Gmc28

Many thanks… makes good sense. But am still wondering whether a guy should be able to either suck or blow through it, on the assumption that vapor or fuel would need to be able to move one way or the other for it to work. But i suppose the orientation part of what you mentioned may explain that perfectly.… The “tank suck” I’d initially think wouldn’t be an issue with my “married” vent lines, but I’d have to look closer at the plumbing to see if thats really true. I’ll probably pull it out and mess with it more to see if its actually working properly or not. Thanks again!

Finally getting around to properly T-ing off my tank vent lines. Trying to recall/work-out what the purpose is of the black plastic housing on the one vent line. Assume its a one-way valve, but can’t blow or suck on it, or so it seems, so before i go digging for what its really supposed to be thought I’d run it up the flag pole here… cheers

And the paint code formula. My boys used Spies Hecker, but it can be easily translated to Dupont or others.

Got the freshly painted tank and fly screen back this afternoon. I’m happy, both to have it done and with the results. As known, the paint is tricky to match, not being a basic color, so i was only cautiously optimistic about how it would turn out, and I’d say it met or slightly exceeded my expectations, and is a “win” overall. When turning the newly painted tank, or the old side covers, at different angles in different light you get a real different look to the paint, part of what makes it neat, and hard to match. As noted earlier, the side covers i bought used and have some UV aging, the pilion cover and fenders are stock on my bike but were exposed to more UV and other bad things than they should have been, and now the tank and fly screen are new paint. They all match nicely, especially when considering all that. I’ll post the paint code for anyone interested. But first some pics (apparently i still haven’t figured out the proper way to post pics… but here we go:) Notice how even the pics look different, in the same place with same light but taken at different angles.

Nice! dug out my old technics SL-7 turntable from storage about a year ago, to make it available again after some remodeling. Linear tracking arm won’t track, so looked online to see what’s out there, and found quite the interesting, eclectic community of enthusiasts on a forum or two for these turntables (Vinyl engine is one of them). Plenty of support for me to dive in and fix my unit, though per usual time is the issue… so there it still sits on my desk. yesterday friends up for super bowl commented on how great the “surround sound” system I had was for the game, with all the music and action. I just said “thanks”. It’s not “surround”, and is just a stereo setup including a 40yr old Onkyo amp (that has been powered-on continuously now for 17+yrs), and a couple large Klipsch speakers (with down firing subs) that I bought, used, 35 yrs ago. I just plugged in the satellite tv output sound to the “tape 2” input. And have some Bose 501’s from 1981 connected to my other tv, though they’ve required a little TLC and maintenance along the way.

If my greenie paint comes out well, I’ll post the intel and formula info.

Yep, it’s a hassle, but seems doable. I explored the house of Kolor option, but used voodoo and “gut” and decided to go instead with the photo-match device my local shop guy has had good luck with, and using an original side cover to match it to. i also acquired a little stucchi fly screen they’ll paint as well, which came unpainted. I’ve failed to mention an obvious factor for greenie which is different than the Lemans: the painted surface area on the sport is clearly dominated by the tank, much more so than the lemans with the fairing. And my greenie came without side panel covers, so I bought those off eBay, with a variation of UV-fading that’s different than the tank, plus they are small, and mostly not butted-up to the tank. With the new fly screen being painted the same as the large tank, there’s not a lot of other painted surface that will stand out to contrast a non-prefect match, so I’m probably safe. And if necessary can easily just have them also paint the side covers, pillion cover, and fender, so it’s 100%.

Have my Greenie tank at the local painter, who showed me some samples they produced using first their techno-special camera gizmo that gives the paint match, then two other shades created using the old fashioned eyeball to adjust things a bit. Crazy how the differing light angles and brightness dramatically changed the degree to which it matched…. One that looked great under the special sunlight lamp then looked like a terrible match in the shade. I’ve painted a few cars over the years and did battle with some paint matching, but that green paint formula is a tricky one. Did our best to choose and I’ll check back with them this week to see how things are coming along.

Thanks gentlemen. MG cycle has gaskets, but I don’t see that they’re Valpolini (?) I can order straight from Valpolini if it’s worth the wait? Not a big deal, just am finally getting to the winter maintenance on Red, and Greenie will follow, and noodling whether to order the usual gaskets or try the Valpolini that many have talked about.

reviving thread.... Are the Valpolini's still considered a good way to go for valve cover gaskets? if so, can anyone point toward where to source them? the web site seems to just show the Griso/rounded gasket (?)

Seems like “what did you do to your V11 today” here has turned into “how do you ride your v11” on this latest entertaining tangent…. All good riding/moto talk. To add the the chorus of opinions, I don’t ride the Guzzi to “win”, just to enjoy. Trail braking done right can be “pretty” and is faster, and fun when done right and “gettin’ the lead out”, but “momentum management” (aka older style) sure feels more natural, seems probably a little easier on equipment (maybe, depending the usual variables), and appeals to those who learned that way many moons ago. LIke a skiing slalom/race step vs Jean Claude Killy’s french/parallel skiing…. Well maybe thats a bad example because Killy won a ton of races in his day, and while he wouldn’t do well today against modern racers if he stuck to that old style, it sure was sweet to watch, and to “do”. Vive la difference! (No, I’m not french, but that felt right…)

I put the Fobo brand tire pressure bluetooth whizmo’s on my Duc, which talks either to your smart phone or a small monitor you can put on your bars, and after some annoying learning curve items got ironed out a couple yrs ago, I’m now quite fond of the setup, and would like to do it on the Guzzi’s. Part of me says more gear/tech/clutter needed, but I came to like the tire pressure monitors and now miss it on the bikes that dont have it. There’s that nagging feeling sometimes about maybe having a low tire… or is it just a hot tire on hot pavement, or does my suspension just feel a bit different today, or am i hallucinating, or about to dent my rim? Maybe it’s just me, but i get that way sometimes on most things with tires… mountain bikes, cars, dirt bikes, street bikes, where you’re wondering if maybe you have a flat. A quick look at my tire pressure readout, or even just a confirmation that the “alert” hasn’t shown on the Lock Screen on my phone means I’ve got psi where it belongs. The stiff walled ADV tires especially don’t show low pressure nearly as obviously as softer sidewall tires, so on more than one occasion i started off ok with verified good pressure, later got that feeling about maybe something being amiss, glanced down quick and everything looks ok, only to then get to next stop and realize I’ve got a flat, or worse that it’s flat and that last rough pavement i hit dented my rim.

My MG’s eat fronts first, and my adv bikes burn about 2 rears for every front. The Dunlop equipped Goldie lemans rides noticeably “less nice” than the Michelin PR (4?) equipped Red lemans. I don’t put enough miles on the lemans for me to worry about mileage-for-the-money as much, but I’ve got at least 5k on the rear Michelin in red and it looks to be in fine shape still.

Finally found a guy who would agree to material blast my blistered (clear coat) greenie tank. I then cleaned it up with some careful wet sanding, and it’s my painters shop now, along with the “recipe” from House of Kolor off this forum from years ago, but most likely they’ll just use their star-trek style camera analyzer deal to create some paint match samples. Also got the fly screen from Italy, Stucchi, so it’s slowly coming together. This greenie only has a little over 1000 original miles, but it was a rough 1000 miles, including bad storage. So cosmetic work is the obvious thing that needs attention in this case, then will go through the mechanical stuff, “decent tune up”, though it actually runs pretty well so hopefully there won’t be any “whammies” discovered in that process. Red is up on the stand, awaiting time for me to go through her, for her annual “check up”. Time is always the issue. Every year I figure “I have all winter, easy.” But then late January I haven’t even started the work, which is the needed panic and motivation I need…

any takers on the question about what a guy should do with that air temp sensor-in-the-bottle? re-attaching it to the box, or is there a good reason to leave it with the goofy water bottle setup, or somehow "upgrade" that?

I’m open for all that, but I’ve asked a handful of local shops, including a couple that come highly recommended, and they’re all scared of trying to match that paint. I’ve got one guy that says he’ll try, but doesn’t give off a confident air about it. No paint code that I know of for the guzzi green (or the red), based on my inquiries in the past on this forum. Just that old House of Kolor blend laid out on this forum about 10yrs ago, where a couple folks said that it worked well for them. Those colors seem to still be available. I think phil had a guy in Australia do a match that worked out, but I’d just need a paint guy here who would commit and deliver. Of course If I painted all the green bits it wouldn’t be as critical, but would rather not.

Well, no guzzi…. That’s mine. But there is a T-craft outside, and he’s the main pilot that flies the warbird collection of the owner of our company (candy store of P-38’s, corsairs, spitfires, etc). And a gem of a human being, but now I’m getting way off the guzzi reservation! But will add for those of you semi local to add the Madras warbird collection (Erickson museum) to your itinerary if you’re out riding in central Oregon. Back to guzzi biz, Stopped by the shop of bead-blast fellow today, the only guy I can find locally to agree to take on the job of blasting a nylon tank. Didn’t think it would be a big deal, but everyone I’ve called seems afraid of the job. For this fellow I need to wait till he finishes the metal work he’s doing so he can change over his media. May be a while. The House of Kolor “recipe” from an old post on this forum is what i guess I’ll use to try and match the green.

i think that old MGB would be flattered to hear that

Thats the bird, and the shop with new mini split. Corbin Super Ace, with a Model A engine. This is a V11 forum, so I’ll say that my V11 is just out of eye-shot in the picture…. The moto parilla is upstairs in pieces, with the motor about done, but the frame still to go.

I’ve only got a small elec service in that shop. I’m out in the country, and my father many years ago ran the line out there, and he was cheap about it (love the man, but that was how he did things)…. It tax’s things now to run the lights, compressor, a few other things, then god forbid i try and run a very small wire feed 110v welder. Yes, I should just run a proper electrical service out there, but its more than plug-and-play to run the lines that distance. That said, its what I’ll have to do at some point. A good friend of mine in southern Oregon (restoring an old Moto Parilla, and an unusual antique aircraft) was in same situation, finally bit the bullet and ran a new service for a mini split, and he’s rubbing my face in it…

Love it. My annual debate with myself is on the same topic. Wood stove in the shop is great, but takes an hour to really warm things up. Various propane and electric heat options all fall short for various reasons. Need a mini split, but that means upgrading electrical service. I did replace the fuel pump on Goldie a week or so ago, and now she starts and runs, but something is amiss…as if it’s running on one cylinder. Both exhausts are hot, and it runs semi smooth, but with an odd vibration and it doesn’t rev up like it used to. Will have to explore more when there’s time. Removed the fuel tank from greenie, to get it to bead blast guy as prep for new paint, due to the bubbling clear coat. Red needs the left TB rebuild, and I have Phil’s write up on that, for when I get into it in a few weeks. Once the wood stove is cranked up….

Ah yes…. Thank u

ok. at some point soon i'll have Red on the rack for some basic winter mx, and can compare to see about that sensor. If it is the air temp sensor, any reason to keep that goofy looking mod, or should a guy re-connect it to the airbox? But note the two loose/disconncected connectors over the left head (see pic), one of which is yellow (yellow inside, under the black outer cover), and the other is red inside. The red plug i found laying there, not plugged into anything, and i happened to notice that connector in the bottle is also red, so wondered if those two connect. may become obvious when i get back out there and pull that plug out of the bottle, but regardless i'm wondering what the loose plug over the left head is for.

i'll keep poking around the forum, but anyone know if there's more info on the charcoal system removal? Actually, first question is whether its really needed... i've done it to the 2 other V11's but they are '02's with less tubing , and a number of other bikes, but your mention of 20' and 5lbs of equipment makes me wonder if there's more to this system thats worth knowing? usually self evident if one just traces the lines to see what's-what, but maybe there's some "worth knowing" pointers on a system with that much hose. Looks like this greenie already has some partial attempts at removing some of the overflow and breather tubing... finally pulled the tank off greenie today to get it ready to prep, Caslon coat, match paint best i can, and get it to the local painter. noticed some different things "under the hood" on this one. One, i noticed that someone had installed a union downstream of the right side (larger) tank vent tube, allowing it to be disconnected easily without having to reach up under the tank. Why didn't i think of that before, for the other bikes..... embarrassing, such an easy solution. But i'll make that easy change to red as well when i get a chance. then, next to the yellow (inner) plug for the fuel level indication (the one removed when removing the tank) is another plug of the same type but red inside, which looks like it would connect to the matching red-inside plug on the right side, now attached to that little water bottle set up (see picture). Know what that's all about? (hopefully its visible on the picture... the small thumbnail pic may not show it)

Just received new fuel pump from MG cycle for Goldie, and hope to install this weekend, though it will pretty much still just sit even when fixed till next summer with the weather change here, and the fact that Red is my go-to rider… Guzzler, we’re (our company) just about to finish a deal to buy a plane from a company in Melbourne. Was hoping to weasel into getting over there to bring it over to the US, but the covid rules, although loosening now, are still tricky, so we’ll probably just get a crew from over there to bring it to us. Would love to rent a bike over there and poke around for a day or three, during your spring. Fun to think about riding down there as i look outside at the gray/rain each morning now…