Skeeve

1st thing is a compression test, to see if the compression on that cylinder is significantly lower on that side; if so, it'll be new ring time. If the compression checks out, then you'll want to check the valves on that cylinder for too much side2side slop; the V11s have a bit of a reputation for Guzzi using some very fine Italian cheese in the making of their valve guides ; a K-line reportedly will set that problem right. Best o' luck w/ that.

Fuel tanks have to meet standards set by the DOT: that's why for the longest time, plastic fuel tanks could only be had for off-road bikes [which are exempt from the DOT restrictions aimed at road vehicles]. Custom tanks fly below the radar, but a big company like Acerbis or stock issue tanks like came on our Guzzis have to meet DOT approval.

MG Cycle is out of stock according to they're website. Ive been checking back for a few weeks. I suppose if I just order some from MG, they'll come sooner than they're website will update them back in stock haha How 'bout the Moto Guzzi titanium pipes? I have a set lacking the ECU for about hte price of Mistrals. I think he was just looking for the Mistral x-over at this point Greg. I could be wrong: I'm sure he'll call if I am!

What he said. If you search the back archives of v11lm.com, there was a thread posted by someone who'd done just that w/ his cans. Apparently, part of why Guzzi's Ti cans ding so easily is that they use a soft CP2? Ti or similar, vs. a 6Al4V alloy which would be much tougher [and nearly impossible to "iron out" the dings again if they were to get hit, since 6Al4V will work harden fairly quickly, or so I'm informed.] Of course, if you've already paid for the replacement sleeve, well, fix & keep your spare so you've got a quick swap the next time some yutz knocks your bike over!

Sounds like a prime candidate for LED replacement. Any hitches [ie, changes to resistance/impedance/whatever making things go pear-shaped] to this idea?

The anthracite & black color combo was one of the options in 2003 [i know, 'cause mine is one... ]

Short answer: Yes. Long form: Technically, there is no front x-over: there's a front balance pipe, but we all know what you mean. The stock crossover is anything but: it is so big that it is in reality a pre-muffler/expansion chamber. It works great for increasing the top-end output [as witnessed by several dyno graphs of the stock system vs. aftermarket w/o extensive fueling witchery [which is a level playing-field only because Guzzi/Aprillia did such a lackluster job on the original V11 F.I. map]] Anyway, you can thank Dr. John & his original "colostomy bag" x-over on the Daytona/1100Spot/Centauro lines from the 90s, that led the way in development of the later V11 pre-muffler. Interesting side note: while it might have made the most sense to put the cat. converter in the x-over & make a "world bike" as far smog certification goes, MG didn't, & chose to put the cats in the cans & only put those on the bikes going to the countries that required it [i think Switzerland was one of the 1st, fwiw.] This is actually a VGT, since it means that anyone w/ the cats in their cans stopping up their exhaust is easily able to replace them w/ aftermarket performance cans. Anyway, the front balance pipe has been derided as largely cosmetic, harkening back to the original 1pc headers from the original LeMans back in the 70s; thus its appearance on the V11 bikes w/ the intro of the V11 LeMans in '02. Alternatively, it might have been a band-aid applied by the factory to deal with the large hole in the powerband at the 3.5k-4.5k rpm range caused largely by the poor fuel map [not entirely Guzzi's fault, since excessive leanness at idle is a primary facet of most smog regulations world wide.] Persons with far greater technical expertise and Guzzi modification experience than I have stated unequivocally that the bike runs almost identically with or without the "front x-over"/balance pipe, so that tends to lend wt. to the "traditional cosmetics" argument for its introduction. Me personally, I think it looks great, and it *should* produce some power-band widening f/x, given a properly designed main x-over. The Stucchi unit seems to be the best in that regard, but the Mistral [again, technically a balance pipe, since there's insufficient area/volume to even begin mixing the exhaust gases and routing them thru both mufflers...] is well thought of because it provides a beefier mid-range (while admittedly sacrificing some top-end output) but supports fitment of a center-stand, while the Stucchi does not. Hope this hasn't been hopelessly confusing!

Hobby shop: section of brass tubing = $5 Hardware store: suitably sized drill stop or similar, & some rubber hose to fit tubing = $10 Pharmacy: Oral syringe = $5 ----------------------------------- Total = $20; $15 savings over the Motion Pro tool, & that's only if you don't already have most of the components sitting around the garage as "useful scrap." For 90% of the motorcyclists who have a garage of their own, the total outlay is going to be $5 or less... For instance, forget the drill stop, a block of wood sized so it won't fall into the fork tube w/ a suitably sized hole for the tubing drilled thru it will be a better solution than the drill stop, & is $0 cost. C'mon, get creative. Google an image of the MP tool & reverse engineer it: it's not that complicated!

That's where the bonus of getting a dropped 1100 Sporti comes in: you can buy the Airtech repop fairing for the Daytona with the money you saved on the rashed Sporti... Actually, all the pics of the RS I've ever seen looked like Mandello kind of hacked away the standard Sporti fairing to fit round the square 4v heads, so I wouldn't be afraid of cutting on the stock fairing to make it fit if I knew I was never going back [ie, selling the Centauro w/ 2v motor to some unsuspecting suck^H^H^H^H, er, "customer..." ] Bonus to going the "convert a Centauro" route if you're Stateside: you get the same lo-po cams that you would have had to replace w/ the C-kit in the RS anyway, but you've got the cool anthracite engine paint and improved 5-speed if I'm not mistaken. Too bad the EFI is still all wonky, but there are still PC3s in the system for the WM16 to be had.

I'd just like to point out that this means you'll be replacing one type of fuel tank that doesn't work with magnetic tank bags with another type of tank that doesn't work with magnetic tank bags. Daily rider FAIL!

ATF used to be the stuff for damper rod forks, back when fork oil was literally no different from straight wt. motor oil, and Japan, Inc. was trying to break into the motorcycle manufacturing world... ATF had all sorts of superior characteristics, so was a good choice for its time. That time has passed. Nowadays you can find actual fork fluids in "weights" that are more finely graduated than Dexron III's kinda-sorta 15wt equivalent, have superior seal lubricative qualities to reduce stiction, etc. etc. etc. Moreover, your forks were probably designed w/ a 5wt or 10wt fork fluid in mind, and the variable ATF viscosity [after all, it is intended to be used in a transmission that's probably running at about 100Fdeg rain or shine] is too high for your needs. As always, when in doubt, RTFM. As for putting in too much/too little: oil height is critical to proper function! Why do you think that so much of the literature on modification/tuning of stock front suspension revolves around "change to this wt. fork oil, and adjust to this level from top when forks are fully compressed" - volume be d@mned? Good luck w/ getting things sorted, & keep up the good questions!

Don't use a screwdriver: that'll only break off the plastic elbow and ruin your whole day/week/month! I use needle-nose vice grips, myself. What! No, you don't put any compression on the fitting: I like the vice-grips because they give you the ability to adjust the jaw opening to just catch the edges of the QR fitting when the handles are completely closed. As someone else said, you push in on the hose, to take tension off the fitting, while using the plier tips to push the QR fitting away from the elbow on the tank. Also as someone else said, it'll pop loose & dribble a few ounces of fuel all over the place, so don't do this with a hot engine. It also helps to wait a few minutes for pressure to bleed down if you've had the ignition switched to "ON" any time recently...[DAMHIK] BTW, I've tried doing this w/ my fingers, & there's no f!cking way: even w/ the n-n vice grips it's a trial... Frankly, I'm amazed that the plastic elbows survive even one disconnect: those parts really deserve to be made of stainless steel or something!

Did you tell him he's on the wrong continent for that name? He should be "Marsupial Mufflers" if he's in OZ, shouldn't he? Just a hint on his website: tell him that while the pic of the long chrome rcm on a blue bike is a great front page, having all the sub-pages opening in a frame at the bottom of the pic makes for tiny print. I imagine some of his potential customers may be put off by that... [sorry for straying off topic, but HCI f!ckups are a bit of a sore spot for me. ] Here's wishing him luck w/ this venture!

There's a difference btw lack of interest & lack of finances, I'll have you know! Nonessential cosmetics upgrades are way down the list of priorities around here...

Haven't heard anything out of Edge for some time. Anyone know if he's still riding/active? I'd hate to think we've lost him, regardless of whether he still wants to bother with fabbing the mudguards or not...

Two wooden wedges like the ones sold in Home Depot for hanging doors plumb, driven in opposite each other from the ends of the caliper [in place of the disc rotor] should enable you to push the pistons back into their bores. Yes, that means dismounting the caliper, opening bleed to drain fluid, possibly removing new pads, etc. until you have enough space to fit the wedges and can get at them w/ a mallet. That's why C clamps are an integral part of a brake job, at least on cars, so you can press the dang pistons back into place before putting in the new pads...

"Garage kept" means where it is parked at night, not during the day.[0] W/ 16k miles on it, you know it has been ridden, & may in fact be a regular commuter [which if it was parked out in the sun all day, would explain the fading.] Ask the seller how far he lives from work, so you'll know if it was always ridden cold [ie, mayonnaise in the valve covers] or if he lived far enough from work for the engine to actually reach operating temps before he arrived... [0] 'Cause moisture from condensation or bad weather is the enemy of all things motorcyclic, not so much sun [altho' excessive sun can do bad things to the rubber & plastic bits & the finish, as you noted.]

I realize this is likely just a colloquialism, but I really like this as an effective means of communication! Unfortunately, in the case of Piaggio, some unfortunate mail room clerk is likely to get stung, instead of the executive V.P. in charge of pissing off the customers whom it should go to...

Isn't that the indication you've got one of the undersize axle spacers? Something about Guzzi putting in some that were .1" too short or somesuch. Or is that only front wheels? Whichever, you're darn right that lunching wheel bearings every year is too often: I've ridden bikes w/ substantial mileage that have bearings 20 years old that are still fine...

I take it you have no lemon-law coverage in N. Ireland to force Piaggio to make things right? As others have pointed out, you really deserve a brand new motor, if not a whole new bike...

I believe the accepted solution for this particular issue is to use the throttle cable from a Centauro...

Those #s you quoted from Al look like engine #s [which should match the VIN#s on the frame, but of course, the VIN has a lot more info encoded in it so you take the 1st 2 digits & the last 6 of the VIN & it should equal the engine #. Or at least, that's the theory...] Since I think that range is quoted in reverse [KS should come before KT], it appears your VIN falls in the affected range. [KS112350 As stated by Docc, checking w/ Greg @ MI is a good idea...

Mike Rich [one of the few Guzzi performance specialists here in the States] has stated pretty unequivocally that the stock valve guides are made of some kind of Italian cheese, and should be K-lined at the earliest opportunity. Guzzi doesn't use valve seals: I've pondered the feasibility of getting some valve seals intended for some cage application w/ similar sized valves, and applying them to the intake side of things [oil blowby on the exhaust valves isn't going to do much harm, since we don't have cat-cons on our V11s stateside, and the ex. valves need all the cooling they can get!] Part of the woes are undoubtedly due to the way the engine has "grown" over the years, with changes made to components & locations that has made the relevant angles btw parts go all whoopsy, so that the valves are under far greater lateral loads than they were when Carcano 1st engineered the motor for the Ambo 750... roller rockers might be in order at this stage of the game! Good luck!

Flasher relays are voltage sensitive, so yes, it's normal that there would be a very slight increase in tempo in going from idle [where the alternator isn't producing significant voltage & the battery is draining ever so slowly] to >3k rpm [where the alternator is producing output and supplying >12v to charge the battery.]

Torx vs. Allen keys is like the difference btw 12pt & 6pt sockets: yes, the Torx gives you more options for proper insertion, so it seems like it has a more reliable engagement, but the Allen can actually take some torque before it strips [given properly sized keys; no Indian nor ChinAlpha tools need apply! ] Since Torx can get a grip so much easier, they're also better for smaller/shallower screw heads. But that just means they can only handle that much less torque... It's a trade-off. Any application that can accept an Allen-type socket head cap screw of proper hardness, you're better off upgrading and eliminating that extra degree of fastener "captivity" [it certainly isn't a degree of freedom, having to carry extra tools around! ]