Kevin_T

I'll take it off your hands

I was looking at Gritman's post and he made no mention of fooling around with the ignition timing. Did you speak with him if he did? I'd imagine the requirements in the ignition timing between a hemispherical head of the V11and the pentroof head of the high cam would be quite different.

If you haven't already you should do a leak down test. The engine might just be broken in but its full of dissimilar metals. Chances are 99 out of a 100 there is nothing wrong, still its good to know. You could have a valve that open just a crack or there is some galvanic action going on.

Chuck you can put me down for one.

Seeing those coiled tubes reminds me of the saying "What goes around comes around" I use to tell a bad joke. What is the difference between a Harley and a Hoover? Harley(Davidson motorcycle) and Hoover(vacuum cleaner) Seeing that picture makes me the butt of my own joke.

Neil, the shipping cost wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Would you quote me a price for the mufflers?

I'm interested in the muffler hangers and riders footpegs. PM me please

So Kane, just how many miles do you have on your bike? I don't think having a clutch that drags is a normal condition. I mean it didn't do that when the bike was new did it? I just bought this Lemans so I don't have a lot of miles on it, but the condition you describe was a signal to replace the transmission input hub on my Elderado. In the 100k plus miles I put on that bike I think I replaced 3 of them. The Elderado didn't have a cush drive so 35k was about all they were good for. If you have less then 50k you might want to make sure the cush drive in the rear hub is lubed and well serviced.

If you could add another person, I would like 3 springs.

So... I wanted to wait until I had something a little positive. While ordering an oil pump gear from Joe Caruso I asked him if he would have any interest in making a transmission input hub that would fit the Ram clutch and he seemed genuinely interested. Before you get your hopes up he is going to confer with his gear guy if he has the tooling. This might be a no go right from the start, but if he does is there any real desire for this hub? To me it sounded like there was but once people start talking money things can change real fast. Some people have made the conversion but I didn't see any real feedback is the Ram clutch a worthwhile mod? I know its too early to come up with a price it cost me 600.00 for the clutch and with the hub it could push the cost to a cool grand for a six speed conversion. Any way just putting it out there still testing the waters. I hope sp838 took some good dims.

I have a six speed box and a five speed box plus the Ram clutch conversion in front of me so I might be able to help. If I were you I would take that input hub and a little valve lapping compound and remove any binding that you referred to. Then I would send it off to Swain's coatings to have it poly coated. I just don't think your going to be seeing to many more of those. The splines are subject to wear if you don't grease them and its just not a five minute job so could get neglected. In the past I would just replace the input hub when the clutch started to drag as my time was more valuable. Like everyone said it should fit right up. The bell housing have different shapes between the 5 and the 6 speeders with the bearing for the mainshaft on the 5 speeder being recessed, but the outer diameter has the same depth. You might want to use some clay at potential contact points and dry fit if you have concerns, but the push rod is probably your only problem that I see.

Ok so I'll bite PLEASE tell that wasn't a factory job!! I wrote that with a little smirk on my face but after careful contemplation I scared of what the answer might be. (Nutter) Quietly raises hand, looks at ground while gently kicking dirt in a circle. Since your on the subject of Moto Guzzi innovations and your motor is done for the most part let me ask a question. I just bought a 2002 v11 Lemans about a week ago never really looked that closely before at the frame. The Lemans has a strut from the frame to the engine case just under the tranny does stabilize the engine, increase handling? Just what are the benefits? Do I want to weld a lug on to the engine case for my v11 project. Is it worth change the exhaust system for?

Thanks Pete just got mine. Even has your logo so there can be no doubt where it came from!

I would have gotten back sooner but I still need to do a few things before I really get into the motor. What I did get (with a feeler gauge) is left cylinder exhaust rocker arm .004 inch, intake rocker arm .008 inch. The right cylinder exhaust rocker arm .010 inch, intake rocker arm .009 I believe this is what the factory passed on. So .008 or .2 mm should be correct I would think any expansion would only increase this dim.

Phil, I'd like to ask you a few questions, but I haven't got into the motor yet so some of them maybe darn right silly. First I want to thank you for Joe Caruso e-mail address. I seen a couple of people had his @ntlworld wrong. Joe is sending me the improved pump and gears so I'll have some more direct knowledge in a while. You said your big end bearing journal was just fine no scouring or wasn't oval. So I'd imagine the oil pressure was okish, but the journal on the camshaft you were indicating the lobe seemed to have some scouring. Do you think there might be some general oil restriction to the heads? I put an oil pressure gauge on my and found about 53 psi, but once the oil cooler kick in pressure dropped to 43 psi at best no matter rpm's. That seemed to be system wide the lines to feed the heads could cause the pressure to drop even further. I've just took my readings where the oil sending unit is and not at a point on the heads themselves. Maybe someone has some real numbers? Rocker arm geometry looks a little off maybe its an optical illusion, the tappet end of the rocker arm seems past the point of being perpendicular. Once the rocker arm gets on that side of its arc it becomes a real sweeping motion. Have you tried any layout dye across the top of the valves and tappets(tappet might rotate)? You said you had a valve guide that was .030 oversize, maybe the motor is sensitive in that respect. I don't think I've encountered a guide with that much wear.

I've seen ignition systems not fire just because they had less then 11 volts. It fires when there is no resistence but as soon you put a load on the battery the voltage drops just enough. Is the battery the original? Makes it what 14 years old. The best advice I can give you is to go to www.Centauro-owners.com I believe they have a couple members that have the same bike as yours. When you were cranking over the engine without the spark plugs in it make sure you ground them. It might be possible to damage something in the ignition system. The bike is Art its History don't do anything rash.

Phil, I must say after seeing your thread I was so impressed I went and became a member. I've got a Centaruo and a salvage I was hoping to do as a V11(should be real salad). I'm looking at your Das oil pump an salivating, been trying to contact Joe Caruso without much luck. Is there a trick to contacting him maybe if I used my cheap translator to contact him in his native language he'd be more receptive? Any way your a true craftsman its a joy to follow this post. I hope I can ask you more then just a few questions.