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The show begins November 23rd, ends November 28th; If I am correct, the first day(s) are reserved and not open to the public. Moto Guzzi's main event will be the V100; however, there will certainly be some other variations on the usual V7.

@VtwinStorm I only have a single key to my Le Mans. I leave it in the ignition switch, when parked in my garage. There is no depletion since there is no transponder. MGcycle sells key blanks, so it is easy to cut one or two spares and store them. Then there are the Air Tags, which can also save the day, especially if you loose your key while away from home base.

I received the Lithography yesterday, Nov 19th. It is #9 and it is really beautiful. I am now looking to get it framed and then I will take a picture to post here.

My work around, is to turn the switch to the "lock" position, thus turning all the way counter clockwise, and then try again. It has been successful so far. If I don't depress the clutch lever, the dashboard lights don't dim. Circuit is not closed.

@Kiwi_Roy Thanks for the insight! I got your point about Vaseline; it is just that I never came across it before reading this thread. When it comes to logging oil wells, we want the continuity and insulation possible, under hydro static or effluent pressure, and temperature. And we test with Mega ohmmeters or in the case of Electrical Down hole Pumps, ESPs, Giga Ohmmeters. The exact symptom, in my situation: -I turn on the ignition switch, depress the clutch lever, depress the starter button, both neutral and oil pressure lights dim, nothing else. If I do not immediately release the starter button, the 15 Amps "key switch" fuse #4, described in the workshop manual page 46 in chapter 17 fuse terminal board, blows. Every time. Following your proposed trouble shooting root causes, I am convinced the switch is the culprit, but I will run the tests to exclude all the possibilities. The battery is new, and the terminals and connections do not exhibit any trace of oxidation. I took them off for good measure.

And Norton too...

As I type, I have not seen the inside of the ignition switch installed on my Le Mans; I can't tell what is wrong with it, and I until I open it and gets a visual check, then I will maybe get a better understanding. My experience with Dielectric grease mostly come from installing logging heads on mono and heptacables to be run in oil wells. Conductors have to be completely insulated from either the well effluent, or the drilling mud. Including under pressure. So after the logging head is built, you pump it full of Dielectric silicone grease. And for that, we used Molykote 4 which is one of the compound you suggest in your write up.... I had my share of aborted runs due to insulation losses.... which invariably ends in the company man's office and a good reason to always have a tube of Vaseline handy.... Back to the V11, I did a test today. I let the Guzzi outside of the garage, and right on cue, no start when pushing the starter button. A few on/off, and eventually it cranked. I guess I confirmed the root cause, so I am going to need to get down to it, no other way around...

Agreed. I was not going to use Dialectic Grease in the Switch itself.

Agreed. I condone everything you say. VR46 really did a lot of PR work for the sport. There will always be a before him, and after him. It is going to be tough for Dorna to keep the interest alive. Future will tell! Undeniably Marquez, pre 2020 injury, had/has something no other rider have. Some of the saves he managed, his riding style wrestling the front to his will, just out of this world. If it was not for his 2020 injury, I am not entirely convinced he would not have been able to challenge the Ducati, even this year. Now, with yet another vision problem, it is going to tougher. 2021 started as a very open Championship, until Quartararo seized it. Francesco Bagnaia seems to now have mastered the Ducati, and next year should be interesting. When you look at the raw power difference between the Ducati and the Yamaha, and the difference between Fabio Quartararo's result and the other Yamaha riders, if I was Ducati, I would put Fabio Quartararo on a GP23.

For me, I need to be able to root for some of the riders. I personally am not able to identify with any of the younger generations the way I was able to with the older guys. Probably because I am an old fart myself. In WSBK, I like the little bravado that is happening between Jonathan Rea and Toprak Razgatlioglu. I am a big fan of the way TR is riding. There is a race this week-end, the last one, and I recommend that you watch it.

That is what I feel too. It is a relief that VR46 has finally stopped, I am now going to let MotoGP go and switch to World Superbikes.

Only Marc Marquez knows what he did in 2015. Although I do not want to open (again) that can of worms, my rationale explanation was that he (Marc Marquez), was not thrilled for Valentino to win another Championship; I think Marc's ultimate objective is to supersedes some of Valentino's records. We will always wonder what would have happened if Rossi had not been ultimately penalized. Would he have won 2015, to make it 10?

It makes complete sense. Routing the starting Amps through the ignition switch seemed to have been a cheap shot forced by management in a cost cutting effort.

I am a 20th century guy, and all the Japanese motorcycles I saw back in the 70's where equipped with Yuasa batteries, stock. A lot of those "new" brands were not around back then, and even if they were, they probably did not cater to the wheeler people. Yuasa is a brand I would naturally trust because of its longevity. Unfortunately, if you use the product find on the Yuasa site, you draw a blank for Moto Guzzi V11 Le Mans / Sport 2004....

I am a bit uneasy about "Vaseline" grease.... it sounds "dirty"... I am thinking about either Dielectric grease, or in the case of the Switch, something like "Carbon Conductive" grease, such as the one proposed by MG Chemicals. So that would be two different type of greases: The Dielectric one, that needs to "isolate" the connection from moisture, not conductive; The "Conductive" one, this one should be used as an ointment inside that infamous contact switch. While retaining the moisture repellent property of the other type, it does not impede proper contact between the terminals. I could even pass on the Dielectric and only use the Carbon based one. What do you think?

@docc, Here's the link to the "aquarelles": http://www.callis.it/dipinti.php

@docc Here you are Docc! Ettore replied to me via FB: I don't want to insult you in translating it; basically you go on his site, section "dipinti", you pick what you like, he sends you the file and you can get it printed at a specialized printing plant around your house. But he specifies they are not Lithographs but Aquarelles....

I am still on track to equip my Le Mans with a set of Michelin Road 5. I usually change my tires after 3500 miles. I have heard a lot of praise about the Road 5, so I need to check them for myself. I want outstanding dry and wet grip.

@docc like I said, the LeMans starts like this problem never occurred.... so it is an intermittent problem. I would hope that a faulty connection on a ground would be permanent. When I read that Amps are routed through the ignition switch, it all makes sense that if the plastic tab does not properly rotate to establish full contact then the load does not carry through. As for the restricted access, there are some specialist tools that could help in getting there. I don't have any of them. But I am going to make sure it does not happen again when I am out on a craze.

I did not. But, the battery is brand new. This is one of the first consumable I replaced. And when I crank the starter, it all sounds healthy. I feel that I would be able to identify a weak battery. One can always be wrong, of course. But the problem that many have experienced, and that I did too, seem to be related to what K-Boy described in multiple threads. When the starter does not crank, there is absolutely zero solenoid noise. It is just like there is not load going through. You can hear the fuel pump, and when you turn the key, the dash board lights dim, but nothing happens. And if you insist, you blow the 15 Amps starter motor fuse.

@docc I read that thread, and all the others that treated of that subject. And there are many throughout the years. From K-Boy, I got that the starter load is carried through the switch via these flimsy poles on a plastic tab. However, on the LeMans, it is not a 15 minutes job. There is no easy access to the two screws that hold the contactor switch. Today, the starter cranked right on point. I am trying to make sense of what made the jump start successfully the other day. If the poles were not properly in line, the starter should not have cranked. Unless of course, the jump added enough CCA that the poor alignment carried enough Amps.

I found Ettore Gambioli on Facebook after finding a post about him on the AnimaGuzzisti forum. I don't know if he will read my request. I also asked Anthese, and if that does not pan out, I will register to AnimaGuzzisti and ask them, since they have made a deal with him to publish his work on Moto Guzzi. There is a thread, but it was published in 2016....

oh, that's right! you can purchase these and put them at home....

@docc Have you checked the Ambassador fully restored they are selling? https://www.tlm.nl/en/motorcycles/stock/moto-guzzi-v7-ambassador/

April 2022: As suggested by the electricians of this forum, a sixth relay was added. The ignition switch is no longer the gateway to the solenoid amps. It now drive a dedicated relay to the task. On November 11th, I set out for the Motorcycle Grand Tour of Texas. The Le Mans sleeps in a garage, and I noticed the starter motor cranked with just a little delay. I am talking milliseconds. Engine started immediately. Spent the night on the road. The morning, when I pushed the started button, the light's intensity diminished, but the starter motor did not crank. Tried a few times, nothing. I put the Le Mans in third gear, and balanced the engine. Tried again, the starter cranked immediately. I went on my way, no further issue. Starter would crank immediately upon request. Second night out, morning is 39 degrees F. Seat and cowl frozen. No crank. Swap 1st relay. No crank. Noticed the neutral and oil lights dim out when attempting the start. Tried again to move the engine, but this time no start. Roadside assistance comes, gives me a jump, starter motor cranks and engine starts immediately. There will be no more hesitation each time I switch off the engine and attempt to restart it. I abort the tour, and go back home. Connect my batter charger to the battery, charger indicates the battery is fully charged. Flukes between the positive and negative indicates 14.09 Volts with engine revving at 1500 rpm. At idle, it is about 13+ volts. 1) It is not the battery. 2) it is not the relay #1 3) It never happened when the Le Mans sleeps indoors, and has not happened during my previous trips with night out. 4) Once it has started the problem does not reoccur until a long stop. I have gone through the previous thread, but my symptoms are not exactly the same. As I said, following the initial start, the starter motor always works fine. After several days in the garage, it still starts. What should I check? what is that ignition switch you mentioned? is this where you put the key in? could it be the starter solenoid that does not like the cold?