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Took the forks out, now on their way for servicing. In the meanwhile I can service the brakes, fit new tyres and oils/filters.

Fantic used to have a 50cc model named Caballero. I was closing on 14 years old, and I was looking for my first mopped. I ended purchasing a Gitane Testi Champion Super; orange. Powered by a Motori Minarelli, six speeds. I kept it exactly 14 days before it was stolen. It was too good looking I guess. Insurance reimbursed the full price, but I went for something less shiny. Fantic had been one brand I looked at before settling on the Testi.

Picked her up today after a 2hour test yesterday. Highway home from the dealer today, about 100m in cold weather. Can't wait for nicer weather. She feels light, so betting she will be fun in the mountains. More later. Cheers Tom. Sent fra min SM-S906B via Tapatalk

This article by Marco Panella describes the mood of kids growing up during that period just as I remember it. Caballero! The name is enough Between 1968 and 1971 everything happens: the battle of Valle Giulia, the student protest, the moon landing, the Cagliari championship dragged by Gigi Riva, the Azzurri defeat against Brazil in the final of the World Cup in Mexico City, the hot autumn, Renzo Arbore and Gianni Boncompagni's High Appreciation , Raffaella Carrà's Tuca Tuca , Easy Rider showing us the other side of America, Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart competing for the Formula 1 titles, Giacomo Agostini who wins everything possible in the world championship and the austerity that sends Italians on bicycles. But for a fourteen year old, in those years something happens that will change his dreams and desires. In 1968 the Brianza-based Mario Agrati and the Dutch Henry Keppel Hesselink leave Garelli, the family business of the former and of which the latter was the director for sales abroad, and founded a company with an imaginative and psychedelic name that is all a promise: Fantic Motor . A promise that will be kept. Well the following year, at the Milan Cycle and Motorcycle Show, Fantic Motor presents the Caballero, a 50cc off-road motorcycle, but which for all of us kids of the seventies was simply the motocross bike. Try to imagine a 50cc you can ride without a license and that not only looked like it was a grown-up bike, with its telescopic forks, the high fender, the unmistakable sound, the tires that looked like the carrarmato Perugina put on the road and that name, Caballero, which echoed the gringos, suerte, vamos, sangre y muerte that we read on Tex and that deluded us that we could speak Spanish. Try to imagine it and put it in the Italy of the early seventies and its leaden climate, but at the same time so erratic as to make you believe everything is possible. The fact is that behind the Caballero an entire generation goes crazy, guarantees it an uninterrupted production until 1981 and gives it an aura of legend that time has not tarnished in the least. Perhaps this is why even today each of us, when it happens to come across one of the current versions of the Caballero put on the market by a renewed Fantic Motor , looks at the little boy who drives and smiles. Marco Panella

https://www.motociclismo.it/moto-guzzi-v100-foto-spia-enduro-guzzi-82709

Very entertaining FortNine....

The F9 kid loves the X. Any of our European folks know about this one? it's powered by the Yamaha 700 twin

Replaced my busted-up front fender tonight. Just want to thank @Aldo, again. And also @KINDOY2 for all the encouragement to pursue this.

Yes, there has been mention of that in the German forum I'm active in. I've been convinced from the start that there would be more models based on the V100 platform. Seems like the next one is on the way. I hope it turns out as well as the V100 Mandello appears to have done. Incidentally, it wouldn't surprise me if those photos were "officially "accidently" leaked". They seem to have done the rounds at a remarkably cracking pace.

I'm not sure a "Banter" thread can be drifted. They are like a conversation at a party.... Drifting a "How to" thread, on the other hand . . .

@Joe Sorry, I am guilty of thread theft. Wasn't my intention but guilty.

Thanks mate That article really put it into perspective... As a kid in NZ in the seventies it was a Suzuki RV 75 that did it for me and set me upon my way! Cheers Guzzler

https://petrolicious.com/articles/this-restored-fantic-caballero-50-is-a-1970s-dream-realized-in-2020

All I know about this one is from an article I read about Cabellero making a come back as a brand. When I was a kid, Caballero made small displacement bikes (50cc) in scrambler type that we all lusted after. They were Italian, sexy, rare and out of reach for most of us. Along with “Fantic Motor” they filled many a dream of my adolescent years...

https://www.designengineering.com/ I've used material from these guys to protect the radiator hose on my Pan Am from header proximity. Lots of good stuff for gearheads.

Last night I reinstalled the rear wheel fender on my v11; PO had removed it to make the bike more naked. He gave it to me along with the other pieces of plastic he took off. I've been noticing it on pics of other bikes and like the look as well as its very practical purpose. Luckily he still had the original screws.

Oil & Filter Change.

Cool brakes. D no wind tunnel task. Hot inside is good, but not on a bike. Great engines. Cheers Tom.

Stelvio looks good for a raindeer, (green) but a bit top heavy and a little lack of power. The Duc raindeer is an amazing bike. Yes I still enjoy what she has to offer, at least some of it When they showed the V85 first time, red frame, with yellow and white paint = very nice raindeer, but not enough power IMO. Again have to say a V11 enjoying herself in the sweet area 5 - 7k, WHAT beats that !! Cheers Tom.

Yes it can be done. My Greenie was realy making me nuts, dont know how many times I tuned her, everything super, just 2800-3100rpm. So lucky to met a gent with a Quota who has the knowledge to enter the brain and use tunerpro. TPS is VERY important, and added a little fuel in that area. Probably not 100%, but she runs so good, NO stumbling at all, for sure I have tried everything to have her sneeze, ZERO. BIG smile in the helmet all day, and even when parked looking at her at night to. All of my V11 runs GREAT now. It's hope out there Cheers Tom.

Guzzis and 12 valve Cummins, some similarities there. Both rugged, simple and easy to work on. Have both in my shop as well.

Helluva beak!!

Looks like the ancestor of the modern Beak.

My apologies as well for hijacking @Joe's thread... to my defense, @LowRyter started it... @docc you could migrate the "Fantic Motor / Caballero" content to a new thread if you'd like.

Mate That's some fleet you've got now.....! Can't wait to hear your impressions as well. Cheers Guzzler

I can't stand the BEAK!!

Yes! And brake pads, clean and rotate all the brake pistons, flush fluid, Decent Tune-up . . . ready for the spring Kentucky spine Raid !

So you're losing slightly over a Volt through the wiring. I find that too much. Quite apart from your brake light problem (or maybe in connection with it...), I would be going through the wiring harness and checking and cleaning connections all the way.

I had the infamous 3000 RPM cough at stop lights when it was hot out on my Rosso Corsa..and never did totally get rid of it..despite trying many things. Then after a complete rebuild on my Scura it was doing the same thing at 3000 in in-town traffic on hot days..I tried everything I could think of , or could read about on the subject..It drove me crazy (er).... Finally I loosened up my valve clearances a little and it seemed to stop..and had still stopped a couple months later when I sold the bike...I don't know if that was a coincidence or what..but that is what happened..

I'm fairly sure that Marty meant "vapour lock" there...

I would search for "Heat Protection Film Self-adhesive Auto 1.4 mm Insulation" or similar. Aliexpress sells this: Car Heat Protection Film Fireproof Heat Insulation Mat Self-adhesive Aluminum Foil Glass Fiber High Temperature Resistant Cloth - Sound & Heat Insulation Cotton - AliExpress Or follow audiomick's advice above.

Crap, I'm out. No dog..

I would, as I assume it is there for a reason. I don't know for sure, however, how critical it is. As far as replacing it goes: When we moved into the apartment we are in now, I "built" the kitchen cupboards, workbench and so on out of second hand stuff. I decided to put the oven above the bench, and built a cabinet for it out of 18mm "built up" oak, i.e. glued together slats about 8 inches long and 1 1/2 wide. Cheap substitute for solid oak panels. Anyway, it was obvious that the inside of the cabinet had to be insulated, so I went looking. Turns out the most readily available source is shops who sell stuff to people who hot-rod and custom build cars. It seems there is a need for that sort of insulation foil to cater for blokes who put silly turbo chargers in inappropriate places and what have you, to shield against exhaust heat and such. So if anyone is looking for a source, start at your local hot-rod tuning shop, or search the same in the Net. I very quickly found any number of sources for self-adheshive foil in various thicknesses and for various temperature ranges. If I remember correctly, the stuff I used for the oven was rated at something like 850°C.

100 meter woud be great, but no. More rural than that. My wrong, sometimes miles and sometimes km, so from now on, strickly km Cheers Tom.

Congratulations! Looking forward to hearing your impressions relative to the V11 . . .

If I wanted a dual-sport or Adv bike, I'd rather it look like this than something with beak on it.

It inserts into the removal tool to pierce the filter and help turn the oily filter. In theory it would work, but in my case after 2hrs of not getting the filter to move. I was advised by KaleV11 to look up with my I-phone camera to see if Shaun (prior owner) installed a metal band around the filter to make sure it wouldn't vibrate loose, an alas it had one. So next up was the whole pan dropped and cleaned up to remove the band and then the filter. I "bought" these tools with the bike in the couple of boxes of "stuff" Shaun dropped off with the bike. BTW he gave me a new oil filter and gasket too, what a deal right.

"Double Stoaked"

Looks like a fresh front tire too!

I have seen tight valve clearances create the same scenario, you are right, it wasn’t happenstance.

Just installed a odyssey battery and I did check the voltage on that, that reading at about 12.75

Yes, I already knew about heat shields being used by the Muscle Car/Hot Rod crowd to insulate blowers in turbocharged engine and keep air intake cool, and we used to have a couple of independent shops around here that were great resources for everything automotive. Unfortunately they went the way of the dodo as everything can now be found with a couple of clicks on a keyboard. The trouble with that is you don't get to talk to anyone with any knowledge of - and even less get to see/touch - the product you're buying. That's why I find personal hands-on experience with a particular product highly valuable.

That sounds like it was a really great concert. The one I saw was just Deep Purple, in Melbourne (in a horrible venue....) in about 1984 after "Perfect Strangers" came out. Sure, they were a bit older, and Gillan wasn't quite up to the high notes as was in his heyday, but still a glorious concert with the "right" line-up. In later years I encountered John Lord a couple of times at events that I worked on as a sound engineer. The man was truly brilliant, polite, friendly, relaxed, everything one could wish for. I feel honoured that I was able to support his performances with my efforts. One of the the best, if not the best, Hammond players ever.

I got some aluminium foil faced self-adhesive fiberglass insulation sheet that is 1.5mm thick. It looks like it will work well, as it has some insulation against both convection heat and infra-red radiation, and if I can make a 1 piece panel, it should stay in place, and continue to do its job even if the adhesive fails.

In my pursuit to repair my speedo, I acquired more than a few parts I ultimately didn't need. https://www.mgcycle.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=135&products_id=141 60 degree speedometer drive gear used at the transmission end of the cable on: 1999 to 2002 V11 Sport, V11 LeMans, V11 Naked, Scura, and Tenni. $40 plus shipping

*Pretty sure* sKSR-Central (the "cottage"/602 on the park map) is 209 Jennings Rd on google maps. Looks to be more like 2 1/2 miles from there to The Lodge/restaurant/lodge rooms so, for sure, a shuttle will be much appreciated for the lodge guests!

Completed 6 stops of the 2023 Motorcycle Tour of Texas: As reported herewith: the update is below the overall map of all the stops.