Lucky Phil

Sidecars, good lord sidecars. All the worst aspects of a car and a motorcycle rolled into one and then made even worse. A case of less than the sum of it's parts. The sidecar is what the poor working class in the early 20th century bought to attach to their motorcycle to transport the family because they couldn't afford a car. They were a poor persons transport band aid and nobody worried about the obvious dynamic shortcomings which not only make them suspect to operate but also destroy the motorcycle itself mechanically. A motorcycle chassis isn't designed to cope with side thrust loads so the mechanicals take a beating and you end up with chassis cracking and high wear on everything including the driveline lugging around the extra weight. The advent of the Austin 7 or Baby Austin, in the early 1920's, an affordable car that the working class could afford killed off the sidecar manufacturers almost entirely and with good reason. Phil

Ducati dry clutches were always their weakest link. Phil

If you have a true expert then you don't need a machine. The guy at the automotive paint shop supplies I use mixed this 2K for my bike. I took him the old alternator bracket off the frame and he matched it by eye. No machine not even using a spray gun just his skills. It's as close to perfect as you can get. In the image is side plate and front frame I painted myself with the original lower frame member for a colour comparison. The colour match is perfect but my spraying and the deep richness and gloss 2K gives straight off the gun is the only difference. These people are rare these days unfortunately. While I was waiting my turn there was a car restorer before me that was having some metallic silver paint matched to the original wheel colour for an old Alfa. Once again he nailed it and the restorer told me this is the only place he sources his paint and matching because the guy is the best there is. Also the front frame compared to the original paint on the main frame back bone.

Unless you ignore Ducati V twins. Phil

These VIN systems all sound very precise and logical and a useful "standard" but the reality is they are not. There has never been a hard and fast international "standard" VIN system. I've been here before even for my Supra. The VIN on the Supra and all the other Au cars not just mine doesn't 100% correspond to any known VIN system. Bits and pieces align but a lot of the digits don't. If you do research on the VIN numbering system it's anything but an international "standard" over the last 40 years. From the shop manual for what thats worth. Phil

The first point is the Ti mufflers have large volume and the crossover style makes a difference. Contis were the original Ducati Supersport performance mufflers. They had a louvered inner straight pipe and no packing material. They would sound like a Ducati on your Guzzi but with a softer sound (less sharp crack) due to the softer cam timing of a BB Guzzi compared to the Desmo cams.

Elegant. Sensible airbox Phil

Something got lost in the translation. Phil

Not as many as you. Phil

I think different secondary pipes to get the higher angle. Phil

Just the golden colour they eventually go to after use. I have some pillion high mounts I think I can sell you if you need them. Phil

You need to get out more, lol. that's got no class or elegance at all. Ignoring the silly inlet trumpets I offer this as a much more classy exhibit. Phil

The ecu isn't necessary it will run fine on the std ecu mapping so don't pay for that. The last 2 images are the same setup with the high mount pillion pegs and adaptors. The images are taken at different angles and makes it deceptive. Phil

Just realised how similar elements of these songs are.