John O'Sullivan

Well gentlemen, I'm back, nice to see that flywheels are still flying! I got a RAM replacement from Teo Lamers and it was fitted in Jaca (Northern Spain) but I've done very little with the bike since I've been building a new house which takes a little time. The RAM flywheel is a steel construction to my knowledge and is reliable as Teo Lamers have been using them for years. Best to you all, John

THREE BLACK MEN At the National Art Gallery in Dublin , a husband and wife were staring at a portrait that had them completely confused. The painting depicted three black men totally naked sitting on a park bench. Two of the figures had black willies, but the one in the middle had a pink willie. The curator of the gallery realized that they were having trouble interpreting the painting and offered his assessment. He went on for over half an hour explaining how it depicted the sexual emasculation of black men in a predominately white, patriarchal society. "In fact," he pointed out, "some serious critics believe that the pink willie also reflects the cultural and sociological oppression experienced by gay men in contemporary society". After the curator left, an Irishman, approached the couple and said, "Would you like to know what the painting is really about"? "Now why would you claim to be more of an expert than the curator of the gallery"? asked the couple. "Because I'm the guy who painted it", he replied. "In fact, there are no black men depicted at all. They're just three Irish coal miners. The guy in the middle went home for lunch".

Wrong way round

I have a V11 Left Cylinder Head for sale on Ebay: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...E:IT&ih=014

Well you know that if its an Irish club you must have a split at the first meeting. I'm for the southern non conformist left-wing "kickstart" brigade

Keith, I'll take 2 please, one for the nice new V11 and one for the Centauro. V11 engine may be fitted this weekend

The saga continues: Took down the cylinders last night to find the reason for the knock was a shagged left side big end! I'm really glad I have a centauro to ride as I will need some relaxation from this STRESS>>>>>>>AGH! The girly bike looks more and more appealing. Maybe I was using the wrong engine oil and should have been using a blend of mascarpone cheese to lovingly bathe the soft metal components

I think it has been a case of poor hardening. I'm going with the http://www.hmb-guzzi.de/ treatment of a new (remanufactured) camshaft/springs etc. I'm sending them heads,camshaft and pistons to get a complete fitting done. I'm going for a "mild" cam as I spend no time over 5,000 RPM and prefer torque to horsepower. I want a sports tourer not a cafe racer. I am really disappointed with the quality of the recent 2002 Guzzi product. I'm probally just their average customer but I'm sure of one thing.....it's the last they will see of my money. A bike with less than 25,000 miles having both its clutch/flywheel and camshaft replaced with a shitty engine case which has not received any customer support, is more than enough for me. Don't get me wrong, I like the product but can't take any more the poor quality and lack of customer care.

My sentiment exactly. I met my tame mechanic today who gave me the same salutation. I have what is techically called "a shagged camshaft" which now requires replacement and engine rebuilding, if this breakdown/repair hassle continues I'm going to be fully qualified with a second livelyhood repairing V11 guzzis! I will shortly have a almost totally non standard V11 scura with only the bubbling engine cases as standard! May it rain sh1t on that camshaft wanker

Yup and its not good. The profiles on the camshaft are damaged, I'm not qualified to give a correct diagnosis but will have a competent mechanic give his opinion tomorrow. I FOUND A NEW GUZZI TOOL !!!!!!! The 32mm nut on the crankshaft sprocket is a bitch to remove due to it being recessed in the sprocket and being less than half the width of a normal nut. A 32mm ring spanner will just slip off the nut as it has little or no grip, the answer is a 32mm plumbers sink socket (like a cheap spark plug socket with a hole in the center of the body for the screwdriver shaft). 10 Euro from your local plumbing supplier.

I think I may have had a cam failure, the symtoms were a increasing knock in the upper engine block, a loss of power getting worse over about 20 miles until the bike no longer wanted to climb hills. I have stripped the cylinder heads and there is no problem with the top end so my next project is the cam? The pushrods are perfect with no wear or marks visable. Am I on the right track?

My first cable broke after 37,000km which is O.K. I replaced it with similar and had three issues: The old cable broke leaving about 10 mm of the insert up in the speedometer which left me wondering how the new cable would fit The routing of the cable between the ignition coils and the spine frame was tricky as the coils had to be unbolted. The offset drive at the gearbox decided to voluntarily split into its metal and plastic halfs (this has been well documented by Belfast Guzzi). I found a fix......clean and degrease individual parts using first diesel, dry and then clean with brake and clutch cleaner. Mate parts using red Locktite...leave to set overnight. BTW two small nylon screw drives reside in that housing and require only a small dab of grease. No photographs as the job was done before camera flashed in head! Hope this helps.

Teo Lamers are advertising for sale an MGS-01 at €24,990 http://www.tlm.nl Have fun

Super Bowl QB breaks jaw, nose in motorcycle crash ............................... Published June 12, 2006, 10:17 PM CDT Super Bowl QB breaks jaw, nose in motorcycle crash By Joe Mandak The Associated Press PITTSBURGH -- Steelers star Ben Roethlisberger, the youngest quarterback to lead a team to the Super Bowl championship, broke his jaw and nose in a motorcycle crash Monday in which he was not wearing a helmet. Four doctors operated on Roethlisberger for seven hours to treat multiple facial fractures and "all of the fractures were successfully repaired," Dr. Harry W. Sell, chairman of the surgery department at Mercy Hospital, told reporters late Monday night. Dr. Daniel Pituch, who led the team, said Roethlisberger was in serious but stable condition, and doctors were aware of no other serious injuries. "His brain, spine, chest and abdomen appear to be without serious injury and there are no other confirmed injuries at this time," he said. The doctors said his condition was not expected to change through the evening, and that no updates were expected until Tuesday. They declined to release further information at his family's request. Roethlisberger was talking to doctors before the surgery, Dr. Larry Jones, chief of trauma at Mercy Hospital said. "He's coherent. He's making sense," Jones said. "He knows what happened. He knows where he is. From that standpoint, he's very stable." Roethlisberger's mother, Brenda, was crying as she arrived at the hospital. Steelers president Art Rooney II said the team was "encouraged by the early reports from the medical team" at the hospital. "I am sure Ben knows that we are praying for his complete recovery." The 24-year-old Roethlisberger was without a helmet, police said. He has said he likes to ride without one, a habit that once prompted a lecture from Pittsburgh coach Bill Cowher. Roethlisberger was on his black 2005 Suzuki Hayabusa -- the company calls it the world's fastest bike for legal street riding -- and heading toward an intersection on the edge of downtown. A Chrysler New Yorker traveling in the opposite direction took a left turn and collided with the motorcycle, and Roethlisberger was thrown, police said. The other car was driven by a 62-year-old woman, police said. They didn't immediately release her name and no charges were filed. Witness Sandra Ford was waiting at a bus stop when she said she saw the motorcycle approach. Seconds later, she said she heard a crash, saw the motorcyclist in the air and ran toward the crash scene. "He wasn't moving and I was afraid that he had died. ... He wasn't really speaking. He seemed dazed but he was resisting the effort to make him stay down," said Ford, who didn't realize the motorcyclist was Roethlisberger. Police spokesman Lt. Kevin Kraus said police and homicide units were leading the investigation, a standard practice when there is an accident with critical injuries. In only his second year in the NFL, Roethlisberger helped guide the Steelers to the Super Bowl title in February at age 23. Training camp for next season begins at the end of July. Several teammates, including backup quarterback Charlie Batch, linebacker Joey Porter and safety Mike Logan, arrived at the emergency room. Some fans also gathered at the hospital, including Juanita Clark, who sells Steelers paraphernalia. "I just feel like he's a family member," said her daughter, Loretta Clark. The NFL's standard player contract prohibits any activity involving "significant risk of personal injury" apart from football. But many prominent athletes ride motorcycles anyway, despite the risk and the possibility of losing salary. In May 2005, Cowher warned Roethlisberger about safe riding after Cleveland tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. was injured in a motorcycle accident. Winslow tore knee ligaments and was lost for the season. Other athletes injured on motorcycles during their careers include basketball's Jason Williams, skiing's Hermann Maier and auto racing's Dario Franchitti. Roethlisberger has said in the past that he prefers not to wear a helmet when riding his motorcycle. He has pointed out Pennsylvania's state law requiring helmets to be worn was repealed in September 2003. "He talked about being a risk-taker and I'm not really a risk-taker. I'm pretty conservative and laid back, but the big thing is to just be careful," Roethlisberger said at the time. "I'll just continue to be careful. I told him we don't ever ride alone, we always ride in a group of people, and I think it makes it even more safe." Roethlisberger continued to ride after Winslow's accident and that angered Terry Bradshaw, who quarterbacked the Steelers to four Super Bowl victories during the 1970s. Visiting the Steelers' training camp last summer, Bradshaw remarked: "Ride it when you retire." Copyright © 2006, The Associated Press.

I think that Navtech (sp) has just recently (02/2006) produced a map of Ireland which is included in this TomTom GPS system! I really only want it for Europe and the U.K.