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My aim when modifying a motorcycle docc is to enhance the original concept with better components and create something that is unique but looks like it could have come out of the factory. So not trying to create a "racer" out of a tourer or GT bike and no just stripping it down and making it an uncomfortable, impractical and often illegal bike for the road. There needs to be balance, and an elegance about it and the retention of the original bikes DNA and character. This is why my V11 Sport for instance still retains the non radial callipers. Radial callipers would mean Aprilia RSV forks and a different front guard and that would have eliminated part of the V11 Sports recognisable aesthetic signature. Hanging gaudy aftermarket bit's off it is something i like to avoid as well. Phil

I've created a monster...

In the US old ‘Touring’ Tonti’s may still be commonplace. Over here? Not so much. They are currently much sought after and a decent, unmolested one is very hard to find.

With the hundreds of thousands of Guzzis and BMW air-head twins manufactured in the past 5+ decades, I really don't think you need to lose any sleep over the 0.5% that are customized. Really. I'd suggest the people to direct your anger towards is the far bigger group of morons who, over the decades, have let their bikes sit and rot for years without basic maintenance, and are now beyond reasonable repair. If it weren't for these types, 90% of your original air-heads would still be on the road.

More confirmation, now with a few hundred miles. A dedicated line direct to the battery has solved this. Finally!

OK. So they ‘Design and machine countless custom parts’. Why then do all their bikes look exactly the same? Few, if any of them, have any air filtration and their HP figures are the usual fantasy bullshit to mug the punters. I’m sorry, it’s been done to death, again and again and again. Sure their execution is better than Joe Blow brush painting his ruined SP but it’s still the same shit. Sorry. I hate it. What makes a bike like Phil’s, or Paul Minaert’s outstanding is the attention to detail and the ‘Outside the box’ thinking and effort that goes into them and they still look outstanding and WORK! The usual response to me criticising things like this is that “You couldn’t do it yourself”! Damn f*cking straight I couldn’t! I have neither the skill or the patience to embark on such a project. I did, back around the middle of the first decade of this century build a short stroke roundfin that produced 80+ hp on a couple of Dino’s but it was only 891cc and it had to rev to nearly 10,000 RPM to do so. At those sorts of engine speeds, even though the MEPS was fine it torched its big ends regularly through oil pump cavitation! In 2006 I bought an 1100 Griso and it did everything my little hot rod did but was a turn-key machine! It also handled better, even without work on the suspension, and didn’t run its big ends with tiresome regularity! Looked far better than those tiresome two wheeled ‘Artworks’ too. Look if you like that sort of thing? All power to you. I’m sure that whoever runs that business is far richer than I’ll ever be. I prefer just finding problems and solving them to make a good product better rather than making fantasies for rich dimbulbs who will probably ‘Ride’ their bikes once or twice a year. Im strange like that though……

Apologies. I became concerned some local would take exception to the speeding (they love a good snitch here), so set it as private. I'll do a better one, earlier in the morning with less traffic, and with better sound. And a less visible speedo...

Yes, I forgot to say mine is a ballabio already with risers. but i am getting too old and its starting to get a bit of a reach. probably best left where it is. the bars are wider diameter in the center out to a few cm beyond the clamps.

Went to Innsbruck with a friend in 2008. He K1200S me a new HD Cross Bones . Stretching the rods all the way, about 3200km roundtrip. Friend said 184km on his GPS. Just back on the road after a looong time, no license. Better buy a Harley right ..No rewards. Cheers Tom.

Maybe he’ll have two bikes instead of thirty and they’ll cost a few dollars more….

63..All the Way

R/R

This weekend we have the Le Mans race! it should be an interesting race; well, hopefully it will be. The is racetrack is the one with the most braking, 35% of the time, according to Brembo. Ducati should not be getting too much of an advantage, maybe. It is said that Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins will race with a new inline 4. The French GP broke the racetrack attendance record the last two years, and they are hopeful to beat 297,471 this year. Meanwhile, have a little taste, back in 1988 when the French GP was taking place on the Paul Ricard racetrack, on 2 strokes bikes, and with Barry Sheene commenting with a bit of an Australian accent... lol...

Personal goods should not be subject to retaliatory taxes. As I have moved from country to country during my professional career, with some of my personal belongings in tow, I never had to pay import duty. Those so-called "tariffs", derived from the French "Tarif" meaning "price list", are directed towards new goods, for commercial resale. Say you are transferred to work in South America. Because cars in manufactured in South America are usually boxes with wheels, four generation older than the rest of the world, and more expensive, you decide to take your own Opel with you. After a few years of work in Macae (Brazil), your company transfers you back to Stuttgart. Germany is not going to charge you import taxes on your car, purchased in Germany.

Pete, as far as the Kaffemaschine bikes go, I invite you to check out their website and see that they are anything but "built from a catalogue". https://www.kaffee-maschine.net/philosophie_en They design and machine countless custom parts, frequently one-offs for a particular projects, including engine parts. If you know of a higher quality custom motorcycle shop (other than perhaps Walt Siegel), I'd love to know about it!

@p6x The retaliatory tariff is the big nut here. It is a different animal.

It is understood , when you personalize a bike .......you personalize YOUR bike.

I am surprised! In my mind, import tax is applied to new goods, based on the country of origin. Your motorcycle is not new, and its country of origin is Italy, not the USA. I feel strange that your Canadian buyer would need to pay import duty on used goods, made outside the USA. Also, based on my own experience, if you have owned something for more than six months, you are exempted to pay duty, as it is considered your own property that you are bringing back. When I came to the USA, I shipped a container from France of my own items, nothing new, but no motor vehicle. I did not have to pay any import duty. The import tax is applicable to new goods, and the import tax percentage is based from the country of origin. What your buyer could do, I to purchase the motorcycle from you, and wait six months before getting it across the border. He can tell the Canadian authorities that he purchased it to tour the USA. I checked the US import regulations for personal belongings bringing into the USA, and nothing has changed. As long as those goods are not prohibited items, and they weren't purchased right before being imported, no tax duty is due.

Let's face it, re-making a motorcycle successfully is not a matter for amateurs, the faint-hearted, or commercial venture. For the outcome to touch the heart and capture totality, some combination of skill, vision, experience, tools, and a certain amount of reverence must combine with resources, time, dedication and perseverance. I offer this case in point:

A most dear friend, who has passed now, arranged a bass line for me to accompany his lead guitar/vocals on that song. It means so much more to me now thinking of him, "Wish You Were Here " . . .

They all look exactly the bloody same. They’re all ‘Built from a catalog’ cookie cutter versions of the same thing. I used to like a nicely executed ‘Cafe’ Tonti but then they all became as dull and formulaic as those Harley’s that have been ‘Accessorised’ from the ‘Screaming Eagle’ catalog. Back in the early 2000’s I used to get an endless stream of these gurning numpties coming through the shop. They’d buy something like a lovely old SP1000, tear the fairing off, paint the frame, (With a brush and without taking the engine out!), throw away the airbox and put pod filters on the same tiny carbs so the engine didn’t run right and then to make it truly ‘Individual’ they’d do something like saw the flange off the bevelbox, shorten the rear mudguard and paint the sidepanels maroon or something equally gross! They all had clip ons and a stupid tail light and every single one of them was an unutterable pile of shit! When I expressed my feelings their owners would always flounce off in a huff! No skin off my nose as none of them ever had any money! It went hand in hand with the lack of talent! F*ckwits one and all.

Sorry, couldn't help myself. The title is visible. If you click on it, it's your own fault.

Update for curious bystanders: I've sent a message to the seller on kleinanzeigen.de, but he hasn't reacted yet. I expect he doesn't look in that often, as the ad was first placed in February this year. I take the fact that it is still there as an indication that the part is still available. As far as I know, kleinanzeigen ads get taken down after a month or six weeks or something if one does not actively renew them.

As nearly as I can cipher, Donnie Two Dolls Barbies will cost $50. Each.

Since the new PM is visiting the White House today, maybe a deal will still go through? You'd think they would be looking for an off ramp for this disaster, otherwise lots of people are going to be hurt on both sides of the border.

After installing MPH risers on my 01 Rosso Mandello, I was able to buy a hydraulic clutch line for a 1997 MG Centauro, which is longer than my original stock line, It works great.

They have a bit for compensating the distance for the brake line. https://voigt-mt.de/3-cm-Verlaengerung-fuer-Bremsleitung-oder-Kupplungsleitung-universal But for a little more you have a new brake line. Also nice after 20 years :-)