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Selling my 04 Ballabio - it's just too damned uncomfortable for me on long rides as I'm short, and it kills my wrists and back - I'm going to get a Cali I think. Bike is in excellent condition, never down, never dropped. 7700 miles. Stock except for CRG lane splitter billet mirrors (originals included) and slightly louder mufflers (they're stock, I just cut a hole in the back under the turndowns and pulled some stuffing out. Sounds good.). Pirelli Diablo Stradas front and rear are in decent shape and probably have about 1500 miles left on them. Headlight bucket has a screw mount that was damaged by a rock chip and is taped - it's safe to ride now, but it needs to be replaced. I'm the second owner, and the first was a forum member from here. Bike is located in New Orleans, LA, and I can deliver to nearby (~200 miles or so) areas. Edit: Got a flat today, price now includes brand new rear Pirelli Diablo Strada. Asking 5800$, which includes an oil change and valve adjustment. Will throw in a Roof Daytona helmet, size medium, which is almost the exact same color as the tank for another 200$. Lots of pictures at http://www.siliconinc.net/bike/ . Fairing is included, it's just not mounted in those pics.

#1603. Even though it kills me to ride it two up, I'm thinking I should probably not sell my Ballabio now.

I bought my Ballabio from a forum member here last March, and I love it - but I can't get comfortable on it. I'm just too short for the bike, and there's no real way around that. On top of that, my g/f likes riding two up, and it really kills my back if I do that. I rode a California last weekend and loved it, so it looks like that's the route I'm going. It has 6200 rather pampered miles on it, and it's completely stock except for newish (2000 miles, no flat spots at all) Pirelli Diablo Strada tires, a pair of CRG lanesplitter mirrors, and the removal of the bikini fairing. Both the fairing, laminar lip, and original mirrors are included. The headlight bezel caught a rock and cracked the screw hole thingy at the bottom of it so it needs to be replaced, but beyond that it's in fine shape. It's ridable as is; I taped the bezel to the bucket and it seems to hold up fine like that. Bike is located in New Orleans, LA, and I'll deliver to nearby (~150 or so miles) areas. I'm looking to get about 6,250$ US for it, but I'm open to interesting trades (Cali, etc) as well. Price includes a valve adjustment and oil change, so it will be ready to go when purchased. Clear title in hand.

I went to pick up my bike (maintenance time!) from the shop today, and what do I see? A somewhat beat up Tenni #130 sitting there. The owner is selling it plus another v11 sport, for I think 9000 or 9500 (I forget which). The second bike is salt water flooded, and I have no idea what kind of condition it's in beyond that. The Tenni looks like it was dropped on both sides, the mufflers are a little beat up, as are the clutch/brake levers. The price includes both bikes. I'm not affiliated with the owner in any way, I'm just passing on information. If you're interested in the bike, send me a PM and I'll give you the contact info for the shop where it's located, and I guess you can ask the shop owner to relay your information to the Tenni owner.

Mine started making a buzzing noise recently as well, and... the headlight "bucket" had a broken clip in it (probably from a rock hit). The fairing was just holding it together. It's currently held together by packing tape. =(

This is what I'm wondering. I just called Allstate back and told them I was buying a Harley BigGiantFancyAcronymWhossname, and the insurance quote was much less (41$ a month) than that of my V11. The agent said that it was based on displacement alone. She couldn't or wouldn't tell me why, only that was "what the computer was telling her". They must have some kind of list in their system that's classifying the V11 as a "litre bike"/crotch rocket, even though they say there isn't. Stupid insurance companies. Damnit, I hate calling these bastards. =(

Thanks for all the advice! I'm going to keep on trying some more companies, and this time I think I'll go through an independent agent as Garsdad advised. Even though it's not 100% legal, I do have an address in California I can register the bike at, I'd just have to take it over there and pay taxes on it again. As a last resort (and an excuse to take the bike on a real road trip), I may wind up doing that.

I'm 32 with a clean driving record and good credit. I know my location is part (well, most) of the issue. My car is registered in California, and the insurance price I pay is from there. When I asked about insuring it here in New Orleans, the amount nearly doubled. The Esurance guy explained to me that not only did the flood risk (despite my not living in a flood area) contribute to the higher cost of insurance, but also that the drivers here were comically bad - and I agree fully with him on that point, as they really are the worst ones I've ever had the displeasure of "sharing" the road with. When I first contacted Allstate about insuring the Guzzi, I asked them how much it would be to put my car on the same policy. Their response was that it simply wasn't possible for them to insure the car ('95 Porsche 911/993 Cabrio) here. Bikeline told me straight up that it was the bike, and almost all of the expenses involved in insuring it with them were tied up in the comprehensive coverage. I think the roads here are also part of the issue; they simply aren't ever fixed. There are potholes here capable of swallowing SUVs whole (ask me how I know!). On the bright side, I'm pretty fed up with living here and I'm strongly leaning towards moving, likely back to Cali or maybe Portland, OR.

So, I'm still shopping around for a decent insurance company for comprehensive coverage. My driving record is flawless, I'm an experienced rider (not that they care), and I've taken an MSF class as well. I have Allstate now, but the coverage is kinda pricey (~85 a month) since they're rating my bike based on displacement. I called Bikeline and the representative said "Your bike scares us." and then proceeded to quote me a 250$ a month policy. Progressive wanted about 115$ a month for coverage. State Farm lost so much money during Katrina that they won't write new policies for anything even remotely risky (no motorcycles, no sports cars, no homes in any non-flood areas). Esurance (where my car is insured) wanted over 300$ a month for bike insurance. Oddly enough, they insure my fragile little 911 cabrio for about 104$ a month. Anyone have suggestions for a new insurance company? I'd really love to shave a few bucks off of that monthly insurance note, but I don't like relying on liability only insurance. Bonus points if I can insure my car through the same company - Allstate won't write policies for my car in Louisiana.

Give this a shot: http://www.motoport.com/ - I used to have a set, and it had great airflow and was supposed to be nearly as strong as leather, though I never had a getoff while wearing it. I'm wearing a cheapo mesh jacket until I get the funds together for another set of Cycleport. I worry that if I go down in it, it's going to melt and only make any injuries I get that much worse. Beyond the jacket, I wear engineer boots, perforated leather gloves, and sometimes a pair of draggin jeans. For helmets, I have a HJC FS-10 at the moment and absolutely despise it. Not sure what I'm going to replace it with just yet, but I'm leaning towards the Roof LeMans if I can find one in the US for a reasonable price. Weather here is mid to upper 90s, and very high humidity.

Doh, thought that was the rear one. I'll still take the starter cover. Thanks!

Alright Slav! Let me know how much you'd like for the carbon fiber rear fender and the starter cover please. I'm in the US (New Orleans, LA, USA - 70123 zip code).

This one? http://www.tlm.nl/magazijn/webshop/detail.html?aid=2469

When will the paint job be complete? That's (sort of Scura clone) pretty much what I'm thinking of doing to mine and I'd be curious to see how it turns out.

I damn near bought yours (bought Bruno's instead) - the red tank just clashes with the green bits though. OP: welcome to the worst addiction you'll ever have.

Oops - guess I should have put that in my original post. It's an 04 Ballabio with the bikini fairing. It seems to stick out much further forward than the fairing-less bikes of the month I see in the post. The instrument pod seems a little further forward as well.

I've been leaning towards doing something cafe racer'ish to my bike, so I took the fairing off. It just didn't look right compared to the other bikes I've seen like that (two of the last three BOTMs). Is there a difference in the headlight mounting bracket for them? If so, where do I get the other style ones from / does anyone have a part number for them?

So, who all is in on this? We should get organized and pick someone to bid so we don't try and outbid each other, and maybe split the shipping however many ways to that person's home. Suggestions, anyone?

eBay says it would be 100 euros to ship it to the US. The price quote is probably an automated thing from eBay and may not be totally accurate. It actually seems pretty reasonable given the size of everything. I'd like the carbon fiber bits. If someone (who speaks italian and is a long time member please) here wants to arrange buying all of this stuff I'd be happy to take some of it off of his hands. Please post that you're going to bid on it so we won't bid against each other. Here's a better translation:

Everything appears to be fine visually. All the little bits are on there tight, the linkage isn't bent, and moving the shifter (bike not running and cold) gives me just less than a 1/4 inch free play in the shifter. There was no excessive force required to move the shifter by hand. Edit: Sometimes I've been able to find a second neutral between fourth and fifth before as well. To me this kinda indicates the issue is getting worse.

So, for the second time in two days, the transmission has failed to upshift from fourth to fifth/sixth. Generally it does it after the bike is fully warmed up and under moderate acceleration - I shift, and nothing happens. Try again and the gears grind. The clutch seems fine, and if I hit the shifter hard enough I can put it back into fourth (it's not in gear at all at this point). Also, and it's done this a few times, the shifter refuses to go back up at any speed (pulling the clutch in and then releasing it fixes this). Is this the pawl spring issue, or was Luigi just hungover the morning he built mine? The gear oil was recently changed and it's at the correct level. This is a 2004 Ballabio; isn't the pawl spring a non-issue on these bikes?

I was (sort of) hit by one night before last. Some dumbass soccer mom in her Expedition managed to hit my rear tire even though I was right in front of her. I pulled into a u-turn area in the highway, and she's sitting at a stop sign across from me. She looked right at me... and hit the gas. I pulled forward and my rear tire caught the edge of her bumper and fender. A tenth of a second slower and she would have knocked me and the bike over. Needless to say, she took off. At any rate I'm fine, the bike is fine as it never went down, but her paint is probably damaged now. Her passenger side mirror was pretty badly damaged as well, but it wasn't the tire that did that. On people not paying attention: The only severe wreck I've been in on the street was caused by someone chatting on his cell phone and not paying any attention at all to the road. I was sitting at a stop light, and some indeterminate amount of time later I wound up face down in the middle of the intersection. Ever see Office Space? Imagine Milton, but without his stapler and glasses, and 20 years younger, and three times as stupid. Now put him in a raggedy Ford Escort. Now take Milton and his Escort and smack it into the back of a stationary motorcycle at probably 60 miles per hour. I was fine except for some bruises, but the bike was destroyed.

Welcome! I just recently asked myself the same questions you have, and I wound up with an '04 V11 Ballabio (like many others here, I bought it on a hunch). I really love the bike, and the only real trouble I'm having with it is figuring out how I want to customize it. The complaints I have about the bike are pretty minor. The seat needs to be repacked if I want to keep going on longer rides, the exhaust is a little quiet for my tastes, and the transmission can be pretty notchy when it gets warmed up. Beyond that I'm very satisfied. It's a little big for me (I can almost stand with both feet flat), but definitely still manageable. I'm about 165 pounds with a 30" inseam.

So, my ass still hurts after about a month of having my Ballabio. I have two choices for seats: Rich Maund (who appears to be very highly regarded), or Spencer's (greatdaytoride.com). Now Rich seems to do a lot more work, so that's the obvious choice, but now budget plays into it: My dog destroyed my Cycleport jacket and pants this weekend, so now I need a new set (~800$ USD). My fault, I left it out where the dog could get to it and I know how much she loves to chew on things. On top of that, I've also made a commitment to have the bike repainted*, and just ordered some shiny carbon fiber bits and CRG billet mirrors. Luggage is probably happening in the near future too. Oh yeah, and it's tax season here too. Spencer's is a lot cheaper, and someone here said the gel packs he uses don't retain heat very badly. I've only found one mention of Spencer's service here. Does anyone here have experience with his services? Do they hold up well? How is it compared to Rich's work? * I'm waffling between Scura clone, Shiny 'n black, or black/grey like Diesel's bike. Oh god they're all so nice. Do I have to buy three more V11s now so I can have them all? Maybe a matte black Jackal would be nice too. I don't have room in my garage for these. Suggestions, anyone? Edit: The destroyer of clothing - she's six months old in this picture, and now about 11 and somewhat larger. Erica is 5'6" for comparison.