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A guy I knew in college* that dated a girl whose nickname was Beaver Nuggets. Seems to be a common phrase for a menu item.

A very interesting topic after failing to get a good seal on my gear box shift plate two out of the last three times . . .

+1 what Scud said ^^ about grooming the fasteners and de-stressing the entire assembly. There is a very similar procedure to "settle" the exhaust system. Well, plus one more on how nice those frame side plates look on the champagne!

Have you got a "short list" there, buddy? (Pretty sure one of the cars from my youth was called the JailBaitGT. )

Haha, well, sounds like "conversation" to me . . . Pretty sure some South'n SpineRaider will come along with some reminiscence or hopeful plan and re-steer the thread. (Haha, pretty sure @sctt2525 just did! ) After all, the whole essence of SpineRaiding is to encourage interest, stimulate discussion, and promote sharing about the V11 (and riding/ traveling by motorcycle). If one of you can't make the South'n Spine Raid, have yourself the flavor of SpineRaid that suits you and those that would gather . . .

Be ever diligent threading in those pinch bolts, perhaps clamping the collars so that the fasteners line up perfectly with the holes. Otherwise, they tend to cross thread and potentially fail later. Torque in steps and back forth across the pinch collar.

Another cross-post: "Britannica " brings to mind all of the contributions to @Scud's amazing "Encyclopedia of Compatible Parts" thread pinned in the How To . . . subforum:

Thanks, my man. What an awesome community we have here. Next week, I will have been a member of V11LeMans.com nineteen years. I count this as one of the great fortunes of my life. Y'all do totally rock! Collectively, we have cracked so much of the V11 code. Yet, there remain mysteries to be divined. These geometry changes, and their actualities, for one. And then there is the mystery of what @dangerous brilliantly referred to as "that bloody farking front UNI joint?" on the short frame Sports . . .

As of yet, we have no physical confirmation of the change in "cant" between the earliest V11 Sport and those built after about January or February of 2000. What we do know is the earliest V11 Sports used "carry-over" triple clamps from the 1100 Sport-i with greater offset (and from a bike with 26.5º steering head, rather than the V11's 25º). Significant diffence in trail, and therefor "stability" . . . Great work by @Lucky Phil posted here:

"Ground Hog Day" here means the dead of winter and high hopes to ride again. Many thanks to our South'n-Hemi brothers to keep us encouraged!

Seriously, this tuition so informs the reports and concerns about the earliest V11 Sports showing bad handling behavior. Was it a "1/2º change in the cant" of the triples? That has long been disputed as unlikely. Was it the holdover of 45mm offset triples that had been used on 26º 1100 Sport spine frames, then did not work well on the 25º V11 ShortFrames that benefited from a 40mm offset? Would the change from a 26º frame with 45mm offset to a 25º frame with that same 45mm offset = that "1/2 degree" that has been of so much concern?

Tank, sidecovers, airbox ? But not necessarily the swingarm. (Although, it might be a good time to perform all of the swingarm/drivehaft/ U-joint/ clutch bleed maintenance?)

This gets us closer to the true explanation of what changed between the 1100 Sport-i and the eventual V11 Sport. It may not, actually, be about a change in a "half degree" of rake milled into the triples, but the transition from the 26º->25º change in frame rake while retaining the 45mm offset triples from the earlier gen 1100 Sport before introducing the 40mm offset triples for the 25º rake of the V11 SpineFrame, especially in the Short("Red") Frame version. I have found "offset" very difficult to measure with the forks mounted to the bike . . . I tried.

Makes me think I should replace my original filter cover O-ring with something . . . . maybe even pretty soon (next filter change)?

Password strength test: "It would take a computer 39 million years to crack your password" I remain hopeful that our V11 Beta Testing will wrap up before that . . .

One last disclaimer . . . Apologies to true Rallye Raiders for borrowing this reference for our relatively safe, predictable, and well fed comodo ritrovo. "SpineRaid" is just such a catchy phrase compared to calling this "Another Hopeful Gathering of Dedicated Moto Guzzi V11 Beta Testers in Action." I mean, I can't even make an acronym out of that without sounding like a cat choking on a hairball . . . AHGoDMGV11BTiA (In print, that actually looks like a pretty secure password . . . )

There is hope . . .

Let's get some housekeeping out of the way so we can have some fun . . . Weekend after US Labor Day (Sept. 9-11, 2022) Tellico Plains ,TN, USA > Get There. Bring Tools. < While many SpineRiders stay at The Lodge at Tellico, there are other places to stay or camp. It is far better to perform TechSessions in the garage at The Lodge rather than a pull-off on the Cherohala or some remote motorcycle shop down in Georgia. Prep well. "Bring Tools" . . . There is the whole "non-event", and "this ain't the rally you thought you were getting a T-shirt for" thing . . . "It's just an idea" To wit: This is not a rally, event, or function of V11LeMans.com. It is an idea about riding, or meeting interested people. It is an idea only. There is no plan, no registration, no stickers, T-shirts, merchandise, door prizes, meals, poker runs, routes, organization, or support. Just discussion and sharing. There is no affiliation or responsibility, expressed or implied, with or by V11Lemans.com, its owner(s), Administrators, moderators, members, pets, pocket mice, or any other entity. If being at The US Appalachian Divide in September feels like a good idea to you, look forward to sharing ideas. The idea of ideas has been around for a while. I do love George Bernard Shaw's take: "If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples, then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas."

This appears to be true, that the earliest V11 Sport built through January or February of 2000 had the 1100 Sport-i clamps. Was that offset different than the rest of the 2000-2001 Sport?

Well, it’s “Ground Hog Day” here in The States and everyone knows what that means. 💨 Halfway through winter and time to think about riding !

It may also be worth noting our V11 frame is not directly grounded. The battery grounds to the very important main ground on the back of the gearbox and the harnesses ground back to the battery through individual ring terminals. When I grounded my regulator case to the timing chest, I also put a strap from there to the spine frame. Perhaps it doesn’t really do anything, but I figured it couldn't hurt.

Very interesting. The Parts Catalog only shows the driveshaft as an assembly. While we have derived the U-joints and the angled Zerk fittings, that O-ring has yet to be divined . . . . . . more V11 mystery for the dark wizards of our alchemy . . .

Great excitement to get an email form "Giuseppe Caruso" saying that the gear manufacturer is hoping to deliver our V11 gear sets at the end of February. I am not sure if these are all built-to-order and spoken for, or if there are any additional sets available. Reach out to Joe Caruso if interested . . . joe.caruso@ntlworld.com

The early 1999-2001 RedFrame/Rosso Mandello Parts Catalog does show two different sets of triple clamps. "Up to frame KR113031 (T3)" an "From frame KR 113032 (T4)" (The Rosso Mandello were all in the later frame range and their part numbers differ for their black coloration.) I am certainly vague on the "T3/T4" designation and makes me wonder about "T1/T2" . . .

+1, the Chuck-Engineered, Scud-made Shift Super-Spring is valid for the early gearboxes from my experience .