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Here's the first pic of the V85 after I rode it home from the dealer. The bike was then rolled into the garage, the bags removed, and they've been stuffed on a shelf ever since. Sorry about the crap photo. I'm no photographer and the bike hasn't been anywhere especially noteworthy yet. Next summer I tell ya, just wait and see!

Thanks for the welcome! Though judging by the timing, you guys either have auto replies or you need to spend less time online. ? And yes, I really did name my dog Desmo. He's passed on now but the username carries on. I am quite the Ducati fan boy, I'm not really sure how the V85tt made it in the door but there it is. Speaking of which, I was looking at things yesterday and I'm not so sure the Guzzi will fit through the actual door leading to my winter storage area, so that may be my next adventure. "Home renovations for Guzzi owners". On today's episode we mod the sliding door to make it open wider... But I digress. There's not much that would qualify for adventure riding in my area so I'm mainly here to stalk @Earache. He's kind of a big deal on the internet so I like to keep track of what he's up to.

I am totally fine. ?

What, and then have to buy a new helmet too? Whataya think, I'm made of money? (I honestly didn't realize it matched my helmet until after I got home)

It'll never happen Eric.......my work and family commitments prevent it......plus I'm too bloody old now. I think the thing with Route 66 for Brits of my age is we were brought up hearing about it in films, TV programmes, songs etc......it sort of acquired this mythical status to us. Bit like Americans who go to Britain always want to see Buckingham Palace and castles.......whereas we wouldn't give them a second glance.

Finally! Some recognition which I so richly deserve! About time...

I cant think of one bike i owned that i would have done this to, even my brothers ETZ125 i used for a year or two to commute to work was worth saving. But the little prick scrapped it without asking me if i wanted it

I'm so bored that I'm thinking about next summer's rides already. Now that my bud Craigster (DesmoDog) is on board and has a new scooter, time to think about a nice cruise for next summer. And should any of you Europeans or persons from anywhere else want to come along with us, we'd love to have you! It'd be the cheapest guided tour of the US that you'll ever have. The bad news is, Craig and I are the tour guides - so there's that. So, where would you like to go? I'm thinkin Rocky Mountains to Northern California and back - see route in pic. About 3,000 miles - easily done in 7-10 days...or longer if you wish. Any other ideas?

We never got to do anything Clive.......the years just flew by!

After about 25 years of owning only Ducatis, I am now down to ONE streetable Ducati (A 1991 851) and two single cylinder project bikes that have never run while I've owned them. Run, for cripe sakes one of them is being built out of left over parts from other projects so it's never even been a real bike before. I fully intend to replace the Aprilia (An RSV-R I bought to use as a track toy) with a Ducati at some point though. I'll never get back to having five of them ready to go (there's a 160 Monza Jr on the end of that line) but I do plan on having more than one. I'd love to have a V2 as a bookend to the 851 but that's a bit of stretch financially for a guy who wants to retire in July.

In younger days... and I had to wait to get the 996 in yellow. They had red in stock but in this case Earache was right. (Don't tell him I said that).

That makes sense. But you'd be sick of it after the first day and would re-route to find something interesting. Most of the road from Chicago to Amarillo, TX has been dug up and replaced with interstate highway. Off the highway in Texas, some of the original road still exists. I took a guy from Scotland over parts of it once as he was dying to see it. I'll see if I can dig up the pics for you.

Craig has always had red Ducs and I have always had yellow Ducs - so yellow is always better. Although he did have one yeller one once....

I think this is a much better colour than the yellow one

Looks like the ideal way to tune up a Tomos!

Motorcycles were everywhere today here. The weather is perfect.

Thanks Bob she seems to be getting over it now

If you haven't checked out @Pedro's 3 Morocco Ride Reports then you're really missing something. They are being posted chronologically and they're telling a story......not just of riding motorcycles, but of life itself. It's taken Pedro a lot of time to do these.......and given the circumstances it can't be easy for him. So I would really encourage you guys to take a look at these........and I'm not joking when I say that these are the best I've ever seen. I'm not talking about photo or video quality.....it goes much deeper than that. So take the time to check these out in their chronological order!

You know why the wind blows south in Minnesota? Cuz Iowa sucks. (Born and raised in Minnesota...) But Field of Dream fans might like it. Anywhos, Route 66 back in the '50s ('40s? '30s?) was probably pretty cool. Before my time but that's when it's reputation was being made.

Some artist did it - dunno why. Also called Cadillac Ranch, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cadillac_Ranch There are usually a bunch of spray paint cans there in a box so you can paint the cars a bit yourself.

I should have retired a year ago.......but I never will!

Well maybe not ALWAYS...

Some Route 66 pics - this was around Tucumcari area. Lots of old, bombed out gas stations, motels, etc., with 200 miles of flat, featureless riding in between towns. The CarHenge pics are obviously from Amarillo...

Yellow was always faster....

That and it's the worst possible route across the USA. It was laid out when vehicles weren't capable of going across mountain ranges, etc - so it follows the path of least resistance - if that makes sense. Can't understand the fascination of it. Portions from around Santa Fe, New Mexico and westward aren't too bad, but anything east of there is complete shit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_66#/map/0 It routes through the busiest part of each city along the way .... places I usually try to avoid. A better route would be Route 50 - The Loneliest Road - if you wanted to a cross USA trip on 2 lane roads. But even that is going to be pretty boring for 1,000's of miles. But, if it's been a life long dream, then ya oughtta do it.

We have all winter to plan a great ride for next summer. Where ya wanna go? NorCal maybe?

I've read 505lbs wet, but I've not put mine on a scale. When I'm moving it around in the garage it feels a lot heavier than my Monster 1200S was, but it's a lot taller too so that has something to do with the feel I suppose. When riding it doesn't feel heavy.

My 1965 Bantam that I had in 1971 was a horrible piece of shit......so I'd lob that in! Without a second thought. Terminate with extreme prejudice! And also any bike previously owned by @yen_powell! That'll save a few fucking rain forests for sure!

Right on both counts! I'd love to spend less time online but that's my line of work......so I have no choice! I think he's pretty much sidelined now with the seasons changing! But me in Spain and @Pedro in Portugal will keep his spirits up over the long Winter months while we Style and Profile!

Very diplomatic answer Sofia! Because I'm sure if you'd worded it differently some of these sick perverts on here would have responded in an ungentlemanly manner!

Blimey Fred, I hope that your wife recovers ok .

Just south of home on the next hill over...