Dan M

Mike has it right about the whole flexing of the square-cut seal and self adjusting. The idea is to have a clean, dry caliper piston. If the dust boot around the piston is intact, you will have a clean, dry piston. No lubrication needed. If you feel the need to mess with it and damage the boot, you have to replace it. Adding lubricant will just attract dirt & brake dust causing things to get muddy pretty fast. Sylglide is an excellent product for caliper slides (Brembos have none:homer:) is can also be used sparingly on the edges of the pads where it contacts the caliper and on the back of the pads where they contact the pistons. The key here as Pete said earlier is don't use too much. More of a smear than a glob, DO NOT GET IT ON THE FACE OF THE PADS OR THE ROTOR. If you do clean it thoroughly with brake clean.

Just more kudos for Rich. I received my BMW seat from him today. Really looks great he completely reshaped it for a better fit to my fat ass. He flattened the rear portion too for my wife's um, er, nice butt.

Has a better ring to it than "Nurbugring"

Right on the money Van. Doesn't hurt to have the Brando-like scratchy throat sound either. Although depending what region your family is from, any number of fingers can be pulled together with the thumb for proper visual aid. It is also note worthy that the more fingers that are joined, the more up & down motion is needed. Example: If you have all 4 fingers touching the thumb there should be four downward strokes in rhythm with the syllables 1) Mo 2) Toe 3) Goot 4) see. It there are only two fingers used, join them only on the last syllables, indicating that you feel the person is not a complete idiot and can pronounce "moto" on their own without any instruction. Also, just to fine tune, depending on how close you are to the individual, a slight fore & aft motion of the hand helps. I'd like all of you to practice this in your spare time.

Pete has it exactly right. (and I love it when people ask a question of someone and then tell them they are wrong. "So don't ask me next time") Poor contact between the thermistor and the head is very possible. I've seen thermistors (not moto guzzi mind you but they all work on the same principal) have an open section at a specific temp range. Could be accurate cold but open at higher temp, fooling the ecu into thinking it is very cold, hence the extra fuel. It is best to back probe the connecter, run some wires to where you can get to them with the tank in place and check the resistance at various temps to make sure it is accurate throughout the range.

Would make a cool photo, you won't hurt your valves running briefly without back pressure, just don't ride it like that. But if you do, post the pics!

Nice goin' Rich. While that orange Ducati is quite nice, The V11 would get my vote as well.

What they said Sean. Start with getting the sag set. V11s are under-sprung for us fat Americans. A click or two of compression damping will help too but don't go so far as to ruin the ride quality and the ability to absorb bumps when cornering.

Funny, the one thing the Italians usually do right is clothing. MG must import the stuff.

Who??? On a opposed piston set up like this, hydraulic pressure will be equal on both pads regardless of position. It has to do with piston diameter not how far the piston is out of the bore. Unequal wear is usually due to the pad hanging up and not sliding freely. It's the same reason our rear brakes have the tendency to groan when dirty, the pads don't retract evenly. Now if your caliper is cocked on an angle, and not in alignment with your rotor, that is a different kettle of fish. Then you will get a tapered wear pattern on both pads.

GASP! Go ahead, I'd do the same.

It is the birthday of many great people (besides you & me)

That's the great thing about boating, no protective gear needed. Well... maybe one piece of protective gear.

Terrible to hear this - Hope both guys heal OK.

Too bad you missed it. I don't think you'd find them very similar once you rode it though. Falco: more powerfull - better handling; LeMans: more comfortable - better looks. Sometimes missed opportunities save us from ourselves. Maybe a better deal will come along

Mattress, If you come across a track day anywhere around here, I'm with you. I live far south (227th) near Indiana. When we ride we generally head south from here - away from the traffic. If you ever wanted to make the trek south, PM me and I'll let you know when / were some guys will meet. We usually do a loosely organized 100-300 mile ride about once a month.

I have 5 or 6 riding skill / strategy / technique / safety books and Ienatsch's is my favorite.

Here we go... Jaap, Please rename this thread "global handling"

Sorry to hear about your wreck. I live in a wooded area and have had more than a few close encounters. Luckily no hits yet. Glad you were not hurt badly. A good friend's son cut a deer in two last summer at high speed. He is still in a walking cast after a few ankle surgeries. I'm right there with ya on the BMW forum. This place is where it's at, most here are not as full of themselves. .

Wow, don't you find your motor gets hot in stop & go traffic situations? Or maybe in BC there is no such thing.

Zagato says he won't be discouraged very easily, but Ratchet is on the job. Keep hammering at him ratch. If you value cutting edge technology, razor sharp handling, quarter mile and lap times, maybe the Japanese bike is what you want. If you are as you say a dedicated fan of all mechanical things Italian, and are no speed freak, then your purchase of a quirky Italian bike is the right one. It isn't the fastest or the best handling. It is however quite capable under most circumstances when dialed in properly and operated by a competent rider. You won't see dozens of them every time you ride and it has an element of "cool" rarely found regardless of country of origin. Don't be discouraged, dial it in proper and get to know it. I often look at more modern, better performing bikes then I take the LeMans out and forget all about them.

Dave hit it on the head, Dial in your suspension and get good tires. The long frame V11s require a "heavy hand" to get them way over in a corner. If your suspension is right and tires sticky you can have plenty of confidence, you just need to muscle it a little. It will never steer as quickly as modern japanese sport bikes but they don't feel as planted on the 100mph sweepers either. When I first got mine in 2005 I could not corner as well as on my BMW which weighs at least 100 lbs more. After setting it up and getting comfortable, the V11 is by far the most fun bike I've owned.

I'll second Tom's advise. The Motobits gives you just enough room without sacrificing ground clearance. Machine work is top notch and the added bonus is shifting is improved.

The stuff from 3M is brown. Any auto parts store that sells to body shops should have it. I don't think the grade matters that much. The finer you use, the smoother the finish (and easier to keep clean) but it will also take more rubbing. Edit: We buy it by the box of 20 6"X9" sheets for somewhere around 10 dollars. You can probably find it cheaper with a little searching.