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Thoughts, couple of wooden wegde pieces. Easy opening a tiny bit, and more wood against final drive, shoud come of. Cheers Tom.

Luck is defnetly useful. I know riding in some mountains this time of the year coud be exiting, look at my front fender. Blocks and pieces of ice at full speed down the mountain side. Oh yeah, managed to keep her upright, Luck. A twenty kg iceblock to the helmet woud have been bad Luck. New fender have been ordered. 1060km now. Allrounder is the word. I find myself riding faster with the V11, the 5-7k song comes to mind. Cheers Tom. Sent fra min SM-S906B via Tapatalk

Picked her up today after a 2hour test yesterday. Highway home from the dealer today, about 100m in cold weather. Can't wait for nicer weather. She feels light, so betting she will be fun in the mountains. More later. Cheers Tom. Sent fra min SM-S906B via Tapatalk

Hello all, I bought my first Guzzi a few weeks ago. It's an '03 LeMans of unknown mileage (speedo replaced, no records to reference). All signs so far point to it having been a neglected bike with lots of deferred maintenance I'm sorting through. Right now the driveshaft has my attention. I intended to pull it off the bike to get a good look at the spline conditions at both ends. In the process I've come across a few things that I need your help to gain knowledge about. 1) first off... is my driveshaft installed backwards?! Is that even possible? (and if so, could anything be damaged as a result?) Looking at the parts diagram, it appears the O.D. of the front section is smaller than the O.D. of the rear section. Or to put it another way, the end that connects to the engine/transmission has the grease zerk on the shaft, and the end without the grease zerk installs to the final drive. As you can see in the attached pictures though, on my bike the shaft section with the zerk on the shaft is connected to the final drive, and the larger O.D. section is installed to the engine/transmission. 2) I have the pinch bolts completely removed from the yoke on the final drive but I still can't pull the yoke off the final drive input shaft. What could be holding it on still? Is it OK to apply some "persuasive force" to get it apart? 3) I've seen lots of warning both on this forum and in the owners/service manuals about the necessity to make sure the alignment marks on the driveshaft are, well, in alignment... but what occurs if they aren't aligned? I ask because mine were indexed at least 60-degrees apart before I separated the driveshaft and I have no idea how long it had been run that way. These are the first of many questions to come but they're the brightest burning ones right now in this maintenance adventure. Thanks in advance for your help!

There is actually quite a few winther rallys, Primus,crystal +++. Long time since I been riding in the snow. So for sure a market for anything heated. Cheers Tom.

Thank you everyone for your prompt replies to my questions. I'll rest a bit easier that my orientation vs. the parts diagram isn't a terrible concern. I will pay attention to the spline orientation with regards to the marks when I reassemble and double-check that the marks actually phase the yokes correctly. About my challenge to separate the yoke from the final drive input spline, any thoughts on how to proceed?

Same as what docc? The pictures or the diagram? Mine had the female spline off of the gearbox, just like the diagram. That is the shorter piece with the grease zerk. I marked mine before I removed it. It was not lined up with the factory white marks...almost 90° off. The yokes were not on the same plane. If I put it back to the marks, they are. It's a phenomena.

As mentioned, there are two different rear wheel widths for the V11, a 4.5" wide rear wheel on the earlier V11's and a 5.5" wide rear wheel on the later V11's. You do not want to install a 160 on a 5.5" wide wheel, but it works great on a 4.5" wide wheel. If you have the 5.5" wide rear wheel you can go with a 180 or a 170, either should fit that rear wheel just fine. I would prefer the narrower 170, as it will give lighter handling all else being equal. And reality is the V11 does not make more power than you can comfortably use with a 170 rear tire. That said, some people like the wider rear tire and the way it makes the bike feel and look.

Running a 170 would likely give a rounder, more natural, profile on the 5.5" rim offering a smooth, predictable turn-in and more even wear. Probably somewhat easier to mount and a little lighter than the 180. Cons? It won't look as big and wide. I have the early Sport with the even narrower 4.5" rim, so perhaps members with the later V11 will chime in with more experienced feedback . . .

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My bike has always been the same as your bike. I don't plan to change it. The open end of the centre sliding spline faces back, so less road spray can get inside, but spline lubrication may be slightly worse with the grease nipple at the low end. As for alignment of the 2 halves of the shaft, the yokes on the shaft must be on the same plane, and the yokes on the gearbox/transmission at each end also on their own plane which is 90° turned. If it is wrong, your gearbox, shaft, and rear transmission feel torsional vibration. This would be bad. See the video pointed out by @Chuck https://youtu.be/5aCK4Bob6a0

+1 on preferring the narrower tire. To me it almost makes the bike feel lighter and I don't think I've ever gone so hard as to think that it needs "more skin" out back...

Same here !

I don't think you can go wrong with any of the major players. The Dunlops are fine tires. So are Michelin, Bridgestone, and Pirelli. I like the multi-compound tires they have nowadays. For road bikes they are a step up. I also prefer a narrower tire for the rear, the V11 doesn't need more than a 160. It just doesn't have that much power. But you should pick the tire size based on the wheel size. A 4.5" wheel fits a 160, a 5.5" wheel fits a 180.

Not going anywhere with street tires. Yes addictive. IPA time . Cheers Tom.

Look at them snow tires!!!

But the sound, shaking, rattling, smell and watch your neck engaging 1[emoji1][emoji1][emoji1] BIG FUN. Cheers Tom. Sent fra min SM-S906B via Tapatalk

161km in the hills today. Yes a great new toy, a modern Guzzi . Mapping, very good. Love the 105nm at 3500rpm. Means you can behave in normal traffic, BUT what a curb lover. Ok, new bike and all that excitement , I like her. Seen the rear light lighted, Italian.What a beautiful exhaust, no slip ons comes close, and and. Love to hear others experience with the Mandello. More for real comments later. Good friday gents Cheers Tom.