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I certainly believe pre-filling the filter is beneficial. If you look at the pump the volume of oil moved during each revolution of the gears is pretty small. The filter holds probably 400ml at a guess. Say that each revolution delivers 5ml and it's got to prime from the sump before it starts delivering that would mean 80 revolutions minimum to fill the filter, more actually as the crank to pump ratio is <1. Now once the engine fires 80 revolutions will happen very quickly but even so I know with the 8V that if you install the filter empty the time it takes to fill is enough to trigger an oil pressure fault code in the dash. With the older bikes with a simple light it will take several seconds for the light to extinguish if the filter is installed dry and remember the switch actually opens at some ridiculously weedy pressure! One of the funniest theories I heard was from some pommy 'Technician' who told a customer the reason the tappets failed on the 8V was because it took "Up to ten minutes" for oil to get to the top end! Now apart from the fact that the tappets are splash fed there is the fact that the cams, spinning at half crank speed, do so in plain bearings. Now if this rocket scientist can show me the material you can make a plain bearing out of that can run at thousands of RPM, dry, for ten minutes I'd love to see it! It must be some pretty special shit! :D. My point is though that it's worth remembering that 90% of all wear in a motor occurs in the first few minutes before it reaches operating temperature. 90% of that wear occurs in the plain bearings in the couple of seconds before pressure comes up. One of the nice things about plain bearings, despite their mechanical inefficiency, is that once they are pressurised they shouldn't wear at all as the two surfaces never touch! Anything you can do to minimise the time they run without oil, under pressure, has to be a good thing. One further thing to consider with the bike in question is the possibility that the big ends are shot if it hasn't got a sloppage sheet installed. It only takes a few hard launches with no pressure to lunch the big ends and if they have lost their clearance there is no way the poor thing is going to hold or build pressure.

G'day mate Yep they mount up just like the standard unit ! I've had mine for about 7 years and nearly 50,000 kays without an issue of any sort! Ha ha cheers James, I love this bike eh. I've owned some iconic bikes in the past but I can't think of any other bike that I've owned where the magic of owning /riding it is still there after 10 + years and 70,000 kays. Still look back at it as I walk away after a ride too... A beautiful madness ha ha

I'm watching a show on PBS "Through the Lens". It's all about album cover art from the '50s through now. Not surprising, The Beatles were among the the first to make it an art form. And importantly, the guys' style changes so much from '62-'70 that it served as a signpost for the times. https://www.pbs.org/show/icon-music-through-lens/

Making a gasket on the road isn't impossible, but it helps to be pulling into a SpineRaid where folks are, er, "handy" . . .

Hi Cliff Sorry yeah difficult to communicate with a limited character set. The US generally use American Wire Gauge (AWG) sizing where here in Europe (if the UK is in Europe anymore?) generally tend to use conductor cross sectional area (CSA) usually in millimeteres square, that's what the mm^2 was meant to get across. Lots of tables on the web going between AWG and CSA so it's easy enough to convert from one to the other. Once you get to it perhaps PM me or just post up what you're planning and I'll see if I can help or have any ideas (I'm no expert) I think I posted this up already (flagrant self promotion warning), but here was/is the Sfida 1000 just after I refreshed it a bit. I custom rewired, the original loom was shockingly bad and hacked about (by me and others). Used an M-Unit (pricey) and Sasche PUREG (combined Reg/Rec and ignition system), little sections of the rewire can be seen in the vid. John

Need a functional seat for a 2004 v11 If modified for comfort, the better

Yep plugs out and crank and look for oil from the switch hole. Prefill the filter and after the pan has been off for days it may take a little while for flow to establish as the oil system "may have" drained out. Ciao

If you use a Valpolini gasket you won't need to carry a spare. Ciao

A shame, really. After all of that, one would like to keep it round awhile longer. From a fellow Ballabisti.

Since I've gotten this scooter, there have been no rocket launches or long rides up steep mountains, so, despite no Roper plate, I doubt there is damage resulting from oil shifting in the sump. I just went by the local O'Reilly and picked up a Wix 51215 oil filter, fitting cap wrench, and strap wrench just in case to remove the apparent OEM unit. If the currently installed filter gasket checks out okay, I'm thinking of bolting the pan back up, refilling the oil, pulling the pressure switch, and turning the engine over again just to be sure there is no oil pressure and the switch is operative before pulling the sump middle section to check the gaskets there. Any yays or nays? Note that as I advance in my "golden years", the following equation seems to hold true: (Time left before check out)/(Desire to throw a wrench) = Constant

Hello Guzzler, Thank you for the info. The BiTubo on my 2000 V11 has started drooling, & wanted the HyperPro upgrade. Most of the info on them mentioned that it would need to be mounted on the upside, not nestled discreetly. Oh, & LOVE the Greenie. There truly isn't anything quite like a V11... James

ruined my wife's jeans too. I didn't care about mine, they were greasy anyway. Actually my (left) boot looked polished. One hint: Tightening the bolts on the road makes it worse. There are no gaskets anywhere, even if you call a Guzzi shop. Luckily the gasket wasn't broken. Always carry a spare valve cover gasket if you're traveling or get good at making one.

Thank you for that, John. You are a gentleman and scholar! And you’ve schooled me quite a bit here! Much appreciated. That’s great to know about the sizing, makes the system make more ease. Btw, what does ^2 mean? I am away for the weekend and early next week, but will follow up when I am able to get into this next week. Wishing all of you a great weekend! Cliff

In the United States "insurance" is a sector of commerce relegated to the individual States (not the Federal Government). Many States constrain insurance premiums by justified, actual loss experience. Liability losses (your actions hurt others or damaged property) are, by far, the most costly insurance losses. It is, in fact, rather rare for a motorcyclist to inflict serious harm and damage upon other motorists. In U.S. States where this fact is recognized, motorcycle insurance premiums are very reasonable. "Sport" bikes with vulnerable body panels often have higher premiums since even minor incidents create a significant damage claim to the insured motorcycle.

True dat.. However I like Miss V85's smile betterer !! Cheers Guzzler

Last year, I promised myself to play Brubeck's (acoustic) Take Five in my head to insure a flowing, but upbeat, gentlemanly pace. It was, mostly, effective. And enjoyable. Except for that one exuberant pass played to Rammstein's (electric) Benzin that brought out the blue lights and respectful, courteous conversation . . .

My pleasure, I meant to add generally the terminals come in 3 sizes, you'll have seen the insulated type in red and blue, there is a third yellow. Red is small, 1.5^2 nominal, I use for cable up to 2mm^2 Blue is med, 2.5^2 nominal, I use that for 2-3mm^2 Can't remember yellow but it's never used on motorcycles, for something like 3.5mm^2 which is never used, or I've never seen it on a bike. The non insulated I think are the best, are usually sized according to CSA or AWG so easy to choose what you need There's lots of other stuff out there too, but you usually need tools to use it and if it's a one off it's just not worth it. Neoprene (aka Hellerman) sleeve are great but heat shrink works just as well and doesn't need the tool. For sleeving you have a few choices, take a look here for some choices https://www.autoelectricsupplies.co.uk/product_list/66 Solid PVC sleeve keeps the cables clean, but a bit fiddly when routing cabling in and out I like the expandable netting type, as you can fish cables through it then use heat shrink on the end to tidy it. Spiral wrap doesn't look as nice but you can take it off easily and fish cables in and out and it's easier to see damaged cable. Anyway I need to go and get a life John

Last year, mySport got lucky to sit back and play bass with some awesome Guzzi quartet . . . Cannot wait to get back there!!

Can it go equally well? 😁

Preparing to "sport-tour" rather than local riding, the time has come for mySport to slip on a long-sleeve-shirt and a tight-fitting cap . . .