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Not V11... but at least they are spine frames!

Here are a couple shots from last night playing with the Iphone photo settings.

Thanks for asking, docc. Almost there! Rear-wheel and a new shock in place this weekend. The first weekend in 3 months without building the temple, and time to care for miss Greenie.

One year ago I purchased this 77 Lemans. It was a nice solid unit but had a few cosmetic issues. The most serious was cosmetic damage to the fairing, instruments, and instrument housings. When I got it home I noticed that the red gear lube in the transmission was leaking from the bell housing. This gave me the incentive to give it a complete going over. Here is the summary. ENGINE The engine was partially disassembled for inspection and found to be in very good condition. Rear main seal replaced, and gave the exterior a detail. CLUTCH Replaced clutch and upgraded to the deep spline. TRANSMISSION Disassembled for inspection and found to be in good condition. Rear and front main seals replaced. Front seal had been leaking. DRIVELINE U-Joint replaced and all spline drive shaft and couplings. U-joint carrier bearing replaced. The bearing felt rough and upon removal found the inner race had 3 cracks. Rear drive spline and mating drive spline on rear wheel replaced, along with new cush rubbers. BRAKES All 3 brake rotors were refinished by TrueDisk. All brake pads replaced with "best" Brembo carbon ceramic pads. New front master cylinder rebuild kit. Brake lines replaced with black steel braided lines. MISCELLANEOUS Damaged instruments repaired by Palo Alto Speedometer Service Damaged instrument cluster housings replaced New wiring harness from Greg Bender. A thing of beauty! Fresh paint by PaintWorks. Craig did his usual amazing work including the satin black finish on the fuel tank. New exact reproduction seat from Guzzibits. All rusty hardware was zinc plated at Manner Plating (local). Fresh Avon AM 26 RoadRiders and converted to tubeless. Fork seals and many other rubber bits replaced.

As I chase down rabbit holes to solve issues with low production number bikes I find that the market simply doesn't meet my "needs", so I started designing some of my own parts to accomplish what I needed or wanted. some simple in thought, some more complex, and this is all in my spare time. I've designed about 12 or so different parts for my early Buells (S2, S1, X1..) to change things that I felt needed to be addressed (modified) that didnt exist within the market, sure if I was riding, collecting Ducatis, there would have been a ready supply of anything I wanted.... NOT a knock against Ducati, quite the opposite... but I'm drawn to lower production bikes, which means lower number of parts and solutions. A very common complaint on these V11 variants is the lack of after market or OEM support with bar end mirrors due to the way the bar end weights are designed to thread in, so I worked out a design with a new machinist, which added to the complexity, but was a necessary evil since I had recently retired from the USAF and moved back to the midwest. These are designed for a very specific Rizoma mirror (Class Retro) that I wanted on my bike, these are big bikes with lots of shape and in my opinion need a mirror that works with the bike and compliments the lines of the bike and that FUNCTION! I found all of this while riding a buddies Ducati Monster that had these mirrors, and knew I had found my mirror of choice but they wouldn't fit the bike... I have been down this road far too many times with mods to my tube-frame Buells. The bar-ends needed to fit and function like the OEM design, and needed to be heavy, but needed to fit the Rizoma ID mirror mount. and for added bonus, I had a channel for an o-ring cut that put a slight pressure bump against the inside of the mirror mount so that they were a slight pressure slip fit, in this manner they would stay put as you got them into perfect position, anyone that's messed with bar end mirrors knows its a bit of "fiddelsome" thing to find the right position holding with one hand, tightening with the other and then holding position while you actually get into how you sit on the bike to ride.... I did have a few extra sets made to make available here, but with new kids I just haven't gotten around to it. I had two different types made to account for early model and late model (2002 year break) as there were thread pitch differences between the early model and late model year groups... they are made from heavy steel, I do not remember what grade as they needed to function like the OEM to balance out the vibrations, then iridite coated (if memory serves me correctly...) to protect them like the OEM bar end weights. Early up to 2001 were single piece weights and bar ends, 2002 and later had like 7 pieces that made up the bar end weight and the bar end. These are one piece (well two if you count the o-ring).... and are correctly thread pitched to match early or late model design thread pitch. I do have sets left........

Hey! Thanks. Stalking is good. I'm sure you now more about Gausdal than I know about Southampton:) I know about the massive destruction from WW2, The Saints and Titanic. That's about it. There are a lot of curvy roads around here, so bring your V11 to Norway, and I will guide you to Helvete(Hell).

Why the need to use ethanol free? Tank expansion issues? Aviation fuel is a waste of money in a road engine esp a Guzzi engine, it can't use the higher Octane capability of 100LL. It's also less volatile and engines that are used in cooler/cold temperatures tend to have carburation issue using Avgas such as harder starting and dead spots in the fuelling. Back in the 90's Ducati superbikes saw no benefit using Avgas. The ECU is not calibrated for the lower volatility of Avgas so yes it wont run as well. It's not going to hurt it but the fuel and ignition mapping isn't optimised for Avgas and it's reduced volatility and the engine doesn't need the higher octane anyway. Ciao

Thanks to all who reached out regarding my son, this is a very stressful time for me and my family. I have started a new thread for the bar-end weights. https://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?/topic/22175-bar-end-mirrors-on-custom-bar-end-weights/

Mark Linkous was a true motorcycle enthusiast. Sparklehorse is a play on words for motorcycle..

Has anyone experienced other symptoms associated with ethanol and tank damage / expansion? I wonder if the ethanol causes a deformation of the exterior of the tank that is visible to the eye? My silver tank has a minor crease near the point where it converges with the seat and side panel but it has no visible signs of exterior damage. Could this be due to years sitting in storage with ethanol fuel in the tank?

I'm not sure, to be honest. I've heard some people posit that a manufacturing flaw in the head could potentially create a "hot spot", and lead to pre-ignition problems. But then again, a bad carbon deposit could potentially create the same symptoms. All I know is that prior to the engine work, mine pinged pretty reliably on heavy throttle, and after the rebuild... it stopped doing that, which seems to imply that the compression alone couldn't have been causing it. __Jason

Truly a labor of love,you should be very proud! WELL DONE

Shit guys... This thread was started over 14 years ago, things have changed. NZ now has 100oct unleaded at the pump, compared to a jap bike the Guzzi is higher compression and does benifit from higher Oct here, our 91oct is very shitty, I get a bit of engine pinking on it specially on hot days, 100 stops this. However since the thread started my bike had a completely different tune, exhaust is more open, filters are pods and the ecu is reprogrammed from an earler v11... Its never run so well.

This entire thread seems to be based on a false conception, which Phil finally set right. High octane is the exact opposite of "extra bang". In fact, if your engine is indeed "banging", well that could be and indicator that you need extra octane. And unless your engine is heavily modified (such as with significantly higher compression than stock), then the correct octane would be the level specified in the owner's manual. The ethanol issue is another story... __Jason

V11 TT (1 of 15) currently for sale..... one day I'll regret it, but for now... well, its for sale for a larger need.

Now that friends and neighbors is what I call PURDY !!!

Sparklehorse has been receiving quite a bit of airplay in my little motorcycle shop the last couple of years. Sparklehorse is an acquired taste, but I have come around and enjoy the originality very much. I purchased a 93 1000S that had been owned by Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse until his untimely demise. I must be honest that I had never heard of Sparklehorse until I bought Mark's bike. I spent some time getting to know more about Mark and his band, Sparklehorse through internet research and was amazed by how many Sparklehorse videos there are on YouTube. I purchased a few of his CDs and started playing them while fettling his old bike. Listening to Mark sing and play while working on his old bike certainly added an extra dimension to wrenching. Here is a picture of Mark on his beloved 1000S. I have gotten to know one of his long time band mates a bit and he told me Mark absolutely loved this bike. Current state after an extensive fettling. I am recovering from hip replacement just 3 weeks ago, so the bikes are already in their winter hibernation mode.

my bad

I had this issue on both my LeMans and more so on an Aprilia Tuono. Draining the Aprilia tank and leaving it open (no filler cap or pump assembly) for a couple of months brought it back to original size. I coated it with Caswell's Dragon Blood sealer and it held it's size from then on. For some reason the expansion on the Lemans tank has not been as severe so I've left it alone.