Gmc28

Interesting. I’m always highly skeptical of the snake oil products and how they can get a good or bad reputation over time. Like you say, just one situation, but still an interesting data point, that you got the bubbles…. I’ve used it for quite a few years, and will say that its been fine for me, but of course there’s no proper control set on my end. A number of bikes every year get it, and none of them have issues, but A) I’ve not had a control set of bikes of the same type and conditions that didn’t have the additive to compare, and b) a few of the bikes already had various damage from ethanol from the past which somewhat muddies the “test” waters. a much stronger data set was all my household equipment, mowers, blowers, chippers, chainsaws, etc., which i changed over to clear premium only at some point a number of years ago when i learned i could get the clear gas, and like a light switch the following spring all of them operated perfectly as if they hadnt’ been sitting all winter, compared to the headaches i had with most of them after using ethanol/gas in the past. But no startron in that data set. I do always put the V11’s (and other bikes) away in the winter with mostly clear premium in them. I’ll run the last couple tanks through in the fall with that expensive ethanol free gas, leaving only a very small dilution of ethanol in them, to which i also add some startron, and doing that i have zero issues with paint on my 2 LeMans or the other Italians over the years. The Greenie has the damaged paint on the tank, but it came to me that way. Fwiw.

Thanks Roy - hopefully soon I’ll get some time to just pull the tank and do the easy stuff, like check voltage at the pump, see if it will run with a straight hot line, etc.

Phil, tell us how it works for you. I've been interested in getting a unit that does the CCA test, so would love to hear if you like this one, and if so, the brand/model. cheers

Scud - agreed. Never have had to do it, but I’ve seen the procedure. I may mess with that this winter when she’s in my shop. (the fuel pump issue on Goldie is still annoying me, and now has more of my idle attention… I’ll get back out there if i can and try a couple more things. )

swapped relays, checked fuse block 2, then went back and checked block 1 on your advice. All clean, solid, and no change. All along I can hear the relays clicking, so with that plus doing the relay swap making no change, more likely the pump itself?

Variation on the same thread topic: went out today to do other stuff in the shop, and thought I’d fire up Goldie, since she might get used next week of my amigo wants to do a ride out to eastern Oregon. Bike used to be his, and he’s supposed to buy it back, but it’s been sitting here now for over a year unused (I ride red instead, stablemate). key on, relays click, but no fuel pump sound. Cranks strong, no start. Fuses and relays ok upon quick inspection (pull, quick inspect, replace). Have to circle back to this so I can get other stuff done today, but refresher from anyone on typical culprits for no fuel pump action? Failed pump of course could be it, but other common connection issues that might be at fault?

Wine on a farm, in Texas? Sounds like a twighlight zone episode. Cheap beer for dinner was the highlight of our day (evening) in the summer farm season up here. But at that age I would have treated all those beverage options the same…. Homer Simpson style.

I would tend agree Docc that its just a matter of my girl needing a little attention (she’s a selfish girl sometimes….), and perhaps its less about a single flaw and more about getting things all lined up properly. And you got me on the CO ‘drift”…. You’re right, that’s not a wear-and-tear thing… touché, i just got too loose with my postulating. Get a few drinks it me and it’ll get even looser… we’ll be talking MG fetzer valves and framostats in no time. And P6x, are you implying i should replace the glow plugs on my Guzzi? I like the tractor analogy! In all seriousness, i certainly agree that some temp/humidity combo effects how she runs, where some days they will run perfectly with no burbles or flat spots while other (usually hotter) days little hiccups are apparent, but starting has always been about the same on the guzzi’s, as they’re almost freakishly reliable in how they start, all 3 of them, in all weather, whether they’ve been run the day before or sitting all winter. In that way, they are like my diesel machines (though maybe your IH and Deere are gas? ).

That describes how i do it on both the V11’s, and works a charm. And usually on first attempt it will run on the “choke” for a little until i hear it accelerate a smidge then i can blip throttle, just as you’ve described, though sometimes it takes a 2nd attempt. Same thing now, but it might take 5 attempts, as i wait for that “acceleration” without touching throttle, but it doesn’t happen, and just quits after a few seconds (or if i blip throttle too early, it also quits). I feel like I’m making more of this than necessary, and once i get her into the shop this winter and just look things over it may be all fine, but it is still an interesting question. Again, not electrical insofar as relays and start switches, as all that works fine. The TPS idea seems a possibility, and i suppose my CO could have drifted from the “perfect” setting i had it at last winter, so i can check all that out easy enough once the rains come and she’s in the shop for the winter (she runs well enough to not waste the precious seasonal weather to do anything but ride). cheers

Vanuatu? Good stuff! A lot more interesting than Oregon… (in the eye of the beholder) Heavy salt & humidity environment changes the equation a bit, in my opinion. Actually, all the same, but the details get more important. We ran various kinds of batteries and chargers for well over a decade in a (technical) rain forest area on the coast of western Mexico and lots of odd stuff happened over those years. I think the same advice applies, meaning Odyssey batteries, proper charger, deoxit and/or di-electric grease, etc, but be much more careful about connections. That’s Probably all old news to an island resident. I’d just add that odyssey is arguably best choice, and then just need to watch those connections….batt cables, the charger sae connectors, all that stuff has given me issues on the machines I’ve had in coastal Mexico.

Perhaps overkill in some cases, but good stuff. Our aging v11’s may benefit from some use of it. I use it on targeted areas where it’s clearly beneficial on lots of my older equipment.

Thanks Docc, but this isn’t electrical, it’s presumably a fuel feed issue, or something along those lines. She cranks and initially fires just fine, but then if you try and blip the throttle it quits, and if you leave it alone it quits. Almost like the idle is set too low, but then next day and next several days its back to normal.

Not a serious issue yet, but chewing on why in the last month or so red (2002 lemans) will now sometimes fire up, idle just a little, stumble, and then quit. If its in that mood, I’ll have to do that about 5 times before i can carefully blip the throttle and get her to finally catch. Most of the time its biz as usual, firing off right away, hot, cold, or in between, no problem. But about every 5th start, and often two starts in a row on a given day, it will fire-off, stumble, then quit (and repeat). Can happen after sitting for a couple weeks, or just sitting for a few hours between rides. If i had carbs I know where I’d be looking, but am noodling what the issue here would most likely be. She’ll get the usual winter go-through in a couple months, but thought I’d float it to see what obvious thing I’m missing…. Cheers

Interesting. I was just musing about how long these Michelin pilots have lasted for me on my red v11, 3500+ miles, barely showing wear, and handle very nice. Those have been on through lots of highway grinding and lots of fun sport riding, in all temps. And, the Dunlop’s on the other V11 are low miles, in near new condition, but sure ride different, and “less good” in that category for my taste/riding style. But the Dunlop machine also has overly stiff suspension (I’ll fix that eventually), so while it seems a great side by side comparison for handling, I have to clarify that it really isn’t. It’s all soooo much better than my damn adv bikes that eat up expensive rear tires.

That would be a hoot. Looks a bit like a “vw thing”. I think mentioned this before at some point, but living in France several decades ago and pretty much broke, I saw a 2CV for sale and went to look at it. Hey, James Bond drove one…. I was fairly mechanically competent at that age, but partly from youthful haste and partly due to a preformed assumption of what I should see under the hood, I walked away from the (super cheap) deal because I told my friend “no wonder it’s so cheap…. No motor, just that strangely mounted transmission”. Of course had I looked even slightly closer, I’d have seen the spark plugs on that “strange transmission”. Later that year I had friends there with a 2CV who would fill the car with 3 people plus skis and gear and somehow make it up into the mountains (Les deux alpes), with that 2 cylinder motor chugging away. Albeit damn slowly. Back in Oregon years later I see one and find out there’s an owners club here, and that a nice one would cost a pretty penny, many thousands of dollars. I’m quite sure the one I looked at in France (many years ago, and in rough shape) was $200 US. That said, I’ll stick with Italian (headaches and all). The French did a lot of unique stuff, but little of it appeals to my (biased) eye other than as an oddity.

I recall there being some central/south CA residents on our forum who might have knowledge of local roads down in that excellent riding country..... In this case the Nacimiento-Fergusson road. Had to cancel my euro trip (mandello, etc.) due to more concern over covid, and may pivot to sneaking out of work in late september for a ride down south. A great ride I did a few years back was the Nacimiento-fergusson road over the coast range, back before it got "discovered" by more of the general public due to landslides on Hwy 1. I hear it got overused for a while at that point, and then this year had a lot of damage from rainfall and mud/debris, etc. Google maps shows that it's closed, and Forest service website says the public is "discouraged" from using it until it can be cleaned up and repaired, but trying to find intel on whether its passable on a motorcycle (ADV). Any locals down there have insight on that? cheers

It is a bit of a waste to compare, but such a fun waste of time! i agree wholeheartedly with your assessment. I look back at the friendly “competition” i had with my good friend and work-mate years ago (we had a lot of time to kill together back then), him on his V11 and me on my 916, me bad-mouthing how the V11 just didn’t stack up in each of the categories we’d squabble about for fun. But now i find the V11’s to be my favorite bike(s) to ride, doing the “puts a smile on my face” thing that they do.

I’m supposed to be over there in Mandello in late September. Did I miss some news about new restrictions, or is this more about the large group issue associated with that kind of event?

Love my road 5’s. Ran them on previous bikes, and hadn’t really thought of them as ideal for the V11 but they came already freshly installed on Red when i bought her. The slightly stiffer suspension on Goldie (grade of oil used up front) and the bridgestones vs red with the michelin 5’s makes for a difference that is obvious every time when swapping between otherwise identical bikes. “Better/worse” would be in the opinion of each rider, but for me the slightly softer suspended, Michelin clad Red Lemans is much preferred. Grim - I’d venture a guess on your relay situation that perhaps the weather was just right after you changed the relays and got the “turbine like” running. There are certainly days when a well tuned v11 will purr more perfectly than in other temp/weather conditions.

I carried same socket for that single nut on my “old” 2010 multistrada, and never had a problem getting a road change done. That said, I ended up both times at bmw shops and paid dearly for the service. in the one case I had misjudged the remaining miles on the old tire and had to do an un-scheduled tire change. I had sent a tire ahead of me (drop ship) to Durango, and was just a couple hundred miles short of there when seemingly all-of-a-sudden the center patch went from thin-but-still-with-tread pattern to about 50% cord showing (Pirelli). Ended up Paying retail-plus for the new tire, and then a hefty shop rate, painful, but having the socket made it all easy. The other time was a good old fashioned flat, but similar fix situation. So, i guess I’d say “easy but expensive”, using a BMW dealer.

Maybe not relevant or apples-to-apples, but my old ‘99 Cagiva/Ducati 904cc with mosfet and upgraded wiring+connectors+grounding, doesn’t go green till probably 2000rpm or so. The odyssey in that bike is probably about 9yrs old now.

Phil, what did you use as the medium/liquid? I picked up one of these this winter, but haven’t used it yet. Was thinking the flat slide would be a good candidate.

Hmm. I’ve got a gallon of that in the shop, awaiting my flat slide carb from my old-ish DR350.

Thanks scud- Looks like it just sold.... I’m in zero rush, so if you’re still game and I’ve struck out by fall maybe I’d buy yours? Also, We’re down in your neck of the woods regularly during fire season. In fact I’ll be at Van nuys and San Diego briefly today, and then by late season seems as though we usually spend a lot of time at San Bernardino fire base, so lots of ways to look at skipping the shipping hassle. Cheers

Thanks all for the quick answers. Fellow has one on eBay, and looks like $40. I’ll buy yours instead scud if you’re looking to make room in the garage, or i can go for this eBay deal. cheers