SierraTango

Very glad you enjoyed Joe's music. As I mentioned I met him at Group IV. One time the owner of the studio and Joe were smoking cigars on a break and I joined the conversation. I told him I played and he nodded at his Gibson ES 175 and said play something. I did and his comment was "...sounds good keep working on it..." I later studied with Jimmy Bruno in Philly and he is a incredible Jazz player. He was very influenced by Joe Pass.

I guess it's rather obscure to most folks. I started as a 2nd Engineer at the Sound Factory in Hollywood in the late 70's. It is/was a pretty famous studio, Linda Ronstadt recorded 5 albums there and I was on sessions with Jackson Browne and Warren Zevon. I moved into post production film mixing after I came to the realization that records would kill me. I got on at Warner Bros. and did many projects there, then on to Fox. I moved from Fox to Group IV which did a lot of subcontract work for Fox and other studios. The Owner was good pals with Joe Pass and I got to meet him several times and chat with him. Truly one in a zillion on Jazz guitar-what a talent!

PM resent many thanks for a call.

I had a cup of coffee with her when I was a staff mixer at Group IV recording studios in Hollywood in the late 1980's. Nice lady. Here's me playing the same tune after a long ride at a friends house...

That would be really helpful. PM sent.

Good catch. Bob Benedetto is a Italian-American luthier that is a master. Benedetto in Italian is indeed "blessing" and it certainly has been one in my career. Since the instruments that Bob built himself are now very valuable, many of his guitars are in collectors possession and don't get played out in public. Mine gets played on every gig.😊 Now if I could just get my Le Mans started...I ordered 5 Picker relays from the link and I hope that cures my non-starting issue.

OK so I swapped #1 to #5 and #2 to #4 positions. Turned key to on have N light only, headlight on no highbeam no horn. But when I hit the starter button does not turn over. It does turn over when I swap back to original positions but not starting. Relays are Siemans brand. What is the next step? Thanks for the compliment on the Benedetto it's a excellent instrument!

I play Jazz guitar professionally (that is I make money doing it) and have been doing that for several decades. My main working guitar is a 1990 Benedetto Cremona as seen in my avatar. I've learned from experience on gigs certain tools and spares to take along just like motorcycle riding-duct tape being one. I'm planning to swap out the relays today and hopefully solve the starting issue. I did order one Picker relay off Amazon there weren't many left in stock. I figured if that's the issue and I need to replace all of them I can buy the other 4 from MG Cycle. Thank for the help!

Good advice that has happened to me before. I have a test tool with two leads, a bulb and AA battery. Obvious how it works I also use it to check guitar cords.

I'm not certain what brand they are, however I read through the thread started by Paul 6506 "Fuel Pump?" and found a lot of information there. Looks like I can swap some relays around to test #5 which is the one closest to the back of the bike. I also see that if that #5 relay is bad, good practice is to change all 5 to Pickers brand? I have no idea when they were changed last. All all the relays the same? It's going to be a day or so before I can do the test.

Further to the question; headlight comes on but no high beam from switch, turn signals work, no horn.

2002 Le Mans. Turn the key to on, kill switch off. No lights on dash other than neutral light. Pull in clutch the starter turns over but no start. Question1 I checked all the fuses all good. I don't hear the fuel pump coming on. Which relay from front of bike to back of bike should I be looking at? Which connector should I clean? Battery is good. Any help appreciated!

Perfect October weather here in the Sierras.

I apologize if I was unclear in my reply. I was suggesting that the OP take the closeup picture of the valve cover in post #1 to a experienced powder coating shop to see how close they could match it. I was not suggesting he take the picture of my bike to do so. I live in a smallish town and there are two excellent shops that do this type of work close by. I don't know why you found this funny? Please explain.

I'm not near my bike right now, so no close ups, however the P.O. powder coated the valve covers and side plates on my 02 Le Mans. It's a darker red and really makes the bike pop IMHO. I think if you took the photo to a good powder coating shop they could copy it.

What happened to the Moto Guzzi America group in Lillington and Angier NC? Did it dissolve after the Aprilla take over? I lost track of the group when I moved back to LA from NC. Since I was a long time customer of Pro Italia (since it started in the 80's) I went back there. I purchased a beautiful Jackal from them. It was done for a magazine article. Mostly it was improved with a dual front brake system, a lightened flywheel and a custom paint job. It was a fabulous bike.

The MM 3 1/2 was one of my favorite bikes ever! Not many in the US. There was a guy that had a earlier Spoke Wheel/Drum Brake around LA I wanted one for a long time. There was one place in the US called Herndon Motors, I called for any bikes for sale, the owner gave me the number for a guy in Ohio that had one, but a later disc/alloy wheel model. We struck a deal, he mentioned he had some spares he would include. When the bike arrived by transporter, the driver pulled it out and it was near mint. He also complained he wasn't a moving company and proceeded to off load big boxes, including a full factory faring and 2 into 1 exhaust system. When I went to title the bike in NC, they didn't have MM in their system. Took a while but got it titled. I rode it in the stock trim you see in the picture, then sourced a tank and side panels from North Leicester Motors in the UK. My painter painted the new tank, panels and fairing and I installed the 2into1 exhaust. That way I could bring it back to original configuration in about 2 hours. Wish I had kept photos it was beautiful!

Fran Contaldi was the "Sales Guy" I was referring to in my original post. I met Donna a couple of times, and IIRC it was her Mille that I got to demo. I never did meet Dr. John, however the image of the Daytona on the showroom floor is burned in my brain. Fun times-I wonder where they are now. I bought a CX100 from a private party and Midway serviced it, I later sold it to fund a 1979 Moto Morini 3 1/2 Sport that I had shipped from Ohio. After that I sold the Morini to fund the purchase of a new 1999 Laverda 750S full faring. I hit a deer on that bike. Enough about me. Thanks again for refreshing my memories!

Thank you so much for this! It's all coming back to me now. I remember wanting to go to some of the events, but couldn't get away on weekends due to being in the boat business. Eric was very helpful on my Bevel and since I lived out on the coast, I would wait for the bike while he was working on it. The great thing was they were very happy to demo bikes and I got to ride a lot of cool bikes while I waited.

Around the early 1980's I came off the road back to LA as a pro guitarist and had some money. I went to Woods in Pasadena and bought a bevel Ducati. In 89 my then wife and I became partners in a Marina near Oriental, NC. I brought the Ducati with me and was looking for a Ducati shop for some work on it. We didn't have the magic internet yet, but some newsletter listed a shop in Lillington, NC. I just can't remember the name of the shop. I rode up there, the shop was in a old Ford dealership building. I can't remember the owner/mechanic's name however he did good work on my Bevel and I became a customer. However, besides new and used Ducati's, they were also Guzzi dealers and the sales guy was connected to the USA distributor in Maryland-I just can't remember his name. They had some period Guzzi's Le Mans, 1000S, MIlle and he gave me the keys to all the demos. Some time passed and I decided to trade in my Bevel for a new belt drive 900SS. When I went to pick up the new Ducati, there was a Guzzi Daytona in the showroom. I briefly questioned my decision to stay Ducati, however I did. I think eventually the Sales guy who's name I can't remember, took over as US distributor. There were crates of new Guzzi's in the shop. I believe they outgrew the shop in Lillington and moved the operation to Angier, NC. Thanks for any help filling in my failing memory.

WOW! 10,000 miles! That must have been an epic journey.

Today on the Mighty 190. This time of the year it's better to get a early start up to Ponderosa. Not many cars, pretty much have the whole road to myself-except the occasional very large Kenworth grill out of a blind corner hauling dead trees. Used to it. Where my Ducati 999S was in her happy place in the tight twistes, the LM seems happier in the long sweepers. No worries we have plenty of both around here-and I knew that going in.

Brings back some fond memories! I loved that Ballabio and it was tough to let it go after all the adventures we had on it. When I decided to get back in the V11 fold I searched for a Ballabio, however since I had already had one and always wanted a LeMans that's what I went for. Loving it!

Why was the Ballabio unloved? I had a new one around 2004 and it was a great bike. The only reason I sold it was to help with a down payment on a house. I'm in CA and IIRC a gentlemen in MA bought it off Cycle Trader and had it shipped back there. It was Christmas gift from my Dad RIP, so maybe I have some rose colored glasses on. I enjoyed the bars on the top yokes, bikini fairing and it was beautiful in red. My then wife RIP and I rode it to the Grand Canyon and into Southern Utah and it never missed a beat, so again I might be a bit sentimental.