Lucky Phil

Cost is prohibitive for us docc. That there's a $50aud tube of grease by the time we get it and here they charge a lot more for the product itself. I did some research on buying it a few years ago Phil

Yes maybe. They are a bitch to remove/install on a V11 sport. I usually fit them to the throttle bodies and inlet spigots then bolt the inlet spigots to the heads. I'd be interested in learning what non hardening epoxy can be used to repair rubber components?

I don't have a definitive answer about sourcing you intake connectors but any rubber part for a motorcycle is the most difficult thing to replicate when sources dry up. If you intend keeping the bike for a long period then always buy additional rubber components when you get the chance like I do. The unused stuff I put in a clip lock plastic bag after treating with Armour all and store under the house where it's cool and dark. The intake rubbers are hard from new as they are made from a high shore rubber. The cracking can look worse than it really is and not be causing leaking. Phil

The main issue with the place at Bakersfield was the part of town it was in. Looked well dodgy and the icing on the cake was a dark morbid room that hadn't been updated in 25 years. It's a bit hard as a tourist on the road to ascertain the actual quality of the neighbourhood a place is in from an Ipad image. Now I just use Google maps street view to get a better idea of the lay of the land before booking. We got up earlyish the next day to have breakfast in town and a bit of a look about before we continued on and found almost nothing opened until about 11am for some reason. Hit the road after that. Phil

If they are relying on that ugly piece of shit in the video to get them back to the top then they are delusional. Phil

These things are just another consequence of the IT world we live in. The IT now allows the airlines and hotels etc but esp airlines to break down what was a standard service into it component parts and charge for them separately. Book your ticket 9 months in advance and chose what you would like to eat on the flight in 9 months time! Chances are they won't even be serving those meals in 9 months. What pissed me off greatly 10 years ago travelling by air within the States was paying extra for my luggage and then sitting at the gate lounge with people showing up to board with large suitcases that they were obviously not going to be allowed to board with and the gate staff informing them of such and then sending their luggage down the shute to be loaded into the hold for FREE. I made my feelings known to the gate staff that I didn't appreciate paying for my luggage to be put on board in the hold only to see grifters that work the system getting it loaded for free. Personally having travelled the world a few times pre and post internet the only benefit I see is Google maps for navigation and more convenient ways to pay for things. The flight and hotel booking processes have been broken down so much into their component pieces it's more painful than it was just arriving in a town or city and driving up and asking if there was room at the inn. And if you think internet hotel images are useful think again. I arrived at an internet pre booked hotel at Bakersfield in 2015 and looked at the neighbourhood it was in and then the actual room and quietly went back to the car and drove to the nearest holiday inn for the night. The next day I dropped back in to the reception of the first place and handed the keys back in after having paid for a night in a hotel I didn't stay at. Life is just to short to stay in a dump like that and i couldn't be bothered with a discussion about it with the staff at the time. Phil

Here's a thought. Modern CEO's and boards are focused on value to the shareholder and fight the employees over every 2 cents and benefits to reduce costs. When times and business gets tough as it inevitable will for long term companies the first group to jump ship and leave are the shareholders and who's needed the most in those times? The Employees that's who. There's zero loyalty from 99% of shareholders. Value your people for it's them the business will need in the long term to ride out the peaks and troughs should be the mantra for modern executive management.

I have a "theory" on this sort of thing. The original manufacturer contracts to Chinese/Indian/south east Asian company to make X amount of product and they supply X amount of items then keep the production line rolling and make some for "mother" and sell them themselves. You know 10 for you and 1 for us. Either that or they don't discard the "seconds and out of spec items" and do the same. Zero proof of this just something "I feel in my water" so to speak. An educated person would refer to it as Intuition I think. Phil

You know when I started my aviation career the managers were all people that worked their way up in the organisation, knew the detail of everything and when they got to management level they managed to avoid chaos and catastrophes. Then came along "professional manager" you know people with MBA's and business degrees and it all went to hell as they made short term decisions aimed at looking good on their resume. They often had a "throw the deck of cards into the air and see what lands" philosophy because then they could all get together in their MBA club and "crisis manage" the situation they had in fact created. It was truly pathetic to observe. My original managers managed to AVOID a crisis and the new ones managed to help create them so they could look like the guy that rides in and takes charge and "sorts it out". KTM is a classic example of modern management. Covid hits and the market goes on a buying spree and instead of pausing and thinking "this is a blip" lets make hay while the sun shines but not lose sight it's short term, no they react like a "blue sky thinking" muppet and go gang busters ramping up everything on a a short term "bubble" The Aussie wine industry did the same with the Chinese market. They all got on the Chinese gravy train as it pulled out of the station and neglected the other markets because the Chinese market was "going to last forever" but it didn't for political reasons and then they all fell on their arses and wanted the government to help bail them out. It's a very old story and if you want to see a classic version of it read "on a clear day you can see General motors" by John De Loreon. GM used to do similar to their smaller suppliers then swallow them up. I read that book 40 years ago and the lessons are still valid today. Phil

True docc. When the parent company fell on it's sword the Indian branch kept on keeping on. Phil

Here's one. Note cover only price. https://www.topsellerie.com/en-gi/designer-style-seat-cover-HSD8340-moto-guzzi-v11-sport_955.html

There was a company on ebay selling covers for the V11 sport a few years ago. So aftermarket covers exist. Phil

I was seriously appalled a few years ago when I saw footage from one of the royal weddings, can't remember which of the inbred ones it was but they made a big deal of driving away from some palace or in other they frequented/inhabited in an E type jag that had been converted into an electric car. Showing the world how environmentally aware and supportive they were. I just thought, what total wankers. It's one thing to be all that stuff and another the totally shit on your countries automotive history. Phil

As a general comment on society these days which relates to this topic in a high level kind of way is that we are all now prisoners of loony fringe dwellers. The LFD's have always been out there of course but modern instant communications technology has enabled them to all connect in real time and manufacture "influence" with the political establishment. There's a reason that in the past LFD's were LFD's and not politically or socially influential and that was because letting them have influence would drive society down the "Alice in Wonderland" loony rabbit hole. Now they are all interconnected via modern communications tech and have "influence" that's where we are heading. Strap in for the ride it's going to get worse before it gets better. As a student of 20th century history I was always fascinated how propaganda on a mass scale was used to influence the masses to follow seriously unhinged paths and often imagined the process. Well now I don't need to use my imagination because I'm living it every day more and more. The LFD's, political and social influence and propaganda are all connected by the same thread. Phil

I agree and I'm not anal about my coffee but then again where I live the standards are high. one of the places I stayed in in Italy the room elcheapo espresso machine had a disposable bag of some sort in the water tank. I'm assuming it was to condition the water in some way as it was a country villa and may well have been using bore or tank water. Need to research this. Phil

It is apparently with some refinements. Phil

True. The serious people plumb in the machine and have filters and other things to mitigate the water chemical purity if for no other reason than to help with reduced scaling in the machine. I was actually wondering if using store bought demineralised water might be advantageous. Phil

Until you step down the power ladder you don't realise just how unimportant big power really is. I've said for the last 30 years (after I spent 2 days blasting around the streets of Rome Italy on a hired scooter having and absolute ball) that more than 100hp on a road bike is a total waste and in all probability a handicap to most and a burden to some. The Honda CBR600 was just a perfect road sports bike. Plenty fast enough, reliable, light, but a bit characterless and bland I'll admit. I remember the 80's and 90's when manufacturers were driven by the American obsession with 1/4 mile times and I was riding an 85hp Bevel drive Ducati. The 1/4 mile times and HP figures interested me not a jot and thankfully the 1/4 mile time focus has shifted as has ignoring making a bike light weight. The scooter memories and education fades over the years but the Enfield 650 has brought the "HP perspective" back again. Phil

This is my new grinder a Gaggia MDF 55. It's a decent grinder apparently for the lower middle price point. I was going to keep using my older machines but I never use my FF points and there was an offer on it so I bought it on FF points otherwise I probably would have researched the crap out of it and ended up spending double. I mean I did research it of course and it came up as lets say "pretty decent" even after the testing guy got the results from the particle analyser he has and the real coffee nutters buy and use for getting the grinds right. When it gets to the particle analyser stage I'm out. I love a good shot of coffee but I already have a few obsessions and I don't need anymore. Same as home roasting, interesting but too far down the rabbit hole for me. Neither of these things come on line until Christmas day as they are our presents to each other. I know he's a bit annoying to listen to but who isn't on YouTube and the info is decent.

All very true esp the bit about the grinder. When I told the espresso sales guy for the ECM what machine and grinder I currently use (I have two 20 year old semi commercial doser units) he to his credit advised I'd be better off with regards to better coffee by upgrading the grinders first then spend the cash on the ECM machine later on. In many ways the grinder is more important than the machine for making a great shot. So in addition to the machine I bought a new grinder. Anyone that wants a working grinder for free you have a choice of two, a Rancilio Rocky or a Bregant junior. Both are quite weighty so overseas postage wouldn't be worth the money. The Amish only manage to survive because they pretty much isolate themselves from the rest of society and making a coffee on a modern machine is still a ritual believe me. Nobody loves old stuff more than me, hell I even keep my old espresso machines as ornaments but there no way on earth the old machines can make a perfect, reliably consistent shot of coffee for 1 or 20 people like a modern machine and grinder. I have family members that would rather drink instant coffee than a espresso machine made coffee even if it's for free or I'm paying. Thats how mad some people are these days. Phil

Well those that own them, a model T that is. I worked with a guy who's father had a pristinely restored one and I aske him about it's worth. He said about $6000aud at the time and I was shocked. I asked why so little and he replied that they are so impossible to use on modern roads that people aren't interested in them even as a sunny day drive proposition. Backed up by a few other I know in the veteran motoring world. Phil

Don't worry sounds like what Queenslanders think a Latte is. When in Hervey Bay I always ask for a look at what they are going to serve me my latte in after stupidly ordering one early on in my visits there and being presented with a massive Irish coffee glass complete with handle of a milky coffee like concoction for something like $6 and at other places a "MUG" of a similar disaster. Of course the Latte is a pre 10am beverage and I wouldn't be seen dead drinking one after that or a Cappuccino for that matter. Happily on my recent trip to Brisbane city they have now grasped what a reasonable coffee should be but outside the state capital it's still a risky order. I once politely asked a Queensland Cafe proprietor when ordering my breakfast Latte why they didn't serve them in the traditional glass and the answer was "we don't like glasses here" meaning in that Cafe. What the customers would like? No interest in that. Good old Queensland where they come out with your breakfast food order on a plate under a stack of other plated orders one on top of the other. Classy they are not. Phil

A model T ford is simple as well but you wouldn't want to drive one now in the modern world. Phil

.0073152mm Mick you sound engineer you Phil

A few points. People are getting way to obsessed with the definition of a "cold" engine and running clearances too loose causes valve train damage eventually as the lifters no longer correctly utilise the opening ramps on the cams. Considering steel has an expansion profile of .0000072" per degree F of temp shift then a 40 degree difference in a "cold" engine will be .000288 or less than 3 tenths of a thou. Of course considering the aluminium pushrods at around twice the expansion rate of steel it would be around .0005" or 1/2 thou. If you can comfortably hold your hand on the cylinder head then the temp is around 40C ish and fine to do the clearances. Phil