jrt

I understand where your sentiment comes from, but I disagree. Not everyone is 6'2" and not everyone wants to ride balls-out all the time (literally). People ride whatever bike suits their needs and abilities and they should enjoy it. There was a thread on a woman who drives way faster than I ever have or will, and probably drives faster than you. Then there are men who can do that also. Good for them. Good for you And there are women and men who are a lot slower- by choice. Any person with the aptitude to drive a motorcycle has (mostly) my respect. Personally, I think the smaller Breva (my wife and I own one) and the V7 (most likely) are great, fun bikes. Then again, I like the Ninja 250 and just about any 250-500 enduro. It's about the rider and the road, not the bike.

Wow, that is ugly. What is it- looks like a puma logo, as in the sneakers. Wow...that's....ugly. So are (limited to bikes I've actually seen in the flesh): 1: CX500 2. Mustang scooter 3. Any modern dirt bike, 100-500cc with the skinny-assed seat 4. Vincent Black Prince (c'mon, you know it's ugly) 5. The Burgemeister scooter (that's not the name, but close- I can't remember right now) 6. Yamaha Virago and Virago variants 7. The Ness-talgia (blech) 8. Guzzi Nevada 750 9. Any modern 'custom' Harley chopper, esp. those with ape hangers. 10. I haven't seen this one in the 'flesh', but it's the comedy relief: The Moto Guzzi Tetanus. 11. BMW R1200C (that's a 'chew yer arm off in the morning' bike) no particular order....

Thanks for the reminder Okie. Even with my retirement fund dwindling, I can manage a bit for the cause.

MPH is down on hard times, what with Mike's yacht payment due and all. They didn't have any choice, really.

+1 This is what worked for me. I used a square plumbing tool to rotate the buttons when I lubricated them. Check them all.

I don't have any problem with this- other folks post requests of all kinds and we either read or ignore them. If anything, it might be in the wrong subforum, but I would rather post it here than a subforum described as "redneck trashtalk" I wouldn't want to subject my daughter to that; she's going to have enough problems with me as her papa.

I hope one day to get to ride England... We're all alike

Don't say anything. Just have the boy hand her a helmet. (my girl is 2 1/2 and I'm just marking time until she is old enough to ride with me in the sidecar)

Here's my 2 cents- even if your charging system is working properly, I'd bet you have excessive load because of the silly grounding scheme that Guzzi wired in. I think it was Gary Cheek that first pointed this out so I have to give credit to him. Anyhow, run a nice 10 or 12 gauge wire from your triple clamps to the engine block, because otherwise the headlight ground has to run through the steering head bearings (grease and all). OK, that's assuming the head bearings did, in fact, get grease. Still, it's not cool. On older models, the headlight current runs through the handlebar switch, which is a recipe for disaster. Dunno if it still does (I don't have schematics in front of me), but I ran the headlight through a relay (tail light and brake light also) just for good measure. That reduces a lot of the resistive losses and allows the alternator/regulator to more effectively charge the battery. Good luck- there's been a lot of good advice here. Mine's more of a rant....

That's a good argument for paying artists for their professional work. Arranging color schemes and styles does take talent. Sadly, I have little to none.

The VBR I was pretty good too. I'm sorry I missed this one

Are you using the stock gearchange lever? If so, one easy way to effect a solution is to cut the toe off, bolt a 1/8" plate in it's place and drop the toe as much as you need to. It will change the radius, but not much. Another way would be what I did- make a new gearshift lever. Sorry, I don't have much.

I spent a little more than a week in Colorado earlier this year (late June) and rode from the Rocky Mtn. Natl. Park down to Salida and attended the CO MGNOC rally. Splendid weather the entire way. I took ol' grandad (the '74 Eldorado) instead of the V11 just for different. It was easier to pack all my camping junk. During the day was nice and warm for riding. I camped the entire time (never below 10K feet) in parks or forest areas, and ended up boiling water for camp baths. I'll tell you what- it gets cold up in them thar' mountains at night. It was a lovely trip, highly recommended and I put up a bunch of random, non-captioned pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/jrtelford/Colorado I have to disagree with Mike- I didn't like Aspen at all. My first introduction was seeing a Volvo police car pull over a Volvo car. Too much money in that town for me. I picked up a book and some beer and drove back to my campsite. Just personal preference... No argument that it is a beautiful area. Oh- the Eldo ran mostly well, though a bit rich. Handled GREAT. I actually passed a Ducati on one of the passes (going downhill, of course).

That is starting to look very nice. I like the red/black color scheme.

Read the quote at the end of the article. Jeez, this guy shouldn't be allowed near a vehicle, let alone drive one. http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=4063846

I use one per side. The other two are floating around my shop in a bucket or a tin can somewhere. Not sure they ever even came with instructions. Mine didn't.

Not sure- I'll look, but I don't remember any triangular pieces. There's a couple of (moveable) plastic stops that fix the bags in place on the rails... Uh, yes. Clever design, eh?

You can also download all the files for the CD for free and write one yourself. The files are hosted on 'V11 manuals' on the yahoo groups site. On the down side, you have to have some understanding of file structures in order to get the CD to work correctly.

Cool- I'm glad you found it. If the leak persists, then clean up the area real well with S100 or soap or some such, dry the bike and apply a light dusting of talcum powder (baby powder). When you ride, a lot of wind blows in all directions and it can make oil migrate- making it hard to find the source of a leak. The talc slows it down and traps oil so you can pinpoint a leak. Plus, it reduces the bike from chafing.

What size shoe do you wear? The Buell pegs will move the pegs, but not the shifter, so unless you have big feet, shifting may be a bit awkward. Not a huge deal, but it is something to be aware of.

Craftsmanship? THIS dude is up to eleven... http://craftsmanshipmuseum.com/Park.htm blow up some of the pictures on the Corsair. Just amazing.

Best wishes to Tom and do take care of yourself. If you post the address of the hospital, I'm sure some folks would send a card along with their prayers, white lights and zen thoughts.

Take a camera...that works. We went and it turned out our camera was shot. We got about 5 good pictures. Sigh.

I'd just leave the nipples in there and connect them with a single hose. The small advantage to it is that you don't have to buy plugs or put the nipples in a safe place.

Seeing as you are in El Lay, I would just call up Mark Ethridge at Moto Guzzi Classics (www.motoguzziclassics.com). Failing that, Harpers Moto Guzzi (www.harpermotoguzzi.com) has aftermarket pieces advertised on their home page, and importantly, one of our forum sponsers, MPH cycles (www.mphcycles.com) also sells some very nice aftermarket pieces.