po18guy

i.e. Lexus, it is almost cheaper to buy a low-mile engine/trans from a wreck and swap the entire mess over. Might just run it until it goes "bang!" then part it out to the zit-faced racers. A battery for our 2016 300 goes for $700 retail. No thank you! Can get a better than OEM US-made AGM batt for 1/3 of that, as the battery maker has no network of fancy showrooms with loaner cars, free snacks and bottled water. As to the Testa Rossa Guzzi, I'll bet there's ample room to place a couple of Japanese 500cc water pumps and a curved rad in there, driven by two of those sprockets. Then, compression could go even higher and torque alongside, for not a whole lot of weight. All air cooling concessions could be excised, gaining a bit back. As to frame stiffness, the swingarm and technically the forks/front wheel could be flexed up a bit. Or the frame could be rendered in carbon. Look, we are fantasizing here, so the sky's the limit. I would still be delighted with 4V pushrod heads.

Technology is a marvelous thing. When certain southern Europeans - those known much more for passion than precision try it, well, not so much. Guzzi is perpetually cash-strapped. A simple revised head on the existing block and cylinders might well have been a go. But look at the high cam debacle. Certainly there are many that run well. The rest, we hear about here and elsewhere. In motorbikes, the 1983-1985 Honda CB650SC was about perfect. Air-cooled 4 in-line, DOHC/24 valves, but with hydraulic lash adjustment. Shaft drive. Maintenance was basically filters and oil. Occasional plugs. Could Piaggio/Guzzi do that? "Technically", yes. The very thought however is somewhat troubling. Technology is a two-edged sword. We bought a 2001 Lexus IS300 (Toyota Altezza) with the intention of driving it into the ground over the decades. We have in fact nearly done that. Nice straight six, DOHC, VVT all of the swag. But cam belts are a $1,000 proposition when on special! Engineering, at some point, becomes only a motivator to purchase the next generation of product, as the last gen is bankrupting one.

Ah, when you are building rolling anachronisms, why complicate things? F.I. was mandatory. But pushrods and 4 valves would be as easy to adjust and far simpler.

Thanks for the wake up! For some reason, the first two bars of the song made me call to mind "Roberta" by the reverend Billy C. Wirtz - and I was briefly transported from Maine to Chromosome, North Carolina. Or it could be that I watched "Name That Tune" one too many times...

The Japanese would figure a way to run those belts off the rear of the crank, or via jackshaft instead of the front. Still, a 4-valve pushrod engine would be sane, as the revs are limited from the get-go. No need for an 11k valvetrain. Remember the Guzzi (slightly modified) that gave John Britten's bike a headache until Italian reliability took it out of the race?

As bad a rap as Boeing gets, I cannot trust an aircraft made by historical enemies. Ever see Bill Murray in "Lost in Translation"? Something like that. Oh, and I had a French car. It was frequently grounded - by itself.

Clearly a closed-circuit bike. Whole lotta work, but this thing must be 25-35 years old(?) Heads with intakes on top and 2-1 port on the exhaust side. Out there where it will cool. A round fin 5 speed probably to stay with a 1 liter limit(?). The chain drive, for all of its anachronistic charm, would be far less hassle than the shaft. Consider: you can get gold Stealth alloy/steel sprockets with matching RK chain. And, no grease gun or Italian curses needed to lube it. I wish the guy lived close by and got tired of hassling with it... Actually, I wonder how or why Guzzi did not simply make a 4-valve pushrod engine? The rockers are wide enough to cover two smaller valves on either side. Remember when Krauser made 4-valve units for the Beemer airheads? Something like that.

It has been said that they live in rarefied air. It is fairly clear to me that, at that altitude, the oxygen level must be rather low.

Or, from our Boeing experience, they exist for people who are constantly forced to correct engineers.

That blood-red beauty should not be hidden. I wonder if a clear Lexan cover could be made???

Is that marinara sauce in the trans??? Or just a red-blooded Guzzi?

Woodcraft also makes clipons of varying heights. They go by fork stanchion diameter and have many sizes available. A low-rise set could be used it you raise the forks a bit in the triples. However, this will make the steering slightly quicker and the early V11s did not need that, so they say. I am pondering the opposite on my Ballabio. I have the tapered 28/22mm bars on factory risers. They're OK for town or distance, but I would still like slightly lower bars. Vortex made the OEM Buell 54mm clipons and that is one option I am considering. They need 28mm of exposed fork to grab and mine came with 18mm showing, so only a 10mm difference. Here are the Woodcrafts:

It helps - like this morning when I checked tire pressures before heading out. Rear @25. Hmmmm. Nail. Looks like some slime is in my future.

I have an inner peace (when I allow it) that is out of this world. I am happier after three cancers than an awful lot of folks are with none. Belief, attitude and perspective. Being patient (and retired), I picked up a new Spidi mesh jacket for $55 +sh on eBay and another textile for $79 shipped. In the long run, they are simply fairly nice Italian-styled Chinese jackets.

Most reliable product Alfa ever made!

You are very welcome. Had to do exactly this when I swapped the footpegs out on my V11. There have been reports of heavy rear brake drag after removing and re-installing that rod and the lever. Just a bit of wiggle room in the rod and you will be golden. Still, after a ride, you might check the rear wheel for free rotation (well, as much as that term applies) as well as the disc for temperature. If you are a regular user of the rear brake, understand that it will be warm. If it is too hot to touch, recheck the linkage for some free play, and consider that the caliper pistons could also he dragging. If so, a caliper rebuild is the solution to that - but one thing at a time.

Clean and lube the end of the rod and maybe Armorall the boot. Slip it back in and you are good to go. When adjusting the pedal, make certain that there is just the tiniest bit of slack in the system (pedal-rod-master cylinder cup). If there is no slack, you might be partially activating the rear brake. If you have a stand, you can check the free wheeling of the rear wheel once all is back in place.

You know, when they are partially (Ha!) disassembled for maintenance, it's just as easy to bolt aftermarket parts back on. After all, you can switch those OEM parts back anytime you want to - just like giving up smoking...

If only there was a pic with Mr. McGregor. So do we call the frenetic last minute bidding the bike of the star war?

Well done! So, it appears that the blue tailpiece and seat cover were done on purpose! OK, I suppose that adds a bit of Italian flair...

In Seattle, they don't need a reason to riot.

New tech is very costly. A year or two will make it more affordable, more refined, more practical. At its current price, it cost more than 6 of my 7 bikes.

CrossHelmet X1. A cool $1800 US. Rats! Already bought a new iMac with my stimulus check...

I tried signing up for one of the popular image hosting sites and finally gave up. For about $1US monthly, I find Imgzeit utterly easy to use, very intuitive and hassle-free. Very happy, as some forum software requires a cumbersome and archaic process for posting pics.

I, for one (maybe the only one) am looking for a rear view camera setup with a single or dual screens atop the gauge cluster. I mean, you're gonna do a head check anyway, but since every car now has a backup camera, why not a rear view camera and no mirrors? I know someone will post a link here…