Are there any V11 (other MGs) female owners registered to this forum?

[p6x]

14 hours ago, Lucky Phil said:

I think most girls would find the V11 Sport way too heavy for them to manhandle around off the bike and carpark type riding. Mine seems to get heavier every year. Magazine images always look cool but the reality of riding a heavy bike with a fairly high seat height and C of G is another matter. I've known quite a few female riders and racers and I've never seen one of them that looks totally 100% safe on a large capacity sports bike at walking speeds. 

Ciao  

I found the hard way how heavy my Le Mans really is after dropping it and being unable to put it upright by myself.

The seat height is a big factor, and not only for ladies.

[p6x]

14 hours ago, docc said:

Recalling just a few lady riders coming through our local "sport-touring" community reminds that the more talented ones chose bikes that fit them well (shouldn't we all?).

If I was to ride a bike that fitted me well, I would not be here.

I ride a Moto Guzzi V11 Le Mans because this is the one I wanted, not the one I settled for.

When I think of riding motorcyles, I think of special people, passion, devotion, affinity. Such as those who become Doctors because they want to do Doctors without borders type of life.

 

[Guzzimax]

The relative weight (heavy or light) is what you get used to. I’ve been recently riding my MT01 and that’s 265 kg (584 lbs) wet. Getting back on a V11 (around 540 lbs wet), and it feels like a 250 cc in comparison. Despite the MT01’s cylinders being a conventional in-line Vee, the tank is bulky, it has a high C of G, and great care is required when wheeling it around a carpark or garage. I don’t find a V11 bulky, but if I usually rode a V7 it would seem huge

In our local riding “community” there are 2 female riders, one has a V50, the other an Enfield Himalaya. My daughter started learning to ride a couple of years ago, passed her CBT and I bought her a little Yamaha YBR125, then she was promoted at work & had to move to London, with no secure parking at her apartment, and the YBR was unused in my garage so I sold it. She always rides pillion with me when back at “home”

I think a V7, or V9 would be an ideal Guzzi for female riders, low seat height, not too heavy, and low C of G. Rarely see any though……

 

 

 

[stewgnu]

15 hours ago, VtwinStorm said:

Excellent points, Docc. I tend to prefer narrow, lighter, high-torque motorcycles like the 900SS with buckets of midrange and a smooth engine.

That said, I can still appreciate big bruisers like the Daytona 1200, Guzzi V11, BMW K, etc.

I'm sure the V11 will be a little culture shock for me, and I welcome it. Torque pulling the bike to the right when you blip the throttle, smooth compliant suspension eating most road irregularities, a smooth but very mechanical gearchange...rattling dry clutch, a nearly turbine-like engine above 3k RPM that just pulls and pulls all day long through sweepers...All from what I hear about the V11.

VTwinStorm, and his damned run-on sentences...I know.

I can't contain my excitement. I ordered the factory shop manual from a nice gent in New Zealand. I'll begin reading it when it arrives. I have MUCH to learn about big Guzzi V twins. Another planet entirely from my air-cooled Ducatis I'm so used to.

The V11 must be the prettiest production machine ever to emerge from the factory in Mandello. I'm torn between the Sport and LeMans. They both are breathtaking in person. How a machine with such a brutal drivetrain can be wrapped in such elegant and understated bodywork is a miracle of style. Tamburini level style.

If you’re suspension is smooth and compliant… you’re riding a different bike

😀

[Paradiso]

Melissa Holbrook Pearson rode a Guzzi. I enjoyed her book.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Perfect-Vehicle-Melissa-Holbrook-Pierson/dp/0393318095

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk

[VtwinStorm]

5 hours ago, p6x said:

I am a lonesome rider too.

I used to ride with a few friends, always the same, following the races around Europe in the 70's. We rode safely.

I say it all the time: "I was born way too late. Should have been born in the 30s-50s."

[p6x]

4 hours ago, VtwinStorm said:

I say it all the time: "I was born way too late. Should have been born in the 30s-50s."

People are telling me I should live my present instead of looking in the rear view mirror and being nostalgic.

I am guessing you will have you moments too, later, remembering when bikes were not electric...

[p6x]

5 hours ago, Paradiso said:

Melissa Holbrook Pearson rode a Guzzi. I enjoyed her book.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Perfect-Vehicle-Melissa-Holbrook-Pierson/dp/0393318095

Sent from my SM-G925F using Tapatalk
 

Purchased. Thanks.

I did not get it for the Guzzi brand, but she attempts to explain why we enjoy riding motorcycles, and the effect it has on us.

I know what it does to me, but I don't know why it did it, and why only a few of us get the virus.

A lot of the people I know here, don't think I am sane. Riding a motorbike at this time of my life, and especially in this "difficult" environment. So let us see if she is able to explain to me why.

[p6x]

9 hours ago, Guzzimax said:

The relative weight (heavy or light) is what you get used to. I’ve been recently riding my MT01 and that’s 265 kg (584 lbs) wet. Getting back on a V11 (around 540 lbs wet), and it feels like a 250 cc in comparison. Despite the MT01’s cylinders being a conventional in-line Vee, the tank is bulky, it has a high C of G, and great care is required when wheeling it around a carpark or garage. I don’t find a V11 bulky, but if I usually rode a V7 it would seem huge

In our local riding “community” there are 2 female riders, one has a V50, the other an Enfield Himalaya. My daughter started learning to ride a couple of years ago, passed her CBT and I bought her a little Yamaha YBR125, then she was promoted at work & had to move to London, with no secure parking at her apartment, and the YBR was unused in my garage so I sold it. She always rides pillion with me when back at “home”

I think a V7, or V9 would be an ideal Guzzi for female riders, low seat height, not too heavy, and low C of G. Rarely see any though……

 

 

 

Riding in UK is a lot safer though. Or this is how I remember it when I drove there.

[VtwinStorm]

9 minutes ago, p6x said:

People are telling me I should live my present instead of looking in the rear view mirror and being nostalgic.

I am guessing you will have you moments too, later, remembering when bikes were not electric...

No, I won't. I see where the winds are blowing. This is why I have so many motorcycles.

They don't build them how I like any longer.

Nothing Ducati, Triumph or Guzzi currently build excite me.

They no longer build V11s, so I bought one before doing so would be very costly or impossible.

I also have a hoard of parts because that supply will dry up.

I'd say gassers will be under 50% on new motorcycle sales in another 20-30 years. Plenty of time to play with gasoline...but at least in terms of style, the best years of new motorcycles and automobiles are looooong behind us.

[p6x]

@VtwinStorm

There is something you need to factor in too....

Today we had one of those tropical storm in my area. Something like I only saw in Africa during the rainy season. You can't ride because the streets flood. And this is what happens here too.

Prior to recently, I never was concerned about riding under the rain. But what we experience now is not any more suitable for motoring safely.

I hope these weather systems are going to remain exceptional. I had something planed for Labor Day with Guzzi, but not in a storm where visibility requires an auto-pilot.

[docc]

+1 on Melissa Holbrook Pierson's presentation. Yes, she captures some of the essence of why we ride. While her work is also autobiographical, I think that lends a truism to her experiences that she was determined to share with us.  Would she have realized these dreams without a Moto Guzzi and Moto Guzzi "people?"

"The Perfect Vehicle" (*not a Moto Guzzi!) is worth the read and consideration without the thought-provoking heaviness of Robert Pirsig's philosophical "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" (required reading) . . .

[Kane]

I read Holbrook’s book, and it’s ok. I’ve been reading a few motorcycle journey books, and she’s a decent writer and tells some good stories. When I think of real-deal hard-core riders, Bessie comes to top of mind:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessie_Stringfield
 

At Pro Italia in Southern California, I’d say 5-10% of the riders and customers that come through are women. Some are serious sport riders, one gal is on a Duc 1299, one races a Aprilia RS660. Most seem to be buying MG V7s and Royal Enfields. I met a young woman yesterday who went from riding a Sportster to a V7 and was really happy with it. I recall one older woman on a Breva 1100 touring bike (she was looking to upgrade to a Multistrada V4), but most of the woman I’ve run into are young and starting out. I hope they stick with it and we can build our community! On the roads I probably see women riding Harleys as much as anything.

 

*Dang so many typos. That's what I get for typing before coffee on a rush out the door. Sorry!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[p6x]

2 hours ago, Kane said:

I read Holbrook’s book, and it’s ok. I’ve been reading a few motorcycle journey books, and she’s a decent rider and tells some good stories. When I think of real-deal hard-core riders, Bessie comes to top of mind:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bessie_Stringfield
 

At Pro Italia in Southern California, I’d say 5-10% of the riders and customers that come through are women. Some are serious sport riders, one gal is on a Duc 1299, one races a Aprilia RS660. Most seem to buying MG V7s and Royal Enfields. I met a young woman yesterday who went from riding a Sportster to a V7 and was really happy with it. I recall one older seasoned woman on a Brave touring bike, but of the woman I’ve run into are young and starting out. I hope they stick with it and we can build our community! On the roads I probably see women riding Harleys as much as anything.

When it comes to ladies who have done something exceptional, the reference I always go to is Anne-France Dautheville, who did the Orion Raid from Paris to Iran on her Moto Guzzi. I read her book published in 1973. Doing a raid that offers (limited) assistance is something to be praised.

She pushed the envelope continuing by herself in Afghanistan. That part of the book is really interesting.

She later did the first ever woman solo ride around the world, but on a Kawasaki 125 this time.

As far as I know, her books are not translated into English and out of print.

[Kane]

1 hour ago, p6x said:

When it comes to ladies who have done something exceptional, the reference I always go to is Anne-France Dautheville, who did the Orion Raid from Paris to Iran on her Moto Guzzi. I read her book published in 1973. Doing a raid that has offers (limited) assistance is something to be praised.

She pushed the envelope continuing by herself in Afghanistan. That part of the book is really interesting.

She later did the first ever woman solo ride around the world, but on a Kawasaki 125 this time.

As far as I know, her books are not translated into English and out of print.

Very cool! I had not heard of her before. Maybe a good opporunity to learn to read French!