Tom M

Me too. Thanks for sharing. PS a shorter sidestand bumper will keep it from dragging.

FWIW I wrote up my valve adjust method here. It's pretty straightforward and fairly easy to do. Hope this helps, Tom http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=17247&page=2&hl=intake&do=findComment&comment=191378

Andrew Gray might be able to provide some insight on racing a Guzzi. http://teamguzzinerd.blogspot.com/

The gap should be .6 to 1.2mm and can be checked with a feeler gauge if the engine is apart or with a vernier caliper if it's together according to the manual as mo-biker stated.

Ken, Check to make sure your shifter isn't bottoming out on the porkchop when you're downshifting.

I removed the breather hose that failed and it's definitely defective. It's longer, fatter and much softer than the new one. It seems to me that it expanded from the hot oil and vapors. I'll post a pic of the two when I get a chance. I couldn't find the receipt but I know I changed it when I had the jugs off for valve and piston work in 2010. I'll contact my usual vendors and see if they have my purchase records and take it from there. I don't expect a refund but I want them to know that they were selling defective products a few years ago.

Czakky, I bought the hose that just failed from a Guzzi dealer. I looked at my old receipt pile but couldn't find the one with that hose on it so I'm not sure exactly who I got it from. The failed hose seemed to have expanded and it was much softer than I remember. I'll check it against the new hose to see if I'm right. jwh20, You're right that the fairing doesn't have to come off to pull the tank and check the wiring but I pulled it anyway since I have to replace the breather hose. Fortunately it takes less than 5 minutes. Michael, "Hold my beer and watch this" usually doesn't turn out well, does it? Thanks for the offer to help though. I won't be doing much with the bike this weekend as my youngest is graduating High School. The melted 30amp fuse seems to be fairly common and usually not due to a regulator failure but I will check mine when I get it running again. The way that day went I wouldn't be surprised if something else went wrong. I was half expecting my pawl spring to break on the way home...

My bike pinged badly when I bought it with 7k miles on it. I fattened up the mixture in the "ping zone" with the PCIII but I couldn't eliminate the pinging altogether until I did the piston swap mentioned in that other thread. Please let us know how you make out with the Yamalube product.

I jumped on my bike last Saturday to go for a ride. Turned the key and hit the starter button, nothing happened. No relay or solenoid noises. Damn. Started looking around under the seat and found the plastic on the 30amp fuse completely melted into the fusebox. Double damn. Had to use a solder iron to free the melted fuse from the fusebox. Checked the contacts and one was annealed/soft from the heat, wouldn't grip a new fuse tightly even after squeezing it tight. Triple damn. Back from the autoparts store with a new fuse holder, solder and heatshrink it in, put everything back together and hit the starter. Nothing again. This day was starting to suck. Jump on V11Lemans.com and dig up Kiwi Roy's troubleshooting posts. Did I try turning the bars lock to lock? Nope. Give that a try and it fires right up. Yay. Now I can look forward to pulling the fairing and tank to check the electrical connectors. Go for a ride. Ten miles out I notice my brake pedal is slippery. Look down and see oil on my boot. And on the engine, exhaust and tire. Pull over and look around. The oil breather pipe that I replaced four years ago has sheared itself off at the bell housing spigot. The sucking was complete. I rode it home, cleaned it up and parked it. Ordered another breather hose and a MAXI fuse and holder. Looks like I'll be wrenching again soon...

I have Mike Rich pistons and I'm happy with them. If you go that route I would suggest that you send your cylinders to him too so he can check piston & ring fit and prepare the cylinder walls. I didn't do that and had ring seating problems even though I thought I followed Mike's cylinder prep and break-in instructions correctly. I know of another forum member who had the same problem. IMO it's best to let Mike prep the cylinders.

If your engine is pinging under load and you're sure that your mixture is good it could be due to carbon buildup on the pistons and in the combustion chamber. I posted my experience in trying to cure pinging in the 'have another quart" thread. :2c:When you get the PCIII try the GH67 map in the fileshare section. My bike runs really well with that map along with the stock 02 ECU, Guzzi Ti exhaust, and modified airbox lid.

Hello Martin, There's a thread here that might help you out with your clutch slipping problem here but for some reason I can't paste links anymore so I'll just have to suggest that you search the term "mineral spirits" to find the post from Greg Field on Jan 05 2009. Hope that helps, Tom

I have a thread titled " '02 fuzzy paint fix question" in the tech topics forum from 2006 that might help you out. I can't seem to paste the link in this reply but maybe you can find it with the search function.

czakky said: "Welded back on...still pinging." If you're sure that your TPS and mixture is right and your exhaust is tight your pinging could be due to carbon buildup on the pistons and combustion chambers. I'm pretty sure that's what caused pinging in my motor. Here's why; I fought the pinging for years, and even had my air/fuel mixture verified on a dyno before I decided it had to be caused by something else. At about 27k miles I pulled the heads and had the valves & guides checked. They were worn enough to justify replacing them. There was lots of carbon buildup in the combustion chambers, probably due to oil getting past the worn guides & stems. I cleaned it all up and threw in a set of Mike Rich pistons when I reassembled the motor. The pinging was finally gone! ...But it came back . The rings didn't seat well so oil was getting by them and carbon built up again. I re-ringed it, cleaned everything up, and after speaking with Mike Rich I deglazed the cylinder more thoroughly that the first time. That did the trick. The rings seated, no more pinging or oil blow-by, and I'm a happy V11 owner once again . I cured pinging in my motor twice by cleaning the carbon off of my pistons and out of the combustion chambers. If you're sure everything else is well with your motor that might be what's causing the ping.

It's easier to get at that front zerk fitting when the rear wheel is off for a tire change. That's a good time to bleed the clutch too. That said it's not a bad idea to pull the swingarm and check/grease those bearings. Just make sure that the yellow paint marks on the two driveshaft halves line up EXACTLY when you put it back together. That means the ujoint crosses will be aligned correctly. When I change the tranny oil I make a tray out of aluminum foil that sits on my exhaust crossover . I form one corner so it funnels the oil into the drain pan without getting any on the crossover. I find that's easier than pulling the exhaust apart

Welcome Martin. I doubt that your problem is worn fork bushings with only 23K km on the bike. Are you positive that it's coming from the fork? You might want to check the front motor mount bolts before tearing into the fork. If the clunk is indeed coming from the fork I think you or someone else needs to service the fork to see if something has come loose in there. Instructions on how to do it are in the workshop manual. It's probably due for some fresh fork oil anyway. I and many others here have taken our forks apart to replace seals and other parts without any special tools. There are a few threads on fork servicing in the "How To" section of this site. Good luck.

EME carries reasonably priced fuel and oil filters for our bikes too. http://www.euromotoelectrics.com/category-s/1307.htm?searching=Y&sort=7&cat=1307&show=30&page=1&search=%20V11

The flasher unit is the silver cylindrical thing next to the ECU under your seat.

The recall notices for the early V11 Sports are here: http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=14680 . Check the VIN on the bike that you're interested in and if it falls within the recall range ask if the owner has documentation that proves the recall work was done. Danders, AndyH had some good suggestions. You might get some more ideas here: http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5692 Good luck with your potential purchase!

I know a guy who used the M-Unit when he built this bike. He's very happy with the M-unit and the bike.

I replaced my seals and wipers without any special tools. I used the old seals to seat the new ones. I bought mine from MG Cycle.

I believe the speedo angle drives are made by Veglia. Google Veglia angle drive and you will see both 60 and 90 degree versions. I don't know if they will all work with our bikes though.

Yes, I believe the Stucchi crossover will give you a slightly mellower sound than the Mistral based on what I've observed on my bike. FWIW I have the factory Ti cans.

Here's a thread on re-springing the post 03 'Zokes with Guzzitech progressives: http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=12946&do=findComment&comment=144447 Since Guzzitech sells the same springs for all of the V11 Marzocchi forks I would assume that you could use straight-rate springs from Sonic Springs or Traxxion Dynamics.

I've run both the Mistral and the FBF (much like Stucchi) crossovers for years at a time and there is a difference in the sound as well as the performance. Quite a while back there were pictures on this site of both crossovers cut in half. They showed that there's a substantially larger crossover opening in the Stucchi than there is in the Mistral. What this means is the Stucchi sends more of the left exhaust pulse down the right pipe than the Mistral does, and vice versa, which is why the Stucchi is the less restrictive of the two. What it means for the exhaust note is the Stucchi sounds a little more muted than the Mistral. When I first rode with the Mistral my bike sounded much more Harley-like to me. Both will give a louder and sharper sound than the stock crossover.