Skeeve

Is that 156 on a wildly optimistic speedo, or an accurate measurement? Also, your Aprilia isnt in the same "Pushrod-Partial Streamline-Gas" that the Mandello Meteor was competing in. LSR classes are broken down into tiny niches; going for the outright record puts you in the full-streamline jobs like Manning's recent record breaker.

In all fairness, Slick 50 is a superb lubricant! It works far, FAR better than the usual supply of used 30wt for the chain lube on your chainsaw... Of course, it would normally be far too expensive to use for that task, but I got a quart free after someone heard it could fry their engine and was going to chuck it. Using it in the chain drip of my chainsaw was the only safe method of use I could figure out where the PTFE in suspension might actually serve some purpose! It does work better than the usual alternative, but then, used up motor oil is the normal alternative, so thats not hard to beat!

Back in the old days, there *was* no compression damping in bike suspension, since it's counter-productive [harsher ride] for most street bikes: the stutter bumps that cause the suspension to pack down from too much rebound damping are rare on the street, whereas "square edge" bumps that cause hydraulic lock in compression circuits are common. Ergo, back off the compression adjustment all the way, and ride. Increase incrementally each time until you notice some harshness creeping in, & back off a couple notches. That setting will probably be just a little up from backed completely off, and will do fine for 90% of your riding. Enjoy!

Nevada = 750cc Titanium = 1100cc [yeah, I know, it's 1064, but I don't know what the actual disp. on the NV is either] 750/2 = 375 1100/2 = 550 550/375 = 1.46; the extra mass of the con rods was figured in as part of the difference, so the 1.5x was a realistic fudge. Each piston (and small end) on the Ti masses at least 1.5x the equivalent Nevada assembly, ergo, 1.5x mass in oscillation = 1.5x the vibes, times 2 pistons. It's geometric, I tells ya! The "were/are" conundrum was due to my knowledge that in the past the small blocks were manufactured & assembled on a completely different line @ a different factory, whereas the big blocks were always made in Mandello. With the changes at Guzzi in the last dozen years, I'm unaware if the small blocks are being assembled in Mandello or are still built elsewhere. Hence "were (are?)" Hope you had a happy 4th too! Normally, I would have preferred to go to the firing range [is there a better way to celebrate our freedom? ] and then caught the fireworks near where I live, but the PHBs here where I work decided we should be open on the 4th [whoever is responsible for that decision should be dragged out and hanged for being an un-patriotic SOB, but that is not likely to happen, regrettably ] despite the expected budget shortfall for the fiscal year just begun and the fact that the past couple years of this insanity has shown that we have no customers on the 4th of July! Idiocy, but hey, getting paid to enjoy someone else's A/C isn't all bad...

Well, I should have said "44deg40' ", but I didn't want to try finding the little "o" degree symbol & figured everyone would know what I meant. What's the major portion of one degree between friends?

25 litres? That's over 6 gallons! You certain about that #, or was that station in the middle of nowhere not only selling you bad gas but fiddling their pumps to show more delivered than will actually fit?...

Good luck, but if I were involved, there's little chance I'd sell the original parts since once the record is achieved, there will be little resale value of the LSR bike, and I'd put it all back to stock & sell it off to recoup some small part of the cubic $$$ spent achieving the goal. But that's just me...

I do love that candy red/anthracite combo! Congrats!

You've been lucky. Even a bike like my '86 Goldwing that had a rubber "finger" to extend the length of the sidestand so it would brush back before the stand could actually lever the bike off its wheel(s) was a hairy experience every time you forgot to put the stand up; the 1st left turn and YIPES you knew you'd forgotten to put it up, and sure thanked the early victims that caused Honda to re-engineer the sidestand to include the rubber extension... I wonder if that rubber pad can be retrofitted to our bikes? Seems like cheap backup for the sidestand kill switch. Might also help w/ hooking your boot on the stand to deploy it...

Don't forget, U.S. pump gas has (MON+RON)/2 octane ratings, so our 91 is closer to the European 93 or 94 [AFAIK, most gas in Europe is quoted w/ just the RON octane #, which is always higher than MON.] Dunno about Canada, but given the track record of adopting a lot of U.S. standards since we're their biggest trading partner, it wouldn't surprise me if the gas up north of 44 is quoted w/ #s similar to ours. OTOH, given their justifiable desire to not be seen as "U.S.A.'s kid brother" they may do it the Euro method. Best advice: read the pump, & see if it's marked "RON" or w/ the formula above. Worst case scenario, you can always go to the airport & snake some 100LL; an eyedropper full of that in each tank will do you fine (as long as you don't have mufflers w/ the cat.)

Probably related to the output shaft on the 6-spd tranny being lower & further to the right [to allow for wider tires] & whoever was responsible for redesigning the swingarm to account for this not understanding why the holes were where they were in the Sporti/Daytona RS setup...

Anyone moving to the U.S. who's loading a container shipment? Maybe all the U.S. Guzzisti should band together & become the U.S. Lechler distributors!

Maybe it's time to order some paint from someplace outside the U.S. that carries Lechler? You state that Lechler isn't carried in N. Am.; I'm assuming you've already checked Canada & Mexico for suppliers then? I'm guessing that the U.K. would be the lowest-cost shipper to the U.S., and that shipping will actually eat more $$ (or pounds, euros, what have you) than the actual cost of product... Anyone in the EU (or anywhere else in the world for that matter!) repainting/repairing their Tenni who already has some of the correct product who can paint a patch of paper & post it to our friend here? Like he said, once he has the sample, he can get it scanned for matching by his local gunpowder salesm^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H er, DuPont rep...

This dip is in addition to the "normal" hole in the powerband from 3-4.5k rpm? Or just where your tachometer [each gauge package reading different, as they aren't precision instruments] shows the standard dip? Enquiring minds want to know!

Big valves + lumpy cam = poor low end combustion. I know: let's get Honda to design a vvt system for us!

In order: "Clip ons" are called that because back in the day, when handlebars were actually a long bar [o.k. - tube!] that was attached to the top fork triple-tree, the use of individual handles that attached or "clipped" on to the fork tubes was deemed unique enough that they were named eponymously. Your Ti-bike has much more vibration than the Nevada because your pistons are each 1.5x the size. Do the math 1.5 + 1.5 = 3. [Of course, the fact that the small blocks were engineered later & spent more time in initial development than the big blocks, were (are?) built in a different plants & production lines from the big blocks & therefore might be better balanced at the factory might have something to do with it. Is your Ti-bike a Monday or Friday, vs. a Wednesday for the Nevada? Who knows... in the end, we blame all these little idiosyncracies on this guy: - Luigi, the Guzzi factory worker who takes long lunches where he imbibes much grappa, abhors grease, and is completely unaware of the value of a torque wrench! ] There's no answer for this, since the only reason is "pure insanity!"

Are those clecos holding the windshield on?

R30? [sorry, couldn't resist!] What about just barber-pole wrapping the line w/ some mounting tape [double-sided sticky foam tape] and then applying a layer of aluminum foil over that? Eh, never mind: unquestionably not fuel-safe [ever pour gasoline in a styrofoam coffee cup? ] but reflecting the incident infra-red is going to be more productive than just pure insulation, I'll bet.

Pretty clearly silicon carbide in an aluminum matrix from their own description at the 1st site [second link is N/F, btw.] Key words "silicon carbide" ''60% lighter than stainless steel" "anodized gray" & "shed heat 5x faster than steel discs." Only problem is aluminum gets weak as it gets hot [maybe why they're marketing these to H-D owners: not as likely to be continuously heavy on the brakes on a twisty road, the way sport bikes are, heavier stock componentry to start with so the wt. savings is more appealing, known to spend $$ on bling & unsubstantiated "performance" cr@p for their rides], so I'd want to see some pretty severe product testing before relying on them. If they start OEM'ing the ZTL rotors for Erik Buell, I'll take'em seriously. Until then, maybe I can get MCN (U.S.) to do a product test that will tell us the truth about them...

Well, I'm in agreement w/ you on basically every point, other than the usual warning of "never say "Never"" just 'cause there's always the possibility of someone out there w/ far more $ than sense who'll prove you wrong [whether purposefully or just out of blind 'million monkey typists writing Shakespeare' statistical chance.] That aside, let's speculate upon the envelope of this hypothetical beast: First off, let's face it: A/C engines cannot compete in all out hp w/ water-pumpers of similar displacement. So play in the same league w/ the 'busa, it will be a water-cooled engine. (Right there, it ain't no V11!) Second, let's address the cylinder(s): it was calculated sometime in the 20's? or so that you need approx. 150cc per cylinder for the same power capacity, ie: the 1300cc Hayabusa will normally eat the lunch of any similarly configured (water-cooled, 4v/cyl) twin of less than 1600cc! Power is a function of rpm, and a 4 cyl's smaller pistons can be spun faster. Now, adding 500cc to a v11 mill is asking a bit much: the factory has already done this from the original (massively overbuilt) v700, and there's just no more room to absorb the (geometrically increasing) forces of more displacement. As has been pointed out, the Spineys just don't have enough rigidity to channel that kind of power reliably to the ground. So, a redesigned frame, w/ a focus on lightness & increased rigidity = no longer a v11, altho' I'd love to run up a batch of Ti frames [whether Spine or Tonti, really doesn't matter to me: can you imagine just how much fun it would be to retrofit to our existing Guzzis? Yeehaw! Losing that wt. is like free ponies, and better handling is always a welcome mod... ] Ahh, to have but $$$ enough & time... And then there's the little ancillaries like improving the running gear, suspension, etc. etc. It makes more financial sense to go plunk down the cubic dollars on a desmoseidici than to chase MG v11 will-o-the-wisps...

The factory got the fuel pump situated properly [for the pre-in-tank models] so that it suffers less from vapor-lock. Oh, & the cool green paint job! That's about it...

They must have put it back up then; the magazine at that site does change daily [right now it's some "Body & Soul" aromatherapy or gardening nonsense.] Great that you were able to get in on the Robb Rpt. deal; I never would consider buying that thing at the cover price, but that "one day" rate was just too good to pass up!

Just sheep... [buh DUM BUMP!] ...and some of the twistiest roads through pretty scenery you could hope to see. [i was very bitter that when I was there, I [i]wasn't[/i] on a bike! Arrrrggghghghghhhh! Sheer torture it was, to be stuck in a bus on that ride!]

Well, I'd be the 1st to admit that it's only a partial solution, ie: it would still be incumbent upon the user to attempt not to run out of fuel, and to ride sedately when nearing the limit so as not to expose the pickup. As far as anchoring the ends, I think a little bit of lead applied in the right spots will do, & leave the rest to gravity. The advantage of using flexible fuel line vs. copper tubing or similar would be in retrieving it once siphon failure occured; just hook w/ a bit of wire, pull it out, fill w/ fuel, refreeze & reinsert. Tho' far from being a complete solution, it should at least enable transparent use of that hidden 1/2gal/2 liters of fuel that can only be accessed via the "deep slosh" method at present. Just don't run completely out! 'Scuse me while I go browse Guzzitech for the thread on fixing the early Norge/Cali Vintage fuel system defect & the proper fuel line spec this requires... Fuel line & fishing weights: all answers to life's riddles can be found in the old-timey (ie: properly equipped!) hardware store!

I believe it was Woody Guthrie [Arlo's dad] who penned "California is the garden of eden... but don't come here if you ain't got the dough-re-mi!" In more ways than one, it is the "golden west." Or should I say "gilded?" It's a complex place, with a quality that's hard to define. Probably why one of my favorite movies [if not the favorite!] is L.A. Story. Simply brilliant satire, utterly silly to anyone who hasn't lived here, completely deadpan for anyone who has. But I digress. What was deBen apologizing for CA for? Did our fine state pull some bureaucratic blunder again?