rich888

See my update above! It was a sticky solenoid on the fuel shutoff valve!

Well it's amazing what a little tappy tap tap can do! Solenoid fuel valve was stuck shut. Gave it some light percussive maintenance and hey presto, she fired up instantly!

Been laid up over Winter and now she's refusing to start. Sparks fine, no sign of fuel on the plugs, so I'm sus on the electric fuel valve (petcock). Is this the most likely culprit? I can hear the fuel pump priming. Any immediate thoughts before I go digging?

Anyone able to post a pic of the steering damper? Specifically, the rod end fixings where it attaches to the forks. There are two dished washers. Do these go either side of the rod end ball? I assume they cup the spherical bearing? Thanks.

And the prize goes to Shaun! Well done that man! Got the bike out today and had the screech back again. I then noticed that the lights were dimming as soon as I touched the clutch lever along with the screech.... WTF I thought and then saw the poxy starter button was stuck in. The clutch lever switch was engaging the starter! Came back on here to post the update and saw your post!

The damper works fine as does the joint on the head of it. The joint that attaches to the forks has the play which, for some reason is only up and down. The ball isn't rattling about loose, it just seems to be able to move up and down a bit. I've found replacement rod ends from £5 upwards depending on material and bearing material so I'll just pop a new one on.

Nope, just up and down and the the swivel is quite loose. The MOT guy mentioned it last year but didn't fail it, so was curious about these just being like this or was it really shagged. You guys in the States don't have to worry about an annual road worthyness test right? I can just take it off for the test!

Yep, but seems odd for it to wear so much, unless of course it's cr@p materials and once it gets slightly loose, vibration takes care of the rest... They seem pricey for what they are (£300 list! Really???), so I'll see if I can find a new joint rather than the whole thing.

Not sure why but the steering damper on my V11 seems a bit loose. Too loose do you think? Does the whole unit really need to be replaced? Seems odd to have worn so much? vid

It's been cr@p here for weeks.... This last lockdown was a complete PITA. Windy, continual rain/drizzle, just pants! The noise didn't start immediately, which is odd. It started after I got out of the drive...

Just checked the gearbox oil level and its fine. The noise has stopped now, so it could have just been dry from being laid up for a couple of months. It did sound bloody horrible though! Now I just have the 'normal' Guzzi swish swish swish, clutch sound. I'll keep an eye (ear) on it... Thanks for the info though!

Cheers Docc, Not done much spanner time on my Guzzi, its been pretty reliable until today. What needs to come off to get get access to the slave cylinder? (just been looking through a load of workshop manual PDF's and not found much about it)

Took the V11 Sport out today for a quick run. I noticed a horrible sounding screeching noise as I pull the clutch in. Seems to start the moment I put some pressure on the lever and stops when fully pulled in. Silent when let fully out. I assume the clutch release bearing has gone bang? Happened suddenly not gradually after a month or two of sitting in the garage. It's a 2001 bike. Any ideas? Cheers.

2 ways to fix foggy dials. 3 if you include filling with dry nitrogen! 1: heat the glass - this doesn't require the dial to be completely airtight. 2: seal the dial so it's 100% airtight with a good desicator inside. Never tried either! Just my experience with keeping CCTV cameras fog free.

I had some MIVVs on my V11 and although it sounded great, I found that it was just too loud after about 20 mins in the saddle! I put some stock cans on and it's now really quiet - maybe too quiet (LOL!), but I have noticed that there seems to be a loss of power in the midrange. Is that likely to be due to the stock cans, or just coincedence? I haven't checked TPS, valves etc etc lately, so might just have drifted off tune a bit or are the stock cans really that restrictive? Cheers!