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Hopefully not duplicating another thread, just wondered if members wanted a central place to put videos of their bikes? I live in the Isle of Man so my rides are typically quite short. I've taken to keeping a GoPro on the bike but really need to invest in a better one and better audio gear (not to mention a better sounding exhaust). Anyway, Sunday morning I like to get out early and get a lap in before the Island wakes up. Bit late today but did a reverse lap starting and finishing near home in Kirk Michael. Audio is terrible. New Road 6 tyres are fantastic. Like getting a new bike. Picture is actually of my first V11 and was taken a good eighteen years or so ago. I wouldn't mind another wee fairing like this one had.

This is quite the project with an impressive long list of work. At $51k, it's also the most expensive Guzzi I've ever seen. Displacement is listed at 1105cc, which made me wonder if it started out as a V11, and he bored the cylinders to bump it up from the stock 1064cc. Then I realized Bellagio is mentioned in the link (I'm not familiar with that model). https://shop.bikeexif.com/products/2020-moto-guzzi-bellagio-by-dreamermotorcycle?omhide=true

I attempted to carry forward my love of guitar playing to my son... I initially bought him a smaller scaled guitar, so he could start developing his chops. Paid for guitar tutor too, because according to him, I was too strict. All that amounted to nothing, because as you clearly pointed out, this was me wanting him to learn to play guitar. I gave the guitar away to Goodwill, hoping that someone will make a better use of it. All the successful guitar players that have spoken about their humble beginnings wanted to learn. But you need to accept that sometimes, when you are a kid, you don't really know what you want. Michael Jackson would not have been Michael Jackson if his father had not imposed an army like discipline on his kids. Same for the Williams sisters... the will of their parents made them. Sometimes, you only need to provide the means, instigate the discovery, and the momentum keeps by itself. Also, if your family is into music, you have a better chance to succeed in it too. Look at Lalo Schifrin, Ennio Morricone... both had fathers that were into music. Prince too... father was a Jazz musician, mother a jazz singer... I fell in love with guitar playing after seeing Jimi Hendrix live at the Olympia. He was opening for Johnny Halliday. I was young, and my mother was horrified to see Jimi's playing antics on stage! she bought me a trumpet and I could only get to learn guitar when I did not have the time any longer. Fact is, my parents never were into music.

You never got the Bellagio un the USA. Your loss as they have a lot going for them. They were all, from the get-go, a sort of parts bin special. Sort of like a Tonti at the front and Cark bike at the back. A sort of ‘Mullet’ motorbike! The strange thing is that they chose to stick the ‘Flaccid Whale Penis’ tank off the Cali 1100 on it along with high risers and pull back bars. It also used an odd combination of the W5AM controller and the earlier Cali type throttlebodies and linkages. What makes a Bellagio fantastic though is that 940cc motor. It is, without a doubt, the best 2V big block ever made! It is the shortest stroke of any big block ever made and despite being adequately torquey at the bottom is an insane rev-hound that is happiest bouncing off the rev limiter! The complete opposite of what you’d expect in something designed to look like a ‘Cruiser’/Bar-Hopper. Couple that with the earlier 3 shaft six speed and you’re on to a winner. Over here they are holding their price extremely well but I think a lot of that is down to their more ‘Traditional’ styling to most of the CARC series. Several people I know, and several I don’t, have ‘Cafe’d’ Bellagios. The usual way is to mount a V7 tank and add clip-ons. This version seems to have had the wonderful Bellagio motor swapped out for a Griso/Breva 1100 motor, a mistake in my opinion. It also has the completely unnecessary oil cooler retained and stuck up under the steering head. What would be interesting to know is how they mounted the alternator? All of the CARC series bar the Bellagio use the high-mount 600W alternator that sits in the valley of the motor. The crank doesn’t have the ‘Nose’ for mounting the Ducati alternator. Either it is using a V11/Cali1100 crank or they’ve built an adaptor. Not my style of bike, but interesting.

Recently, someone wrote something that I can't find anymore about the pins for the swing-arm, including some slight confusion about whether they were 20mm or 22mm. If I recall correctly, they seemed to be a bit hard to get hold of. I just discovered that Däs Mototec offers both sizes in stainless steel, so I thought I'd put it in here: https://shop.daes-mototec.com/de/Fahrwerk-7/Fahrwerk/Schwingenlagerbolzen-M-20x1-aus-VA-und-Kontermutter-aus-hochfestem-Aluminium.html https://shop.daes-mototec.com/de/Fahrwerk-7/Fahrwerk/Schwingenlagerbolzen-M-22x1-aus-VA.html

No lube required Mick. The outer bearing is a bronze matrix material like Oilite. Phil

@docc the bass player has a smaller scale bass; probably because he has small hands...

And was "Pink Floyd" the original Redneck Jazz . . .

Well done, very creative. It makes me wonder if it would be possible to build a sewing machine that sews with zip-ties. Anyway, I'll send you a PM with my mobile telephone number. It would be good if you send me yours. My first trip down to Altusried is later this week.

Where did you see Bellagio on the linked page? I couldn't find it. Never mind, I think that could well be the basis. The Bellagio was a sort of soft chopper with a 940cc motor. https://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/moto guzzi/moto_guzzi_Bellagio 07.htm It seems, however, to be a fairly popular basis for rebuilds. There have been maybe half a dozen of them reported on the German forum I'm on. Maybe the popularity comes from the combination of what is essentially still a Tonti frame with the CARC swingarm. Drawing of the frame here on page 114, which seems to be consistent with the visible parts of the frame in the photos in the linked page. https://guzzitek.org/parts_list/gb/940/Bellagio_PL_Compil.pdf Still, if it was a Bellagio, they've either bored and stroked the motor massively, or put a completely different motor in there.

I find myself hoping that they are really having fun, and not fulfilling the ego of a parent or something. Flash website here https://thegraystones.com/about-2/ Expensive gear, most likely a multi-track recording for the video and post production Someone is behind them and supporting them, so I hope it is because the kids are really into it all off their own bat.

It's a later frame, single side swingarm, so probably Bellagio. You could get one of the few MGS-01s out there for that much. Not street legal, but.... A dealership in Seattle had a new in the crate MGS-01 maybe 2 years ago. Was asking 49K.

The insta360 is most likely your best bet. Unfortunately, it is very expensive for what it is: 550.00 USD! I have the X3, which is currently being sold 330.00 USD, with taxes (Texas and Houston 8.25%) on Amazon. Plus, you need to purchase an SD card, and various accessories to install it on your motorcycle; there are plenty of brands making kits, so you don't necessarily need to purchase from Insta360 store. I can give you a tip about accessories: I have purchased many from different brands. Most of the clamping sections don't fit around the V11 clip-ons. Either because of the diameter, or because there is not enough width space to accommodate them. Plus, the vibrations from the engine tend to affect the quality of the video, and get all screwable parts loose. I have not even taken my X3 out of the box yet...

Funny. I have spent many years on Harleys so that could actually be the reason. :-)

LOL. OK, I think there is a law actually. Possibly accompanied by the birch (punishment they used to hand out here whereby you'd be beaten with a branch of birch). Anyway, just for you I went the right way around too ;-)

No, that would be the sub-genre Redneck Hippie Jazz PS: A Banjo through effects pedals and a Fender Twin is an interesting concept. I wonder what he uses as a pickup?

thanks. I will follow your progress if you'd care to post it. It's great so far and one can easily see the potential with the direction you are headed. I'm just considering my first camera purchase and this is helpful and a very interesting test. As far as a video -to accompany a for sale advert- goes... this effort is over the top by norm standards and should hasten the sale. Dang, it makes me even want it. What a beauty.

@Lucky Phil ok, I'll pay that.

Sie müssen flexible sein! @Molly it's not a Harley. Try using the upper 2,000 revs of the rev range. You might be surprised how rewarding that is.

At least we would know why your head is done-in. Some people's heads are done-in and nobody knows why . . .

Surely there's a law against riding the course in the reverse direction, it's just not right. I'm not going to watch this video, it would do my head in after memorising the course in the racing direction

I am going to have to get well and ride !

Pinned topic for others to post and find more easily . . .

I own two video cameras: a DGI pocket 2, and an Insta360; for sound, especially while running, you need a separate recorder. I suggest the Zoom H1n, which cost nothing. I used it with my Le Mans, under the seat, where the tool kit was meant to go. My bike did not come with one (tool kit). You have to make a hard foam padding to set the zoom recorder in, so you don't get any parasite noises. Just the sound of the bike. Do not use the DGI pocket 2 for dynamic presentations. The gimbals on the head don't resist the wind, or in FPV (first person video) it is difficult to get it to focus where you want. For static presentations, it is perfect; see the sales video of my 1100 Quota below the Le Mans dynamic presentation. Although, on the Quota, I used the DGI, since I can hide it behind the screen. I can't with the Le Mans. But you can hear the wind, because I did not use the zoom recorder. Also, the vibrations. The Insta360 is supposedly better with eliminating vibrations digitally. I am planning to test the Insta360 soon. I purchased it more than one year ago, and I have not used it yet. Not even taken out of the box.... If I like it, I will purchase the latest Insta360 with the larger sensor.

Recently, a fellow explained to me that motorcycles are essential to a man's survival, even if they are sitting in the garage just to be gazed upon. His compelling argument? "Dinosaurs didn't have motorcycles. Look what happened to them !"

I didn't notice anything behind the bike. Barely even noticed the bike, if it comes to that...

I'm an archivist!

I managed to remove all four injector screws, and only buggered the head of one. Fortunately it was after I had already backed it out a few turns so I managed to cut the head off, remove the injector, then remove it the remainder of the way with pliers. Yesterday, I bought new 5mmx40mm screws. I bought both counter-sunk heads, but also a set of the knurled style allen bolts. I think I may go with those as they seat nicely, and still expose enough head to use pliers should they get stuck again. Hopefully I'll be riding this bike enough, there will be no need to ever remove them again!

Here's a tip for these allen heads and also phillips head screws that are known to be tight or going to be problematical. Buy yourself some WATER based valve grinding paste NOT oil based and put a blob on the tip of the tool before inserting into the screw head. The paste triples the grip of the tool. When your job for the night is to remove the leading edge panels on the wing of a jet and the total Phillips head screw count is around 600 screws and they've been installed for a year or two you lean all the tricks. There are others as well, for another day. Phil