Gregg

Hi Ken, Thanks for that ! I quite like it too ! Not wanting to highjack the thread but : It is a custom fairing which was marked as designed for a Kawasaki 1100 from a fibreglass manufacturer in the Western suburbs of Sydney. I searched his rack full of moulds and samples for about 3 hours one Saturday until I found this one which seemed to suit the shape of the bike, headlight width and my helmet height when on the bike. I manufactured some support brackets from stainless steel which mount through the Lever pivot points. Gregg

Wanted a LH handlebar switch cluster - I had a mate ride my bike and he "brushed" the headlight switch which promptly fell off. I do not think it is repairable as the nylon push tab is broken off in the switch. If anyone has a spare LH unit they would like to sell (and would not mind arranging International freight). I would love to get the race tape off my bar end - sealing the switch from rain, and get my bike back to normal ! Gregg Australia

If I was starting again, I would seriously consider SW-Motech. They "borrowed" the Luggage Locker design and improved upon it. They don't list a V11 application, but I'm sure it could be sorted out. Ken I have a SWMotech bag on my V11, it is great - easy to take on and off at fuel stops. I have mounted a 1/4" sheet of rubber to the leading edge to stop it rubbing on the top of tank pad. They do make a tank ring for the V11 and it is easy to fit. The e-mail address is noRRus.net [info@noRRus.net] and the guy who helped me is Markus Normann ( he does e-mail in English) very helpful. I bought the "Engage Sport" bag which you hopefully should be able to see in the attached photo (I hope) Gregg

I have a brand new Green 2000 model tank for sale if anyone is interested. The downside is that it is in Sydney NSW Australia. I bought it on Flea-bay about 3 months ago from a guy in Melbourne Australia who listed it with the side panels (which are the bits I really wanted as mine are cracked at the screw holes). The tank is unblemished and looks as if it has never had the filler-cap or outlet pipe installed. I can supply photos if you pm me. Regards Gregg

Wanted 1 only RH (throttle) side Guzzi Titanium can for a V11. Unfortunately mine has been dented and deformed by a Harley or some such bike backing into my bike while parked at a Motorcycle Show a few months ago ! I have put up with the creases since, but would love to get a reasonably priced replacement. Please PM me if you have one and are willing to go through the hassle of freighting to Australia !

Guy, If you could let me know how it goes that would be appreciated !

I also am thinking of replacing my rear hugger after finding a link to the Pratt Lay site: http://www.prattlay.co.uk/fasteners. I am also hoping Edge will supply me with his sealing kit as well, to make the back of my V11 really well protected. Has anyone had any experience with the Pratt Lay Hugger on a V11 ? Is it a worthwhile product, seems cheap enough ? The main things that worried me was that it did not seem to extend back & over as far as the standard item and is held on with plastic clips instead of bolting to the swing arm. Any comments from current users would be appreciated.

Hey Edge, If you are making some more in the near future I would like to put my name down for a full set - they look the bees knees ! I can wait almost forever for perfection ! Thanks & good luck over there ! Gregg

Alex, a couple of poor photos of the paint marks are now on this link : http://greggsguzzi.spaces.live.com Regards Gregg

Photos of offending bearing is attached on http://greggsguzzi.spaces.live.com/default.aspx?_c02_owner=1 Gregg

I don't know whether this is circumstantial evidence or not, but I took the back wheel off my V11 (which started this string originally) to measure up for a piece of rubber to protect my gearbox breather from water spray as recemmended as an enhancement by Pete. I noticed an oddity in my back wheel hole when repacking it with grease to re-fit. One of the bearings had split around its circumference ! The break looks fairly old as the surfaces had discoloured - I am now wondering if this damage is due to riding for 3 years with the shaft out of position. I had felt no resisitance in the wheel before taking it off and the inner bearing still turned on its race quite freely - scary stuff ! Some things have not been having a nice time in my rear end -(so to speak). Thanks again Pete for noticing the original problem & inspiring me to do more work and checking on my bike - I may well have been riding into oblivion on my next ride ! I will try to post some photos of the bearing failure tonight when I get home.

[ . Made me a case of beer anyway Pete And a customer for as often as I can get the V11 to you ! Apologies to all, for the "man-boobs" comment but bugger it - I do like my fishnet summer jacket ! I may have to visit Fyshwick next time I am down - I thought there was just fireworks and motorcycle dealers there ?

Dear Pete, You obviously did not not notice the set of "man boobs" that I have naturally - maybe hidden by my fishnet hot weather jacket on the day ! Thanks again mate - I'll be back !

I was on my way from Canberra back to Sydney last Monday morning and had arrived at Mr Ropers to pick up a sump baffle plate for my V11 as pre-arranged by phone and e-mail with Pete. Having never met "the infamous gent" except for his many humorous posts and illuminating advice on many mechanical subjects Guzzi, I did not know quite what to expect. Pete rode in with the early morning sun providing a almost supernatural aura around him on his superb Yellow Griso - almost a religious experience, a very good start ! Pete had a quick look at my V11, we discussed the sump plate which he quickly produced from under his arm and he gave me detailed instructions on how to fit it, after which Pete insisted I take his Griso for a blast down into the nearby countryside. I began by refusing and thinking that this was just a polite offer, but soon realised that Pete was very serious and really wanted me to give it a try - which I did - what a blast ! NOW comes the point of this tale - when I arrives back all smiles, Pete gives me the newly discovered bad news " you ain't going nowhere Sunshine - check out your driveshaft !". He had been having a quick complimentary check over my bike for 5 minutes while I was gone on the Griso. I followed his pointing finger and found the 2 marks which are supposed to line up on the rear and front portions are out by about 10 degrees- probably by the unnamed Guzzi approved workshop in Sydney who had replaced my rear tyre 3 months ago. Panic ---- thought - I am on my way back to Sydney, have to be home for business appointments etc by mid afternoon and its 250km away! Pete sees my face and just casually says "we should be able to fix this real smart and get you on your way !" With that out comes the race stand and away he goes - 20 minutes later after the back wheel was off and on again to reposition the shaft correctly, I was politely but firmly told not to worry about payment for the work "pleased to do it - take it for a spin". The bike feels totally together, changes gear easier, reacts to bumps better, no false neutrals etc etc etc. I know where I am taking my bike for services from now on - even if Bugendore is 3 hours away from Sydney - man the guy knows his Guzzis ! I'll drop it down there one weekend and pick it up the next - it's worth it to have someone who can see problems in a 5 minute casual look-over which has been missed in its last 2 oil changes (and by dumb klutz me as well in my regular check-overs) ! Thanks Pete !! MotoModa is highly recommended by me, to all within reach of Bungendore !!

Mine is on the way - freeloading no more - thanks Jaap ! Great site - saved me hours of frustration working on the bike in the last year, and always keeps me entertained.

As my Stay Upright course on 21-1 is in Canberra - just down the road from the aforementioned Mr Roper at Bugendore. I was maybe goin to see if he was in the workshop or the pub and buy him a beer and see if I could smuggle one of those sump baffle plates into my saddle bags on the way out !

I have had my 2000 V11 for 17,500Km (11,000 miles) in 9 months and I am a "returned to riding after a 25 year break" mature rider. I have attended 2 Stay Upright (advanced riding courses in Australia) and am booked into another one in a weeks time - they have helped greatly to stop that "puckering" into some downhill LH corners ! I found my V11 was similar to Richard Z experience to start with initially - after a month I checked the suspension settings and set them all back to standard which made a big difference to the way it handled tight bumpy corners - worth checking that it is set up to the book as a good start point. The next thing I played with was backing-off the steering damper notch by notch - now I ride with it at its lowest setting and have not experienced head shake as yet. This helped in slow tight corners and made it feel like it wanted to change direction more. I have also developed a riding style which uses 3rd gear more and more in tight or unknown roads as 4th felt right but was sucking me into corners faster than I was comfortable with - 3rd was much more responsive to throttle roll-offs and counter-steering inputs. All in all I agree that the V11 has taught me a lot and I will probably never ride "George" to his full potential but Christ it is great fun learning to ride smoothly on a bike that talks back to you ! Viva Guzzi !

I think I could now actually become a professional flea g-spot massager and probably have the equipment size to justify the title.

Too late, I have forced the shroud out through the bulb hole, like doing keyhole surgery with a set of duck nosed pliers. I had a look at the glass side and decided I was too likely to crack the thing, so went the hard way. Not one of the most enjoyable jobs I have done on the Guzzi ! I am always happy when I am on the bike !

Thanks for that, I will just use a bit more force as my bulb just didn't want to move and I wasn't game to take a chance that they would give. Logic told me they should just pull or screw out - but I also wouldn't have been surprised knowing my luck if Veglia had built the tacho around the bulb either.

I have scoured the Tech site for links to tacho problems and have found many posts that discuss the earthing issues etc. But my Veglia tacho's light suddenly went dim and then out completely - I consulted the site and my workshop manual on CD and removed the tacho reasonably easily ( lucky Huh ?)except for 2 of the mount bolts deciding to become loose (which I plan to stick back solid with a metal putty as has been suggested by many posts & links). The bulb is dead so I thought it should be just a matter of replacing it. My problem/handicap is that I cannot remove the bulb - the mounting of which I am still recovering from the shock of Veglia or Guzzi's design ineptitude. The nylon push seal is infantile - the spring is haphazard, and the mushroom composite contact plate is random all just to mount a bulb, but I guess you have all heard that before ! When I finally rounded these projectiles all up from the garage floor 10 feet away on dismantling (& the subsequent beer consumption immeadiately afterwards required to remain sane). I then focused back on the bulb. I cannot for the life of me see how you remove this dead bulb without dismantling the tacho. Would anyone have been here and done this before ? I am half inclined to just put it all back together and ignore the problem of an unlit tacho, but if it is an easier fix than it appears to be, then I should do it while I have the bike apart this far. Appreciate any advice or even an offer for sale of a 2nd hand replacement white tacho with a working bulb ! P.S. I have removed the bulb shroud that came loose in the bottom of my headlight - talk about keyhole surgery - what a delight and decided misguidedly that I would fix the tacho light while there ( mistake 2) Gregg

I was doing my weekly inspection/bolt tighten on the bike (a 2000 V11 Sport) on the weekend and found that the bulb shroud in the headlight had come loose and is lying in the inside of the reflector. I had done a very rough road ride about 2-3 weeks ago and imagine it has come loose & dropped after the bashing it received. Can this be clipped back in ? I have yet to pull the fairing off and take the headlight apart. Will the glass lens seperate from the reflector or am I looking at a new headlight insert ? If so I may investigate a after market car QI insert as I imagine the original Guzzi one will cost many $. Has anyone had experience of either refitting the bulb shroud or if this is not possible fitting a new semi-sealed beam car unit in place of the whole light ? Thanks Gregg

Hi Felix, No, it is a 2006 Honda Gold Wing tourer - mistifyingly smooth & fast when it is ridden by a Super-bike School Level 3 graduate ! Regards Gregg

Gregg - Sydney, Australia

Zoltan, Did you end up covering the hole with tape or leave it open? Mine has not fogged up as yet but I am watching out for condensation.