mjptexas

I think I may resemble that remark! May not be legal in some parts of Tennessee.

Thanks. With a little luck I'll ride it to Luckenback in 2 weeks for the Harvest Classic. Needs a new front tire before I take it too far out of town.

Not a receiver, but I've had an Audio Research CA50 integrated amp in active use for about 20 years (currently driving the system in my office). Arguably the best 45 watts you will ever listen to. In this day and age pair it with a decent DAC and good speakers & you'll be in listening nirvana.

Well, Sawszall modifications may not be pretty, but they are quick

I did get a chance to install the speedometer on the Ballabio this weekend. My installation certainly isn't as elegant as Scud's or Chamberlin's, but it is functional. Here's a shot of the gauge in place. I decided to just do the speedometer and not the tach. Now that I see them side by side I'm likely to replace the tach sooner than later. Here's another shot. The black blob to the left of the speedometer is the GPS antenna taped to the fairing. You will see the selection button below the clutch reservoir. I put it there for easy access. Close up of the GPS antenna. I'll probably get around to tidying up the mounting - someday. Here's the mounting for the selector button. This was simply a steel bracket from Home Depot cut down to two holes. The GPs works great. It takes about a minute for it to acquire the signal after I roll the bike out of the garage. It's easy to cycle through the options with the button. We'll see how this works out long term.

John, I usually ride out Saturday morning and check out the bikes in the contest. Keep me posted on your plans. Mike I usually ride out Saturday morning and spend part of the day.

Scud, Thanks for the response. I 'hope' to start working on this tomorrow. I may or may not post pictures as I doubt that my work would pass muster when compared with what you and Chamberlin did. I will however, note my success or failure with the project. I also took the cheap way out and am only replacing the speedo. I figure I'll replace the tach when it breaks or when I decide this bike is a reasonably long term addition to the stable. Mike

Docc, there's a few shots of it in my thread and videos, but here's a quick one for you showing the size and where I decided to place it. Great information in this thread. I just bought a Speedhut GPS speedometer for my 2004 Billabio and hope to start the install this week. The instructions talk about the hot start feature (red/black wire) that keeps the GPS powered up. Instructions say this draws 25 micro-amps. Maybe I missed it in your wiring diagram, but did you wire the hot start to a constant 12 volt source?

I've had a 2006 Griso 1100 for a couple of years. Only modification is the aftermarket exhaust. I'm 5'10" with a 31 inch inseam. The Griso fits me very nicely. I consider it an all day bike, and have done 350+ miles days on it with no issues. A lot of people swap out the bar for a Mana bar & a lot of people put a small screen on the bike. Once the known issues are sorted the bike is literally bullet proof. This is the last variation of the Guzzi push rod engine so it's very refined. (And before anyone jumps on this point I know the Sport has a 1200cc engine, but it's essentially the same engine as the Griso). I don't remember seeing the model year of your VFR. If it's one of the last years of the 750 prior to the displacement change to 800ccs you may be disappointed in the Griso. The late VFR 750s through the early VFR 800s are legendary for their all around competence. The Griso is a great bike but it's a completely different type of ride than the VFR. Good Luck

So after 4 months the V11 fever hadn't gone away, so this ended up in my garage tonight: 2004 Billabio - Sorry about the quality of the pictures but it was about dark when I got home. Other than the a broken speedometer its in pretty decent shape. I've only ridden it about 20 miles so too early to offer any observation or opinions.

Have had Angel GTs on my '06 Griso for about 1,000 miles. So far so good. Seem to grip nicely, have ridden on wet streets with no noticeable issues (although I'm really careful on wet streets).

My concerns related to older/high mileage bikes fall in the following four categories: Bearings - primarily steering head, swing arm and wheel bearings. Electrical - connectors, relays, switches Leaking seals - usually the result of sitting a long time without running. (Doesn't seem to be the case with this bike as the dealer actually has it on the show room floor) Mechanical, primarily valves - requiring grinding/replacement/headwork. Things just wear out. I don't have a good gauge as to if there is a specific point where you hit this on a well maintained V11.

Still thinking about it. going to let it simmer until after MotoGP weekend. Too much work to get done.

I posted this on Wild Guzzi so some of you have already seen this and responded. Considering adding this to the gaggle. http://af1racingaustin.com/used-inventory/2000-v11-sport I've ridden the bike. It runs strong, shifts easily, great brakes, pretty good cosmetically considering the mileage. Dealer is replacing the broken tach and will check out the oil light which is MIA when you turn on the ignition. Someone suggested having the dealer check out the recall/warranty work which I will ask about. Main concern (other than the price) is the mileage. I know it's a Guzzi, but 58,000 is still a bunch of miles. I see this as a good news/bad news situation - good news being the Guzzi glitches should be sorted out. Bad news is its probably ripe for the raft of maintenance requirements that go with high mileage bikes. Comments and suggestions appreciated. Thanks Mike