Skeeve

I mentioned this as a possible solution, oh... ages ago? I even surmised that the easiest way to insert it would be to fill it w/ gasoline, freeze it, and then put it in place, inquiring about the freezing point of pump gas, since I didn't know if it could be done w/ widely available dry ice or if the slightly less simple to obtain LN3 would be required. Never got any response, but then again, I haven't dug up a source for the special fuel line needed for constant immersion in today's alcohol-laden fuel, either.

Well, the difference btw CA and the examples you mention is that CA would very likely come out ahead by breaking off, that whole "economy taken solo right around 9th in the world" thing. And of course, then there's the whole threat of immediate invasion and conquest by the Mexican army if we even took such notions seriously. So I guess the rest of the U.S. is just stuck with us! But yeah, I have to apologize for the generally crushing stupidity of the populace here. I blame all our problems on the 16th? amendment: the decline of U.S. political integrity is correlated directly with the direct election of senators, which has led to demagogues like Boxer, Feinstein, Hillary, et al getting in office & being virtually impossible to remove. Back when senators were removed from immediate electioneering concerns, they could afford to take the long view & vote for legislation based upon what was right for their state or the U.S., not based on what would get them reelected. Sic transit gloria mundi, the U.S. is on a long, slow slide into the darkness. Thus pass all true democracies [which is why this country was never intended to be such by the founders....]

#4 s/b "If this is a 525lb bike w/ 90HP..." Or did you fill your tires w/ helium?

If you search back in the forum, you'll find a post where Ratchethack contacted Redline directly for info on which grade to use & recommended change intervals. Obviously, the grade was "Heavy," or this thread would have a different title... The recommended change interval was "none." Would Redline be voluntarily opening themselves up to all kinds of lawsuits for melted final drives, gearboxen, etc. if their product degraded in the fashion your [unsubstantiated] rumour suggests? I don't think so! 1st hand reports from a plethora of satisfied users here on V11LM.com [the competency of whose membership I am FAR more sanguine about than some forum populated in almost its entirety by BDCs] seems to scuttle this bit of scuttlebutt quite handily. And FWIW, the you quoted clearly doesn't understand that the calcium content in gear and motor oils is solely there to buffer acids, & if it existed in the form of "little bits of chalk" it wouldn't do anything to protect the gears by "absorbing the force," but more likely would screw up bearings & seals. I know how you can test it! Grind up some pieces of chalk and add them to your motor oil after you're about ready for an oil change & see how much longer it lasts!

Plus you've got to figure there're more Guzzis of all types in Mandello just being ridden around as daily drivers, filling up corners of garden sheds, etc. that there's probably a pretty lively parts swap market in that region, regardless of any dealer or factory "inside lines of communication."

Take it back to TLM, tell them they made it worse, & demand they either tune it properly or give you a refund. No pay for no results.

Dairyland, National General/GMAC [Rider magazine's special deal] and State Farm [if you have home & car policies w/ them as well] have all been touted as low-cost moto insurers in the past. I'm w/ Nat Gen right now: just tell them you use your bike for touring [Rider mag's readership] & I don't think they care what kind of bike the manufacturer says it is.

Easier: alcohol vaporizes more readily than the other, heavier petroleum distillates making up gasoline. But it's hygroscopic (absorbs water from the air) so you get water in the fuel [esp. bad for carb'ed vehicles], and burns cooler [so you get less energy from it, reducing mileage/km per l and other issues, like it eats neoprene, altho' nowhere near as badly as methanol [which has even worse attributes than ethanol as far as safety.] O.K., chemistry lecture over! Go out & ride!

Can't argue with that!

During the transition, about 2, maybe 2.5 years ago [right around the time I 1st came across this forum], Piaggio sold off a mountain of spares [all?] to a big German? Guzzi shop [sorry, can't remember their name right now - HMB? Dynotec?] including a bunch of complete engines. I remember the pictures on their website off all these assembled, ready to install V11 motors w/ blue valve covers lined up waiting to be sold. Of course, back then the euro was only about even with the dollar, so the 2000 euro price tag wasn't completely unrealistic; now it's more practical to buy a complete used bike & part it out if you need to replace your motor... But yes, Piaggio basically went in & swept all the old parts out of the factory. That's part of the "lean manufacture" profile, getting rid of parts inventory so none of your money is tied up in essentially static assets. It's all about the bottom line: remember, Piaggio bought Aprillia & got Guzzi as a "bonus" - they weren't interested in saving Guzzi, only in eliminating a competitor in their core scooter market! And before anyone pipes up with "but look at all the new models they've released since the takeover" let's remember that it takes a minimum of about 5 years for a new model to make it to market: all those "new models" were in Aprillia's pipeline when Piaggio walked in... with no intention of taking a loss on all that time & engineering already invested!

That last one doesn't look like any Italian bike I've ever seen!

Just came across this deal on Robb Report Motorcycling which I'm certain is only valid for U.S. addresses, and is only valid today, Wed. 6/18. Robb Report $4 for 6 issues Get'em while they're hot!

$13K? I love the Tenni, but not at that price. I guess they're determined to sell it at "list" since it's a "limited edition collectible." They may have to wait a bit, given the V11's "orphan" status with Piaggio/MG. Of course, I'm a bit spoiled, having bought my v11 for much below MSRP during the "end of life" blowout during the MGNA/Piaggio turnover. [Yea me! ]

Oh yeah! I love it. Ride'em don't hide'em! I've even seen a few old 70's Yamaha DT enduros lately, which is great since most of those old 2-smokes were sh!tcanned years ago from abuse and "newer/better/faster" models pushing them out of the market, let alone the efforts of CARB to outlaw them. Sales of scooters are shooting thru the roof too, which should be good for Piaggio USA, even if it doesn't do anything to boost their less-than-ideal Guzzi support...

If not immortal, at least "inWINCE-uble!" [James Bond Goldeneye ref.]

You can always lurk here, whether you're truly a "spiney" rider or not, but there's also the wildguzzi.com/forum site and guzzitech.com (home of mg-griso.com, etc.) to keep you busy. Ciao!

Doubt it would do much good; I think the fine folks at Piaggio have a bit of an "NIH" attitude when it comes to their executive decisions. Good luck; we'll all benefit if they start listening to us (their market)!

The end came off the latch, or the end came off the cable? Big difference; if the former, this sounds like a job for some gorilla snot; if the latter, then switch the latch spring already!

"Dielectric grease" is commonly used, since it is non-conductive & you don't have to worry about it causing a short circuit. I think that is what you're asking about.

Perhaps the fouled plugs & "hiccups" are unrelated? If the PC was leading to the glitchy throttle response, who cares if it was also the source of the blackened redfis... er, plugs?

Yeah, Cycle is still a sorely lamented loss. I wonder if Ziff-Davis let the trademark lapse? It would be great to resurrect it [w/ the express intent of providing a similar experience, not with the idea of ripping off hopeful customers like all the attempts to date to resurrect the "Indian" marque...] ;-) Be tough to do w/o someone of Gordon Jennings caliber to provide the tech editorials, & Kevin Cameron seems to be content over at Psycho Whirl... where's a competent gear-head journalist when you need one?

ForwardAir? No personal experience, but about the only one that comes to mind. I believe KLM? or Lufthansa? once offered motorcycle shipping services from the U.S. to Europe as mentioned in some old books on how to see EU by motorcycle, but I don't know if they go to NZ or if they even offer that service anymore in this post 9/11 world...

My understanding [which could be completely wrong] is that the single plate clutches make noise all the time, except when disengaged, while the double plates make noise only when disengaged, but it's much louder. Hence, kicking it into neutral & letting the clutch out at stops, so you don't have to sit there watching your left arm pump up while listening to the gravel in a blender sound of the disengaged clutch rattle... Personally, I'd love for Guzzi to work out a contra-rotating multiplate wet clutch to counteract some of the gyroscopic f/x & provide more resilience than the automotive style dry clutch, but that's never gonna happen!

Well if it's running rich, then that's where your zip went! When's the last time you changed the air filter? Sounds like a TPS recalibration may be in your future...

Transmission losses are typically about 15%. 100hp at the piston crown should net you about 85hp where the rubber meets the road. Again, this is typical; some bikes are down around 10%, some as much as 20% [some of the shaft driven transverse Japanese fours are in that higher bracket, since the power goes thru two 90deg turns...] In terms of efficiency, a freshly lubed chain drive is best. But tests have shown that chain drive bikes lose their advantage in as few as 20 miles [back in the day, before o-ring chains. Much longer nowadays.]