Steve G.

Hey Jim, I heard that there will be 18 of these 'off road only' bikes into North America. Not sure how much you have put down on yours yet, but I've just been told that one can be had for 32K cdn. What do you think? They were on the ship in crates mid December, and are headed this way. Ciao, Steve G.

Hi Chris, I've always admired Aerostitch from afar. Just couldn't get my head around the price though. Are you going for any special colors, or options. How are you having it brought up? I've always admired the BMW riding wear as well, but their prices are way out of wack! Ciao, Steve G.

A V11 unsafe for anyone over 170ib? Man, what are you smokin' dude? Lets compare not just a V11 and a Lemans. Try another machine. There are bikes out there that will change lanes if you cough hard. There are bikes out there that are so sensitive, so reactive to input, that countersteering the bike up from an aggressive lean angle turn will flick the front end up in the air. The "personality" that a V11 exhibits while riding agressively, and especially at speed, is a trait that is not uncommon at all. As all bikes have unique traits, you learn what works best for that particular machine. With this machine you really should learn to use forcefull, but most importantly smooth inputs, important for all bikes, but needed for this geometry. Ciao, Steve G.

Wow, I just love that uhhh, bike! I think she's looking for trouble. Ciao, Steve G.

I noticed this problem after I had one of my side covers replaced under warranty for cracking. I really think the tank putting pressure down on the cover is what cracked it, and has since put additional washers under the rear locating/fastening bolt of the tank to prevent this happening any more. Another of those things that a Moto Guzzi employee should have attended to! Ciao, Steve G.

I've written Red Bull telling them I drink their product specificaly because they sponsor motorsports. I'm really try to buy ant product which promotes motorcycles and bike racing. And I tell them. Ciao, Steve G.

Listening to your bike last week Brian, I noted to myself that the mileage that you have on your machine [which I consider moderate, but pat your back at the time it took to rack it up] has actually been good to your engine. It seems to run smoother than mine, less lumpy, like it has nicely settled into itself internally. I thought "thats a bit alright!" Earlier on in the thread I noted someone talking about stainless valves. No problem there, just make sure you install stainless applicable guides, as stainless has a much more dramatic temperature expansion factor than normal steel valves. I've seen stainless valves get stuck in an engine that got hot. Ciao, Steve G.

The movie "Faster" is in fact about 2 yrs in the past. All Moto GP bikes are 4 stroke now, albeit with many different engine design layouts, most approaching the 990cc capacity limit, vs 500cc with the 2 strokes. . 2 stroke engines do have an advantage simply because they fire on every top dead center of the piston. But it is not double the advantage, as the engine capacity would indicate, as well, 2 stroke technology has basically hit a plateau, as a result of lack of effort with R&D at the race shops, and that 2 stroke technology has pretty well topped out. 4 strokes are sort of in a new frontier of sorts. Remember they used to rule the roost on GP bikes until the mid seventies when 2 strokes came along. New technologies, metalurgy [extremely lightweight metals allowing quicker, higher revs], electronics, and mind set mean that now we can see a new horse power war happening. As well as having more power now, 4 strokes have significantly easier power bands to deal with, so riders are able to get much closer to that elusive edge of adhesion. 2 strokes have almost the same power, but deliver it in a much smaller 'power window', and it hit hard, and the last generation 2 strokes were the nicknamed "screemers" which had more power than the "big bang" 2 strokes [different firing order engines] which were used because they had a more managable power band. These fell out of favour in the last years of the 2 stroke, when they banned leaded fuels, which made the big bang significantly less powerfull. The last years as a result were the screemers. Ciao, Steve G.

January 14-16, 2005. I'm hoping to earn myself a free ticket in again this yr, done by volunteering a couple hrs at, in my case, the display that the bike club I belong to has. Everything is up in the air this year though, as the old managing group, Outdoors Canada, no longer does it. This new guy should have been talking to the non-profit clubs by now to tell us how much space we get, so we can gather the bikes, and people to fill this space, which they have not done yet. It will be interesting to see if MGNA will bring the MSG-01 across the border, noting the much smaller market for bike sales, with 10% the population of the USA. And it will be interesting to see if Jim's new machine will be brought up as the display show piece. Since the Seattle show has moved to early December, this show has often been a bit of a downer, with less bike manufacturers here, way more crowded, and the fact that the Harley biker crowd really show up in droves. The stereotype really makes me grind my teeth, as it includes "that" attitude we all know about, and the fact that this show really caters to this type. Even the beer garden, which only has cheap crap draft, not something with character, like Guinness, like Jim mentioned in another thread. Hope to see local Guzzisti there, I'll be there Saturday. Ciao, Steve G.

Pricey is right. That is the main reason I decided to go with Napolean Berens. $39cdn vs $156cdn. Ciao, Steve G.

Interesting you should mention Amsoil. This along with Agip is one of the rare true synthetics, in other words made from an ester base, and is highly recommended. The key word is true synthetic. Most all automotive synthetics are an advertising fraud, with none based purely with synthetic base, and even motorcycle specification semi-synthetics generally have only 10-33% synthetic base stock. The local reps in Abbotsford have a good display of the Amsoil product at the Vancouver International Bike Show, which happens to be 1 1/2 weeks away. I'm going to have to talk to the lads there, as I seem to remember they have a show special for a case or more of the oil. Amsoil, because of their American origin, has always been quite dear, but since the devaluation of the us$, I'm hoping the reduction in price for the local rep will be sent down to the retail sale level. On the rare occasion that Amsoil is seen in bike shops, it is not very atractively priced compared to other high level bike oils. I've seen Maxim at most all motorcycle shops here. This is where I would purchase this product, as Motovan is a wholesale supply house for bike shops only. Thanks for the good info. Ciao, Steve G.

Hi Tiger956, I've long used Agip 4t ester based full synthetic in probably the toughest application in motorcycling, the Laverda 3 cylinder engine. This unit is comprised completely of roller bearings throughout, as well as a shared gearbox, wet clutch, no stock oil filter other than a metal mesh, and smaller sump capacity. It's ability to de-shear, and reduce the oil's viscosity of an automotive oil is high! To say Agip4t is overkill in an non-shared gearbox/engine application such as the beloved Moto Guzzi v-twin is an understatement. Recently, my local Agip dealer in western Canada has lost the selling rights to the motorcycle based oils to Parts Canada, where it now can only be purchased in bike shops at a considerable price increase. I wish to still use this in a couple of my bikes which I feel need this additive mixture of oil. Could you tell me Tiger where you are based? I'm curious and serious about availability through yourself. The possibility of the old sythetic vs dinousaur oils may come up with this thread. I would like to e-mail anyone who would like to read a most recent analisis of what exactly is available out there for purchase at the present time, and how tricky the markerters of oil companies have gotten, using the "synthetic" word as a ploy to raise prices for implyed improved performance. To put it bluntly, I will never buy "semi-synthetic" again, and will only use "ester" based oils in my air cooled engines. Agip 4t 20-50 is but 3 oils which I will use from now on, in my Laverda. There is a big difference! Ciao, Steve G.

Chris, man, I feel shitty. Your new baby! I'm glad you are ok. I know how you are feeling. Don't get discouraged. Get the bike together again, lick your wounds [well maybe not actually] and get on it man. It is amazing how these radials lose their ultimate potential when it's cold out. It can be a bit like riding down a dirt road sometimes. Ciao, Steve G. Get on it quickly, don't think about it.

Hey Bill, Isn't Speedvision running it on 2 day delay? Don't tell me the world would rather watch reruns of chevys going around in circles, smashing into other chevys. Golly! Ciao, Steve G.

I've always thought the steering geometry a tad "sensitive" on my '01. Only once I've had a scare and I think most bikes would do the same. Last year whilst riding the locally famous Duffy Lake, I crested a hill at 75mph while banked over in a right hand turn. As the front end came back down, I had a "moment", as the handlbars started a tank slap. I was ready for it and held on hard with my big mitts, and it feathered off. Got my attention, and reached down to tighten up the damper 4 notches. Ciao, Steve G.

As miffed as I get for having some of my entries cleared or deleted, I understand it probably has to be done. Considering this is an international forum, it is kind of understandable that local widely used stereotypes of different regions of the world, accurate or not, are likely to wound thin skinned readers of such stereotypes. Considering what is going on on Mr. Enzos forum, I'll put up with the odd deleted entry. I'm not sure yet what all the name calling and swearing is all about over there, but have chosen to avoid the whole thing, as I may be the only one ever kicked off of Enzo's show, considering our previous engagements. Ciao, Steve G.

Hi Brian, Wed the 29th, was that you on Fraser Hwy about 2:30 eastbound at 168th, where the old Hillcrest Drivein was? A lovely looking Lemans in red I did see. Perhaps you could give us a heads up on things which may be showing signs of corrosion or wear. I should point out to everyone the weather here in Greater Vancouver. Road conditions, rain, 2-5 deg Celcious [35-40 F], after 3 days of salt mire on the roads to stop ice, the road is covered in a salt water/sand soup, able to test even the most hardy cadmium plated bolt. Also, how is your Guzzi riding gear holding up? Ciao, Steve G.

Yeah, it was as brisk as you can make a 35yr old machine run, as usual. The only problem the whole tour was Ian high siding his bike [grey Interstate in picture] on the Green Mtn. Rd. [kick ass bike road] which goes from Penticton to Keremeos, through the Penticton indian reservation. He stuffed it under a huge fallen tree, and it took 5 of us to pull it back onto the road. She was tweaked a bit, bent handlbars, but we pulled it all out, Ian kicked her and off we went, understandably Ian ran 9/10ths the rest of the way. Don't want to ramble on too much on The Guzzi forum about these things, but I really feel it has improved my riding, in that because of the lack of power of old units like this, you are forced to adopt "speed preservation" by learning efficient cornering. Luckily alot of machines made in England at the time knew corners! Ciao, Steve G.

Desperado, geez, I kinda like that Antonio. Actually one of my favourite songs, Desperado by the Eagles. While Lumby as a town may not be a jewel visually like Nelson, it is in a semi arid sort of desert, so not alot of rain, lots of lakes, and as Brian noted, a gateway as it were to magnificent motorcycle roads. The challenging Hwy 6 from Lumby to Needles, my ohh my! And the town council agressively seeks out any and all motorcycle clubs, rallies and also lone riders. I can only think that they have seen the money that rolls in during Daytona and Sturgis. Ciao, Steve G.

It's true, I own an English motorcycle. While riding one of these is much fun, touring on one for 1 1/2 weeks involves serious contemplation. This picture finds us pulling into breakfast in Kaslo, British Columbia, in the south-east of the province, known as motorcycle nirvanna. We were on our way to the INOA Norton rally in Lumby B.C., and wanted to get our 3000 mile pins, so we went there via Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Alberta. Lots of beer, and oil were consumed. No mechanical issues! My bike is the black one where I stand. Ciao, Steve G.

I found this an interesting topic to start, maybe wake up the forum a bit. When commenting to ratchethack on what I feel is a rather lethargic pace of 60 mph on a 'long sweeper' , I incorrectly surmised that was a hairpin pace. I still think 60 mph on long sweepers is Gold Wing retired couple pace. Perhaps what we have is a different idea of a long sweeper. I too have ridden street bikes since 16, so 29yrs, and dirt since 6yrs old. To me long sweepers are done faster. 60 mph is Pt. Reyes Station to Bodega Bay on the west coast. Long sweepers is Lolo Pass [the famous sign with a squiggly arrow, with the words "for 77 miles"], quite boring unless you are doing over 80mph. I've also noticed that riding in the United States, some things are consistant. One, that the road signs are fairly good, but that they are mostly universally posted too slow. When you see a yellow sign indicating a corner or turn, and a slower speed, most always one can take that corner safely at double what they are posting. If the yellow sign says 25 mph, usually it can be done at 50mph. I can deal with this consistancy, I can't deal with the US revenue generation patrols! Ciao, Steve G.

OK Ratchethack, hairpins is a wrong example. Sorry. I'll move this entertaining little conversation over to 24/7-V11. Ciao, Steve G.

Oh no!!!! An Italian Buell City!!! Someone take that ugly stick away from them. Ciao, Steve G.

Hi Bill, Well, of course the price will be right. I'm not partial to carbon cans, I'd go for the stainless ones though. I think he [Ferracci] still sells them. I recently priced out LeoVince, and Giannelli, stainless, available in Canada late January, in the 1200$ range. Chris Beauchemin just got Staintunes delivered to his house here for I think $875 taxes in. We'll have to talk more. Ciao, Steve G.

Bill, FBF slip-ons? Maybe we can go for a package deal? Where are you going to source them? Yeah, you're right Todd, Tex did well. A portable air tank beats the heck out of Patsy Kline any day. A Santana 5 cd collector set has serious merit though, don't ya think? Don't worry MotoManiac, it's never personal. If you can't laugh at yourself, well I don't know. Just call me a commie-canuck-cheese-head and we'll call it even. Ciao, Steve G.