Gmc28

The left vs right turn dominance is amusingly interesting... lots of evidence of it everywhere. While I’d want to think the issue here is swingarm or something like that, the wear seems too far off center to be from some kind of misalignment. Could certainly be totally wrong, but I’d think the kind of misalignment one might have from a wonky swingarm or bearing would result in a wear line just slightly off center. Anything else you’d think would be noticeable when riding straight down the freeway. And I’d imagine that if the rear was that far out of whack, you might see something up on front tire as well, as the body-in-motion would need to compensate to keep things tracking straight? Maybe not... gotta think on that. Maybe since the front has the lateral pivot (steering head) that may not be true. But who knows.... none of the theories are easy pills to swallow. I guess just buy another tire, check alignment and basic swingarm “plumb & square”, then ride on!

Good man Dave. I just don’t have the heart to do the 1/2 mile of gravel road between me and the tarmac with the goose, since the gravel/dirt/lignan mix they use for less dust in summer turns into super-glue mud in winter.... don’t want to be trying to scrub that off the MG. I used to ride year-round on my old oil head, and when i sold it a few years ago it had baked-in “stuff” from the winter road here in many crevasses that made it hard to really clean up for selling. Need to get out to the shop soon and do the winter mx on the MG, as spring is coming! Do the oils, and then working out why (what little part is missing or messed up) the red V11 has a goofy, loose attach point for the fairing, though it looks all in order with just a quick inspection.

and most of us are jealous of more than just the bike... Phil's reaping the benefits of residing in a great part of the southern Hemisphere in February: Melbourne, sunny and 91 tomorrow, and saturday around 70 and sunny. My house for thursday shows high of 34 in snow, low of 23. Then cold rain next week.

Well said .... good tech plus philosophy talk :-> I favor the idea of being able to not worry about the maps and gadgetry, but even as i try and slow down a bit and “smell the roses”, life is still too full of all the things that make my goofy world go round, to where losing a day or half day to a wrong turn, even if it involves some discovery, might be a hassle I’d rather avoid under the circumstances. Recognizing that later in life presumably things will change and more time will be available. For instance, I might have 2 days to get somewhere for a pop-up opportunity ... 3 would be best given the distance, whereas 1 day would mean grinding straight through, and of course I have the option to just park the bike and fly there. So if reasonably planned, i can make a 2 day window a good, if not ideal, chance to get out on the machine. I’ll take that 2 day run, but pretty much need to utilize reasonable nav tools to assure its not a “gilligans island 3 hour tour...” When i do have time to plan a trip, i mentioned my fondness of the nearly ubiquitous Google maps option. Mostly the maps can be downloaded for offline use (some areas don’t allow it, like japan, which seems odd to me), and route building is so easy, on the laptop, iPhone, or iPad. Then i email the routes to myself, so they are there in an email inbox folder, or I might save the hyperlinks for the route on a cloud folder, again so they are easily accessed at about any time, except when off-line. If i know I’ll be off-line a lot (Alaska, etc), I’ll make the extra effort to convert the tracks into .GPX tracks, so i can import them into whichever app I’m using that year, like MotionX (apple) or Locus Pro (android), etc. converting to GPX has been the worst part of google maps, as the option to do so keeps shifting, from hard, to easy, to nearly impossible, and so on, based on that years developments. Key there though is that it’s usually less about the specific route and more about just having the downloaded map and blue-dot location. Pretty much just the higher-resolution and “self finding” version of a paper road map. Still provides that mental element that lets you get to know the area you’re traveling in, but with less hassle. each winter i still mess with some of the latest options, keeping an old android phone operational (no sim chip) for LocusPro, Osmand, and of course google maps. And i keep my daily iphone up to speed with MotionX and some others (more recently have gone back to Avenza and Pocket Earth again), just to see what cool new developments may look desirable (vs just being more layers of hassle). And then i keep an old iPad mini (model 2?) just barely alive so it can display the map i want while actually traveling. Can airdrop a route from the iphone, or use wifi to upload a map or route, and it provides for good visibility and "pinch" zoom, in a format thats big enough for my eyeballs. had a monstrous GPS that came already mounted on my used Duc Multi enduro a few years ago. i think it's meant for a boat... seriously. was sort of cool, but again, the interface (software) is so clunky. You've got a weather-proof moving map in front of you, but god knows what the hell you're looking at, as the database's that were supported were not at all friendly for eyes that want to glance down for guidance but not stare at a complicated map for long periods. that issue i find to be fairly common with map apps, where they may have the good data, but displayed in a way that you have to stop and stare at it too much to figure out what you're looking at.... too much staring, not enough riding.

Well, the mind can wander. Perhaps that’s even the goal sometimes? :-> last fall was cruising down through Lava Beds National Monument in southern Oregon/NorCal, on a beautiful morning. Between covid, the season, the day of the week, and whatever else there was literally not a single other vehicle on the road, the sun was out, and the scenery was great. Just had to make one right turn in the next hour... an obvious Y in the road, per the map. Happily just taking it all in, i glance down at one point at the moving map, and the little blue dot is showing I’m past the Y and down the wrong fork. How’s that possible... i didn’t pass any “Y” of any kind, just the occasional dirt ATV path here and there. Hmm. Looking ahead on the track I’m now on looks like it would be a large deviation from the days time-plan, so i u-turn, and back a few miles is my road, labelled a US “route”, and looking on the map like the same caliber of other paved road “US routes” that I’ve been on, but which was actually a 2-track/single lane dirt road straight from mad max, very deep in silt, and with no markings of any kind. One of the rare cases where an ADV bike actually came in handy, and where it would have been a different outcome had i been on my beloved V11. Anyway, not that cursing is always an all bad thing (maybe its good for us? 😉), but i would have cursed a lot more that day without the quick situational awareness from my blue dot...

The “always on” element of the zumo I like. I have it on my bike in Alaska where I almost never need to figure out which road to take, as there are so few, but it provides that nice situational awareness at a glance.

Touché. U have a water cooled, 8v duc motor? I did my own personal cost/benefit analysis of that valve job, and the “take it to the duc dealer” option handily won, despite the fact that I still do the duc valves on my air cooled models. And I gave up on my duc LCD display long ago. I figured it’s not a feature I care about enough to fight with anymore. But back to Docc’s nav topic.... I’m a map geek, and know that’s not a unique thing. But my recollection of the “good ‘ol days” of map usage needs to include the copious amounts of cursing I did when realizing I’d gone the wrong way. I’ve messed with a score of impressive electronic/gps map app options, and dove deep into a few, but in the end for my on-road nav I’ve learned to deal with the vagueries of google maps to good effect, and for myself deciding that it was a shorter learning curve, and more importantly was a learning curve that doesn’t need to be repeated nearly as much to stay competent. I was always needing to re-learn the powerful but complicated options on the best map apps. Building routes is simple in google, it’s on every smart phone and computer, and importantly it’s easy to link my iPhone to drop a route onto an old iPad mini I will use for long trips, due to eyes getting older and needing that bigger screen. And the “pinch” zooming is so simple, along with option to work online or offline. Mostly I just use the blue-dot-on-a-map view option, which is more akin to a paper map but with the “you are here” built in, but occasionally use the turn-by-turn guidance in larger, complicated settings in foreign cities. Was super handy in Japan and Italy in the big cities. I use other apps for off-road.

Great point on the sun shade. Used to dislike them, on the older style Nolan helmets, but love the newer ones now that are better integrated.... use it all the time.

All the good stuff has been said, and I’d only add a couple nuance items: As noted, Bilt and Sedici are house brands at cycle gear, and vary a lot in quality, with one model/item being great and the next model being pretty junky, so you just need to evaluate each item on its own. That said, their warranty is arguably the best, at least in a practical sense. Since it’s house brand stuff, they have long warranties and pretty much just let u swap it for a new one if you have an issue. I only used the warranty once on a Bilt ADV suit I bought for my son, but it was totally painless and devoid of any need to ship anything.... just walked into a local store and they gave me a new one, and there are hundreds (?) of their stores around. And I’m another big fan of the roadcrafter. I don’t live in hot climate, but plenty of friends who use the Roadcrafter suit and just vary what they wear underneath based on season/weather.... fleece or just boxers and a T, and they have seemed happy for a very long time that way. On big euro trips they really shine, where rides may take us into the alps or down in a hot Italian city, so just bundle up or unzip and it’s pretty easy. It was my go-to outfit for about 20yrs, though recently I’ve changed it up mostly just for the hell-of-it. Dainese, always a great choice. That’s what I’ve been eye balling again. Bad idea for me since I’m mostly too skinny even for dainese, and it’s expensive, but such nice gear. And if u have a cool/cold season when u ride, do NOT forget heated riding shirts! Maybe it’s age, or getting soft, but I love it. On a long distance ride where you’ll have cold weather at some point, having that relatively little heated shirt in your kit rather than a big bulky 4-season jacket is a no-brainer. Last fall I rode a couple thousand miles through weather with ice in the morning at the hotel, and then later at 100+ deg in Death Valley, and the heated jacket allowed me to focus on the hot weather gear and just have the heated shirt in the bag for the cold stretches. Way less bulk, and it’s warmer than any jacket ever made. Just make sure it fits snug. I’ve got a couple brands, but warm-and-safe I think is the brand of my heated sweater. Only complaint is that the sweater is hard to take off, if u get the good snug fit. I’d recommend a full zip front instead (my old jacket is that way, but it’s loose, so not as warm.... u want that heat close to your body). Helmet- as noted, get what fits. And some disagree with me on this, but I’m a huge fan of the modular helmets. I have a Nolan 104. Riding the road, face shield down. At a stop light, or around town on a hot Texas day at slow speeds I have my helmet flipped up so I can breath. Except for track days, I’m never going back.

My son sent me a reference to these guys, and i admit that i figured it was just more odd stuff from my son, but i gave it a listen a while back. Catchy, but whatever, is what i thought. Then i thought “hmm, that was unusual, gonna listen to that again...”, and from there the brain worm sunk in deep. I might go so far as to say that once Wolf Totem in its pure Hu version (they do the song with an American metal band to help sell it, which is fine, but loses some of its best qualities in that version, imho) could end up in that category of rock songs that survive the onslaught of time and fashion thanks to the simple rock beat/percussion/catchiness. that primal percussion, the (mongolian) folksy strings and throat singing, mixed with the underlying American metal backbone and its something new in a class by itself. If you need some yin for your yan, this might be the desired ingredient. A commenter on one of their videos said “Makes me so proud to be Mongolian. Which is weird, because I’m Latino.” they just released a cover of Metallica’s “Sad but True”, which to me seems like too much (more) of a move to the heavily produced and commercial side, but hey, its still catchy, and is another example of a song that as I’m complaining about it i also realize that i can’t turn it off. Its also interesting to see how the random people i meet who somehow let on that they are fans are so diverse, from young to old, hip to “outdated”. Oh, and i found out they host a cooking show on YouTube, highlighting the cooking they do when on tour..... another weird, cool twist.

Love to also see pics when all done and on the bike. Cool project.

Agreed with Pete, though to be clear the “universally rich” descriptor should probably be qualified as applying (presumably) to our subject-matter V11’s. Some bikes of that vintage from other makes did run too lean, and while it’s true that it’s too crude to say they were simply lean or rich, I have seen these band-aid devices work to great effect on some bikes. In my case was on a bike that didn’t have an open ecu (at the time), and it ran consistently bad from being too lean, despite all kinds of various ways/attempts to tune around it. An O2 tricking gizmo instantly transformed the machine, dramatically, and 77k miles later I sold it and the new owner is motoring on with it happily over 100k, with the caveman enrichener. I gather such simple options would be a non-starter for our V11’s, for multiple reasons, but as Pete said they have the open ecu, tools, and maps available.

Brian Johnson is a geordie boy?!

Did I just see five finger death punch and mark knopfler/emylou Harris on back to back posts? I must be dreaming... knopfler is my favorite, and can’t beat death punch for when at the gym (sadly a bit rare these days for this slacker). Death punch makes me feel like an 18 yr old, but that ain’t all bad. On a different Italian bike tonight (duc multi) in Globe Arizona, where I stopped for an overnight enroute from Tucson to vegas. Little winery here, called “Waggins” (I think), quirky place but with a couple surprisingly good reds, with live music outside, playing soundgarden, CSN&Y, Emerson lake & Palmer, and STP. A good evening of riding and music.

Some good lookin’ Italians!

Ok Shakespeare, some of us are transfixed to the tale and the images... that taillight is exactly as you’ve described, both “wrong” and also intriguingly sweet.

It’s a great one. Like u say, hard to find in some places, but Then u end up in Montana and see it’s darn near everywhere (or was last time for me), and about the same price as regular. Crazy.

Mmmm, another ethanol thread. We are gluttons for punishment... :-> The tanks on my cagiva’s all fit fine from the dealer early on, so wasn’t an Italian QC issue. then over time they expanded and became very problematic. Same with other earlier model ducs from back when we had moved beyond metal but didn’t really see the effects of the ethanol yet. As Phil and others have have indicated, clean em out, whichever way works best for you, then either coat the inside or or just convert to non ethanol gas. All my little gas powered stuff at home now, lawnmowers, weed whackers, dirt bikes, are all on clear gas, and none of them have the tank and carburation issues that plagued them before the ethanol issue was highlighted a number of years ago. Pretty dramatic difference on a large number of motors in my little sphere.

many thanks gentlemen. that fills in most of the blanks for me. From what you've written, I'm seeing a header crossover, so that points to it being an 03 spec, and no lead coming from the o2 sensor bung on the header, so that just means its the US spec bike. being 03 may mean the conn rod/oil spray change. do the 03's tend to have better fueling, or does the 15RC and the header crossover (and whatever else) not translate that into that?

these question(s) are answerable via pulling info from various other topics/threads, but i'll pose them here specifically for clarity (for me), for those who don't mind chiming in: the '03 V11's went to the 15RC ECU, but only after a certain point in production, correct? If it is the RC, i assume i would see a O2 sensor coming off the exhaust somewhere (see next question also) the 03's have a forward crossover, rather than mid-bike, it appears. Does that sound correct, and if so, is that a good thing, or do folks tend to prefer changing over to a system more like the '02's and older have? and if so, i assume that means changing the head pipes, because of the front crossover plumbing? are there other differences of note with the '03 over the '02's and older 1100's? oh, and if the paint on the forward end of the valve cover is bubbling, would the likely issue be just a lousy job someone did of re-finishing the valve cover, or is that more likely indicative of other issues that come to mind? again, i've seen a lot of this alluded to elsewhere, but looking to clarify a bit, if anyone wants to chime in. thanks all

My brother is down that direction. may see if he can take a look at it.

I think i just had a longer-winded way of saying the same? my '16 Multi enduro is magnficent in most every category that i care about, but apples and oranges to the older italians i have (or had). Since the OP was talking 900SS vs V11, i just poorly attempted to steer my comments back in that direction :-) And MZNYC, i'd 2nd that notion, albeit only loosely, in that the 2v 904 in the old Monster and the Gran Canyon has "feel" of power that does NOT match with the low actual dyno numbers, nor the (heavier than one would think) weights. Fuel delivery and just general rounded power band are great, and very little if any fiddling with mapping is needed (for the few i've had).

doesn't hurt to have that spare. not necessarily the best cost option, for a diminishing/expiring part, but obviously nice to have on hand. I use mine to power my clay pigeon flinger :-) The MotoBatt i removed from my sons Gran Canyon did the same thing... was failing, then bike no-start, so i grabbed the bike from his place and brought it home and began an attempt at a revival process, but ultimately it also started to get hot and balloon, so i punted it and grabbed a new battery. its also an AGM, and has a similar following as the Odyssey from bike (etc) enthusiasts.

i loved my ST4. And love the ST2 and ST4S, but for different reasons, and never owned those 2 (but had a version of the ST2 motor in my Gran Canyon). The ST4 (and the S) are in my mind a bit closer to the V11 in that they have the distinctive italian (ducati of course in this case) sound and feel, whereas the newer duc's (which i love) are becoming more "homologized"... not quite as distinctive sounding and feeling. The longer wheelbase (or some other geometric features) on the ST4 made it better for touring but less ideal for tight corning/twisties (which makes sense). i regularly consider buying another ST4, but come back to the "light" by remembering that I love my V11 for that delicious italian feel & sound, and then my late model Duc for long distance touring and to satisfy the need for stupid amounts of horsepower. The 900SS would actually be a fun variant, and one that i'd prefer for some fun track days over the V11 (or ST4).

"The 15RC ECU is used on O2 sensor equipped V11’s." So, even if not O2 sensor equipped, if a 15M/non-O2 sensor bike had aftermarket exhaust with sensor bung, and added the dongle (ran the wiring to a sensor, and plugged into the bung), the RC should work? Partly curiosity, and partly because i'll be playing with ECU and map options on the "other" V11 in the shop this winter (as mentioned in our PM)