audiomick

I see the clip-ons have been moved to above the triple-clamps. Has he just pushed the forks up to do that, or changed them?

Yes, they are good enough, although not "hyper-sport" tyres, of course. The company Heidenau is known here. They have, as a small manufacturer, concentrated on niche markets a bit, and on of them is classic-styled tyres with modern rubber compounds. I would not necessarily use them for track days and such, but they are fine on the road. And yes, the tire is covered with the "teats". I'll try to remember to take a photo.

Not zero, but not much. A bit over 200 km. . Tyre pressure was ok; I checked it before I started. Don't know the production date, but I bought the tyre new last December, so I am assuming it is new enough. Date stamp is the same here, i.e. week and year. The sprues (didn't know that word till now. Collins dictionary has some interesting alternative meanings for it.... https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/sprue) will go away in time, I know. As I wrote, I find them aesthically unpleasing, and am inclined to get rid of them with the side-cutters for that reason alone. If they might be affecting the handling, even temporarily, all the more reason to take the time.

It seems they are. Here, for the V11, page 12, part #3 https://guzzitek.org/parts_list/gb/1100/V11Sport-RossoMandello_1999-2001_062011_PL(GB).pdf and here for the 1100 Sport i.e., page 27, part #3 https://guzzitek.org/parts_list/gb/1100/1100SportIE_1996_1999_052010_PL(GB).pdf

As I mentioned elsewhere, I rode the V35 Imola today for the first time in several months. A couple of times in curves, I had the feeling that the front tyre was squirming a bit. The tyre is one of these https://shop.heidenau.com/en/zweiradreifen/motorrad/k34.html?___from_store=de The rear, which is a couple of years old and has some miles on it, is one of these https://shop.heidenau.com/en/zweiradreifen/motorrad/k36.html?___from_store=de and yes, they are a blatant copy of the Michelin M38 from back in the day. The bike had the Michelins on it when I bought it, more than 20 years old, and it was obvious when I bought the first Heidenau tyres for it that Heidenau had "oriented" its design to the Michelins. Anyway... the front tyre has only done about 200 km, and is covered in extrusions from the moulding process. "Hairy", so to speak. It ocurred to me just now that the squirminess might be caused by the extrusions. I'm inclined to remove them purely for aesthetic reasons (doesn't look cool...), but am now thinking there might actually be a practical reason to take the time to do that. Opinions?

I only skipped through that, but I noticed two with Pirelli Phantoms and clip-ons. I'd have one of those. I rather hope that there will be a model at some point with the V100 motor or a derivative thereof and clip-ons. Not holding my breath, though. Interesting that there was a California just before the end, and it looked a lot like a 1400 motor. I thought they were history. Maybe not.

You don't have to be black for that, but being brilliant helps a lot.

Forgot to mention: I rode it today for a couple of hours, about 120 km I think. The bike really is lots of fun.

Good point, that. It is good practice to always approach the point you are going to measure at in the normal direction of rotation. Turning the motor backwards wont do any damage, but it is good to go past where you want to get to, and then up to your point in the normal rotation direction. Not critical, possibly, but doing so makes sure that things like cam-chains and whatever all have the lash taken out as they normally do when the motor is running.

I thought that only applied to the Sport 1100 and Daytona models. The V11 got, after all, a new 6-speed gearbox, and I thought the motor moved back to centre with that.

Just thought very carefully about what I had to do before I started. The replacement seal in my right hand, the loosened plug taken out with the left, swap, bung it back in. The potential for a fumble is high, but I got lucky.

Still nothing to the V11, but I got the V35 Imola out of the garage today. @docc mentioned the concept of a gumption trap here which pretty much covers why it has been sitting in the shed since December. It had been sitting for several months with an oil leak inside the clutch housing. I finally got around to fixing that, got new tyres for it, put fresh oil in everywhere, and had the bi-annual roadworthiness test done. Two days later I noticed a bit of oil on the ground under the front oil drain plug. I hadn't changed the seal, and obviously should have. Coincidently, I got hold of a Valeo starter motor about the same time. The Lucas starter motor in the bike still works, but weighs about 7 tons, so I would like to replace it with the lighter and more efficient Valeo starter motor. Unfortunately, although in really good condition, the Valeo turned out to be the earlier version without the clips on the magnets. So I bought a replacement housing with the clips. On the day I went into the garage to do the seal and change the starter motor, I started with the starter motor, and discovered that the new-version with-the-clips housing didn't just bolt on. Something is different around the hole where the shaft sits in its bearing, I think, and I couldn't get the clip that holds the shaft in back on. That stopped work for that day, and I didn't immediately have a plan for changing the seal on the drain plug without losing all of the practically brand new oil. So nothing happened for several months. Today I got the seal changed, didn't fumble it, and only lost about a shot glass full of oil. I put a bit of carboard under the bike when I parked it, and if that is still clean tomorrow, the bike will be proclaimed "good to go" for the time being. The Valeo starter is on the back burner for now. The key realisation was that the starter motor is not really important and can be done in the course of time, and changing the seal just has to be done, so just get on with it.

No, that doesn't happen in Australia. You get autumn instead...

I prefer to use something that will not cause any damage if I'm not paying attention and let it get jammed. Mostly I use a bit of heat shrink tube, about 8 mm thick and about 12 cm long. It was not chosen for any reason other than it happened to be lying on the bench when I was looking for something to use. It worked very well, so I kept it. It is rigid enough to give a good indication, but will give in if it gets jammed somehow.

Yes, but it doesn't have to be that. Driving cars on that white stuff can be fun, but is enough to have me terrified of having to ride a bike on it.

Well done, that man.

Earlier on this evening I had a look at the Hardly Rideable website, I think for the first time ever. Would I own one? Definately not. Never interested me, most likely never will. It amazes me that they, with such a limited customer base, have managed to survive for so long.

and given that, there has to be this.

And this. Bonus points for the first one to state the connection.

And then this...

What I actually wanted to look for was this. I've not been able to decide if it is "just" a love song, or if the narrator has maybe been let out of the nuthouse for that one day.

The tube tacked this on after the last one. Don't understand the connection myself, but why not. It's not such a bad song.

Speaking of walking.... Incidentally, the sax solo at the end is, I reckon, one of the best ever. Pity it fades out so soon...

And that brngs me to this. Sorry....

@Lucky Phil got me on to Johnny Cash, and the next clip on the tube was this. I love this song. although I'm not sure if I maybe like this version better