Tom M

Welcome to the forum Gyles! I for one would love to see some pictures of your race bikes.

Here are a couple tests on the new Buell: http://www.motorcyclists-online.com/o1_681...con-1125R-.html http://www.motorcycledaily.com/27august07_2008buell1125r.htm Did anyone else notice that this state of the art sportbike has no rear shock linkage? It's just a monoshock like our V11 anachronisms

I'm with Ratchet on this. I try to make sure that every fastener on the bike has a locking mechanism; either a lock washer, blue Loctite, or both. When I removed my fairing for the first time last winter I was surprised to find some of the front subframe bolts were VERY loose. They got blue Loctite along with the factory lock washers before re-torquing. Critical bolts like the caliper mounting bolts on my bike have yellow paint-pencil marks so you can tell if they've moved by looking at the marks. I assume they are from the factory. I should start re-marking them because it's so easy to check them with a quick look rather than getting out the tools.

It absolutely sounds like a charging problem. I went through this a few months ago and thanks to all the great info on this forum I was able to quickly determine that my voltage regulator had quit. Here's a link to that thread: http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?...c=11556&hl= There's a lot more info on troubleshooting the charging system available on this site if you search a bit. Good luck!

Me too Antonio. It bears more than a passing resemblance to our LeMans, doesn't it? http://www.cycleworld.com/article.asp?sect...;article_id=454 http://www.onewheeldrive.net/index.php?opt...&Itemid=126

I spotted the Ducati demo van at my local dealer this morning when I was in their neighborhood running errands in my car, so I went back later on the Guzzi and I was just in time for their last demo ride of the day. They were booked solid but had a no-show for a Sport Classic 1000 mono and a 800 Monster. I chose to take the Classic out for about a half an hour with a group. Here are my impressions... Ergos: Not bad at all! I think this one had taller risers than stock because the bars felt about the same height as my LeMans, but they were closer to me which I liked and angled down more which I didn't really care for. I sat on the same model a while back at the dealer and I believe the bars were lower. Pegs were lower the my LM which was very comfortable, but I dragged my boot on turn that I've taken many times on my bike without ever touching down on. I guess that's the pitfall of more leg room. The seat pushed me into the tank a bit and wasn't real easy to move around on which might get uncomfortable after a while. All in all it felt quite a bit smaller than the Guzzi. Suspension: The rear end felt OK but front end was definitely undersprung for my weight (lots of fork dive under braking). Hard to say much else about it given the format and the short ride time Handling: I liked it! It felt a lot like a Monster which I like. The short wheelbase and relatively steep fork made it easier to throw into a turn than my LM. I got a few little wheelies out of it too which I'm sure were a byproduct of the short wheelbase. Engine: Very smooth at idle. I wasn't even sure it was running when I first started it because some of the bikes around me had aftermarket exhaust that completely drowned out what little noise the stock system on the Classic made. I had to check the tach to make sure it was running. Blipping the throttle didn't move the bike at all like I'm used to on the guzzi either. It putted along OK at lower revs but definitely didn't have the torque of the Guzzi below 5k rpm. Above 5k it pulled pretty well, but I didn't get to wring it much because of the group ride format. I probably only hit 7k once and I don't know how close that is to redline since there was no redline on the tach. All in all I think my LM pulls harder, but mine is modified and the Duc was stock so it's not a real fair comparison. Overall I thought it was a really little nice bike. Not nice enough to make me give up the LeMans, but I certainly wouldn't mind owning one.

On an MX bike there is no key so you must use the kill switch. I had a few stuck throttles on dirt bikes in my younger days so I'm quite sure it saved my butt a few times. I also clearly remember one kill switch NOT working with a stuck throttle at high rpm even though it worked at lower rpms. I had to pull in the clutch, lock the rear brake and dump the clutch to stall the bike that time...

Sounds like you didn't open the throttle WFO when you took that reading. I know my old Honda was down around there with the throttle closed but when I opened it like the procedure in the manual said all 4 cylinders were well within spec at around 170 - 180 psi. Congrat's on getting your tuning issues sorted out

Here's a good article on the brewing tire controversy: http://www.speedtv.com/articles/moto/motogp/39712/

This probably doesn't apply to your situation Brian but...I had a low throttle stumble when my bike got really hot this past spring. I had added a new crossover, drilled airbox lid, and a downloaded PCIII map over the winter so I knew there was a possibility I would have to do some manual map tweaking. I tried to note exactly where the stumble was then I looked at the map that I was using. It was leaner than stock in that rpm/throttle area so I added 5 points to a few cells and tried it for a week. Better but not perfect. I added another 5 points after that and my lean cough is gone. Check your map in the area where you're having the problem. If it's significantly leaner than stock you might want to bump a couple cell values up and see how it feels. To me it's like lowering the clip on the slide needles in the carb days, but now I can do it on the PC instead of getting the tools out

I walked right into that one didn't I?

There are crash bars that fit the V11 Sports but I think the fairing would prevent them from mounting on LeMans. Your next best option are probably the Rossopuro headguards available here: http://rmcube.abd.it/RMcube/servlet/contro...deObject=MT1003

I'm no expert but I have a (very) little experience with this so here's my take: The rocker covers are definitely die castings, they look to me like an aluminum alloy (I think so but not 100% sure), so I believe they are OK to anodize. There's a slight chance that they're a zinc alloy though, so you may want to ask your vendor if he can test one. Some aluminum alloys have zinc in them but it's not a high enough percentage to preclude anodizing. OTOH alloys that are primarily zinc cannot be anodized and may be damaged in the anodizing bath. Skeeve, I could be wrong here but certain aluminum alloys may not be good candidates for hard coat anodizing but are OK for standard anodizing. I just looked at the stock black cans that came with my bike and they appear to be anodized. The guzzi black cans are known to turn purple-ish after a while so maybe anodizing is not the best option for them? Could be the supplier just did a poor job but your vendor could do better I know there's a metallurgist on this board (Mattress?), maybe he will weigh in with something more definitive...

SantaFe, Before you buy a new or used caliper you should remove, clean & inspect yours. If you're lucky you may just have some crud in the seal causing your leak. I use the brake lever to pump pistons out of calipers because my compressor sucks.

My feelings exactly Jaap. If I was closer I'd help some of those poor souls haul their bikes out of there. I sure hope insurance covers the losses...

Hi Greg, If you want your dyno files posted feel free to send them to me and I'd be happy to post them here.

Slap a good looking quarter fairing and a non-gargantuan exhaust on the 1200 8 valve greaser and call it a V12 LeMans!

I wouldn't get rid of the fork brace because the front end will become more flexible which is usually considered a bad thing for handling. Try this: stand in front of the bike, hold the front wheel between your knees, grab the handlebars and twist them back and forth. You will probably detect some fork flex. Now remove the brace and try it again. I bet you'll detect a lot more fork flex.

I used to have an HJC CL12 that fit me very well. I now have a Shoei RF1000 that fits me just as well, so I believe those 2 makes/models are designed to fit the same head shape. If your buddy doesn't like the fit of his HJC he probably won't like the RF1000 either.

Hi Joe, The Guzzi tanks are made by Acerbis, who make lots of plastics used on dirt bikes. I know KTM used Acerbis plastics in the past, don't know if they still do. Anyway, try digging around some dirt bike forums to see how they repair ruptured tanks. A call to a KTM shop might help too.

I had to trailer my bike yesterday when my shifter spring broke. I used the bar harness as usual but doubled up on the front tie downs in the unlikely case that one of my 20 year old Ancra's would fail, and I skipped the rear tie downs altogether. No problems at all on a 30 mile haul that included beat up roads under construction and highway travel. Note the bar harness scrunches the grips up a bit. Bike in trailer: Double front tie downs, wheel perpendicular to front wall: Ready to unload: I hauled dirt bikes every weekend for many years tied in a pickup truck bed like this and never had a problem. IMO chocks are absolutely not needed unless you don't have a sturdy wall to support the front tire.

My spring just failed with 14,9xx miles on my '02 LeMans. At least I already have the Cannon spring, will attempt to install it tomorrow . I guess I should have installed it last winter (everybody has 20-20 hindsight, right?), but I thought I was safe given my mileage.

Marc certainly has one of the nicest and most unique bikes in the "no words" thread here. I'd love to see a few pics of his bike with the Rossopuro wheels. Marc, do you have any new pictures of your custom Centauro for us?

I've hauled my LeMans in my utility trailer a few times with no problems at all. I think the best way to attach tie downs to a LeMans is with a canyon dancer bar harness since you really can't get to the lower triple clamp like Richard did on his Sport. edit: or use a cycle cinch harness http://www.cyclecinch.com/CCpages/CCproduct.html Canyon Dancer harness : http://www.newenoughhp.com/browse/view_product_images/331 There's no need for a wheel chock if your utility trailer has sides. Just push the front wheel against the front of the trailer then use the tie downs to compress the fork. As long as the wheel is perpendicular to the front wall it won't move. USE GOOD TIE DOWNS! Get Ancra or equivalent, don't cheap out here. I used soft ties along with tie downs on the passenger footpeg brackets as a backup and to keep the rear end from moving, but I don't think it was necessary.