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The oil cost is peanuts compared to replacing the ring gear and the pinion. I found a used one on eBay, for 200 USD. But it looks rough, and the seller says he was unable to tell me the mileage. I am saving the drained oil. The shavings are not much different from those I have gotten before on other oil changes.

Since my last post, we have had some clarifications. I watched the various post race vlog from the French, Italian, Spanish and English specialized channels. They all agree. The rumor is confirmed. Martin wants out of Aprilia. It is allegedly a decision based on money. Acosta and Martin have the same manager. Acosta refused a proposal from Honda, because Acosta wants a competitive machine, and Honda is not. He is possibly moving with the VR46 team for next year's GP26. Next in line for Honda would be Jorge Martin. According to what is known, if true, Martin may not be getting much of a stipend because he is not actually racing. Nobody knows for sure, but in any case, he is not making as much money as if he was participating in the races. He is not getting much in return for the world champion tittle that he brought in to Aprila with him. There are photos of him at Le Mans, in civil, where he participated in meetings with Dorna and IRTA. It is said that he did not encounter anyone in his team. According to the media, Aprilia has declined answering any questions related to that issue, which is kind of an an answer in itself.

What is the thinking behind needing to lock the gas cap on a vehicle? None of my cars have it; Is this to prevent cheeky fellows to baptize your fuel? in the old days, you could siphon gas from the tank, but they installed a filter that prevent reaching the tank with a hose. Why then?

After reading a lot of literature about that same subject on the web, I have decided to repeat the fill with fresh oil, short run, and check. See if the amount of burrs changes one way or the other.

I got mine under the same circumstances. The seller had purchased a lot, however the Quota was the single motorcycle. The rest was cars. I wish I could find out where that dashboard clock came from. My Quota has a hole at that exact same spot, having the time is really helpful. The analogical clock I tried on my Le Mans did not work very long....

They seem to have followers. Also, European media have reviewed the bikes participating. Most likely a commercial effort to draw some attention to the brand. Last race in Atlanta, a former MotoGP racer won one of the races: Loris Baz.

Dorna has signed a deal with Harley Davidson. There will be Bagger's races at six MotoGP Grand Prix from 2026. Exclusive to Harley Davidson, apparently. It will not be the current baggers' series that see Harley and Indians racing. https://www.motogp.com/en/news/2025/05/10/harley-davidson-and-motop-announce-new-global-racing-series-launching-in-2026/748744

This is how it is supposed to look when new....

I am going to open that pont arrière. I think this is the next step. I would like to avoid installing used spares with missing history.

I did 10 miles on I-10 following yesterday's oil change. Here's the oil drain plug; I am going to have to open le pont arrière.

Listen to the original, in a beautiful scenic context, and then the cover by the Graystones... both are... breathtaking in their own respect;

Me too.... I always loved military marches...

1) no strikingly alarming noise so far 2) to be ascertained 3) the Quota transmission was always extremely clunky and noisy. In fact, the gear box noise covers just about everything else. At the beginning, I was worried that something could be wrong. 4) No blueish color, but I could only check the ring gear. Unless I purchase an endoscope with light. I think the oil is going to be the tattle tell. Even if I am optimistic, since I did not feel anything wrong with the gear ring teeth, and they were still greasy.

So, I installed the new drain plug, torqued it at 29.5 Nm. I removed the level and filler plugs. The filler port diameter allows seeing the ring gear. I felt with the finger while spinning the wheel. No burr, no indentation. The teeth were still greasy. I spun the wheel and listened for noises. I filled in with Motul specific for transmission (Pont), and spun the wheel again, listening for a difference. I could not detect any. I re-installed the level and filler plugs, torqued at 24.5 Nm; Tomorrow, I will ride about 5 miles, and drain the oil. I will check the plug for metal burrs, and I will send the oil to the Blackstone lab for analysis. If I was looking for damage on the ring gear, how could I identify it?

I did not know I had no oil. I thought this was an overflow. Because the road between Atlanta and Gladewater was empty, I rode fast. The first Quota I looked at, in Boise, did not have a filler plug. Instead, it had a breather plug, with a hose to for overflow. This is what made me think that it happened to me. I should have checked for the drain plug, but I looked for a rag to clean up the oil. After I removed the oil, I observed no more leakage. If I had found out the plug was missing, I don't know what I would have done. Most likely work out a temporary plug, duct tape comes to mind, and bought some oil from the local auto-shop.