Skeeve

I read it as: "you'll make more power w/ the plate if running the oil high enough to be safe, due to decreased windage, but this higher power output would have to be charted on a dyno, since it's too small to be noticeable to the normal rider, and you could achieve the same output in a motor w/o the plate by running the oil level between the high & low oil marks on the dipstick provided from the factory, but this would be unsafe since you're likely to get the transient exposed pickup problem which leads to Roper's dreaded "dagga dagga noise," which is why he designed the plates in the first place..." You need to slow down & enjoy life a little there, Ratch'; it make sense once you reread two or three times [at least, it did for me...]

Are you sure your bike comes w/ a lambda sensor? My understanding was that the lambda sensors only appeared on the Breva 1100 & later models [but that may only be for U.S. models...] Since the v11 ecu runs open-loop most of the time, there's probably some way to delete the lambda sensor with the result that warm-up times are slightly longer or fuel consumption goes a tiny bit higher. Best of luck!

Man, it's been a long, long, long LONG time since I thought of Blame it on Rio! Thanks for the reminder! I should rent that along w/ A Shock to the System & make it a Michael Caine mini-festival...

6spd on Ebay I've got nothing to do with this, just happened to stumble across the listing & thought someone here w/ a 90's HiCam might be looking for one...

Scooter racin', baby! Shweet! We'll start seeing MotoGP technology in our cheap plastic fantastic runabouts from Chin Alpha *real* soon now! [Chin Alpha as opposed to Chin Beta (Taiwan) ]

That's probably the real reason that Guzzi stopped racing in '57; the FIM outlawed dustbin fairings [which Guzzi had invented, using their wind tunnel] which is about all that had enabled their 350cc & 500cc singles to remain competitive. Guzzis & aerodynamics just seem to go hand in hand...

What is the stock spring rated at? Seems like you made a big jump from #475 to #550; are these all higher than the stock wt., or have you been alternating the pasta- w/ the cardio- workouts, and so, needing to vary your spring rate from stock?

Yes, I already posted a comment to the f/x that "you won't gain enough redline to make this worth the potential engine damage." Who knows if they'll listen? Well, yeah, I kinda knew that: the description was more for effect & to explain "LSR" so I wouldn't have to fit "Land Speed Record" in the thread title... If you look in the gallery, you can see what the bike looks like w/ the longer Jackal swingarm: my, but don't those shocks lay down a bit now! Looking interesting, & it should be fun to follow along on the website, to say the least!

No argument there, but he's talking about the later v11 Cafe Sport, not the 1100 Spot or Sporti. A LeMans, any LeMans, looks better than a Cafe Sport. Except for the Coppa; dang I that paint scheme! But I heartily concur: even today, a decade down the pike, nothing else looks as good as a Daytona RS or 1100 Sporti, saving mebbe an MGS-01...

With EFI, you should be able to run at least 13.5:1, if not 14:1, in a cruise. Stoichiometric is 14.7:1 (ie, d@mn close to 15:1) Try a colder plug if need be, but you should be able to get better mileage when cruising & save the over rich conditions only for when running in "power" mode, I should think...

Dunno if anyone else has posted about this yet, I don't think so... Mandello Meteor Rated: Suitable for minors of all ages!

Black spark plugs? All of the above, & let's not forget the obvious: what's your air filter look like/when was it last changed or cleaned? Definitely running way too rich w/ black plugs; something is amiss! What about spark? Got a known good ECU that could be swapped in quickly? You mention a PCIII; unplug it, & see if that's the source of trouble; no way your plugs should be that dark if the bike is running properly. No wonder your mileage is shot!

Just curious: how much weight is saved by the aluminum flywheel [assuming use of the RAM original, which has some basis for being "a proper design"] vs. a steel unit that has been properly lightened to the max safe level for longevity? IE: if we're talking a couple ounces of rotational inertia, a steel "race" single-plate clutch assembly clearly would be preferable to the aluminum RAM (or otherwise), no matter if it's a little more expensive: it's just always going to outlast the Al unit! If we're talking "oi, there's 1/4 kilo gone missing!" then I can see where someone who's always dicing it out w/ other sport bikes on fast rides might want the faster revving. Of course, all this assumes that the location of the relative masses are mostly identitical; a steel clutch that's lighter than the aluminum version but has all it's mass concentrated at the periphery is still going to rev slower than an Al one w/ most of the weight near the rotational center. But you all know that, I'm just being redundant...

You want hints on cruiser websites, you should maybe ask over at www.wildguzzi.com/forum, where there are more riders of the Guzzis that fall under the "cruiser" heading [Calis [which are more touring, but whatevah], Jackals & the various stone & metal varieties. Best o' luck, Ride on!

IN Scotland? are you kidding? I thought GB was say more similar to washington than Texas, Texas is always sunny, washington - not so much I think he may mean that "drinking makes everything there in Scotland seem sunny" or maybe its just that "october" is a state of mind when the inebriation wears off & things aren't so sunny anymore. Or, heck, he's Scottish so you know he's got to be barking mad: maybe they have a name for the time 5 minutes from now when the sun goes back behind the predominant overcast and the rain (aka "Scottish mist") slants back from the ever-popular vertical fall to the more usual Scottish horizontal kind...

Yep: we've really got to do something about working up a paint code for that Tenni green that works for the paint suppliers available Stateside!

Wow, thanks for info; seems like you're truly dedicated in your search for precision tuning! WRT the original timing question: my understanding is that the least advance that will lead to complete combustion before the exhaust opens is the desired amount; more advance requires higher grades of fuel to prevent pinging (but can produce more power.) Basically, there is a point where more advance leads to less power, and then rapidly to failure from knocking, etc. Too little advance can result in high exhaust gas temps, reduced power (from failing to capture the full f/x of expansion) & burnt exhaust valves. The best economy setting for the advance is the one that makes the most power (or torque. Tuning for peak torque is tuning for peak efficiency, usually. And power is just a function of torque.) From the sound of it, the My16M auto-optimizer-generated map would be a good starting point for anyone working on developing their own map for a PCIII, if the values for the individual grid cells translate at all well. Best of luck w/ future tweaks!

2 questions: #1: Why do you need to wash (dampen) the front of your bike? #2: Are you certain you need a replacement steering damper? AFAIK, the damper was a fix for a non-problem [similar to the SuziQ TL1000 series bikes]: idiot moto journalists ride short-frame v11 Sports, get the front wheel a little light coming over bumps in the road, & complain about "squirrelly handling, dangerous for non-professionals, but we're real he-men, blah blah blah..." and the factory throws on a damper & lengthens the frame to placate the wanna-be experts. Tennis being a special run during a transitional period [2002], I don't know if you have the long or short frame, but given that it's a variety of v11LM, I'd guess the long frame; iirc, only the Rosso Mandelo had a fairing & the short frame. Try riding it w/ properly inflated tires, properly adjusted suspension & no damper, & see how it feels. If you don't get any tire cupping and the front end feels planted at speed, I'd skip the damper. But that's easy for me to say, since mine isn't blown yet... Anyone else have insights into the relative need for a steering damper on a LeMans?

Is there a definitive year/model breakdown or specific build date of what's affected (afflicted?) with the need for this update, or is it mostly random, w/ any v11 being catch as catch can? Just curious as to whether or not I need to bother with this on my '03 LM... Ride on,

Right on there, Ratch': I've considered going over to Dynaflow [they're headqtr'd. here behind the Orange Curtain] & seeing about getting something that would fit inside the stock Guzzi covers [ie, same mounting points, profile, etc] made up. Naturally, the numbers for pitching this as a product for Guzzis, even if exported, are far too small to get anything but derisive laughter out of them, but maybe if I pitched it as a product targeted at the classic Bug owner who must (or just wants to) replace the boat anchor stock exhaust on one of those, we might get somewhere! Whaddaya think? Is it worth a try?.. If it worked, I figure it wouldn't be difficult to save a kilo per can and get better flow at a minimal increase in decibels, all the while flying below the CARB & EPA radar... Ride on,

General consensus stateside is the following: The gummy worm patches work better than anything else, short of dismounting the tire & doing a vulcanized patch from the inside. Unfortunately for the latter route, by the time you pay for dismounting/patching/remounting the tire, you might as well have gone ahead & put on a new tire for the minimal added expense [unless you like particularly expensive tires.] Patches should only be attempted on punctures occurring in the center 1/3rd of the tread; the outer 1/3rd on either side is too critical to your well-being [altho' notorious cheapskates like me will stretch it to the center 1/2 of the tread on the rear tire, since most of my miles are commuting & the outer edges of my rear tires hardly see use... ] Reduce the maximum speed-rating of the tire by at least one level, ie: Z rated tires (up to 150mph) reduced to H (up to 130mph), etc. Again, this isn't much of a concern for most of us... but if you wind up patching it again [same handyman's truck dropping nails on your route every day?..], reduce it another level. Pretty soon you're looking at M-ratings (do not exceed 79mph) and it's just not worth it any more... Remember that you're riding on a patched tire & be ready to swap it out early; no riding til bald, keep an eye on the TWI! Most riders I know will replace the tire if it gets a second puncture [why is it only rear tires seem to collect nails?], whereas car can get away with multiple patches on all four corners. C'est la vie...

Oooh, little more volume than a straight pipe! Aaaahh, ugly too! Almost certainly louder than tolerable at full chat, and while it may show higher peak hp (if their claim has any validity, which in itself is debatable; dyno charts, anyone?), it almost certainly gets it by giving away all the low-end tractability that make Guzzis so much fun to ride. Thanks, I'll pass on these...

Should read: "1: Price. Rubber is d@mn cheap. 2: Durability. Rubber is cheap; it doesn't last under constant stress, but it isn't affected by the weather much, either. Face it, if it's so cold out the rubber is brittle, you're not likely to be riding, either. 3. The spherical bearings, as long as they're lubed regularly w/ a good barium (ie, "water resistant") grease, will never need replacing. And function better. But they ain't cheap."

Make a proper 2->1 like the Griso's so we can ditch the stock "pre-muffler" & forego having to get a Stucchi and you might have something, but as yet, I don't need to swap out the headers [already paid for a set of the special SS gaskets for the front x-over, don'tcha know!] Not to diminish your work; looks great, but until I run into problems w/ the stock units, I'm not part of your target market. And until I replace the stock collector for a Stucchi, I'm keeping the front x-over. thanks for developing these alternatives tho'!

Thanks for that note, Pierre: the FJR13 is new enough that the U.S. importer might already be carrying it & therefore willing to take a return if fitment is unsatisfactory. Mille gracie!