po18guy

My response will be to add two additional Fiamm horns to blast them out of the way.

Finally! A bike which makes working on a Guzzi only "moderately difficult" in comparison. I remember Erik Buell being quoted as saying that there was "some insane geometry" at work in the Buell belt tensioning roller. As to the JIS, the screwheads of 1960s Japanese bikes were really soft by today's standards. As to today's fasteners, I rather like the Torx ("star") drive as it is a more efficient means of generating rotational torque than the socket head. Socket head wrenches, as force is applied, try to expand the bolt head outward as much as they try to rotate the bolt. Thanks to molecular bonds and steel alloys, this almost always works. Torx, on the other hand, has the splined connection which transfers the load more effectively, being more axial than radial. Can you imagine if the transmission input, output and final drive shafts were hex socket?

I remain surprised at the number of odd-sized and oddly-designed fasteners I encounter. I realize that there is a reason for each of them, but it has been said that we cannot avoid using reason - we can only avoid using it well. The Japanese are known for sizing the fastener to the task, while the Germans are known to employ the fewest sizes so as to simplify design, supply and manufacture. In the north of Italy, it seems that the fasteners are produced in accordance with a national law which mandates that 7, 9 and 11mm fastener companies are kept in production. I think it was a post-WWII reconstruction thing. Or not.

Excellent work! No doubt there will be buyers for such a tool.

SAE is readily understandable if you stick with decimals. Fractions not so much. Wondering if metric carpenters tell the helper to move the other end of the board about 6.35mm?

I just want to know what was in Raceco's Guzzi race bike. That vid is epic.

You are a better more daring rider than I. What I have is a twice-scraped center stand. OK, it is from supporting the behemoth for pictures. Sidestands. On my TX650, I removed the sidestand and ground the mount off after it put me in a ditch on a fresh set of Dunlop K81s. Oddest thing I leanred from that is that Mikuni VM38s will idle upside down.

Guzzi is perfect for those who lost the popular sized wrenches.

Am thinking of opening an internet business: "10mm Socket World" Whadya think? The slammed Honda boyz would be good for a few.

That I very often find myself in this situation.

I am such a spaz that I would be making sparks where sparks do not need to be.

A connection is a connection. What the Caspers does is reduce the hassle and frustration. With a pair of multimeter terminals on the two loose ends, it is much much easier.

On the east coast, frankly there is little one can do except sweat. I did not actually "need" another mesh jacket, but I saw this Viking Cycle jacket on Amazon and could not resist. It was apparently a promotion, but at $29.95 delivered and free returns (which I did not), it was a done deal. The "pads" were junk and I switched them out. But, this thing flows some air. Interestingly, the pockets are waterproof for those climates which have sun punctuated by tragic downpours. They run between $26-$59 now, depending on size and color. Still, a great knockabout mesh jacket. Super bright Hi-viz, but that did not stop some somnolent driver in a white Mazda (saw him first) merge across my bow completely unaware. Score one for pilot eyes.

I have bought several pairs of motorcycle jeans and two pair of cargo pants from Brosh Tech in Tel Aviv, Israel. They specialize in hot weather gear and kevlar panels in their clothing. They made one pair 4" longer in the inseam for me. Here is a small block rider who rates a couple of their products.

Anyone in New Joysey or the NYC metro area knows heat and humidity. I was there when it was 96F and 95% - clearly not the worst. Still, almost had to be surgically removed from a vinyl sofa. And I was 26 then. It would prove fatal today.

Now, must devise a fine-threaded rotating thumbwheel for the TPS so that you don't go from .100-50.75 in one little jiggle.

You need the voltage supply from the main harness. At the excellent advice of others here, I purchased a Caspers Electronics "TPS breakout harness." Plug one end into the bikes harness, the other into the TPS and the two free leads into your multimeter. http://www.casperselectronics.com/cart/index.php?route=product/product&search=guzzi+&product_id=853&search=guzzi+ Here's how I decided to terminate the harness. Now it's plug plug plug-n-play.

Rex Marsee was into style, but it is really difficult to have both style and airflow, so her tilted toward airflow. A mesh jacket, you want to be a little floppy. The air needs room to flow and with that jacket you can feel the air flow even at parking lot speeds. Might also be worth upgrading the jacket with CE level 2 armor, which I don't think was available when the jacket was made.

I just bought some HeatOut / Cool-R undershorts and long sleeve shirt from Cycle Gear. The undershorts I have tried only with my mountain bike - excellent. The shirt I shall try this week, as it will be upper 80sF/31C Any mesh jacket w/armor will be fine. You have to find them used now, but the (Rex) Marsee mesh jacket is the coolest I have ever ridden in. Except for the shoulders, it is 100% mesh. About like riding with a long-sleeve T shirt.

Where is it now? Does it have a US title? Check with DMV Austin, as there are certainly specified requirements. Vintage or special interest is an exception in many titling/licensing cases. EDIT: It is entirely possible that one may have to register the vehicle in an "easy" state, such as Oregon or Alabama, before titling it in Texas. That may require a "trusted" friend who would temporarily place it in his name before transferring to you. However, at each exchange, the taxman loometh.

Mine came with Staintunes. Pretty throaty, but not obnoxious. Db killers out. With them, it is just so wrong. Recently rotated them up for a little more spiff.

As I see it, a weave can be time consuming to address, unless caused by something obvious (tire pressure, tread style, or construction or even rider input). They involve much smaller steering movements, and those may fall within the velocity range of quick cornering inputs. Any damper that will stop that risks substantially altering the twisty road maneuverability and will make the bike nearly uncontrollable in a slow U-turn. Technically, a damper could be constructed (Ohlins probably has) which denotes speed, gear, RPM, trottle setting and whether the steering input is rider or wheel initiated and then decides which type of damping to apply, if any. On a different note, deceleration wobbles are very often front tire related, i.e. low pressure, cupped tread, tread pattern or compound not a good fit with the bike's geometry etc. On the Kawi EX500 forum, we see lots of complaints about decel wobbles, and that bike has very relaxed steering (27 degree rake), so front tire is one place to look, as well as steering head bearings. In Seattle they have the infamous First Avenue Bridge. It is a drawbridge with an open metal (look down and see the river) grating surface. Was not designed by or for motorcyclists. Talk about weave! Early on, I learned to relax my grip and just let the bike weave its way across. All attempts to the contrary only worsened the weave.

Nice bike, beautiful day. The Stones! I can't believe they are still at it after all these years. I mean Fred and Wilma are pretty old by now. What? Wait...oh never mind.

I know I will come across as pedantic here, but please bear with me. Friction dampers are similar to the ancient friction shocks we see on early 20th century cars and mid-century bikes. 'Steering brakes', if you will. But they have no brain, no valving. Actually, to some extent I imagine that they work the opposite of what is intended. Max friction in such dampers occurs at zero steering speed - forks straight ahead. It takes some effort to overcome that static friction, which to some degree is good. However, once the initial resistance is broken, it cannot resist movement to the degree that it did, as the force of a tank slapper can break that friction and keep the damper moving until the fork stops are hit. Then, it simply repeats in the other direction. What they resist best is the initial rapid deviation of steering angle that is associated with wobbles. But what after the forks are swinging? Sliding or rotating objects are much easier to slide or rotate once the initial static friction is broken. Sliding a sofa to a new spot in the living room is a practical example. Tough to start it sliding, but much easier to keep it sliding. This is the beauty of hydraulic dampers. Their brain is crude, but they are be set to provide progressive damping of steering oscillations, which is a very good thing when at high speed. They provide low oscillation damping at low steering velocity (not to be confused with vehicle velocity) and high resistance to high velocity steering inputs from either rider or tire - it goes both ways. I have a 1966 Yamaha that has a friction steering damper. It mostly just makes the bike ungainly at low speeds, when rapid steering input helps maintain balance. Road racing bikes make good use of dampers but trials bikes, on the other hand, rely on quick and undamped steering movements so as to retain balance and negotiate seemingly impossible terrain. Something like that.

Properly adjusted, it should have little to no effect discernable by the rider. It is intended to offer minimal resistance to normal velocity steering inputs, but resist those which are too rapid and not seen in normal riding, i.e. wobbles. Consider a bucket of putty or any thick, but fluid substance. You can slowly move your fist through it from top to bottom. But try to punch through it and it becomes almost solid - fluid dynamics at work. And just so the damper resists rapid, potentially dangerous oscillations in steering input.