po18guy

Sadly, we are such a niche within a niche market that only the old-school mom and pop dealerships had knowledge or concern about the "historic" bikes like the V11. I have had no contact with Optimum, but based on their site, it appears that they cater primarily to the hipster V7 Racer/V85 crowd.

Easy! Sign up at Imgzeit for $11/year/ Super easy to use, add or delete images and was developed by a forum member. You'll never look back. Dang! I have the blue tail and was looking for a red one.

Well, the side covers still say V11 Sport. It's the year (long frame) and sub-model that make the difference. maxv11, what color is the tail fairing?

According to Yelp, Portland Aprilia/Guzzi is DOA. https://www.yelp.com/biz/aprilia-moto-guzzi-portland-portland I think that gstallons' suggestion to contact Barnett is excellent. They make "one-offs" http://www.barnettclutches.com/cables.html

Maybe Paine Field? I would still lean toward aircraft welders, as they are under more scrutiny. And, leave it to Guzzi to make the engine a stressed member, but only via the timing cover(?) Back to Jeep: they did the motor mount on the timing cover of their technically advanced OHC 230 six cylinder in the early 60s and had nothing but oil leaks. Solved by using block mounts but the die had been cast, so to speak.

In best Mr. T accent: "I pity the fool who threw his cracked timing cover away." This forum has the talent (and desire) to engineer springs better than Paiggio. If need arose, could we 3D print or do CNC timing cover replacements? Years ago, AMC/Jeep had no V8 timing covers available, as they were out of print since '91 or so. Rather Guzzi-like, they wore out due to lack of bushings for the oil pump drive shaft. So, one (or more) companies reverse-engineered the cover and they are once again available, and better than the originals. The difference? They were originally done by employees, but re-done by aficionados. Like the shift mechanism springs.

I have watched 'miracle' spark plugs come and go over the decades. From the 1960s J.C. Whitney 'Fire Injectors' to multi electrode, surface gap (was good in old-school 2-strokes), rare element metals to every manner of improving the mousetrap. In the late 60s, friends and I added all of the J.C.Whitney claims for their catalog gizmos and doo-dads when added to an air-cooled VW bug. We ended up with something like 400HP. For less than $200. Then we wondered where skepticism comes from... The Iridium plug with narrow ground electrode and fine center wire strikes me as being as good as we will get using electrical discharge technology. Better wires help, but better coils will probably do more than that. All three in combination would be the best, as the OEM components are always tilting toward the cost accountants. With the V11, we are talking early aviation combustion chamber tech. Air cooling. Wide valve angle. Heavily domed pistons. Limited compression ratios - especially with what passes for gasoline/petrol these days. Dual plugs help with such a large chamber, but it is the basic design that is the primary limiting factor.

In a rare cognitive moment, I checked the member map.

Here's a crankcase set w/cover - but it's a V11 EV (the same?) https://www.ebay.com/itm/1998-Moto-Guzzi-V11-1100-California-EV-Crankcase-Engine-Motor-Bottom-GU30000770/264430514889?hash=item3d914972c9:g:Q7MAAOSwa~1dU7j3 Sooner or later, a CNC programmer might have to develop a program to make these, what with their susceptibility to breakage and being made of unobtanium.

WA? Western Australia? Lotsa bush mechanics that can make it like new. Washington State? A veritable plethora of good welders. Go to a welding supply shop and ask them who's the best. Or a hot rod shop, as cast alloy transmissions housings break and need welding.

It is a rather unfortunate location for a load-bearing mount point, Nevertheless, live near an airport? Hiring an airframe & powerplant welder would probably be expensive, but very good. As well, there may be spots on the cover, internal or external, for reinforcement plates or ribs to be added. A little smoothing and paint will make it less noticeable once done.

For those times when I am out of coffee and I feel like some good old nonsense.

What did I do? Well, I took the right mirror off and opened up the rather thick alloy handlebar inside diameter to accept the rubber mounting donut of a Ken Sean bar-end mirror. Of the two sizes provided with the mirrors, even the smaller of the two would not fit. After fitting the first donut, I concocted a design for a 2-piece delrin clamp, similar to the OEM bar end weights. Misery is the mother of invention.

Were they owned by the same owner as Ducati Seattle and Hinshaw's in Auburn? If so, he got into serious financial trouble and the bank swooped in and carted everything off before locking the doors. EDIT: Apparently not, according to this article: https://www.redmond-reporter.com/business/financial-turmoil-contributed-to-ducati-redmond-closure-records-show/

There must be a + and - terminal on the Quat D, as they seem to be very polarizing.

Whatever restores the good vibes.

I have seen some slit red fuel line and use it like you did. But I think it is vinyl tubing, rather than rubber.

Less work than cleaning and polishing headers. Knowing the properties of stainless, I suspect that more than a few are shocked by corrosion pinholes in their formerly wrapped headers. Ooops.

It looks like something that was intended to be covered by a lower fairing.

When headlight aim is off , it calls for (Ahem!) manual adjustment.

Thought you'd enjoy that one...

Removing the battery entirely takes what, 1.5% off the weight? Yeah, but the high beams still work.

The fairing opening is awfully close to the diameter of the headlight ring and the slightest contact will transmit seemingly all of the vibes. Something on the order of neoprene or closed cell foam helps, but is often visible from the front. There is a thin foam tape used for medical purposes (pharmacy/chemist/druggist) that might be run around the top of the headlight ring and trimmed so that it is not poking out like a bandage - but a band aid is what we are applying in any event.

Some Ballabio tips: There are/were/supposed to be thin rubber washers between the aluminum mount and the fairing. To preserve the fairing paint, some washers between the headlight mount bolts and the fairing are a good idea. Hardware store stuff. Also, thin rubber washers that will fit between headlight shell and fairing mount will help keep the headlight adjustment where you put it. Make sure the upper fairing mount is tight both at its lower end on the fairing stay, as well as at the windshield bolts. Some small thin rubber washers between the upper mount and the fairing/windshield bolts will help there, as well. For that matter, thin rubber washers (or a perimeter rubber strip made from a bicycle inner tube) between the windshield and the fairing will also quell some of the shakes. Speaking of the shakes... When you are dealing with a bike that has more shakes than Joe Walsh on a bender, you have to take some steps.

HTmoto in Germany made a few. The owner retired and sold the tooling to: www.seby-poly.de This example is a short frame, so none of the pump-in-tank issues with tooling for the tank.