GuzziMoto

I believe Marc misunderstood the rules and thought he would have to start from the back of the grid. But he was banking on another mis-understanding of the rules, hoping ten other racers would follow him off the grid. He was confusing the situation with another situation, if more then ten racers pull down pit lane at the end of the warmup lap the rules say the race start will be postponed. That rule was added after most of the grid pulled into pitlane after the warmup lap at, I think, Argentina a couple years ago (but I could be wrong about the specific location). However, that rule was strictly about riders pulling down pitlane at the end of the warmup lap, to prevent a debacle like that from happening again. The rules Marc did not know as well as he thought actually meant he would go out on the warmup lap and start the race from his original grid spot, but then have to do a drive down pitlane to add to his race time the equivalent of lost time as if he had swapped bikes to his other bike to get off the rains and onto slicks. This article covers the various possible scenarios pretty well; https://www.crash.net/motogp/feature/1066604/1/marc-marquezs-cota-motogp-grid-gamble-wrong-reasons-right-decision I don't see what happened as a sign of Pecco getting on equal footing with Marc. What happened was Marc made a few mistakes, the new Marc we have seen went away for that race and the old Marc surfaced. He outsmarted himself trying to outsmart everyone else, and was lucky he didn't face the consequences he was supposed to. And he wanted to crush the field to show his dominance, but he failed. He had the win, the race was his to lose, and he lost it. I hope at the next round Pecco pulls himself up on equal terms with Marc and beats him straight up. Then it will really be on.

The one thing that I don't like about vacuum bleeders is they will also suck air past the threads of the bleed screw. That air really doesn't go into the brake system, so it isn't really that bad. But it does go into the line from the bleed screw to the vacuum bleeder, so it can make it hard to tell if you are getting solid fluid out the bleed screw or if there is actually still air in the system. One way of helping in that respect is to apply grease to the threads of the bleed screw. But really it usually isn't worth worrying about. But that is part of the reason why I prefer a pressure bleeder to a vacuum bleeder.

I guess the Marc Marquez fanclub is pretty quiet, huh. First Marc screwed up the start of the race because he didn't understand the rules and created a dangerous situation on purpose (but he will probably get away with that), then he tried to dominate the race instead of playing it smart like he had in the last couple races and use his brother as a rabbit. It appeared he wanted everyone to know how much faster he was then them, although in fairness he didn't seem to be that much faster. And, as it turned out, he was riding beyond his limits just to go as fast as he was going. His crash looked to be pure rider error, cutting that corner way to much riding way over the inside curb because he was trying to carry too much speed through that set of corners. It was not a good race for Marc Marquez fans. And the race at the front wasn't overly exciting, beyond Marc crashing out. But there was a lot of good hard racing in the mid-pack.

Like others said, I would order a pair or they probably won't match (although you can only see one side of the bike at a time), and I would look closely for other damage like to the spark plug and spark plug boot. You also might want to re-torque the cylinder head.

Oh, TLM looks to have these in stock.https://en.tlm.nl/moto-guzzi-triumph/9786815-1-klepdekselbeugel-vierkant-alu-glimmend

There are a variety of companies that offer those. Given where you are you may want to try local companies, like https://en.tlm.nl/moto-guzzi-triumph/039410009000-klepdekselbeugel-vierkant Sadly they are currently out of stock. Try googling guzzi head guard. This company makes their own versions, not as pretty but arguably more robust. https://guzzipower.com/store/Headguard.html You still have one good one, I assume. Any decent machinist should be able to make you a matching pair using the good one as a template. My wife made hers. Of course, she had access to a CNC routing table.

I am pretty sure they do not sell out. It is a big track, and they can stuff a lot of spectators in there. They offer basic General Admission tickets or for a little more (or a lot more) you can get a specific reserved seat. Google is your friend. https://www.ticketmaster.com/2025-motogp-red-bull-grand-prix-austin-texas-03-30-2025/event/3A006172A658263D

I am not saying Alex doesn't race to win. But I am saying that if he wants to beat his brother he can't keep letting his brother use him like that. This is two races in a row where Marc has let Alex by, Alex then rode as hard as he could while in front and used up his tires. He then had nothing left at the end when it counted. I think COTA will likely go Marcs way, it is his race to lose. But after that I think we will start seeing if anyone else can beat him. It is then that we get to tracks where a challenge to Marc is more likely in my opinion.

I am curious to see if, at some point, Alex grows a pair, gets smart, and starts standing up to his older brother. Quit letting Marc use him like that. Don't wear his tires out trying to stay in front of Marc, save it until the end of the race. Leading any lap but the last lap doesn't matter. Also, at COTA we may see some other bikes / racers in the mix. The more guys up front the more chances for someone other then Marc to win. But Alex (and anyone else who can run up front) needs to wise up.

Yeah, the first three races are at tracks that favor Marc. And Marc is an exceptional talent. But to be fair, he is not dominating races the way he did previously. He used to run off and win by large margins. He is not doing that yet. In fact, he seems to be using his brother as a patsy, letting his brother tow him around while he saves his tires. I was surprised when Alex did that the first time, I was stunned when Alex did that the second time. I would hope at some point Alex would learn not to do that. It seems the 2025 hybrid Ducati does not suit Pecco. How much of that is real and how much is sour grapes I don't know. But what I do know is while I am not surprised to see Pecco behind Marc I was surprised to see Pecco behind Alex and Morbidelli (who were both on the 2024 Ducati). It seems the hybrid they came up with suits Marc but no one else. Ducati risks going back to where they went with Stoner, building a bike only one person can go fast on.

As mentioned, the typical speedo calibration I have used is based on tire diameter, not tire circumference. I would not be surprised if some tire diameter calibration software requires you to know the rolling diameter / circumference of the tire. But for our Jeep, for example, it wants to know the diameter of the tires. I have also seen some that wants to know the radius of the tire, which is generally half the diameter. I have used non-automotive speedo calibration software that used tire circumference or rolling diameter. But not for automotive applications. I would never bother re-calibrating it to account for tire wear. I am just not that neurotic. And the software I have used is not that precise. It generally only goes down to a quarter of an inch in diameter, or an eight of an inch in radius. But the reason I have used it is when replacing tires with tires of a different size. For example, my Jeep is currently running tires that are approx 4 - 5 inches larger in diameter then the original tires (from 32" tires to 37" tires). That would be, without adjusting the speedo calibration, a massive difference. In fact, it would be a large enough difference to upset the Jeeps computer. So, I re-calibrate so the Jeeps speedo reads about right and the Jeeps traction control and cruise control systems don't freak out. There are times when I have sort of measured the rolling diameter of the tires, for example to confirm the axle gear ratio. Rolling the tire exactly one rotation and measuring how many rotations of the drive shaft in the one rotation of the tire will tell you what the gear ratio is in the axle. That is probably not of use to most people, but if you have a Jeep and you want to know or confirm what gear ratio you have in the axles (or even that the front and rear axles have the same ratio) there is not an easier but more accurate way. But to how measuring tire size is relevent to this thread, the question originally came up not for calibrating speedo's or anything like that. It was about how most tires are not exactly the size listed on the tires sidewall but rather most tires are to some degree or another smaller then the listed size. And some tires / brands tend to run more smaller then others. Like BFG KO2's, they tend to run upwards of an inch and a half smaller then the listed size (a 35" KO2 tends to actually be around 33.5" in diameter). And since Scud had measured his KO3's I was comparing their actual size to the listed size to see if they also run as small. From what Scud measured, the new KO3 does not seem to run as small as the KO2 it replaces.

I get that Michelin sets the front tire minimum pressure on safety grounds. But the reality is racers were already running their front tire pressures below the minimum Michelin came up with in pursuit of better performance, and not one front tire failed at the pressures they were running. Clearly the minimum pressure is conservative, and also clearly the tire works better when it is below the minimum. I don't know how things will go with Pirelli being the sole supplier in the future, But I hope it will be an improvement. Michelin has been better then Bridgestone, with Bridgestone there were too many crashes from the front tire either dropping out of its performance window or not making it into it. Michelin does seem better in that respect. But the minimum tire pressure issue is pretty messed up, and they also seem to have a quality control / consistency issue where some tires are just duds.

Cheap bar end mirrors do vibrate. Nicer ones tend to be heavier and more solid, reducing vibrations. The rubber insert / mounting is specific to the V11. I have seen mirrors use a simpler version of the rubber mount, basically using a rubber sleeve that expands when you tighten the mounting bolt. But the V11 setup has the rubber inserts pretty much permanently in the bars. With the right sized bolt you can usually get an aftermarket bar end weight or bar end mirror to attach to the factory mounting point, as long as you can make the right size bolt work with it (it may require enlarging the hole in it to fit the right size bolt). It may also require a spacer to get the length right. In the scheme of mods, this is fairly easy. But it is not likely to be a direct bolt on thing. Some creativity is likely to be required. Most aftermarket bar end weights and bar end mirrors have their own means of attachment. If using them with bars that have nothing, use what they come with. If using them with bars that already have threads inside to attach to, I would use that with the right size bolt to match the threads. Some aftermarket mounts involve, as mentioned, a rubber sleeve with a nut on the other side. If someone removed them by completely unscrewing the bolt it would make it near impossible to re-use that mount. Typically with that type of mount you need to loosen it enough so you can wiggle the whole assembly out of the bar as a unit. That way you do not leave the rubber sleeve and nut inside the bar. That applies to aftermarket rubber sleeve and nut style mounts. I do not believe that applies to the factory Guzzi mount.

Generally, any mirror will be the first thing to hit the ground if/when the motorcycle falls over, including the stock mirrors. My wife has a collection of broken stock and replacement stock mirrors as a result. The bar end mirrors do hit the ground, but they tend to act as protection for more important things. You can keep riding with a broken mirror, you may not be able to do so with a broken throttle. As to aesthetics, I find them to be way better looking then the standard bug antenna mirrors. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Suffice it to say, some people think they look better then stock and some don't. To each their own.

My preferred bar end mirrors fit over existing bar end weights, as long as the bar end weights are not tapered. Some are. As to brands, the standard high end options are always good. But I am running cheaper knockoff mirrors that are sold by a number of people but all likely made in the same chinese factory. We actually have a set from Husqvarna (factory accessories) that are pretty sweet and have a round mirror. But they replace the bar end weight. Keep in mind, the bar end weight does what it does by placing weight at the end of the handlebars. Pretty much any bar end mirror is going to be placing weight at the end of the handlebars. I would be surprised if many bar end mirrors weighed less then the stock bar end weights.