Lemmy

Thank you Admin Jaap. I know that riding in town will not be as easy as getting around with the 125 but I'm ready to sacrifice that. At least it will not be as hard as driving a car in town. I want to take advantage of the fact that I live In central Europe and there are lots of trips to be done. I hope the V11 is a good solution and it wont brake the Bank as opposed to More recent Guzzi bikes, BMW tourers etc... I am finally seeing the bike with my wife on Tuesday. I will keep you informed. Cheers, Lemmy

Hello Guzzisti, First of all I would like to introduce myself. I am originally from Rhodes - Greece and after 8 years of relocating for studies, work etc. I finally settled down in Paris France. I was lucky to start riding bikes at a young age but during these 8 years of relocating I didn't have the chance to keep up with my passion. Last year when I finally settled down in Paris I bought a little 125 cm3 in order to get around town and go to work without having to deal with traffic jams. My car has been sitting in the garage ever since and I only use it if I have to do long distance trips. Having the little 125 brought me back memories of real motorcycle riding and I have decided to move on and get a real bike. I took 1 week of riding perfectioning courses and now I'm looking for "the bike". I am a big fun of classic bikes and I used to ride a BMW R60/7 and a Honda four back in the day. My original plan was to buy a Ducati GT1000 up until I found a 2001 Moto Guzzi V11 Rosso Mandello for sale in my area!!!! Now that is where I need your advice. My criteria are: 1) I am riding every day to get to work and back under warm/ cold / rainy weather. (I have done 5.000 miles the past 11 months with the little 125 and this is only by going to work and riding around town) 2) I want to do 200 mile weekend trips with my wife once in a while (once a month/ once every 2 months depending on weather) 3) I want to do 1 long distance summer trip once a year for example Paris - Nice - Tuscan Region - Paris (with the wife) 4) I mesure 6.3 feet (1m91) What I would Like from my new bike: 1) The possibility of adding saddlebags or some short of rigid panniers for my trips. Can I do that on a V11 Rosso Mandello? My concerns: 1) Is it easy to find spare parts for the V11? 2) Does the upkeep cost a lot? 3) People say that Moto Guzzi's aren't reliable but which bike manufacturer is really. Obviously every bike has its problems. What are the most common problems on a V11? I don't feel like being stuck and waiting for months to receive a spare part... I haven't seen the Bike in person yet. I will probably see it on Monday or Tuesday. The price of the Guzzi is much more attractive than the Ducati GT1000 that I have in mind but again the Ducati is a 2007 model with 12000 km (7500 miles) and the Guzzi is a 2001 model with 35000 km (22000 miles). Here are some photos from the add: The dealer offers a 3-month warranty on the bike on pieces and repair. What are the points that I should be careful about? I am really sorry to bother you with all these questions and some of my concerns have probably been discussed in previous posts but I will have to react quickly. Any advice will be really helpful. I would like to thank you all and also congratulate you for your wonderful forum. Hopefully I will be a Guzzi owner pretty soon and I will be able to participate more on the forum. Cheers, Lemmy