Tom M

They are both beautiful. Care to give us the details on that Tonti?

The only thing that I'd add to the other suggestions below is maybe bring an extra plug cap in addition to extra plugs. I guess the plug caps can break along with the plug if you have a tip-over. If you have a stock seat and stock bars I'd also bring Ibuprofen or your favorite pain reliever. I spent 6 or 7 hours on my LeMans last Friday and my butt and shoulders were killing me by the end of the day.

I've never missed a shift and my bike shifts better than my old 84 Honda 1100! I'm running Redline now but it shifted just as nice with the previous owners dino oil in the box. No complaints from me. I do suggest that you learn to preload the shifter with your toe if you want to snick off really quick shifts. My V11 will gladly do clutchless shifts using this technique too, but I don't see any reason for doing that on the street. You guys who are getting lots of false neutrals may need to lower your shifter a bit relative to the footpeg. FWIW old euro MX bikes used to have real long lever throws compared to the japanese bikes. A common trick that I used on my old Maico was to cut a 1/4" slice out of the middle of the shift lever then weld it back together. It made the shifting quicker but also required more effort.

Parvo, See here :http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=611 Ben, Here's a brief description of what's required for adjusting Ducati valves. You'd get to do up to 8 of them on a 999: http://www.ducatitech.com/2v/maint/adjust/index.html I think Ducati recommends first check and adjust at 6k mi and repeat every 6k. Dealers around here get big dollars for this. The Guzzi is a piece of cake in comparison. I was thinking of getting a big Monster for a while but after reading up on the different engines available I decided the dual spark 1000 would be the best for me. Then I followed my heart (and checked my budget) and bought the LeMans!

Thanks guys.

I was wondering what you guys who ride often in the rain use for gloves? I would think that your hands would get very cold in 50* to 60* F temperatures if you're wearing soaked gloves. Any suggestions/recommendations?

FWIW I have read that you can mix 5wt and 10wt fork oil 50-50 to get 7.5wt. I've done it and it seemed to work.

Titanium fasteners are stronger than aluminum and lighter than steel. I seriously doubt anyone would feel a perceptible difference in performance by changing steel fasteners to Ti on a V11. Like most carbon fiber bits (exhaust excluded), they are mainly bike jewelry. If you want real performance gains your money would be better spent at a gym to lose weight off your body, or at a track school to increase your riding skills.

Here's a good writeup on horsepower: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horsepower I checked their writeup on torque but mkg wasn't mentioned as a unit of measure.

Never mind all of that. I just want to know what the hell that thing is on your head in that picture. Is it a WW2 leather flight helmet??? You may be wackier than I thought If you're looking to dump the duck I have a buddy who may be interested since you're not too far from us. If you're serious about selling it PM or email me the details and I'll start bugging him right away!

You're just trying to make the rest of us jealous, aren't you? Seriously though, I envy you for the trip that you're on. That's some beautiful country that you're riding through. Enjoy it! I too had a neutral light problem recently. I was all set to go after the relays but a quick peek at the sender showed that the connector had disconnected itself. Plugged it back in and all is good again. Check yours if you haven't already. PS My replacement relays from Dan arrived the other day. I will swap them in even though the factory ones have been fine so far because evryone here told me it's just the right thing to do

Unfortunately I can't take full credit for that one. The guy who bought my old bike from me sent it to me

You are driving along a NARROW two lane road with a NO PASSING sign posted, and come upon a bicycle rider. Do you follow this slow-moving bicycle rider for the next 2 miles, or do you break the law and pass? Which is the correct choice? Scroll down... Why take chances?

I've been getting a blank screen when I click the search icon at the top of the page for a few days now. Is the search function not working or is it just me?

YES! Apparently my swingarm bearings were loose because I snugged them up a bit and the wiggle I was feeling when I rolled off the throttle is gone. Thanks for the tip! I owe you one...

Speaking of wives with scars my wife has a scarred knee from a motorcycle accident back when she was in college (she was pillion). She has ZERO interest in ever getting on a motorcycle again so I'm riding solo for the forseeable future, which is OK with me.

Nice looking '95 Sport here: http://www.mgnoc.com/Classifieds/classifiedads.htm http://www.craigslist.org/about/cities.html is a good source for some areas. A lot of dealers have used bikes posted on their webpages too.

Can you imagine pulling into Lowes or Home Depot in one of those?

Hi guy, There's something wrong with that dyno chart. I believe the HP and torque curves should always cross at 5252 rpm, yours cross about 6000 rpm. horsepower = rpm x torque / 5252 torque = 5252 x horsepower / rpm I bet your peak hp will get better once the piston & rings are worn in a little more. It seems like every post that I've seen from those with the FBF pistons has been very positive. This could be a nice little winter project for me! Thanks for the information.

Thanks for the swingarm info guys. I'm going to take a look at mine this weekend. The back end of my bike has felt a bit loose to me since I got it a few months ago.

That's a beautiful bike you have there Guzzbun. Congrats on your win. These guys must not have considered the MGS01... http://www.webbikeworld.com/ducati-motorcy...ucati-award.htm Maybe Guzzbun could crash the awards ceremony and show them what a beautiful bike really looks like. Then again if they gave the "Harley-Davidson VRXSE Screamin’ Eagle V-Rod Destroyer" a special prize then maybe it would be a lost cause

Personally I'd stay away from aluminum screws and find some stainless steel equivalents.

Did you find the loose bearings by jacking the rear end and tugging on the swingarm? Also how do you tighten the bearings? (I guess I need a shop manual)I would have thought these bikes would have cartridge bearings that can't be tightened. Thanks, Tom

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'll give the rear wheel removal method a shot.

Congrats on the new bike! Yes your timing is handled by the ECU. Mine pings too, in the midrange under heavy load with the highest octane gas I can get around here, and I have a custom Powercommander map that was done for the previous owner by a shop that's familiar with Guzzis. Runs great other than those occasional pings. I'll be real interested to hear what others have to say about the pinging...