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The perfect annular view was only possible from San Antonio TX.... The photo below shows the sun rays shadowed by the moon as they reflect on the ground. Really amazing!

Iirc up here in Canada,dealers are charging up to $10K+ for work on BMW's servo brake system if it involves major parts replacement. Owners seem to trade the bikes in just before the warranty runs out 3-4-5? yrs and take a beating on the resale price I "think" I've read of work arounds to eliminate the servo system with standard parts for under $1K? Smooth mile munchers,but I'd break into a sweat thinking about wrestling with it in the garage

This is the second time that I read about the heated grips not being "hot enough" even on the higher setting. I would probably not be able to judge since I have never had a motorcycle with heated grips. Mind you, here in Texas, they are not completely necessary, save for the few days when we have below 0/32 degrees, and not even every year. To me, the windscreen is almost essential because of the gusty winds you often find in west Texas. While you can wear earplugs to alleviate the noise, depending on wind direction, it may be physically tiring on the neck muscles. I know that being able to tuck myself behind the Le Mans fairing really alleviate the problem. I have now seen many Stelvio with the stock screen replaced by a California Scientific, which offers a better protection for those of us taller.

Seems most of the servo problems are caused/resolved by properly maintaining/flushing the system which is directed to happen every 2 years, a bit of a PITA. My plan should the servo fail is to trash the entire system and just pipe the masters to the calipers. Not like that's rocket science. Part of lessons learned early, is try to end your rides at the end of the gas tank. Don't park it full. Another demon while bulldogging is the brakes; without the servo active, the lever moves 2/3 of it's travel before braking and takes x10 more effort. It tends to roll away while you're trying to find your balance.

My 2 cents: I purchased a 2022 Guardia d Onore V85 (The black and white Oreo bike), because it came with all the nice to have items (center stand, tall windscreen, fog lamps and a full aluminum case set). Just these items would set you back about $1500 to add on if bought separately. My dealer advised me to avoid the heated grips and especially the "MIA" Guzzi add on to link your phone to the dash display. I added a set of Oxford brand heated grips to the stock wiring loom, so they runs off the Guzzi switch gear. Much cheaper and more effective than the stock MG grips. I use a Zumo XT for route finding, so that takes the place of the problematic MG MIA set up. I'll say its a decent bike, but doesn't have the push, or soul, of my V11 Le Mans. Its good to about 80mph and then it starts running out of gas, but the upright riding position, handling and gear carrying capability is nice for certain longer rides. The wind turbulence is ridiculous on the stock bikes....small tornados come up the tank cut outs for the front suspension and the windscreen seems to be designed to funnel buffeting. Its one of the biggest complaints, but I have worked it out to a decent level with an add on top scooter wind screen, home made "mouse ear" wind deflectors on the tank, additional raised hand guards and front headlight guard...... My LeMans fairing is a lot better at cutting smoothly through the wind. I agree that the Evocative "Captain America" is a great looking color scheme!

Randy, are you still planning a Virginia Spine Raid? Just asking for a friend. (aka Docc)

Here is another link on the story that has good background info, including that apparently MotoAmerica hasn't tested fuel since the current spec fuel was introduced. It also points out the the team owner of the Yamaha team seems to have a serious dislike of the MGP fuel that VP supplies. https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/motoamerica-fresh-n-lean-progressive-yamaha-fails-fuel-test-from-cota/ Someone isn't telling the truth. And it sounds like it is the Yamaha team.

Some crazy news from MotoAmerica involving Jake Gagne and his Yamaha. https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/motoamerica-gagne-dqd-from-cota-superbike-race-two-for-non-compliant-fuel/ MotoAmerica: Gagne DQ’d From COTA Superbike Race Two For Non-Compliant Fuel and https://www.roadracingworld.com/news/motoamerica-disputes-yamaha-statement-on-gagne-penalty/ MotoAmerica Disputes Yamaha Statement On Gagne Penalty It sounds like Yamaha got caught running illegal fuel. It seems that MotoAmerica had not checked fuel in a while, so it is hard to say how long they had been running illegal fuel. Yamaha is trying to brush it off by saying that they simply ran fuel from last year. But MotoAmerica pointed out that last years fuel would have been legal, in fact any fuel since 2019 would have been legal. It seems the fuel sampled from the Yamaha contained a "foreign chemical component". The rumor mill seems to think that the fuel Yamaha were running was oxygenated. As in contained MTBE. To add to the confusion, Yamaha was in possesion of a drum of VP fuel that was supposedly mis-labeled, with the label indicating it contained fuel that had MTBE in it. VP says that the actual fuel in the drum was the correct MGP formula. So, it seems Yamaha was caught cheating. How long they have been cheating I don't know. But it seems unlikely that the first time they ran the illegal fuel was the race they were caught.

p6x, I've got a Guzzi buddy who has owned both the 21 Travel (20k miles) and a 23 blue V85 Evocative version (5k miles). The only thing he would have liked from the travel version is the heated grips and they aren't hot when turned on high. More importantly, he likes the stock cases better than the ones offered on the Travel version. Lastly, the screens are almost always changed or altered to the riders liking so the stock tall "travel" windscreen may or may not be a plus.

G'day When helping out at one of our branches recently, I bumped into one of the customers I've known for many years. He's just bought another new GS1250 Trophy at $32,500 worth down here.He loves all the bells and whistles it comes with and by God does it come with them....! My concern would be what would the electronics be like when the bike has 100,000 kays plus? I doubt it'll get to that all the same but it's bloody hilarious when comparing this thing with the V11. Definitely chalk and cheese but as he says if you were to do a lap of Oz this would be the bike to do it on. Cheers Ps still rather do the lap on an old T3 though ha ha

As a former motorcycle racer who traveled this country racing for peanuts, I really don't think learning the tracks in Europe is key to getting an American racing in MotoGP. Learning tracks is not that hard for a talented racer. If learning tracks is holding you back, you may not have enough talent. I raced local racers at their home track, a track that I had never been to or a track that I had only been to once before, and was still able to race them and often beat them. And I was not MotoGP caliber. Some racers learn new tracks faster then others, but at that level all of them should have no issues learning a new track in a day or two. There are Americans like Joe Roberts running in Moto2, but sadly he is not overly impressive. You could say he went over there too soon, but then had he not gone as soon as he did people would say he went there too late. PJ Jacobson went over there fairly early as well, but came back and is now honing his skills and improving. What could have been had he done that first. The pressure is to go to Europe as soon as you can, but it is such a meat grinder that you may kill your career if you don't get the right ride quick enough. The reality is, at one time the world looked to America for the next hot talent. Now they do not. We have incredibly talented racers here, but they tend to be over looked. As they say, talent is universally distributed, but opportunity is not. The lack of American talent in MotoGP is mainly down to a lack of opportunity in my opinion. But it is what it is. I also think the current feeder system is suspect, with success or failure in Moto3 or Moto2 not being a good indicator of potential in MotoGP. Moto2 is closer then it was with the Honda inline 4, but the Triumph triple is a very different animal then what you have in MotoGP.