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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/

I'm reintroducing myself to this forum. I was on it around 2004 or so when I owned a V11 Ballabio. I sold that bike to help with the down payment on a house. Since then I've had several bikes mostly Ducatis including a black 2005 999S. At 69 y.o. that bike, although I loved it dearly, was just not working for me at this time of my life. I sold the 999S and had always wanted a V11 Le Mans. I searched around for a really nice example and located this stunning 14,000 mile 2002. Rode it home from Sonora via hwy 49, one of my favorites. Looking forward to re-joining the group.

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.

I saw the new factory under construction when I was in Mandello last September. It looks interesting BUT it's obviously going to be a another "tourist attraction" thing. Don't know about others but the interest for me these days is to discover things and places that aren't popular or "attractions" for the masses. Things like the back alleys and little side lanes in Venice away from the main attractions where the real Venice life is or the hills of Tuscany and the Villas and small villages away from the hustle and bustle of the cities. Bit like going to an old world bike shop with an owner and staff that have been running the place for 50 years. Much more interesting than the modern glitzy places of today inhabited by people that seem to think you are privileged to be in their showroom. Phil

@Jaide, Where did you get the rack from? It took me ages to find one and had to make the brackets myself. It works good though, enjoy your trip to Luxembourg. Nice roads over there .

I finally have the luggage rack on the bike! It took a while to arrive, and even worse, it was a bit crooked and didn't want to fit! Thankfully we were able to bend it back and now it's on there perfectly straight. Unfortunately I also noticed a new scratch on the right side of the fairing today... The bike already has plenty of them, but this one is white and extra noticeable, so I'll have to sort that out.. But now that I can easily carry some luggage, I'm already planning a trip to Luxembourg with my brother later this month!

The Greenie Conundrum: too beautiful to ride, too fun not too.

Docc -opens Sept 2026 at Guzzi Days-maybe we should plan a Spine Raid that rides to Mandello del Lario to see the new factory/museum….🤔😜

A smiling Ballabio! Not just a pretty lady, but a business lady who over the last 20 years has ridden her BMW650GS up to 13 hours a day, from 34F to 105F days. For shorter rides she used her new Ducati 800 Scrambler!

Day one with mySport: twenty-five years ago today !

I visited Mandello in 2013 during Xmas time, unfortunately it was closed at the time, but still a very nice visit to Mandello and surrounding areas. It's time for a return trip hopefully next year. Nice that they have modernized and kept a connection to history as well. Some of the design looks like the back end of the Griso exhaust pipe. Now...if I could arrange a ride on the original Norge....I would be happy! Taking Guzzi out of Mandello would be like taking BMW out of Munich or Porsche out of Stuttgart (aside from its temporary home in Gmund, Austria during the war)...besides this area of Italy is just beautiful...why move it anywhere else?

Met a friend on his KTM 1290 SUPER DUKE in the Laguna area, dropped onto PCH and just rode south, stopping when and where it seemed good (views, beach, coffee, etc). It was cool and overcast, perfect riding weather on what could have easily been far too hot. This stretch is one of my California favorites, one sleepy beach town after another. Torrey Pines is incredible as the palm trees give way to pine trees, so beautiful. In between all of these is the Marine base, Pendalton, that forces us onto Highway 5 for a short time. Even this isn't bad, as it allows us to stretch the bike's legs a bit. …and you know I did. "C'mon, pick it up Super Duke!" The V11 didn't let me down, and a few strangers along the way even asked about the Guzzi. It ran perfect. 120 miles later, parked it in the garage with a smile on my face. I've started a Motorcycle Group at my church, https://welcome.saddleback.com/ministry/motorcycle. I think I'm going to repeat this ride for this coming Saturday's ride, stopping for lunch at Hamburger Hut. Though if the wife joins me, I'll be forced to take the Kawasaki Concours, grrr!

I'll remind you again that the V11 is now more than 25 years old, the threshold for vintage status with some clubs. Now do you feel old? Good. Alas only one V11 showed up but it's a stunner. Hopefully you'll enjoy some of the other bikes too. It was the Norton's turn to go for me. Next year I'll probably take the V11 because... it'll still be vintage too.

Hi Docc, yea that headlamp ..people either love it or hate it. its 1930s/40s bugatti and massive haha i do like to stick old stuff on the bikes i build, gives them some sort of history. heres my 1100 cc tontis head lamp on this is from a 1950s mercedes

Just bought this and have been riding it around quite a bit. It's incredible!

I just rode the new Stelvio about 500 miles today. From Carlsbad to Mammoth Lakes with "shortcuts" through Tehachapi, Kernville, and over the Sherman Pass. I am totally impressed by this bike and loving it. It was comfortable enough (but I did get a little but-burn by the last 100 miles as I didn't stop much). The onboard computer indicated about 50MPG, which gives us an easy 200 mile range, and a possible 250 if we have to push it. I can get totally under the still air with the winshield fully extended and in a half-tuck position, so I will probably get a small detachable windscreen lip/extender for long rides. I like the screen totally down on the slower twisties. It was close to 100 degrees at the hottest part of the ride, and I didn't worry about it all due to the water cooling.

Can't see the forest for the trees!

heres my v7 sport from 1973. its been molested over the years and probably only v7 sport on it is the gearbox/engine and frame. still a lovely rig to ride. racing gearbox 1 up 4 down.

heres the tonti that got me my first v11 a few years ago, after building my alu 1100cc tonti bike i had alot of bits and bobs over.. , built this bike from spares and an sp2 frame. someone offered me a his v11 lemans as trade and i took it and never been happier.

I think we’re talking about the Cali 2 here Chuck in which case it’s yer basic Tonti ‘Crab’ project. The airbox is a trifle more involved than the earlier ones but really the ‘Nuts and Bolts’ are essentially the same. Many years ago when I was racing with Rob we used to be able to swap a clutch between practice and the race! The bike was a lot more stripped down though than a road bike.

After downsizing to 3 1/2 acres, I could no longer justify a full size tractor. "MrBill " is a single cylinder flat-head Briggs&Stratton ( 2nd motor, 2nd deck, 2nd transaxle) now in (light duty) service for his thirty-fifth (35th!) season. "Swampee ", the CubCadet, runs a 750cc Kohler air-cooled V-twin and came to me with a dubious history that may-or-may-not have involved some sort of swamp racing. Both are MTD products from Ohio, USA . . . Swampee has long served as my Hawker Odyssey test bed, running one of my PC545 out to its fifteenth year . . .

https://www.gothamcycles.com/Bodyworkhtml/ducati-brembo-16mm-gold-front-brake-master-cylinder-early-style-748916.html https://ducati-gowanloch.com/?product=brembo-ps16-front-brake-master-cylinder-lever-switch-gold-pn-110-5053-12 Does your "supplier" own a computer, lol. Phil

In French, “Une Manivelle” . . . One came with my first car, a Renault 4L produced in the mid sixties; I can’t remember the exact year; Handed down to me by my grandfather, powered by a 750cc 4 bangers, three speed gearbox and a 6 volts electrical system that was often too weak to start the engine in frigid temperatures. I got pretty good at using the manivelle to get it started in the wintertime. you can spot the cutout for it in the front bumper of that ‘66 model.

I'm down from 7 to 3. My spiral downward was initially inspired by maintenance x time + other interests = sacrifice. My age and waning strength is now an undeniable factor. The Tenni is my last and only bike over 400lb. I have the DR650 down under 350lb, and it's lots of fun. I'm looking seriously at this Triumph -slightly above 400. I think it'll be country road fun, now I've left the city behind, presumably *lite* maintenance and, I think I can pick it up if It falls over.

@Lucky Phil yes, so true. Had my CBX get too far over in my ground level basement while maneuvering it into its spot. Used my body to prevent it from lying on the floor and managed to get my phone out to call for help! They sure laughed at me! Six years ago at 65 I was looking after my personal 4 aircraft and Heli’s (Glasair 3, R22, C120 and Mini 500) 16 cyl., 14 motos 34 cyl. , and 2 autos 14cyl., and was working 50 to 60 hours per week at my job. Don’t know how I did it. Now at 71 down to 7 bikes and 2 autos and need to make that number smaller as too much work!

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

as long as you're in there, here's how I verify spacer fit- Set both bearings tight to the hub shoulders, with no center spacer Measure bearing depths from hub flange, both inner and outer races Remove one side bearing, place spacer. Re-install bearing until it bottoms Re-measure bearings; if you have *zero* change from no spacer measures, it's too short. If driving the second bearing home changes the depth of the first bearing, note by how much. These small bearings have very little clearance, so I would say if your center (spacer) race moved by .001" to .003" you're in good shape. If you get more protrusion than a couple thousandths, your spacer is long- which can overload the bearings if the outer races are too tight to float in the hub, which they should be. I would rather shim up a short spacer than try to work with a long one, as it's important to have the ends perfectly square to the centerline of the bearings, hard to achieve with a file or stone. If your spacer is long, you *can* drive the bearings against the spacer with an appropriate driver that touches only the inner race- then when the driven bearing finds home, the direction of forces on both bearings will load the races equally and center themselves up. That does leave you with a couple or few thousandths between the hub and the outer race of one of the bearings; a few thousandths is ok, but if they aren't tight in the hub they can shift and chafe during use. Have I overclarified that to mud now?

Well, after sleeping on this for a few months, it looks like I'm back in the game. I've found a beautiful V11 Le Mans Nero that I'm going to have a look at this week. If it was just an ornament, I'd buy it on the spot but having never ridden a v11 before and having given up sports bikes over 10 years ago, I need to check whether it is comfortable enough to take round Europe for a 9 day tour next month. Are there any things that I should pay particular attention to? The bike has done 17K miles. TIA

I am with @Pressureangle where it comes to filling the gap, "black hole", of support for older models to actually facilitate the living history of the brand. The popularity of 68-72 V7 models is quite high overhere. And the older Nuovo Falcones are also preserved as good as possible by enthousiasts. At the other hand, I still have no trouble keeping the '82 LM3 and C2 rolling (The california 2 going at least 10.000km/year).

I saw this video on YouTube a few days ago, so excited to visit! It's now on my Retirement Travel list. Our family has a vaction home on the island of Brac, Croatia. From there, I'll try to plan a moto adventure up and over the Adriatic Sea , into Italy. That will be epic. We have a few more years, though, until the mrs retires.

Well, all together I would really enjoy being in mandello when this new factory opens up. Specifically, when all of you will be there as well.

I don't know about that. Not likely unless your Kwacker's are built. The Aprilia 457 motor is pretty stout. That said, I am not a huge fan of selling Aprilia's as Moto Guzzi's. Sharing some tech I can understand. But if they just rebadge the Aprilia as a Guzzi that I hope not to see. On the other side of the coin, I don't see Guzzi as married to the transverse V twin. They have a long history of singles and parallel twins. I am fine with other engine configurations. I just don't want an Aprilia Tuono 457 sold as a Moto Guzzi. If I want that I will buy the Ape (I have already seriously considered it)

The formal method is to use an axle through the support bearing in the swingarm that has a ring to centre on the outgoing axle of the gearbox. Horizontal adjustment is with the swingarm bearing bolts and vertical is by fixing the bolts of the underframe and the battery plate. In practice centering the swingarm axle bolts (on the side) is the way to go. With many thanks to JCK from NL

I've successfully repaired quite a lot of motorcycle plastics over the years with nothing more than a small soldering iron and some plastic filler of the appropriate type. The Ducati stuff from a few years ago wasn't possible to weld so I "Veed" out the crack on the inside and used "Scotchweld" ( these days I might use JB weld) in the Veed out section followed by fine copper flyscreen cut to size across the crack and another layer of Scotchweld to embed the screen which worked just fine after the appropriate filling and sanding of the outside face. Some plastics don't weld BUT they do respond to a "braze" repair with the appropriate filler plastic. So you can use filler plastic to bond to the base plastic in a method the equivalent to brazing where it doesn't melt to the base material but still bonds well same as brazing. If you look in my Daytona build thread I explain how it's done on the airbox in some detail from memory. I think the original airbox is made from HDPE which isn't weldable but I managed to do the braze repair with LDPE from memory. That's part of the reason I post stuff for "records" when I forget the details. A pro plastic welder I showed the job to told me it was impossible to weld and said he couldn't help me. He was totally dismissive when I told him about this style of repair after I had done mine but a bit embarrassed when I showed him the results of my brazed method (which I didn't invent just researched). I felt like telling him he might need to find another line of work or at least update his training but managed to "hold back". Very out of character for me.

If you’re going into the gearbox it’s really worth shimming the selector drum properly.

the summer of our discount tent

Be aware as well that some Cali 2’s, and strangely it only seemed to be Cali 2’s, had a weird misalignment of the input shaft of the gearbox and the crank which meant that the friction plates wore very fast in the clutch. The cause was apparently the stud fitment or the dowels on the studs, it’s a L-O-N-G time ago now and I can’t remember the details. This meant the shafts were not concentric so when separated they sort of oscillated around and wore away to nothing is a very short period of time. Not related to this issue I don’t think but worth being aware of. Certainly while you’re in there you would be barmy not to install a deep spline clutch. Whatever you do don’t use Surflex friction plates.

Along with that, it has front and rear collision warning. The front warning illuminated several times, and each time it did i thought "OK, I actually am following too close." So it caused me to rethink, and to follow at a safer distance. Surprisingly, the front collision warning does not go off while lane-splitting. The rear warning has not yet activated. And all that stuff (front and rear radar) is needed for the adaptive cruise control, which I have not tried yet.

Welcome to the forum.

haha... it is water cooled. I do like the wild boar for the Griso - it fits. I'd be more inclined to accept water buffalo for the Stelvio 1200 NTX that I traded. This one is a different animal, but I need to think about what it might be. But yesterday, I parked it next to a new BMW GS1300, which is perhaps a hippopotamus.

Yes. Plus any wide sump engine such as the Centauro or Daytona. Phil

Every pawn shop has a bucket full for $2.99 each lol