Skeeve

I believe the "fix" is easy enough, something about cutting off a peg on the stand that puts pressure on one of the stand's springs when extended; by removing the peg, the spring will allow the stand to function just like a normal one. Then you're left w/ the conundrum of what to do about forgetting to put the stand up before riding off. What's needed is a retractor that functions off of engine vacuum, so that w/ the bike at idle there isn't enough power to pull the bike off the stand, but as soon as you pick the bike up, the vacuum gradually pulls the stand over center so the springs can continue to retract it the rest of the way [better have a rubber bump stop on the frame - whack!] Yes, I'm a fan of Bernoulli: like rust, he never sleeps. Electrics, esp. dodgy Italian electrics, often do... Anyway, those are my thoughts, not that they do you any good...

Hey Dave, I don't want to appear to be jumping on the "Let's heckle Dave" bandwagon here, but trust me, you'll need much more than a welding class to repop a different subframe! And, per my post some time past about conversations w/ Reboot spares about the actual wt. of the various frame parts, the most you'll get out of redoing all the steel frame parts in aluminum is only about 20# less curb wt. - not much for the effort involved, I'm sure you'll agree! Unfortunately, only about 5# of that is in the subframe & swingarm [barring total redesign; I'm just talking straight across reproduction of the stock parts in aluminum, & these are of course very rough guesstimations.] Is it worth doing? Not now, but if Guzzi had done it while the V11 was still in production, it might have made for slightly better market success; we'll never know for sure... Where Ghezzi & Brian did so well on the Supertwin frame was in combining the bracing of the basic spine frame with elimination of the airbox: essentially, the box formed by the bracing btw spine & crosspiece is the airbox, which is of course what Guzzi/Dr John should have done in the first place, instead of using the spine for oil separation. Either that, or use the [arguably better] solution of using the spine for fuel, & putting the airbox under a false "tank" a la' Buell. [And yes, FWIW, I was thinking along those lines the 1st time I saw a Supertwin up close, which predates Erik Buell's new approach by a couple of years... it just makes SO much more sense in terms of mass centralization. Shut up, Honda! ] As you said about the Big Bore: "show me the money." Frankly, if I was going to spend those kinds of ducats to go to a water-cooled big twin, I'd do it right & upgrade to a transverse twin a la' the Ducs, Suzukis, Moto Morini, et al.: the elimination of gyroscopic f/x on handling & decreased drag from not needing to hang big air-cooled jugs out in the breeze are the only benefits to the increased complexity of water-cooling & associated baggage. [besides the power; we're talking Big Bore vs. other water-cooled motors here, not the a/c Guzzi mill vs. pumpers...] Seats are of course, a personal thing, but quite frankly Corbin's rep has slid over the last decade or two: in his time, he was basically the only option: now, we have alternatives w/ a superior focus on customer service than what I've heard comes out of Central CA these days. I think you can almost certainly get a better seat from someone else that won't require changing the subframe, is all I'm sayin'. To sum up, I think there's room for both ends of the spectrum here: why spend the money on upgrading your Guzzi? Because you can! The truth is that the Guzzi mill has a lot of power left untapped because of the factory dropping the ball on prep/assembly! You'll waste a lot of time & money trying to make a giant-killer out of it, but the money spent on tidying up where the factory left loose ends is certainly not "wasted," by virtue of the fact that it can be done at your own pace & as your budget allows, all the while leaving you free to enjoy your bike as it is. Each step increases your enjoyment: the journey is the reward! PS - If somebody wants to bankroll me w/ a workshop & raw materials, I'll bonk out a dozen of my fuel-in-frame & false tank airbox idea so you can take your old V11 F/X racing! You'll still be bringing up the back of the pack because your power/wt ratio is going to be so far off the front runners, but hey, you'll be doing so in style!

You've got one of Roper's sloppage sheets installed to keep your oil pickup from getting exposed, I hope?

Looks fab! Best of luck @ Willow!

Actually, I do. Actually, I misstated the conditions: there are no single-row radials w/ an even number of cylinders. [As all two-row radials of course have an even # of cylinders; an odd # times an even # (in this case, 2) results in an even #.] The key is the number of cylinders working thru one throw on the crank. Those Konig motors are essential two crossed horizontally opposed (boxer) twins. Not the same thing as a "radial" which typically has one master con-rod w/ a bunch of slave rods that connect thru it to the crank throw. Whatever, I just couldn't resist the "co-pedantic" opportunity...

Just don't hit any bumps...

Well, just to be co-pedantic, taint no sech critter as a radial w/ an even # of cylinders. So "Transverse x-opposed four" or something, but not a "radial four." Discovery of why radials must have an odd number of cylinders is left as an exercise for the reader... Ride on!

I think any Guzzista is welcome here, but you may get tired of the incessant chatter about spine frames & the "we don't speak Tonti here" when you ask questions about your Cali Vintage. I for one am interested in your experiences w/ your Vintage, but have to admit that you'll likely find a better support network over at the Guzzitech.com or Wildguzzi forums. Ride on!

Someone should get them a new web designer. Or at least explain to them the idea behind having a "web presence" is that it should have legibility, and that blue text on a black background doesn't qualify... Thanks for the link, tho'!

Absolutely! I'd stand corrected, except that I know all that, & in the heat of trying to fire off that post before running off (late) to work, I slipped up & used some of the same screwed up terminology I was trying to correct! See what happens when you're rushed? I knew at the time I would be better off waiting to reply until later... Thanks for clearing that up, Ratch!

Must we go over this yet again? "Transverse" & "in-line" refer to the orientation of the crankshaft w/ respect to the vehicle's axis. The last transverse v-twin Guzzi that I'm aware of was the 500cc Bicilindrica. My SuziQ SV650 is a transverse v-twin, as are Ducatis, Harleys, et al. I know of an in-line 4v water-cooled v2 exercise from around y2k; is that what you're referring to?

I love mine, too, altho' I wished I'd known that I could ask for a particular serial# when I ordered: I got "luck of the draw," but would have asked for one of several particular #s if I'd known that was an option. #58 (or whatever it is) doesn't really have any significance for me, other than being attached to a really nice watch... The odd synchronicity about the whole "men's jewelry" thing with Jens' watch group buy is that I'd been asking a friend of my uncle's who makes his living repairing old clocks (1) about how much it would cost to get an old self-winding mechanical watch of decent quality [pedigree immaterial] not 3 months before Jens brought up the topic of the group buy last year. Anyway, to make my point, the price for the new Junker through the group buy was only about $100 more than a used watch of lesser pedigree through this other guy! No special crystal, see through case, etc. either. So it made the decision to participate in the group buy a bit of a no-brainer for me, at least! I was wearing the watch daily for awhile, initially to get the band broken in to where it would be comfortable in the future, but also because I just really like [love!] the look & feel of the thing: I'm built more on the American "large economy size" scale of things, so the watch looks just right on my wrist, and like I said, I'd been looking for a traditional self-winder for years.(2) But just recently I decided that I was going to switch back to my old Timex digital [3] for daily wear because I kept "clacking" the watch against stuff [4] and wanted to keep the Guzzi watch nice. I too noticed that my Guzzi watch ran a little fast, but it amounted to about 3 minutes a month, if that, which is within reason as far as I'm concerned. Good enough to navigate by on short trips if required to do so! My biggest surprise was in how quickly it wound down when I took it off, but then, I hadn't worn a mechanical watch since I was a kid, so that's almost all completely due to unfamiliarity: back then, time went slower anyway, so it's probably linked to how much time has sped up since then, and of course the watch is going to wind down faster if time is zipping along faster than it used to do! Anyway, other than wishing I'd thought to ask for #77[5], #88 or #69 (which I'm certain went early in the "asked for" numbers! ) which is more related to my own oversight than anything else, I'm pretty well chuffed with my Guzzi watch. Wish the logo was a tad larger maybe, so that it was visible to someone more than 6 inches away, but hey, I'm not about "branding" anyway, so it's "tastefully discreet," right? Thanks, Jens! (1) - He did my uncle's grandfather clock (which actually did belong to my grandfather before my uncle inherited it) and I met him upon trying to get my gf's much more recent but still 20y.o. grandfather clock repaired... (2) - Mostly because electrical things seem to hold a mild dislike of me, & fail at random intervals out of spite. [3] - About 1991 vintage: stainless case, buttons barely still functional, on it's 4th or 5th replacement band. Wish Timex still made this model, it's really the only digital watch I've ever much liked. The previous generation Timex digi watch I replaced with this one was pretty much the same, but had a temp sensor built into it that failed when I went to England & the watch froze on the nightstand while I was asleep one night. Everything else still worked, but the temp sensor never was right after that, so I figured when I got the new Timex that I'd eliminate the weak link, & keep all the other features I liked... [4] - Which is why my Timex is beat all to heck after all these years! [5] - A significant year in my life; soooo much happened!

Get that cracked exhaust fixed before doing any of this! Air leaks in the ex. line can cause strange performance (& burned valves in extreme cases), so attend to that first before noodling around w/ the PCIII... Best of luck!

Follow the link [the underlined words Phil A. modification] in Tom M's post & discover the details for yourself! More than just holes in the cover...

That's part of why bicycle (tail)lights blink now: someone figured out that the steadily-lit taillights attracted drunk drivers like moths to the flame! I'm lucky in that where I did most of my night-time riding was here in Irvine, So. Cal., which is one of the 1st planned communities to make a decision to have adequate and pervasive on- and off-street (ie, bicycle paths) bike lanes. Then like an idiot I moved away...

It actually had more than 2 horsepower, but the taxation on vehicles back then was based upon the diameter of the pistons, w/ the rating based upon steam engine practice. So that 2CV basically had total piston area that equaled that of a 2hp steam engine. O.K., today's trivia lesson is over, let's get back to yesterday's!

Wow, it's like reading an echo of my own thoughts... Dave Richardson has much more reason to be "in the know" than I, but he put exactly the vibe I've picked up about the two brands into clear words. What he didn't put into words is that Piaggio, like any conglomerate, reallly doesn't have any idea what their subdivisions' respective strengths are beyond the spreadsheets...

At today's exchange rate, that's $30,000 plus change. Shipping it to the U.S. would be a pittance compared to the purchase price. Go for it!

Only problem w/ this is that the original 4v heads [Daytonas, Centauros] are the real "block" heads, and the 2v valve covers are kinda slanted, so it would make more sense to go w/ 2v = Gumbyheads 4v = Blockheads Or maybe 2v = Gumbyheads & 4v = Pokeyheads ['cause they've got more "poke"]?

Steel rusts, lead doesn't. Packing a container tight w/ steel balls & not hermetically sealing it is a recipe for a split container... Lead isn't *that* toxic (at normal velocities encountered); just don't heat it indoors, have good ventilation, don't have any liquids nearby [a drop of water, sweat, whatever in molten lead explodes & sprays hot metal everywhere], don't eat/smoke while pouring/casting, and be sure to wash your hands when you're done. The Romans used lead cookingware, & it took them a generation or so to notice the madness/dementia and low reproductivity resulting from that. Just remember that environmental lead exposure is cumulative, so don't make a habit out of lead casting until you've had all the kids you're planning on...

The greatest motorcycle ever produced is pronounced "Moe Toe GOOT see" but I'm going to keep calling the new Duck a "Dez moe say DEEchee," largely because I'm an American & nobody really expects me to know that seidici means 16 (a reference to the total number of poppet valves), let alone how to pronounce it correctly... or spell it!

I hope someone can explain it to him that there's a whole WORLD of "sport bike" territory that lies between the (defunct line of) V11 spine frames and the Superbike performance spec of the Aprillia bikes. Yes, the superbike crotch rockets sell. Guess what? Buell built his company on a couple models of "real world" sport bikes that had engines that were basically about the output of the Guzzi big block, but that came in a very light, very short package that made them a real pleasure to ride fast on public roads and take to track days, etc. Not once did any of these models podium finish at a superbike event, yet they sold well enough for Harley-Davidson to say "O.K., you've shown you can do it, we're going to take the company & roll it back in as part of H-D proper..." Someone at Piaggio needs to wake up & realize that they must attract younger riders, or in due course, there won't be any Guzzi customers at all, as the company's market base is primarily repeat customers, & what happens when they all age to the point that the only riding they're doing is chasing the hot nurses around the old age home in their electric wheel chairs? As nice as they are, the Cali Vintage, Norge, Breva/Sport & Stelvio don't appeal to the younger set, & the Griso can't do it all on its own...

I believe that's the correct name[1] for the lock washers that look like little "suns," ie: w/ all the little twisty "rays" emanating from the edge of the washer [vs. the flat washer w/ a cut in it & bit of twist, that is the normal configuration of a "lock washer."] [EDIT] Doh! Someone just posted a link to the real deal! I was wrong, but happy to learn something new! [1] - Just as the proper name for the pressure grease fittings are "Zerk fittings" (not Zirk, Zerg, Zurq, or anything w/ a lower case "z"... )

The general rule of thumb is that plugs are o.k. center tread [as in your description.] Deduct one speed rating per plug, ie: that "Z" rated tire is now V rated; get another it's H, 3rd time's a charm S rated [but by that time I'd be scouting for the frickin' contractor who can't keep his nails inside his truck or look for some biker-hating loser who's salting the roads in my neighborhood...] Seriously, new tires have a magnetism for nails, and if we all replaced that brand new skin w/ another every time that happened, the tire companies would be very happy, but nobody could afford to ride anymore! Seriously, new car tires come w/ road hazard warrantees, why don't ours? It's a conspiracy... Best of luck, but if I were you, I'd plug it & run it. As someone else pointed out, since you've already got the tire off the rim, you can do a proper vulcanized patch from the inside, which is even better than a plug! Normally, the labor cost of pulling the tire off, patching & reinstalling is so high that you might as well replace at that point, hence the appeal of plugging w/ the tire still on the rim [gummy worms are my friend!], but a patch is preferable to a plug, when practical as in your situation. As far as front tires go, I think it's probably safer to replace: sooo much on a motorcycle depends upon that front wheel! But then, I've never heard of a simple puncture on the front tire; they seem to pick up the nails & fling'em at the rear! Blowouts, lacerations of the tread or sidewall yes: but simple punctures of the front? None that I've heard...