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The ohlins seals are single lipped to reduce stiction, but means they are short lived (especially when the dust seals have disintegrated!). Anyway, a standard mod is to replace them with generic Japanese seals of the same dimensions (without looking it up, mine are for a GSXR1000 from 2000 ish?) but these have double lips which greatly extends their life at the cost of a tiny bit more stiction. In any case the ride over bumps is waaay better than my original greenie with Marzocchis, and better than I was expecting to be honest, after being spoilt with my Ducati Sport Classic. As standard these were apparently awful but the previous owner fitted Ohlins shocks and very good fully adjustable Showa forks off a Monster S4R. The Coppa can't compete in ultimate terms due to weight, but suspension compliance isn't far off. Sorry for long reply to short question!😁

Because it's modern engineering. Very few engines these days use gaskets because sealants do a better job. Metal to metal with sealants means no gasket compression over time, no gasket failures and less parts to assemble and manufacturers save money. The Guzzi engine is a transition engine between gasket and no gasket engines. Ducati twins haven't used crankcase half gaskets for over 30 years. Removing the gearbox cover is no problem as there is a built in leverage point to pry it off. It's an engineering evolution. BTW the original Guzzi BB rocker cover gasket is a PITA and fails regularly. Use a later metal core gasket. Same for the front cover gasket.

Haha I might have known you guys would beat me to it!! To be honest I was flying out to Iceland with the family (where I am now)straight after reviewing the video before publication so was all a bit manic. The bike is going great after a few, ahem, interesting shakedown runs (E.g. the rear master cylinder seized the rear brake on slowing down on a fast dual carriageway resulting in me being marooned half way on to the hard shoulder)! Also, and not unexpected, one fork seal popped on a longer run and covered a disc with fork oil. So forks all rebuilt with new Suzuki seals etc. Anyway it's rapidly confirming I made the right choice. The video seems to be going down well and reminding people what lovely bikes they are, hope you enjoyed it? Cheers, Dave

I had to laugh at your comment, "And it gets worse." Makes me think of this Tom Clancy quote:

They don't use air, but fat from your love handles to inflate it.

I’m just asking the question by the way.😃

I like driving with the windows open and adjusted properly to limit wind noise around town, not at highway speeds. I like resting my arm on the door sill. Easy to do on my 2007 Chevy pickup but very uncomfortable on newer cars because of the higher belt line. Car designs have changed over the last decade or so and sleekness trumps convenience. Tiny ribbons of glass seems to be the trend now.

Some people like to drive past things, others like to drive through them. I find there is a time and place for each. One of our vehicles is a Jeep, with the top off and doors off you really drive through the world, not past it. Very much like riding a motorcycle, without the need for all the gear. Drop down into a gulch and feel the temp change. Head over a mountain, it changes again. But not everyday, not every trip, is a naked Jeep trip.

Just reviewed this entire thread after the Lemon Drizzle Gang video came up. Pretty amazing that @wavey_davey1 performed this "recommission" in three months! I thought that these links to the video belong here . . .

It's been several years since I've stopped into Mike's place in Hempstead...we had a few guys drop in one time for a little rendezvous. He's not too far off the route we do from time to time from Hempstead to Belleville, we swing right by the road to his house. Agreed, it's a bit of a stretch to get there, and logistics are a bit more of a challenge. I'm lucky to have a motorcycle trailer stored at a friend's place so I could drop off a bike there if needed. Let me know if that becomes an issue for you...easy enough to arrange it. Perhaps he can only do so many jobs...did you get the idea that Mike would be doing the work or Davey from time to time?

I knew that was coming. I should've said like the two hybrids in my garage.

@PJPR01 I went to MPH's new workshop this morning! It is almost one hour from where I live, really in the sticks. It is a completely different setup, nothing like the old workshop. The address is actually Mike's house, the shop is one entrance further. There is a dirt incline to get to the structure, not very bike friendly. It looks to me, and I may be wrong, they are sizing down. Maybe they will only take the jobs they want, but at present, they are probably not ready to take a lot of work. Besides, if you are going to drop your bike there, you will need someone to pick you up. There won't be any share ride service.

So the spring(gu04238300) failed. I managed to get home! I have read all the posts and understand the reason why it fails. I’ve got the new spring. Actually bought 2, so can go ahead and replace it. Forgive my lack of knowledge, when I removed the gearbox cover it was metal to metal. It came off really easy and has never leaked! No gasket and no gasket sealer. I read that LOCTITE 518 sealer has been used and therefore creates a seal. Also filing down the shaft to 15mm sorts the issue. So do I put it back on metal to metal or use a sealer which would make it more difficult to remove the next time? Why is there not a gasket? Also where the gear shift lever spline goes through the gear box cover does that have to be removed to get to the surclip underneath? I’ve bought a new seal for where it passes through the gearbox cover! Hope that makes sense to anyone reading this! I’m doing it myself so I can learn more about my V11 Le Mans rather than taking it to a dealer. I’ve downloaded the photos which have been previously posted, so am doing my homework. If this is just rambling please ignore! If it makes sense to anyone reading this post then any advice would be appreciated!! I’m only a humble stonemason!! Not a mechanic. And finally,, I want to bleed the clutch. Again I have read and seen the pictures posted, is it really that difficult to access? If anyone has a picture/pictures of the precise location that would help me greatly! My kindest regards Drachir.

It's been up for 3 hours and no one has posted this yet? Slackers. Dave even gives a shout out to the forum! I'd love to find some of that Olins suspension and put it on the Greenie. In my spare time of course. I can't even find time to adjust the valves.

Pulse jet, V1. Don't be afraid of fire and big bangs before she starts. Cheers Tom. Sent fra min SM-S906B via Tapatalk

Suzuki seals ? What brand are your forks ?

Thanks Docc, just added an update on the Lemon Drizzle Gang thread. Dave

The Loctite 518 will be a good choice . make suer the mating surfaces are perfectly clean with Brake-Kleen or similar product when you reassemble.

I went to the former MPH Cycles Inc. place yesterday, with the Le Mans just to stretch its legs since the Quota seems to be the one I always revolve around. It is still operating as Mike Haven Automotive. I don't know if Mike still has an interest in that place, but it is open and running for cars exclusively. The Hempstead setup does not look like a real business, rather like someone with some extra space offering services. When I went there, Davey was working on a BMW, on a little patio in the front of a shed. This is why I got the feeling they were winding down their activity. Sort of selecting what they want to do, and how they want to do it. I may be wrong, but the new setup does not give you the feeling they want to resume what they used to do at the previous location. Davey is the one working on the bikes; Even at the old location, Mike seemed to only work on the cars. But he did provide expertise when necessary. The distance is not the main drawback. But they are not in town, they are in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by farms. I understand they are working from home, it is very convenient. It also probably fits their new business model. But looking at it, they are not setup yet.

Hope you can hang around for the Tattley Rappit (NZ Moto Guzzi Rally) on Labour weekend at Methven

@docc it's a great book, well written. Actually should be a movie. IIRC, the expansion chamber, power valve and rotatory valve were invented here...inspired by the V1 rocket. Betrayal and tragedy are in the offing. As well as inventiveness with poor resources....

this: Spying and racing and WWII and Communism and Suzuki. And it gets worse. https://www.amazon.com/Stealing-Speed-Biggest-Scandal-Motorsport/dp/1844259757

It was the legendary shooter Elmer Keith who wrote a book but the title, "Hell, I was THERE!" applies equally to Kevin Cameron.

He did not learn to say Guzzi properly, but I will forgive him. This Guzzi 2013 is a mirror copy of the one I am after, pending the sale of my Quota... This guy has published a lot of videos about the problems he experienced, which are very educating to me; I did not know the 2013 Stelvio had a clutch recall. I did not know about the throats wearing off either.

What, like this? or maybe more like this?

I've officially ridden my first 1000 kilometers on the Lemans now!

I assumed there would be a post about it. Now I get to have @wavey_davey1 be mad at me for posting the LDG video before he did.

That's this bike. The photo of the front tire, first photo in the thread, turns up in the video about 20 minutes in. @wavey_davey1 great to see the bike on the road, and on the correct side of the road into the bargain.

Two of my favorite two stroke experiences were racing a TZ250, which was a lot like the above mentioned TZ350, and a KTM 440 EXC dirtbike. The TZ250 was the classic two stroke, no power, followed by some power as you rev. Then, around 8,000 rpm it started to make noticeable power. At 10,000 rpm it kicked in and went, pulling hard up to around 13,000 rpm where it was done as quickly as it started. That bike was serious fun on a track. My other favorite two stroke was the exact opposite. The KTM 440 was a monster that didn't have to rev to make power. It was almost friendly at idle, but at some point just above idle it turned into a beast. It quickly went from making some power to making massive power. It was a dirtbike, so it didn't have a tach. But it didn't need one. The power was always there. It was a case of too much power being too much fun. I was not really faster on it then I was on my DR350, but my smile when riding it was way bigger. It would plaster a smile on my face the way it yanked me out of corners. It was like the way spaceships hit warp speed or light speed in sci-fi movies. Expansion chambers can make two strokes deliver amazing power. They don't automatically make for a peaky motor, they don't always means power up top. They can make power wherever they are designed to. Thinking of them as acoustic resonance is a good way to look at them. Depending on how they are designed they can make power down low, in the middle, or up top.

I sure don't like the way those hydraulic lines are routed . That looks pretty sad.

Thanks Marty. Heading back to Methven come August (all being well). Will shout you a beer.

@cash1000 and I put a remote breather on our gearboxes for just that reason. See pictures: A spray flap is a good idea too. https://www.v11lemans.com/forums/topic/31139-transmission-problem-shift-bendix-any-ideas/page/2/#findComment-299737

Yup, it’s just mayonnaise. Especially in cooler, damper climates as the engine heat cycles between runnng and not as it cools the water in the gas inside the crankcase, of which there will be a fair bit as water is one of the main y-products of combustion and there is always some blow by past the rings, will condense out on the inside of the cases. As the rocker covers always tend to run cool and are at the top of the motor this is where a lot of the water ends up. It combines with the oil droplets as it condenses and voila! The disgusting looking but essentially harmless mayonnaise. The answer to preventing it is getting the oil hotter. Once the oil temperature and internal temperature of the engine gets above about 90*C the the water will sublime out of the oil and off the internals of the engine and will over time be expelled through the breather system and rebreathed through the combustion chambers and expelled in the exhaust. No big block Guzzi begins to get even remotely warm enough to do this in winter unless you are doing motorway speeds for over twenty miles at least. Something I’d think it would be unlikely you’d be doing on the IOM, especially in winter! At least the V11’s have the advantage of having a thermostat in the oil cooler circuit which will help bump up the oil temperature a bit in cool weather. The 8V engines have a separate cooling circuit independent of the lubrication circuit and it directs the oil through the cooler unregulated. This means that any time the ambient temperature is under about 20-23*C it is damn near impossible to get the oil temp above 100*C which is where you want it unless you thrash the bastard mercilessly everywhere in 4th gear @ 6,000+RPM! Some of us owners have fitted external thermostats to our bikes, others, like me, who can’t be arsed, just tape off the cooler in the cooler months! Finding that nasty crap in the rocker covers is disconcerting the first time you see it and it is preferable that it not be there but it is what it is. Some oils are more prone to forming mayonnaise as well. Castrol has always been worse than many others and it’s one of the reasons I try to avoid it, but a damn good thrashing from time to time is the best medicine! Also, if you are riding in the wet at all make sure you put some sort of ‘Spray flap’ in the triangle of the swingarm cantilever or you’ll find your gearbox full of water as the stupid breather is right in line with the rear tyre. Mornin Phil!

APRIL, 2025 - MPH Cycles is accepting bikes " BY APPOINTMENT ONLY " for service and repair at our new location in Hempstead Tx. Email: mike@mphcycles.com

I bought the bike that started this thread. It was REALLY heavy to move around when I got it but adding a little air to the 6 psi tires fixed that up. Oil change got done right away. A new battery was installed with purchase. There are oil drips (not up to leaks yet) from the bottom pan and the front pan (I'm not sure what's behind it yet) gaskets. I started with cleaning the old oil off just to see what was there. I added a Puig universal wind screen for good wind protection. I'm part way through painting covers red to match the tank. New paint is red with silver sparkle underneath. By the time it's done I expect it will look great (to me any ways). There is no stuttering or anything suggesting air getting into the fuel delivery system. Noises are typical for a tractor ;-). The speedo works well. I haven't owned a bike with a Veglia since the '71 Ducati Desmo 450 single I had. The glitter silver was tempting for the Guzzi paint. I thought glitter purple would be too much. In the end I stayed with the deep red. I rode a Yami 600 last year which redlines at 14k. It was always spinning at high revs. The Goose doesn't need to rev at all but likes 5 grand better than 4. 90 miles an hour isn't work for this bike. Suspension is stiff but the bike settles down right away after bumps and feels glued to the road. Tires are from '21 but only have a couple hundred miles on them. They aren't sliding at the speeds I ride at. Plans this year include finishing paint more, checking valves, and changing most oils. A gasket or 2 might get replaced as well. Within 10 minutes I get to some of the nicest riding roads in my area. There is a 60 mile loop that has almost no straight road in it. Bush all around. Gravel on the road at times because of people that go off the pavement so isn't for knee draggers but always entertaining. A ride earlier in the year had deer making me slow down in 2 places. Keep the rubber side down. Grant.

It seems to be taking a long time though... I like how humble they are about what they do.... lol...

My sideplates came today from TLM Netherlands. They took the nuts off the pivot bolts. I am angry, and my email said so. I am still angry. I didn't need the side plates or the footpegs, or even 2 pins. I needed a pin and a nut. Angry

What kind of adapter goes for the prick inflator ? i would like to see the pressure readings before doing ANYTHING down there