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I know some of the same people too.... the main difference between them and us? they don't own a Moto Guzzi!!!

You know, for the three days it took to ride it back here, I woke up with a big grin on my face, anticipating the hours I was going to spend, pretending to be the lonesome mechanical cowboy. I crossed three states, and the only thing I had in mind when settling for the night, was to start again the following day... Just for that, the Quota will always make me happy, no matter what flaws I may discover after the wedding... I will simply ignore the bad, and concentrate on the good. Don't we all do that in life?

I am tempering my hopes, because I have read tens of reported issues with the white face tachometer Veglia. I would have thought that a relay would have been identified as the culprit. I will check it out tomorrow. So far, the headlight, side stand and neutral seem to be working. Now, unlike the Le Mans, the neutral light needs a little bit of fiddling to come on. I mean, I am in neutral, but I need to caress the selector to get the light to come on. I also checked the low fuel lamp works; there is much less reserve, though. It makes sense since the tank capacity is inferior to that of the Le Mans, with an identical engine capacity. I am going to need to remember that, because I have gotten around the 200 miles on one tank with the Le Mans, but the Quota will give up at around 185 miles.

There seem to be 5, however, distributed in two groups; there is one group of 2, and another group with three + the turn indicators flasher close to the fuses box on the left hand side of the Quota. I have not yet been inside there. I am just looking at the manuals from "thisoldtractor". Are those relay the same as the V11 ones, which I have 5 OMRON spares?

The parcel shipped today European time. It is sent via the post office; last year it was delivered by USPS.

You are correct in pointing out the layout is the opposite of that of the V11; however, the tachometer of my Le Mans works; I have read a lot of press about the white face Veglia, and some people are saying it is a leaking ground problem. Joel Levine said he can only fix mechanical instruments. I am going to hunt the Italian wizards to see if there is a fix. I found some substitutes tachometers, plug ins, but without the Moto Guzzi emblem and zoning. Thus, I would rather get the one I have fixed, if possible.

@PJPR01 I finally managed to get the money transferred, and the gear should ship today.

I am now affected by the jumpy? fluctuating? dancing? Veglia tachometer pointer on my 2000 Quota... I went through several threads, and read it is an electronic issue? should I go Ted Levine on this? from my previous experience with the ITI odometer, it is actually cheaper to purchase a replacement. However, what is the point of purchasing a replacement if it gets affected by the same problem later? Did Veglia ever correct the problem?

At least she does not pull stunts like the late Olga Promina... My favorite motorcycle stunt lady happens to be French. Chances are you have seen her in any of the movies she describes below.

Both the Le Mans and the Quota share the same place in my ticker! one is the country mouse, the other the city one...

I missed my window of opportunity by doing everything at the last minute... I was planning to negotiate the price before flying there, as it should have been. However, I ran out of time, since I have a commitment running from tomorrow until the 21st of February. This is all because GoAz never took me seriously when I attempted to remote book a service that I told them I was not certain they would perform. I wasted time waiting for their feed-back that never came until I purchased the tires after negotiating a restocking fee. Honestly, I am not going to feel bad about it. The bike was almost as described, save for the tachometer, which does not work properly. But flying to check the bike did not put me in the best position to haggle the price. I spent $575 to get the new tires installed. We should have at least shared the cost. That was my intention.

I did...

Back in Houston, one Red Quota richer... Everything went almost as planned; I got to Peoria to check the Quota around 17:50. Now, the owner wanted to inflate the tires for the test ride, and the rear tube valve started to leak. Since I had already booked the tire change for the following day, Saturday at GoAz Peoria, I just did a visual inspection. There was a cream on top... I spent the evening with the owner at a nearby bar, with a school of Sun City residents! I met a lot of people in my age trench, all marvelling at me daring to ride back to Houston on a bike I hardly knew. The following morning, the owner had summoned a friend with a trailer, and we both reported at GoAz' Service Center. At about 11:00, the Quota was properly shod with two Dunlop Trailmax Mission Front and Rear, and two new tubes. While waiting, I did a little tour of the GoAz showroom, and was able to get close to a brand new V100 S Mandello waiting for a lucky future owner. The GoAZ dealership was simply amazing. I mean, it was organized with gusto! not just a huge number of bikes in a pen. The space was neatly organized so you could look at the bikes without having to slide in between. Accessories and riding gear were not simply in a single corner, but properly distributed. The dealership had Triumph, KTM, Royal Enfield, Ducati, BMW, Aprilia, Piaggio and sometimes, a few Moto Guzzi. I was told the MGs were scarce, few and far between. I started my journey to Houston, with my first stop planned at El Paso Texas. Unfortunately, I had not taken into account the New Mexico wind and very cold temperatures! I literally froze my behind. When dark started to set, I stopped and spent the night in Deming, NM. My initial objective was to reach El Paso, still an hour and half away. The second leg of my trip took me to Junction, Texas. I stopped there at around 18:00 Last leg to Houston where I got around 14:20. Immediately, I can tell you the Quota is crude compared to my V11; the gearbox is surly, and the 5th gear is an overdrive. The small windbreaker is not really preventing the icy wind to hit the top of your chest. The Veglia tachometer can't seem to decide anywhere on what rpm the engine is at. It keeps dancing up and down, and the faster you go, the lower the rpms! duh! The fuel consumption is worse than the Le Mans. During the I-10 80 mph portion, basically as soon as out of Arizona, the average mpg was 36. In Arizona, at 60 and 65, I did 43, then 40. At 75 mph, you dip. The tank is 20 liters, 20.3 Gal, so if I thought I was going to do 200 miles on a single tank, then I was disillusioned. For the rest, I just love that bike! it will supplement the Le Mans nicely. Not replace it, but be the understudy. It has that nice German made case, RIMOWA for those who know what quality is. There is plenty more to share, however I first need to get the state inspection done, so I can register it. In any case, I just did a 1200 miles test ride. I liked it!

I have a long laundry list of things that usually go wrong on the Quota.... The voltage regulator, the electrical fuel cocks (2 of them for good measure), but also the rims crack with time, and I was told not a question of if, but a question of when... Given that the current owner has no idea other than the engine runs, I am going there with no expectation other than it is Red at least. He only wants $2950, but when I add the tires, I am going to get over $3500. Unless we split the cost.

@audiomick I listened to an interview of him, explaining how he started. He mentioned that back in the days, Australia used a mix of AC and DC current, depending on where you lived? I found that quite remarkable.

@footgoose Pamplemousse, in French means Grapefruit. They call themselves Pamplemoose, which sounds the same, but Moose? They are quite good with their videos and of course their covers of a lot of artists.

@PJPR01 I am flying out to Phoenix, continuing to Peoria Arizona, this coming Friday. February 2nd, 2024. I am going to check out that red Quota that has obsessed me since I started to look for a Stelvio 1200 NTX. I finally got the Peoria dealership to confirm he had the front tire in stock, but if I wanted the rear tire too, I had to pay in advance. The reason was, they don't sell much of this size, so if they were to stock the tire, they would probably not have any opportunity to sell it. I negotiated a restocking fee, since I have not yet purchased the motorcycle until I check it out. The seller is confident that it is good to go. So, I will have a pair of brand new Dunlop Trailmax Mission to journey back to H'town, if it comes to that.

I feel the same. Since VR46 exited, I can't garner much interest. Maybe the Ducati made the expected outcome too predictable. This year, with Mark Marquez able to fight "à armes égales", there should be some more suspense. It is also going to be interesting to follow Pedro Acosta's progression. Although, it takes now one year to completely master the current MotoGP bikes; I am talking about what riders have to operate during the race, especially the suspensions. It is like in F1 now. They continuously need to fiddle with the settings. It takes a lot of practice to not fumble with it.

@GuzziMoto Seeing Valentino Rossi on a R1 again was sufficient an excuse to go there. The Marquez brothers did not install transponders on their bikes, so we don't know how they fared with the other GP pilots. However, they both stopped to provide assistance to Franco Morbidelli after he had a big crash that brought the red flag. Seems like Andrea Iannone had more trouble than he expected to get at the front. Toprak seems to have taken on the BMW pretty well. Bautista is now riding with additional weight on his bike, just like they do in horse races. The more you win, the more additional weight you get; they call it a "handicap". Let's hope this does not come to MotoGP...

Don't know much about Indy, I am not certain it is still suited to MotoGP today. I don't know if Flatrock can be certified for MotoGP quickly...

I have some information to share with those who keep an eye on MotoGP; First, the new Trackhouse Racing owner, Justin Marks is fully committed to MotoGP and is hopeful to add a second GP in the US. We already discussed this possibility in this thread. However, it will not be Laguna Seca which is currently fighting a lawsuit brought by environmentalists, and anyhow, is no longer admissible to host a MotoGP. Trackhouse did his Racing colors unveiling in Los Angeles, and is possibly going to promote an additional MotoGP race in the USA, at the Flatrock Motorsports Park and Motorclub in Tennessee. When? I am not certain. However the Kasakhstan MotoGP is most likely going to be cancelled again this year, and the Argentinean one too. The Sokol race track is about one hour and thirty minutes off Almaty, and there are no accommodation close by. Which would force the MotoGP dedicated personnel to a three hours commute every day. The Argentinean race was financially sponsored by the previous Argentinean administration. A new president was elected in December 2023, and he has cut down all the non-essential spendings. Will we see a second GP in the USA in 2024? The second information that you may not be aware about, is that today was a test day for World SBK in Portimao Portugal. With many MotoGP riders as guests... including Francesco Bagnaia, Marco Bezzecchi, Franco Morbidelli, Fabio di Giannantonio, Enea Bastianini riding production Ducati Panigale V4-S. Marc Marquez was there too, and Luca Marini. However they did not have transponders on the bike they were using. The fastest WSBK on that day was Nicola Bulega, 1:39.932 seconds; the only man below the 1:40; followed by Razgatlioglu and Rea; The fastest MotoGP pilot was Francesco Bagnaia, 3.271 seconds behind the leader. He was just before Bradley Smith. All the other MotoGP pilots were slower than the WSBK counterparts, on conventional bikes of course.

I do too... enjoy the trouble free ride. My 2021 (first year with the V11) was anything but zero hassle. The number one spanner in the works was the "no crank" issue that kept stopping me along the rides. Sometimes far away from my home base. Today, I only experience minor issues which only bruise my aspiration to never dwell upon my V11. But nothing that stops me. Something no one knows, is how well contemporary motorcycles are going to age. My 70's motorcycles never let me down along the way. Today, there is a lot of electronics which may become obsolete and irreplaceable in the long term. Even if we understand that some of the parts are common to many brands. There is a good chance that your Moto Guzzi Ambassador from the 70's will still be running 20 years from now, while today's bikes will be down on parts that can't be found.

Relisted again at $6500; https://www.ebay.com/itm/395167156098 For the last session, the last bid submitted (below reserve) was $4900.00.

I am not a real fan of those "constant babbling" influencers, especially those wearing their video camera coupled to their heads, granting us those full of jerky movement shots. But I respect the solo rider and the photography, plus the dream that some of them can inspire. The Tour de France seems to always showcase some of those itinerary; they have for years since the Tour started, shown the "multitude" where to go for a "forget about everything else" motorcycling trip. Those hairpins would certainly rejuvenate the aging Moto Guzzi V11 rider that sleeps in us....