charlie b

Thanks for the heads up, Ben. Also will probably be changing bars and pegs, but, I can do that in my machine shop. charlie

From the FAQ (see, I was paying attention) ----------------------- 1999-2001 models have a (shorter) red frame and have steeper steering geometry than later models (except RM). They handle 'quicker' or some say 'more twitchy'. Some say they are unstable at high speed- I've never had a problem. The 99-01 models have clip-ons mounted below the upper triple clamp and have Veglia (brand) instruments. They have a thinner rear tire (4.5") and the brake rotors have circular holes in them; apparently the 'circular hole rotors' are more prone to warping than later rotors. My mid-year '01 has later model rotors fitted, so your guess is as good as mine here. Guzzi went to a longer wheelbase in late '01 or '02 to increase high speed stability. The '01 Rosso Mandello still has the short wheelbase of the 00 V11, only the rake of the fork was relaxed a little, about a half a degree. This kept the steering quick, but a little less twitchy at high speeds. Some folks have suggested that appropriate tire choice (Pirelli Diablo) gives a machine that handles like the '00-01 models. ----------------------- I don't plan on any 'high speed' (over 100) riding Also read up on tires in here so am 'well versed' on the narrower tire size to use on one of these. I have sent an inquiry to the advertiser to see what's what. charlie PS the seller is a scooter shop. Sounds legit.

Red frames were the 99 through 01?

Anyone familiar with this one? http://oklahomacity.craigslist.org/mcy/928899584.html I haven't inquired of seller yet. charlie

Thanks guys. I think I've read that FAQ and year breakdown list 10 times now. Especially like the pictures. Haven't quite memorized it yet charlie

Yeah, yeah, it is a long and slippery slope, isn't it. I do like small fairings because I commute on bikes. charlie

OK, so I am about to go shopping for a V11. Wide range of prices out there depending on model and mods. Some look like killer deals (2000 V11 Sports seem to be going well below $5000). When I go look at one, are there things I should look for that are out of the ordinary? I know enough to look for things like oil leaks near the seals, bad head and swing arm bearings and signs of being dropped. Guess the bottom line is, what should I walk away from if I see it? charlie

Call your insurance company now. You have a police report. Give them all the information. If the company is good they will take care of everything from that point on. It should not change your insurance rate. You can pursue this on your own, but, it will be probably be you against their insurance company. The only exception would be if they don't want to involve their insurance company for some reason (like they've been in accidents before). Then you have a good negotiating point, IF, they have money. It is up to the insurance company (theirs or yours) as to how much you will get and who will do the repairs. The insurance company will assess the damage, sometimes by sending an agent to look at the bike. If the bike is totaled the insurance company usually takes the remains. You can sometimes negotiate a price that you can pay to keep it. charlie

The oil companies don't have to force anything. The consumers won't pay the price for better fuel economy or alternative fuels. And before anyone says science and mfg can make it cheaper, where are we going to mine all the materials for all those batteries, fuel cells, etc? How many hazardous waste production permits will be allowed for production of those devices? The oil companies won't stop the advances, the environmentalists will. charlie

Victors do write history. And write it again and again depending on political climates. Not any native Americans I know of in my history (not that there aren't any). One set of grandparents was from Montenegro (mentioned above) the other side of the family goes back to 13 colony days. Immigrated from Scotland and Ireland. Ministers. As such were a long line of teachers including the founder of Miami University (the one in Ohio, theological when it started). Most of the 'tree' is accounted for, but, there is always the chance that another 'branch' is in there somewhere. It is just something of an oxymoron that the leading countries of today mostly were founded on the blood of the original inhabitants of the lands, whether because of dictatorships, land barons, or simply invasion by another culture. We consider ourselves 'civilized' when in reality we are simply better armed. By the same token, those original inhabitants were frequently using up their free time killing and stealing from each other. Yes, my daughter claims I am getting crabby in my old age. Just frustrated that governments in general won't leave their populace alone. charlie

Thanksgiving in the US is when we give thanks for the things we have. Holiday established as simply a day of thanks. I don't remember the story behind why it was in Nov. And, no, offering thanks for bountiful harvest is not exclusive to the US. Has been around since before any countries were established. Ancient tribes around the world celebrated the end of the growing season and offered thanks to the god(s) for the harvest. The US simply celebrates it as a major holiday. Yeah, there was a big to do about the pilgrims and their feast. Various versions of that tale. 1) Pilgrims were starving and the Indians came in and saved their lives by offering food and methods for farming. 2) Pilgrims had first good harvest and decided to share it with local Indians as an offering to live in peace and harmony 3) Neither happened 4) in any case the later settlers came in and shoved the Indians off the land in order to build big cities 5) Indians in that area perished due to the plague that the settlers brought over from the old country. I'll let the historians figure it out. Our schools have been full of historical propaganda for many years, and will be for many more. One of the reasons home schooling has jumped dramatically. charlie

I always wondered wht they looked like under all that plastic. Fuel tank is interesting. Guess I should not be surprised at a 'naked' one. Saw a fellow who had dropped his new Gold Wing bring it into a Honda dealer. Looked like superficial damage. The four body panels on one side were going to cost him $9000! He happily shelled out the money. So, there might be some good bargains out there for dropped bikes with only body damage. Unfortunately not any V11's

Yep, that's it. Funny, they've been around for a long time and I never really paid much attention to them. charlie

I always liked the Honda CX500/650 especially the turbo version. Seemed the motor was put in the 'right' way After the first year they actually got the electronic FI sorted out too. Fuel hog though. I saw a later Honda that looked like it had a V4 in the proper configuration. It had a lot of fairing around it so could not get a better look at it. Never saw one again so don't know if it was my imagination or not. charlie

Jaap, Yes, it should remain non-inflammatory. Thanks. ratchethack, thanks.

Fuel cells are VERY expensive right now, mainly due to the precious metals used in them I tried to figure out how much platinum it would take to power a car. I stopped when I got to the $200,000 mark. Then where would it come from? How much of the world would need to be mined to make all of it. Oh well. Meanwhile there is a lot of work going on with hydrogen, both for fuel cells and IC. Transport and storage is the big problem and is being tackled. I saw some work the other day on an Aluminum 'sponge' that would 'soak up' H2 in a compact form. The problem with it was it took some heat to get the H2 back out. Another was a special compound that would bond to H2 and then would release with a special catalyst. Both compounds could be reused. The other problem with H2 is production. It still takes a lot of power to extract it (which in the US still comes from oil/coal) and the impact of removing that much water from a local area would be major. Put the plants in the middle of the ocean maybe? The one I like is the start up company who is starting to advertise self-contained nuclear power sets. Big box that can be buried and provide power to 1000 homes. Sounds like the kind of technology we were working on 20 yrs ago for a space based power station. Thermionic production using heat pipes in the reactor. charlie

Thanks for that note. I cringe every election when I see how few of the people in the US even bother to vote, because it is raining, or too far to drive, or means getting up early, etc. Even more so when I see people in other countries actually risk their lives to go cast a ballot, sometimes walking for days to get to a ballot box. I do give thanks every day for what I am blessed with and for the courage of my grandfather, who left Montenegro when the Soviets took over that country, moving to a place in the middle of the southwest desert to start a new life. It was in part due to him that I entered service to help maintain that freedom for us and for others. May everyone be able to experience freedom in their lifetime. charlie

I have been lurking around for a bit. Am shopping for a Guzzi and a V11 is on my list. So have been looking at the problems people have had with these models. About the only ones I am 'turned off' from are the Centaruos because of reported difficult handling. I'll be using it as a daily driver (mixed city and country roads) and short weekend drives. Returning to bikes after a 15 year 'layoff'. Commuted on a Honda CB500-4 for almost 20 years. Don't like the 'new' jap bikes and always wanted a Guzzi, so, here I am. charlie

I would rather see no bailouts at all. There have been a number of things hit at once. The two major ones are sub-prime mortgage practices (driven by the US Congress) and a high oil demand, both of which "came due" at the same time. Oil prices peaked while home values sank. The oil prices were driven by speculators who decided they could make a lot of money in the short term. Prices went up until the 'break point'. At that point consumers decided to reduce consumption in a number of ways. No vacations. Limited shopping trips. etc. When consumption dropped less products needed to be shipped. Same with homes. The 'low payment' options expired, making a lot of people upside down on their homes. They couldn't 'buy up' or sell their house and they couldn't afford the new payments. So, home market goes bad, contractors go out of work, hardware stores have sales dips, etc. Car industry suffers because of high fuel prices. Sales of cars and trucks drop. The backbone of the big 3, trucks, go down dramatically. Big 3 starts to lose beyond expectations. Plants shutdown, people out of work. No shipping needed for new cars. Same happens to recreational vehicle industry. A record number of mfgs have shut down because of high fuel prices. Vacation spots also take dramatic hits because people won't spend money on fuel to go to distant locations. More businesses close. Business closing means even less fuel needed. Oil demand drops like a stone. But, the results of the spike (and mortgage industry) have hit driving unemployment up and consumer demand for products lower. Now it is snowballing. What will fix it? Best to let it go on it's own. Let the businesses fail that 'need' to fail. Bailing out a bad business is just more of the same. We (the US) is not yet as bad off as it was in the late 70's. But, I suspect it will get there before things turn around. If the politicians 'help' it will be worse longer. Just opinion.

Hubert, When I lived there (West Germany) back in the 70's the lack of speed limits was also a very hot topic. The government even tried imposing a 'voluntary' speed limit of 130km/hr. Of course no one seemed to obey it, unless your car couldn't go that fast. It was partly related to company cars. Seemed that instead of receiving more pay (which was heavily taxed) employees received other benefits, like company cars. The higher in the company the 'better' the car. Hence, it became part of the job to be able to drive faster. Not sure if the same is true now that East and West are joined. I suppose you are beginning to suffer from the same 'class envy' we have here in the US. It is no longer 'correct' for rich people to be able to drive faster than poorer people. So, put in speed limits to make everyone equal. Of course the politicians who make those rules also make themselves exempt because they know they are more important than everyone else. charlie