richard100t

That looks like a pretty bad injury Thats what I was wondering how well the kevlar armor protects in an impact. From the description of your accident you're lucky to still have a leg at all! Well I hope you heal up properly & are able walk again without too much pain. Is a lorry wheel a tractor trailer wheel?

May I ask what level of protective gear you were wearing when your accident occured? I've heard another member say that his kneecap was crushed in an accident & he wasnt wearing the armored pants. The shoulders hips & knees seem to be what take the brunt of the damage in accidents. If you can say what/if you were wearing protection & did it prevent worse injury I'm curious to know. I dont always wear all the gear all the time like I should, but hearing others stories usually inspires me to wear most of the gear most of the time. I wear all the gear all the time when the weathers below 50 degrees lol

Lets just say that if those bikes were women the Harley would be Star Jones & the Griso is Eva Green. I'll let you draw your own conclusions

I have the factory painted red covers & I think yours look better than the factory paint I've been thinking about powder coating mine for awhile but seeing yours I may just go with a nice coat of paint.

Hmm it also looks like you have some very nicely polished aftermarket exhaust flange things. The previous owner must have liked that area of the bike a lot. I havent spotted anything else that looks like custom pieces yet. Maybe we can make a game of who can spot the most aftermarket gear? Edit: Upon closer inspection those do look like stock items. Is your bike still very low mileage? Mine are pretty crappy looking after 16k miles.

Those are some nicely painted valve covers I think that look goes good with the red frame.

I'm with Alex on this one. It may not be as bad as you think. If it is a screwed motor you have a few options 1) Buy the aftermarket high priced go fast mods & have a brand new rebuilt faster goose 2) Look for a salvaged v11 on the internet & swap the motors which will be a lot cheaper. 3) that new Griso 4valve is going to be in the dealerships soon 4) let it sit in the garage for awhile & buy a cheap bike to ride around on until you can afford to do what you really want to do to the v11 5) you do like to drink beer dont you? lol go get a 12 pack of good beer & relax. Good ideas will come to you.

I like this thread & I believe someone @ monitors this website to see what we think about their company & its products. You know I really believe that they have been listening to our ideas over the years if you look at what they're doing with the bikes ie. more displacement better alternator etc. I dont really care for the looks of some of the bikes that they're coming out with but I do like that Griso & the 4valve heads coming with more power will move the bikes outta the showrooms. If they can make an MGS type bike with that new 4valve motor I believe they can actually become more mainstream again they will sell so many of them. That is if they can make them for around or under $15k

Doesnt Bigbikerick live in your neck of the woods in Arizona? I dont know but does he still have the engine from his v11? If he does it may be easier just to swap motors That is if you need a new motor

I have the same th1 jacket & pretty much all Dainese pants should zip to it. I have a pair of Dainese competition leather pants that zip perfectly to the th1 jacket & its reasonably comfortable.

I would like to see someone put the new single side swingarm & rear drive from the Griso/Breva on a v11. Does anyone know if this is possible or not worth the effort? I dont know how it would work on the road but I think it would look good on film If its not too difficult to do I'll be waiting for the first few salvage Breva/Griso's to come up for sale.

Wouldnt the extra oil in the deeper sump also help to keep the oil cooler?

I hate to ask but does anyone believe that using a synthetic motor oil such as castrol will protect the engine at startup in cold weather? I know the marketing bs would have you believe that to be true but I wonder..

a) Use a battery tender in cold weather. You can adjust the idle screws down by the tb's to where it idles a little fast so you dont need the idle spring thing.

I'm 5'8 & have a 31" inseam & that bike was too tight for me. Thats unusual because most sporty bikes feel like they had me in mind when I sit on them. The only other bike that was close to that bad was one of the sporty Buells. I thought the Duc was trying to get my heels to touch my ass, & my knees to touch my chest. Pretty bike to look at on the porch with a 6 pack of beer but I wouldnt wanna ride it more than 50 miles at a time.

Well mine only made a quick noise right as soon as the engine started. It was kind of hard to really hear what was going on because the noise only lasted for about 1 second & not every time I started it. I hope that the noise doesnt return but time will tell.

I believe I greased the pinion itself. I figured once I started it a few times & rode it the grease would go where it needed to go lol.

OK I see that you have a stuck bolt. What you need to do is first try to cut a slot in it with a dremel & a cutting wheel tool. If you can break it loose with a screwdiver problem solved. If not cut the head clean off. Remove all the other bolts, slide the sump off. Grab the protruding threads of the damaged bolt with a pair of vice grips & turn. With the sump off there should be no pressure holding the bolt in. Btw before you do this take a bolt from the sump to the hardware store & get a matching bolt to replace the one you're going to cut off. Its generally good advice to just slightly loosen each bolt one at a time until they are all loose before you pull them completely out. That sump is pretty heavy & if you have it hanging down at any angle it will cause the remaing bolts to bind, or behave as a wedge.

Hmm as for the filter removal I dont know what its called but it fits on the end of a ratchet & looks kind of like a large socket. That works well for me, oh btw I use a SuperTech oil filter from WalMart #st3614 for about $2 if that helps any. Its always good to start the filter by hand & I just hand tighten it. I only use the tool when its time to remove the filter. I know some filters dont fit the type of tool I mentioned thats why I put in the type of filter I use. Of course now that I think about it, check the tool & filter before you change the oil so that when its time to remove the filter you'll know the tool will fit.

You may need to readjust your tb's. I know that has to be done when you adjust the valves or the symptoms you just described can happen.

My starter was beginning to make a funny noise at startup. I thought, oh great I'll be needing a new starter soon as I've heard people having trouble with them in here. Well I talked to a bmw mechanic about it & he said just grease the gear on the end of the starter. So I greased the starter gear & wow! I actually think the bike even runs better now. I'm thinking the gear was stuck or something. The bike spins faster to start & no funny noise anymore. I believe from now on thats going to be an annual maintenance procedure. Has anyone else tried this cure for their starter yet?

Well us Rosso Mandello owners know that we have the sexiest v11 made Its not like we really need a t shirt to rub it in or anything

Can anyone tell me the need for a crossover pipe at all? Is it for performance or emissions, or both? It would seem to me that you should be able to run a pipe from the head right to the pipe. There must be a reason for the crossover because I havent seen anyone eliminate it.

I havent looked yet but you may want to try MGCYCLE.com It wouldnt surprise me if they have them there.

Sounds like you need a new gasket is all. Sometimes when the valve covers get taken off for valve adjustment the gasket can get damaged. If thats all that goes wrong you've got a good bike.