Frenchbob

I didn't ever own a Mk 1 or 2 Lemon, but I have ridden them and owned other Guzzis. I currently have a 750 S3 as well as my V11. If you don't get any better offers, I can give you feedback: PM me.

I hung it on the Christmas tree, but the tree fell over. It's an illness......there is no cure. Merry pagan consumerfest to all

Cruel, cruel.......... Come on, fellas: it's the season of goodwill!

This can't be correct, Jim. If the reindeer were girls: it would be too cold for them to go out they wouldn't be able to agree on who leads they would fall out over who was Santa's favourite they would surely get lost very quickly Christmas Eve wouldn't be long enough to get all the presents delivered because they would want to stop and criticise the curtains at every house.

Thanks for the kind words about the Triton, Al. I like it too: it was built by a Guzzi man, the guy in England who rebuilt my S3. Knees, Ben? Don't get me started on the state of my knees!

I can feel an animals' rights thread coming on, like a bad headache..........or a GW post. We have just had a juvenile cockerel cull. Bruno gets to survive and take over his dad's position as boss chicken - his right. The rest get to go in the pot - my right. [They're still young enough to be tender] Or has the World gone mad..........again? Picture shows the young pretender.

I would have to sell loads to buy the much-hyped, super sports Guzzi, but do you know what? I'm sort of indifferent. I agree with what Alex said, and in addition I think that if I had one the local gendarmes would be scraping me out of a ditch in no time at all...........and that would be embarrassing: I know quite a few of them! No, I'm safer on my Triton when I'm being silly, and for Christmas I'm finally getting round to fitting it with the Grimeca 4LS drum I've had hanging about for five or six years. It's all laced up in an alloy rim, I've got the compensator mechanism and an adapted lever, cables, a pattern for making the support arms and someone to make me a set of wider yokes, so it should all happen soon...............in theory! And....."Dear Santa, can you give me a thirty year old's neck and upper vertebrae so that I can put the clip-ons back on, please?"

There are ten thousand parts in this motorcycle and 5000 of them don't fit properly; the other 5000 come from the T3.

Munch?

Surely not! It's the only reason I stay on here.

If you're anywhere near the middle of France in July............Trofeo Rosso. Think Italian bikes of all years, total lack of formality, bon vivant, parading that can't really be distinguished from racing, smell the bikes, eat the food, even meet Frenchbob [allegedly] Where else could you take on a V7S, a Daytona and a Ducati 999 on your road going V11 with its lights taped up, going for it, then ride it home after a big lunch? The racing exotica are the icing on the cake! I'm not overstating the excellence of this meeting. It was at Le Vigeant in between Poitiers and Limoges this year, and I expect that it will be there in 2007. OK, I'm pissed off with the weather too [although I've been sneaking out on the Armstrong] and a little "fatigued" from my evening bottle, but I'm not misremembering! Be there, be in touch, and I'll see you OK for the night. [No, not like that, Nogbad]

Or, as Jaap's avatar might say, "Want that one!"

Just a thought: have you made sure your throttle bodies and valve clearances are correctly set up? Lots of advice on here from the experts for both! It made a difference to mine.

Belated happy birthday, Martin; Belfast, too [hope your mum gets better, mate]. I just can't keep up these days!

Mine is me a few years ago, sitting at a waterfront cafe in Trieste, doing what I do best. Allegedly, of course.

I'm not really in this thread, since I'm a fair stretch from anywhere in the USA............... .........but since I've had a litre of rouge [get the link?] I just had to say "Welcome to the forum" and, FWIW, my advice is to keep the Mistrals, throw away the Nevada and find a second-hand V11 Sport to hang the pipes on: then you'll know where we are! PS Don't worry if it's painted matt black or snot green: they're OK too.

Good one, Jim!

I think I'm with Ryan on the whole thread, really. Apart from the Bonzo Dog lyrics!

Ouch! Welcome! Glad the leg's mending. Membership on here is divided between the entertainingly insane and the hugely knowledgeable. Judge the proportions for yourself. Like Guzzis themselves, it's an acquired taste, but strangely more-ish. Oh, and you bought the best V11 variant. Ride safe, Bob

An interesting post, Guido, only some of which I've quoted. Actually, I think that for the British there were no alternatives to "defending Europe" - it was a fairly uncomplicated matter of survival; choices weren't difficult but endurance was and so were moral issues in the aftermath. In Europe things were even more complicated. Here in France there was a government of sorts all through WW2: one which wanted nothing to do with the British, Americans or the Free French, until there was no alternative, and one which was arguably more fervent in its persecution of Jews than Hitler was. Meanwhile, throughout France, a significant percentage of the population supported or actively took part in resistance activity against the occupying forces, with examples of extreme courage commonplace. There again, many innocent French lives were lost in places like Caen and St Nazaire, to the contentious blanket bombing policy of the Americans and British [see these places in that context, Normandy Guzzi tourists, this summer; don't just see the D-Day sites]. History teaches us that nothing is simple and politicians always behave as though issues - and we - are. This consideration is directly relevant to the mess that passes for the policies of Western powers towards countries in the Middle east.

We would never be able to return, that's for sure

A big shed jobbie can be painful.

Especially one with Village People facial hair who pushes weights. Centre stands are more predictable in their behaviour, though.

It's strange, isn't it? Normally, when I'm pissed I'm allowed nowhere near a telephone, but I'm given free rein with the old PC, on which I can make an arse of myself in front of others, insult half the World and alienate all our friends. Personally, I think Mattress did rather well, being more coherent and less objectionable than some of us are when sober!