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South'n SpineRaid Special!

I, too, have a wonderful wife who indulges my Mandello Syndrome. Don't want to mess that up by using the word "lust" here, but that sure fits my (continuing) yearning for a Rosso Corsa. I happened to be in an Atlanta dealer c. 2004 looking at one in their showroom window. As I drooled, a truck pulled up. loaded it, and took it to https://www.barbermuseum.org where, at least, I and others can look longingly at it. About the only "cheesecake" in my Moto Grappa is this ... I do, however, disagree, Andy, with your assessment about Moto Guzzi "soul" vis a' vis the V85. Aside from having, as do you, a saintly wife, I, too, own an "Oreo Guard." My V11, a Ballabio ... ... left my Moto Grappa, actually, even earlier, the Moto Grappa's beloved Atlanta predecessor, the GarageMahalo ... It makes me smile to think of it. With those Mistral cans, it made riding along water courses on backroads, inside tight, palisaded valley walls an absolute aural, and near-spiritual delight. It's why we ride motorcycles and Moto Guzzis, in particular. But, ah, the Guardia. When I first saw a V85, I found its "beak" and other Jurassic Park looks off-putting. I still am not at complete peace with that. Yet, overall -- after owning seven new Guzzis and ridden at least a dozen more from several Loops, two Nuovo Falcones, lots of Tontis, a Centauro, my own and others' Spines, and (ditto) Carcs, including several Spine LeMans variants, I think the V85 has 100% Mandello DNA, and ever bit as much of that elusive "soul" -- but, as did the SCOTUS justice, Potter Stewart, with pornography, we know when we see it. It is -- again, IMO, i.e., YMMV -- quirky beyond its gawky looks. Power? No, not the raw grunt of my Griso, or visceral joy of my Ballabio. Still, way enough for me; youngsters in years and personality may disagree. Comfort for long multi-day rides? Best of any motorcycle I've ever ridden. Better than my Norge -- minus weather protection. OK, wait; I did ride a 2003 Goldwing for some miles once. It wins. Go anywhere, even off-pavement? Except with my spunky little "Let's go!" Stornello, I am rarely on gravel, and never (Intentionally) with my EV or V85, on dirt, dual-track, or worse, but I get there more often than I want by following my GPS instead of tempering that with common sense. Handling? I find the V85 composed, willing, and certainly more capable than I am to take on the tight stuff at speed. I rode two V85's -- a '22 & a '25 -- in Corsica and Sardinia last fall. The pace was way faster than I like to ride on technical and unforgiving roads, but the V85's just said "Hang on!" and I did. Overall, it's Best in (My) Show ... [For C&W connoisseurs, in the second pic, that's Patsy Cline's first home on Back Creek Road near Gore, Virginia. ] Enough, with apologies for droning on, but I needed to help Andy understand that he was wrong. Seriously, how blessed we all are to ride this remarkable marque. Whichever Guzzi I am riding at the moment is my favorite. That is a great reminder that I need to get the V85 off of the lift ... ...and road ready for a jaunt to see the grands and then house- (and dog, cat, & gerbil!) sit in N.C. next month, followed by the Mutton Run to Kentucky and Catfish Crawl in the Ozarks. Retirement: best job I've ever had. Ciao! Bill

That is a fine collection of "Rusty Star-Pickets " . . .

Ok, verified the plates against new gaskets- everything appears in order and it's from the same file as last time, I'll say they're available again and at the same price, and I can order singles as necessary. Lead time is about a week for me to mail out.

Yes, the original transmission is still where it was, and waiting. The title is clear, it's a one-owner bike before me.

Any time a musician can sit on a stool w/an acoustic guitar and perform solo , he has somethin' to say. Ahem , now I know why he sounds like a young Willie Nelson when he sings "Crazy" .

A man with his priorities in order.

I'll never forget the day I went to look at the Green one... As I've said before I actually called them ( the shop ) to enquire about it and remember asking about the colour.....It' not that lurid green one is it? My heart sank when they said yes as I really wanted a silver one! Anyway during the next week, the boys at work convinced me I could always paint it, and I should go and take a look at it...and so I did. You know even in a sea of exotica...MV Agusta's, Ducati's (modern and even a green frame replica! ) the odd Aprillia and the owners Vincent collection, you get the picture....The V11 STOOD OUT from the crowd! I was smitten completely the moment she fired up and bought her on the spot. The shop told me afterwards that the colour would grow on me and even though it was some time before I actually got my hands on her they were right and I can't imagine now how I didn't like the green at first! I love the bloody thing even more now! Cheers Ps I think the V11 LeMans looks much better in reality than some photos too. Pps Sorry but ole greenie is just a supermodel.....

Hmm. I guess I must have registered the bike with AMA at some point in the last 9yrs. I think signed up with AMA for first time when riding the new-to-me red v11 from Oklahoma to Oregon some years ago, not knowing whether it was truly ready for the journey (seller said “no problem”, but of course that’s taken at my own peril). Docc and good folks on this forum supported that excellent journey, with some hot tips when Red decided to just stop running in the middle of nowheresville north Texas…. But all ended well, with no tow.

John Prine has a great writing style imo. A- not so snarky -protester. A similar, somewhat under the radar, lyricist is John Hartford Both artists have a boatload of tunes that are covered by others.

Fortunately it doesn't seem to be bad for motorcycling, atleast in the Netherlands. Motorcycling is more popular than ever it seems!

"I'll see your weedy Cherry Bomb and raise you a Staintune full system" . . .

And she’s in lovely company, with a blue (less common) ST4, and a red 1st gen multistrada, bikes i enjoyed riding, each unique in their own way.

@Kuni0, any update? Is your bike running again? Verzonden vanaf mijn iPhone met Tapatalk

I hope you got a good deal and will enjoy going back together w/it

@bmc5733946, I have one on a pretty ratty side cover. Still deciding whether I should give it up. Emblem looks nice though. Please send a pm.

It must be a hard place to live where every club you walk into has a real musician playin' real music all day long and all night long ! This boy did a good job on Before You 'Cuse Me . I really thought I was hearing a young Wille singing Crazy . I will have to listen to the rest and finish my comments .

Now , did you say , you do have all the transmission and case(s) ? Also , what all is missing and I hope you have a title ?

What am I not? Bought locally for a steal, been sitting 6-8-10 years with the transmission out, depending on who's right. At least reassembling and verifying everything. At most, budget off... anything can happen

Ahm, no.

I guess there are worse things than a Largemouth Bass coming off the hook just about the time you go to pull it out of the water and into the boat ! Also if you say M@*%&#%&*^$r and nobody hears you , did you make a sound ?

Day 1

Beggars can't be choosers, but black is the color. I have the hardware. I wonder if a place has a carbon fiber available? I'll check ebay.

Somethinig to take into consideration; I brought the bike from Arizona, and used it extensively. This gear lever issue happened right after I decided to change the gear shifter position. This morning, I was going to long distance test the latest assembly, but yesterday I caught a nail in the rear tire, and I now need to take off the rear wheel to replace the tube. I have ordered a replacement gear lever from Harper's Moto Guzzi; Incidentally, without the gear lever problem, I would have been in the Panhandle yesterday, where they had high winds, still today.... so, fate!

This took some doing, but I found this pic of @guzzler's GreenQueen . . .

Delivered today, seven days from the order placed last Friday after business hours.

Me too, actually. Not the motor, I knew I'd love that. A flatmate had a Le Mans III in the late '80's, and I really liked it, and I was convinced that a more modern version of the motor must be good. It is, perhaps even more than I expected. But the styling... I still can't really come at a V11 without the Le Mans fairing. And even the Le Mans took a couple of months to grow on me. Riding it helped convince me, of course.