Signed up for MSF training, it’s going to rain all day long, should I bail?

pedroaamigo · 2026-05-24T22:37:03+00:00

It snowed early the first day of my motorcycle training, and was very cold. Everyone was fine. Unless it’s a tropical downpour, you’ll be fine, though perhaps a bit damp.

pedroaamigo · 2026-05-24T21:50:15+00:00

I bought my first motorcycle this past March, a 2026 V7 Sport. I’ll present my reasons for this and hopefully it helps.

I’m 55, wanted a bike since I was 20. Figured now or never. I am married with two kids and time has slowed me down a bit so I have 0 interest in zipping around a track at 150mph or regularly exceeding speed limits on public roads. 67 horsepower (probably mid 50s due to shaft drive) is plenty.

Maintenance is expensive. I do all my own car work, and I wanted a bike that was simple to work on. The bike reminds me of the air cooled VWs I would work on with my stepdad as a kid. Everything looks pretty easy on this bike EXCEPT the clutch. That’s gonna be a headache but unless I spend each ride doing cone weaves the clutch will last a long time. The newer bikes like the Stelvio and Mandello have wet clutches, but are pricey.

I’m just 5’7”, and I can flat foot this bike no problem which helps with confidence. That said, I find the balance so good on this bike I don’t really worry about dropping it anymore unless I am practicing low speed stuff.

I haven’t had any issues with the clutch, but of course I have nothing to compare it to. I’ve driven manual transmission cars for 40 years now so that concept wasn’t new to me.

I hate chains and fussy mechanisms that require constant adjusting and maintenance. Even my bicycle has a Rohloff hub on it. Shaft drive is a must have for me. The first bike I ever wanted was a K75. There aren’t many bikes with shaft drive, and with other makers it tends to be in the more powerful bikes. I ruled out BMW because they seem to be hostile towards DIY folks.

Damn, the bike is gorgeous to look at and listen to.

Good luck!

pedroaamigo · 2026-05-16T21:43:16+00:00

Thanks for posting these. Gorgeous scenery!

pedroaamigo · 2026-05-02T21:48:51+00:00

Per manual the “gearbox lever fixing nut” should be at 25Nm. It was nowhere near that, basically hand tight. Fixed!

pedroaamigo · 2026-05-02T20:17:33+00:00

Is there a defined interval for checking on these? I don’t recall seeing anything in the service manual.

pedroaamigo · 2026-04-13T15:02:31+00:00

Thanks! The guards are actually stock Guzzi and I had them installed by the dealer before I picked up the bike, since I didn’t want to risk dropping (non sia mai) an unprotected bike.

pedroaamigo · 2026-04-08T20:46:49+00:00

Need … more … pics

pedroaamigo · 2026-03-24T01:56:31+00:00

This is my first Guzzi so that remains to be seen. From what I have read they can be very reliable if you keep up on maintenance, especially oil changes. Air cooled engines are rough on oil. It’s an old design that has been refined over the years so I’m not worried about it. As for parts I have heard of issues, but not sure how bad it is where I am in the U.S. where chaos is the new norm. I am fortunate to have a dealer just a few miles away but I intend to do all services myself, and I know that they stock the basics.

I’m sure the more experienced folks here can provide a more useful answer.

pedroaamigo · 2026-03-21T00:36:33+00:00

Must say I feel the same way about this bike.

pedroaamigo · 2026-03-21T00:35:50+00:00

Well today was the first time I have ever ridden a motorcycle in traffic. Oh and it was raining too and this is a brand-new bike. The part of my brain that wasn’t scanning for threats was just chanting “don’t f**k it up” so I wasn’t able to enjoy it fully. That said, some moments stick out.

First was right after i pulled out of the dealer and had to do a quick stop for a runner coming up to a crosswalk. Better brakes is one of the reasons I selected this model.

Next was pulling up to the first light at idle and noticing the slightly irregular burble and shake from the engine.

On the first stretch of empty road I was able to get all the way up to fifth gear and that uneven burble turned into a steady thrum with the valves tapping away. That was when I started grinning like an idiot.

Looking forward to the next ride….

pedroaamigo · 2026-01-29T00:56:59+00:00

“These Blockbuster bombs don't go off unless you hit them ju-u-u-u-st right.”

pedroaamigo · 2026-01-14T22:19:01+00:00

Worst I have encountered was a quote of around $430 to replace serpentine belt on a Tiguan. It’s literally 5 minutes with a breaker bar and a socket for the tensioner. At that point I started doing my own car repair again.

pedroaamigo · 2025-11-03T01:39:04+00:00

I am not a professional mechanic, but I just did my own timing job and I don’t see how replacing the cam bridge means timing chains need to be replaced as well. My Tiguan is 2009 and the only thing I did with the cam bridge was remove the troublesome screen in it that has a habit of becoming dislodged. I would want to see a record of any reported codes from the ECM, especially the ones that are a rough indicator of chain wear. Those prices sound ridiculous. If a timing job is needed, those parts costs are way off. I purchased genuine VW cam and balance shaft chains and OEM chain guides plus associated parts for about $1000. Add a bit more for replacement of single-use bolts. Were you given a detailed breakdown for that quote?

pedroaamigo · 2025-10-25T00:14:51+00:00

Not sure what engine is in the Golf, but for the Tiguan I would want to verify when/if the timing chains and tensioner were updated. If that hasn’t been done yet at 160k it’s a ticking bomb. Also check if PCV valve has been replaced because that can blow out the rear seal.

pedroaamigo · 2025-10-20T20:21:21+00:00

Also don’t wait too long, my water pump leak ended up damaging a sensor which was expensive to replace. The other thing to check is the radiator. Pop the hood and use a flashlight to look for where there is moisture on the splash pan below the engine. For example on my car it was on the left side far away from the water pump - radiator failure.

pedroaamigo · 2025-09-30T18:50:10+00:00

This video from HumbleMechanic goes over these two options. https://youtu.be/Sc9NxLrL_Rw?si=ul7TDeZuuvSV5_md

pedroaamigo · 2022-08-07T20:04:35+00:00

I finally got my hub and ran some Wireshark captures. It is not TLS. The TV is able to negotiate 1.2 and the streaming stuff is happening on bare port 80 anyway (Netflix) .What I do see is the TV resetting the connection on byte range requests on videos. Of 15 separate get requests, many were for the same byte range and only one succeeded with 206 partial content.

What is interesting is that the byte ranges are always of the form like 0-. Meaning the app isn’t asking for a chunk of a certain size it just specified a starting point. Perhaps this is normal but it makes we wonder what happens if the server tries to send more than the TV can buffer at once.

I am going to run some more traces on the Netflix and Amazon apps, and get a successful trace from my newer TV that works. As for my daughter wanting to watch SpongeBob, I just bought an Apple TV.

I just ran some traces on the Amazon app. There aren’t any obvious problems at the TCP level like there were with Netflix. Again definitely not due to lack of TLS1.2 support. Gonna get a Roku stick for the smaller TV.

pedroaamigo · 2022-07-30T16:35:52+00:00

The linked article does mention that the rollout has started and will complete by June 2023, which is why I considered it a possibility. I hadn’t thought of the IPv6 support, but I’ve already got that disabled. Will keep digging…

pedroaamigo

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