po18guy

Indeed. And that type of T5 socket rubber absolutely welds itself to the gauge sockets. I had quite a time getting them out. They went back in with silicone paste.

Voltmeter/clock/thermometer. Draws milliamps. I have heard the "sidelight" called a city beam, as opposed to dipped beam. A lot of old VWs etc. have them.

Brilliant! The mark of an XS650 owner.

Am wondering if there is a "reasonably" handy switched 12V source near the instruments/ignition switch? Having never had the instruments or ignition switch off the bike, dunno if there is a handy spot that can be tapped into. Like 22ga. wire.

Bottom line is that the value of all other US Scuras just went up a bit.

Part number GU01766880 (#6 on the diagram). My intention is to mount a clock on it. This is apparently unique to the high-barred models, i.e. V11 naked, Ballabio, Cafe Sport. Will consider new or used. Live in NW USA.

All those Guzzis and a 1964 Galaxie as well! 390, 406 or 427 perhaps? I thought the Swedes had bought all of those.

$500 parts bike. "If" the wheels are straight and the Odyssey is good. T-boned at an intersection? The crushed LaFranconi shows serious impact and the spine is bent clockwise something like 20º

A shame, really. After all of that, one would like to keep it round awhile longer. From a fellow Ballabisti.

The oil sensor needs to be relocated to your lower legs. Odd that the gaskets are always sucked inward. Either there is excellent oil drainage (crankcase vacuum passage) or the crankcase has a hyper-scavenging system. Might explain a few of the oily airboxes and mystery leaks. Anyway, the MG cycle "good" gaskets solve the problem. I was waiting for the right side to fail, but it's valve adjustment time now, so it's all part of the deal. Decades ago, my Yam TX650 had a similar problem, but worse as it is a 360º and crankcase pressure fluctuations are huge. There was but a single 12mm hose on the rear of the head to deal with the oil vapor. IIRC, it was routed under the engine at the swingarm pivot. I added a second hose and ran them through the top of the countershaft cover so that the vapor would condense and lube the chain. Took a 15K mile trip around the US in '78 and never had to lube or adjust the chain.

Oil pressure switches. Had a Toyota Tercel 4WD whose oil light would flicker, then say on. Rev the engine and it would go off, but steady RPMs, no matter how high, it would come back on. Torn diaphragm. Revving spikes the pressure and will break the internal ground, whereas steady RPM will allow the oil to flow past the diaphragm and the spring will make ground. Look for suspicious seepage or drips at the sending unit. "Dead" giveaway.

That, good sir, is someone else's problem. As long as the source is in Cali - where everything causes cancer, no problem.

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.