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Tony Foale raced Aermacchi-HD singles; they already had a spine frame that worked famously well, which he improved and adapted to other units, most notably MG. The Aermacchi spine dates back to at least 1961.

I am sad to hear of Dr Johns passing. Life is often too short. Death does not wait for you to be ready. That Dr John did not invent the spine frame doesn't mean what Dr John did was any less impressive. He also did not invent the internal combustion engine. Everything people are doing nowadays is on the backs of those who came before. Arguably Tony Foale didn't "invent" the spine frame either, as bikes have used spine frames before he "invented" it. A better way of phrasing it might be that Tony Foale helped develop the spine frame that we know. The Guzzi sideways V twin is a natural fit for a spine frame.

We kind of need a Greenie meet up in the Portland area.

Might it be this picture? I should add that I pinched it. It was up-loaded to a german language V11 Forum. The copyright on it is apparentely owned by Tony Foale himself. I hope he doesn't mind it being posted here.

Hello, Thank you for letting me join. Bought a 2002 V11 LeMans last summer and this group has been super helpful and highly recommended by the folks over at WildGuzzi. So here I am. Hoping to use this a more of a touring bike so would like to raise the bars using some Verlicchi style swan-neck risers. A friend has them on his bike and they work great for keeping the weight off my overworked wrists. I've looked for Verlicchi bars on MG-Cycle and other places but can't find the large size clamp for the V11 - id needs to be 53 or 54mm. Anyone have a set to sell or trade? Thank you, Shawn

PJPR01 and I went to Bandera for the early remittance of this year's tour flags. The frisky morning did not stop the riders to congregate for this event. 39 degF does not seem to be that cold, but when you factor the wind and the humidity.... Lots of first timers, many couples, many Harley Davidson motorcycles... This lady travels everywhere with her dog! for this chilly morning, he was in an isothermal bag right behind her. The dog wore a coat... Another Lonestar lady on her tricycle... I had seen many with two wheels on the back; this one has two wheels in the front...

I bought the breaker from Amazon, planned to have installed it this past weekend, but it wasn't delivered until Sunday evening. I did manage to free the buss, cut the wires and prep it. In doing so, I discovered a previously installed butt-connector on the 15amp fuse that easily fell off. I'll solder that back when I finish the CB install. Much thanks to @gstallons, for calling me to advise my repair and check in on my progress. I've got a friend in Kentucky!

I find the year of a motorcycle is more fluid in Europe then it is here in the US. In the US a bike that is a 2002 model is nearly always sold as a 2002 model, even if it is not sold until 2003, or even 2004 or 2005. It is titled when it is sold, but here a bike is always titled as the year it was built for. I am no expert, but it seems in much of Europe a 2002 bike can be titled as a 2003 if that is when it is sold. I often have bought leftover models, sometimes you can get a better deal on them. That said, I do think that Guzzi has always been fluid about the way it transitions new changes into the line. They seem to use the parts they have on hand to build the bikes. If the parts on hand change, they use the new parts. Look at the way roller tappets became the tappet for a CARC motor. It just quietly happened part way through a model year. But most of the changes are much more subtle and minor. They seem to simply run out of a part and when the order new ones the new parts may not be the same.

An excerpt from Matt Compton's mgprotos.com: (also written by Alan Cathcart) . . . https://mgprotos.com/dr-john-rides-again

Motoitaliane informed me they are sending me their new Dr. John book in March. I am even more looking forward to reading the interview with him from just a few months ago . . .

RIP Dr John Those of us who love riding the spine framed V twins have certainly benefited from his enthusiasm & inventiveness for the Guzzi marque. Just imagine how different things would be now if Dr John had concentrated on filling molars & doing root canal’s instead of turning his mind to improving the products of Mandello. Frankly I don’t consider 77 to be “old” these days, not when I’ve already passed the 60 milestone some time ago… we pass this way but once, however for us Guzzistas Dr John will be remembered with the respect he deserves

No problem. Think I paid Buzz at Seattle $586, not cheap, and especially since they were junk/trash when I got them back the 2nd time. I donated both gages to some guy in Canada for "an experiment" he wanted to try, rather than throw them in trash. I bought new ones (ODO in KPH) from Stein Dinse (for fraction of repair bill, roughly 140 each)

Sad news. Always hoped we get him to an SSR.....

I find there is much to be said for focussing on the things in life at which one excels.

Hopefully to put a nail in this thread, it's 10 days since the last time I turned the key to 'off'. I had the cover up so I could see the taillight and looked every evening; it was never lit. Today, put the key in it, battery said 12.5v, started immediately and significantly, went straight to 14.0 volts in only a couple minutes; at the Spine Raid, the day we left it took nearly an hour to recover the battery to a steady 14.0, so I know that despite the easy start the battery was significantly discharged. Strange Magic.

But the 'park' is below the 'lock' position, available only after the fork lock is activated. So, stuck in place. Talked with Nic about the lights- he's humble about it but he's the youngest Certified Naval Nuclear Powerplant Operator the Navy ever graduated, so knows electronics to the atomic level. He suggested that the debris in the ignition switch actually created a capacitor, which I'd considered but don't have the depth of knowledge to more than imagine. He says capacitors are nothing more than basically dielectric grease with some current-carrying stuff mixed in it, which is precisely what was in the switch. <shrug> We'll know soon enough, I guess.

That "park" function is an interesting circuit. With no relay involved, it is like a backup system if the main headlight circuit goes out. We are left with tail light, instrument lighting, and a 4 watt "headlight." Enough for a "limp home" . . .

Ok, just had a look a the circuit diagram and verified what I suspected: the instrument lights, parking light, tail light and number plate light seem to be all on the same 12V feed. So there is no way to turn on the parking lights without the instrument lights.

That would be this very thread . . . Circuit breaker has been running three years, 14,000 miles/22.500 km. I routinely shut it off to isolate the regulator during external charging as instructed by my OEM regulator supplier.

Only 77 years old. https://www.mgcn.nl/database/modeloverzicht/11-daytona-1100sport-centauro/14-dr-john-fastbikes-interview https://www.mgcn.nl/database/modeloverzicht/11-daytona-1100sport-centauro/252-dr-john-interview,-motorcycle-road-racer-illustrated-november-88 https://allmoto.com/moto-guzzi-daytona.htm https://magazine.cycleworld.com/article/1986/7/1/drjohn-and-the-guzzi-gang

Word to the wise: I would not use Buzz at Seattle Speedo. I sent him two '03. LM gauges, about 4 years ago. He took forever to get them back. They exhibited very poor workmanship once I got them back, cracked, dirty (inside!), didn't work. I complained, he said send them back and he would correct. He didn't, worse the 2nd time. Its the only time I have ever felt like I got taken for ($$$) dealing with people/businesses on the internet. Read his one star Google reviews, I wasn't the only one.