Skeeve

I think Airtech makes a knockoff of the Spot 1100/1100 Sporti fairing [also found on the Daytona RS that is the premier example of faired motorcycle good looks, bar none.] If not, they make lots of other fairings that would be adaptable to a v11 Sport, but as someone else posted, if you want a v11 that looks like a LeMans, just buy a v11 LeMans & save yourself the headaches... Ride on!

Up to a point; obviously, the map should take into account that above a certain temp reading, it should be increasing fuel [for cooling.] If it doesn't, the map needs work [which brings us back to Ratchet's contention, that messing w/ the probe will require a map update to prevent said mucking about from screwing up the already screwy stock map... ] It seems clear to me that we need: 1] Faster feedback - this is achieved by eliminating the airspace w/ anti-seize, thermal paste, whatever [as long as it can survive the heat and do the job.] 2] Thermal isolation of the sensor body from the rest of the cylinder head - this is what is offered by the factory plastic receptacle. 3] Ruggedness of whatever part satisfies 1&2 above - this is where the stock plastic receptacle fails. The only polymer option that I'm familiar with that would have the necessary hardness to take tools for insertion while being able to withstand long exposure to high heats is phenolic [bakelite.] Maybe something reinforced with a polyamide [Kevlar, Nomex?] would take the strain w/o failing when attempting to remove the sensor [on whatever maintenance schedule is deemed necessary.] Obviously, making a bespoke run of such an esoteric material would be extraordinarily expensive, which is why Guzzi ended up w/ the plastic part they did. I don't even know if my proposed solution above would work any better than the stock part; I'm no materials science engineer! Making a finned aluminum part to hold & shield the sensor, with a Teflon sleeve to insulate the body of the sensor from the cylinder head might work, but Teflon melts at 327C (620F), so that might not work either [i don't know how hot the head gets in hard use. I'd think not hot enough at the point the sensor screws in to hit that temp extreme, but I'd want to test it w/ a laser thermometer first just to keep from getting any rude surprises... How [i]does[/i] one get melted teflon goo off their motor? ] Anyway, those are my thoughts on this topic. Feel free to shoot them full of holes, so we can come up w/ an optimum solution.

340lb dry wt.?!? Did the reporter make a mistake & put in the engine wt. for that of the whole bike? If not, where's all the pork on our v11s hiding?..

Rear brake = "roll off the throttle..." Bam-Bam don't need no steenkin' rear brake: that's what the other riders are there for!

Well, you might want to qualify that with "... an otherwise unmodified engine." Don't forget, alcohol-burning dragsters (Fuelers) have faster times that gasoline powered ones... Let's see: in 1921?, Ricardo said that "engines burning alcohol have a virtually unlimited compression ratio" or something to that effect: running pure meth, you can run as something like 26:1 compression ratio w/o detonation (which admittedly, you need to do to get the same performance from alcohol as gasoline, due to its lower energy density.) The BIG - nay, outright HUGE - problem with E85 is that it is a negative energy equation, costing us more to produce than it saves us. Bad pork barrel politics, bad! Until we get industrial scale solar stills set up for its refining and don't divert any food acreage toward producing it, E85 does more harm to the U.S. than good. Just say "No" to bad ideas!

Why? Oleo struts had been used for a long time before they discovered nitrogen charging; they just fade more when hot; motorcycle steering being a process of slow movements, a plain oleo strut should work fine w/ no noticeable fading... And remember, "simple is best."

Just stay away from known "heavy enforcement" areas & you should be able to pull it off. Keep your stockers for the inevitable fixit tickets so you can revert back, get signed off & then go back to annoying your neighbors & giving motorcyclists everywhere a bad rap...

I'm not calling for lynching law makers, I'm calling for the lawful end of those who willfully breach their oath of office to protect & defend the Constitution. By so doing, they're committing treason, the only crime mentioned in the Constitution, with clear penalties recorded therein. When are you going to wake up & smell the coffee & realize that senators Boxer, Feinstein, Schumer, et al are only interested in your enslavement? "It's for the children..." after all, so sit down & shut up about their own immunity from the consequences of the laws that they want to inflict upon "the huddled masses." Sorry if you're offended by my attacks on poster children for the NWO, but the U.S. owes its very existence to resistance to such tyranny as they represent. The Federal govt. is too large by half, is involved in too much that goes beyond its charter, and its demand for ever more growth will be the doom of us all. We as a nation are already approaching the size of the national socialists in Germany (30% of the working populace worked for the govt.; the U.S. is presently >20% iirc), and it is strangling the life out of us. Remedial reading for you: go find the Federalist papers, and consider how far down the wrong path we've gone. Then read the Anti-Federalist papers [if you can find them] for the opposing view, & consider how truly mild my position is vs. what the Anti-Federalists would consider acceptable!

P-K-B. Little Donny Dark sez: "There are none so blind as those who will not see!" [sigh]

All right, as indicated by the Miller '38 decision[1], arms that a single militia member would be expected to employ are protected. So, no crew-served weapons weapons, tanks, jets, etc. Anything which one soldier/militiaman[2] could be expected to hump along with a minimum load out of the required ammunition is protected from federal[3] interference under the 2nd amendment. BTW, as an aside: the federal prosecutor arguing before the Supremes in Miller '38 misrepresented the govt's. case and lied to the justices when asked if short-barreled shotguns had military value, as they had been in use by the U.S. armed forces since before WWI, and were extensively used within that conflict. But of course he just said "No." Yet another example of your "public servants" only "doing their job," no matter how wrong... Anyway, this discussion is heading into the "But we showed you..." "No! We refuse your arguments! Lalalalalala (fingers in ears)" phase, so I'm outta here. Ratchethack can argue this stuff much better than I can anyway. Besides, I flat out refuse to put that much of my limited lifespan arguing w/ people who don't want to hear it, wouldn't admit the truth if it bit'em on the - er - nose, and think it's all a (gasp) Republican (eeewww!) conspiracy [as if the Republicans wouldn't all sell us out as quickly as their Democrat opponents have, given the opportunity!] to overthrow the New World Order they're only trying to bring to us benighted reactionaries "for our own good." [it's "for the children" you know!] Remember, once they ban your guns, the motorcycles are next! Can't have some minority of outlaws putting the public at risk with their daredevil antics and drain on medical resources, can we? Ride on! [1] - which is flawed in itself; if there had been any amicus curiae briefs filed, it's likely that the 1934 act that Miller was being charged under would have been struck down. Since Miller didn't show, he automatically lost and an entire nation's future has been put at stake due to the fact that it is now "embedded" law... [2] - and let's get it straight right now, that the terminology used is not subject to reinterpretation based upon modern language usage! At the time, the "militia" consisted of every able-bodied male from 16-60 (ie, those who could own property and sign contracts on their own behalf; essentially, the voting population.) Lest any smart-@ss socialist interpret the foregoing to mean that the elderly can be disarmed: the cutoff of 60 was just a shorthand for "anyone old w/ fight still left in them" - at the time the average life expectancy was only in the mid-40s: being 60 years old and still hale was an exceptional feat! Since nobody else alive knew how old you really were, you just stopped counting after 60, unless you chose to make a big deal out of it! [3] - The "unlimited freedom ain't good for us" crowd seem to be getting their panties in a twist about this subject, so let's refresh: the federal govt. is forbidden to regulate small arms, but the state governments are not. This was the intent of the founders, as the local governments were all answerable to their local populace, and would likely be lynched, or at least tarred and feathered, for trying to disarm their constituency. At the very least, they'd be voted out and replaced with right-thinking folks at the 1st opportunity. And if not? There were still other states to move to; at least by preventing the federal govt. from being involved with any such nonsense, the free states couldn't be bullied by any number of misguided neighbors...

Sorry, not going to rise to the bait, for it will surely lead to closure of this thread! That said, the fact that you cannot parse "...shall not be infringed" as clear & unequivocal I find truly disconcerting...

As president he has not yet breached his oath of office. As senator, he has [voted yes for unconstitutional (not to mention unnecessary) federal firearms laws], and he has publicly stated his intent to do so while campaigning. These folks are (mostly) all lawyers, so they can't claim ignorance of what they're saying & doing. All federal firearms laws are repugnant to the Constitution, being flat out forbidden to the federal govt. by the 2nd amendment, and as such are null & void. But the govt. will kill you for trying to tell'em so! Hey, did you hear the one about the ex-Soviet analyst who'd been predicting the downfall & dis-unification of the United States for the last 10 years or so? Target date is 2010... while I don't think things will progress as far down that road as he forecasts, I can see some interesting times ahead for all of us! Ride on!

If my house is already on fire & I have a track record of being a hater? Absolutely!

EXCELLENT!

Huh? Are you channeling Maxwell Smart or something? "Missed me by that much!

Or put another way, it's Guzzi's version of a single-sided swingarm w/ the anti-torque-reaction magic built in...

O.K., don't go thinking this post is negative, I'm just making an observation here... Perhaps a couple of subforums may be in order: CARC-Quotards (Griso, Stelvio, Breva, etc) CARC-Tontis (Bellagio, CaliVintage?) Hey don't leave out the smallblocks! (V7 Classic) In all seriousness, I kind of suspect that the V11LM's focus on sport-oriented riding will mostly attract the new QV owners more than any other...

Too bad it was a preventable loss precipitated by Britten's refusal to build new, stiffer swingarms [which the team did eventually.] *Every* motorcyclist should read the authorized Britten biography; it's really very even handed, bringing to light some of his flaws as well as his genius [which was not in the motorcycle design area as some might suspect. Team effort there...] A very good read.

And besides the valves, there's also Ratchet's experience with a soggy cam chain tensioner. How many miles are on this steed?

Your question: in regards to my statement: I fail to see how that could be construed as my rooting for his failure. I'm not wealthy enough to short-sell the U.S.; even Warren Buffet didn't do that [he got out of the market until after the collapse; he's been buying since. That's not the same as betting against the market.] I am negatively amazed by his track record on civil rights because he has consistently betrayed his oath of office and attempted to undermine our 2nd amendment rights. Just because you choose not to utilize them does not make them any less a civil right than one of those mentioned in the other 9 amendments in the Bill of Rights. The fact that none of the others are worth the paper they're written on without the 2nd is likely an observation that will escape you as well. My condolences on that. The fact that the DNP elite continues to pursue that shibboleth of the Communist doctrine of disarming the masses despite the fact that it cost them the control of the legislatures during the 90s and ushered Dubya to power in the first place just goes to show how stupid they think all of us are. And why they aren't to be trusted. As I wrote in reply: That's not the mutterings of someone who wants Obama to fail, but the realistic view of his (hopefully) pathway to success. Ride on!

Great writeup & excellent job on the bike, Kuan! The velocity stacks issue is less about looks [re: polished ebay item you linked to] & more about performance: the bike needs to breath, and can do that better when there is a smooth transition from the still air area inside the filter to the high velocity flow through the intake port above the piston. Best of luck, & thanks for sharing!

Don't be daft: any legislator who conveniently overlooks their oath of office to promulgate more gun laws should be impeached for treason. I'm not talking just Presidents, per se: they don't write the laws, Senators & Congresscritters do. Your poster children of Boxer, Feinstein, Schumer, et al should literally be dragged thru the streets & hanged for treason: they *know* what they're doing is wrong, but they don't care, their rights aren't in danger - after all, they're part of the problem...er, government! As for Obama quickly fixing the economy, don't hold your breath: it took years to get us here, getting us out won't happen overnight. Now, go back & reread my post above, & this time, pay attention...

Your definition is interesting. The economic growth of his first term that you cite was already in swing at the time he took office. I see this all the time, & wonder at it: how economic momentum is taken credit for & attributed to political parties who were voted in after the fact. Clinton did give us the dot bomb; that came at the end of his second term, so it can be fairly attributed to him. The present economic meltdown has come at the end of Dubya's 2nd term, so again, can fairly be laid at his feet to some extent [the fact that some parts of it are directly attributable to Clinton & going back to Carter's administrations, is also undeniable. Complex forces... but as usual, will be emphatically denied by the left side of the aisle. Interesting that their poster boy JFK was somewhere to the right of the present Rep. stance, but that's also conveniently overlooked.] I also love how you've forgotten that Clinton's era of big economic bliss was a direct result of Ronald Reagan's terms and his facing down the Soviet threat. That "peace dividend" didn't come from anything Klinton ever dreamed of! He was too busy selling us out to his Chinese backers to have contemplated anything besides shutting down the unjustified extra military bases to wound the communities that didn't back his election... How anyone can state "...the country has done better under Clinton than it did under Reagan..." is beyond me. Under Reagan [don't forget: second term results, not his dark dark 1st term spent recovering from Carter's watch] the U.S. rebounded to its position as a world leader in virtually every economic area. Don't think for a minute I'm defending Dubya; his time in office has been a huge & frightening disappointment. Under his watch, the U.S. has become a police state, its citizens allowing themselves to be subjected to unreasonable searches to ride public and private transport. Unfortunately, you can bet that the police state TSA will not be abolished by the new regime, but expanded and given its head. Until the supporters of either party realize they're being had and start focusing on what the U.S. is about (liberty) instead of what they want for themselves inDUHvidually (safety), they're only mortgaging their future & selling their descendants into slavery.

Sorry for the long delay; I am aware of time passing! My gf lost her job [again], we're upside down on the mortgage, and my mom is sick. I just haven't wanted to spend the dosh on a new can of Bondo; when I went to use my existing supply, it had gotten so old that working time was in single-digit minutes, it kicked over so fast! Anyway, that's the story of why the project stalled where it did; as soon as Pep Boys has Bondo on sale again, I'll resume... I'm sure they'd have had a sale by now, but I must have missed it... As far as filling the voids goes: My first try on this method was on the seat for a Honda GL1200. [i know, I know: you're thinking "those aren't known for problem seats!" but bear with me...] Now, being long of inseam and low of pain threshold, I managed to commute on the GL about 30 minutes each way for a couple of years, and discovered that that was just about my limit: the step in the seat forced me into a certain spot, which combined with the angle of my legs from the ergonomics led me to have certain pressure points that led to pain right at about the end of my commute time. No big deal, right? Daily ride gets uncomfy ride as it's about to end. Agreed... but: what about when you want to go for a long ride, as this reputed "Barcalounger on wheels" is supposed to do? I also had an SV650 that I split my time commuting on; that too had about a 30-45 min threhold before pain set in [15-30 for the pillion; the passenger seat on the SV is much worse than the GL's perch!] Applying my deductive powers of reasoning was fruitless; the idea came out of the blue one day that nobody ever b!tched about how uncomfortable the old bench-style seats were back in the 70s when I was kid. It wasn't because the materials were better then, it was because they all used pressed-steel (read "smooth") seat bases! So I started on the GL [simply because the weather was good], and wound up with the doctored base in place but w/ no covering back on it when the weather took a turn. So, the SV [my baby!] got put in the garage & I commuted on the GL riding on nothing but the doctored seat pan, until I got a chance to put the foam & cover back on. In the process, I discovered that (aside from the hazards of having a seat you slid around on when braking or accelerating) I had about the same riding range as with the unmodified stock seat before pain set in on the hard modified seat pan alone! That's when I knew I was definitely on the right track. My attempts at recovering the modified seat pan weren't pleasing to the eye [the original cover was too frayed & weak to reuse], but definitely more comfortable than the stock seat. I'll get a pro to reupholster the modded seat pan on the V11; funny that someone mentioned Spencers' as I'd already considered that avenue as the likely conclusion to this project... [NB: the same mod w/ the SV pan about doubled the ride time before pain for both seats. The newer seat cover was able to sustain the strain from cramming all the stock foam back under it; realistically, I should have cut out the part that fit into the SV's "waffling" reinforcement. Funny that Suzuki puts the reinforcement in on the wrong side, so that the underside of the seat looks all clean & smooth but you can't sit on it any length of time! ]

I am intrigued by your definition of "success..." Next task: define "is..."