Skeeve

To the best of my knowledge, the V10 models used the same 5 speed transmission that Guzzi had used for the previous 20 years [of course, this is subject to evolutionary enhancements & by-model variations...] Real Guzzi experts like Greg Field or Pete Roper can give you a definitive answer. The early Sport 1100s & Daytonas had straight-cut 5th gears that were prone to catastrophic failure, iirc. There're a couple of V10 owners on this site who can give you 1st hand accounts on maintenance & gearbox issues [one of them even having gone so far as to transplant a V11 6-speed tranny into his V10...] Ride on!

Well, if you want a world phone, then you'll need to look for a 4-band GSM phone. Since it's cheaper to just buy a disposable [pay as you go plan] phone for the local network when traveling, I'd suggest just popping for whomever has the best coverage where you'll be using your phone. Since I got a cell phone mostly for emergency use when riding in the hinterlands [ie, I don't like yakkin' on the phone much], I just went w/ Verizon since their coverage pretty much smokes everyone else's, Stateside. Do I like their corporate policy of hobbling their hardware to nickel&dime their customers to death? Not so much, but it's the price I'm willing to pay to have coverage where none of my iPhone usin', Star#ucks swillin' yuppie scum associates do...

Check for possible fork binding [braking, fork compresses, binds on one side, twists, things go south rapidly...] and of course, the tire age thing. Look for the DOT # impressed in the side of the tire [all the other codes are embossed/raised lettering.] The last three digits of the DOT # are the week [2 digits] and year[1] when the tire was made, eg: DOT XXXXXX521 was a tire made the last week of 2001 [or 1991, but that's just ridiculous! Or is it?.. ] Best of luck!

Nope. Frame is longer; you can see it in the space btw the front of the tank and the triple clamps if you look at pix of an 01 and an 03 side-by-side. It's not much longer [1/2"?], so it's really only noticeable if you're looking for it.

Actually, Champion did already. Something like 40 years ago. Called the "surface gap electrode" I think; the original H1 Kawasakis came with them stock, iirc. Only flaw? was that they require a really strong ignition circuit. But originals were supposedly immune to wet fouling, the bane of kick-start-only 2-strokes down thru the ages. Anyway, they were monstrously expensive, and everyone replaced them w/ cheaper NGKs [when they didn't have to: the SGE plugs were supposedly close to non-wear parts from what I heard] and proceeded to have all sorts of rough running & bad starting problems. That's the story the way I heard it: I imagine the truth is somewhat different...

Be aware that either insurance company is going to total the damage to your bike, subtract your deductible [which in this case shouldn't apply, since the other party is 100% at fault; I'm just warning you to watch out for this trick] and then decide to total your bike since your parts + labor cost is likely going to be higher than low blue book. Remember the following: Your bike was pristine, meriting high blue book! [i don't care if it is a 20 y.o. P.O.S. rustbucket, stick to your guns on this point!] Blue book doesn't reflect prices in your area correctly; get some *dealer* prices on used models similar to yours, to adequately reflect replacement cost! If they do total your bike, offer them $500 for your wreck. Yes, it'll be salvage titled, so fixing it up perfect again doesn't make sense as you'll never get the full restitution again on it if it gets in another wreck, but you'll have a good basis for a daily rider that you won't worry about so much. Remember, insurance companies are out to screw you [this includes your own insurer], as this is how they make profits and can pay their top execs seven figure salaries! Best of luck

Honda ST1100 or ST1300. 700+ pounds of too-much-heat-for-a-liquid-cooled-bike. Oddly enough, complaints about excessive heat for the rider ended when Yamaha brought out their FJR1300, which then became the new bitch-queen for excessive heat in the moto rags... Honda upped the displacement on the 1300 but still forgot to fix the problem w/ the fairing lowers being in the way of taller riders' knees, apparently! I remember when the ST1100 was first on the sales floor back in '91? or so: I thought it was a beautiful big tourer and then I sat on it & realized that Honda botched it: tall seat height means tall riders, but no room for their knees mean no sales. Reliable bikes tho'; other than a few stator failures [chronic problem on Honda shafties for some reason], nobody ever seems to wear'em out like they do BMWs... All the cops in my home town recently got new ST1300s to ride: I just about ran off the road when I spotted one! Not the brightest choice for in-town duties [Pasadena cops never get to take part in high-speed chases, poor guys! ], but I'm sure Honda gave'em a great deal just to move stock. Some Buell Ulysses would have made a better choice [mileage, maintenance & maneuverability] plus have given them the opportunity to have more fun taking it up ACH! Stupid bean-counters never have any consideration for the real issues... Still, not likely to find them riding Guzzis any time soon, unless Piaggio makes some big push to penetrate the LE market Stateside [which wouldn't be a bad idea; at least we wouldn't get the "Who makes that?" comment so much if more motor cops were riding Guzzis... ]

Actually, lots of indigenous societies have a tradition of a last big feast before the food supplies narrow for the winter [dry season, etc.] Before decent food preservation options existed, the best way to store food was often in your body as fat to be burned later...

The technology is all out there; the EV1 was a direct outgrowth of Paul McReady's solar-car race winner; in fact, GM hired him to do the initial design work on the concept car that resulted in the EV1! I don't blame GM for destroying all the EV1s. As sad as it was to witness, it is the inevitable result of our legal system run amok: GM literally could not afford to have let those prototypes get loose in the wild after the end of the test program for fear of the inevitable nuisance suits from those inDUHviduals seeking to enrich themselves at the behest of some shady shyster at GM's expense. The EV1 was doomed to failure for the same reason any other all-electric vehicle is: no range. Until there is a many-fold quantum leap in battery or fuel-cell technology, hybrids are the answer, just as they have been since the 70's when the first home experimenters first pointed the way...

Don't forget to reinforce the frame while you have it all apart; Jap bikes of that era were a handful because they had more power than their willowy frames could handle! Kawasaki almost solved the problem w/ their "Big Tube" formula frame, but then stepped away from it & continued campaigning the same narrow tube frames they'd been losing with despite all of Gary Nixon's talent. A little steel sheet & a MIG welder will do wonders...

This has been covered elsewhere: the U.S. octane rating is [MON + RON]/2, whereas most? European ratings seem to be straight RON [which is higher than MON.] BTW, the toluene I mentioned above is the best octane booster you can get for the U.S. gas [pre-diluted w/ alcohol] short of something w/ tetraethyl lead in it. If you have access, some 100LL avgas works better yet [& is cheaper too!], but only suitable if your Guzzi doesn't have a cat... U.S. V11s don't [per Greg Field, & I believe him] but I forget where the O.P. was posting from.

On an almost completely unrelated topic: anyone have a clue as to where a servo triggered by the tach could be sourced? I'm intrigued by the possibility of an EXUP type x-over for the V11 being able to get rid of the low rpm "hole" in the powerband. I figure that as an add-on, it would need some easily configurable servo motor, vs. something ripped out of a Yamaha wrecker that was built in at the factory [& therefore not easily re-purposed.] Conceptually, this could be applied to any motorcycle, if the right pieces parts are assembled.

Oh, yeah - that's where I saw it. Sequels never seem to measure up to the original, do they?

I'm not sure, but it may be from the movie w/ De Niro & Eddie Murphy [where De Niro is a real cop & Murphy is a movie cop] called Showtime. I've seen the clip before, & that's my best guess for the movie it's from.

Interesting that you shortened the stock cans 6" (15cm for our metric friends), as the Staintunes are about that much shorter than the stock cans... Is that a custom paint job on your LeMans? I've never heard of Guzzi offering them in mint green?..

I use "jump" style boots [lace up fronts, w/ a zipper side] because I've got funky feet [wide, high arch, somewhat narrow heel] that NO rear-entry boot can seem to accommodate, & few buckle-up models seem to fit well. I've always wanted to treat myself to a pair of custom Bates [yes, Bates makes boots too,] ever since reading about them in a moto-rag article years ago. [sigh] Oh yeah, I also have a pair of East German surplus Officer's boots that fit o.k. except those underfed european fellers musta had skinny calves, 'cause their boots hardly fit over mine & rub all the hair off my legs at the top of the shank. [grumble] Not too bad for $20 tho'; anyone w/ a U.S. size 11 & skinny calves want to buy'em off me?

Get'em direct from Sidi [iSDT boots] and save a few $...

I'd really like to have a set of Chippewas, but I refuse to spend that kind of money on a pair of boots made for someone insecure about their stature... Seriously, has Chippewa ever considered that there are those of us out there who don't want an extra 1&1/2" lift in the heel? I know women who have shorter heels on their boots! Un-frickin'-believable that they still haven't worked out the fact that they could be selling enough boots to put Redwing out of biz if they'd just lose the lifts... I shouldn't be forced to take a brand new pair of $100+ footwear to the shoe repairman to have the heels corrected, but that's just my own opinion. Glad you like'em, I just wish someone at Chippewa would get a clue!

Mike Rich hi-comp pistons will improve upon this slightly, as they're optimized for squish on the V11 head & relatively flat-topped [vs. other hi-comp pistons (FBF, cough, cough) which have a higher compression ratio at the expense of efficient flame travel w/in the combustion chamber.] As MR states it, the nominal 10.5:1 CR of the stock pistons aren't, due to their non-conformance to the combustion chamber dish in the head, and his pistons merely achieve the quoted factory CR. Look up the thread on high compression pistons from a year or two back, and all will be revealed!

Anything can be repurposed. And our Bill of Rights doesn't protect ownership of sporting weapons, it protects ownership of the same kind of weapons as would be expected of a standard infantryman. It might be. And in that case, it shall be: one round at a time, with purposeful aim, and resolve that the govt. cannot exceed their charter. I believe the term is "voting from the rooftops." We're in deep shiznit over here: our govt. of checks and balances is gone all awry, with a legislative branch dominated by one party, and the executive branch soon to be in the hands of that same party, a political party w/ a history of adhering to the party line [vs. maverick legislators voting against ill-conceived legislation proposed by other members of their own party.] Personally, I blame the 17th Amendment, w/ some distaste left over for the 16th.(sigh) What fools these mortals be!

Didn't one of the recent vintage Cali/Stone variants come with a (steel!) single-plate clutch that was prone to rapid wear since those models had cable actuation instead of the hydraulic clutch of the V11 models? I seem to recall Greg Field stating the MI had several of the replaced-under-warranty Cali single-platers kicking around that could be resurfaced and transplanted to anyone wishing to replace their defective (alumaiminuminum) Scura single plater with another single-plater vs. going to the rattlebox 2-plater? EDIT: Here it is! Under "Ram aftermarket single plate clutch and flywheel kit, Searching for replacement clutch/flywheel for Scura" almost exactly a year ago (plus a couple weeks) Greg posted: Welcome to the fold, eas1!

I'm somewhere down in the mid 900s; just didn't see the point of announcing I'd signed the petition [esp. given my general cynicism of their effectiveness...]

Will the twin plug heads from the latest 2v engines fit, or do the changes to oiling required to make them twin plugged no longer mate up w/ the V11 bottom end? Because the necessity of running rich or at lower compression to control pinging probably has something to do w/ the poor mileage...

Hey, don't blame me, I believe Pyramid Products [who came up w/ the name] is a Brit company... You know how it is, you can't trademark a generic description, so you have to doctor the words to make it something you can turn into a brand.

[1] I have to admit, Obama has a great speech writer, and his own oratory skills are considerable: his acceptance speech was better than anything I've seen since Reagan was in the White House. I'm still curious where a Kenyan living in Illinois gets a southern accent, but hey, I'm just into details! [2] Lousy cameraman had the framing too close & centered about a foot too high for that video to be worth viewing sound off... Oh well, I'm off to see what's new over on the Hooters thread! Last night's election results are grim on the national scene: the Democrats have strengthened their lock on both House and Senate, and now have control of the executive branch as well. This leaves the door open for party politics [which the Dems have a stronger track record for adhering to than their Rep opponents] to dictate legislation. This is bad because it leads to more "dumbass laws" getting thru, instead of getting a deserved veto for too much pork added onto otherwise valid bills, or just plain harmful & stupid legislation getting the organizational steamroller treatment. We, as a nation, fare better when the legislative branches and exec are in the hands of opposite parties. Anyone for a repeat of the Homeland Security Act or the DMCA? Same shoes back then, just on a different foot. Beware of the boot...