Leaderboard

Alright, sorry about the stab at humor. Richard Widman's air-cooled engine (Corvair) discussion is still, IMCO, worth sharing. Sure, this input still requires some "extrapolation" to apply to our V11, but ever relevant for air cooled motors. I remain a devotée to Group 5 base oil in the 20W-50 range in my original Moto Guzzi specifications. https://www.widman.biz/uploads/Corvair_oil.pdf

I have had two motorcycle crashes. One with a heavy leather jacket/ no armor and the other in leathers with armor. Armor for me, now, in all riding gear. I've seen the difference in impact dispersion.

My first 30 years of riding I wore t shirt, jeans, gloves and boots. No helmet. Sometimes no shirt, sometimes shorts. I adjusted for cooler weather of course. Then I started thinking. Now I'm Most of the Gear, Most of the time. Always helmet, boots, gloves, jacket, sometimes armor, better boots, or better armor. I adjust for heat of course. I don't think I'd ever wear the heavy duty stuff that guy says he always wears.. And yes- a bit of cheap armor is better than no armor. Would I rather drop & slide wearing shorts, or jeans? He does make some interesting points, but in the end he is a monetized you-tuber and must create content to make it rain.

I'm not quite an ATTGATT guy, but always full-face helmet. And damn near always serious boots, gloves, and jacket with armor. For a sporting ride or long distance, I will add riding pants with abrasion resistance, armor, or both. I will pop over the grocery store in a t-shirt in summer, but in that case, I'm on side streets and topping out around 40mph. I'm with LaGrasta on the dirt - except I call mine an exoskeleton instead of bubble wrap. Interesting video, and he seems to be citing credible sources. The main critque seems directed at the cheapest pads, not the premium ones where manufacturers go above the low standards. So my take away is to keep wearing high-quality gear.

I am so sorry to share that our member Mikko passed away unexpectedly January 10, 2024. He was an extraordinary fellow and I will surely miss him. R.I.P. Mikko

When I converted the wife's V11 Sport from clip-ons to handlebars I was able to make the cables and lines work by re-routing them. But I had to be pretty creative. Eventually I ordered a longer brake line as I did not like the "creative routing" required to make the stock line work.

Dress for crashing, not comfort.

Wow. A no brainer if it was for sale on this side of the pond.

*drool Who wants to buy my 1200 Sport

If you can park the bike upright and open the level plug to drain overnight, any overfill will self correct. Otherwise, seal failure will manifest by dripping off the bottom of the bell flange if it is the large, inboard seal. Or at the right swingarm junction if it is the deep, inboard seal.

All of my street-riding jackets have these, and my dirt-riding clothes are damn near bubble wrap at this point. Without them, I'd feel naked, and not nearly as muscular. After watching this video (huge fan of F9) I disagree. If I bang my elbow into the wall with or without, I already know what one will hurt far more. It would be nice to have less weight in the jacket though, cooler as well.

Finally got a chance to pull her off the stand and get her out on the road, for a run-in-the-sun down to the local ethanol-free gas station. Proof of life. She has a different feel than the Lemans(s), or at least more than I had expected. She starts, idles, and runs sweet, but is a bit more buzzy at some rpm's (pods/airflow/TBS, etc), and I feel as though she's a lot smaller for my tall-ish body than the Lemans, though I know that's mostly in my head. Now back to Goldie, to see if I can get her ready for the June 28 MG gathering at John Day, for my Guzzi buddy to ride (i'll be on Red)

It's abdomen-philic.

Figures! I'll have to get off my wallet again seeing as the Vintage brand fits ok with the plastic bucket on the V11 Lemans.

#2,557 · 2h ago Liberty Media announce sweeping changes to MotoGP Liberty Media announce sweeping changes to MotoGP: New commercial rights holder Liberty Media aims to combine MotoGP and Formula One. www.cyclenews.com Liberty Media announce sweeping changes to MotoGP Rennie Scaysbrook | April 1, 2024 New MotoGP commercial rights holder Liberty Media has announced a raft of changes for the two-wheeled series as it aims to more closely align it with the crown jewel in Liberty’s portfolio, Formula One. Liberty Media purchased approximately 86 percent of Dorna, the Spanish-based enterprise that has been in control of MotoGP since 1992, for €4.53 billion ($4.51 billion). Liberty will also take over as the exclusive rights holder of Moto2 and Moto3, the FIM Enel MotoE World Championship, the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship and the new FIM Women’s Circuit Racing World Championship. Liberty Media has confirmed Pirelli, the Italian brand responsible for the control tire in Formula One and in WorldSBK, will become the sole tire supplier for MotoGP, replacing French company Michelin who will be demoted to supplying the tires for the Dorna personnel golf carts seen in the MotoGP paddock. 🤪 🤪 🤪 🤪

Update: I spoke with Andreani and discussed my seal, bushes, and cartridge r&r. So this morning, I bought a single fork leg to replace mine. I found a guy just north of my home that had the exact side and size I needed. He works at Scotties's and is a Guzzisti as well. I'm told everything is perfect and could be put in the bike and used as-is. I'll have to pull his internals and replace with mine though, to do so is merely removing the top cap and lower allen and swapping in the Andreani cartridge. I'll top off with new fluid and I should be good to go. I'll of course still need to sort my new clip-ons, and the cable/line length limitations. I'm hoping to just reroute them, rather than replace with longer.

Wanted to comment on Saturday, took a minute to get account approval, so I kind of assume a line must have formed already... If the deal falls through on the 15th, I'm interested. How's the ergonomics for 6'8 and 250#?

There have been different numbers given for total suspension travel for the rear of the V11 Sport. But the difference between 128mm, 120mm, or 135mm, is too small to worry about when you are only talking 30% of the difference. The forks are easier to measure travel, just lift the front end slightly off the ground so the front forks are completely extended, then measure the distance / length of the exposed slider tube. Full fork compression is when the entire slider tube is stuffed into the outer tube. So the exposed length of the slider tube is pretty much the amount of available suspension travel in the front forks. As with the rear, being exact is not important. Within 5 or 10 mm is good enough. Keep in mind that if you are 10mm off in your total travel number once you take 25% or 30% of that you are talking an actual difference of 2.5mm - 3mm. Just not something that is going to make a difference in the actual outcome of setting sag.

Having conducted various science experiments with my HiCam engine, I was going to post but been beaten to it by some great info from previous posters, @Lucky Phil has already said more than I could add (and like him I run a 10/60 in my HiCam) Anectodally, I run 15/50s in my Sporti and I've never had any issues with the 2v/v engines. Now I always check the spec sheets, I was surprised by the viscosity differences from supppliers selling, what appears to be a similar product. All full synth group 4s at a given grades can vary quite a lot in their viscosities and viscosity index. That's all I have to add

Not just abrasion, but heat dissipation. I had a wreck with gloves on where the leather prevented ripping off the skin. However, that leather heated up from the friction where it literally melted the skin on my palms. And these were kevlar lined. Could have been far worse.

Yak fat proponents, step ye forth!

nothing to do with this, of course... No, only taking the piss. Thanks for the explanation.

You can largely disregard the lower number in so far as you should aim for the lowest possible for a Full Synthetic group 4 oil. The "it's too thin" thing is the opinion of people with no idea about oil. To get this point straight in you head and a perspective on it think of it this way. A 0W-40 oil is still a LOT more viscous at room temperature (so the 0 end of the scale) than it is at 100deg C ( the 40 end of the scale) or engine operating temp where the engine is designed to produce maximum rated load and power and the oil is designed to provide lubrication and cooling so how can a 0W oil be "too thin"? Answer, it isn't. It's true that the wider the spread of viscosity even in a Fully synthetic group 4 oil the greater the additives with regards to maintaining the VI but it's nothing compared to older mineral based oils which always started with a higher viscosity base oil to provide a safety floor viscosity wise for those that don't change their oil. I run my Daytona engine on 10W-60 for two reqasons, one because "some" of these engines have oil pressure issues at idle in traffic at high ambient temps. It's just a little headroom for these conditions here. The second is because it has higher zink levels for the flat tappet lifters. Should it be changed more regularly than a 10W-40 oil, probably. Like you I wanted to use a single oil in all my vehicles and I chose Mobil1 0W-40 and used it for years in everything including in my V11 Sport with the original 2 valve engine. Worked perfectly and didn't have any issues with oil in the airbox etc or OP light at idle. The SP rating is the latest spec but not relevant to our bikes because like the interim SN+ which was a fill in spec until the SP grading was released these latest 2 specs are primarily about protecting direct injection engines from LSPI nothing more. Grisos went to a 10W-60 oil ostensibly to help out with oil temp issues in the oil cooling galleries around the exhaust ports these engines use but I never saw the sense in this. I've never been able to find any data on the difference between a 60 weight oils ability to absorb and carry away heat over the capacity in the same circumstances as 40 weight but I can say for sure that a 60 weight would not flow as well as a 40 weight oil in those conditions and when you are trying to carry away heat from a hot source what you want is more flow not less from a heavier weight oil. I've spoken to powerplant engineers in aviation and at GM personally that had almost no detailed knowledge about engine oils believe it or not. I wouldn't be surprised if Guzzi wasn't pretty much the same. BTW I've never considered using Motul oils because they don't release a detailed enough TDS listing zink levels and anti wear, anti oxidation and detergent information. Phil

Yes. Always gloves. They start saving skin when you mess up putting the side-stand down, and never stop being a good idea.

Yeah, that would be good. The standard glass in southern Germany is a half-litre. Two of those of smoked beer is enough. It gets pretty penetrant after a while.

Yeah, it does that, doesn't it? Thanks for the number (128mm). That is for the rear shock, I take it, as that is what this topic is about. I've been looking for a number for that. I'd be interested in a number for the 43mm Marzocchi forks with rebound adjustment on both legs too.

Have those bulbs in my 03, 04, V11 and patterns is like a regular H4 halogen, only brighter. 1100 Sport needed some grinding on the bulb to get the lock working. Don’t fit in my 01 Greenie steel housing. My 99 has an aftermarket smaller housing with enough length to fit. Don’t ride a lot after dark no more, but no dought, BETTER. Cheers Tom.

Titanium canisters not shown in this stunning view.

Ha ha, wonder what a greenie with 102.000 kays on her might be worth these days....? Probably bugger all, but priceless to me all the same! Cheers

I had to take the dash off so I could work on the whole assembly on the bench and get all the wires to fit inside the stock gauge cups. Here is how I finally organized everything so it would fit. and the back view of the finished product. I saved 5 minutes by not fully reading the instructions for how to set the tach, then wasted a couple hours of rework. But in the end, goal accomplished... The push-button is for resetting the trip meter.

I really do enjoy the intake "aria" of my bell-mouthed intakes (no snorkels or lid holes). To be fair, I spent much of the time reshaping, evening out, and opening up, the constrictions up inside those intakes maybe 2-3". I didn't get mine belled out to 50mm like PhilA (ran out of beer), but have been super pleased with the outcome. My result: @Phil A's: One of PhilA's compelling posts: