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Hi Everyone, I started riding dirt bikes in the 1970's when I was 12. In high school I rode an RM 250 and later a Husqvarna 390. When I was 18 I bought my first street bike, a Honda CB750F. I hadn't owned a motorcycle for the past 20 years until about 18 months ago when I purchased a 2017 V9 Bobber. I then found Great Deal after Great Deal (6 Moto Guzzi's at an estate sale, a 2016 V7 from a friend, 3 Harley Davidsons at crazy low prices from a guy dumping them for a land deal, and a showroom condition 2015 Triumph Thunderbird Storm from the original owner with 220 miles on it) so that I now have 14 motorcycles! The idea is that I'll sort them all out and keep what I like for the long term and sell the rest to cover the costs. For now it appears the Keepers are: 1970 Ambassador, 1980 V50II, 1989 LeMans, 2002 LeMans, 2016 V7 and 2017 V9. I'm unsure about the Harleys, as they are not yet road worthy due to sorting out a few odds and ends. I'd eventually like to add a Griso and Audace after selling off the non-keepers. I have 2 boys, ages 29 and 30, and a 7 year old daughter. All are enthusiasts! My wife is obviously a very understanding individual, and started this whole thing a few years ago when she innocently stated that she'd like to learn how to ride a motorcycle, unaware of my past and the passion for the hobby that has been reignited.

I have been told that 9 times out of 10 it would be the crank position sensor. Upper left side of motor. I haven't had time to change it yet. Thanks for asking

A note about the "running lean" comment vs cracked intake boots. If the intake boots are cracked to the point they leak, that air leak could make it run lean at and near idle. But as you gave it more throttle any intake leaks would become less and less a factor. By the time you are giving it enough throttle to ride it down the road the intake leaks from any cracks would be all but meaningless. As mentioned, if it is indeed running lean you should probably look into that. Your intake boots may be cracked, but if it isn't running well you likely have other issues. Also, the boots are notorious for having extremely nasty looking surface cracks without actually being cracked all the way through. A common test to see if it is leaking would be to spray a flammable fluid like starting fluid or some types of brake cleaner around the suspected area while it is idling and see if the idle increases.

Cost is prohibitive for us docc. That there's a $50aud tube of grease by the time we get it and here they charge a lot more for the product itself. I did some research on buying it a few years ago Phil

If they are relying on that ugly piece of shit in the video to get them back to the top then they are delusional. Phil

Sometimes, taking a ride may only be motivated by a lady running a food truck... I really enjoy the subdued, genuine authentic friendliness; I don't know you, but I get repulsed by the overly commercial fake welcoming you get a lot those days.

Bullet conectors from stator, make sure they have good connection, or even better make a solid connection. Go thru every connection with TLC. Cheers Tom.

https://www.amazon.com/IPC-Emulsion-Temporary-Assembly-Lubricant/dp/B008AYUQVG

John,get it back off him and send it to me and Michael. Your $ is strong, ours is weak and postage, if you don’t send it express, shouldn’t be any more than you’ll save on the exchange rate and at least we’ll do it! Whats wrong with it?

@red lion, did you get a good result in the end mate....

Hi, Well in response to Jaap's question about interest in a separate member introductory section, I thought I'd start a thread here in the meantime. If we end up with a separate Forum for this, it can always be moved OK, well where to start... I swear, I'm not really THAT interesting Well, I live in San Jose, CA... and have been riding motorcycles for really only a short time, about 4 years now. But I had always been interested in bikes, and "things with motors" in general My "starter" bike was a 1994 yellow Yamaha SecaII, which my wife at the time and I shared as we learned to ride after taking our MC safety course. Over the next year, I passed that bike on to her, and I picked up a used 1989 Yamaha FJ1200 that needed some work. I spent the Winter cleaning it up, and getting everything tip-top, and it took me on some great adventures across the deserts of the American West for the next 2 years. Time passed, the wife moved on... and along with her went the Seca... but the venerable FJ soldiered on until I finally decided that I needed something a little newer as little things started to go wrong with regular intervals... hey after all it was a 12 year old bike at that point But when 2002 rolled around, I had the fortune of having some extra cash, and was shopping for a new toy. I had sold the FJ for a reasonable amount, and with a tax refund, had enough to buy a bike for cash. I had been looking at a new Yamaha FZ-1(Fazer 1000) or a 2000 Honda VFR(Interceptor), but then I ran across a review for faired version of the V11 Sport... and that was it.... I was pretty much SOLD More about me? Well as I mentioned, I live in San Jose, CA. I work for Cisco Systems as a Network Architect... working in our IT department designing our network and helping with the engineering side of the house consulting on product features, etc... I'm originally from the deep-south... Louisiana, and still have family there... Monroe to be exact. I have lived in Pittsburgh, PA... New Mexico, all around Texas, Florida, and now out here in CA. Other interests? Well, I like to tinker. I really like hands-on stuff, and one day I'll be lucky enough to have all the cool machinery like Rich Maund has got at his disposal.... for both wood and metal working, so I can make my own parts. I have lots of ideas, just no big tools After just buying my house, I've been spending a lot of time fixing up things here and there... been rebuilding and restoring some vintage light-fixtures of late, and will be remodeling the bath, etc soon I'm sure. I also attempt to play bass guitar at times, and like all sorts of gadgets. Back to motorcycles... my riding style is pretty casual, and I like to focus on performance, with reliability and economy as a primary consideration. I typically ride on the weekends, with the occassional ride to work. I take 2 to 3 longish week-long or multi-day trips a year, usually as far from civilization as is prudent. Beyond that, I'd like to get in a track day/class here and there to improve my skills, but I'm no back-street scraper for sure. Well, that's about it.... oh, I guess physical stats... umm, 34yrs old, 5'8", and about 200lbs ... if that matters to anyone al

Regarding rubber chemistry preservation, consider what many consider the very best product available: https://www.amazon.com/Honda-Genuine-Shin-Etsu-Grease/dp/B006Z9TZ9M

For some reason I had not been able to find them myself searching on MG Cycle. The link was very helpful and I ordered the parts. Thanks again!

These are easily available from MG Cycle and in stock: Here's the link: https://www.mgcycle.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=279 Cheap enough you don't need to worry about refurbishing...I had no trouble fitting new ones...you can always add a slight light film of lubricant to help them slip on.

I'm looking forward to stopping there again...made a quick stop last year on the way back from Tucson...great riding in that area of Big Bend along the River road. Wild and rugged terrain, wide open spaces, remote and peaceful, lots of interesting scenery along the way.

Having Marc Marquez racing for Ducati factory, while being a sore in VR46's flank presents some unkowns. Time has most likely smoothed the edges with the general Italian MotoGP public, even if during a recent interview, VR46 made it clear that 2015 will remain the low of his entire motorcycle racing life. Next year, ten years after, Marc Marquez is hopeful to finally equal Rossi's titles number, and in 2026, go one beyond. To make it a double dip, on an Italian machine no less. After what we have seen in 2024, I have no doubt that he will be a tough competitor for Francesco Bagnaia. If only for what I said above. He made beating Rossi a crusade, and he is going to pull all the stops to achieve that goal. It is a given he will be able to do it. I only see one equal in the pack. Even if Digianantonio will have a GP25, I don't think he is in the same league as the other two GP25 riders. In 2025, I expect Ducati to win all the races; they nearly managed it this year, minus Cota that went to Maverick Viñales. I don't see any other bike as capable as the Ducati . I hope I am wrong though. KTM was the second best last year, but I don't know what is going to happen with their development. Let us not forget that that development will be frozen for the next two years after the 2025 homologation. Those 2025 MotoGP bikes will do the 2026 Championship before the major reshuffle. The next two years will be again a Ducati internal championship.

These things are just another consequence of the IT world we live in. The IT now allows the airlines and hotels etc but esp airlines to break down what was a standard service into it component parts and charge for them separately. Book your ticket 9 months in advance and chose what you would like to eat on the flight in 9 months time! Chances are they won't even be serving those meals in 9 months. What pissed me off greatly 10 years ago travelling by air within the States was paying extra for my luggage and then sitting at the gate lounge with people showing up to board with large suitcases that they were obviously not going to be allowed to board with and the gate staff informing them of such and then sending their luggage down the shute to be loaded into the hold for FREE. I made my feelings known to the gate staff that I didn't appreciate paying for my luggage to be put on board in the hold only to see grifters that work the system getting it loaded for free. Personally having travelled the world a few times pre and post internet the only benefit I see is Google maps for navigation and more convenient ways to pay for things. The flight and hotel booking processes have been broken down so much into their component pieces it's more painful than it was just arriving in a town or city and driving up and asking if there was room at the inn. And if you think internet hotel images are useful think again. I arrived at an internet pre booked hotel at Bakersfield in 2015 and looked at the neighbourhood it was in and then the actual room and quietly went back to the car and drove to the nearest holiday inn for the night. The next day I dropped back in to the reception of the first place and handed the keys back in after having paid for a night in a hotel I didn't stay at. Life is just to short to stay in a dump like that and i couldn't be bothered with a discussion about it with the staff at the time. Phil

So is the engine turning over? Or is it just dead? if it’s not turning over it may well be a grubby or corroded earth connection. The Sports have the battery/ies in the tail. There is an earth strap that goes to the rear sub frame, then that is bolted to the ‘Pork Chop’ mounting bolt. The earth path is awful! From the front subframe it’s even worse! They are notorious for problems with idiot lights, ndicators and headlights, all because of the awful earthing paths.

+1 on battery first . . . Then cleaning and treating (Caig DeOxit) the important connections: battery terminals, grounds, starter connections, ignition switch . . .

Oh, yeah. Let's ask the other inmates on the ward if it's crazy for docc to lie awake at night thinking about another motorcycle . . .

A modern day Greenie!

Hi everyone, My name is Dave, 63 years old and I live in beautiful Shropshire, England not far from the border with Wales, fine riding country. When I last counted I had owned 14 Guzzis, I think that's the most of any one make I've owned with Triumph in second place and maybe BMW or Ducati or even Laverda in third? I owned a slightly tatty Greenie back in the early noughties when I lived and worked in London and subsequently sold it to a friend back here in Shropshire, so see that bike fairly often now I've moved back here and occasionally work on it. I've sold my second V85 and had a guzzi sized hole in my collection when I saw a Coppa Italia Japanese import a few weeks back on eBay and took the plunge. Never imported over here but always liked the look of them and wanted something a bit more visceral than the V85s and (ha ha) a bit more usable than the 8v Griso I had before them. The Coppa has been standing a loooong time so I will start a seperate thread on that as I think it will be quite a journey with ups and downs along the way!

Greetings all, I am a new owner of a 2001 Greenie, formerly owned by forum member GMC28. It was a real stroke of luck to find a V11 that had received so much care from a meticulous owner, and only a few miles from home. The bike was ready to ride straightaway, which I've happily been doing, along with a little maintenance as I gather information from this forum. Thanks to all who contribute their experiences here, I don't think I've had a question that hasn't already been answered.

The bearing part numbers are easily traceable to bearing lingo (it was new to me since I never ordered "bearings"). Most of them have three dimensions and a type. If you look up the part numbers online, sooner or later you'll find the generic equivalent. If you want real grief, work with the Chevy Bodyshop "fixing" my 2008 Corvette and Farmer's Ins. They said no parts were available and are refusing to fix my car. I need the right rear quarter, i.e., knee. They couldn't locate one. The first salvage joint I found on the 'net can deliver it to my house for $260. Going to a new shop on Monday. Car was wrecked on 1 Oct.