po18guy

A 1987 EX500A1 (GPz500S) that I bought from my BIL for $450 in 1999. He fell down at about 20mph in a paving area and never rode again. A few things straightened out and here she is. I put Progressive springs in the forks, tapered rollers in the steering head, jet kit/K&N, additional airbox snorkel, some well-made and long-lived Cobra F1 slipons and later on, a pair of WebCam 245 hard-weld cams. Dang near the ideal commuter bike, as it is quick enough to stay well ahead of traffic and the engine has a sweet spot at about 7K or 80mph/120kph. I know it will do 120mph. If it would do 121, I'd tell you. Actually a pretty roomy bike for 500cc, as the wheelbase is only 2" shorter than my Ballabio.

So goes my life, but it has been torrential downpours or 6 weeks of a 2 week virus which has almost completely frustrated my attempts to ride the new-to-me Ballabio. It came with a nice multi-reflector/clear lens unit that appears to be OEM(?) My thought is that lenses are asked to do too much when pressed into service as both lens and refractory/dispersal unit. I think the process is more clearly controlled when the multi reflector directs the light in small "bites" wherever the engineers place it, while the lens is clear and does nothing except transmit about 92% of available light. Here is the "Infitary" LED unit that I am playing with. The separate driver is compact enough to fit in the OEM headlight shell and the light unit itself can be rotated 360º until optimal pattern is achieved. As can be seen, the LED chips are sized and arranged to closely emulate the filaments in an incandescent bulb. That alone keeps the light from scattering all over the place. And, there are two machined-in shields similar to the halogen units. If one is patient, the units may be ordered from China for about $18/pair. I do not yet know their longevity, but at $8 per, not that much more than halogen units.

It looks it. Beautiful bike for those so inclined.

For most of us non-competitive, street guys, "hot-rodding" may be an exaggeration. "De-restricting" or "opening up" what is stuffed up probably nets the greatest practical increase for the money. A freer intake and exhaust will net a noticeable difference when one enters the second half of the rev counter. And re-flashing that which may not have been all that well flashed in the first place.

(Ahem!) Well, the runners are larger in the first 75mm/3 in. or so as they leave the box. So, might lop them off there and use 75mm silicone automotive turbo hose to just above the oil cooler (was going to say abreast of the cooler, but...) Fortunately, I have time to ponder this. Have an email into Uni-Filter, but no reply as of yet. I think their MG1 is for the 850-T and such machines. It is said that they flow as good and filter better than (brand redacted to prevent ...ummm...venting) the competing brand.

This just in. Found a NIB V11 air box lid on eBay. $32.95 shipped! I helped the seller out on shipping, as he was essentially giving me the lid. Now, to study it and ponder..

Imagine: 10K would net you the Norge and the Greenie. Or half a Ducati.

I see a really nice Norge on eBay. 181 miles??? Anyway, the switches are in their correct locations. This, of course, means that no retrofit is possible. Don't want to install Asian switches, so will check to see if there is any crossover.

The seller sounds like a very nice, um... mature gent. An utter shame that no one has clicked. They would be buying it, but it's a steal.

Nah, just making counter-points. I'm Scotch-Irish, which would make me a drunk, except the Scotsman is too cheap to buy the liquor. My primary belief here is that brighter, whiter light for less watts is a good thing. Having partaken of four clinical trials, I like research. Got some skin in the game. And, as Albert Einstein reportedly said: "If we knew what we were doing, it wouldn't be called research." When all is said and done, and the brilliance (pun) is revealed, give all credit to docc.

And no takers??? You can part it out for that much!

No one here is really inventing anything. Rather, attempting to apply existing and advancing technology to practical use.

Well then, why not sit back and enjoy our labors and failures, or successes? The units I chose use some of the latest, tiny Phillips ZES LED chips, arranged in the exact location and shape as the wire filament in a halogen bulb. This is crucial, as the reflector neither knows nor cares how the light it reflects is created - only that the light emanates from the same position within the reflector. The problem with 90% of the early LED units is that they did not use such "filament-sized" chips, and did not locate them in the proper focal plane. This caused the well-known scattered light patterns. I believe that the LED producers have done, in the more recent designs, a remarkable job of adapting current technology to reflector units designed for the now-ancient halogen technology H4 bulbs. A light unit which is purpose-built for LED illumination can do an even better job - two of the OEM LED-lighted cars that I own demonstrate this. Most all LED 9003/H4 units allow rotation of the unit in the mount, until the best light pattern is achieved. As we see from docc's low beam pattern, it nicely replicates the halogen unit, but with greater intensity and substantially less power consumption. Hard to find fault with that. I began driving on 6V incandescent bulbs, which were about like the parking lights or DRLs on modern cars. 12V was a good improvement. Halogen was yet another step ahead, but it is now 50+ years of age and getting rather long in the tooth. HIDs had too many limitations, such as the cost of drivers and bulbs, as well as warm-up time. Like compact fluorescent bulbs, they had their day. I see LED lighting as a 21st century parallel of Thomas Edison's 19th century perfection of the glowing wire lamp.

Of note, the housing is aluminum and flows into a heat sink - in the middle of which the fan is located. The fan draws in from the back of the unit and blows out past the vanes of the heat sink. I can only say that this design is also the one used (or pioneered) by PIAA in Japan - who seem to know what they are doing.

So far, so good. Really nice cutoff on low beam. Perhaps a little left-right adj on the high and that bright spot will light up a very decent distance.

We're up to 63 watchers now, but no one willing to pull the trigger. Apparently, they do not realize that life is as short as it is.

Well, like spam spam spam eggs and spam, it's got silver in it. You can see it if you wear rose-colored glasses.

A lot of torque to feed through that MG trans. But - finally! A Guzzi with an accessible oil filter! I see that the flyscreen really is a screen. The wiring...well. I find it reminiscent of this homebuilt V8.

She'd look pretty next to the Ballabio, but I'd have to find another place to live...

2000 w/19K miles. Looks like collector-owner. Started at 4K, but dropped to 3750 obo. https://www.ebay.com/itm/2000-Moto-Guzzi-V11/123933392343?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

The world is full of critics. I know this because I am one. This bike has been aimed at a cost-sensitive market. Good for business, but bad for the bike. Honestly, in my mind, to wear he legendary name of Interceptor, it should be a true 750cc and have USD forks and dual floating discs.

And, with the ever-so-popular 270º crank, it has the classic sound of a... ...Guzzi. I wonder if they engineered some valve clatter into it?

Always had a special place in my heart for the chrome tank Oily Enfield Interceptor. From the monstrous engine w/massive flywheels, to the jaunty angle of the mufflers to the cheeky little kick up at the tail of the seat...

Since cooling is an issue with LEDs, I did a little experiment with an "Infitary" fan-cooled H4 bulb mounted in a Kawi EX500 headlight. Forget which beams I used, but after 1/2 hour and then 1+ hours, the IR thermometer read 80ºF - with no physical airflow except the fan. I think that most of the car-type LED cooling features may be intended for those units which reside close to automotive transverse engine exhausts and heated radiator air. Being fairing mounted, the EX headlight essentially hangs in the air - lots of cooling. Those in a shell or bucket might warm up more, but I just did not see the heat issue on a bike. I would have used the undoubtedly HQ Japanese PIAA unit on the Goose, but the driver will not fit inside the bucket and I did not feel like boring holes into it.