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The earlier pork chops are unfortunately pretty fragile. Any early spiney that has been up the road should really have them removed and crack tested as they do crack if crashed and although they will continue to work for awhile when they do finally let go it tends to be catastrophic as they are what supports the swingarm. Once the integrity of one fails things go to hell in a handbasket bloody quickly and due to the nature of the failure it tends to happen in high speed/high load situations.

I spoke once again to Andreani (Luciano, David). They spent a great amount of time sharing the kit development process, etc. It's obvious they are really familiar with our bikes. Once they receive my forks, and confirm a kit can be developed, it will be listed in their catalog. They cannot start for a few weeks however. I'll keep us updated on the progress. Considering there are only about 2 other cartridge options, Traxxion, Matris, and they cost at least twice what these do, I'm excited to develop these!

I think there have been a few people like that in motorcycling over my lifetime. People who both made amazing contributions to the sport and were also straight up good people. People like John Britten, Erik Buell, and Dr John. I am happy to have met two of those three. And owned motorcycles created by two of the three as well (but not the same two as the first example).

Everybody who rubbed shoulders with Dr John described him as a kind & generous soul. Mother Guzzi has never credited Foale for the spine frame to my knowledge - it’s on the company to own up & compensate Foale if warranted. Speculation of nefarious intent has been attributed to the story of Foale & Dr John. But does this actually fit with Dr John’s character? It’s patently at odds from those who contributed first hand reports on their Dr John experiences. Not really worth a pile of beans 🫘 inasmuch to tarnish Dr John’s generosity, passion & contribution to Moto Guzzi’s racing achievement. Dr John sure knew how to extract reliable high power out of his Guzzi’s. Bloody legend r.i.p.

Here's my interpretation.

In the shop working on the Griso...this came on, brought back memories of a certain someone in NY when we were 15. 54 years ago...Wow! Perfect Love https://g.co/kgs/Q7T9sCq

I find checking the oil level to be a rather curious affair. Firstly, the dipstick enters the crankcase at an angle, which does not allow precise measurement. The lean angle of the bike when parked on the stand introduces another variable. Any change in the lean of the bike (suspension sag, tire height/profile, or slight uphill/downhill grade tosses another figurative wrench in the gears, said wrench invariably striking the shift detent spring. Was the bike, even though on the side stand, on a level surface? Or was it on a center stand or rear axle spool stand? Remember Emerson, Lake and Palmer's song, "The Endless Enigma"?

I'm attaching pics of the risers on both my V11s. In the bottom pic, you'll see that risers had been switched left to right, with the towers closer to rider. It would be possible to simply switch the risers from one side to the other, with the bars no higher, but substantially closer, obviating the need for any purchase. It would also be a really quick fix, because you'd not have to change anything on the clip-ons, just quickly swap risers. Just be careful you have plenty of clearance between clip-ons and fuel tank. Not attractive, but on my F800GS I installed a set of Rox Risers, which have served me well. On the Tenni: On Bubbles:

I am running Avon Trail Riders on mine, probably more of a 90/10 tire, but I am looking for a slightly more off road tire, just to offset my lesser off road skills. I love my Quota, a knee injury (from my V11 wreck) is why I found a Quota, my right knee just doesn't bend like it used too. Very comfortable and upright, it makes a good sport touring machine. I'm 6'2" and am very comfortable on it. I'm interested to know if yours has the 4k rpm switch, engine power and smoothness is much better when at 4k rpm or above.

I don't know, maybe....

Get a metal dipstick - much easier to read https://www.stein-dinse.com/en/item-1-1078652.html

I have the Pirelli Scorpians on my Stelvio. They feel good on the road, not sure how much confidence I would have on them in the loose stuff. Not even sure I want this monster on loose stuff.

I should add, I prefer the open hole in the side plates the older versions like the Daytona have. The newer versions are prettier, but I think the slicker casting of the new versions coupled with the open hole of the original Daytona version would be sweet. Also, the open design of the Daytona version allows you to slide a tube through the frame and securely support the rear of the frame with it. You can't do that with the newer versions. Funny, you can do that with a Griso frame. It also has an open hole through the frame.

Good Guzzi one 2nd from the left

"A picture is worth a thousand words." Something about this says it all . . .

As spine frames go, the Dr. John version of the Daytona and SPOrT 1100 certainly brought an elegance to the otherwise clumsy origins. Whomever redesigned the "frame side plates" into the fabulously luscious stilettos of the Centauro, 1100 Sport-i and our V11 Sport/Le Mans variants really iced the cake, IMO . . .

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.

Let's shake this very serious piano concerto thing down to something we V11ers can gather up . . .

And, now, back to our regularly scheduled program . . .