audiomick

Before I got onto the idea of a V11 Le Mans, I was thinking about CARC bikes, maybe. One of the things that pushed me towards the V11 Le Mans was the clip-ons, a must have during my formative years. Another was the frame mounted half fairing. One thing that put me off the CARC models a bit was part number six here: https://wendelmotorraeder.de/kardan-gummis-breva-1100-05-07-ex-30_3006_300611_30061110_3006111013.html the rubber boot around the bit that sticks up out of the final drive. Those words "nicht lieferbar" mean "not available". I gather the boot can't be had anywhere, even if you offer to sell your granny for it. Someone in another forum described how he botched up a solution, which would probably be possible and stay good for a while. Still, not being able to get a part like that, small but crucial, does make me stop and think.

Buy 'em both. Or all three....

Indeed they are. I'm looking for mirrors for my V35 Imola at the moment. I really liked the ones that were on it, but it fell off the sidestand about a month ago, and one of them popped out of the ball joint. After much searching, I had to come to the conclusion that the manufacturer is unfortunately no longer in business. One candidate was these, possibly the most expensive mirrors I have ever seen: https://www.motogadget.com/shop/de/m-view-club.html I like the look of them a lot, and they are technically very elegant: they are machined out of aluminium, and the mirror surface is the base material polished and coated to form a mirror. Unfortunately, I think they wont work. The stem juts forwards where the joint is just above the base. On the Imola, there is about zero space between the mirror mount and the fairing, and I'm pretty sure they would collide. Bugger. One more lost chance to spend far too much money on bits for the motorbike. Incidentally, the best stock mirrors ever were certainly those on the Kawasaki 1000 GTR (also known as the Concours in some small, insignificant markets....). They are unobtrusive, blend well into the lines of the fairing*, never, ever, ever vibrate (even at 180 kmh +), provide an excellent view to the rear, and are placed such that the riders hands are protected by the mirrors from the wind. * Edit: one could also say that there is so much fairing on the bike, that the mirrors just dwindle into insignificance.

What Joe said....

How about a photo to eliminate confusion?

Yep, and he's a legend. (mate...)

Of course. She is Australian.

Yeah, same here. Copied the rest out and put it in the address bar. All I got was "this page doesn't exist". I notice that the format of the "links" , i.e this: .com/37737215-e75a-4437-b772-db940d46dd91 doesn't seem to match what I see in the address bar when I go to a random post somewhere in the forum, which looks like this: .com/forums/topic/5691-breakdown-of-model-year-changes/#comment-256916 No idea what that might mean, though.

Yeah, I had a look at those links too. They seem to be just not there anymore, for whatever reason. Any idea where the "blob" before the https: comes from?

Thanks for that.

I'll do that (probably...), but I'm already familiar with the term and the concept from German forums. @LaGrasta : the "new bike" inspection hasn't happened yet, but it will come. The workshop that I share with a couple of blokes is no warmer than outside, so I'm not in a hurry to spend several hours in there checking over the bike until it gets a little less cold outside.

Yeah, one easily forgets that electrical contacts are something that need servicing. For instance, power cables and powerboards (plugs into the wall and has multiple outlets...) that are used in the "event branch", i.e. PA systems, lighting, video etc., and in fact anything that has a power cable on it, is supposed to get a yearly inspection here in Germany. When was the last time anyone here opened the plugs on that old power extension cable in the workshop to see if the screws were all still tight? For the electricals on a motorbike, it is just as relevant.

Thanks, I'll look at that. I got a PM earlier today suggesting I look at this topic: https://www.v11lemans.com/forums/topic/23441-solved-had-to-get-a-jump-start-from-roadside-assistance-starter-motor-not-cranking-after-a-chilly-night-intermitent-issue/ The symptoms described there match mine exactly, so I will be looking in that direction for sure. The gist of it is, the starter solenoid gets it's power through the ignition switch, and it may be that the switch is not letting enough amps through. Adding a relay which provides power directly from the battery to the solenoid and is triggered by the ignition switch will be more reliable and more robust. And should (or could...) solve the problem immediately and permanently. It is going to be a while, maybe a few weeks, before I get around to looking into this problem. Any further tips or information would be more than welcome. Thanks for the contributions so far.

So that would be a Valeo starter, right? I've read about the problem they had with the magnets for a while. I gather the problem was solved in newer models, but I don't know for sure from when on. I assume mine (V11 Le Mans 2002/2003 model) would have a Valeo starter. As far as I know, Guzzi started using them somewhere around that time, and they were in all the models. Can someone confirm that for me? Edit: I could, of course, go down and see if I can see a brand on the starter, but the bike is under a cover outside, and it is raining...

Thanks for that, docc. I'll look at those.

On the newly acquired V11 Le Mans, the starter button doesn't always work immediately. For instance this evening after work I had to hit it about 6 times before the starter kicked in. The previous owner had told me about the problem before I bought it, so I'm not surprised. Mostly it works; when it is being finicky it is mostly only once or twice. Tonight was the worst I've seen, but then again I haven't ridden it much yet. I haven't looked at anything at all yet. I'm assuming the battery is all right for now, firstly because the previous owner fixed a number of things during the 6 months or so that he had the bike, and I can't imagine he left a dodgy battery in it. Secondly, when the starter does kick in, or when it starts first go, there is no sign of battery weakness. The starter turns as I would expect it to, and the bike starts pretty much straight away. What might be relevant, or might not, it's only about 5° C here at the moment. Maybe the low temperature had something to do with it being particulary contrary tonight. That would, however, indicate a weak battery I think, and as I said, I think the battery is ok. When it is playing up, the dash lights dim a bit, so I don't think the starter button is just not switching. What occurs to me to look at: Check things like the connection from the minus on the battery to the frame, and "follow the volts" from battery plus to the starter with the multi-meter to see if any are getting lost on the way. And check the voltage at the battery with the motor off and with the motor running, of course. Also a check under load, i.e. lights on and activate the starter to see what happens to the battery voltage. If that all looks good (and at the moment, I suspect I'll find something in there somewhere...), I reckon I'll have to consider having a look inside the starter motor. So now the questions: Are there any known issues with the starter button, the starter itself, or anything related, that might cause such a problem? Does anyone have suggestions about what else I should be looking at? Thanks in advance, Mick

For people in Europe, SD has them as well. https://www.stein-dinse.biz/product_info.php?products_id=119#prettyPhoto

Looks to me like there is a chunk missing out of the "toothed crown". The disc with teeth around the outside that the starter engages to. In the photo above, there seems to be a rather large triangular shaped piece missing (at the bottom in the photo...)

If you're you're using it as primary and only source, yes, that is questionable. If, however, it is serving as a source of "prefabricated" text to quote which conveniantly says exactly what one wishes to say, it is no longer questionable but rather just very handy. I am fully aware of the shortcomings and advantages (yes, it does have some) of Wikipedia. I use it to check up on a lot of stuff, often as a starting point, but never as the ultimate authority on anything. Cross-checking sources is the trick, and using your own brain to decide if what you are reading is plausible or not. The quoted article about James Watt and horsepower is plausible, and is borne up by other sources. I could put in a long list of corroborating links at this point, but I really can't be bothered.

Docc "honey" is the one who lives here. The one who left is someone I have known for about 37 years (I met the one who lives here about 23 years ago...), and who I haven't seen for about 7 years. When someone like that comes to visit, you spend the time. Otherwise, my priorities are quite similar to yours....

Good timing, Chuck. I've had a visitor from Melbourne here for the last week. She left yesterday, and I was already planning to contact you today. PM will be on the way in about 5 minutes....

Well, I had to watch the video twice to figure out if the guy was talking BS or not, and do a bit of looking, but the answer isn't that hard when you know where the "magic number" 5252 came from. So where did the number come from? That is a constant that James Watt calculated when he was defining horsepower in conjunction with his developement of the steam engine. This might all seem a bit pedantic, but I'm putting it in on the off chance that it might help someone understand the video better. I had trouble with that because the guy neglected to define his premises at a couple of spots, and to explain why it is 5252, and that this number only applies if you are talking about horsepower against pound/feet (I learnt that as foot/pounds, but anyway...). So, from here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horsepower#History and in the next section https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horsepower#Calculating_power and there we also see (I've made it red) the definition of the premise that the guy neglected at that point: we're talking about pound-foot and horsepower. The number doesn't apply to Nm and kW. Edit: I should rather say, as far as I can tell with my limited math, the number most likely won't apply when talking about metric units, as it is part of the definition of hp, and doesn't play a role in the definition of one Watt. The next point at which he neglected to define his premise is where he started talking about 42 at 2,500 revs, and so on. After that he did mention he is assuming a motor with constant torque at any revs. He also doesn't make it clear that the number 42 is "invented" for the sake of the calculation. He say's "at 2,500 rpm you have 42 (units of power)". That 42 sounds like a fixed value, but is not. It is just the number he chose to use for his example. (I suspect he enjoys reading Douglas Adams...) That should have all been explained before he started in on his example calculation. So, enough nitpicking. I hope that helps somebody...

Sorry, can't really say much about that, because I haven't heard mention of it, or can't remember having heard. However, SD is a well respected supplier. I dare say it is ok.

It wasn't that clear to me. I could have sworn that the sticker on the rack on the GTR doesn't have that much silver on it. But I've had a closer look and done some clicking around in the interweb, and I think you are right. It looks like I should probably get on to that... I'm convinced it is still available from HB. See my link further up. It's on the web site, and SD have it listed as well. SD claims between 2 and 8 weeks delivery time, HB says "exact delivery time on request", so I reckon they only build it when the order comes in. Yes, it is less than a quarter of the new price. Hmmm.... Funny thing: HB lists €430,- and SD €369,- https://www.stein-dinse.biz/product_info.php?products_id=68139 dunno how they do it, but SD seems to always be cheaper for HB products than HB themselves.