Lucky Phil

Rizoma mirrors. I have a set of knock off the same in matt black on my Enfield but they are disappointing in that the ball adjusters are so tight they are unuseable. If you knock them out of adjustment you need to loosen the mounts to re align. Just buy Rizomas, expensive but quality. The top nut came from Stein Dinse. Phil

Forgot the image.

The original triple is painted silver. I went with a stainless steel yoke nut and a black rubber grommet. I'm not a fan of chrome personally on the V11 Sport. Phil

Pull it off and spray can silver it, preferably 2 pack spray can silver. This is why I don't use key fobs or crap dangling off the ignition key as well as it's not great having a bunch of comparatively weighty stuff flapping around under the influence of forces tugging on the switch assembly. Phil

I carried out a few updates to my lathe I've had for 20 years or so. European style QC tool holder, a high accuracy chuck and a 2 axis DRO. The QC tool holder and DRO will make using the lathe a whole lot nicer. Phil

I only kept the bikes in the house due to space constraints in the garage. It was more a necessity although I quite like a beautiful motorcycle on display in a house. My main issue using having bikes in the house is it's generally a PITA to get them in and out to go for a ride. Phil

I always kept the tanks 1/2 full and never had an issue. My bikes were modernish bikes with controlled tank venting though. I'm quite interested in phycological "models" and keeping a bike in the house is somewhat a phycological model as mentioned. Google Ames room to see a demonstration of the power of the models people have in their minds. Applies to many thing including relationships. Phil

It was pretty simple. New Girlfriends either passed the bike in the house test or they didn't. The wife passed. What can I say. Phil

They never do until they are forced to reset their notions of what's appropriate in a house. Every woman I've ever know at first look was horrified at bikes in the house including my mother and mother in law. Because they all had zero say in the issue, surprise, surprise they then just became non plussed about it and realised there wasn't a problem in reality. Sometimes you have to challenge the "models" people have in their minds. Phil

I kept my MV AgustaF4 and my 1000ss Ducati in the house. One in the lounge room and the other in the adjoining dining room. When the MV went the 1198 Ducati took it's place. No issues with odours or anything else. New girlfriends would be somewhat surprised at first then because the bikes didn't smell or leak oil or anything else and they realised they were quite benign they would forget they were there. I used to tell them they were kinetic art. Phil

These guys are fully into the transition, obviously.

As a general comment I've watch a ton of these Indian manufacturing youtube videos and am amazed at the work they can do in manufacturing and repair when there is no OH&S to consider and there is often no other choice than to repair and refurbish anyway. However having said all that there's a massive gap between manufacturing/repairing a big diesel crank or conrod that turns at 2800 rpm max and a modern 15,000 rpm ICE engine. You can get away with some pretty crude work practices and tolerances in basic machinery. Full respect to them though, creative repairers. I wonder how they will go with the transition to a renewable energy world. All totally on board and striving forward with it I would imagine. Phil

In this situation I'm the exact opposite. I well remember the glut of second hand Ducatis around Melbourne in the late 90's and early 2000's from people that fell in love with the big Ducati sports bikes until the first major service bill was shown to them. Then it was on the market and the head made the next decision. The heart decision is fine when you're young and malleable and adaptable and can live with massive compromises but you lose all that and get some insight/wisdom as you get older. The last bike I'm going to buy these days is a Sports bike I'm afraid and if I was in the "returning to the fold" position I'd go for the rational decision not the heart. There's time for the emotional decision after you've got back into it and can asses the extent of your new passion with some recent experience under your belt. So light weight, value for money, economical replaceable parts for the inevitable minor oopsies at the start, not to much power, easy to service and reliable. My advice. Phil

Pretty common these days for Guzzi's of this vintage. Even cycle parts like Brembo callipers are advertised on websites and I know they haven't been available from suppliers for years. If you get a refund in full without transactional losses it's ok but I've been nailed with losses on the refund that's why I ask them to confirm with their suppliers that they have stock before I order and pay. The V11 is now getting to the point spares wise where it's not really the bike to put a lot of miles on anymore. New part supplies have dried up and SH parts can be risky to buy and are getting expensive. Phil

$200 bucks sound cheap for a new headlight. I'd grab it at that price. Phil

Double ish Phil

Royal Enfield Interceptor 650. Incredible value to buy, good quality, modest but adequate power, zero vibration 650cc fuel injected parallel twin with balance shaft, easy home maintenance, ABS both wheels, spare parts very cost effective and fast to get (example $350 usd for a new painted fuel tank shipped to your door) With aftermarket Stainless mufflers shown ( $350usd) 205KG and low C of G. Lots of aftermarket stuff available. I decided I'd like to use black front and rear guards instead of the standard silver so I purchased a set of new genuine RE front and rear guards from India. I had them in 10 days for a cost of $65usd delivered. Cheaper than painting them. Have a silly garage tip over and damage stuff? Well no grief to the hip pocket there. A brand new instrument set is around $125usd from memory. Delivered of course. have the same thing with your new Ducati or Guzzi and you'll be at the bank re mortgaging the house. Can't go wrong. Phil

I'm going to sound like a broken record here but this every day of the week. Phil

It would be easier to just go out and swap shocks docc, lol. My 2-3mm is clearly wrong as I halved the additional shock length instead of doubling it and subtracting a bit for the shock and swingarm angle. BTW the Penske suggestion is a good one. I've had one of these apart on the race bike and they are excellent quality and a step above the OEM Ohlins. People don't realise that Ohlins suspension comes in different grades and the OEM stuff while decent isn't the magic gold people thing it is. It's a marketing exercise by the manufacturers more than a massive upgrade in suspension quality. The Ohlins "benefit" has reduced as time has passed because the Japanese/Italian OEM suspension is so much better than it used to be. I say this not to denigrate the Ohlins stuff but to make people aware that there is many other superior options out there from aftermarket manufacturers that people seem to ignore in the "worship of the gold". The money asked for a second hand Ohlins shock for a V11 is ridiculous these days when you can buy a superior tailored shock of better quality new. Remember the original V11 Ohlins shock is now 25 year old tech and materials Phil

Yes by maybe 2-3mm. Phil [edit: corrected by Phil in his post later in the day (six posts below): "My 2-3mm is clearly wrong as I halved the additional shock length instead of doubling it and subtracting a bit for the shock and swingarm angle. "

Choices and consequences. I have 3 kids myself. Phil

It's called "natural selection". Phil