Janusz

You did help a lot, callithrix, thank you. I am buying these pipes 99% sure. LOUD! That's what I was hoping for. I do not live in subdivision so neighbours are not a consideration and I like loud bike a lot. I do have Stucci X-over and open box. I would be SO GRATEFUL if you send me your map you had done for it. Could you please ? my e-mail : girodevistula@shaw.ca Did I understand correctly - you do not have these anymore? Why?

I will buy a new exhaust soon. I think I like Ferraci the most. Before the final decision I would really appreciate somebody who has one to comment: How doyou like it? How loud it is comparing to others? Preformance - any improvement? Fit and finish? Thanks a lot

Now, you have to release that maxed preload; your sag is TOO SMALL. And yes, you measure sag only as a vertical movement of an axle relative to suspended part of the bike.

I thought I was the oldest here, dammit! March 8 2004 I will be 57. You beat me by few months Kiwi Dave. Congratulations. Here is a good info on rear sag: http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?...964&hl=rear+sag

Redline 75-90 - good. maybe even very good. Redline Shockproof Heavy (red color like blood) - seventh heaven. Leaks after switching to synthetic - old wife's tale. If your gaskets leak that means you have bad gaskets. All V11S family bikes are full of synthetic oils from factory.

I would suggest before going full Monty start with replacing just your front springs for harder if you are over 175 lbs. and see how it works for you. I am very happy with that route; I would revalve only after proper springs+ proper and informed damping adjustments did not work for me. Highly unlikely. But it is easy to screw up the valving on the other hand.

One try of Redline Shockproof Heavy gear oil will make you a believer, I'm sure. You wil lprobably invent one more word also. Maybe "schlick"?

I see in 2003 MG Apparel and Accessories catalogue the footrest relocation kit. Looks nice on the picture. Does anybody have it? Any good? What's the price? Thanks in advance

If law abiding citizens were free to carry guns everywhere and policemen and criminals were not then the whole society would be much safer and polite, Jaap, think about it. As an easy example 9/11 would never happen, would it? I still remember like in 60-ies stewardess would help you stow your rifle in overhead bin on the plane on your return trip from some hunting. Mass shootings or highjacking were not even in vocabulary then. The society has most of the things upside down nowadays. I love the idea of ammonia in the squirt gun for the dogs.

I believe that all that would be just fighting symptoms but not the disease and would just obscure the real reson of vapour lock. After all my bike, for instance, has no airbox lid (Ferraci bracket) and will not go into vapour lock even in 30*C plus. That proves that the design is not wrong and things like extra fans etc. are truly not the solution. I've had only one vapour lock experience before and after bumping up all the lean spots with PC the engine runs perfectly.

Obvious benefit- faster change if you want max. acceleration; you save your clutch somewhat; the biggest benefit in my case is avoiding the danger of overrevving and destroying the head. Years ago when riding aggresively and shifting at or near the redline I used to use the clutch. Then, since everythig goes so fast, the clutch sometimes would be disengaged a tiny fraction of a second too long and cause the engine overrev past the redline. The rev limiter does not help; even fraction of a second at say 2,000 RPM over the limit can ruin your valves. Aggresive shifting I think is safer without the clutch. I do it always now and never had any problem.

I think that, colour of spark plugs notwithstanding, the most important factor still is the considerable leaning out of your mixture after airboxtomy. That makes all your engine so much hotter that pinging/vapour lock becomes an immediate issue. Playing with your PC helps a lot. I was able to cure all symptoms totally and the engine runs better then ever.

I would be afraid to support the whole bike just on a crossover. Maybe the whole system will support the weight but you can bend the metal in.. Why not use the item every even casual DIY-er should have- the elegant, easy to use after some practice and very useful for almost all service original MG red paddock stand? For just measuring your sag you do not need a static sag of the bike alone (your middle measurement). Allyou need are the to measurements.

I really did not intend to offend you Dave and if I did then I am sorry for that. All I wanted to say was that irrespectable what any dyno would show I was sure that X-over increases horsepower. I am sure that dyno is an useful instrument but sometimes a more simple approach is enough. I also think you're right that Mistral might be different then Stucci. But why? All the aftermarket X-over does is eliminates restriction/muffler and improves flow. By the way, in Stucci box I found their dyno graph showing improvement everywhere. I did not trust it also and preferred doing my own measurements .

I do not care what the dyno run pictures show. I am also sure that a lot depends on the operator.. The reason I say that is this: I have stock mufflers (just drilled a little), Stucci X-over and open airbox. After replacing stock X-over with Stucci the max. speed of the bike INCREASED by 7/8 km/hr and that can only mean one thing for sure: The top power did increase. You do not need dyno to know that.

The filter is of crucial importance for any engine especially Guzzi; capacity, size, proper valving. Also it is one of the least expensive maintenance items and saving few pennies on it is false economy, very false in my mind. I bought the whole batch of stock filters from my dealer, spent a hundred and some dollars and got peace of mind for some years in that respect. I would advice you to do the same. If the dealer is not convenient many of mail order places carry them of course.

Stucci X-over and Napoleon barends do miracles for 4,000 RPM vibrations.

After adding an open lid mode my bike experienced a significant leaning out across entire rev range. In my particular case that was a blessing since my bike was too rich everywhere. But in few spots it turned out to become too lean and needed some careful adjustments. I think, generally, you should not open your airbox without having PC and being able to adjust. The increased noise is welcomed and pleasant for me; I am not so sure about increase in power.

I do not want to sound negative and besides it is just my opinion but... I do not like the look on this bike. It looses its balance and looks no different then a woman pulling up the bottom of her skirt. Might be interesting on the first look but the whole elegance is gone.

Mine on the other hand never fogs up no matter how much sun or how hot day is. It does not worry me at all . About open box: My bike was running rich from factory. After opening the box I even had to richen up few spots on PC: open airbox leans out the whole thing a lot.

One thing is for sure: An official MG Shop Manual specifies either Sachs or WP rear shock. There are pictures, settings etc. Mine is Sachs.

Did anybody replace the pads with other then stock and found them better? And if yes then better in what sense? Thanks

Mike, I am most interesed what were the symptoms of your speedo failure exactly. I think mine is going south - it seems the damping mechanism is inoperarive. Warranty expires next month; got to act fast.

I am shooting in a dark here but when playing with my Power Commander there is an advanced function of setting your throttle from 0 to 100%. I did it once some time before and being generally a computer semiliterate does not help either, but you can observe on you laptop screen how the throttle smoothly (or not smoothly perhaps) changes. Would that be useful to asses your TPS in a sense?

I was told they were 1.05. What units are these I have no idea. He (Lindemann guy on the phone) said kilograms, but I am not sure. They are NOT progressive since progressive are not recommended anymore, they say. Stock are supposedly .85. I am not sure about that also. Anyways the new springs look like made of identical material, same length, a little bit thicker wire and over 1/2 a coil less. So definitely stiffer. I still cannot believe how the proper spring and damping affected handling and feel. Riding became easier by 50% at least.