Lucky 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

Just buy the top of the range Wilbers shock. Adjustable everything. H/lo speed compression, hydraulic preload adjuster, low speed rebound and shock length. The preload adjuster and reservoir fit the std Sachs mount. Phil

Without a doubt. Phil

Ha doesn't seem right! Here's another fact for you. To go to a full electric/renewable economy the world will need a 400% increase in the mining and production of Copper alone over and above what we currently produce. It takes on average 17 years from inception to digging the first ton of ore for a copper mine and the people that want to close down fossil fuel energy production are also the people that want to close down mining! Ever seen the steel and concrete used in anchoring down a wind turbine? Go and look on youtube at that and count the energy costs. To give you some idea its a hole in the ground about 75 metres across and 30 metres deep full of concrete and steel reo and we haven't even got to the building of the tower and generator which are high maintenance items even land based. The blades are life limited and currently are disposed of in land fill! Utopian dreaming. Phil

Yea Mick but many, many others do. You only needed to watch OCC to find this out. Phil

Design perceptions, what a topic. There is something to consider in the design and aesthetics of just about everything and this is it. Am I emotionally responding to something that's is beautiful and in harmony with the overall concept or am I responding to it just being "different". The latter doesn't stand the test of time where the former does. Phil

Never going to happen I'm afraid. Phil

If you want to get the definitive aftermarket exhaust option design wise for the V100 then wait for Akrapovic to offer a full system. They are the gold standard in exhaust design and quality in my view. You can't believe how well an exhaust system is made and fits until you've had a full Akra system in your hands and installed one. Phil

What are Agostinis thinking. You could drive a truck between those new header pipes and the cylinder block. Nicely shaped and tucked in they are not. A tighter bend to get the pipe closer to the block and tucked in won't have any affect on the performance gains if there are indeed any at all. As for the sound, far too loud. If it sounds loudish revving at a standstill on a whiff of throttle then under load with the throttle blades really open it will be obnoxiously loud. The clue is in the size of the muffler. You can't efficiently silencer a 1000cc twin with a muffler of that physical dimension. It saves weight but the trade off is noise and headers that stick out like a set of crash bars. Phil

Those serrated lock washers are appalling horrid things and along with spring washers I refuse to use them. Phil

Was that the spooge docc? Have you ever replaced/checked the sealing between the tank flange/cap adaptor and the tank itself? This is what the old caps seal looked like ( not the OEM cap but another ebay cap) the flat seal they use is Nitrile and over compressed. They don't last for anyone thinking of using an ebay cap. They either do this or swell and distort badly. FKM material is the solution as usual and getting the compression of the seal correct.. Phil