Pierre

Paul, I take it Guareschi was back on the 1225 air cooled 4 valve. How about #3 and #4 - was one of those the "bigbore" seen at Daytona and the other the "tenni green" one?

A jeez Ryan, that's a pretty broad brush.

I guess I resemble that remark.

Oh this hurts ... I graduated back when Winnebago still had its own high school. 1965. I expect there's been a lot of consolidation since then. A Guzzi in that neck of the woods. Who'd a' thunk it? I'm guessing I know a lot of folks your folks, or your grand folks, know.

Dude! Mankato! I was born and grew up (sort of ... still workin' on it I guess) in Blue Earth. Welcome aboard. Nice lights BTW.

Thanks Skeeve. Appreciate all the info in your post - explains a lot. For some reason I though the Herron head was inherently (no pun) inefficient. Obviously not the case, otyher things (as you point out) being equal.

So I have to ask, why does the Breva 750 make such modest power? Or maybe I should say: wow - the Breva 750 has some real power potential?

Breaking news: Ilmor out of MotoGP http://tinyurl.com/29bpzn

Correction - sorry. Crashed Out or Retired / DNF (Laps from finish): * Andrew PITT - Ilmor GP (M) - 30'31.099 - Mechanical 7 laps down - Retired to Pits * Carlos CHECA - Honda LCR (M) - 15'53.958 - Crashed 14 laps down - Rider OK * Randy DE PUNIET - Kawasaki Racing - 13'56.908 - Crashed 15 laps down - Rider OK * Loris CAPIROSSI - Ducati Marlboro - 11'53.279 - Crashed 16 laps down - Rider OK * Not starting: Jeremy McWILLIAMS - Ilmor GP

Thanks Jim. My lo res connection was terrible - stopping constantly. More like getting a series of snapshots. And now you only get 1 replay with the package. Looks like they're trying to get everyone to sign up for hi res. I may reverse charges on my credit card and call it quits with the "official" site. It's never been good. Now it's truly bad, and extortionist to boot.

Duc is very fast - but Stoner had the race craft to use it well. Jerez won't yield him the same straight line advantage. Rossi constantly attacking despite power deficit - what a warrior. Pick him in a locked box car. Pedrosa and Hopper went at it pretty good - I'd say tier 1 was Stoner / Rossi, Tier 1.5 Pedrosa / Hopper - and then all the rest. If this is any indication, it'll be a great season! Pitt (7 laps), Checa (14), De Puniet (15), and Capirossi (16) all dnf'd. All mechanicals I'm pretty sure.

MotoGP Warm-up Times: 1. Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda - 1min 56.522 secs 2. John Hopkins - Rizla Suzuki - 1min 56.600 secs 3. Casey Stoner - Ducati Marlboro - 1min 56.708 secs 4. Marco Melandri - Gresini Honda - 1min 56.949 secs 5. Randy de Puniet - Kawasaki Racing - 1min 57.468 secs 6. Kenny Roberts - Team Roberts - 1min 57.484 secs 7. Carlos Checa - Honda LCR - 1min 57.486 secs 8. Alex Barros - Pramac d'Antin - 1min 57.601 secs 9. Colin Edwards - Fiat Yamaha - 1min 57.642 secs 10. Valentino Rossi - Fiat Yamaha - 1min 57.784 secs 11. Loris Capirossi - Ducati Marlboro - 1min 57.816 secs 12. Shinya Nakano - Konica Minolta Honda - 1min 57.941 secs 13. Chris Vermeulen - Rizla Suzuki - 1min 57.984 secs 14. Alex Hofmann - Pramac d'Antin - 1min 58.083 secs 15. Toni Elias - Gresini Honda - 1min 58.355 secs 16. Nicky Hayden - Repsol Honda - 1min 58.454 secs 17. Sylvain Guintoli - Tech 3 Yamaha - 1min 58.609 secs 18. Olivier Jacque - Kawasaki Racing - 1min 58.906 secs 19. Makoto Tamada - Dunlop Tech 3 Yamaha - 1min 59.452 secs 20. Andrew Pitt - Ilmor X3 GP - 2min 0.530 secs MotoGP Qatar Round 1 Race Results: Conditions: Dry, 29 degrees Celcius, Track Temp 45 degrees Celcius 1. Casey STONER - Ducati Marlboro - 43'02.788 2. Valentino ROSSI - Fiat Yamaha - 43'05.626 3. Dani PEDROSA - Repsol Honda - 43'11.318 4. John HOPKINS - Rizla Suzuki - 43'11.859 5. Marco MELANDRI - Honda Gresini - 43'20.221 6. Colin EDWARDS - Fiat Yamaha - 43'21.435 7. Chris VERMEULEN - Rizla Suzuki - 43'25.704 8. Nicky HAYDEN - Repsol Honda - 43'25.845 9. Alex BARROS - Pramac d'Antin - 43'28.749 10. Shinya NAKANO - Konica Minolta Honda - 43'31.244 11. Alex HOFMANN - Pramac d'Antin - 43'37.817 12. Olivier JACQUE - Kawasaki Racing - 43'45.736 13. Kenny ROBERTS JR - Team Roberts - 43'45.765 14. Toni ELIAS - Honda Gresini - 43'45.777 15. Sylvain GUINTOLI - Yamaha Tech 3 - 43'54.427 16. Makoto TAMADA - Yamaha Tech 3 - 44'00.641

Have you guys noticed the disparity in top speed? Ducati - 324 kph. Yamaha, 309? Wow! Can Stoner turn that into a full race advantage? Hope so. Watching he and Pedrosa go at it if that develops (old rivals, no?) will be worth the price of admission. Gonna' be one hell of a race tomorrow, I think. Remember, this is a spoiler thread so if you don't want to know the results until you've watched it delayed, don't look here post race until you've seen it yourself. Go Hopper! Guess my bias shows. Incredible riders, each and every one of them!

March 9 Practice Nr. 3 1.-5- Colin EDWARDS (USA) 1'56.057 (Fiat Yamaha Team) 2.-46- Valentino ROSSI (ITA) 1'56.272 +0.215 (Fiat Yamaha Team) 3.-27- Casey STONER (AUS) 1'56.540 +0.483 (Ducati Marlboro Team) 4.-21- John HOPKINS (USA) 1'56.569 +0.512 (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) 5.-26- Dani PEDROSA (SPA) 1'56.686 +0.629 (Repsol Honda Team) 6.-33- Marco MELANDRI (ITA) 1'56.690 +0.633 (Honda Gresini) 7.-65- Loris CAPIROSSI (ITA) 1'56.844 +0.787 (Ducati Marlboro Team) 8.-1- Nicky HAYDEN (USA) 1'56.918 +0.861 (Repsol Honda Team) 9.-71- Chris VERMEULEN (AUS) 1'56.940 +0.883 (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) 10.-7- Carlos CHECA (SPA) 1'56.996 + 0.939 (Honda LCR) 11.-4- Alex BARROS (BRA) 1'57.027 +0.970 (Pramac d'Antin) 12.-56- Shinya NAKANO (JPN) 1'57.158 +1.1011 (Konica Minolta Honda) 13.-14- Randy DE PUNIET (FRA) 1'57.316 +1.259 (Kawasaki Racing Team) 14.-24- Toni ELIAS (SPA) 1'57.444 1 +1.387 (Honda Gresini) 15.-10- Kenny ROBERTS JR (USA) 1'57.600 +1.543 (Team Roberts) 16.-66- Alex HOFMANN (GER) 1'57.716 +1.659 (Pramac d'Antin) 17.-50- Sylvain GUINTOLI (FRA) 1'57.849 +1.792 (Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3) 18.-19- Olivier JACQUE (FRA) 1'58.393 +2.336 (Kawasaki Racing Team) 19.-6- Makoto TAMADA (JPN) 1'58.979 +2.922 (Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3) 20.-99- Jeremy McWILLIAMS (GBR) 1'59.266 +3.209 (Ilmor GP) 21.-88- Andrew PITT (AUS) 2'00.045 +3.988 (Ilmor GP) Qualifying Starting Grid MotoGP : 1. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 1min 55.002 secs 2. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 55.007 secs 3. Colin Edwards USA Fiat Yamaha Team 1min 55.233 secs 4. Toni Elias SPA Gresini Honda 1min 55.358 secs 5. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 1min 55.361 secs 6. John Hopkins USA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1min 55.833 secs 7. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 55.851 secs 8. Randy de Puniet FRA Kawasaki Racing Team 1min 55.933 secs 9. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team 1min 56.041 secs 10. Marco Melandri ITA Gresini Honda 1min 56.222 secs 11. Shinya Nakano JPN Konica Minolta Honda 1min 56.306 secs 12. Carlos Checa SPA Honda LCR 1min 56.609 secs 13. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1min 56.639 secs 14. Olivier Jacque FRA Kawasaki Racing Team 1min 56.754 secs 15. Alex Barros BRA Pramac d'Antin MotoGP 1min 56.814 secs 16. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Dunlop Tech 3 Yamaha 1min 57.257 secs 17. Alex Hofmann GER Pramac d'Antin MotoGP 1min 57.274 secs 18. Kenny Roberts USA Team Roberts 1min 57.495 secs 19. Makoto Tamada JPN Dunlop Tech 3 Yamaha 1min 58.024 secs 20. Jeremy McWilliams GBR Ilmor GP 1min 59.606 secs 21. Andrew Pitt AUS Ilmor GP 1min 59.725 secs Qatar Test – 16/02/2007 (800cc): Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 1min 55.471secs

Losail Circuit MotoGP Free Practice Nr. 2 1.-46- Valentino ROSSI 1'56.464 (FIAT Yamaha Team) 2.-5- Colin EDWARDS 1'56.779 (FIAT Yamaha Team) 3.-27- Casey STONER 1'56.839 (Ducati Marlboro Team) 4.-21- John HOPKINS 1'56.972 1 (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) 5.-7- Carlos CHECA 1'56.981 (Honda LCR) 6.-26- Dani PEDROSA 1'56.990 (Repsol Honda Team) 7.-33- Marco MELANDRI 1'57.112 (Honda Gresini) 8.-65- Loris CAPIROSSI 1'57.247 (Ducati Marlboro Team) 9.-24- Toni ELIAS 1'57.382 12 18 (Honda Gresini) 10.-56- Shinya NAKANO 1'57.574 (Konica Minolta Honda) 11.-4- Alex BARROS 1'57.620 (Pramac d'Antin) 12.-71- Chris VERMEULEN 1'57.636 (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) 13.-14- Randy DE PUNIET 1'57.686 (Kawasaki Racing Team) 14.-10- Kenny ROBERTS JR 1'57.738 (Team Roberts) 15.-1- Nicky HAYDEN 1'57.922 (Repsol Honda Team) 16.-66- Alex HOFMANN 1'58.206 (Pramac d'Antin) 17.-19- Olivier JACQUE 1'58.523 (Kawasaki Racing Team) 18.-50- Sylvain GUINTOLI 1'58.720 (Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3) 19.-88- Andrew PITT 1'59.930 (Ilmor GP) 20.-99- Jeremy McWILLIAMS 2'00.125 (Ilmor GP) 21.-6- Makoto TAMADA 2'00.188 (Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3) Looks like Stoner and Hopkins are ready to step up to podium contention! Go Hopper!

March 8 - first free practice 1. Colin Edwards USA Fiat Yamaha Team 1min 56.665 secs 2. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 56.745 secs 3. Valentino Rossi ITA Fiat Yamaha Team 1min 56.787 secs 4. Carlos Checa SPA Honda LCR 1min 57.095 secs 5. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 57.270 secs 6. John Hopkins USA Rizla Suzuki MotoGP min 57.281 secs 7. Marco Melandri ITA Gresini Honda 1min 57.443 secs 8. Shinya Nakano JPN Konica Minolta Honda 1min 57.491 secs 9. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 1min 57.705 secs 10. Alex Hofmann GER Pramac d'Antin MotoGP 1min 58.021 secs 11. Randy de Puniet FRA Kawasaki Racing Team 1min 58.238 secs 12. Toni Elias SPA Gresini Honda 1min 58.262 secs 13. Alex Barros BRA Pramac d'Antin MotoGP 1min 58.315 secs 14. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1min 58.559 secs 15. Kenny Roberts USA Team Roberts 1min 58.774 secs 16. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team 1min 58.924 secs 17. Olivier Jacque FRA Kawasaki Racing Team 1min 59.598 secs 18. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Dunlop Tech 3 Yamaha 1min 59.679 secs 19. Andrew Pitt AUS Ilmor GP (M) 2min 0.587 secs 20. Makoto Tamada JPN Dunlop Tech 3 Yamaha 2min 1.495 secs 21. Jeremy McWilliams GBR Ilmor GP 2min 1.767 secs Qatar Test – 16/02/2007 (800cc): Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 1min 55.471secs

Water cooled, right? That's gotta' be a radiator hangin' down there, yes?

Looks like Hopper will be on the grid for Qatar. Break out year for him? Maybe. Suzuki duo ready to roll in Qatar News - Rizla Suzuki will realign their 2007 rider duo of John Hopkins and Chris Vermeulen for the first race of the season in Qatar, where they will be hoping to maintain the strong form shown in preseason. http://tinyurl.com/27wlse

Nigel, saw this and felt compelled to stick my nose in. I own a sport i - and it's a bike I'll never get rid of. I've never tired of it - neither the looks nor the riding experience. I've contented myself with upgrading the sport i. Haven't even started on the cosmetics yet, just motor and transmission thus far. You have a bike that (IMHO) may be the most beautiful Guzzi ever built. It's also becoming rare, so its continued availability at current prices astounds me. No matter, they're not investments anyway. I've never heard complaints about "weird" handling with the sport i- unlike the V 11, it's later spine permutations. Remember the sport (and Daytona) was THE Dr. John race bike. Probably didn't improve with subsequent factory fiddling. Also, it's probably as light a bike with that sized mill (save the MGS 01) Guzzi will ever build. I suspect it is 50 to 100 pounds lighter than the sport you are considering. Handling can be addressed by upgrading or replacing suspension components. Motor has lots of oomph hiding within - just needs some dollars and know how-thrown at it. Plenty of the latter available here and at guzzitech. Quite frankly I've yet to find a bike that comes close to stirring my soul as does my sport i. And I've got some current references for comparison - I'm racing an '04 Aprilia RSV R and an '85 Cagiva Alazzurra. Both wonderful machines, and of course the Aprilia still state of the art - but for street feel, and poser value - c'mon, it IS important - I'll climb aboard my sport i every time. JMHO.

Amen! Looking for Max to turn in another surprising performance.

800 MotoGP bikes already faster than last year’s 1000s gizmag http://tinyurl.com/33sn4b

Rossi wins the BMW!Day 3 1. Valentino Rossi - Factory Yamaha - 1min 38.394 secs 2. Dani Pedrosa - Repsol Honda - 1min 38.527 secs 3. Colin Edwards - Factory Yamaha - 1min 39.300 secs 4. Nicky Hayden - Repsol Honda - 1min 39.556 secs 5. Randy de Puniet - Kawasaki Racing - 1min 39.832 secs 6. Casey Stoner - Ducati Marlboro - 1min 39.873 secs 7. Loris Capirossi - Ducati Marlboro - 1min 39.887 secs 8. Chris Vermeulen - Rizla Suzuki - 1min 40.043 secs 9. Kenny Roberts - Team Roberts - 1min 40.083 secs 10. Carlos Checa - Honda LCR - 1min 40.100 secs 11. Toni Elias - Gresini Honda - 1min 40.202 secs 12. Shinya Nakano - Konica Minolta - 1min 40.242 secs 13. Makoto Tamada - Tech 3 Yamaha - 1min 40.307 secs 14. Marco Melandri - Gresini Honda - 1min 40.396 secs 15. Olivier Jacque - Kawasaki Factory - 1min 40.551 secs 16. Alex Hofmann - Pramac d'Antin - 1min 40.681 secs 17. Alex Barros - Pramac D'Antin - 1min 41.038 secs 18. Kousuke Akiyoshi - Rizla Suzuki Test Rider - 1min 41.805 secs 19. Sylvain Guintoli - Tech 3 Yamaha Test Rider - 1min 42.215 secs 20. Vittoriano Guareschi - Ducati Marlboro Test Rider - 1min 43.008 secs 21. Andrew Pitt - Ilmor X3 - 1min 43.026 secs 22. Shinichi Ito - Ducati Test Rider - 1min 43.073 secs 23. Jeremy McWilliams - Ilmor X3 - 1min 43.202 secs Fastest race lap for each of the manufacturers from the 2006 Spanish GP in March: Ducati: Loris Capirossi 1:41.248 Honda: Dani Pedrosa 1:41.297 Suzuki: John Hopkins 1:41.598 Kawasaki: Shinya Nakano 1:42.017 Yamaha: Carlos Checa 1:42.161 Lap record: 2005, Valentino Rossi, Yamaha, 1.40.596 Pole record: 2006, Loris Capirossi, Ducati, 1:39.064 November '06 test times: 1 Dani Pedrosa (SPA) Honda, 1:39.910 2 Valentino Rossi (ITA) Yamaha, 1:40.123 3 Marco Melandri (ITA) Honda, 1:40.524 4 Chris Vermeulen (AUS) Suzuki, 1:40.766 5 John Hopkins (USA) Suzuki, 1:41.049 6 Shinya Nakano (JPN) Honda, 1:41.142 7 Colin Edwards (USA) Yamaha, 1’41.254 8 Alex Barros (BRA) Ducati, 1:41.276 9 Loris Capirossi (ITA) Ducati, 1:41.492 10 Casey Stoner (AUS) Ducati, 1:41.595 11 Tadayuki Okada (JPN) Honda Test Rider, 1:43.392 12 Vittoriano Guareschi (ITA) Ducati Test Rider, 1:44.071 13 Jeremy McWilliams (GBR) Ilmor, 1:44.661 14 Andrew Pitt (AUS) Ilmor, 1:44.983

Day 2 1. Marco Melandri ITA Gresini Honda 1min 40.383 secs 2. Valentino Rossi ITA Factory Yamaha Team 1min 40.308 secs 3. Dani Pedrosa SPA Repsol Honda Team 1min 40.581 secs 4. Alex Hofmann GER Pramac d'Antin MotoGP 1min 40.748 secs 5. Toni Elias SPA Gresini Honda 1min 40.952 secs 6. Casey Stoner AUS Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 41.071 secs 7. Carlos Checa SPA Honda LCR 1min 41.096 secs 8. Randy de Puniet FRA Kawasaki Racing Team 1min 41.151 secs 9. Colin Edwards USA Factory Yamaha Team 1min 41.204 secs 10. Makoto Tamada JPN Dunlop Tech 3 Yamaha 1min 41.234 secs 11. Nicky Hayden USA Repsol Honda Team 1min 41.259 secs 12. Shinya Nakano JPN Konica Minolta Honda 1min 41.269 secs 13. Chris Vermeulen AUS Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1min 41.363 secs 14. Loris Capirossi ITA Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 41.590 secs 15. Olivier Jacque FRA Kawasaki Racing Team 1min 41.777 secs 16. Kenny Roberts USA Team Roberts 1min 41.783 secs 17. Alex Barros BRA Pramac d'Antin MotoGP 1min 41.845 secs 18. Sylvain Guintoli FRA Dunlop Tech 3 Yamaha 1min 42.364 secs 19. Shinichi Ito JPN Ducati TTT 1min 43.209 secs 20. Kousuke Akiyoshi JPN Rizla Suzuki MotoGP 1min 43.610 secs 21. Vittoriano Guareschi ITA Ducati Marlboro Team 1min 44.143 secs

Official Test Jerez Day One Official Times 1. Marco Melandri (Honda Gresini) - 1'42.563 2. Casey Stoner (Ducati Marlboro Team) - 1'42.634 3. Dani Pedrosa (Repsol Honda) - 1'42.796 4. Carlos Checa (Honda LCR) - 1'43.206 5. Alex Barros (Pramac d'Antin) - 1'43.214 6. Randy de Puniet (Kawasaki Racing Team) - 1'43.315 7. Loris Capirossi (Ducati Marlboro Team) - 1'43.475 8. Alex Hofmann (Pramac d'Antin) - 1'43.673 9. Toni Elias (Honda Gresini) - 1'43.687 10. Shinya Nakano (Konica Minolta Honda) - 1'43.817 11. Colin Edwards (Yamaha Factory Racing) - 1'43.845 12. Chris Vermeulen (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) - 1'44.052 13. Valentino Rossi (Yamaha Factory Racing Team) - 1'44.494 14. Olivier Jacque (Kawasaki Racing Team) - 1'44.659 15. Makoto Tamada (Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3) - 1'45.081 16. Sylvain Guintoli (Dunlop Yamaha Tech 3) - 1'45.208 17. Vittoriano Guareschi (Ducati Marlboro) - 1'45.603 18. Shinichi Ito (Ducati Marlboro) - 1'45.826 19. Nicky Hayden (Repsol Honda) - 1'45.901 20. Kousuke Akiyoshi (Rizla Suzuki MotoGP) - 1'47.191 21. Kenny Roberts Jr. (Team Roberts) - 1'45.937 22. Jeremy McWilliams (Ilmor GP) - 1'47.191 23. Andrew Pitt (Ilmor GP) - 1'49.365

http://tinyurl.com/yr6kc6 This should do nicely, no? Already noted on V11 list here: http://tinyurl.com/yu2eoy