Greg Field

RH: Just get a cheap 10-amp car charger from the auto parts store. Odysseys like to be whacked hard with amperage once in a while. Give it the 10-amp rate for 6-8 hours, and it will likely come back to life. That said, the problem may really be an impending Valeo starter failure. They start cranking slow before they blow.

At Moto Intl., we've installed maybe 15 sets of Ballabio bars on LeManses. They work great. I'll soon have this set-up when I get the Lemans fairing mounted onto my Billy Bob.

Measure the length you need, eyelet to eyelet. Then, note the type of endfittings you need. Get the screw-together components from Goodridge to make the lines. We carry them at Moto Intl. if your local dealer does not have them.

FWIW: Here's what I do: About 3/4 mile from my house is a looooong and semi-steep uphill. I fire the bike up, ride there, get foging well, upshift so I am really loading the rings, hammer the throttle, hold it for 20 seconds, roll off for 5 seconds, and repeat, over the 3-4 miles of that hill. The rings are seated when I come down, and oil useage is not an issue. this is with Nikasil Guzzi cylinders in every case. Then, I change the oil. All the stuff you need to worry about happens in the first few miles. If it's a new Guzzi, it has occured on the first few laps of the break-in tack in Mandello . . .

Don' do it!!!! The clamp will fail everytime, spewing schrapnel fatally throughout your engine. Rally. I read it here.

On some of them, the bracket into which the sheath inserts at the TB end is malformed such that the inner cable is rubs on the side of the sheath during part of cable travel. With a stout pliers, you can often tweak the bracket enough to eliminate this contact.

The stock paper filter is not the restriction in the system. Compare the Guzzi filter (which only must supply enough air for the engine to make 75-80 rwhp) to the filter for the 2004-and-later RSV Mille engine (which makes about 130 rwhp). The Mille filter is otherwise identical to the Guzi filter but is smaller than the Guzzi filter by about 20 percent.

Will do on Tuesday when th shop re-opens.

Mine happened last week. I had one beer (really, one) and while riding home, a pack of stunt riders pulled three-abreast, holding back traffic in all the lanes so their hero of the moment could go a bit ahead and have room to do some fairly impressive stoppies and wheelies. I was on the Billy Bob and blasted through between two of the bikes, pulled past the guy and kept going. When I was pulling up to the "gay raj," I thought, "I bet I can do a stoppie" (I've never done one before). So, just as I pulled even with the door, I unweighted the rear end and clamped on the brakes. The rear came right up. "Cool," was all I could think. Then, it came down, and I was too close to where the apron sloped down into the garage. My right foot found pavement, but my left was hanging in the air. The bike slowly and inexorably started falling to the left. Once my left foot touched down, I tried to stop it and almost did. It touched down gently on the front crashbar and the left H&B bag. I killed the engine, lifted it upright and pushed it into the gay raj, hoping no one saw . . . Just a light scuff on the crashbar and a few little scratches on the bag, and I have forever scratched the stoppie itch.

If it's the stock Scura right muffler, we have at Moto International a slightly used one in very good condition. It does not have the mounting tab part that bolts to the muffler.

Dave: I have a CA rear light. I judge it to be bright enough from all angles that matter.

Maybe they've improved greatly since the GPS V, and maybe those I've ridden with are idiots. Maybe I'll try one again in the future, but for now, I seem to be able to find my own ways in and out, and that leads me into its own great "finds."

We sent a caliper to our supplier. They said there was no kit available. They could have been mistaken, however. I'll order up one of those kits and see if it works.

I have on the shelf behind me dozens of caliper and master cylinder rebuild kits. All are made by Brembo and currently available. None of them are for the V11 rear caliper. The reason we can't get this kit is because Brembo chooses not to offer one. If the reason for not offering kits was because of a lawsuit, I believe they would stop offering all the kits. So, nice rant, but wasted I'm afraid.

No guy ever got hopelessly lost by following his kickstarter. Nor have I ever followed someone and watched them float around a road, bobbing like a butterfly in a hurricane because they were looking at their starter button. All of the above have been the norm when I was stupid enough to let a GPS rider lead me anywhere that was challenging.

Noggers: I work on a lot of old bikes that have endured years of Seattle weather (9 months of rain) and have horribly rusted fasteners. Sometimes, these guys'll have me tear it completely down to powdercoat the frame but balk at the reltively small extra cost of having linkages and rods and fasteners replated in zinc. I should give 'em what they deserve, which is a crappy looking bike with a pretty frame, but that goes against my grain. With head bowed in shame, I hereby admit what I do to "restore" these cad- or zinc-plated rusty parts: 1) Clean them of all grease and dirt 2) Scale off any loose rust with steel wool 3) Heat them with a torch until you start to see just a hint of smoke. You want them very warm but not even approaching red hot. 4) While the part is still hot, I brush on silver anti-sieze The anti-sieze'll melt and get sucked into any remaining rust and all the irregularities in the surface metal. I'm not talking about burning the stuff in, so don't get it too hot. After the part cools, I lightly brush off the big chunks of anti-sieze, leaveing a very thin coat that gives the part a satiny silver finish. Yes, the finish can rub off and can silver your hands, but it generally keeps the part looking good for at least a year or so and is easily re-touched. Perhaps this would work on your V11?

Yes, enjoy, and continue to value your own counsel most.

I had a Garmin V on my Eldo years ago. What I learned from that was, if you want to really get lost or take twice as long to get there and not see a damn thing but a GPS screen, follow the GPS route. In the years since, I've ridden with dozens of GPS users. In every case, it turned them into myopic moles whose primary view of the world was as a trace on their GPS screen and who had to be rescued by me, whose head was up and looking around and paying attention to which way I was going. The same guys who rail about soccer moms distracted by cell phones ride a motorcycle while totally engrossed with the GPS display. In my opinion, GPS and motorcycles are a bad match and I will not follow anyone who is using one again. I see the same thing when I am out in the mountains hunting: Guys afraid to take a step away from their truck without one and unwilling to go wherever the signal is blocked. And in the deep woods and mountains, where you need GPS most is exactly where you are unlikely to be able to get a signal. I've had three of the damn things and am completly underwhelmed at their paltry utility. They're just a crutch that almost no one needs.

I run it year-round. It spits out the bevel breather. No other problems, though it probably causes some decrease in fuel mileage in Seattle's cool climate.

The late Tontis can be converted into a decent rendition of the V7 Sport look. I say "decent" because the later bikes have a longer steering head that makes them appear a bit too tall ahead of the tank to fully capture the long, low look of the Sport. That was part of the reason the 1000s was only a "decent" rendition, too.

I have yet to see a device to accurately measure the torque on steering-bearing adjusters. The theory is to take up all the play and hold them at whatever torque that is. Again, you can see freeplay that you cannot feel. Look at the line formed by the top or bottom of the bearing tunnel. As you try to wiggle the forks you will see any relative movement between that line on the frame and the triple clamps. Adjust until you see no relative movement and lock the locknut.

Brian: You do not want to preload the bearings. Just take up the slack. With wheel off and sock rear bolt undone, wiggle the swingarm up and down and side to side. Adjust out any slop you can feel. Then, do the same while watching at the pivots for any slop left. You can see slop that you cannot feel.

The Cali single-platers can be cut to be lighter than a RAM, and being steel, you never have to worry about them cracking. I have one in my Eldo, and will put one in the Billy Bob when it's time for a clutch. I greatly prefer the action and feel of the single-platers. Early single-plates had very harsh engagement. With the latest plates, engagement is at least as gentle as on two-platers. Oh, there's a loceal (Seattle) guy looking to sell a used RAM if anyone wants one. He's a drag-racer, and it has eight runs on it. He found he got better times with the heavier flywheel.

Be sure to put a hose clamp on each of your new headers . . . And don't forget: Properly installed headers do not crack . . .

Radial brakes are way more than trendy. They work. Do you need them? How fast do you drive, and what tires do you use?