audiomick

An Australian accent, of course. I reckon most Germans can hear that I am not a native German speaker. Funnily enough, when I have spoken about it with various people, the most common guess is that I am from the Netherlands. Having paid attention to the way Dutch speaker sound when speaking German, I can understand that. There really are similarities to my accent. There are not many Australians here, so most Germans have never conciously heard an Australian speaking German. On the other hand, most Germans have conciously heard Dutch speakers speaking German, so they go for the familiar "best guess". I still chuckle though, because I know my Australian accent is pretty obvious to those who are familiar with it. And that isn't going to change. I speak and write very servicable German, but I am Australian, and I am quite content with that being obvious. Incidentally, when I speak English with my family, and certain friends, my Australian accent is also very obvious. But given that Australian English is the only variety of Eglish in the world that has remained pure and unadulterated, that's ok.

But the V11 Motor would bolt up to the 5-speed, wouldn't it?

Nice film. For those interested, I reckon the footage was taken somewhere around Sydney. The number plates are New South Wales, and the bush is definitely coastal, and not too far south.

I'm not, but somehow I can't imagine that they would allow the people to just fall out of the vehicle in an accident. Whatever, I'm not reaching for the tin foil yet, either. I (still) think it was just the inevitable clusterfuck in too-crowded airspace.

A surprising number of the rubber bits are available. Stein-dinse has a number of them produced, I believe. If the part number on their site has a "z" on the end (xxxx-z), it indicates a part from a 3rd party supplier (the z is for "Zubehör", German for "accessory"). A word to the wise: rubber parts these days are often not as durable as the were back in the good old days. One plausible explanation I have seen for this is the some of the "good" plasticisers are no longer legal due do environmental protection and what have you. Whatever, the good advice seems to be to, given a choice, pay for the more expensive option, or live with having to swap out the part again in 5 or 6 years.

I have found Stein Dinse to be very well stocked, but don't believe the can get "anything". For instance, I tried to order a breather hose for a small-block a couple of months ago. They informed me that the part is produced on demand. I never got it (and wasn't charged for it). It was ordered with a bunch of other stuff, which all arrived as promised, but the hose never did. I didn't follow it up, because I got one from somewhere else. Whatever, I would suggest contacting them directly for anything that they list as "not in stock" and try and find out what the real story is with delivery. I'm generally happy with them, but have had a couple of instances where it seemed that things can get lost in the paperwork. Big company with not quite enough people doing the work, I think.

Moving away from the swing-arm, this just occured to me. Whilst you have the tank off, apart from everything here or perhaps particularly, look at the breather hose that goes from the frame just behind the steering head back to the top of the motor just before the gearbox. Part #18 here https://www.stein-dinse.biz/etkataloge/etkataloge.php?l=de&m=220&t=5394&c=W That hose needs to be replaced periodically, and it is a bit of a pain to get to it. When you have it all apart, particularly on a bike with a "difficult" past like yours, it is not a bad idea to just replace it on spec. Have a good look at it. If in doubt, replace it.

Reading all that, I felt an echo regarding my job. OK, when I get something wrong, nobody dies. But it (sound engineer, i.e. the bloke at the desk in the middle of the auditorium) is a "high stress" job. When it goes wrong, everyone in the audience looks at you, and the client wants to know what you did wrong. So the same things apply: if you're going to do the job, know that you can do it, and make sure your really can do it. Be relaxed and confident, and never lose your concentration.

Since no-one has published a list,or at least I haven't noticed it, here is a list of the things I have read about (mostly here) that one should look for: The front bolt of the torque arm is prone to being unlubricated and accordingly in poor condition. The pinch bolts on the drive shaft are prone to having been abused. There is a roller bearing on the outward side of the bevel drive that needs to be looked at and greased. The spacer in the wheel between the bearings is apparently not always exactly the right length. If it is wrong, the bearings don't live long. The one in mine was completely wrong, maybe 5 mm too short, and had been spaced out with a hand cut bit of pipe. The bearings were shot, of course, but I think someone had buggered around with it and got it wrong. Anyway, it is something to have a look at. The bottom mount on the shock has been mentioned. Getting grease into the front grease nipple on the drive shaft is an art unto itself, and reams have been written on the way to solve the problem. The easiest way is to pull the shaft out and do it on the bench. A clever combination of grease gun and grease gun fitting and lots of practice can also achieve the goal in situ, allegedly. While it is all apart, look at the battery minus connection to the back of the gear-box. Cleaning it can't hurt. I think there was something else, but I can't think of it right now. Maybe someone else will chime in.

I'd be interested in that myself. I'll keep an eye on this thread for when it comes up.

Bear in mind, those are only lock nuts. They don't hold the wheels on. When you do them back up again, they only have to be tight enough to hold the pins in place. More relevant is how far the pins are screwed in, as that determines the alignment of the swingarm. The recommendation that I have often seen is to remove the lock nuts, and measure how long the bit of the pin is that is sticking out. Aim for that when you put them back in, and the swing-arm should end up back where it belongs.

My '02 Le Mans hasn't had as hard a time as yours, but it obviously has had a bit of a hard life. When I went into the back end about a year ago, I pulled everything off, wheel out, swing-arm off, torque rod off, shaft off and disassembled on the bench, to have a good look at it all. Turned out to be a good idea. I'd suggest you do the same. You might find some "interesting" things, like I did. While your in there, I'd strongly suggest obtaining and mounting the clutch bleeder extension that was standard on later models like the Griso. Part #12 here https://www.stein-dinse.biz/etkataloge/etkataloge.php?l=de&m=210&t=5005&c=Z This: https://www.stein-dinse.com/en/search-1-05606630-.html Get the bolt and seals as well, you need them. Part #8 and #9. It is not exactly cheap, but makes bleeding the clutch a very simple task instead of a complete pain in the arse. Given that you are in there anyway, and no doubt will be changing the clutch fluid anyway, it seems the ideal time to bolt the thing in there while you're at it.

I don't know, but... @Lucky Phil put a V10 in his V11 chassis, so the other way around should be possible, I reckon.

Neither do I, actually, but I'm pretty sure that crossing paths like that wouldn't happen here. Another thing, that ceiling has been bothering me. Turns out I remember correctly: That is for Australia. https://aircraftnoise.airservicesaustralia.com/2020/04/30/what-are-the-rules-about-altitudes/ Another thing, during my time at Uni in the 1980's there was a move to build a helipad on top of this hospital. https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/24595717#map=17/-37.756605/145.058914 The idea had merit, as it is a major hospital in which accident victims with major injuries often end up being treated. Being able to land the helicopter on the roof would be very convenient. It wasn't allowed, because the hospital is in the middle of a built-up area. In the end, the helicopters used the helipad next to a Victoria Police forensics lab next to my Uni. Here: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/27877532#map=17/-37.725189/145.055961 4.7 km down a straight street, so about 5 minutes for an ambulance with the disco on. What I'm getting at: given the caution used in air traffic where I grew up, and where I live now, the situation around that accident seems to me to be sheer recklessness.

I've got another question: why on earth is there an "established" helicopter route that crosses the aproach path to a an airport? Bugger the maximum ceiling, why are they allowed to fly through there at all?

Without wanting to completely de-rail the thread, measuring the tyre is not the right way to go at that. One should mark the side-wall of the tyre where it touches the ground, and make a corresponding mark on the ground. Roll the vehicle forwards until the mark on the side-wall is back down to the ground, and mark the ground again. The distance between the two marks on the ground is the real rolling diameter of the tyre.

@HadaDaytona listen carefully to Phil's advice, and then ignore as much of it as you choose. Phil knows what he is talking about, not doubt. On the other hand, it is a great project. The substance of the Centauro is good, and deserves to look like a sports bike. If you have the money and the perseverance, go for it.

Seems to me more like a surcharge for having to work on the porch.

Have you asked here? Probably, but I thought it can't hurt to mention it just in case. https://de.tlm.nl/

That's nasty.

Brown? Is that original paint?

I'm speculating a bit now, but that isn't plausible. When the lever is "activated", it is pumping, so how could anything, fluid or air, get back past the piston into the reservoir? There is, however, a way back past the piston when the lever is released. One can often see fluid swirling back into the reservoir when the cap is off and the lever released after a pumping stroke. As far as "zero pressure" and "no resistance" goes, I would suggest that those are relative terms. If your braking system really was creating "zero pressure", it would not have worked after the subsequent successful bleed. A bit like the guitarist sitting in front of his Marshall who claims he "can't hear anything". Of course he can, and of course your braking system was creating pressure, just very little. Given that the system must have been creating pressure (even if it didn't feel like much at the lever) because it subsequently worked without any other changes, one can assume that the bubbles in the system where a little smaller overnight when the lever was tied off. Maybe that helped, as well as maybe some of the air going into solution. Or maybe the bubble would have found its way up to the reservoir anyway, and tying the lever off was just voodoo.

I assume that is not your bike, as I don't believe you would see any real benefit in putting bandages on the headers. Unless they were bleeding, of course.

As far as I know, the studded tyres are no longer permitted in Germany, but I'm not absolutely sure. What I am sure about, if you have an accident between about November and about March in icy weather, and you don't have winter tyres on the vehicle (M+S tyres, more or less) the accident is your fault, no matter what happened.

Yes, there is a lot of truth in that, but I would care to expand on it. It is not so much that the smaller bubbles collect into fewer larger ones, although that may happen, as much as that the bubbles will all become smaller due to the higher pressure. This can cause bubbles that are lodged in "traps" in the lines to dislodge, and rise to the master cylinder. The factor "the air dissolves in the fluid" also plays a part. Maybe not all of the air, but some of it will go into solution at higher pressure. The chances are good that when it comes back out of solution when the higher pressure is released, it may do this in a part of the system from which it can then easily rise to the master cylinder to be vented. So my informant's opinion that the fluid should really be flushed with fresh fluid to remove the dissolved air can probably taken with a grain of salt. Whatever, I too have had success with tying off the lever overnight. I didn't flush the system again afterwards, and didn't have the feeling that the pressure point deteriorated with time, as my informant predicted it would. Maybe it did, and I didn't notice, maybe it didn't. I had useable brakes, and didn't delve into the issue any further.