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The shift lever and the gear lever parted again at the spline. I did 269 miles today, and the two components slowly came undone as I kept riding, until the gear lever came off the spline. Since gear change is only by reciprocation, one wonders why the gear lever would slowly move out. I took a closer look at the gear lever claw, and realized that with the nut tightened, the two sides that form the claw are in contact. In other words, you can't tight more than what it was, and it stil comes out. I could drill a hole in the center of the shift lever, at the spline end, tap it, and install an hex screw and a washer so the gear lever would not come out any longer. Or, I could put some mild loctite on the spline, and see if that does the trick? Other ideas? I don't think I can easily find another gear lever. I am still going to look though.

I went through the fine prints of both my Insurance (Progressive) and AMA; Here's the gist: When you are riding in the west of Texas, 35 miles does not get you to any motorcycle shop. Those can only be found in major towns, and in any case, not Moto Guzzi. Overages can be just about anything; How much are we talking about? 500$, 1000$?

your name implies it: j'aide!

For those of you that are not privy of the European quirks; once you get your Motorcycle driver's license, you are restricted to a certain power limit for a given time. I don't know if it is good or bad, but it prevents you from purchasing a Ducati Desmo Sedici right after you get your license. Absolutely not! we are all very young at heart here! Bienvenue au Club!

Even without the nut, the bolt would not fall off; I pointed out that the splined claw of the gear lever has been deformed because of excessive tightening. Since the hole where the bolt stays is in both parts of what forms the claw, there is now a lot of friction because that hole is no longer concentric. There is about a 5 degrees angle between the top and the bottom of the claw. I also find this policy wrong, but there is not much I can do. It is their decision. They do not seem to care that it may affect their reputation. I think they weighted their policy based on the hassle to service motorcycles for which spare parts may require extra effort that cannot be incorporated in the invoice. I pointed out that a satisfied customer may purchase a motorcycle from them rather than another business. The feeling that I had if it was possible, they would have no service department and only sell motorcycles if that was ever possible. I have a feeling that in today's market, finding a good mechanic is no longer easy; once you found him/her, keeping is also an issue. I am old enough to remember the days when you could get your motorcycle serviced just about everywhere. The new vehicles are less serviceable than they used to be. These new TFT displays, the added electronics do not age well. Because the technology is in constant evolution, you may not be able to replace some of the electronics after a while. It is a bit like the EV batteries. If you purchase an older EV, some of the onboard technology may no longer be available to replace. I enjoy my two analog instruments. I only need to know the mileage, the speed, and the rpm. I have a warning light for low oil pressure, one for the charging, and a fuel reserve indication which I don't really need since I know how far I can go with a full tank. Cherry on the cake, a 10 and 13 flat wrenches will address most of my problems.

Excepted for this mishap, and the somewhat loose battery connections that caused a no start, the Quota has been incredibly reliable. I mean, much more than the V11 if I have to compare both. I am going to put it through its paces by driving it all the way to Wyoming, at what used to be the northern boundary of the former Republic of Texas. Exceptionally, I am going to bring a 10 and 13mm flat wrenches with me. I am a member of the AMA, and under their umbrella, I have a one time free tow (per year) to the closest Moto Guzzi dealer. I am yet to find out what happens if the dealership refuses to work on an older motorcycle. The Moto Guzzi dealer in Arizona that changed the tires on my Quota said they would have no problem working on it for anything. While the Moto Guzzi dealer near me, Wild West Motoplex does not work on anything older than 10 years.

The drawing shows the nut at the top, Doc. Agreed about the nylstop nut renewal. Those are supposed to be a one time use only. In any case, the gear lever spline claw is permanently deformed, making its removal difficult. I think it was overtightened. The "Nut Place" did not have M6 nylstop nuts; McMaster-Carr has them, but they sell them by 100, and the shipping cost is significant. I am going to wait until the Nut place restock them.

Here's the assy following the shimming:

Fortunately, I have a shop nearby that specializes in fasteners; its called "the nut place". They have both metric and imperial. I could find various thicknesses M16 washers as they have some stainless, non stainless, zinc, phosphated, cadmiumed. I am good now. I will take a picture once I am certain that gear lever does not skip the spline.

@gstallons I have reassembled the shift lever and "shimmed" it properly with flat washers with the o'rings acting as dirt catchers. The o'rings should hopefully stay in place as there are no o'ring grooves. The flat washer should keep them in. @Sam P I don't understand where that 7mm play came from. The initial assembly was as per the drawing. However, there is a trace of welding on the shift lever. Also, the position of the lever was very low, which was fine to engage the first gear, but required an effort to shift up. I am guessing there may have been some damage fixing that resulted in that lateral play. The shifting is better now, but I need to do a longer test run to make sure the gear lever does not come out of the shift lever as it did twice before.

It is not about "appropriate"; the whole concept of "tip" is detourned. My first encounter was in February 1983, when I took one of these yellow cabs from JFK to get to my hotel in Manhattan. Upon arrival, I was yelled at in the open by a pretty irrate taxi driver. I did not understand. In France, even today, you are not required to tip. You pay for the transport, yes? so a tip should be left at the appreciation of the customer, and never an obligation. But as i learned later, this did not hold true in NY. Apparently, the tip is compulsory in a number of cases. In France, a "tip" is called "pourboire". Which literally means "for drinks", combined into one word. The meaning is on point. This is an extra that you provide, because as a paying customer, you felt that someone went out of his/her way to give an impeccable service. It is not something that should be automatically claimed because today's technology enables it. NFC which is the technical name of contactless payments should make transactions faster. As it turns out, because you invariably need to select a tip in cases that should not require one, you end up having to fumble with the payment terminal. They found a new way to enforce it, by removing the "no tip" option. I am starting to see it more too. But as you suggest, I am not ashamed to tell them I don't want to tip, so complete the transaction.

In this new assembly, there will be no slack. The previous one, the wave washer served no purpose given the 7mm lateral play. Its sole purpose was to mangle the o'ring, not maintained inside the pivot hold. I will take some pics once installed.

@68C As a European from France, I will share what has always been my most puzzling experience here. None of the price shown to you includes Tax and/or fees. In the whole of Europe, and the UK, the price shown to you is the price you pay, in that it includes VAT. This is never the case here. I was once explained that the rationale is that taxes vary per state, city and so on. But my local supermarket does not include taxes either. Why not? Something you also need to be wary about: tips! with the contactless payments, came the flip tablets, which impose you to select a tip percent before you can complete the transaction; even when there is no service provided, such as you purchasing something that is given to you over a counter, or even better, when you do all the work yourself. I am just back from Orlando Florida, the home of Mickey, and I discovered a new one: the no tip option altogether missing. It felt a little bit like extortion. Can you picture going to your supermarket, filling up your cart, and at the check-out, you are presented with a tip percent selection with no opt-out? Are you renting a car?

I am not reinstalling the wave washer, as it did not serve any purpose. I have shimmed the shift lever properly, and it no longer has any lateral play.

I received the o'rings this morning: The size is ID=15mm x CS=1.5mm. Therefore, any O'ring GU90706141 is it; I paid 18 dollars for two o'rings....

Do you have a lot of lateral play in your shift lever? see my technical topic here:

ah ah ah.... When i got stopped for overspeeding, I also explained that those old pointers on the ITI speedometers are not really steady, but hover around the marks. In any case, they do not have to accept any reason or rationale. If they want to write you up because they need to meet quota before returning to the station, then you are done, because this is usually how it works. They are given an objective, and this is what drives them for those petty infrangements.

@GuzziMoto This is now official, Pirelli will replace Michelin from 2027. Motosprint.it announced it before it was official. This is the best opportunity for Pirelli, as the change in engize size and aerodynamics will not allow for a direct comparison with the previous tire provider. About the tire pressure limit, this is something Michelin required following their own factory tests. The reason is below the 1.8 bars, the tire may explode under stress. When the journalists of Moto Magazine visited the Michelin racing tires factory, Michelin explained that testing new tires has now become difficult since there are fewer tests in MotoGP. They said that the aerodynamics have considerably changed the parameters. As for Marc's dominance, the two tracks that are coming, Argentina and USA are to Marc's advantage. He will be strong there. Of course, he is not invincible, but by starting very strong like he did, he has already taken the psychological ascendant over Bagnaia. At the moment, Bagnaia has an issue with the smaller tank installed for the sprint races. Ducati is working to solve it. Agreed, Bagnaia arrived third, but he had Alex Marquez before him. By the way, this is the first time ever that two brothers finish 1 and 2 in a race. That being said, it is clear that Marc and Alex are going to be working together to the benefit of Marc. I have no doubt.

A video that seems to be dealing with facts rather than illusions; I have my Ford Transit Connect equipped with all season tires, because in Texas, you need to be prepared for anything nowadays.... This review is excellent, even if missing the autonomy/durability concept. Edit: Found a review that states the wear out distance;

Agreed re "parade". In any case, it all depends on the mood of the officers you are interfacing with. Insofar, I have yet to meet a bully policeman here in Texas. I have been stopped a few times, mainly because going too fast. I never got anything else than discussing the Moto Guzzi motorcycle that I rode. My last stop was coming back from Phoenix on the Quota; I think I was stopped because it was still with the AZ tag. As soon as the officer saw my TX Driver's license, that was the end of it. He stopped me because I did not make a standstill stop at a red traffic light before turning right. I explained the Quota had no idle, so I took the path of lazyness to not stop. But I clearly had enough time to make the turn without interfering with the incoming traffic, but somewhat, he wanted to talk to me.... lol... There is another factor that may help. I am a senior citizen, and I think, I maybe wrong, but I think it gives me some kind of clout or respect, as long as I am respectful of the authority in my interaction. As for the plates, where I live there are a lot of cars which have a mask in front of them, making them unreadable to the human eye unless you are very close. They will not defeat the plate readers, but they may prevent you from making a legitimate claim if one hits you.

They have rules in Texas too. Basically, the only times you are supposed to ride your bike is during parades, or vintage vehicles reunions, or to a garage for maintenance. Now, I doubt very much the Police will pay much attention to a vintage motorcycle with an antique tag. I read a blog from a guy who has a long list of reasons to be proposed to the police in case of a stop while being on the road. Such as going to meet friends that want to see the car and look at it.

So far, the only place where I got a hit is an outfit in UK, but they sell the entire peg Item #35 on the drawing. I suppose but have not verified if its include the rubber insert item #36. I also found some used ones on eBay from vendors which are flagged as unreliable. I have made contact with MPH, which I know have a lot of spares from their old days as a Moto Guzzi dealership. No reply so far. I would have gone for the UK one, however the cost of transport to the US is kind of high. I am going to wait until MPH confirms they don't have one.

I have not spoken to them, but I checked their website for the part. Nogo.

Anyone knows where I could find one of those? There are complete foot rests for sale on eBay for almost 200$. Anyone knows if any other brand can be adapted?

@gstallons My current plan, once I get the o'rings, is to install ring shims to make up for lateral play. 7mm of free play seems to be way too much. I wish I could find a Quota owner to compare. I will shim before the spline, so the wave washer is slightly compressed. This should help. I will also put a shim in front of the wave washer, to keep the o'ring inside.