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Adding a relay is the way to go. You could try with a deasent cable from battery directly to the solenoid, to see if the starter engages,, every time. Of course bike in neutral and all that. Going thru all electric connections is a big bonus. It’s called learning to know your bike, very rewarding. Cheers Tom.

Anyways hopefully the Beast will be back on the road tomorrow

There was a bad batch of clutch plates in 2012 and I've heard of a 2013 bike having the problem too so let's not rule out the clutch entirely. I'll come back to that though. Firstly, all the CARC bikes and to a lesser extent the V11's are murder on their clutch fluid. It's for this reason that we change it at every 10,000km service or yearly, whichever comes first. If your fluid hasn't been changed regularly it may just be that the bore and seals of your master cylinder are rooted. If it's just the seals it can be rebuilt but if the bore is damaged it will need sleeving and finding somewhere to do that nowadays is getting hard, at least it is here. If that isn't a possibility new M/C's are still available but they're spendy! An alternative, more expensive but with the benefit of a lighter pull, is to go to a 16mm radial master. You'll probably need to change the hose to the slave though. Another, much cheaper, possibility is that the actuating plunger on the clutch lever has come loose and backed off. How much travel is there in the lever before you feel the piston in the master cylinder start to move? If you look at the lever you will see there is a barrel with a plunger coming out of it that actually goes into the back of the master cylinder to press on and operate the piston. That plunger is threaded and screwed into the little barrel in the lever and is usually loctited in place but it's real locating mechanism is a tiny 1.5mm hex grub screw threaded into the underside of the barrel that locks it in place. Now it's not uncommon for the grub screw to loosen or fail to properly locate the plunger so, if the Loctite fails, the plunger can move in the threads in the barrel and usually it winds out, away from the piston. When this happens more and more of the travel of the lever is used taking up the *Space* between the plunger and the piston before the piston itself starts moving, pressurising the line and lifting the clutch. When it winds out far enough there is no longer sufficient lift for the clutch to engage so the bike will 'Creep' in gear when halted and gear changing becomes difficult. If that is the problem the cure is simple. Remove the lever, loosen the grub screw in the barrel, (Use a VERY good Allen key or you'll round out the hex in the screw.) then wind the plunger out of the barrel a bit. The aim is to have only the tiniest bit of clearance 0.25-0.75mm or 10 to 25 thou between the end of the plunger and the piston of the master cylinder while the lever is at rest but the piston has to be able to fully return to the end of its travel to open the priming port to the reservoir. If it can't then the system becomes 'Closed' and as the fluid expands as it heats up it has no way to return to the reservoir so it starts lifting the clutch leading to slippage under load. It takes a bit of faffing about and trial and error but once you've got the length right the clutch should both work without dragging and not slip under load when hot. Once it's working OK nip up the grub screw to prevent the plunger from moving again. Although the plunger does have a slot for a flat bladed screwdriver in the back to allow adjustment it is usually full of Loctite so what I tend to do is simply hold the plunger in soft jaws in a vice and turn it by using the clutch lever as a lever to turn the barrel on it. If it's very tight? Heat the barrel to soften the Loctite with a propane torch, (Carefully obviously!). Of course if none of these things help then yes, you will have to go in and investigate the clutch. The *Usual* failure on the bad batch of plates is that the cush/anti rattle springs in the centre of the plate destroy their seats in the hub and eventually make a break for freedom. When this happens though the result is usually catastrophic and very, very noisy! What happens and what you have to do about it was well documented on Wildguzzi a few years ago in a thread titled 'Horrors in my bellhousing' by a bloke called Sean in British Columbia. Lots of pics to help too.

the RAM replacement. Not that different from the OEM aluminum (RAM made that one too) but lightened steel flywheel and better friction plate. I was lucky to get this just before they stopped selling this kit.

Hey Cash; I have absolutely nothing to add,just moral support that you're in good hands and this is an amazing job to watch unfold. Thank you so much for your descriptions and photo documentation,excellent! It's beautiful to watch At some point I'm hoping that there will be a discussion/confirmation re Baldini's post on the driveshaft alignment issue;especially in light of your recent work in that area. This is all above my pay grade,but I'm doing my best Sponge Bob imitation trying to absorb as much as I can. Patience,fresh eyes when needed & sage guidance; Carry on Sir!

Doing so greatly improved the tightness of the lever, decreasing it to ~0.5cm of freeplay. However, it unfortunately wasn't able to get the clutch disengaged in any gear (though it did make it much easier to rotate the rear wheel). In rotating the wheel with the clutch engaged, there was a very obvious scrapping sound and dragging feeling when moving the wheel. I took of the starter motor fearing the worst, but it doesn't seem there is a catastrophic failure inside the bellhousing at the moment. Though I havent had a new seal kit/ master cylinder, I think this might be pointing down to the failed clutch path at the moment...

Did you lubricate the seal with new oil before you fitted the new filter? It lets you tighten the filter without tearing the seal.

from my notes: MPH Cycles Starter Interruptus mod Parts at http://www.cycleterminal.com/ (except the 14 AWG blue, green and white wires). The MPH Cycles part comes with a 10amp fuse in the fuse link. The heat shrink tubing and the black protective tubing could be replaced by ordinary electrical tape. You need a crimping tool for the brass terminals, but a garden variety tool from the hardware store will do fine. The connectors from Cycle Terminal come with male and female spade terminals. The "eye" terminal on the fuse link has to be purchased separately.

Yup appears to be intact............. Its just sad as for what they are asking that Ti-Racing exhaust system is worth almost 1/3 the price. Wonderful machines to own and ride .......... truly under valued in the grand scheme of things IMHO. Ciao

Good news! "Yes" and "yes" to your questions . . .

The twin plate toothed crown wheel looks different. Seems when I unbolted mine the clutch internals/springs came out easily. Seems the single plate is different in this regard?

I think I may have found the problem…

@Scud had low oil pressure in a V11. I think he found a broken out bit of gasket where the oil module meets the block. With a Roper plate, you have 2 gaskets to check. https://www.v11lemans.com/forums/topic/22545-low-pressure-oil-light-on-at-idle/page/2/#elControls_259408_menu

I hurt my back yesterday, building a tire change jig. As I laid on the couch all day I watched lot's of good stuff. One of my favorite movies, Sing Street (Netflix), and endless Youtube videos. This particular one was so calming, I really enjoyed traveling along with him as he rode his '67 so so very far across Canada. Enjoy!

I'll do that (probably...), but I'm already familiar with the term and the concept from German forums. @LaGrasta : the "new bike" inspection hasn't happened yet, but it will come. The workshop that I share with a couple of blokes is no warmer than outside, so I'm not in a hurry to spend several hours in there checking over the bike until it gets a little less cold outside.

All described symptoms point towards yet another victim of ISIS... No, I’m not talking about a bunch of bearded dudes with twisted views of the world but the somewhat less threatening Infamous Startus Interruptus Syndrome that has plagued modern Guzzi owners since about the time the World Trade Center came down. Plug-in “startus interruptus” in the search box and you will be rewarded with days of reading on the subject, perfect for these dreadful cold and rainy days away from the open road...

Yeah, one easily forgets that electrical contacts are something that need servicing. For instance, power cables and powerboards (plugs into the wall and has multiple outlets...) that are used in the "event branch", i.e. PA systems, lighting, video etc., and in fact anything that has a power cable on it, is supposed to get a yearly inspection here in Germany. When was the last time anyone here opened the plugs on that old power extension cable in the workshop to see if the screws were all still tight? For the electricals on a motorbike, it is just as relevant.

Glad you found the problem w/o ruining the engine .

Thanks, I'll look at that. I got a PM earlier today suggesting I look at this topic: https://www.v11lemans.com/forums/topic/23441-solved-had-to-get-a-jump-start-from-roadside-assistance-starter-motor-not-cranking-after-a-chilly-night-intermitent-issue/ The symptoms described there match mine exactly, so I will be looking in that direction for sure. The gist of it is, the starter solenoid gets it's power through the ignition switch, and it may be that the switch is not letting enough amps through. Adding a relay which provides power directly from the battery to the solenoid and is triggered by the ignition switch will be more reliable and more robust. And should (or could...) solve the problem immediately and permanently. It is going to be a while, maybe a few weeks, before I get around to looking into this problem. Any further tips or information would be more than welcome. Thanks for the contributions so far.

I had intermittent starter issues ever since I bought mine, which increased over time to the point that it mimicked a bad battery- dimming lights, slow cranking, hard starting in general. Two years ago at the SSR it wouldn't crank at all, but later at home it started again. The long story short is that the pinion bearing in the starter was seizing. Here's the thread.

If the lights dim and you do hear a "click", then there could also be a loose magnet in the starter motor. I had that, and all symtoms showed a poor battery (voltage went down significantly when I pushed the button, as low as 6v). After replacing the battery, the problem persisted. I fixed it by changing out the starter motor & disassembled the old one, found a loose magnet inside.

Fine looking machine & glad you found the problem

out, and in a box, where it's happiest.

'02 Tenni single plate

it's here https://www.ebay.com/itm/165877360054?hash=item269f0fa5b6:g:q8QAAOSw8dNjvJ2f&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAsIeYdmjkTmWWjwo6XH10DJxWWiXTRtIewA6AvmjyCztxaOz4UFeAegoEx%2FLCOT51pxvo%2FMW0%2B310phwMXypWlGUlqStdN60Q%2BgMQ7PD5qF9DEd1%2BPpqnyEX2zcPL%2BdrnsjDM74VNhWX24RFS7EDkoNYfSBuR3Am5ycd6g3Kssju64b%2FwsG5Rzqr8VGj8ISig6hSTKpvPhFWY0EvJpyh96OdqMz3ZV0%2B3tu6VrY%2BNw%2BvL|tkp%3ABk9SR-TpnvGzYQ

We are all so anticipating views of the actual flywheel connection to the crankshaft as well as whether that funky-looking inspection hole "flaw" can be identified (and where it actually is . . . )

Yours is quite different. This is the view of mine through the inspection hole on right side of motor I wonder if its typical of the single plate clutch V11

Thanks for that, docc. I'll look at those.

That's nasty looking. You're very lucky that didn't happen unnoticed on a long ride. What type of filter is it? I've never experienced problems with them myself(Other than whole gaskets coming off and being left behind out of sight) but I've read lots of negative comments on UFIs fwiw

For people in Europe, SD has them as well. https://www.stein-dinse.biz/product_info.php?products_id=119#prettyPhoto

True, here is the topic I created for it. @Jake it sounds like the problem appeared somewhat suddenly after a reasonable period of normal operation. To me, this suggests that you either have a big gap somewhere, or a failed pump. My bet would be on the gap. First suspect would be the oil filter - but for it to drop to zero, whatever is going on there should be totally obvious. The problem I has was a bit of gasket missing - that reduced the pressure, but did not drop it to zero. It would have to be a mighty-big bit of missing gasket to drop the pressure to zero.

THIS. When you reassembled the driveshaft, how did you align it? Did you use factory marks? IME these can be totally incorrect. Check alignment of two UJ's looking along the assembly. My Scura exploded front UJ. Below pic on L is aligned as it came from new (aligned according to paintmarks) & prior to damage not previously disassembled. KB PS: Audiomick - the missing triangle looks to me like something unrelated placed in front of the clutch assy.

I can give you advice and what will probably be a cheap fix for this, if you're lucky. If you're not so lucky I can give you a 'Cheaper than clutch replacement' fix. Gimme a few hours though because I'm on holidays at the beach and I need to go to bed and sleep first. pete PS. What year model Stelvio?

The actual flywheel (#7) bolts are seen, below, as #9 and obscured beneath the "Toothed Crown"/ #10. The Toothed Crown fasteners (#12) "Allen head type" are not the concern . . .

Another calming, impressive MG channel was, 46 Works, https://www.youtube.com/@shiroh73/featured This guy is talented with his build skills, but also his video editing, I found them to be very calming. Enjoy!

I have not heard of any RM's (or anything else than a Scura, to be honest) suffering from the spontanious decomposing flywheels...