Steve G.

BMW tire repair kit, best 30bucks a guy could spend. Last summer, on a Sunday morning, 55 miles from the nearest town, Washington. My buddy hits a broken bottle on the road, and puts a 1 1/4 inch rip into his rear tire. Out comes the kit, the first plug doesn't do it. Second plug just about. The final plug, I tell him to wait longer than the 30 seconds he's waited on the last 2 before he puts the c02. 2 minutes, puts pressure into it, and away we go, with him 2 up with full gear, and [foolishly at speeds over 90 mph] away wee go, 400 miles all the way back to Vancouver. He even commuted for a month on it before he got a new tire [the tire was brand new when he got the cut]. Can't say enough good things about it. Ciao, Steve G.

Preventive measures are an option as well. You may find that because the spacers at the back of the fuel tank are low, they are permitting the fuel tank to rest a portion of it's weight against the side covers, putting pressure on the area around the retaining screws on the covers. As well, the retaining screws should be checked to avoid being too tight. A half drop of loctite on ecah screw so it won't fly away is an option. The sheer vibration of the engine/gearbox unit literally split my starter cover in half. My preventive measure here was to receive my warranty cover, and to not install it. Ciao, Steve G.

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A bike for every mood, you got it Ryan!! Ciao, Steve G.

IMHO, Thanks! For once you let us knuckle draggers go at it without turning it into something like that Global Warming thread. I don't think I could take any more of that tit-for-tat. My neck is getting sore, like I've been centre court at a tennis match. Did you guys finally come to a conclusion that the world leaders can use to save the world, or do we have to go through another tie braking set? Ciao, Steve G.

Yeah that's what I was thinking as well. Ciao, Steve G.

The brake pedal position works fine, but because it is situated about an inch further away from the centre line of the machine, it is probably responsible for my right boot getting ground down worse than the left side. As well, the footrest is now getting bevelled, which is ok for me considering it used to be a hard part [muffler]. Ciao, Steve G.

Grumblings I get from local small block guys are that the 500 is better. Something about inadequet oil supply ffor the 650's big ends. Ciao, Steve G.

I'll be there Friday afternoon, 4-6pm, manning the local British bike club booth [get in free that way]. Stop by, buy me a beer! Ciao, Steve G.

My V11 has had the relocation kit for 2 yrs now. A real knee saver, I must admit that even with my size 12's, it's a bit of a reach, but well worth the issue to save the ol' knees. The biggest negative effect I can mention is they will contribute largely to your riding boots getting ground off on the outsides. I'm thinking of doing a "Bayliss" and fitting titanium or some kind of metal to entertain the lads behind me, and save the boots from yearly rebuild. I'll have to be carefull going through the desert in the summer, or I'll catch the scrub on fire. Ciao, Steve G.

I have inquired about this. I have been told by my dealer that if you mount the Titanium exhausts in the stock position, well obviously I guess they would clear the bags. I guess this raises another question, whether you are able to mount the Titaniums in the lower position. I use the bags quiote a bit, they come in very handy during weekend tours, and I am curious about the factory kits. I would have definite second thoughts of getting them if they meant elimination of the bags. Ciao, Steve G.

Ah yes, there's quite a difference between criticising and having fun. You have to grow thicker skin sometimes when owning something that's not the norm. The price one has to pay for not being included in a flock of sheep!! Ciao, Steve G.

Not really the best seat for a passenger. The problem is the very high footpegs in relation to the seat, which is kind of small. The rider definitely gets the best deal seating wise. Ciao, Steve G.

F150 pickup, 4 wheel drive, converted to propane [$.50cdn/litre, compared to $.90/litre deisel/petrol] . Ciao, Steve G.

The plans are confirmed for 2 wks playing/riding around in Northern California this early July, as part of a magazine publication tour. I'll be taking the V11, [probably regret it only on the old Mattole Rd./Lost Hwy] and want to avoid any issues with these switches which could by all accounts be considered fragile. I have heard of lads here on the forum who have had issues with them , and have had them disabled to avoid future problems with unplanned engine shut down. I know I risk riding away with the side stand down, and starting the thing with the thing in gear, but, knock on wood, the way I prepare myself when getting on any bike [my little mental check list] , I have never had this happen since starting street riding in 1975. I would call myself deserving of the consequences should I not continue to include these two steps in my little check list. Can the wiring to these switches be done cleanly, and without harming any other electrical components to bypass these switches? If there's one weakness I have it's reading an electrical diagram of a bike/car. Ciao, Steve G.

Hi Jim, Your new suit, who makes it? One piece? Ciao, Steve G.

This entry caught my eye, as I'm looking for a deal on exhaust. Too bad for us in North America that it's in UK pound. Converted this sale price with delivery is $2156 cdn, about $900 more than a quote from my local dealer. Ciao, Steve G.

Other than leather, Kevlar is the only material they allow on the ractrack. That's Motoport/Cycleport. And yeah, they might have moved from the Carlsbad airport area since I visited them 10yrs ago. I'll concede that leather has better abrasion resistance than any but non 'poly' 1000Denier Gortex. Ciao, Steve G.

WOT? You don't like cows? What's wrong with cows then? I like 'em! Ciao, Steve G.

Geez Docc, Why not red for an Aerostitch? Fading I'm thinking. I might add that blue fades too. Leather and textile both have negatives and positives of course. I have hanging in my closet waxed cotton, leather 2 piece, polyurathane coated gortex, and non polyurethane coated gortex. What's this poly coating you say? It's the difference between your textile jacket melting to you or not! Poly coated jackets will melt to your skin if heated from friction as you skid along. I've seen it happen, and it made my cast iron stomach turn. To the best of my knowledge, only one manufacturer, [1], uses 100% non - poly Gortex in their garments, and that's Motoport/Cycleport, out of Carlsbad, Ca. Plus the fact that they are the only maker using 1000 Cordura, this suit is HD [heavy duty]! The only contenders are Aerostitch, which use non poly 600 Gortex, with 1000 'poly coated' Gortex on the impact areas. BMW, and Rukka are the only others worth mentioning. They use a material called Armacor in their high end suits which is a blend of Gortex cordura and Kevlar, incredible stuff. The best of the bunch in fact, but the price for Armacor is dear. Ciao, Steve G.

You should learn to open up Pete, to express yourself. It's no healthy to keep it held all inside. Ciao, Steve G.

Of couse I couldn't disagree with you more! While I wouldn't agree that it should be considered on a top ten most noteworthy bike list [yes the short list for sure] , but when someone mentions Laverda, most of the time everyone will think '180', then a toss up between the SFC 750 or the 'V6'. That it has what you call a 'misfire' I should think you would find that a positive characteristic. Afterall, a Moto Guzzi V-twin also has what one would consider a misfire, a gap of power pulses that is longer towards the end of it's 4 stroke completion caused by a single throw crankshaft. And isn't the character of the Moto Guzzi V-twin one of the main reasons we find ourselves on this forum? It certainly isn't high performance, or we'd all be on the Japanese superbike forum, and riding around on emotionless bikes with no missfire and with incredible performance but no way to tell which bike we were on unless we look at the name on the fuel tank. That misfire you talk about is of course notable at idle, but at speed the sound is unmistakable, emotional, and inspirational to all those passionate about the internal combustion engine. Like the Moto Guzzi V-twin, it is very simply 'alive'. One think to consider, which among other things makes me place a high regard on these 180 deg beasts, that my 25yr old 180 Jota with over 100,000kms on the untouched engine, will easily pull higher top speeds than my EFI Guzzi. Nothing against my V11, I love the Guzzi just as much, for other reasons. Ciao, Steve G.

As good a rider as Rossi is [and shit is he good], one should not ignore the genius input of his crew chief Jeremy Burgess. So respected is this guy, that Rossi demanded that he jump over from Honda to Yamaha with him, no Burgess, no Rossi! Ciao, Steve G.

Well done! I truly believe that the new Sport Classics will be the savior of Ducati. Their Sport and Super Sport bikes are selling very poorly, and the Multi Strada series in Europe only. The Monster bikes are still doing well, but long on the tooth. The Paul Smart is a beautiful machine. One of the 2 dealers in my nearest city [Vancouver] brought in the maximum alloted 8 of the Paul Smarts, and as of Jan 14th, all were already sold, as well as all of their alottement of Sport 1000's. I was allowed to sit on one, and found the sitting position/handlbar position to be agressive. If the machine did not look so bloody nice, I would have rejected it right then and there. But there is no denying it is true eye candy!! Ciao, Steve G.

How much?