audiomick

Australia is known for, or at least prides itself on its prowess in sport, particularly water related sports. One of the most prestigious regattas is this one.

So this is @Lucky Phil's fault; he brought up Barry Humphries. The video is chosen at random, but it is the same chat-show host, so I thought it appropriate.

There were recently some remarks made regarding spoken English in various countries, and meandering thoughts following that led me to Fred. I don't know if he has been mentioned here yet. If so, here he is again. Every motorcyclist should know Fred. @Lucky Phil, @guzzler and @pete roper will no doubt confirm this. https://fredgassit.tripod.com/

I dare say he's trying to put that throttle body back in after it fell out on the ground.

You are aware, I hope, that the English that is spoken in Australia is the only remaining pure and unadulterated English spoken anywhere. The rest of the world just doesn't realise, because they are too used to hearing the mongrelised English that is spoken where they live. Fuckya.

I think that was me.

I don't think either of those belong to a Ballabio. A look at some parts lists just now indicates that the Ballabio had a handlebar, not clip-ons. Looks like this: https://www.stein-dinse.com/de/moto-guzzi-lenker-grau-v11-caf-sport-ballabio-coppa/item-2-1021515-01600382-.html The ones in the picture look to be one from the various Le Mans iterations at the top https://wendelmotorraeder.de/halblenker-kpl-links_gu01600761-p-1035365.html?ref=expl and the earlier Sport variations below that https://www.stein-dinse.com/de/moto-guzzi-stummellenker-links-v11-sport-1999-2001/item-2-1021524-01600731-.html

Correctly.

I reckon one could have a good debate about that. Both spellings exist as legitimate words. It just depends on what was actually meant. https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/concourse https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/concours @swooshdave sounds like a great day was had.

And have at least one beer for me while you're there. I wish I could attend.

A guess at how it started: bearing in mind that I am in Europe, when I put "Coppa Italia" in a search machine, soccer is the first thing that pops up. I just tried it out, and after counting the first 12 hits, I gave up. They were all related to the soccer. EDIT: my thanks also to @Pressureangle for the research. PS: I like the way the bikes in the second and third picture in @docc's post are, in the absence of a side or centre stand, parked up against whatever happened to be there. Very pragmatic, perhaps even very Italian.

I found the packet of the steering head bearings I put in recently. Also SKF, the number on the packet is 30205 J2/Q Haven't ridden it with them yet, as there are other issues pending, but they went in and bolted up perfectly. I think I bought them from Wendel in Berlin, but it might also have been Stein-Dinse. Either way, I didn't make a guess; they are from a reknowned supplier and were sold as a legitimate replacement part.

I recently saw @Lucky Phil's V10 Greenie. He pointed out a bit that he had had painted, and it really was a very good match to the rest of the frame. I think he wrote about it here, but I don't know where. Perhaps he knows which paint was used. EDIT: Phil was obviously writing the same time I was, see the next post...

Ah, so I'm not the only one after all.

It would be very interesting to know where the operator of that site got it from. As far as I can tell, there is no "original research" done there. It is all sales brochures or articles sourced from somewhere. A very useful and interesting site, but not always accurate. I informed the operator once about an incorrect photo, and recieved a very friendly thankyou message in very short order. The photo was also swapped out within a couple of days. The address in the quote is wrong, though. It has ".za" on the end, not ".nz". https://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/

No to both, but... I reckon the "soccer connection", whilst not impossible, is not very plausible. The "naked bike series" on the other hand seems to be, at least a bit. The reference does keep popping up, in text in ads, but also in articles here and there. That might be a case of "authors" quoting each other in circles without checking sources, but it is very persistant. Together with that, in and around 2003 Guzzi hadn't quite given up trying to keep up with "modern" sport bikes. I think it is fair to say that the V11 series was the last attempt to produce a sports bike, before the company changed tactics and went on with things like the Breva and Norge range. The Griso was "sporty", but more of a "muscle bike" than a sports bike. So therefore I consider it quite plausible that they had a go at the national cup for naked bikes with a V11 model, even though I didn't find any direct references with a quick search. It seems to me to be, all things considered, a sensible marketing action for the period.

You just washed it, so it's bound to rain.

Thanks, I didn't get that far. Seems a bit of a shame to have dismantled it. It doesn't look too bad in that (rather blurry) photo.

Everything I have read here and elsewhere indicates that. The link to e-bay further up (which got us onto Ballabio forks) claims the forks in the ad to be Ballabio, but the damping adjustment doesn't match. I "extracted" this picture from the ad. It shows comp. damping in one leg and rebound in the other In contrast, the top of one of my fork legs, which are 43 mm. Both are the same, and both have rebound damping. Given that the Ballabio was later than mine, and therefore should have the 43mm forks, I'm assuming that the claim in that ad that the forks are from a Ballabio is simply incorrect.

Well, nearly.

The best kind. There's a bloke in the German forum that has this in his signature: "If God had meant motorcycles to be clean, there would be dishwashing liquid in the rain". I agree wholeheartedly. And another one: the German word for a vehicle is "Fahrzeug", literally "drive stuff", "Zeug" being "stuff". The verb "clean" is "putzen", and therefore cleaning materials "Putzzeug". You can see it coming: "Das ist ein Fahrzeug, und kein Putzzeug". "That is a thing to drive (ride), and not a thing to clean".

That matches the number on the package from the bearings I put in the rear wheel of my V11 Le Mans. It has the wider rim from the later models, and the wheel hasn't fallen off yet with those bearings in it. I can't say for sure, but... firstly, I always thought that Öhlins were always gold, and secondly, going by what I can see in the pictures, they could be the earlier 40 mm Marzocchis: rebound in one leg, compression in the other, axle screwed into one of the lowers with no external nut, black colour.

Yes. I had my leathers repaired after an accident in 2017. The jacket on the front of the right shoulder, the pants on the left knee. I had them repaired because the DIDN'T have a hole in them, BUT ALMOST DID. I wanted them repaired in case there might be a next time in which I might be relying on those spots to keep the road away from my skin. Oh, and the helmet lost about 3 mm of material about where my right cheekbone is. A further argument, for me, to never, ever wear an open face helmet.

I'm still sure I read about a replacement on which the connector on the top was a bit different, but still worked with a 6.3 mm blade connector. I'm fairly sure it was here, but still can't remember exactly if that was the case, or who wrote about it. Sorry...