Greg Field

Steve: Are these old redwoods, or recent plants?

As others have said, get the tuning and synch right before worrying about the sensor holder. I'll check on those sensor holders when I get to work. I'll warn you, though: they can be a bitch to change. After the original plastic holder crumbles when you try to turn it out, you then have to remov the brass base of the holder, and it sits in a very narrow well in the head casting. I had to grind down the o.d. of a deep-well 16mm (I think it was a 16) to get it out. It appeared to have been loc-tited in place and did not come out easily. Before installing the brass sensor holder, check to see if the sensor's tip will bottom out inside the holder. Usually, it will not. Use grease or something that will leave "witness marks." If not, you can file a bit off the top of the sensor holder or just use a good heat-conducting compound to fll the space. I used anti-sieze. This will efficiently transfer heat from the sensor-holder base to the tip of the sensor. Then, wrap the o.d. of the sensor holder with duct tape to provide some insulation for the holder. Thus done, my Billy Bob's heads show full operating temp (as read through the ECU by the AXONE) in just a few minutes. Average gas mileage on my bike went from 33 to 35 from this one mod. Still, poor mileage, in my opinion, but I can't seem to improve it further, even by driving very gently. A photo of the original cracked holder and the new brass holder.

Tipover valves can malfunction, like any other mechanical devise. More often, tank suck is caused by a properly functioning tipover valve that is mounted at enough of an angle that it does what it's supposed to do: Block flow. They can be secured in place so they operate properly. Here's a photo of how to do so (looking aftward): Just use a zip-tie over the valve and air horn to hold the valve upright.

At least on the later bikes, the right is the vent for the tank, and the left is a drain that drains the well that surrounds the filler hole. The left one drains away water that leaks in the filler well from rain and any fuel that splashes or overflows out of the filler hole. There must be a vent, or the tank would be stressed under a strong vacuum as the fuel is drawn out by the pump. At least on US bikes, this vent is routed through a tip-over valve and to a charcoal cannister that is meant to trap any fuel vapor that might emit from the vent line. I have seen a V11 tip over and begin gushing fuel out of this vent line, so I'd recommend keeping a tip-over valve in that line.

I'm no nannystater. But I can tellyou the charcoal cannister does serve a useful purpose, at least when newish and functioning. Afer removing mine, there's definitely more gas fumes vented into my garage. I can smell the difference clearly everytime I go there. Will it bother you? Only you can say.

I'll check the classified. Thanks.

Goose: No worries. All the Ti mufflers I have seen are thin and very easy to dent. The CF ones aren't for lightness; rather, for preventing damage to the Ti that's usually underneath. The CF one can take a licking and keep on looking good; it's the UV that eats them up.

Carl: I remember talking to you nd Bob afterwards. Glad you liked it. Steakdaddy just sent me the following photo taken by some lady who was up there that day. She got his email address and sent it to him, saying it reminded her of the cover of the Beatles' "Abbey Road" album. The way Steak (in the lead) appears to be zipping up his pants, it reminds me more of the cover of The Who's "Who's Next?" album . . .

Sunday, me and my buddies Steakdaddy and Pedro and Easy all decided to take advantage of what could easily be the last gloriously sunny Sunday before the Seattle perma-gloom season settles in for the winter and headed up from Seattle to Mt. Baker, one of the "big" peaks that stretch along the Cascade range, in the same size range as Rainier, St. Helens, Adams, Hood, and so on down into California. A beautiful road twists all the way up one flank of Mt. Baker and ends at a spot that bears the evocative name of Artist's Point. Steakdaddy, Easy, and I met up at my place. The plan was to meet Pedro in the little town of Sedro-Wooley, conveniently located where the North Cascades Highway crosses our route up there: Hwy. 9. We got a late start, plus we were all more'n a little hungover from Saturday night Bacchanals, so we blasted the first 40 or so miles on freeway to get to Hwy. 9. Nine twists north through farms and lakes and river valleys and gets better and better with each mile. It's one of those rare roads that is just scenic enough and just twisty enough that it is fun at any speed, yet gets increasingly more fun the faster you go. I just keep it set at 85 and only have to slow down for three or four 15- and 20-mph corners and a few small towns. It's about 40 miles of heaven. At Sedro-Wooley, we gassed up and all headed straight for the Red Bull. I even bought some aspirin to try to counter the effects of red wine that had gotten the better of me at a wedding the night before. It hurt to even think. I was riding pretty well, though, and riding took the edge off the headache far more than did the aspirin. At the station, a lady named Michelle asked if she could join us for the ride. Sure, why not? So we headed north again on Hwy 9. Everybody rode their own ride, yet when we hit the intersection at the end of 9, we didn't have to wait long even for Easy on his Eldo. The Sportster-riding lady that hooked up with us earlier was another matter. Up near the Canadian border, Hwy. 9 connected us with Hwy 542, which took us north and east into the river valley on the north side of Mt. Baker. This is classic western Washington terrain. Always wet from heavy dew or rain, except where sunlight can penetrate the firs and hemlocks and cedars to reach the road. Moss hanging like a lion's mane from every tree branch. Clouds of bugs at every river crossing. Snail tracks across the road that are so wide you can actually see them while heeled over going around a curve at 85 mph. Were these slime trails any bigger, they'd dump you on your ass. Hit one of the foot-long slugs that make them, and you may well go down . . . Fortunately, they're bright yellow and easy to see. Plus, they move so slowly that they ain't never going to just jump out in front of you the way a deer or elk can. If Sasquatch really exists, he lives here. Don't you doubt it. Again, like 9, 542 is a fast and fun romp up a sparsely populated valley until you get into the Mt. Baker National Forest, where it gets steeper and tighter with each turn. Before long, every turn is a switchback marked at 15 or 20 mph and the motor moans deeply while conquering the grade. On the way up, we pass two Guzzis coming down: first a black Quota and then a black V11 Sport, two-up. That makes at least six Guzzis then on the mountain. I got to the top first and was greeted with this view of one of the minor peaks to the northeast of Baker, burning through the cold, clear air: I walked over to the bathroom, opened the door, and was struck by a wall of stench that burned my nose and set my guts to tumbling. "I don't have to pee that badly," I thought and walked back toward the bike. By this time I could hear the bellowing of Steak's exhaust as he barreled up the last of the grade to Artist's Point. Before long, the rest showed up, too, save for the Sportster lady. She must've turned around and gone home because we looked for her on the way down and back but never saw her again. Four of the six Guzzis then on the mountain take a quick rest while their pilots take a walk about. Shown are my Billy Bob, Steakdaddy's Aluminium, Easy's Eldo, and Pedro's Quota. Here's Steakdaddy and Easy. Don't they look, um, "happy" together? I can tell you their faces didn't look so happy when they each walked out of that bathroom. It was funny to just stand 10 yards away and watch people's reactions when they opened that door. I didn't see anyone actually puke, but there definitely was some retching going on. Here's a view down one side of the grade we had just come up: Here's another bit of the road and view. Pretty country. The ride down was great. As I pulled through the little town of Maple Something, there was the black V11 Sport I'd seen earlier, parked in front of a coffee shop. I didn't recognize the helmeted rider standing next to it, so I waved and kept going. Ten miles later, I stopped at a gas station and was filling up when I heard the bellow of that Sport chasing after me down the valley. A minute later, he skidded to a halt in front of me, and pulled of his helmet. It was Mark from Anacortes, out for a day ride with his girlfriend Anne. We chatted as the rest of the group trailed in. . . . . . Except for Easy. We waited and waited and waited, and just when I was going to go back and look for him, he came blasting by. We yelled and waved, but he just looked straight ahead and kept going. So we took of after him. He was pushing hard to catch up to us. By the time we got our helmets and gloves on and mounted, he was far ahead. We had to push it to catch him. By then, it was getting dark, and we were in deer heaven. Nevertheless, we had a great, but cold, ride home, followed by some awesome enchiladas cooked by Steak's wife Rose. Thanks again, Rose! They were delicious. Another great day of Guzziness in the Pacific Northwest.

Too bad. Maybe next time? What a glorious day for a ride!

Looks like I can act like a free man tomorrow afternoon and go for a ride. The weather looks good, too. I'm thinking of another blast to the top of Mt. Baker, via the twisty route. Depending on which roads we take, it'll be 350-400 miles total. Last time was 400.7 miles and took just under 6 hours. It won't be raining tomorrow, so we could do it faster, if you want to really move. Leave about 11:00. Anyone want to go and round off your squared commuter tires?

Gary is dead-on here. UV ravages carbon fiber in short order. I, too park my bike outside at work all day, so I got a $20 cheapy cover and cover it while at work. (I do not have carbon mufflers but have carbon fneder an a few other bits that came with the bike

Yes, the sound . . . We've put on dozen of these sets, and each one ends up being slightly different in position than every other installation. Keep all the clamps loose while fitting and adjusting position of the mufflers. Twist the inlet pipes one direction and then wiggle the mufflers to try and get them to settle where your eye tells you is the right position. This is difficult to judge because the main points of reference (passenger-peg brackets and swingarm) are not parallel or symmetrical. You can even try reversing the position of the band-type muffler hangers or sliding them foreward or aftward on the muffler to subtley change position of the mufflers. In general, try to move each muffler through the above means until each muffler is as close to the centerline of the bike as it will go. Then do fine adjustment for symmetry after that. Good luck!

Goose: Are these high or low Mistrals? If low oval, I may be interested in buying the right one. Since the original posts, I have seen the M4 Carbons. They are very nice. The stainless parts have as nice a polish as Staintunes.

Yes, different forks, different winkers, and different brake rotors between shots. SOmething seems to get changed every time I have a day off. Next, one of my patented Anti-Gravity Pods ™ as developed on my 141-mph Super Eldo. I put in the profile shot just to show the results of pulling the Coppa fairing back to swing with the bars.

At the shop, we tried low-mounting a set of aluminum Gianellis. We could physically do it, but they looked horrible. The bend on the inlet pipes is suitable only for high mounting. The only mufflers we have been successful in mounting in both the high and low positions is the Guzzi titaniums. It may also be possible with the M4 mufflers, but we haven't tried it.

Who's James Blunt????

It's not a common problem, but as Darius has found out, it does happen. You guys think I make this shit up? Darius is your proof that I do not. This was a filter installed by a professional; mechanic, not by an owner. Do as you like, though; I'll get some more cranks and be ready should you need one.

We had one Sport come in that kept blowing out the rubber gaskets at the top of the filter within a week of adding a new filter. We opened up the relief valve to find that someone had "shimmed" the relief valve for higher pressure using a hex nut.

William captures the flavor of the Griso well, here. If you haven't tried it, you should. It is a better Guzzi. Almost as good as an Eldo, in fact.

Just 'cause I can't resist: Got a call from a guy with a V11 LeMans and a roached motor last week, looking for a crank and rods. You guessed it: The filter unscrewed and took out his whole motor. It was installed by a professional mechanic at a prominent dealer on the East Coast that he did name (it's not really germaine here, so I won't name them). I forget this morning: Is that three or four V11s since this spring that I know of that were roached from this same cause, plus one Cali 1100? Hose clamps, bubelahs, hose clamps. Now, let the flaming begin . . . I don't care. (I'm now out of used cranks to sell y'all.)

I'd trade my Billy Bob for a Griso. Stylistically, I think the V11 is a mess. It's decent-looking, but not a stunner. I love the looks of the Griso, and it has much better rear suspension and tighter handling than the V11.

The black marzocchi forks have progressive-rate springs from the factory. I replaced mine with straight springs of a heavier weight. This improved suspension action markedly. I am a fat bastard, though.

Yes, just off Aurora. Patience is needed because, like many painters, Charlie has sniffed enough paint fumes over his lifetime to affect his ability to keep time commitments