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One year ago I purchased this 77 Lemans. It was a nice solid unit but had a few cosmetic issues. The most serious was cosmetic damage to the fairing, instruments, and instrument housings. When I got it home I noticed that the red gear lube in the transmission was leaking from the bell housing. This gave me the incentive to give it a complete going over. Here is the summary. ENGINE The engine was partially disassembled for inspection and found to be in very good condition. Rear main seal replaced, and gave the exterior a detail. CLUTCH Replaced clutch and upgraded to the deep spline. TRANSMISSION Disassembled for inspection and found to be in good condition. Rear and front main seals replaced. Front seal had been leaking. DRIVELINE U-Joint replaced and all spline drive shaft and couplings. U-joint carrier bearing replaced. The bearing felt rough and upon removal found the inner race had 3 cracks. Rear drive spline and mating drive spline on rear wheel replaced, along with new cush rubbers. BRAKES All 3 brake rotors were refinished by TrueDisk. All brake pads replaced with "best" Brembo carbon ceramic pads. New front master cylinder rebuild kit. Brake lines replaced with black steel braided lines. MISCELLANEOUS Damaged instruments repaired by Palo Alto Speedometer Service Damaged instrument cluster housings replaced New wiring harness from Greg Bender. A thing of beauty! Fresh paint by PaintWorks. Craig did his usual amazing work including the satin black finish on the fuel tank. New exact reproduction seat from Guzzibits. All rusty hardware was zinc plated at Manner Plating (local). Fresh Avon AM 26 RoadRiders and converted to tubeless. Fork seals and many other rubber bits replaced.

Sparklehorse has been receiving quite a bit of airplay in my little motorcycle shop the last couple of years. Sparklehorse is an acquired taste, but I have come around and enjoy the originality very much. I purchased a 93 1000S that had been owned by Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse until his untimely demise. I must be honest that I had never heard of Sparklehorse until I bought Mark's bike. I spent some time getting to know more about Mark and his band, Sparklehorse through internet research and was amazed by how many Sparklehorse videos there are on YouTube. I purchased a few of his CDs and started playing them while fettling his old bike. Listening to Mark sing and play while working on his old bike certainly added an extra dimension to wrenching. Here is a picture of Mark on his beloved 1000S. I have gotten to know one of his long time band mates a bit and he told me Mark absolutely loved this bike. Current state after an extensive fettling. I am recovering from hip replacement just 3 weeks ago, so the bikes are already in their winter hibernation mode.

Hello, 2003 with 22K. Purchased in San Francisco from second owner. Great sound with Staintune exhaust—everything else looks stock. How many of these were built?

Being here has made me realize how many of us V11 devotees hail from The Land of Oz. That seems really cool and interesting. Not that it’s a totally obscure place, but with our riders from the states, and a good bunch from the UK and the EU, Australia seems pretty well represented here as well. I’ve never had the pleasure of being there, nor do I know much about the place other than reading Bruce Chatwin’s book, “The Songlines”, which has nothing to do with motorcycles. There must be something about the place that fosters motorbike riding, as evidenced by our good brothers, and I hope sisters, from Australia. I imagine a lot of wide open roads and big sky and space, but really I know nothing.

Awesome story, Dave.

Beautiful!

Red Dirt "Gird" sounds pretty rough......:-(.....I think I have that once in a while..:-)

I've got a copy on the Real Life Roadrunning. Just a great album. I think Red Dirt Girl is one of the saddest songs I've ever heard. (fizzed it) You might cry if you watch it.