richard100t

It looks like you have an old Jaguar in the garage :grin:It must be nice to have so many motorized toys

That looks like a photoshop job to me.

Thats a different experience than I had with FBF. I ordered a fender eliminator online & had it within 72 hours. Although come to think of it I dont remember getting an order confirmation, but its been awhile. You will like the eliminator kit when you do finally get it. It really cleans up the tail end of the bike, although the led tail light is not very bright.

It is supposed to be 53 degrees & sunny here in Northeast Ohio tomorrow. This is unusually warm weather for December here. I just watched that Al Gore movie "An Inconvenient Truth" last night & I'm starting to wonder if maybe I should take a peek at the Global Warming thread Oh well if the world is going to heat up I may as well enjoy it while it lasts.

I want to know if they are going to make them in black?

Has anyone heard any new information on the damage to Staedtlers V11?

I really like the web page for Scola That engine kit looks like it certainly is the business! Unfortunately there isnt any pricing or performance information available on the site I have to believe these guys know we're here & we buy Guzzi stuff They should advertise their goodies on this site like RossoPuro does, not to mention Mistral, TLM, & MPH, (which I just did!).

I'm eagerly awaiting price details & another picture of the flywheel with the clutch assembly!

My area dealer has sold quite a few this year. He just sold a Norge that I mentioned yesterday. Most of the first Griso's were pre sold ahead of time of course. Even the Brevas were selling I think. I noticed the 10,000th bike was one of those new sporty Breva types Personally I like the Norge the most of the new models that I have seen. Will I buy one? Not likely this year, but thats because of financial reasons. I want a more touring oriented bike but I really dont ever want to sell the Rosso. I hope I dont look like this guy before I can afford a stable of Guzzis!

I got the chance to see a Norge today at the Ohio Guzzi breakfast. While I wasnt impressed by the photos online & in magazines the actual bike in the flesh was pretty impressive. I thought it looked better than anything BMW has or any other touring style bike for that matter. Fit & finish were very high & the little details were impressive. Even the air nozzles on the tires are angled so that you can check the pressure with ease. The lower fairing is way cool & the side panels have chrome inserts that give it a sophisticated look. I seen the silver one & it is good, now I'd love to see one in black If all Guzzi's new bikes are this cool they are back!

Now thats a project that looks cool Of course we want to see pictures if you can make it fit If it does fit all you need is some Guzzi green paint & voila!

Its supposed to be in the 30's today so I'll just take it around town. I need to go through the checklist like oil, air, tires & that sort of thing anyway & todays a good day for it.

Greg No offense taken my friend. My main point was that even when you do want to support your local dealer & he doesnt have the oil filter you need, you have to get it somewhere. Like I said I'm no fan of Walmart or their business practices but they do have what I need a lot of the time. I would say to buy at the autozone type parts store instead, but I'm sure its just another mega corporate conglomeration thats no better than walmart, McDonalds,Enron lol etc I think as a group just from the bikes we ride we arent the WalMart type mass produced plastic junk buying crowd. Unfortunately we at least in the U.S. are currently living in a walmart economy with a government that wants the smallest group of wealthy people who pay the highest income taxes to keep almost all the profits from the sweat of the working men & women who pay the least. It seems people are working harder, earning less money & the money we do make is falling in value everyday to the euro. Therefore its forcing more people to buy consumer items from walmart type places instead of quality american/european products made with a higher paid better trained workforce.

Its not like I'm a big fan of WalMart & their business practices. However when a forum member needs an oil filter, which btw any dealer with sense should keep in stock, & cant get one at a Guzzi dealer what should he do? As a forum member & fellow v11 owner I feel this is certainly the place to let him know where to find one. I guess I should also mention you can get other brand filters for your v11 at Autozone & other car parts stores, but I had the old box from my last oil change that happened to be from Walmart with the part # so I gave the info from the box. I would much rather we all support our dealers instead of bs places like Walmart & the likes, but when said dealer is over 50 miles away & doesnt stock general maintenance products I would at least call to see if they have what you need before you go. Btw I'm not talking about my dealer by any means. I fortunately havent needed much for my bike yet & he is well over 50 miles away so I dont bother to go there for an oil change.

You can get that filter at WalMart for under $5. Its a SuperTech brand filter # is st3614

Well one time I had tightened the nut too far & it caused something that made the brake grab the disk or something like that. So after that I always made sure that I never over tightened it again. Once I tightened the nut this time I realized that it was just a little too loose so I am assuming that was the cause of the problem. The bolt that failed hadnt loosened up because there was plenty of bolt through the end of the nut & it was still plenty tight. I'm thinking the damage happened like a lever action with the stress starting at the wheel & moving out the torque arm when I gave it gas or was leaning the bike Eventually the repeated stress/relax/stress on the bolt caused it to fail. I could be wrong but thats my theory of what happened. Btw I had been riding the bike for most of the season this year with the axle nut at that torque level so it did take a long time for that bolt to fail.

Well if you want an 8valve Italian twin just look at the Jan 07 CycleWorld cover. The new Ducati 1098 160hp 381lb $14,995 'nuff said

Yeah you can get a great deal on a salvage title bike sometimes. The insurance companies will total a bike out most of the time just for liability reasons, even if the bike is not seriously damaged. As always Caveat Emptor!

OK now I've ridden the bike a few miles at different speeds & I think the problem is solved. Almost surely the rear axle nut not being tight enough caused that bolt to fail somehow. In any case the bike runs as well as a Guzzi should & the fix was $1.63 for the nut/bolt/washer. The tow home however was $75 Gawd only knows how much $$ I saved not trying to fix it on the roadside & limp it home lol.

Ok I tried tightening the rear wheel because the caliper holder wiggled slightly. I had been leaving the wheel at the level of tightness instead of overtightening it. Well for whatever reason that noise I described in my last post has stopped. Could the rear wheel not being tight enough have caused the front bolt nearest the tranny to snap? I would have thought the one on the rear drive would go but maybe it was the leverage that caused it to snap? Btw the rear wheel was not overly loose either but I did turn the nut around about twice before the caliper holder got snug. Something to think about I guess.

Well I've replaced the bolt as I've said. Now I've test ridden it down the street & it makes a noise when I get on or off the throttle. Its hard to tell just what it is because of the engine noise, but its in the driveshaft area. The white lines still are aligned & the ujoint bolts are tight & I regreased the shaft & rear joint. Any ideas what the new problem may be?

Yes I agree, tomorrow I'll have more time off work to go to a proper bolt shop to get the right hardware.

Well I got the torque arm out today & it looks completely undamaged. The total cost of repairs so far is 63 cents. After I put in a new nut bolt & washer I took it up the street & it seems ok. Its dark now so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to closely inspect the ujoints & shaft.

I'm not sure if I'll need a new torque arm until I get it out & have a good look at it tomorrow.The remaining part of the bolt with the nut on it is facing the backside of the porkchop & cant be pulled out that way. The other problem with that is I cant loosen the nut off the bolt threads because I have nothing to hold the bolt still while I try to loosen the nut. Of course if the nut end had sheared off this would save me some time with the hacksaw & even that will probably not work as it will just spin as I try to cut it off. The whole thing should be resolved just in time for the recent warm weather to pass into brutal cold winter where the bike will just sit for a few months anyway Oh well its been a very enjoyable long riding season this year & I still love the bike after 16k miles. Although something with a more relaxed riding position & a large fairing would be good for longer trips.

I was riding today & downshifted when something godawful happened. The front bolt nearest the tranny sheared off on the torque arm. The really bad part of it was the nut end was still in there & the pork chop was/is keeping me from getting it out without a hacksaw blade. After a $75 tow bill the bike is safely home hopefully without damage to the rear drive. At first I thought it was the transmission & I kept thinking of the single plate clutch & a thousand dollars dissapearing from my checking account. Fortunately its a $2 bolt & nut & probably a new torque bar from RossoPuro. I've heard of the bushings going south in these things but never heard of the bolt shearing off. Any thoughts on this little problem? Of course I want a better bolt than the last one but until I get the torque arm out & have a look at it I wont know just why the part failed.