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There were SpineFrames . . .

And, there was "modernity" . . .

There were Sports . . .

Wandering the streets of Roma and Milano you rarely see any Guzzis. Considering they build the things only 65klm's from Milano you'd think they would be commonly seen on the streets of Milano but nope. Here's a few I've spotted. The most common non scooter around the cities? The big BMW GS's in all their forms over the last 15 years or so. Hundreds of them. I've even spotted 2 old BMW K100RS's a blue and a red one both in beautiful condition the same as the new ones I toured Europe back in 84 and 86. Blue in 84 and red in 86. Guzzi's though are rare birds. Off to Mandello tomorrow. Sure to see some Guzzis there, maybe.

The Coppa Italia has arrived

More from the museum. Met up with V11_meticcio today. He rode his Guzzi up to our hotel in the mountains and we had a nice chat. Very nice guy and very happy to meet him. Grazie Mille, Massimiliano. Phil

Arrived in Mandello today and went straight to the Guzzi museum for a look. Lots of people in town for the Guzzi weekend so lots of enthusiast stuff happening. Here's a Greenie from the museum and an image through the gates of the new factory under construction. Phil

There is "something" beyond definition about riding with these sorts of riders . . . Something that engenders a genuine respect and admiration . . .

Full disclosure, @Pressureangle is an ATGATT guy, but was just pulling out from breakfast, headed a mile back to The Lodge. I will vouch that he accepts that socks is gear and "all the socks all the time" is the way to roll . . .

Purchased another V11 ! Pick it up at the weekend. This one compliments the Rosso Corsa, ie. another “limited edition” model Here’s a clue …

Hi Everyone! i am happy to be a member of this forum for this wonderful Moto Guzzi model. i took delivery of this '02 Le Mans i purchased off ebay that came with all the goodies i hoped to find, Throttlemeister, MotoBits, Givi and more. I've been with Guzzi's since 2007, i have a 2011 V7R and sold my '09 CalVin last year, and am glad i found this Le Mans. I'm looking forward to participating with you guys, have been mostly reading topics, but will be more active. Here's a couple pics of my bike. It's been a bit neglected, but nothing that some attention can't make right. Right now, i'm changing fluids, it will need a new set of tires and i'm thinking i'm going to purchase a full Mistral exhaust system. PS. my apologies, this intro should have been posted in "Introductions."

Today I received a big envelope with some really nice goodies and letters from the US. Thank you ‘spine raiders’ 🙏 And especially Docc! Hope you had a great weekend.

Summer's last Walz

Big day today wandering around Mandello. Still packed with Guzzi enthusiasts. I got the hear an old bicylindrica running (the 120 degree V twin 500cc GP bike from the thirties to the 50's if memory serves) and also got to sit on a Guzzi V8. I didn't get to see it running due to timing issues (me being around) but I heard it run twice during the day from 1/2 a klm away when it was started up. I also had the great privilege of visiting the preserved workshop of Giorgio Ripamonti who was a teacher of the young Carlo Guzzi and in this workshop with his help the very first Moto Guzzi called the "GP" was built and assembled. I spent 1/2 hour talking to his grandson who spoke very good English. On this very anvil and in this tiny workshop at this hearth Carlo Guzzi and Giorgio Ripamonti created the very first Guzzi.

Thanks for the tips, I'm hoping Monday is a little less fraught and we can tour around a bit more. I plan on visiting Agostinis while I'm here just to say I've been there. I've bought stuff off them in the past including the mufflers still fitted to my bike. Images from our hotel room. We're up in the hills. Very pretty up here. Phil

A couple of pictures from my weekend. We got lucky, probably the last cry of summer this year. About 30°C, sunshine, just beautiful. It started raining just now (late in the night after I got home today), and is going to be wet for the next 3 or 4 days. This is the spot. Don't be confused by the exposure, the two pictures were taken from the same spot, one into the sun, one away from it. It is the grounds of a canoe club, mostly slalom kayaks as far as I can tell. The poles are visible in the picture taken towards the river. Lunch time, half-way through the ride on Saturday. I counted 48 bikes. Two of them were side-car outfits (both Guzzis), and only three were not Guzzis. I was pleased to finally see this bike. The owner and builder has been reporting his progress for a while now in the German forum. The frame is a late model Tonti California frame. Motor is V11 (with ground off fins to look like an older round motor), but carbies instead of injectors. The rest of it, I don't really know. Suffice to say that absolutely none of it is "standard", neither for the frame nor in relation to any of the other parts. I don't like the Cali 2 look, actually, and the paint job is a matter of taste, but the thing is a work of art. There were two V11s there. This one, which I didn't like much. It said "Le Mans" on the side covers, and the colour suggests it may have been a Rosso Corsa. So why would one take off the Le Mans fairing and put on that shitty looking fly catcher? The other one was a Greenie. Not pretty, you might say. I liked it. It belongs to Bob. He bought it in 2005. The bike is loved, and lived, and matches the owner perfectly: a bit tousled and slightly eccentric. Here is Bob on his Greenie, loaded up and about to head off home. I had a great weekend. I hope you all at the Twentieth (XX!) South'n Spine Raid 2024 this last weekend did too.

Yes, finally. My pix of SSR XX. Lots of reasons for my tardiness in gathering, culling, and adding captions, including general sloth and lethargy. These are, if not quite ready for prime time, they are probably "good enough." Even if barely that, consider that I started with 452, and deleted 300+. In other words, could have been worse. As usual with my pix, opens in “collage landscape,” and you can hover your cursor over the individual to see the captions, but those are easier to read in slideshow format. Bill's Pix of SSR XX September 2024 Bill

Hey there Doc and all the other SSR-20 participant's , I finally got a chance to sit down at my computer and check in. I had an absolutely wonderful time hanging around with all of you, eating, drinking, a tech session, and even some time riding the Skyway and the Tale. Also had a chance to spend Friday with my son Joshua who came up from Atlanta just for the day. We took to the plains right behind Hardies and flew RC gliders and FPV drones. The reason it took so long to check in is that I decided to take a side trip to Rachelle, Illinois to watch the Union Pacific 4014 BIG BOY steam locomotive arrive and depart the old town railroad station. (and yes it is HUGE) Whistle blowing, steam hissing, black coal smoke belching, and all other kinds of mechanical noises, it was truly a site to witness. Hope everybody had a great time at the SSR-20, I'm sure you all did. I'll keep my fingers crossed in hope for next years RADE-21. Cheers to ALL SKIP

SpineFrames and SpineRaids bring a smile. Just ask @sctt2525, who's been dropping by since SSR II/2006. 2024: 2006:

Okay, proof positive:

It has occurred to me that, when we asked @Randy about where his "friends" were for the BikeWash, he pretended to be deep into some sort of TechSession. mySport came home dirty . . .

You blokes have good weekend. If all goes according to plan, I'll be spending a Guzzi weekend here. Tents instead of cabins, not enough "facilities", but good people and a group ride on Saturday through beautiful countryside. https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/854709452#map=19/50.706699/11.326726

Snow markers up many places already. They might as well have been there all the time. Summer, oh well, to close to the polar circle. Not a lot of km this year. But have IPA [emoji482]. Cheers Tom. Sent fra min SM-S906B via Tapatalk

You need to be careful about the rear shock length on the v11. If my memory serves you can't go much beyond and extra 10mm in length or you run into clearance issues with the front uni joint and the swingarm hole. If your Hyperpro is already lengthened. I havea Wilbers with a ride height adjuster on the swingarm end. Currently staying in this Tuscan Villa. Looking down into the valley you may just be able to make out the famous Mugello race track. We are less than 2 klms from it. The roads around here are so amazing I wonder why the need a track at all. There's a Porsche club using the track until tonight apparently. You can here them in the distance. Naturally nobody here complains about a bit of engine noise off in the distance, unlike home. Phil

It seems the proper term is " giallo " . . . (pronounced: JAHL-oh )

One for docc and scudd. The wife and I are so taken with Mandello we are looking at properties here. Six months a year here would be quite agreeable.

This fine fellow brought an iceboat-load of enthusiasm to share. Watching for him to check in after his long drive home . . .

Having weathered a non-start issue an hour away from home, I did a few things. First was to check, clean and DeoxIt the wire at the solenoid. Pulled the number 1 relay and popped the cover off. Tiny little thing for high current. With magnification, I could see corrosion on the contacts. So, a little dexterity (a rare moment) and some 800, then 1200 then 2000 wet-or-dry, we got them spruced up. Then a blow dry, a spritz of contact cleaner and then DeoxIt on the prongs and in the receptacle. I used pipe cleaners dipped in DeoxIt to clean them. Slipped it all back in and the starter activated immediately, without pondering, as it often does. If the relay covers were transparent, we would see the arcing. Also tried one of my stash of Omron double-throwdown Diesel caliber relays. Worked at least as well and probably better. With the original relay (part of a "decent tune-up"?) back among the living, I found a "relay-sized" tire patch kit plastic box in my bicycles spares. It seems that the Taiwanese bicyclists also had Omron relays in mind, as it is a perfect fit and reasonably water-tight. I applied some WD-40 dry lube to the contacts to slow corrosion. Back it goes into the monkey's paw. It requires almost micro-photography to capture the daintiness of the relay internals. And Tyco thoughtfully tucked the contact points into their own romantic alcove, just to avoid any boredom. What's done is done and a spare tagging along for those "special occasions."

That looks fantastic. One thing, though. Funny marks on the road here. I wonder how they happened? By Ebyabe - Own work, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2614616

He can sure put away the pancakes and eggs, too.🥞🍳

Sadly, 'could not make the Southern Spine Raid this year, but went for a long ride in solidarity Sunday, ending at my friend's cigar shop, who captured my arrival with a decent photo. Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

Thanks to all of the SSR XX participants, it was tremendous! Great people, great roads, great location and the best motorcycles.

@Tellico Andrew on point with @Randy's Coppa Italia in pursuit . . .

I suspect that the Scura is actually one of the more common V11 variants when you consider all the V11 variants available. The numbering seemed to increase demand. Similar thing happened with the Rosso Mandello. They made 300 numbered units. That was so popular that they made another 300 non-numbered units. But it's all mystery of Italian manufacturing. So welcome to the ongoing speculative inquiry. And enjoy the bike.

Thank you everyone After Gene talked me into using a test light I'm embarrassed to say 2 perfectly good looking fuses were the culprit

Just realized I needed to acknowledge @Skip's excellent tune on my throttle bodies. She purred like a big kitten on the way home. Thanks , man!

Yeah: TXRedneck had this blown-up web persona. Yet, David was a genuinely kind and generous person. He just enjoyed winding people up on the web. Frankly, we kinda liked it, too. The entire subforum "Special Place for Banter and Conversation " is our accommodation to his ingenuity and clever provocation. https://www.v11lemans.com/forums/profile/48-tx-redneck-rip/ Even his username was meant to be provocative. Yes, he was from Texas. A "redneck?" Not really. Certainly a hard working and caring man, sensitive to his family and friends. " TX Redneck " was more of a "stage name" . And, yeah, I miss hm. He was a friend to me like many of you have become to me. Our community is uncommon in web-terms. "Be kind to everyone you meet , for everyone is fighting a great battle. "

Next year I will bring my now 4wheeled conveyance and Nikon camera and rejoin the ruckus! once again looks like it was a great time had by all!!

It was a beautiful ride. Hope more folks join in on it next year. I know it skips the Skyway and Tapoco but it was great.

FWIW, Andrew and Randy took a ride South that I wasn't up to, and lament; it's my regular path in and out of the 'raid. Next year I may suggest, if the weather is as nice, lunch in Helen, GA.

Woof!

Well , some forums do exist . I will be here as long as possible . The only problem people have in forums I see is , what I post ; what you read ; what you respond with and what I read and interpret gets misinterpreted . I wish there was a way to fix this. I stay away from FB and all the other social media "look at me" forums that want to show the size of their kidney stone or where they are staying in the Bahamas . Me , I want to have my friends and make sure their bikes are running properly .