Steve G.

Not to defend Honda on this one, but one should really go out and ride one of these things for a laugh. As a 900ib thing, it does ok, even in the corners. It certainly give one enough confidence to fold over the floor boards ar 45 deg, throwing massive sparks. When you match it up against the competitors, it's not quite as sure footed as the big BMW LT, but against the Harley tourer, it is light years ahead in road manners. And the engine, well it's a baby Porsche, the sound and feel are glorious if you are any kind of gearhead as I am. Now I wouldn't own one of these or any other mega tourer, not my thing. That said, Honda has had serious teething problems with this 1800. While the engine/gearbox/transaxle are a rock, the aluminium frame has been a serious problem, with initial models cracking at the headstock, and massive world recalls as a result. BTW, the Goldwing has been built exclusively in the USA for over 20yrs now, in fact it took over the original CBX factory, which moved production from Japan in 1980. I think it's in Marysville, Ohio. Ciao, Steve

It´s something I´ve been mentioning since this classic series arrived from Ducati, and that is that Moto Guzzi was at least 5 yrs ahead of Ducati, with the V11 Sport, a remake of sorts of the V7 Sport. M.G. has made an alarming mistake by stopping production of this series, as evidenced by the brisk sales of Ducati´s classic series. There was no research and development needed to keep them going. Just keep it simple, and offer more variety for the potential owner, at a reasonable price, just like Ducati. We will see. Ciao, Steve

As per Mr. Roper's advice, nothing but the best fermented chimp spit! Actually, because of a recent "deal of the century", I've purchased enough oil literally to last a lifetime for all my bikes, buying all of a former dealer's ELF 15w-60. Ciao, Steve

I'm slotted into Sunday 10:00-12:00am. I'll be riding in on the prepped/decked Baja bruiser, nothing as pretty as the V11. Ciao, Steve

And this would assume to all that there are actually parts available!!! Ciao, Steve

The same can be said for my business. I recently fitted/installed a new roof dome on a Messerschmitt 3 wheeled car. There was no room for error!! Ciao, Steve

So, are you guys talking about drilling poly or acrylic? If it's poly, any drill will do, even a frickin' wood hole saw, it will work with anything, ANY type of poly. Drilling acrylic? ANY type of acrylic?? No matter which drill you use, or how you modify it, you stand the risk of cracking it. Believe me, I do it every day, today!! Ciao, Steve

The business I'm in entails cutting, shaping, and edge polishing and drilling acrylic and polycabonate quite often. You are correct, the two are quite different, and working the two needs different techniques. Polycarbonate [ trade product like Lexan etc] is easiest to work with, mainly because it is very highly resistant to cracking, either by cutting with table saw or jig saw, or drilling holes. Acrylic is a joke mostly, and could be dangerous on a bike in light of it's ease of cracking into jagged things much like glass. Unfortunately, forming either poly or acrylic into a shape or curve is the trickiest of all things you can do with it, mainly because, unless you have a dedicated form to do production line forming, you will have a tricky time bending this stuff without introducing optical imperfections. These will be caused by a heat gun being placed too long in one place, or you will put an indentation into the surface of the sheet when pressing it down. Very mild shapes obiously are easier, with less chance of imperfections. Sanding the edges to a nice polish will most certainly entail the use of a wet sander, found at any glass shop. Water needs to be used for that nice polish, as the low melting point of both means that it's easy to start the stuff 'melting' to itself while sanding dry, where it then 'folds over' on itself, causing lumps. Water keeps things cool. Cutting it with a jig saw, use any thing you have if you are planning on polishing the edges. A metal jig blade will actually melt through the stuff, and it often seals itself up to a degree after the blade goes through. I use a big old wood blade, no melting then. Drilling? no problem at all with poly. Acrylic is a joke, very risky chance of cracking as the drill falls through the bottom of the sheet. Melting through? I guess that would reduce the risk of acrylic cracks, but it's not needed on poly, just put the drill through it. Ciao, Steve

I was supposed to sign up for a time slot at the British Bike Club setup, but because of the snow/traffic mess last Thursday, I didn't make the meeting. If I can sign up, I get in free. I will be there Saturday morning for sure, free or not. I have sort of healed up from the crash last summer. Unfortunately, last weekend I had a bike on a stand, and the stand started to tip over. I grabbed the bike, and my finger got caught in between the fork and the rotor. Compound fracture, lost the nail, well, the whole end. I've got a high pain threshold level, but this was rather uncomfortable. They put it back on, but it's an ugly mess. The off-road riding in Baja will be a challenge indeed, on a 550ib monster. Ciao, Steve

Really????!!!! I'm lacing up my boots right now Jim. Ciao, Steve

You know, I agree. I'd rather have gas pouring all over the place. And besides, putting a plastic part on my bike that may have been destined for a German bike would certainly give my Guzzi a tummy ache! Ciao, Steve

Jeez Jim, What if I were to walk from Guildford to Abbotsford, would that put me in the running??? Ciao, Steve

A local painter I contracted, with extremely high quality, and equally high reputation, matched my green paint to perfection, but it took him 4 tries. A very tricky color I'm told, involving not only silver metalic, but white primer, in 4 stages. D&B Custom Paint, Burnaby, British Columbia. Motorcycles only. Ciao, Steve

I'll be there looking after a booth myself. Saturday. I'm on the serious lookout for riding gear for the Baja run I'm doing 4 days after the show. Hybrib off road boots is number one. Another;, I've got 5 helmets, and not one off road helmet, or goggles. Hope to run into you lads!! Ciao, Steve

As Ryan notes, British Columbia insurance rates would make what everyone else is paying all red with embarrasement. I'm paying average $850 , no comp, no fire/theft, no collision, 1 million liability. Add all those optional insurance into it, and it's $2300 a year. Ciao, Steve

My dad lived life to the extreme edge, just like Ryan says. His body could not cope however. His ultimate goal in life was to not pay taxes, and well, as the oldest son, after looking at his paperwork, he definitely won the game. It's been 3 years, and I'm still getting phone calls from them asking where he is. I've told them I'd bring him in, they are welcome to talk it over with him. When I tell them he's in an ern in my living room [waiting for dispersal in the old country this summer], they say not to bother. In 2 wks, some other desk driver phones up. Very amusing. Ciao, Steve Regarding watches, I was given my 25 year watch 2 yrs ago, Omega Speedmaster. Lovely thing. Fucking thing's been in the repair shop more than my wrist. My Wittnauer sport watch has been very rugged, 29 yrs, 5 batteries. No worries. Even crashed on the thing last summer, landed on the thing, no problem. Ciao, Steve

Great video. I can understand Todd passing some of those guys. Corner wasters!! Ciao, Steve

I found that the Bosch headlight bucket/headlight/reflector unit is the same part # for 1999-2004 V11 Sport as it is for 1973-1982 Laverda triples. Ciao, Steve

Yes, your regulator/recifier is done. It should allow no more than 13.8 volts back into the battery, for any 12 volt system. If your ECU doesn't frap first, you will cook your battery. I had one go on my Laverda. I replaced it with a Tymantium Voltpack. I have a multi use Boyer-Brandsen on another bike, both max output is 13.6 volts. Ciao, Steve

Consider yourself lucky it still works! Ciao, Steve

Gosh you had to bring up the oil thing. All I'll say is, is that if you are using synthetic yak spit, your bike will not labour on the start like it did with non-synthetic yak spit. Ciao, Steve

I love these bikes. Back in '82, I couldn't quite afford one, so had to go for the KZ750. The ELR's are very collectable classics, and very much a keeper. Well done for bringing it back to life. Ciao, Steve

I think he's just found a flat of Victoria Bitter. Ciao, Steve

Grimeca 4LS?? This is true candy for any motorcyclist. Mechanical art!! Ciao, Steve

A backfire is always indicitive of a lean burn. Causes can be wrong jets, leak or crack in the intake manifold, water in the fuel, etc. Ciao, Steve