Frenchbob

Hate to inject a pessimistic note, here, but the first [and only] time I changed the oil on my V11, the thread on the boss the plug fits into came out with the plug. Luigi and his windy-gun, I presume! I put in a cut-down helicoil and loctited it, so next oil change scenarios are: - I did it properly and my oil changing in future will be a pleasure [seems unlikely on past performance] - break the pan trying to get the plug out because some of the loctite got onto the plug thread - never touch the plug again [drop the pan] On the other hand, I was with a well-known member of the French Voxan Club yesterday, a guy I respect enormously and who races and restores old bikes for a living. I asked him how easy Voxans are to service. His reply was "I take mine to the dealer"....................

Hello again, Terry. My honest advice, therefore, is don't buy a V11, I'm afraid. I know nothing about Tuonos, however. I know nothing about the new 1200 Sport, either, although knowledgeable friends say that it lacks the character of a V11.

Mod Alert! We've got a Mod on the forum....................... Hello, Terry. Welcome. Are you new to Guzzis, period? If so, be sure that a Guzzi is what you want. They're owner-involving, almost organic motorcycles. Get a test ride on this or some other Guzzi before you buy, is my advice. If, after a long-ish ride, you're still enthused, ask yourself how far you're prepared to put up with a bike that needs your attention to work properly and will actually sulk if it doesn't get it! If the answer is "I'm ready for it", then begin searching the archives on this forum for things likely to need doing to it once you've got it, and if you still think that you would like to own it, buy it and be prepared to enjoy motorcycling like you haven't done before. Is my advice. You'll likely get all sorts of feedback from people on here who know their V11s inside-out. It's the best there is on the net. You've come to the right place.

Looks like you had a superb trip, Guy. Well done that man! Helen's wine-coloured V11 Sport seems not to have given a moment's trouble, I couldn't help noticing!

I used to live 60 miles down the road from Oliver's Mount, and take my Ducati Darmah to the Italian Owners' Club Concours [never won a thing; should have washed it] every year. This was at the "Cock of the North" meetings in July. I attended one of the September Bike Week meetings before I left England, and it was just as good. Everything they say about the Scarborough circuit [mini TT circuit, etc] can be taken as true - it's a fantastic spectators' circuit.

I sincerely hope she did some damage before someone stopped her..........

This is the sort of thing, to be serious, I have experienced, too. Almost consistently with cagers pulling out in front of me. I would add one thing: don't suppose that your Tonti with its old, original Brembos will do what a modern Brembo set-up will do. It won't: instead it will lock the front wheel and have you off before you can say "My wrist's just broken". Really.

My personal technique, arrived at through years of experience and practice, is to say "Oh f**k" while flying through the air towards something harder than me. It's a good way of meeting nurses. Or your Maker. [i believe in nurses, though] These days I'm a little frailer and try to ride as though every b*****d on the road is out to nail me. I would rather slow down unnecessarily than experiment with the stress capabilities of tired old bones.

Just looked at these for the first time - a treat! Thanks for posting them.

Next valley, not next country This is one of those examples of Europe actually working. And yes, I know that the next country is actually yours - we could do with some of you here, too, to make some decent chocolate.

Oddly enough [i'm sure Jaap would say "Naturally"] the best cheese available to me is made by a Dutch farmer and his wife who live in the next valley over. They keep goats, make cheese from the milk and sell it from their door. It doesn't have a name, but it is the best goat's cheese I've tasted.

You can't buy affection with cheese, I find!

Well, at least the ones in the video are, arguably, in a higher state of readiness!

'Er indoors will be delighted I managed to get the washing in the picture. Yes, I take a crap photograph. No, I don't care much as long as the V11 runs well.

Hopefully, the end of the starter motor troubles: lubricating the plunger and greasing the worm seems to have done the trick. I also had to replace the starter relay, which must have popped before the fuse went. It was a Bosch that I had put in, not a Siemens, so I don't think that played a part in the original malfunction. While under the tank, I had a look at the bullet connectors which wire in the clutch switch: they were OK but I noticed that the straight bars on my bike stretch the wiring to its limit - a potential problem area. Does anyone know of a reason why I shouldn't just wire the clutch switch out by connecting across the two female bullets? Thanks again to all who took the trouble to post advice.

So, now he can be "Ballabio Saggio"

Dangerous stuff, Mike! As far as I can remember, Wing owners don't do irony - they'll all be out looking to buy these..................

Excellent! And you just know, don't you, that Honda won't be releasing a video to compete. I'm going to watch it again, now. Thanks, Ouiji!

Hello Saggio, and welcome. Nice bike.

I believe that specified valve clearances for US bikes are tiny, perhaps because of the need to satisfy emissions or noise standards. They run better with bigger clearances. The standard European spec is 4 thou on the inlets and 6 thou on the exhausts. I run my V11 Sport at 6 thou on the inlets and 8 thou on the exhaust and I'm happy with that. For bikes that are hard-ridden, I've heard 8 thou inlet and 10 thou exhaust recommended. "A tappy tappet is a happy tappet" If you do an archive search on here, you'll find this and more information, placed there by those who can be trusted to know. What mileage did you get out of your spring, as a matter of interest?

That was a bit rude: sorry. What I was driving aged 19 leaves me with little room to scoff! Come to think of it, I would drive one of these, now!

That's quite a trip Fernando. Don't forget to take in Trieste: quirky, very East European despite being in Italy [just] and some impressive architecture, coastline and history. Also some impressive old industry to the east, so give that a miss. You can see a little of the nice bit behind me in my avatar pohoto. The alps are usually fine in August, weatherwise, and not too many tourists. Anywhere in France or northern Italy will be relatively quiet then, too, because everyone's on holiday, usually in Spain or Greece!

Apart from cleaning and lubricating the solenoid plunger and worm I've done nothing else to it, yet: busy preparing the Thunderbird for tomorrow. Chris, I've mailed you about your valve sleeves.

Er, ..............ah! Yes, you can be smug. Sort of shows my suggestion was valid, though! The rapid ageing of forum members [some of aged ten years reading the GW thread] means that while most of us can remember 1965, remembering what happened on the forum in 2005 comes as something of a challenge. Eh Ryan? Ryan? RYAN! Where's your ear trumpet?