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Finally finished the California II.

Hi, I would like to buy some original Moto Guzzi titanium exhausts (the ones with the MG logo on them) for my V11 Le Mans from 2005, is that even possible - or should I go with Mitral, Agustini... or something like that? Regards Jack, Denmark

I'm 100% on board with the 'Limited edition cred' crowd, particularly at shows. They exist in every domain, not just motorcycles- as car posts above show. I can't even say how many times I've had someone at a show who drove up in a ten year old F150 scowl when I tell them my Charger is not an authentic R/T, and slink off when I tell them if they actually knew anything about them at all, I wouldn't have had to tell them so anyway since it's obvious. I endured the same for a decade at H-D dealers; 'Mine's brand new' 'Mine's classic' 'Mine's limited production' 'Mine's more expensive'. These people are insufferable. But they are not the majority, only the noisiest and most obvious. I, as you, take pleasure in making something my own even if it's common (If you can call any MG common) I don't see any of that disturbing behavior here, though.

Heidenau tires are getting a lot of traction in the ADV community. Pun completely intended

Look, I fully understand the value of audio. I know you are just trying to provide constructive criticism but.. a) I'm not the owner of the channel, I just contribute. The owner will never see your comments. b) Shooting unscripted and ad hoc in a difficult environment is a massive challenge. You do the best you can. If you watch other videos on that channel you'll see that in a controlled environment more care is taken with the audio. c) In the rapid world of YouTube getting the content out far outweighs scrutinizing every edit point. No one is getting paid here, it's just a hobby. Life is short, enjoy the amateur videos for what they are. Heidenau tires have actually been feature on the channel. So yes, they are here.

Mike had no idea who Peter Egan was. I was reading Peter in Road & Track when I was in Jr. High and later in Cycle World. So for me it was awesome to get him on camera. For you non-Norton people it was equally special to get Brian Slark too. While now he is the curator for the museum back in the day he worked at Norton. And he later had a dealership in CA. One of my Nortons has his sticker on the side cover.

good luck

I think there’s an enzyme in the one, like in Startron. That’s what I do for the V11’s, which mostly sit all winter, but will definitely get ridden again by spring. All good, and can do same here with the loop, but that gas may sit longer. Seems as though a good fellow on wildguzzi has a rear fender for me. So the process is moving very slowly, but it’s moving. looks as though MGcycle is out of stock on the solo seat they carry, but cycle garden has some. Still giving thought to recovering the saddle I have, but it’s a mess, not stock or even remotely like stock, and I don’t think I like it. Also thought about a lower, non stock style seat. Probably not, but have seen some nicely applied on the V7. Don’t need to stick with stock on this machine, so that’s not a key criteria, but a consideration. I love the stock restorations, and I love many of the well done custom builds. Partly based on what I’ve got to work with, I’m inclined to depart from trying to go back to original/stock, but keep it in the subjective area of “respecting the stock style”. Whatever that means…. We’ll see.

I love this so much. Thank you for taking me along when I have not been able to get back there for so long . . . The sights and the sounds are so comforting, reminding me of my ten years there. The special interviews with Peter Egan, @Corey Levenson, and @swooshdave (himself!) are just extraordinary. That the sound is raw and unaltered makes the experience better for me. Having actually been there, I appreciate the raw take on the audio. That my ears ring all the time and my bandmates are suspect of my hearing should be considered in this matter of "audio" opinion . . .

Yes Mick the legendary HO Falco, now worth around $600,000 dollars plus on the open market here! Why I don't know, well I do know but it only makes sense if you actually have no sense. Common as dirt American V8 and driveline in a common as dirt 4 door Falcon with drum rear brakes and not much in the way of front brakes either and under tyred for the task. Not one technically unique or special part about it really which is why they are cloned so regularly. I'm sure if I had the inclination to spend that sort of money on a car I could find something much more technically interesting, unique and beautiful to spend it on. Self managed Super funds are one of the primary drivers in the value of these things these days. Phil

As far as I'm concerned, not at all. As I already mentioned, I'm mosty concerned with trying to help make the result better. What @Pressureangle wrote might be true, although I'm very aware of the "problem". I regularly have to deal with apprentices, and regularly realise that things that I consider to be common knowledge are actually things they have never thought about. Whatever, lots of interesting stuff in the video. I'd almost be inclined to go there just to see the Artworks that Allen Millyard built. Despite this I'm going to philosiphise a bit. Video is something that you have to actively look at. Sound is "just there". You can close your eyes and ignore the video, but even if you stick your fingers in your ears, you can still hear something. If you go into a cafeteria, a diner, whatever, with a hard floor, hard walls, bare glass, it is not a pleasant place to be in. Even if the food is excellent, you're not really comfotable. In contrast, if you go into a restaurant with carpet on the floor, thick curtains, pictures on the wall to break up the flat surface, it is a nice room to be in. Even if the food is "only" good, you'll go out with a memory of a pleasant evening. Most people don't really give any thought to this. They see conciously, but hear sub-conciously. So a video with mediocre audio is like the cafeteria: the pictures might be really good, but the total experience isn't. A video with good audio is like the restaurant with carpet on the floor and so on: if the audio is good, even pictures that are "just good" have a much better chance of coming away as being a really good video. Getting back to the second video: there is some quite good stuff in there, as in the first. Fading in the voices before the interview pictures is quite neat. Underlaying music in some segments is also quite neat. That this has been done shows that the program that is being used can do everything that is required to do polished edits. For the longish sequence in the museum, where there doesn't have to be any direct relationship between the audio and the video, it would be a good tactic to record ten minutes or so of background noise (the professional term is "atmo"), and just let that run through instead of taking the audio from the bits that were edited together. For the sequence in the paddock, where it is relevant to hear the bike starting that you see being kickstarted in the video, do the cross-fade over the edit. I'm pretty sure the program should have an automatic function to do that sort of thing. And figure out how to eliminate the wind noise. And thanks for the videos. PS: I was quite surprised to see Heidenau Tires popping up a couple of times. I didn't know that they have a presence in the U.S.A. . They are a relatively small company about 130 k.m. (80 miles) from where I live. I have their K34/K36 combination on my V35 Imola. https://shop.heidenau.com/en/zweiradreifen/motorrad.html?___from_store=de

I think I have the same one Mike in blue that I put on the Goldwing...very convenient. The on/off switch is very good.

Your welcome. Why we post to help & inform others. You are in Mission Viejo, my old stompin grounds when I was stationed at El Toro Marine base.

Thanks folks, I'll check into both. I think I have a rectifier issue right now and need to figure out how to get into it and what I need.

I kept avoiding this style, didn't know about the switch. Thanks!

Here's the second (and last) installment for your enjoyment... or in some cases, a source of ire. This one has some very well known names being interviewed.

I think you're falling into what I call the 'expertise trap'. When we've done something over a lifetime, particularly if it's something we enjoy, we tend to forget how difficult it was at the start and how long it took to become proficient. Personally, I absolutely dread editing videos. The burden of reviewing hours of footage, learning the program to cut it apart and assemble the pieces, smooth the changes, insert/edit audio, tracks, noises...etc. At this age I am simply unwilling to put in the hours at all, let alone to do it well. But my example for the blindness of expertise; I had to teach an Army A/C tech. His job was to go find someone who could do his job. So I taught him the recovery machine, but diagnosing functional failures I learned that he had heard the word 'electricity' but he was so ignorant of how it worked I had to back down all the way to showing him the + and - on a battery and explain not only why wires had colors, but *how wires worked*. That brought into focus that my blind assumption was that because he was there with the rating that he knew anything at all. To the point, it's easy to criticize what is easy to us and forget how awful our product was at the same point in practicing. Ok, it's early and I haven't sipped my coffee and I've been thinking a lot about the fall of Western Civilization. Don't let me drift this into a philosophy thread.

and no audio at all? I don't believe that. Ok, I'm being a bit provocative, but bear with me. The audio is mostly good, and it is obvious from the end result that he is working with a program that can do relatively elegant things with the audio, independant of the video edits. What disturbs me is the wind noise in some segments, and the clicks and jumps in quite a lot of the edits. As far as the wind noise goes, if audio is being recorded at all, particularly outdoors, that should be taken into consideration. Coping with it is not that hard, and not expensive. Sure, one can spend quite lot of money on "audio transparent" wind shields, but one can also achieve very good results with a block of cheap, lightweight foam rubber, or maybe a couple of layers of nylon pantyhose. If nothing has been brought along to cope with that, taping a sock over the microphone would also help. As far as the edits go, as mentioned, he is obviously working with a program that can do a fair bit with the audio. Doing a cross-fade across the edits, or a fade-out and fade-in, should be possible, and would improve the end result considerably.

It made me feel like I was (back) there. Thanks for the memories.

The reality is that he went there with just the idea of capturing video and it was my fault for coming up with the interviews. So we did the best with what we had. Which was not a lot. He had to massively tweak the audio to take out the excessive noise of racing bikes, etc. If you heard the raw audio you would be impressed it came out at all.

Yes, he captured that very well.

I went to the Barber Vintage Festival for ten years (missed its first year). Ended up building a couple great routes there and back without using the "Interstate" or major highways. 200-280 miles / 320-450 km of backroads, valleys, and ridge crossings, bypassing every town possible. Just fabulous. The event, itself, is equally fabulous and the video really stresses how the attendees, how the myriad, unparalleled motorcycle-ism is intoxicating, even overwhelming. I so appreciate the "man on the ground" style of the video as I felt I was walking around with my friends, hearing the gentle chatter in the background, bikes being started and revved; the passersby, the tram ride; always the racing going on. Looking forward to Part 2 ! (Part 3?)

Incidentally, if one is working outdoors, that is the first thing that one takes care of. Because it is fairly easy to sort out, and makes a huge difference.

From the same site, that might be this one: https://guzzitek.org/parts_list/gb/1100/V11/V11LM_Naked_2001-2002_052013_PL(GB).pdf but, @skibum69, have a look at the list here yourself to be sure. https://guzzitek.org/parts_list/gb/1100/V11/

A Parts Catalog is also beneficial, with it's "exploded" views and part numbers. If I recall correctly, @skibum69, your Sport is a "carryover" LongFrame/ short tank (chin pad) with white face Veglia instruments? In that case, be certain to source parts for the 2002 V11 variant to be compatible.