Steve G.

This Saturday I enjoyed a great spin on the V11, around 275kms. Riding out in the valley on a road devoid of everything, running along at I guess 120kms[75mph] when the speedo guage plops to 0kms/hr. I pull over, and check the usual culprit, the speedo bevel drive connecting the speedo cable to the actual gearbox. It seems the cap has come loose [imagine that!] and the worm gear has slid out of the housing. I spend 15 minutes looking through the grass along the side of the road. The bloody thing is gone. So do you guys know if one has to by a new bevel drive complete, or can one get parts? Ciao, Steve G.

I can eat just about anything, but I really try to avoid monosodium glutamate. It gives me wicked head aches lasting 3 days. I've eaten things that I didn't know this stuff was in it, and got the bloody head ache, could'nt understand why, so checked later, and sure enough. I don't think it can be good for you if it makes your head hurt. Ciao, Steve G.

I confirmed with my GPS that the speedo guage on my V11 is 5-7 mph optimistic at speed, and that my bike anyways, maxes out about 131ish mph, after a long long straight, this done on a closed course track of course! Unless you find your self with a strong tailwind, or a downhill straight, these things will not hit the rev limiter in high gear. Ciao, Steve G.

Hi guys, Getting soft is not yet in my vocabulary Chris. Indeed I rode my Laverda Jota to the Laverda rally. And back. When Pierro Laverda [THE guy] found out we had ridden our old tractors down there, he was quite emotional about it. So impressed that in absence of no long distance award for non-trailer queens, he and his son Giovanni awarded my bike best 180 deg triple and Robert's Mirage second best 180 triple, even though they were quite soiled looking from bugs and rain. We did spend time at Guy Webster's place, absolutely outstanding. In fact Ojai has a bunch of collections hidden around. Funny what you will find in an area where there is a HUGE amount of money happening, and passionate enthusiasts who care about historic machinery. As well as Guy's collection, Mike Taggart has a warehouse in Ojai full of Italian and English classics. You know you are reaching motorcycle overload when 7 BSA Gold Stars in a row barely garner a second look, after checking out over 10 MV Agustas, some factory race bikes! The works Jaguar C type, and D type race cars, ho hum! Oh, and the son of the original importer of Triumph in America, Johnston Motors, who kindly rolled his collection out into the tarmac at Santa Monica Airport. Mind numbing works bikes, maybe 40 odd. The Solvang motorcycle collection[ with Rolly Free's famous Bonneville salt flats Vincent], The Otis Chandler collection, and of course hosts of the rally Allan Chalk and Bob Andren, who combined appear to have over 65 machines of very high regard. Helicopter Jim stopped by to introduce himself, when the rally moved out to Willow Spring Raceway for the last 2 days. Also a Laverda owner, and SFC 750, regarded as one of the most valuable and collectable bikes ever made. Of course the action on the track was noteworthy only because a works MV triple was screeming around, oh and a Britten was sonic booming around the track. The whole rally was very special, in fact people there knew history was being experienced as Jack MacCormick walked into the banquet hall, and met Pierro Laverda in a huge greeting. What blew us away was Pierro asking us if he and Jack could sit down to dinner with us, saying he wanted to sit with his new Canadian friends. Wow! Later at the track, Pierro offered advice on my bike, saying that when he was testing my bike in early '81, along with factory test riders, he noted the bike would want to "fly like an airplane" at speeds over 125mph. He found that if the fairing was set forward 3 degrees, all would be good, and said I should do the same, as he didn't want to lose his new buddy, while patting me on the back. Personal advice from one of the two guys who made the bike. Yup, pretty damn cool. Bob and Allan did good, they were responsible for this historic gathering. The fellow who runs MPH in Houston showed up on a buddies Moto Guzzi Quota, and this is where I took advantage of the opportunity to talk to an expert on the V11 Sport. Ciao, Steve G.

So I go for a nice ride a few days ago, the bike running very nice. A short stop to sip a juice, and that old problem creeps up again. When it's hot, trying to make it run at anything other than idle, and it pops back and often stalls. If left for a couple hrs to cool, it starts and runs nicely. So I thought this was a vapour lock problem. Well, this time I had to get back home soon, so did some side of the road fixing. first off, I noticed the fuel pump was making a different sound when it ramped up when you turn the key on, and that there was a gurgling sound around the hose that goes to the tank on the left side, with the key on. Turn the key off and the gurgling stopped. So with the key off, I loosened the hose there, and a spray of gas emitted from the loose hose, followed by probably 3 minutes of air. After the air has stopped, I tightened the clamp up, and the bike started as if no problem, and the fuel pump made it's usual ramp up sound, and no gurgling anywhere. The nice fellow from MPH was offering his thoughts to me about this problem I'm having, down in Ojai, CA last weekend during the Laverda Rally. There he mentioned the possibility of a bad fuel pump. Soooo, how is the air getting in there? Is this air making an otherwise good fuel pump cavitate, unable to pump? Would'nt the fuel return in the fuel delivery system return the air into the gas tank at some point quite soon? Any other thoughts? Ciao, Steve G.

The factory Tesco battery went in my '01 V11 last spring. Got an Oddesy dry cell, lovely strong thing. A word of caution though. Do not, I repeat DO NOT trickle charge dry cell batteries. Which ever battery you buy, read the instructions. Trickle charging dry cell batteries is a no no. Ciao, Steve G.

Nor would you EVER see M.Shumacher or any of those F1 guys get on a GP bike. The guys who ride WSB and especially Moto GP machines for a living should be respected almost as gods! Their talent is immense, their courage limitless, yet most are personable regular lads, unlike the primadonas in F1 car racing. Ciao, Steve G.

I'm in full agreement with you Brian. For 2 yrs now I've been eyeing up the Ferracci rear fender eliminator, and was going to mail order it from Ferracci, but when I found out that Chilliwack M.G. had it in stock, I drove up there and bought it. Paid more, but I may need that dealer. With regard to the bearings, it is clear that the habit of Moto Guzzi to source partsbased on price alone, including Polish bearings, has reared it's head once again, luckily not rearing it's head when you were doing your usual buck/25 down Hwy 1. Heck, I've got the original wheel bearings on my 26yr old Japper, untouched with no issues. I kind of get pissed off when I hear stories of this happening. Makes me want to slap around the purchasing manager at M.G.! Make sure Gord carefully takes the bearing seal off each bearing, load the things with good quality grease, and slide the seals back on the bearing. Even German or Japanese bearings are assembled to try these days! Ciao, Steve G. P.S. Brian, I have to thank you for temporarily borrowing my black cloud from me, with regard to the having everything you touch bugger up. That's the usual story with me.

Hi Brian, Your pictures seem to indicate the axle color is blue. Either the contrast is off, or heat has caused this. You say the bearing has welded itself to the swingarm. Don't you mean the axle? I would assume that heat will be needed to loosen this thing off. Will this wreck seals? What caused this Brian? Did it have anything to do with the previous work you had done? Wish I could help buddy. I don't have a torch. Ciao, Steve G.

Hi Jim, I have just read the first 1/2 dozen entries on this thread. Are you sure it's your bike? I'm looking at the background, and see cars with English license plates, and and English garbage company advertized on the dumpster. I guess it's possible, but why would they ship your bike through England first? Ciao, Steve G.

I love e-bay. It's custom made for the non-U.S. seller, and U.S. buyer. I've sold rubbish, advertized as, and gotten top money. Great!! Ciao, Steve G.

Brian's right. Sounds like oil, slippery at first, then superheats and gets real sticky. Ciao, Steve G.

You want to check BigBoys.com for a running show of these losers every day. Whether it's bikes, pushbikes [bicycles] skateboards, you'll see these losers here. Ciao, Steve G.

I've got nothing against Gibernau, it's just that he's not much of a leader. He reminds me a bit of Alex Creville, just kind of a good rider, but not a GREAT rider. Let's face it, he's on the best bike. If he's as good as Rossi, he should be kicking his butt. [so should the other Honda boys, but nooooo] Max Biaggi. What can you say about him? You know, if he wasn't such a bloody winer about the bike [Honda, Yamaha, whatever] I think I'd like him. Have you seen his hands? His fingers have been broken so many times, they've fused them in a curl so he can grab the throttle. I admire his physical toughness and ability to swallow pain, but he's mentally defeated from trying to catch Rossi, and his automatic response is to blame anything/everything, except his lack of ability to make the #1 plate. I think he's done after this year. With regard to top level motorcycle roadracing, is there any other form of motorsport more exciting and cool to watch? I know I'm a captive audience, but to me NASCAR does not come close. SPEED Channel, in it's takeover theme with FOX network, has this [Good Ol' Boys, goin' 'round 'n curcels 'n crash a goodun] type of racing maxed, now with the car racers in poker competition on prime time. Meanwhile we bike guys have to wait 3 days to see WSB, where worldwide audience approaches 350,000,000 people around the world. Am I missing something? Ciao, Steve G.

The guy is a God! I wish I had 30% his ability, and 30% his drive. Ciao, Steve G.

Get ready Callison, as the biggest supplier of crude oil for the USA, and the biggest untapped supply on this earth, Canada along with the rest of the oil supplying world, [as a result primarily of Chinese demand for the stuff] is about to see $100 US/barrel of crude. Soon you will see $5.00us/usgallon. As for distancing yourself from lovely old England and it's ways and taxes, it seems 'the old country' is your main ally on the world stage. Honestly, I wish my country was, but Central Canada [Ontario] has seen it more strategic to have Cuba as a buddy. Oh and Tamil Tiger terrorists from Sri Lanka. As for DeBenGuzzi pulling out tired old cliche's of the McKenzie brothers, it's so old man, it so over. I'm not offended at all, but golly. You think we have cops that show up at a car accident on a horse, wearing silly brown pants and red jacket? You guys must have got me at a special time. Maybe my lip is just tired of being bit so hard. Ciao, Steve G.

With '01's and earlier, I'd be more worried about the cheap aluminium brackets which WILL break with use. The newer bikes have proper steel brackets of the same pattern. Ciao, Steve G.

What time of year is the best 'weather window' to Batopilas? I understand Creel gets cool in the winter as it's fairly high altitude. Ciao, Steve G.

The sheer arogance of the American military unfortunately is unmatched by the sheer lack of mechanized power of the Canadian military. Amazing what happens when you let a communist run a free entrerprise country. To think we had the second biggest navy after WW2. I'm embarrased. Ciao, Steve G.

You can't keep your kids huddled away from society forever. Back packing in Africa or India, walkabout in Brixton at night, ok, maybe you should worry. Going to Glastonbury, let them go. The Sommerset constabulary will be everywhere. If you are not safe in most of England, you should think about leaving. Ciao, Steve G.

Are you guys talking about jump starting with another running vehicle and jumper cables, or bump starting it by running with it and popping the clutch out to spin the engine? I can't see how bump starting it could cause any problem, but jumping it with another {running} vehicle? Hell yes! Ciao, Steve G.

Just finished talking to Robert about intro of the Breva. He spent a lovely sunny day riding around the hills of Tuscany enjoying the new machine. With experience in touring with both V11 and V11 Lemans, he says this bike is much better handling than all the previous V11 based bikes, with a completely new rear drive and new gearbox! The engine is still the same lovely 2 valve lump, rated at 5 less hp than our base engines. But while the machine does not have the high rev rip that our bikes have, the engine in the Breva has enormous torque right through the rev range. It's just too bad it misses the mark styling wise, as it is a much better package for real world use. They should use the same styling house that styled the V11. Ciao, Steve G.

When we jump out on the Norton's, we going for a 'snort'. Ciao, Steve G.

Thanks for the update on changes to Laguna Lex. I am afraid I'm one of those who has a seat for Sunday on the main grandstand, actually 25 meters/26yrds before the finish line. I've been to Laguna 6 times for WSB, and it's always good to walk about during the races, but we will most often grab our centre seats for the start/finish of the main race. Who could have known the last corner would be blocked? Oh well, there was such a mad rush for tickets, I guess I should consider myself lucky I got everything I wanted. There is always the GumboTron screen right above the paddock in front of the main stand to check on the Corkscrew area that you can't see from the start/finish. Speaking of North American tracks for Moto GP, I must say I'm really glad it's out west. But, for these machines in GP, I really think there are only 2 tracks that would allow these beasts to truly stretch their legs, and those are Road America, and Road Atlanta. A tight track like Laguna will mean they will have to re-gear the gearbox, and this will mean serious wheelies, and smokies out of the corners. Actually it will probably be real good for the people watching. Ciao, Steve G.

One thing you really should try to avoid is the brokerage fees charged by the private carriers. They are stupid expensive. As you live in Europe, the only way I can see you avoiding those costs is to put the stuff in the mail. Ciao, Steve G.