big J

Welcome Eamonn, do you know there's a MG rally on June 11th and 12th in Inchigeela?

Feel free, jrt. It's like Ballacraine's thread from a while back, you think you're sailing on the breeze, everythin going great then wham! Icouldn't for the life of me work out what was wrong, and the bike's running real bad, and that cold fear grips you. "What the hell have I done to my bike?" She's running better now, but I hate the thought of anything going wrong with the old girl. I'd rather be shafted with the rough end of a pineapple than hurt my bike.

NW 200 on Men and Motors, Thursday 8.00pm.

If it's just for the MOT, take it off. If they cant test it, they cant fail it. Try the bike without, take it steady, I'd stillfit another just for peace of mind. You can always back it right off. Buy the best for your bike,if you buy a cheaper one, you'll always be wondering if....

Yeah,I know,but old habits die hard. Irealise that with modern efi, a dyno run should set it up pretty final, but in my experience looser valves(within reason) help tickover. If it runs like a clock after set up, I'll tighten the tappets a little.Like I said,old habits..

According to my feeler guages,.006" equals .152mm and .008" equals .203mm. So the valves are ok.

.010 and .015? Is that metric inches?

Not peeved at all,didnt expect the bike to be perfect after so many changes at one time,did about 100 miles today,richened her up with the wee buttons so it's pretty good now but definately a dyno tune is the answer.The valves are.006" and .008", tbs set at both idle and 3000rpm with carbtune to within about 2cm of mercury,close as I can get them. I'm also aware that the bike may be putting out more power,just in a different way to the previous set up,so that I dont have quite the same kick at 5000rpm but the arse dyno may need calibrated to how it now feels. Sounds much better tho. Maybe it's because Irish air is thicker,all that blarney. Petrol on the Stucchi? Until I noticed the multimeter late on Saturday, the whole thing nearly went up. If you see me walking funny,it's only cause I'm trying to kick my own arse.

Phillipe,I enjoyed your film a lot,next time I'm back in Scotland,promise to send a thistle, long live the auld alliance!Vive La France! Et L'Ecosse! The auld alliance still lives.

Like all thngs in life,it's better with a little lubrication..............................

Very nice. Give you fifty quid for them?

Well,started yesterday morning,fitting Stucci, PC111,drilling airbox and putting in K&N filter. Airbox easy peasy,drilled 6 2"holes,K&N in,no probs.While the tank's off, set up the multimeter,2 bell wires in the TPS plug(thanks, Ratchethack), reset the TPS to 150mv closed,then set using left side stop screw to 540 mv with ign on. So far,so good.Prepared for major problems with the Stucchi after Belfast's tale of woe. It went on so easy, I could have thrown it at the bike from twenty feet away and it would still have fitted. Magic. Rig up carbtune,start bike. Wont run for toffee.Check TPS. All ok. Carbtune acting funny, cant get reading. Scratch head. Glare at bike for a while and walk back and forward. Nope, that didnt fix it either. Start again.....TPS.......check.........PC111connections.......check.......bike runs rough with multimeter attached but even worse when disconnected.......WTF??? By the way,this is in the middle of gale force winds and heavy showers,my bike lives outside. The wind was so bad, the tools were getting blown about. START AGAIN. This was the magic moment when I noticed the multimeter is on mA not mV. What a fucking muppet. Reset TPS, set TB balance using carbtune and go for a spin. Spitting back at 2000 to 3000 rpm, feels "flat" everywhere.Back to the house, use the wee buttons to richen her up,cause she's very lean. Gurgle off the drilled airbox on overrun is great,still feels "flat". Next stop,dyno. Moral of the tale, check the bloody multimeter before you hook it up.

Jeezus Christ, BFG, you dont like life dull,do you? Glad to hear you're both ok. Bet that woke you up!!

Are you getting your inspiration on prescription or from a local supplier? Very impressive,just dont go putting super unleaded in the dog and expect it to run faster. And if there's any of this stuff going spare,keep me some,willya?

Aw no! Does this mean I didnt actually get to any of the places I thought I went to? Will I have to go further just to get there? And what about coming back?

Will do,dont know if I'll have time,but I hope to map it before the Erin. How's that rat bike of yours coming on? : If you cant get a good match for the matt black, I have some old radiator enamel I can bring with me.

Justa couple of questions on some of the points you made.The oil should get warm in a transmission,agreed,but if it gets too hot does it not start to break down,causing more friction/heat?If the Redline mentioned before keeps temperature down,presumably by reducing friction,isnt it working better? If particles are held in suspension,doesnt that mean that they are being transported through the gears and bearings continuously,causing more wear? Wouldnt it be better if they dropped out of suspension? The gears in my 38 ton off road truck box arent that much bigger than the pinion in my V11 diff, they are small to rotate at relatively high speed to minimise torque loadings. I'm no oil expert, just my

Thanks for the advice,it's on for as soon as I can get it.Did you get the individual cylinder mapping?Todd's mentioned it in threads a few times but I dont know if the facility exists over here. Plan to ask the guys at Phil McCallens shop when I book the dyno .

Lurgan sounds good,it's only just up the road.Do you know if the dyno guy is any good? What/who is BMcC?Oh, PMcC. I'll give them a call tomorrow. The guy in Dublin was just a bit too quick to tell me that a full remap was necessary, tho maybe he's just had a lot of experience of having to remap generic maps anyway.

Aye, got a PC111 USB from Todd about a month ago. Highly recommend him, he had it on my doormat faster than stuff I ordered from England. Didnt want to fit it until some work had been completed by the dealer I bought the bike off. The Mistrals finally arrived( 2 months in the post),got the Stucci, K&N filter, 2" holesaw for the airbox. Guess what I'll be doing this weekend.The BIG hammer is being dusted off for fitting the Stucci.Any advice on dyno's in Ireland appreciated,but was talking to the guy at Dublin Bike Tyre Co, they have a dyno,reckons about 50 euros to optimise or 200ish for a remap.He reckons that Todds map wouldnt be right, but I want to pull a couple of runs and see for myself before letting him touch a thing.

Pissin down? This last few weeks I've seen more rain than Noah. Good luck with the dyno, doing similar mods myself, be interesting to compare results.

Yep,that's probably right.

Never noticed this bit before, thought I better drop a few lines. Born and bred in Glasgow,Scotland. Owned almost everything British, a tuned Laverda Mirage and a modified Harley shovelhead.Always wanted a Guzzi,a guy where I grew up had a mk1 lemans that I could never beat even on my A65 flattracker and that bike was fast for a brit. Served my time as an engineer manufacturing tunneling machines,since then worked on everything from a Partner saw to a Harrier jet. Now live in Ireland, hobbies include ;staring at the sky and pointing at things. Occasionally like to prod my bike with a spanner to see if it's awake.

Cheers Ballacraine,cant make the island this year so have a pint of Piston Brew for me.

Remember,though that it is not just mass, but mass/moment weight that the engine "sees". That is, mass at radius from flywheel centre.