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I have read an article from AMSOIL that states too much ZDDP is not "better"; quite the contrary in fact, since they state it can damage your engine. Here below is an excerpt from the recommended fluids for the V11 Le Mans. As you can see, it is in line with whatever Oil manufacturers recommend 5W-40. But as with everything else, this recommendation is frozen in time. Interestingly, AGIP is now ENI, and they have a new oil line using the i-Ride prefix. They no longer offer Agip Racing; the only place you find racing is in oil specifically conceived for Aprilia: i-Ride Aprilia Racing in SAE grades: 10W60 and 5W40. Those are indicated as "racing" lubricants. For us V11 owners, I think the i-Ride 20W50 is what they would recommend. As you would expect, they only show the usual SAE parameters.

As a tiny spare with me on the bike, is a piece of wire to connect directly starter solenoid and to + battery. Tells you starter ok and battery ok . Cheers Tom.

Quick and dirty solution is a Yuasa or Deka AGM - both made in Pennsylvania, a place I've heard of. I had less than stellar luck with an Odyssey and I tend to think that a motorcycle is not its best application. Many others here will argue - but they do that anyway. For $20-$30 more than the generic Chinese batteries, you can employ (mostly) Americans to make your battery.

The issue is generally with "yellow metal" bearings such as rocker bushes and thrust washers but also to a degree with big end bearings as well I think docc. Any corrosion creates particle which leads to "corrosive wear". It's generally accepted that a flat tappet engines is fine with a minimum of 1000ppm but tests have shown that even 800 ppm is sufficient as a bare minimum. somewhere between 1000-1200 seems the sweet spot. Ciao

Corrosion to some bearing and bush material docc. Too much takes the oil in the acidic direction. Ciao

Not sure why the Zink level have a "range" of 1600-2000 which is more than is needed anyway. There is a limit to how much Zink is required and anything over about 1400 ppm is of no benefit and can indeed be leaning more towards a negative. A case of more isn't necessarily better. No Full Synthetic motor oil needs or should be built on a 20W base these days. This oil looks like it's aimed at the "old school" people that don't really understand modern oils and always reach for the 20W-50 because they can't change their ways. Like everything else these days there are manufacturers that are quite willing to cater for any market they think they can make a dollar out of whether the product makes any sense or not. We are living in the "too many choices, bespoke world" to an extent now. Best oil grade for a BB Guzzi. Full synthetic 10W-40/50/60 depending on climate and usage with at least 1000ppm Zink. I've run my 2 valve engine on Mobil1 0W-40 for years and the Daytona engine on Full Synth 10W-60 Penrite as it has some special needs. Ciao

Penrite have some useful comments about oil. Note the paragraph about the change of additive requirements since the introduction of unleaded fuel. https://penriteoil.com.au/knowledge-centre/Oil Composition and Additives/44/zinc/396

Ah, yes, to wit (and I paraphrase): > Phosphorous is harmful to catalytic converters. Not a V11 issue. > High performance, flat-tappet motors should still use high ZDDP oil. [Yes, I would rate the V11 as "high performance" considering that it is an end point development of the V700 designed in the 1960s.] And I quote, " The camshaft and lifters are responsiblefor triggering the precisely tuned movements of the valvetrain. Without the protective film barrier provided by ZDDP, the cams and lifters wear from the force of operation, negatively affecting cam and valve operation." "Too much" ZDDP does not appear to be an issue for the V11 motor. No mention of engine damage that I can see in the article, only catalytic converter damage.

http://oilproz.weebly.com/news/the-debate-over-reduced-zddp-and-wear-protection

Unless one of us worked for a lubricant manufacturer, we all are in the same camp of those who never really cared much. As long as it is SAE, it should work. It is a pity that SAE does not define ZDDP and ZDTP and Phosphorus requirements.

Thank you all for commenting on this thread. I love this community. Thanks for welcoming me back after a couple of years! Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

Workshop Manual V11 Sport, is the one I grabbed from the Piaggo website I think calling for 20/50 The 5/40 recommendation surprises me, but I'm just a average bodger who knows little about such esoterics

I've never looked into the various viscosities in that amount of detail. As I only use the bikes in Spring/Summer/Autumn they never see an ambient below 10C (50F) so the low temp viscosities are academic and don't concern me The manual I have for the V11 states 20W/50, as do all the Guzzis of that era, I don't know if that changed in later V11 models. The only reason I'd run a 10W or below would to reduce wear on start up as it would circulate faster. However that needs to be balanced with warm up to operating temp and/or running temp, as some engines, dependent on ambient and other factors, may not reach 100C oil temp I came across a formula for interpolation of viscosites and it's far from perfect as it doesn't work so well with synthetics and multigrades, but it's better than nothing. Using it revealed some interesting results. When I changed from 15/50 to 10/60 around 20C the 10/60 is considerably more viscous than the 15/50 because of the higher viscosity index. So when the bike is cold on the 10/60 the oil is more viscous One more thing on viscosity is not all manufacturers who have the same grades are equal, the Motul synthetic I was using prior to moving to Penrite was a bit thinner for the same quoted grade. If I was changing grade I'd at least put on a temporary gauge to get some idea of what's happening to the oil pressure. From my limited experience you don't need to run the engine hard to get a clue, as above 3k RPM there is little change in pressure. The Sporti PRV opens at 60psi and when I'm out in ambients between 12-25C the pressure at above 2k is always around there. With Zinc the Mobil levels are high, the Penrite is 0.124% by mass I'm assuming that's 1240 PPM & Phosphorus 1100 PPM . There was a thread on here where somebody called Motul to check (I think it was 300V but unsure) and it was considerably lower

AMSOIL also advertises they use anti-wear components in the recommended oil for our V11s; https://www.amsoil.com/lookup/motorcycle/2004/moto-guzzi/v11-sport-v11-lemans/1100/?volume=us-volume

Indeed. What we don't know, what is the minimum ppm we should have. From what I understand, more is not synonym of better. This is the a big dilemma. As I have read, consumers are not really interested in what oil is used in their vehicles. There is some common interest in vintage vehicles owners though. Kudos to RedLine for indicating levels of Zinc and Phosphorus. This is what I am trying to find from those who don't specify whether these are included or not.

One tattle tale, or tell tale, would be blowing that 15 amps fuse if staying with the start button depressed too long.

Same here.

Indeed, @thelonewonderer's V11 is in the range of those that benefit from the added 6th Kiwi_Roy Relay to relieve the burden on the Ignition Switch. The battery actually can be load tested on the bike: Key off - an AGM battery is 100% at 12.84v and 50% at ~12.50v. Key on /lights on - Good if the voltage stays above 12.0, but okay even above ~11.8. Engage the starter (in your case only the solenoid) and look for values above 10v.

7th Stop: 101 Dalmatians giant fire hydrant: #26 193 miles return trip.

We're going a bit Off Topic from relays here, would it not be a better idea if you started a separate thread. [docc edit: Done! Thanks for the suggestion! ] Having a hot Hi Cam I've did a little delving into oils both viscosity grades and additives. The 2 I found that claim to have higher ZDDP were Pentrite and Royal Purple, both Australian oil manufacturers, I've no clue why. Currently I'm running the HiCam on 10/60 Full Synth Penrite. I've yet to get any meaningful mileage to evaluate it though. I've seen people stating Guzzi brought out a technical that the previously recommended 20/50 should go to 10/60, but on my Sporti I find that the bike runs fine on 15/50 (so a 20/50 would likewise be Ok). Purely anectodal, but I think the 2 V/V bikes don't require 10/60, they hold pressure fine on 20/50. The 4V/V bikes like the HiCam may benefit from 10/60 if they run hot. That's for the ambients in the UK, if you ride in high ambients then a 10/60 may be worthwhile. What little data I've gathered is from having a sump oil temp dipstick and a pressure gauge. You're quite correct though air cooled bikes will be more susceptable to changes in ambients, in the Ducati manual for my 1098 (a watercooled engine) it referenced a range of acceptable viscosity grades that could be used dependent on the ambient range. No clue if that helps or not.

So I got my FKM seals in the not preferred 10x2.5 dimension and they dont work. Just too big. Sizing up orings on a piston into a bore is quite a complicated thing even after I used a sizing programme. My preferred size per the programme is 10.3 x 2.4 but they wanted me to order 25 but when I called today they said that they can get as many as I like overnight no min order....Geeze. So I'm going the Lucky Phil non tech route and getting about 4 different sizes and seeing what works. At 30 cents each for the NBR and $2 each as it turns out for the FKM's I'll just use the scatter gun approach and hopefully be able to learn something and pass it on. My machinist mate recons that with a cheap little XY vice attachment on the pedestal drill and a 2 fluted mill drill you can cut the slot accurately in the plunger. The object here is to develop a process that people can do at home with basic tools to rebuild and upgrade this tap assy. Ciao