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Photographers posted along the "Dragon's Tail" route did a great job of catching all the bikes as they went by. This is the first picture in over 50 years of riding of me actually underway on one of my beloved Moto Guzzi's. Can't wait until next years Spine Raid.

So, the replacement master cylinder (from a wrecked '02 LeMans with 9713 miles) is installed and holding pressure. What a major PITA to get it to prime and bleed. Apparently, the hose connecting the reservoir, and that barbed angle fitting, to the M/C is a nasty air trap. Thanks @MartyNZ for the tip! You're a bright cadre of lads, yah? WTH, we cannot figure out a rebuild for our Brembo® front brake master cylinder? Same master cylinder for the entire V11 series?

For those interested, here is the jackshaft from a Daytona/Centauro engine compared to the replacement from an MGS-01. The Centy jack shaft replaces the 2 valve engines cam shaft and is driven by the crank gear at the front which in turn drives 2 belt pullies mounted off the front of this shaft. The MGS-01 does away with the whole back end of the Jack shaft and plain bearing at the front of the cases and replaces it with a ball bearing. Smart move as it saves the friction of the jack shaft rear bearing and also replaces the front plain bearing with a low friction ball bearing. Ciao

The idea is to run the least pressure you realistically can to provide lubrication and cooling to save power and also give better fuel economy. This is why the latest cars in the US especially tend to run 20 weight oil like 0W-20 to meet the government regulated fuel economy targets. Less pumping losses equals better fuel economy.The same applies to a Guzzi engine except being an old air cooled design it needs a heavier oil but the same applies it's just it happens to be at a different level. No point creating more oil pressure than you can use. High oil pressure isn't always desirable as it generally indicates a lower level of flow(pressure is just the indicated difference between the amount delivered over the rate of leakage) and you need flow to cool things like plain bearings. This is part of the reason you run wider bearing clearances in a race engine, to increase the oil flow through the bearing to aid cooling for a bearing now operating at an increased load for longer duration. In the case of the Guzzi 2 valve and even more distinctly the old 8 valve models that have extra leak paths through more bearings and run hotter is that you are trying to balance out all the variables including the complication of air cooling. So running a 60 weight oil itself isn't particularly desirable as it reduces flow through the main and big end bearings however it has the advantage of having a higher load carrying capacity and props up the minimum oil pressure when the conditions get extreme for an old air cooled engine in high ambient conditions and heavy traffic. Its a balancing act, does the engine need the extra load carrying capacity of the 60W? I doubt it but in some cases it needs it at the other end.So basically for an old air cooled Guzzi you need an oil that will provide around 10psi/1000rpm oil pressure (although for a road and even some race engines you can get away with considerably less) and also hold up enough pressure at the idle end to keep the LOP light off. My 2 valve angine always ran on Mobil1 0W-40 oil and never had an issue with the oil light at idle and I know it had enough pressure at the other end because it never blew up,or made metal LOL. My Daytona engine with the std spring makes 58-60 psi hot max and around 32 psi hot on 15W-40 oil. Both ends are adequate, the top end max could be better but its not going to be an issue. To get the top end better I have a choice, either a heavier oil or the John ratified Griso spring. For the moment its the heavier 10W-60 oil but further down the track when its convenient I may just update to the Griso spring and lighter weight oil. Ciao

Loctite 242 Nutlock Metal front engine cover gasket 12001200M front cover crank seal 90402840 Cam flange ( later style with oil relief slots or older style without which you can easily modify) 01054000 A tool like this ciao

Hi @Twin AH I've got some pictures of the teardown and install of the Caruso gear and pump change. At some point I've been hoping to a do a "how to" if that's what you're referring to, but it hasn't happened yet. I don't know of a single document or place where all the mods are listed and it all depends on how far you want to go. I'm sure Lucky Phil will chime in and he's the real expert. As far as the Griso spring change out, I'm the only person to have done it as far as I'm aware and the bike hasn't even been out on a shakedown run, although the results are encouraging. The problem as far as I can see is the original spring is too soft and so starts to lift early. The Griso spring is much more positive helping the valve to seat and only lifting at it's setpoint. Once the engine is up to temp the valve will be shut (but probably still leak a little it's a rotten design), The OEM spring will probably still float and rob the engine of oil flow. I haven't done extensive testing with either but a few have reported that running oil pressure can be lower than I'd personally be comfortable with. Have you read through Lucky Phil's Hi Cam build? That's a great place to start. https://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?/topic/20664-v11-daytona-project Part number for the Griso spring is 94321077 All I've really done of significance is the Caruso pump & gear mod, the Griso spring and installed a different oil cooler as I didn't like the OEM setup, due to the 4 banjo fittings which I reckon will introduce a signifcant pressure drop across the cooler. However with the exception of the Caruso gears and pump, I can't recommend them any of them yet as the bike hasn't been out on a proper run to asses them

Hey Docc, It's over my head and above my pay grade, but I love reading knowledgeable gearheads really getting into it. lol.! Tks for snagging those images, they're worth a thousand words to me.

Not a poster but You get one here..https://www.ebay.com/itm/GILERA-125-Metal-Motorcycle-Sign-15-5-x-12-/163923040553

Yeah, for some unknown reason, the usual method of posting images ("BB Code") which Pete used correctly above is not being recognized by the new forum software. You can post your images direct using just the address beginning with "http", AFAIK. Here are the images I searched individually and posted "Copy Image location." The first two look identical to me.

It's a 2RS bearing. I think I've got a pic of the lubrication system layout on the 8V. [img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49417221471_3d5c8344ac_z.jpg[/img] This is the front, (And rear next to it.) main bearing. While I too hate the supposedly non replaceable front main I'm pretty sure I could sort out a way of fitting the earlier main and allowing the cooler delivery to the under piston sprays. [img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49417221476_65ebf9c3e5_z.jpg[/img] You can see the gallery for the oil sprays machined into the case. The bearing is then presumably shrunk in afterwards. [img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49416747388_9073576ce6_z.jpg[/img] The case is cross drilled for the spray feeds. [img]https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49417221396_e1f0e64c3a_z.jpg[/img] The jack shaft is now withdrawn from the back unlike the earlier motors and the rear end spins in a needle roller in the cap that bolts to the rear of the case. It is sealed with an o-ring.

Oh Ok Pete, looking at the colour representation of the oil system I see the pressure side still goes around the front jackshaft bearing and I assumed it only went there to transfer to the aft jackshaft bearing. I can see now and you stirred my memory that the feeds from the cooler are dedicated cooling circuits. I was taking an interest because I want to convert a Daytona engine I'm building to the MGS-01 system that eliminates the jackshaft by using a 25x12x47mm ball bearing where the front cam bearing used to be. The MGS though feeds the heads from the oil cooler and I'd prefer the head feeds were internal as std. You might know Pete is the front bearing now used in the Griso to support the jackshaft at the front a ZZ or double sealed grease filled bearing? I can see it has a seal on the forward side but I have no view of the side that's inside the case.If you use a ball bearing here with the internal oil feed gallery you need to machine an oil feed groove in the case around the bearing OD. Its either that or run a needle bearing there with a steel bush and machine the oil feed groove in that. So do you know if the front jackshaft bearing in the 1200 engine is the double sealed ball or just a single seal? I'm guessing its a double sealed unit? Ciao

Well I dont agree with running an oil pressure gauge. John and I have done plenty of research on this now and in my view we have a workable outcome. With the Griso spring you get around 75psi hot oil pressure maximum and idle pressure of around what,32psi hot on 15W-50 oil. The hot maximum is plenty now and the hot idle pressure also has plenty of head room as well ( considering 10 psi at idle is actually all you need). We now have a greatly uprated pump, driven by steel gears which should allay any reliability issues. So John has done a brilliant job with this with a great outcome with plenty of pressure head room at both ends and what should be a bullet proof oiling system. Great, I see no need for an oil pressure gauge now the LOP light is all that's needed. A LOP gauge is just another failure point and distraction in my view. My bike runs significantly less pressure than Johns engine currently and I'm totally comfortable running with just a light. Pretty much every motorcycle made and the vast majority of cars use a light only. There comes a point where you can get tied up with to much information. Oil temperature is a more important matter to look at I think esp in hot ambient traffic conditions. Ciao

Welcome..!!

Purist!