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The rear caliper on the Daytona race bike pictured is free to rotate on bearings on the axle same as the bevel box. Its just an inverted version of the bevel box and the torque is provided by the brake not the engine driven shaft. This is a bike I built from the ground up in the early 1980's with my own designed and built anti dive which we thought was worth having at the time. I also built all the bodywork including the original plugs and moulds. The dive mechanism is a leveraged version of a brake torque arm. Chuck might like the red engine cases. I was very avant garde back then:) Ciao

Recently, I replaced an imploded valve cover gasket. Some prior F-1 mechanic had put washers under the guard at two of the four screw holes. And used two different thickness/O.D. washers at that. Thus, two of the four screws were then working to pull the guard down flush. When tightening such an "arrangement" the threads will feel soft, but are really pulling the guard down the 0.5-1.0 mm gap caused by the washers. My rule of thumb: Trust nothing and nobody who has touched your bike before. Not the engineers, assembly workers, prior owners or "mechanics."

Ones the brake torque rod docc. It was fashionable at one time on sport and race bikes then when front brakes became the major stopping force as the rear brake wasn't really used or needed much on a sports bike it faded out. Now MotoGP bikes are reaching the limit of front stopping power the rear has gone back to this to promote squat under braking and to get a little more braking ability from the rear. So racers are again hitting the rear brake a fraction of a second before the front and the torque rod is set up to create a little squat. This lowers the c of g a fraction at the rear and helps keep it down initially. Its all fractions though docc for the very elite racers and even for national level road racers it a minor distinction. It was also thought that it isolated the rear brake forces from the swingarm and fed them into the chassis to help with wheel chatter on the brakes which was really more about decent suspension than brake forces. Ciao

HI New Zealand Moto Guzzi Rally is on again this year (Covid allowing) See website for details of where and when https://tattleyrappet.wixsite.com/rally

I came across these old personal images I had posted on the internet years ago. I had forgotten all about them but when I went looking for images of brake reaction rods etc there they were. This was my Bimota DB1 with its custom alloy fuel tank (hidden) its Racing Campag wheels ( hand cut slick on the back) Staintune mufflers made for me by Sandy that owns Staintune, four piston Brembo calipers and other mods I cant remember. In the background is my lovely modified Hailwood Mille that I smashed to bits,sigh and the fairing for my TT2 Ducati race bike just peaking out there. Here is our race bike after finishing the the 86 F1 TT. back to camera brown jacket Axle the owner of the bike, facing in the leather is Pete Muir our rider in the blue jumper is an English race whose name I have forgotten but we got friendly with and he assisted us in our pit stops when he wasn't racing. Next to our bike is the winning factory Honda of Roger Burnett, or Roger Hairnet as we called him. Here's Aussie superbike Champ and also successful WSB rider Mal Campbell at Sydneys Oran park for the 87 swan series on the Factory NR 750 oval pistoned race bike Honda sent over for him to ride that year. Mal was a factory Honda rider at the time and Aussie Champ as well if memory serves. ten years later I was mechanicing for him at the Aussie WSB round on a Privateer Ducati 996. Still racing now Mal and still way faster than most at Phillip Island on Post Classic bikes like Suzuki RG500's. 86 TT and David Tardozzi's Works Bimota that he later destroyed at the Glen Helen section. We went and helped pick it up and it was a molten pool of wreckage in the middle of the road as it had caught fire. Totally destroyed. Bathurst 85 and the late great Roger Freeths Macintosh Suzuki, note the Monocoque Suzuki Superbike in the background.( https://amcn.com.au/editorial/monocoque-master-steve-roberts/) Also note the unpainted bronze welded frame on the Mcintosh so he could keep and eye out for any developing crack in this prototype frame.Macintosh built beautiful bespoke frames for all sorts of stuff back then and we could buy road kits of this exact bike. Roger was actually and Astrophysicist and part time racer who was very very good and used to win this yearly race regularly and was also Mulitple NZ champion. He also was a keen rally car navigator at national level in NZ for Possum Bourne and was tragically killed in a rally car accident way too young. Totally fast and safe bike racer though. Swan international series 87 Oran Park and factory Yamaha GP racer Rob Mcelnea. Our working arrangements at the 86 TT sharing a house with Steve Wynn's crew. Our bike in the background, with back to camera is rider Pete Muir, partially hidden in red overalls is the bikes owner Axel and in the foreground is Wynn's bikes. None of the Steves bikes finished a lap in anger that year, we finished every race and practice session. They weren't amused at the time. The others are visiting German spectators that dropped by apart from the two Pete is talking to who were Aussies visiting. My TT2 race bike. I built this from factory parts and a second hand engine brought up to factory specs. I had a perfect example to follow as Axles bike was a genuine factory bike.My first attempt at 2K painting as I recall. My old 888 race bike with sump extension and home made rear brake disk and carrier. I didn't like the Brembo rear caliper at the time and decided to use the Nissan. factory frame, Ohlins GP forks, no brake torque arm, Marchesini wheels carbon tank and fairings, Corse radiator. And for you guys, Jay Springsteen and his mechanic, Daytona 87 Ciao

Yes rebuilt Kawasaki 900 powered with Malossi Carbs, Bitubo race shock and Magnesium racing Marzocchi adjustable forks. Ciao

Is the hole pattern for the tank ring the same between later, non-chin pad tanks and earlier chin pad versions ? There's 2 different part numbers for the caps, both US versions. Earlier - GU 0110 3920 Chin Pad Later - GU 0110 3990 No Chin Pad Asking for a 2002 Scura with CF Chin Pad

Phil, you seem like a guy that's been building rockets for years and decided to play with paper airplanes here. I'm grateful. Docc, Chuck and you and many others have provided much guidance. That looks like a badass Kaw. I think I am counting four bike header pipes.

I’m no fan of “whiz bang” latest and greatest.... I was more then pleasantly surprised at how much better my bike ran after the plugs and wires. I do think not having a plug intruding into the combustion chamber makes sense, so far she runs great. Throw those bad boys in there and see what I’m talkin ‘bout! Oh, did you check the condition of the intake boots? Hard to tell when they are installed, both of mine were cracked and super non buono....

A remap, throttlebody synch and a valve adjustment will cure your symptoms. It may just need maybe 1 or 2 of the 3 but you mightvas well knock it all out. Check the throttlebody boots for leaks or cracks.

We have a Power Commander on the wifes V11. But nowadays everyone seems to go with GuzziDiag. You can do more with it now using tools that re-program the ECU than you ever could using a cheater box like a Power Commander. That said, I like how a Power Commander works, and am not sure about the additional complexity of GuzziDiag. I know, people will say GuzziDiag is easy, but I am an old fart who hates "tech" and likes to keep things simple. But if I ever find myself needing to do additional tuning to her V11 the PC is coming off and I will have to learn the new ways. There are a few sources of great maps already made for a V11 (like from Beetle). Plus you can edit your map if you want to go in deeper. I am more likely to try a known good map and see how that goes first. But I am no expert on it yet. So don't listen to me.

Lighting off the mixture is also key. I installed Brisk Racing electrode-less plugs, big fat 50mm Thundervolt wires and I have a matched set of still yet to install Nology coils. Crudely tuned pciii my bike does not act weird at those rpms. I agree with Phil, the pressure won’t really do much if anything as you are not reaching anywhere near the duty cycle limits of the injectors. Quality 1st Tier fuel is important. I run Shell 93 mixed with 110 race fuel (US 131 Dragway) isn’t very far from where I live so it’s not a issue to get the high test go go juice. I would also check the condition / routing of the fuel lines.

That would certainly be best. I just offered the low lying fruit.... and like to know if there’s something else amiss if the Italians think one size should fit but then it doesn’t match what i find, so then i pause. I found a sheered bolt at one point, but it was a (fairly) clean sheer, so took me an extra minute of head scratching when reassembling from the batch of bolts in the parts tray as to what was going on.

Once you get familiar with Guzzidiag and Tunerpro you will realise you have previously been tuning your bike with one hand tied behind your back. Ciao

Forget the parts book,pull the cover and thread a bolt into the hole until it bottoms out or is flush with the end of the open threads and then measure the distace from the sealing surface to the underside of the fastener then the thickness of the cover and gasket and subtract 1mm and use that length. On the open holes you can obviously be a little longer but not too much as you dont want dirty/corroded threads running through the threads on the way out. Ciao

And why not Valpolini head cover gaskets, the best for the best. Cheers Tom Sent fra min SM-A505FN via Tapatalk

same issue i inherited on my red V11. and i've seen it on other bikes, including other makes, including some "bavarian" machines. at this point on my v11 just being gentle with those bolts is fine, as its not a high stress area. and i agree that bolt length is a real factor.... first time i tore into my new-to-me Red machine, there was significant mix-and-match in the bolts/screws i was pulling out. perhaps this winter when the prime riding season is behind us i'll dig back into those again as well, and consider doing some better fixes. but starting with a parts diagram that confirms which length bolt for which hole would be a good box to check.

I purchased this bike 13 years ago from Ken Johnson at Atlas Cycle in Tulsa, Oklahoma just before Ken retired and sold the business. Ken told me that it had been on display at the shop for many years. The bike hadn't been licensed for the road since 1977. All of the tinware retains its original paint. The frame and other black bits were re-painted, and the rusty hardware was cadmium plated. I tore the bike down, ordered a Gliardoni cylinder set and for the next 12 years the bike was in boxes. Last year I got serious about finishing it. Today I finished the wiring. I installed one of Greg Bender's fabulous wiring harnesses. I also installed his slick "relay solution" panel. Everything worked flawlessly. This was a very rewarding project!

Have you tried just chasing them through with a taper tap?