big J

It's a great idea.If I had the dosh,I probably would. I suppose I was a bit pissed off,cos the bike's only 4 years old.I expected at least to go for a month without it needing something,but every few weeks I either have to shell out money or time. Hmmm,had a bit of a think.There isn't another bike I'd rather have than the V11. Maybe a Tonti?Maybe not? Anyhow,I'll fix the old girl up and we'll be away again.Just have to st r e t c h the overdraft a bit further.

One of those days today.Off to work,the alternator light's been blinking on and off for a while now,but today,it wouldn't go out for ages,only at 5k and above.I changed some of the terminals at the weekend,but it's made no difference. Anyhow,got to work,into the canteen to get the waterproofs off,back out to the lorry,and here's a pool of oil about a foot across under the bike.Fark!It's coming from the breather hose on top of the block and the wee rubber bung for the flywheel.Bollocks. Worked away as usual,one of the rams on the crane starts pissing oil all over the place,so I'm lubed up like a babe in the local fleshpit.(tho,admittedly,not quite so attractive to the local menfolk thankfully ) Back to the yard,pull the bike to bits.The breather hose is cracked all over the place.Bodge a fix to get me home,about 40 miles.Loads of fun.Do I rev the bike to keep it charging,but it's still leaking at high revs all over the back end,or trickle along and hope the battery will get me back? Anyhow,I made it.The breather system was blocked up with mayo.I recently changed the oil and couldn't get the usual Castrol R4 so used Mobil 1 instead.Never had this trouble before,so it'll be Castrol in future. I got my meter back tonight,so I checked the charging system.It looks like the alternator's toast.tho it's hard to tell. I'm starting to get fed up with this.I use the bike for going to work and recently,it's been getting huffy. In 18 months and roughly 30,000 miles it's gone through.............. 2 starter motors speedo gearbox every bearing,rear wheel twice steering damper rear damper bevel box seals voltage regulator fork bushes and seals battery various comedy routines involving flashing lights and not starting. The bloody thing had only done 1600 miles when I got it.That's not including all the usual servicing and fettling.I wouldn't mind if I treated it badly,but I have a fiddle and tweak most weekends. Bitch. Ach well,it's all character forming. Whinge over

With the proviso that I haven't done any internal work on my Guz yet,first thing I'd do is get good quality non-compressible head gaskets and measure how thick they are.Next,heads off and measure the old gasket thickness.Check squish with solder.Add gap to thickness of gasket.Use burette to measure chamber volume and calculate compression ratio.I personally wouldn't take anything off the heads,but I'd machine the barrels to achieve the required squish gap. Mind now,measure,measure it again,then check again before machining anything. After this,it's dual plugs,a cam,porting work,big bore kit,custom exhaust................... BTW,this is just how I'd do it,best check with an expert how to do it properly.

I've never had mines off either,but I'd bet there's no other way.When I've measured squish on other engines,I used 4 small pieces of solder equi-spaced around the squish band area. You may find there's a difference in the gap at different points around the head.Use two on the axis of the gudgeon pin,and the other two perpendicular to these. When you're putting the solder in,you're not rocking the piston over are you?

What he said,should we pay now Pete?(us non brits too )

What an absolutely splendid device.Are there any dealers nearby?What's the handling like?How's the fuel mileage?

Martin,I had a Formula Mirage 1200.It looked like a standard one,but with special paint,clip ons,factory rearsets and a tuned engine.The motor apparently was hand-assembled with hi-comp pistons,6C(endurance race) cams and 38mm pumper Dellortos.I took the exhausts off to paint them,and when I looked,there was nothing inside,just an empty space.Strangely,it had no engine number,it was when I tried to find out about it's history that I was told about the mods.I cant confirm the story,but it definetly had 6C cams and carbs.The numbers are on the cams themselves and can be seen when you lift the cambox. It went like gangbusters!!!At the time,my mates had various incarnations of Z1000's and GS 1000's and it could take them in a straight line.Handling was another story though.It used to scare me shitless regularly.Unless you were totally in command and MADE the bastard go where you wanted,it would buck and weave and generally try to boss you around.It was like a rhinoceros that you'd jumped on and had whacked it's arse with a stick with a nail in it.A wild,rampaging dinosaur,elemental and violent. Ditto what the lads said about the advance/retard,at around 2700 rpm,the ignition switches to full advance,noticeable,but you get used to it.I believe that nowadays there is an updated,modern alternative.A wee tale.... 1989,TT week.My mate,Davie Dixon and I were coming home early,on the thursday morning due to work commitments.Got off the ferry about 6 am at Heysham and then to the motorway.Davie had a lovely Z1100 Eddie Lawson Replica.1170cc big bore kit,skimmed and flowed head,cams,pipe,the works.She was really nice. I was 2-up with my ex missus on the Mirage.As usual,speeds crept up and up.Apart from a smoke break at Beattock Summit(we stopped cos it was the first time either of us had seen sunshine there) we were rarely below 100mph.There's a stretch between Gretna and Lockerbie that's dead straight for about 2 miles and as we peeled into it,incredibly there wasn't any other vehicle in sight.We both opened up,a lane each.Davie had his feet on the pillion pegs,tucked in,flat out.I wasn't so tucked in cos of the wife,but wound it all the way out as well.I dunno how accurate the speedo was,but it was past 150 mph.We got to the end of the straight,I let Davie ahead(we had stayed pretty much level) and followed him into the outside lane into a long sweeper,the Lav blasting into it.At about 130 mph,laid over,she starts to weave.Oh shit.I can see the forks and steering head moving laterally(side to side).I kept her wound,but dragged the back brake a bit to keep her on line,then we were off again.That bike loved it,bellowing and roaring defiance at everything.It felt better after a 90 mile flat out blast than a 5 mile run. By the time we got back to Glasgow,I was #@$&@#@.Absolutely #@$&@#@.Everymuscle,shoulders,arms,stomach,thighs were exhausted.I had trouble lifting a pint,it was that bad. Great bike,part of me wishes I still had it,part of me was very relieved when I sold it.A couple of years later,I met the guy I bought it off,a neurosurgeon.He asked if I still had it,I said no.After a moment,I said"T hat bike used to scare me sometimes,you know"He said that was why he sold it too! Go for it,Martin.They're reliable and characterful bikes.Just dont get a tuned one!

Hi John,I've built a few trikes for disabled guys,but no bikes. I think the best thing to do would be to plunder an old Guz for everything required.You should be able to pick up whatever manifolds,pipes,etc you need and be able to adapt them to the V11 easy enough.Try Pete at Reboot Guzzi spares for bits. Another consideration-if I mind right,the construction and use regs require two separate systems,but they need not be operated by different limbs.Maybe two footbrake pedals,like two upside down L's if you follow,working two master cylinders.The main one,for front and rear closest to the footrest,the other for the additional front brake further away.If they are linked to the master cylinders by conventional adjuster bars,it should be simple enough to have them set at comfortable heights and coming on as required. What is the nature of your limitations,and what percentage of strength/range of movement do you have?

Agreed.I feel a trip home coming on.Must be 5 years since I had a drop of Islay whisky.

Your bike has a twin. It's out the back. Plotting quietly to itself.

Simple,make a glass cylinder head. Jeez,Dave

Now I'm worried.What about the other 0.0001% of the time? We are talking about Moto Guzzis.The normal rules do not apply.

So,now you're listening to a woman telling you what to ride? Jeez Nog,slippery slope there! It shouldn't be snatchy,tho.Give it a good service,pamper it a bit.I've often got Jo on the Guz and she's had lifts on the back of a good few of the mates bikes and she'll take the V11 any day.She says it's the only one that feels and sounds like a proper motorbike,and no,she's not the type to ingratiate.(she spent most of her life in Oz,has the frank honesty that most Aussies are known for) Next time,tell herself to bring the car,go solo.

Agreed.It still looks like a bag of shite

Wouldn't it be nice if this were the new sports model from Guzzi.

"Soft valve stems,plasticene guides"You're nervous about alarming posts" Whilst you may have some mechanical knowledge,there are plenty of guys on here who might not have as much experience yet and reading this sort of tabloid banner headline could be worrying. I did pay attention to your leading post.I can understand why you asked.It was the phrasing,nothing more. I'm sure that if there were some even small scale problem,it would have been apparent by now.If you're worried and can have the work easily done in a couple of days,then why not just do it and report your findings? It would be more useful than having some poor bugger reading this and thinking" aw f*ck,what is this now?"

Is there any actual evidence of multiple valve guide and stem wear problems.I've only seen one or two posted up,which would indicate to me that it's possibly just a dodgy batch rather than an endemic failure of all early cyl head components. If there is a known problem with valves and guides,maybe the guys who professionally repair V11's could share their experiences? I dont like the idea of spreading innuendo like this. Ratchethack,do you have any indications that your valves are becoming unserviceable?

Yeah,a lighter's fine.One of them little propane pen type torches is good too,or a hot air gun,but the lighter will work best in tight spaces.

Aha,thanks,BFG

Or try Reboot guzzi spares.

Did you resolve the binding sensation in your box then? Erm..

hmb guzzi,the one in Johns link. Just looked up HT Moto too,nice stuff there as well,by the looks. Germany seems to be well served with Guzzi tuning shops

There's something deeply disturbing about that picture

I've been trying to e#mail you but it wont go through. If you can bring them,I'll have one.Many thanks for the effort you've put in to this Pete. I'll keep trying the e mail thingo.

No problem.Like I say,it was ages ago,so if any of the details are different,dont worry.Just follow the wire back to somewhere hidden and keep it neat.