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I know turning 137,000 miles doesn't seem like much to celebrate. But I'm celebrating, anyway. ( I intended this to be my 20,000th post, but I used that to reference fixing a broken link that @mikev had pointed out. As it should be, I reckon! )

I haven't been on this forum for years, just thought i would drop by I have had many Guzzi's since the VII Sport California II, 98 EV, Lario, Griso, 72 Eldorado I'm currently down to just two a 2014 V7III Special and a 76 Convert Cheers Roy

There were SpineFrames . . .

296km today up in the mountains. IPA time for sure. Cheers Tom. Sent fra min SM-S906B via Tapatalk

I've officially ridden my first 1000 kilometers on the Lemans now!

I bought the bike that started this thread. It was REALLY heavy to move around when I got it but adding a little air to the 6 psi tires fixed that up. Oil change got done right away. A new battery was installed with purchase. There are oil drips (not up to leaks yet) from the bottom pan and the front pan (I'm not sure what's behind it yet) gaskets. I started with cleaning the old oil off just to see what was there. I added a Puig universal wind screen for good wind protection. I'm part way through painting covers red to match the tank. New paint is red with silver sparkle underneath. By the time it's done I expect it will look great (to me any ways). There is no stuttering or anything suggesting air getting into the fuel delivery system. Noises are typical for a tractor ;-). The speedo works well. I haven't owned a bike with a Veglia since the '71 Ducati Desmo 450 single I had. The glitter silver was tempting for the Guzzi paint. I thought glitter purple would be too much. In the end I stayed with the deep red. I rode a Yami 600 last year which redlines at 14k. It was always spinning at high revs. The Goose doesn't need to rev at all but likes 5 grand better than 4. 90 miles an hour isn't work for this bike. Suspension is stiff but the bike settles down right away after bumps and feels glued to the road. Tires are from '21 but only have a couple hundred miles on them. They aren't sliding at the speeds I ride at. Plans this year include finishing paint more, checking valves, and changing most oils. A gasket or 2 might get replaced as well. Within 10 minutes I get to some of the nicest riding roads in my area. There is a 60 mile loop that has almost no straight road in it. Bush all around. Gravel on the road at times because of people that go off the pavement so isn't for knee draggers but always entertaining. A ride earlier in the year had deer making me slow down in 2 places. Keep the rubber side down. Grant.

Still amazed by this bike, after 20 + years. Here picking it up in New Orleans in 2004 on my 50th birthday, an incredible gift from my wonderful wife. The next year Hurricane Katrina would wash this shop away! The Rosso still runs strong....I compare it to my other Guzzi, a 2022 V85 Guardia d Onore, and it has about 100% more Guzzi soul. Yes, both the bike and the wife are keepers for life. Andy

The Coppa Italia has arrived

This V11 lives in the northern part of the Netherlands , there’s a lot of Dutch spinies on the forum 💪🏻

The bike that started my love for Moto Guzzi. On the bike show in Utrecht I spotted Sophia Loren amongst hundreds of occasions.

I have so enjoyed this fellow's writing in Cycle World ("Leanings") and Road&Track ("Side Glances") over his motojournalist career. I ran across this image I saved of his take on "Beatnik Bikes" . . . . . . and wondered what he is up to lately . . . Turns out: new book! And a nice article about the man and this book: https://thevintagent.com/2025/07/24/peter-egan-landings-in-america/

Just think. If it not for this moment, and this fine fellow, we would not be here together. I am SO thankful!!

And, there was "modernity" . . .

There were Sports . . .

Non so se capita anche a voi, ma alle volte, pochi istanti prima di partire, la guardo e penso tra me e me, “oggi è più bella del solito”!!! 😍

I just did a nice 320km day trip in Friesland!

IMOC ride last Saturday. The best bike to stand behind was chosen!

Wandering the streets of Roma and Milano you rarely see any Guzzis. Considering they build the things only 65klm's from Milano you'd think they would be commonly seen on the streets of Milano but nope. Here's a few I've spotted. The most common non scooter around the cities? The big BMW GS's in all their forms over the last 15 years or so. Hundreds of them. I've even spotted 2 old BMW K100RS's a blue and a red one both in beautiful condition the same as the new ones I toured Europe back in 84 and 86. Blue in 84 and red in 86. Guzzi's though are rare birds. Off to Mandello tomorrow. Sure to see some Guzzis there, maybe.

Today I received a big envelope with some really nice goodies and letters from the US. Thank you ‘spine raiders’ 🙏 And especially Docc! Hope you had a great weekend.

Purchased another V11 ! Pick it up at the weekend. This one compliments the Rosso Corsa, ie. another “limited edition” model Here’s a clue …

It's settled then... we ride old bikes. The first V11 barnfind is documented.

the wonderful wizard of Oz(tralia). Given that I am here often, I thought I'd mention that for the next three weeks I probably wont be. We're flying to Australia tomorrow to visit my family. My last visit was in 2016, and I haven't seen one of my brothers since 2013. Flying in to Brisbane, where a former flatmate of mine lives, the brother I haven't seen since 2013 2 hours south of there. 1400 km down to Canberra to my sister, 450 odd km south of there to my mother and another brother, 1 1/2 hours west of there to my father and another brother, and then 300 odd km south to Melbourne for a couple of days. I'm expecting to cover about 2,500 km in three weeks. I hope it all goes to plan. PS: also my first long trip in a camper van. With my girlfriend. Hope that works, too.

I picked up my Stelvio Duecento Tributo on Wednesday. Traded my 2017 Stelvio NTX. It is shorter, lighter, faster, prettier, more refined, etc. This limited edition marking the 200th anniversary of the Stelvio Pass comes with most of the upgrade options such heated comfort seat, and electronic wizardry. I'm just waiting for the luggage to arrive (which was not included). This is the first motorcycle I've owned that has an app and ability to connect to my phone. I have yet to connect a headset, so have not tried all the voice-activated features. Also have not yet tried the adaptive cruise control. But I sure do like the blind-spot alerts that appear in mirrors and on dash when a car is in my blind spot. Only 250 miles in the saddle so far. Half of it was today, including a ride up Mount Palomar with a view to the ocean. The handling is excellent and confidence inspiring, the engine is smooth, but still with character, the transmission with quick shifter is a joy. Five ride modes to play with: Road, Touring, Sport, Rain, and Off-Road. Other than addiing bags, and possibly an extra lip on the windshield for long hauls, I'm not feeling a need to change anything. Moto Guzzi claims to be making only 2,758 of this special edition, which is the elevation of Stelvio Pass in meters. I thought that seemed like a lot compared to some of the volumes of our V11s (like 600-700 Scuras). But I guess Moto Guzzi is doing more volume with Piaggio now, which I am glad to see.

Best regards from the U.S.A. , my friends!

Not mine. I just had the pleasure of riding it today. Michael has been doing a lot of work on this beast for its owner, (Who is a member here.) Apart from the cracked flywheel talked about elsewhere. It had lots of horrid little issues, and a few larger ones. Forks seals were shot, lots of missing fasteners and stuff, non existent state of ‘Tune’, buggered camchain tensioner, gearshift spring was changed prophylactically. Tuned and mapped. Anyway it’s passed it’s test. It is lovely! I took it for a brief flog, (It’s only 7*C here today!) it was like riding an angry dinosaur! Despite the missing fasteners and mechanical foul ups heaped upon it in the past it’s paint and plastic etc. is in outstanding shape. What a lovely motorbike?!

He’s fortunate because he lost his legs in a road accident and our third party insurance scheme has covered his entire recovery and return to work. The amount of assistance he has received has been outstanding and although nothing is perfect it means that rather than being a lost soul, probably unable to work, he has his own business, working from home, with all the equipment needed to, if not overcome, at least mitigate, his acquired disability. Everyone moans about the cost of our registration and CTP, (Compulsory Third Party.) insurance for vehicles. Well I will never moan again. What better thing than there be than keep people alive and contributing? He’s also an outstanding mechanic. Far better than I ever was.

Look, as I keep saying. If you want confirmation? Just pull the bevelbox and pull out the pinion carrier and pinion. You wouldn’t hesitate to pull the back wheel if you had a flat tire would you? Well it’s the same deal and then four more nuts that hold the bevelbox on. Once it’s on the bench all that is required to pull out the pinion carrier is to separate the flange from the casing. Sometimes it will simply pull out with a tug on the pinion. Sometimes you need to give the flange a couple of biffs with a hammer and drift to get it to separate a bit and then you can pry it forward until it comes loose and you can pull it out. Once it’s out the head of the pinion is staring you in the face. All these bevelboxes are essentially the same. All the way through from the T3 to the last of the California 1100’s. Yes there are differences in the lengths of the spacers in the box and these are easily swapped, then there was a change in about 2002 to the depth of the spline spigot in the crownwheel carrier, your Quota will need one of the earlier type. Apart from that the earlier Tonti boxes had 7/33 gear sets rather than the 8/33 of the Quota and of course the case has a shock mount on it whereas yours has a rubber bung filling the hole. Older Cali bevelboxes must be ten a penny in the US. Mark at Guzzi Classics probably has a dozen of them! If this had happened to me I’d just be buying a Cali box, checking it was sound and sticking it on. There is no need for it to be a Quota bevelbox. I can’t stress strongly enough. If you did ride 200 miles without oil there will be serious damage and you are taking a great risk riding it further. It will not of escaped unscathed.

Lots of maintenance over the winter (wheels off list, tank off list, swingarm bearing re-grease, new breather hose, fork oil, brake fluid, electrics cleanup etc.) The only drama was losing the BB that actuates the front brake switch and both U-joints loose, all sorted and ready for test ride when the old Odyssey battery gave up the ghost. Fortunately the nearby NAPA had a new PC545 on the shelf for $147. Ready to ride just in time for the recent nice weather, 200 mi loop to the coast without a hicccup. Thanks to all the info from the fine folks on this forum!

I worked with him filming "ON ANY SUNDAY" and had the pleasure of riding with him at Bruce Browns Ranch ...Great guy! RIP https://www.cyclenews.com/2024/11/article/godspeed-malcolm-smith-1941-2024/

Summer's last Walz

Yes, finally. My pix of SSR XX. Lots of reasons for my tardiness in gathering, culling, and adding captions, including general sloth and lethargy. These are, if not quite ready for prime time, they are probably "good enough." Even if barely that, consider that I started with 452, and deleted 300+. In other words, could have been worse. As usual with my pix, opens in “collage landscape,” and you can hover your cursor over the individual to see the captions, but those are easier to read in slideshow format. Bill's Pix of SSR XX September 2024 Bill

More from the museum. Met up with V11_meticcio today. He rode his Guzzi up to our hotel in the mountains and we had a nice chat. Very nice guy and very happy to meet him. Grazie Mille, Massimiliano. Phil

Arrived in Mandello today and went straight to the Guzzi museum for a look. Lots of people in town for the Guzzi weekend so lots of enthusiast stuff happening. Here's a Greenie from the museum and an image through the gates of the new factory under construction. Phil

There is "something" beyond definition about riding with these sorts of riders . . . Something that engenders a genuine respect and admiration . . .

Full disclosure, @Pressureangle is an ATGATT guy, but was just pulling out from breakfast, headed a mile back to The Lodge. I will vouch that he accepts that socks is gear and "all the socks all the time" is the way to roll . . .

This might help someone. (and apologies if it has already been noted) I had carefully set the TPS by the book and the bike (2002 LeMans) suffered from surging when hot and abrupt on/off throttle transition and slight pinking at full throttle. The surging and throttle transition made the bike frustrating to ride. I retested the TPS it was still 160mV with throttle plate closed = not significantly different than where I'd set it last year. I then noticed that when the throttle was pulled open that the first motion was to take up throttle shaft wear. (to check for wear, grab the throttle shaft nut under the throttle body and move it side to side. The right side has more play that the left, perhaps because of the return spring. There are rubber seals on the shafts but may be unable to compensate for the wear or have failed after 23 years.) In one of the TPS discussions KiwiRoy suggested that because the voltage increase with rotation is not linear that the goal of setting the TPS was not so much to achieve precisely 150mV (or 157mV), but to make sure the setting was on the tail of voltage increase. I pictured the voltage increase as a curve similar to exponential growth with 150mV somewhere close to the baseline suggesting that at 150mV the computer can sense the TPS but is not yet altering fuel settings. After setting the TPS the manual states that throttle plate angle should be set to 3-3.5 degrees. I wondered how to do this because I don't have Guzzidiag computer setup, but another post (I forget who posted) stated that throttle plate angle at idle corresponded to 470-480mV. Another post stated that instructions for installing a new mixture map that the idle throttle stop should be set at exactly 475mV. My idle stop was at 311mV so I decided to experiment with changing it. I set the TPS to show about 470mV just as the throttle starts to lift off the idle stop. As the throttle linkage is pulled the first movement takes up play in the worn throttle shaft and the mV increases. All the play is taken up and the throttle starts to open at about 470mV but my TPS reads about 420mV when the spring holds the throttle against the idle stop. (differing amounts of wear should result in different idle stop mV) With the throttle plate fully closed (as in setting by the book) the TPS shows about 220mV. I then balanced throttle bodies side to side. The result is dramatic! There is no hint of surging even at low rpm and low speed and the harsh on/off throttle transition is mostly gone. There is no pinking. It has really improved the bike. Yes, I know there someone has posted a tutorial for replacing throttle shaft bushings. I have even bought new bushings and seals and will get to it eventually, but I am very happy with the way the bike runs now.

I've always wanted to love BMW motorcycles, being 1/4 German and having lived in Bavaria as a youth. I recall taking a bright yellow BMW 1100 Sport for a test ride while mySport was hors de combat for a warranty thing. First lesson in German engineering solutions was the "servo" braking popular at the time. I knew about it, but was really shocked rolling the thing out of the dealer's shop down a slope on the concrete apron. The hand lever did so absolutely NOTHING to slow the bike I melted my boot soles using them as brake pads on the concrete. Fine, I thought. I knew about that; just didn't expect it to be that ridiculous. After all, hardly anyone (!) rolls their bike around, unstarted, using the front brakes for control . . . Once underway, I kept (stupidly) flaring a knee out to look down at the "Big Twin" cradled below. Just wanted to get a visual confirmation it was actually there. There was zero motor feel. Not just compared to my(lusty)Sport. I've had Hondas, too. Somewhere in my distant consciousness, I heard a gathering of Bavarian engineers toasting with their steins of Märzen bier, "Vee have saved Doktor Hennz from zee annoyance of zee motor !" Thinking better of my distracted foolishness, I focused on the path of travel. With no "twisties" to engage, lane changing became the test of handling. It seemed just changing lanes required a Morse Code message from the helm to the Steering Control Room where the request was translated to German and transmitted to those same Bavarian engineers who celebrated yet further, "Vee have saved Doktor Hennz from the annoyance of feeling the road feedback and deplorable handling characteristics of such substandard motorcycles as the RedFrame V11 Sport." (Cue more stein clanking and proud celebration. ) I was soooo happy to get back on mySport . . . .

Some progress going thru the Coppa Italia, svingarm back on, carbon fender, alu plate in front of rear wheel, led rear light, startus interruptus, better ground, all connectors cleaned and treated, Caig D. Front part to do. Tires from 2014, wondering about Dunlop Sportsmart TT. Yes IPA time. Cheers Tom. Sent fra min SM-S906B via Tapatalk

Early gift for the Coppa, yes IPA time. Cheers Tom. Sent fra min SM-S906B via Tapatalk

Under the rainbow...a Scura takes a breather. Wonderful day riding today...a few refreshing storms, some nice sunshine and then a beautiful rainbow!