callison

Or you could just do what I did. Lower the bars a bit. Made the bike a lot easier to deal with when riding. It must work, I did 4000 miles in July that would have had me really strained had I left the bars in the stock position.

Guzzitech V11 Sport Starting Problems

I looked at the fuel mileage chart and if I was getting 28 mpg I'd be pissed! City driving generally gets me into the mid 30's range on the V11 Sport and the high 30's to low 40's range on my California or Sport 1100i. The PCIII caused very little reduction in mpg. Freeway driving is better. I have gone 194 miles on one tank at 75-80 mph and still had .16 gallons left in the tank. Even whacking the throttle occasionally and cruising down one my local canyons at 120 mph hasn't dropped me below 33 mpg. I don' t have a fairing either, so the coefficient of drag is high. If I leave the great (hah!) state of California, my gas mileage improves because the gas everywhere outside of this (California) state is better. The Sport 1100i has a fairing and leaning on the tank to take advantage of it has seen me hit 50-51 mpg several times at an average speed of 79 mph on a sustained superslab run. I'll bet the Breva 1100 will hit high 40's consistently and probably into the 50's without any real effort owing to the pico-injectors and dual-plugging. I suspect that on that engine, the large bore of the main throttle body is blocked for lower rpm running (the stepper motors mentioned in the specs) which would give much better air velocity into the cylinder and better control of the fuel mixture with the new injector setup as well. Dual plugs can help too. This project bike Garuda has been in the 50+ mpg range since the engine modifications.

Sounds like a wiring problem to me. I have too many miles (literally) of pushing Guzzi's with similar problems that turned out to be electrical than to attribute this behavior to fuel systems problems. Pull your tank and your seat cowling. Find ANY electrical connector that are a bullet type (ignore the ones on the turn signals). EVERY electrical failure I've had that was a dirty connector has been one of these. The handlebar clutch switch has them, they cause problems. The ECU has one in line with the power relay. It causes problems. There may be others. Find them, disconnect them a re-insert them a few times to wipe the contact surfaces and then start riding again to see if that made any improvement. While tedious, it is totally without cost, so it is worth the effort.

Jeez. I'm still using stock gaskets. Across three big blocks with over 100,000 miles total, valve cover gaskets have been the least of my problems. I've never seen any real weeping or leaks. The pan gasket however, is a real disappointment. After 4 years and about 30,000 miles, it get's hard enough you can't reuse it. To be perfectly honest, if you're worried about gaskets, the ones to pay attention to are the head gaskets.

The only items in that tool kit that are truly specific is the screwball little spanner for the shock spring adjust/front wheel nut (I hope I have this right, I'm going from memory across too many bikes...) and the 14mm allen stub used for the axle(s). Everything else in there is garden variety crap and best replaced with higher quality items anyway. I carry a complete socket set in addition to ball-end allen wrenches, metric wrenches that fit the bike, i.e., 8,9,10,11,12,13,15,17mm whathaveyou, small and medium size screwdrivers, flat and phillip, some safetywire, small flashlight etc. I operate under the Murphy's Cloud theorem. The more you have, the less likly you will be to need it. Of course, there's the corollary too, the more you have, the more likely that what you have won't work when required. So... given that wrenches and screwdrivers seldom actually fail (until worn out trying to remove something too stubborn to budge) that leaves only the "active" tools. To whit - the flashlight. And, true to Murphy, last Friday I rescued a biker who's Suzuki had died alongside the road at midnight. Naturally, my flashlight didn't work. Which means the tools don't work either as they're pretty useless in the dark by feel. Today I fixed the flashlight and put a spare flashlight in my tank bag. I'll probably get a flat tire instead of something I can fix next... Actually, I have an entire electric pump and tubeless repair kit I carry on long trips out of town, but I don't carry it when I'm within a reasonable distance of home. Come on Murphy, I dare ya! Ooops. I probably shouldn't have thrown out that challenge!

That 150mv setting is only for the TPS when the linkage to the left side is disconnected (the left has the idle setting on it - you don't normally have to fiddle with the idle stop screw). If you've never changed the throttle idle stop setting, you shouldn't have to remove the linkage either, so, just set the TPS for 525mv. mphcycles.com

Since you're talking about the closed loop system, I'm going to assume that you are not in the USA. I don't think we have those yet, though I have been known to be wrong before The 390mv sounds more like the settings for the earlier computer, BUT... since we are now dealing with a closed loop system, all bets are off. I wouldn't dink with it. Wait until some dealership has had the temerity to do some adjustments according to factory procedures (if they ever publish any) and get some feedback from them. I've only had to have mine adjusted once in 27,000 miles. It may be due again, but I need to set my valves first, do some more riding and if the seat of thepants feel is okay, I will elect not to fiddle with the TPS. I fiddled with the TPS on my Sport 1100i and did not always make it better. YMMV. You might want to fill out some of your profile under the "My Conrols" button so there's a bit more information available to interpret your questions.

You can break the spider of one clutch plate and the bike will keep working. THe clutch will sound and feel different. If it's the plate closest to the engine, when you stop the engine, you'll hear a rattleing sound as the broken spider rattles around and chews on the end of the main seal housing. It sounds a bit like a roulette wheel. If you have this sound I would suggest getting if fixed before the main seal area gets chewed up much. It may be less of an issue if it's the other plate except that at some point, that one will fail as well and you'll be pushing instead of riding. It might be oiling up as Jason suggests, but my take on bad noises is that something bad is happening and it's time to check it out. FWIW, I rode my California several thousand miles with one bad clutch plate before changing it out. The plates aren't cheap either - ~$100 each and you need two, with a 6-10 week lead time for ordering them via the normal MGNA supply chain. If you need one pronto, you'll probably want to call around to the dealers that actually stock parts - Moto International, MG Cylces, Guzzi Classics etc.

Just got off the phone with Mike Rich. Titanium pushrods are stiffer and lighter than stock as well as being nearly indestructible. Chromemoly pushrods are heavier and will beat up the valvetrain. $198.50 for a full set (4) of Ti pushrods.

There are a fair number of Centauro footpeg conversions running about. All seem to work well. Plumbers Wool is lead wool, just like steel wool. While entirely suitable for cramming into gaps in radiation shielding etc., I doubt that it's use is appropriate where there is vibration. It will break down into lead particles or dust and become extremely toxic or fatal if inhaled. The EPA has probably legislated it out of existence anyway. You might want to consider some of the gel like is used in seats or computer wrist pads. This stuff is incredibly dense and malleable. It might be just the ticket.

You guys are scaring the hell out of me. I ride year round and right now, my TPS is giving no problems and I'm extremely loathe to pull it off to check that shaft. Maybe the throttle body needs a zerk fitting...

You may want to contact Mike Rich for some candid observations and options on pistons. It gets really interesting...

These are probably the RaceCo parts, since Mike bought a lot of their Guzzi stuff when they opted to drop the marque, but you'll have to ask him. Mike Rich Motosports 21 Jerusalem Hollow Rd. Manorville, N.Y. 11949 (631) 874-7032 red38@msn.com (I think)

A tight bend in the cable drive is just plain bad engineering. While the cable on my Sport 1100i enjoys a relatively straight run, letting it get bent down by the tank if careless (routing) will indeed destroy the cable in short order. MG needs a little more engineering investment from Aprilia.

FWIW, I lube mine with TriLube using one of those little clamp over the end injection adaptors.

Glad to hear that you're not seriously injured. The throttle return problem on the cruiser bikes is related to the chintzy plastic covers on the throttle bodies. The sport bikes don't have them, so that wouldn't be the issue. But, if you've changed the grips like alot of us, you may find that the grip on the throttle side drags against the switch housing causing the throttle to drag. There is really very little in the linkage/cable setup that could hang up and I haven't seen any instances of throttle hang on any of the sport models so far. I have had one instance where the engine didn't want to reduce rpm when a throttle body came loose from its mounting spigot on the cylinder barrel. This happened after I failed to re-tighten the hose clamp after fooling around with the mount to see what the throttle body looked like inside.

The only speedo cable I've ever broken did so because I routed it incorrectly when putting the tank back on my Sport 1100i. I put in one of those $10 cable replacements from the local auto parts store and that cable has gone more than 35,000 miles. It might be worth checking where the cable routes on another bike and see if yours lies in the same spot.

Going through the Scrapbook on my Macintrash garners the following part numbers/info. I don't recall who made the first post or on what forum, but thanks just the same. ---------------------------------------- Every time I have had to remove the tank from my 98 EV, that return hose would give me fits. I was changing out the gas line and decided to install a disconnect from BMW. Works great. set up for 8mm-5/16gas line. Designed to work under pressure. Seperates by pushing a button,no gas leaks, and last but not least is reasonable priced. Comes in two parts with their own PN. 1331 7659 120 $10.89 1331 7659 119 $8.89 ---------------------------------------- Just did the FI hose replacement on my 98 EV. I was not happy with the fit of Gates 5/16" hose so am using BMW car fuel injection hose. Also, when I removed the last "Y" of tubing, the ends at the splitter had non-reusable crimped hose clamps. The far ends at the regulator and at the injectors had more traditional screw surface hose clamps. So, I was in the market to buy at least three replacement hose clamps. I had been advised to use specialised fuel injection hose clamps. Traditional hardware store hose clamps are not good as the screw ridges pass through the clamp and tear at the surface of the hose. The fuel injection clamps from my local NAPA supplier sucked. They did not clamp really well, even at full use of the screw and they left this lengthy screw end sticking out to get in the way of everything. Back to the BMW car shop. Found some REALLY FINE fuel injection hose clamps. The entire inner surface is smooth to avoid damaging the hose surface. The screw ridge surface is stamped into the outer metal surface of the clamp and does not penetrate through to the hose. The screw mechanism is very small, but formed of VERY stout material. These work perfectly. BMW car part number 07-12-9-952-104. $1.13 each Patrick Hayes Fremont CA

Guys, I grabbed at the 10ms time simply because I don't know what it is in reality, but I wanted to show that the difference in time required to build and collapse the magnetic field is different on the order of magnitudes. Cliff is much closer to actual times, he has a scope and I don't/

No. The energy that produces the spark from the secondary winding(s) of a coil is stored as magnetic flux in the iron core. It takes several tens of milliseconds for the 12 volts passing through the primary of the coil to acheive magnetic saturation of the core and charge the magnetic field to it's highest density. So, as soon as 12 volts starts passing through the primary, it is charging, but as the charge time is long (in electronics anyway), the current draw is limited. This is dwell time, the time the points are closed or the ECU is in conduction. When it's time to fire the plug, the points open, or the ECU stops conducting and the current return path for the primary is broken. There is no current flow to maintain the magnetic filed induced on the core, so the magnetic field collapses releasing all of the energy stored as magnetic field. The magnetic field, which took so long to build up, collapses in a couple of microseconds, which is orders of magnitude quicker than the time it took to build it. The rapid collapseof the magnetic field induces a voltage on the secondary windings. Those windings have a very high ratio to the primary. Because the secondary windings have such a high ratio, they generate a very large voltage that causes the spark plug to arc over. Since the points/ECU are NOT conducting during the discharge time, they see no current flow (well, some, but it's inductive kickback). During the charge cycle, the primary sees very little of the secondary winding resistance because the secondaries are "open" , there is no load - the plug is not firing. Additional secondary windings add very little to the charge current on the primary so the ECU effectively does not see a change of charge current for one or more seconary windings (there is some, but it's relatively little). What it works out to is energy storage. You take a hundred 1 gallon buckets of water up the stairs, dump 'em into a 100 gallon container at the head of the stairs and when it gets full, you dump the whole thing all at once down the stairs. Ond hundred small trips makes for one big splash. Same thing with the coil, you spend a long time building the magnetic field and then you dump it all at once. This is a messy explanation, the next time I run across my old automotive electroncs books in the garage (probably never as I never clean the place up), I'll try to find a more succinct explanation.

Nope. Dwell time is more than adequate for the coil to saturate the core. The two sides of the coil aren't separate either, they're bifilar wound. They're going to act identical and any difference between the two plugs off of one dual-plug coil will be solely the result of the wires, plugs (gap) and the mixture resistance in the combustion chamber at that specific plug when it fires.

So far so good, 25,000 miles and the angle drive still functions.

I tried Splitfire plugs on my Sport 1100i a few years back. No noticeable difference. The MG combustion chamber is probably so inefficient you can't benefit from the plug improvement if there is any.

Yep. Great shape. Dave, did you go on your bike?