Leaderboard

I love all old WW2 aircraft and have done since I was a kid. It's what got me into a lifetime career as an aircraft engineer. Having said that the Lightning was a bit of a beast from a pilots perspective with a few traits that they never fully solved that could end you days without bothering the enemy. High speed flutter in dives that they came up with ad hock solutions to but only ever fitted to half the a/c produced and Mach Tuck problems. If you lost an engine on take off at max all up you were a dead man as well. On some twins the second engine is only there to fly you to the scene of the crash, on the Lightning it would slam dunk you into the scenery by all accounts. Brutal things the Lightning, hardly forgiving to fly. Imagine, men used to fly these beastly machines and others into life threatening combat, amazing. People complain about all manner of rubbish now thats just total dross. Ciao

And who says a spoogy throttle body on an old Moto Guzzi doesn't make for a lively and engaging conversation piece?

Nope, not "rope." At first, I thought the tie to be Nylon cord, but it is not. It is wire covered in braided heat shielding impregnated with what appears to be an epoxy. As are the heat shield sleeves over the wire leads themselves which are connected directly to the windings' output rather than the original method of both soldered separately into eyelets mounted to a fragile extension much like the strain relief mount which had a simple Zip-tie (seen broken in this view):

Our company has a sizable collection of WW2 birds that’s kept at Madras airport, here in Oregon (likely not a town you’d know unless you’re from around here... a perfect place to build a nice big facility on a quiet airport). Pretty much Only the owner got to fly the P38, his favorite, for many years. The air show in Madras each year is great, because it’s such a quiet little airport, and not a zoo like some of the big air shows. if you’re a fan, here’s the collection: www.ericksoncollection.com And of course, to stay on theme, if you’re ever riding your V11 in or near Oregon, be sure to take in some of the top notch riding out in central Oregon, and stop by the museum!

Received my 10-pack of new Omron relays from Online Components (thanks Docc), and installed the 5, all good. That leaves 5 for anyone who needs them. $20 shipped within the continental US.

Love it! i'll head down to napa and get one right away, and carry it in the V11 road tool kit :-> i've got a soft spot for Alfa's, "peculiar" as they are. I spent the summer when i was 15 in italy tooling around in a 2.0 quadrifoglio (sp?), with an uncle who lived there and was insane enough to let me behind the wheel, so he could smoke and cue up his music on what was then a state of the art stereo (mostly Mario Lanza, Buddy Holly, and John Denver). All that espresso and nicotine formed an "elder" family member who should have been saying "slow down kid", and instead was saying "faster!"

I think cost will be a key question, even if just an estimate. So that will be helpful to know. Since I changed out to a 2003 tank years ago, the "chin pad" isn't an option anymore. But I've often thought it would be neat to have the starter cover in CF. For me if I were interested... based mostly on cost of course, the more durable and sturdy weave would be preferable if there is a difference in durability between the 1x1 and 3x3. I have the CF front fender as above, but I doubt anyone would tell any difference in weave type between the fender and starter cover since they are so far removed.

3x3 twill runs in a lineal pattern. Factory 1x1 is like square shapes in the weave.

They sit up against the fork tube quite snuggly. At least on my Öhlins. Can’t vouch for your set up. I was really surprised to find any debris in what looks to be a fairly tight seal. Clearly something worked its way past and got into the fork seal to make it leak.I went on a 20-30 mile ride around the lake to test and when I got home it was dry. I’m glad because I really just wanna pull them off when the time comes. My fork project is.... (as most everything so far) becoming a great consumer of my time.

Rope? That will be broken down and of no use fairly quickly. I still suggest a high temperature potting epoxy. Even consumer grade stuff will be more then sufficient. If you look at some high dollar German tools like Festool, you’ll see they incorporate UV protection and everything is dunked in potting epoxy. I found a suitable and readily available product. MG Chemicals 832HT  High Temperature Epoxy When I get to addressing this situation, I will be using this exact stuff.

Here is ElectroSport's solution to heat fragility and strain relief for these long known failure points on the V11 stator ($154.00US). I'll be swapping this new unit onto the Sport and re-engineering the old stator's connections as a spare . . .

Been listening to Argentine music lately. A gringo that shoots the lingo. Might be in Spanish but you'll still love the melody...

Western Us indeed! I hope I see them rumbling by! Then I’ll start to cry! Too much work.. not enough Guzzi/mistral Muzak!!

In which case they aren't quite as much of a grenade......

I used a very thin flat blade screw driver for electronics. Just be very methodical and it will slide down. I forgot to mention I gave it a light wipe of silicone after blasting it w/brake clean

Rats, You'll be missed. I was going to press you pretty hard to buy the Ballabio this year

V nice temple, it still will be crowded ,,, they all do. 50cm roof insulation I woud think. Well done. Cheers tom.

I sent a new tail fairing and my pillion cover plus a '03 fuel tank to Exotic Car Gear. They did all the laminating in 3k twill CF. It was $1,800 to do all 3 pieces.

What are you replacing it with?

https://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/moto guzzi/moto_guzzi_targa 750.htm The V75 was a follow up to the V65. 4 valves per cylinder. Maybe Guzzi gave up and started putting 2Vs in them? Dunno. Colombo says it's a 4V also..