Skeeve

Which after some minor arithmetical prestidigitation = 536.5 lbs/in in meaningful dimensions[1]. That's some really useful info Gavo: thanks! Looks like the 550#/" Ohlins spring I bought cheap off eBay back in the day will come in handy when I finally get around to installing it... [1] Sorry guys, no offense, but as much as I recognize that the metric system makes more sense scientifically, in the real world the old school still rules!

The Fugly Duckling? BTW, your cat knows from ugly: if he says it is, it must be so! Unfortunately, the Diavel can't just wait for its fur to grow out again!

Love the look of the new Stelvio wheels! I wonder what they weigh?

+1 for the Buell Ulysses pegs. A bit fiddly to install [ideally, you'll have access to a lathe as I did to make the split bushings so you don't have to mod the stock peg mounts, enabling a return to stock if so desired, future collectability, etc.], but everything can easily be done w/ hand tools if they're to be a permanent mod. I ride cowboy style [ie, pegs under arch of boot] toes out [ie, shifter & brake pedal to the side of toe, not under it so you can't ride the brake unintentionally, or shift by hitting a pothole] so the Buell pegs suit me well. Love the fact that they actually provide a platform, vs. the near surfaceless (& frictionless) stock pegs. They're cheaper than any other alternative, and more limited in amount of change or adjustability, but they work great for me.

IIRC, the seat is marginally shorter for the short frame models vs. the later long frame ones. Too bad Greg Field is gone, I'm sure he could correct me w/o a 2nd thought if I'm mistaken. So, if you're talking a later long frame V11 Sport, yes, its the same seat as the V11 LeMans. Corbins V1100 Sport saddle doesn't fit anything, even the model they claim it does! Only buy a Corbin seat if you can ride into their factory in Hollister and have them build it on your stock seat pan - ride test, fit, ride, fit, repeat - or you will be sorry: Corbin has some of the worst customer satisfaction ratings for their mail order seats of any business that hasn't already gone bankrupt [which they have, but only because of their ill-advised electric vehicle debacle...] Rich Maund is the guy you want. Do a search in the forum, or over in WG.

Tempted myself! Ratchethack would probably hunt me down just to mock me about it tho'...

Back from the dead! Resurrecting an old topic! Just stumbled across this item on evilBay; seems someone has been data mining & decided that the long production of essentially the same final drive made up for the low production #s and that making urethane drive wedges for Guzzis makes sense after all. Want a wedgie? Since that link will go bad in a month & in the interests of posterity, here's a cut&paste: "Moto Guzzi cush drive rubber set, 12 pieces, big twin cush drive models 850T to 2001 The set you are bidding on is black in color not blue as the picture shows Polyurethane rubber upgrades better than New! Why Polyurethane rubber? Looks and feels the same as natural rubber but lasts 10 times longer!!! Race car steering and suspension proformance parts,as well as Industrial machinery have long known the advantages of polyurethane over natural rubber components. Polyurethane parts have superior .... Impact cut and tear resistance, Resilience and memory under repeated flexing, Gas, Oil and solvent resistance. Clauss Studios & Manufacturing http://www.claussstudios.com/index.html We are always looking for no longer available parts to remake. If you have parts or ideas of what we should be making next please let us know! Made in the USA quality Reproduction molded plastic and rubber working on a classic Motorcycle ,Car , Scooter ? parts that are no longer available or tough to find ?not any more ! i specialize in making the impossible part for that restoration. rubber grips , floor mats , grommets , pedal pads, tank pads. Plastic knobs grills , levers, tail light and turn lenses etc etc .. click on the "ME" icon after our ebay name for a link to our web site ."

Reducing unsprung wt. is always worth doing... improvement to ride & roadholding being most noticeable benefits.

Tell her she needs to stand up straight & bring the rifle up to her eye in off-hand. Hunching over like that is a recipe for missing the target. Also, if she shifts her front hand back & gets her elbow under the rifle, it'll be easier to hold up. Personally, I prefer a Hasty-sling for off-hand, but they won't let you use a sling in competition during the standing position stage over here. Hunting ain't like target sport tho', so get her to sling up... Also, let her know that if she's off to Africa to count wildlife of the largish sort, she'll want to bring enough gun: that 30cal ain't gonna stop a hephalump in full charge w/o a dozen more or so in backup...

(emphasis added) Yes, anything written in Latin, which had no letter "U" and used "V" for both purposes. Which is why "W" is "double-u" in English & "doble-ve" in Spanish [which is more correct if you ask me, since it's "vv" in profile.] Basically, it's a combined reference to both Moto Guzzi's Italian heritage and the company's age. Other than that, the badge uses a basic san-serif font of little or no interest.

Fair enough. I just sent a PM to Ryland suggesting we get a FAQ entry for this posthaste, with the usual suspects here & in Europe listed w/ their contact [website, ph#, street addy] info. I figured anyone w/ a lick of sense would go thru Pete for their midget porn & other Guzzi needs if they're down under, so that doesn't need repetition... Buzz, I owe you an apology: I've been here so long and have seen this question so many times, that I didn't realize that running a search for "favorite dealers" turns up NOTHING useful. So, forgive my hasty & inappropriate reply; I am truly regretful for it. Ride on,

Exactly: beauty cover is a lift (pry) off affair, & under that is a standard right-hand thread [ie, righty-tighty, lefty-loosey] nut, NOT a left-hand thread like that found on acetylene tanks, certain sound suppressors, etc.

Whichever, she's clearly excited about getting it lubed!

Just raise it. Part of testing if the bearings are torqued correctly is seeing if the wheel falls to one side or the other when the bars are tipped slightly off center. This requires the mass of the wheel to be in place. [since, after all, getting the torque right is about getting it tight enough to not react to slight wobblies generated by the wheel but loose enough you can still move it easily... ]

Heh. Just consider yourself lucky that Ratchethack was already banned from the forum before you came along. "Setting an idiot straight..." You don't know the half of it! Nah, not trying to set you straight, just attempting to uphold a standard of at least spending 5 secs trying to find the information that's readily available before asking the same question that's been asked 10**3 times before. And in case you hadn't noticed, I answered your question at the same time I was gently chiding you for having needed to ask it. Sorry you were having such a bad day that you couldn't roll with it. Might I suggest you get an attitude check before entering the big room? Welcome to the 'net! Nothing has changed, it's still the same place it's been since I hopped on the (mis)"information highway" 15+ years ago: the technology may have a prettier face on it, but it's still the same old rough & tumble underneath! Ride on,

Consensus is that the 170 profile is a better choice for the late model V11s with the wider rear wheel & 160 is the superior handler on the early V11s w/ the narrower rim. Metzler's reco here is due to: Thinking all V11s are the same. Going w/ Guzzi's final stock fitment of a 180/55 tire [which was a marketing choice, not engineering.] That said, it is going to be much easier finding 180/55s going forward; 170 profile tires seem to be becoming a red-headed step child of tire sizes, w/ availability of 180 or 160 sizes being more common.

Isn't there a FAQ for this? "Harper's, Moto International, etc. etc." - did you even try searching this question? It comes up constantly...

Sure, more valve area = better breathing at high rpm. Shorter stroke means higher rpm before piston speed becomes an issue. OHC = less valve train wt., allowing a higher rpm before valve float sets in. All kinds of ways to get reliable power. How fast do you want to spend? The reality is this: our V11s are built on cases that were designed 45 years ago for a motor w/ 2/3 the displacement of ours. The bore is case limited: Guzzi has blown out the bore as big as they could (92mm?) w/o running into reliability issues. Thus the new case designs for the latest 2v and 4v motors, to allow for bigger bores in the future. The stroke has been stretched as long as it can w/o sacrificing the red line: Carillo rods, cro-mo push rods & other esoterica will allow one to run right up to redline w/ impunity; the barrier here then becomes the EFI, w/ its built-in rev limiter. But ultimately, the only way to make increased power past 7k rpm is more valve area, ie: 4v heads. [Yamaha tried 5v & up, but the hard fact is that packing & engineering issues leave us w/ 4v as a current optimum.] They've known for more than 50 years that more valve = more power at higher rpm, but since 2v motors worked as well as 4v motors down below 6k rpm, and motors didn't turn that fast anyway, there was no need to develop them. In the past 20 years, redlines have crept up & up in the search for more power [hp = torque x rpm], and motors have gradually migrated to 4v configurations, leaving Guzzi more or less behind. Hence the Hi Cam of the 90s and the QV motor of the present day: Guzzi has to keep up or die! But there's still a lot of good riding to be had w/ the old 2v donk, you just have to reconcile yourself to playing a different game [like H-D, who only quote torque figures in their sales literature, & never mention that power bands are narrow due to low redlines. ] Dual plug heads are a band-aid; completely revamped 2v heads a la' the bathtub combustion chamber in a H-D big twin are the way ahead, but I doubt Piaggio is going to bother going down that road: they'll just eventually eliminate the 2v motor from the lineup & soldier on w/ the new QV engine...

I don't know the real value, but I know who does... eBay! The only way to determine the real value is an auction. Other than that, we need

Whether the bike is in neutral or not, it should start w/ the clutch in. These sorts of issues tend to be related to the mandated "safety switches" located at the clutch and on the sidestand. Try hitting both with contact cleaner & working them them to see if you can eliminate any dirt or corrosion that might be causing the intermittent open circuit & see if your luck improves. If it does, you'll know where the problem lies. That said, all modern EFI bikes are now held hostage to their state of battery "wellness;" make certain the battery is fully charged and add in a duplicate ground from the battery directly to the engine cases. Also, Guzzis are notorious for expecting the switches on the handlebar to carry full current loads while grounding through a delicate path via handlebars/triple clamps/grease/headstock bearings/grease/painted frame... The wise Guzzisti makes his own ground path to bypass this mess via a small wire going directly from handlebars to nice bare metal on the frame...

This is only an issue if you plan to sell your V11. Smart Guzzisti know that since their bikes don't hold their resale value anyway, the best plan is to buy & hold, & if you want another bike, just buy it & keep the Guzzi... Meanwhile, if your bike is totalled by the insurance, you can sometimes? usually? fix it with superior forks [used GSXR forks from eBay, other aftermarket option] for less than what the ins. co. paid out & pocket the difference. You'll be the only one who knows you're riding a bike w/ a "salvage" title until you ever tried (hah!) to sell it... Besides, so far the only damage I can make out is the fender is crunched, so you'll be forced to replace that with the CF fender [which you wanted to do anyway, didn't you?]

It's like a Heli-Coil or a Time-sert for valve guides... Do a forum search, Pete 'splains it better than I can.

Here's a thought: the Harper's FAQ entry is discussing the use of silicone RTV rubber on the gaskets, vs. your question about using silicone grease. Here's another thought: why would you want to mix incompatible substances like silicone grease and motor oil? If you want to grease your gaskets [a known method of increasing the likelihood of their survival for reuse upon removal,] why not use the grease made from the rendered fat of dead dinosaurs [or, following the modern Aussie trend, yak fat? - Hiya, Pete! ] Anyway, good luck w/ that. As someone else pointed out, some folks swear by Hylomar, but the key here is to use it properly by smearing a transparently thin layer of it on the gaskets pre-assembly [ie, not glopping on so much that excess material will be squeezed out the edges when torqued down on assembly], letting it hang for awhile [to mostly cure] and then assembling. Final results: you'll have a statistically higher chance of no seepage whatsoever w/ the hylomar treated gasket, but an increased likelihood that the gasket will be glued in place & not reusable vs. the grease pre-treat. OTOH, a little bit of extra grease in the motor oil can do no harm; little bits of RTV floating around can kill an engine if they lodge in a oil gallery & cause starvation...

No go on that Red Rider,She's rounded. Normal or special socket won't do it.Lookin for ole timey solution, 1st off, penetrant: Kroil or a mix of acetone & atf [tested to work almost as well as the Kroil, cheap & easy DIY penetrant! ] After it has soaked for a day or so, you'll need something that can get in there & grab that screw head. I haven't put eyeballs on this yet, but is there any way a basin wrench can get in there & wrestle that sucker out? Failing that, there's always the left-hand drill bit/easy out method of stuck screw removal, but we'd like to avoid such drastic measures. Either way, be certain to have the new replacement screw on hand, maybe w/ some anti-seize as well? [Caution: have no idea how trace amounts of AS would react w/ the clutch fluid...Greg? Pete? - any input?]

That's a lovely schematic, Roy. I, however, am a complete rube when it comes to the training of the magic smoke, so can you do another schematic showing how to wire the relays so that the low beam stays on as well when hi beam is selected? If the road is dark enough to require high beams, it's dark enough to have both filaments burning... TIA