dismantling the rear of the bike, which is probably dry from factory assembly, and the famous gear selector spring on its over-sized boss [the spring typically breaks on 2002 bikes at about the mileage I'm at now!]. Reading the threads on here will convince you that my experience hasn't been untypical, either. The only change I've made to the bike is to fit Mistral cans, and these haven't had anything to do with the problems. On the other hand, a lot of these problems can be solved with help and information from this forum as long as you're reasonably competent with routine mechanical jobs and have an appropriate toolkit and somewhere to work - I haven't had to go to a dealer to fix anything so far. And I do like the bike: it has a visceral, organic nature which my Triumph never had. Most of the time I would rather be on it than anything else modern I've ridden. Basically, V11s aren't really modern bikes at all: they were just made quite recently. You pays your money, etc! Good luck with your choice.