Skeeve

This is an instance where "using preload to adjust for rider wt." is acceptable & reasonable. Let's use the 80/20 rule: 80% of your riding is done solo, & only 20% two-up. Should you use a spring rate that was biased 80% of the way towards the correct 1-up spring rate? Of course not: you'd still have an unreasonably harsh ride all the time, since it will still be 20% oversprung at the lightest (nonexistent) preload setting, & yet undersprung for 2-up riding to the point where the preload necessary to compensate will still deliver a harsh ride over small bumps yet be insufficient for the really big ones. What to do? Easy: get the springs dialed in for the solo rider. Absolutely, 1st order of business every time. When riding 2-up, add enough preload to get the laden sag back in the correct range. That's *all* you can do. You'll end up with a really soft, plush ride [like the Gold Wings I mentioned earlier, only those were too softly sprung even 1-up!] The passenger doesn't have to know how hard you're working to avoid any really bad bumps or potholes in the road, and the loosey-goosey feeling you're getting from the handling is your reminder to dial it back a notch or two & SLOW THE HECK DOWN & enjoy the ride (& btw, save your lives.) I'm still here... [& did I forget to mention, I have a notoriously short attention span?] Play on!

Help yourself: all my best material is stolen anyway, so if someone wants to use one of my [pitifully few, unfortunately] own gems, I can hardly complain! Thanks, I'm quite flattered you think so! Coming from someone who can clearly express mathematical arguments such as the one above (in thread), that's a real compliment. Still & all, I must admit to being King of the Procrastinators [or rather, would be, if I could ever get around to running for the office] & tend to put off the necessary changes & live w/ the cr@ppy ride & ill-handling. I think my SV was the 1st bike that I ever went the distance & changed the fork springs on simply because I knew how much better it could be, given that even on forks that had a laden sag of 2/3 the total travel it was the best handling bike I'd ever ridden to that point! [c.1999] Hence my interest in getting my LeMans dialed in: I expect to keep this bike 4EVA!

FWIW, I'm definitely coming down on the side of "if the forks are too soft, increasing preload is only like putting a Band-Aid on a sucking chest wound: it may make it survivable short-term, but you won't like it." The only solution to under-springing is heavier (correct) springs. Witnesseth the Honda GL1200 (& 1500) Gold Wings: Honda, in an effort to give a plush ride, SUBSTANTIALLY undersprung these behemoths. To compensate for excessive fork dive under (any) braking, they came up w/ the TRAC anti-dive system[1]. It's better than nothing or worse than nothing, depending upon road conditions. They maintained this system in the GL1500, albeit w/ slight changes. The solution(s)? Buying correct fork springs [Progressive Suspension did a heady business in these] or buying a new GL1800 [which development was undertaken by the engineer who had previously been in charge of sportbike design, who promptly threw out the old crap and put on a set of forks more closely sprung & damped to sportbike standards], & voila'! Better ride & handling... Increasing preload on too light of a spring only leads to a harsh ride over small, sharp bumps that still bottoms over larger ones. I could do the math for you, but it's so simple that it's left as an exercise for the reader 'cause it just plain takes too long to spell out. The "magic sag numbers" that Ratchet is trying to explain to everyone are just a shorthand "rule of thumb" method of determining which way you need to go w/ your spring rates: in and of themselves, they're insignificant, it is solely because of what they are indicating that makes them important. Fixating on the mystical qualities of sag numbers is kind of like buying motorcycles by which has the better numbers on their spec sheets: it's not which bike has the higher numbers, it's what the numbers are referring to that counts. Riding a 500# bike that makes 60 ft/lbs of peak torque at 3k rpm and 80 hp peak at 8000 rpm is much more enjoyable than riding a 400# one that makes 70 ftlbs peak at 10k rpm and 100 hp peak at 15k rpm, in any "real world" scenario. Yeah, bike #2 may circle a race track faster, but you're working a lot harder for those .2 secs/lap... Can you have an acceptable ride w/o nailing Ratchet's magic numbers? Sure; everyone's 'acceptable' is unique to themselves. But if you get close to those numbers, from decades of racetrack experience on the part of people who are not Ratchethack, you'll generally be happier w/ your boingers. 'Nuff said. Oh, btw: Damping adjustments? Only relevant once the spring rate is dialed in. Damping can only make the ride harsher w/o a spring in the mix somewhere. [1] Which depends upon some linkages between the brake caliper and the internals. Several (all?) of the Big 4 were working on different systems simultaneously in the mid-80s that all had the same f/x: hydrolocking the forks in an effort to counteract fork dive. None of them are worth the added complexity & aggravation, & in fact, all adversely affect handling, if only to varying degrees. Honda's was one of the better approaches, & it still sux.

Mmmm, yellow w/ the Scura's natural flat black would make for a nice "bumblebee" f/x! Me likey...

MeZ1s or Z4s? Those were designed before Pirelli took over Metzler. The Z6 "sport touring" tires are essentially the Pirelli Dragon Stradas by another name. Excellent wear & traction; I really like'em [much moreso than the Z4s I used to run, which were incredibly unnerving given any level of humidity above "really dry" and paint lines on the street... :!:

Since there are two programs labeled "start," click on the Macromedia projector w/ the icon of a stylized lowercase letter "d," on it, & select the language at the bottom of the splash screen. Macromedia is supported on the Mac too, iirc, so maybe it will work on that platform as well? Thanks to Greg for hosting this and esp. to whomever slipped him the source on the QT! Molto Grazie!

Guzzi apparently realizes that they at least need to go to 4v heads so that their motors will breathe well enough near redline that they don't look too horrible on paper [spec sheet.] But that's part of why Guzzi owners tend to be of the older, more experienced type of biker: by a certain point, you no longer buy a bike by comparing spec sheets, but by whether or not they work in the real world. Guzzis have always had nice real world power, w/ that meaty midrange. 4v heads will only improve on this. Water-cooling helps pass the various noise & emission certifications, so they may have to go that route eventually, but BMW has managed to dodge that bullet so far w/ their flat twins, so maybe Guzzi can delay the inevitable for a while longer too. Simplicity has its virtues. Ride on!

Not really, it's just that the Tennisti are trying to compile a list to account for all the members of the [limited] run. Far more interesting to note that the bike in the museum had the valve covers replaced with red ones... Thanks for the great pix!

Got mine too. Lovely watch, my only complaint is I wish the Moto Guzzi logo was BIGGER!

Just out of curiosity: how much did Teo nick you for on the replacement cover? BTW, I think the only way to keep the cover color from fading would be to use some sort of temperature resistant wax [ie: turtlewax silicone of some sort, not Pledge like on the rest of the bike...]

Something to bear in mind about the Spots & Sportis is that they still have steel tanks, so magnetic tank bags work. To help w/ sport-touring, pack some of your bulky luggage [towels & clothes] into a big tank bag, & use it to help support your torso on those longer rides. Just passing along an FYI I remember from someone who had a Spot 1100 & shared some of hard-won experience w/ me...

Well, my 1093-31/95 L406 [whatever all that means] just arrived, so if nothing else, Mitch is a fast shipper! I can see that part of why Ohlins blew these out is the protective paint is fragile; several chip marks. Touch-up paint or nail polish will do just fine to patch/camouflage/restore the protection. Sure wish I had the info on sizing before I bought mine: 1093 seems awfully short; I'm thinking I should have ordered the 1091. Que sera sera. Measuring as well as I can, it seems a single layer of the paint is about .007" [pin micrometer, but difficult to get an exact match on adjacent chipped/unchipped sections of the spring] for those interested in computing (checking) the accuracy of the spring formula. The total dia. of the spring is .446+a few tenths [again, difficult to get a really precise measurement; best to use this approximation] w/ two layers of the paint, so call it .432 wire diameter uncoated. I don't have calipers handy right now, so any other measurements will have to wait. Ciao!

Cognitive dissonance- The Tub-o-Ohlins springs are for coil-over (rear) shocks, not fork springs [inside the fork tubes.] Are we on different pages?

It's called "selling to your market," & BMW has only recently decided they needed to do that AND find new buyers from outside the faithful if they're to survive. Most other makes are just catching on to BMW's technique of selling to the same customer over & over &... I doubt it has anything to do with either, & is entirely predicated upon (fanfare of trumpets) ECONOMIES OF SCALE, ie: Buell had to redesign the frame for the Uly & Lightning Long to make them big enough for riders of, shall we say, of a 'less compact stature' as Erik himself; then, order it from their Italian supplier who naturally quoted them a price based upon a certain defect rate, cost of the raw alloy, per unit profit, etc. If Buell standardizes upon this new frame & uses it across more models, their order size goes up, the supplier's defect rate falls (practice makes perfect y'know!), materials cost per unit goes down, the supplier can take a hit on the profit/unit & still make more money, etc. etc. etc. It's like the old joke about "How can you afford to stay in business if you lose money on each one?" "I sell in volume!" Not saying that it doesn't have a prodigous thirst, just that that wasn't likely the criterion for use of the Uly frame: more likely, since the Rotax mill is a 72-deg cylinder angle, Buell needed the longer frame to house the larger front/back dimension of the Rotax mill vs. a standard Sposta motator... I still find it less than pleasant to look upon, but hey, that's just me! Ride on!

What timetable we looking at here, Pete? You going to be in L.A. (or izzit LA, as in Louisiana?) next week, or ??? 'Cause if there's time to shop around for cheap airfare, then I suspect you'll have lots of volunteers... OTOH, if you need it here yesterday, it might be hard to find someone who can drop everything & make it happen for you, despite how much we all value & admire you. Life's gotta go on, y'know? Details, details. Especially: why would you want to buy a Scura: I thought you were happy as clams w/ the Griso?

A very sweet mod, & not to criticize but that looks like a compression spring to me, not extension. FWIW, I hope that spring is in stainless or phosphor bronze, 'cause any regular carbon steel spring is gonna rust like a motherf****r exposed to the weather like that. Keep it covered w/ LPS3 or Boeshield (or better yet, find a rubber bellows that'll fit over it & fill up w/ grease...) Anyway, like I said, a very sweet mod: I suspect that there's going to be a flurry of these showing up on V11s everywhere.

No argument on the liquid-cooling, but Guzzi big blocks have *always* been OHV. I think you meant overhead cams, ie: no valve rockers, etc. to slow down valve actuation so you can rev the engine higher and make more power out of the same torque numbers. Torque is what moves things; power is just how fast you can produce the torque... ;-)

FWIW, I gave the guy ["Mitch"] running this "auction"[1] a call at the number listed, and he seemed nice enough. He asked what I was trying to fit, I told him the dimensions I needed [2.25" I.D., 6" OAL, 525#/in to fit the stock Sachs boinger & replace the extensively discussed-upon & guesstimated-at here at v11LM 425# stock spring], & he said about the only part number he had that would work was the 1093-31/95. Mitch wasn't too certain what the exact conversion of 95 Newtons/mm would be, but thought it was close to 515#/in off the top of his head. When I looked up the conversion later on-line, my calcs come to 540#/in, which is still right in the ballpark as far as I'm concerned.[2] Anyway, I risked the purchase, so I'll find out. If you're interested in a particular wt., give him a call quick, as he allowed that he didn't get very many of each, he just has a LOT of onesy-twosie part numbers. Best o' luck, & thanks for the heads-up, Josh! [1] It's an auction style listing, but since the only option is "Buy it Now" @ a set price, it's not much of an auction! I'm not complaining, the price is reasonable... [2] FWIW, I'm weighing in at 225#+clothes these days, & figured anything in the range of 500-550 lbs/in would be an adequate spring upgrade for me; obviously, the heavy end would be better for riding two-up, the lighter end would be better for when I start getting some exercise again & drop back down to my 210 "healthy" wt.

Heck, do a search on me & you can have'em for free! In the past, I've been quite blunt in my disapproval of the Centauro's appearance, and in fact called for the outright dismissal of any exec who greenlighted that heinous wad of plastic. Great engine, great bike, horrible marketing decision. An eight year old w/ a pile of clay & a little light supervision could have done a better design job. I'm willing to bet Jay Leno does not have a Centauro in his bike collection. '& if he does, it's clear he never rides it. Nuff said.

What he means is that "Yes: your motorcycle will emit more unburnt hydrocarbons into the environment w/o the charcoal can" [that's adverse] - so don't park in the sun more often or longer than you absolutely have to, in order to preserve the environment. "No: your motorcycle will weigh a couple #s less, and your maintenance will be simplified." [that's an improvement] - so you'll get slightly better mileage (probably unmeasurable, but hey, less wt. is less wt.) and therefore emit fewer burnt hydrocarbons into our environment. You're a friend of the Earth!

Wow! Looks like someone had their MIG welder set up way wrong! Pretty U-gly, and no doubt about it! Since you have a 2001, do you have any need for the 2005+ oxy-sensor bung? If not, take it back to whoever you got it from & say "you ordered the wrong part" if they won't send it back on the simple basis of "it never should have left the apprentice' bench..."

(emphasis added) Proper tools make a world of difference? Seriously, Crescent type adjustable wrenches are for tightening the axle bolts on your Schwinn, not removing precision metric [& notoriously soft! ] fasteners on an exotic motorcycle like a Guzzi! Shame on you! Now, go share some nice Chianti w/ the other Luigis, and come back after lunch w/ the attitude that you'll invest a few dollars in the right tools to make working on your bike easier & more enjoyable, & it will get better. That attitude & a little Liquid Wrench will take you a long way...

Could be, but then he wouldn't have the cool dark grey Centauro engine, & he'd lose the Centauro's accel. advantage from it's lower gearing [i think? could be wrong...] Heck, anything is an improvement on the Centauro's horrific styling [sorry Centaur riders, it's my personal assessment, you don't have to agree! ] & esp. the Sporti/Daytona RS skin, which is about the prettiest bike there ever was. I'd be doing the same thing if I were him [& had the money! ] Ride on,

Yep. There were some changes between the iterations of the 1100Spot & Sporti [obviously: going from carbs to EFI is a pretty big change!], and then some more between the 1100 series and V11 series. No significant changes between various models of v11, beyond special editions having unique parts [self-destructing aluminum clutches in the Scuras being a primary example], and moving the fuel pump around, shifter springs & bosses, etc. But overall, pretty much the same motor until the release of the Brevona & newer models...

That's 'cause it's zinc. Along w/ being harder than aluminum, it's more brittle.