docc

Ha, I had one of those for a couple years after I crashed the Sport. It was white and "Popcorn" would have been a good name for it! The Sport is more like a grand lasagna with a side of pasta, a full bodied chianti, and for dessert: tiramisu. By the time the plates are away and the bottle is empty, you know you've had a rich and varied experience, but can be certain you've gone in over your head. Sometimes, it can make you feel like popcorn would have been a good idea!

Ok, ok, you can tease us twice. Still, somebody's gotta go show those guys what a really foxy motorcycle is.

It does probably reduce its Z rating to H, so try to keep it under 200 kph.

I thought I would post feedback on the cold weather results, but I just haven't ridden much this winter. When I have, the Sport has run well and never dipped back into the 32-33 mpg typical in cold weather past. Still, there have only been a couple issues (other than the basic "tuning") which have helped my Sport's manners this much (totally corroded coil wire on the right coil and heat destruction of the main fuse). Well, there was that bad TPS . . . and the broken connection inside the stator . . .

While this thread has devolved a bit between cush drives, torque arms, and temp sensors, here is the thread where I attempted to post the temp sensor results without the, um, drama: Engine Temperature Sensor

+1 with DanM that getting your springs set up for your weight is first and foremost. Apparently, the Ohlins V11 shock is no longer available. After all, the V11 is: soon-to-be-vintage . . . and . . . certain-to-escalate-in-value. Look for mine (with its Ohlins shock!) at a Bonham's auction in your (or your grand children's) lifetime!

The only custom bushings I've seen were Delrin and fitted to the torque arm of Andy York's well ridden 2002 LeMans. I was always hoping he'd make them largely available, but I do not believe he's currently in the bike business. Other than riding that LeMans all over the eastern US seaboard and all points west. He does jump in here from time to time, so maybe The Perfesser could shed some light on the Delrin bushing business! I do recall he simply had them made to fit the torque arm by a local machine shop. It has always fascinated me that the original rubber bushings appear to be captured by the fasteners which would impart some damping from the twisting of the rubber (and, perhaps, account for so many of them eating themselves up). I've long thought it would free the suspension movement to release the bushing to rotate freely. Of course, these are in the Torque Arm, not the wedges of the cush drive.

Gettting a crank when the bars are locked back and forth suggests the two "bullet connectors" for the clutch switch that lie behind the head stock along the left side of the frame. Clean, crimp, grease, and seal! These will only stop the starter from turning. The running of the pump is elsewhere - probably relays and relay bases.

All the urethane bushings I've bought were "stiffer" than the stock rubber components, both for suspension bushings and motor mounts. I've got that whole Swiss cheese thing on my list of more things to do . . .

It appears like it may be a front cover issue. I removed the tank, retorqued the pick up and the oil lines, restarted, and within minutes had oil pouring from the top cover again. On the ride home, it was enough to coat the shoulder of the rear tire ! Ah well, thanks again for the responses. It shouldn't be that big of a deal to fix... After chasing an elusive oil leak that I thought was timing chest, or even a crack, I found the O-ring in the timing sensor had played up. Easy fix and no more wetness.

moved to tech topics for better discussion. *just a reminder*: the How To forum is for explanations, procedures, and descriptions. This is the better place for questions and discussion . . .

How many miles on the Guzzi when the U/J failed? Front or rear? Was it just noisy or worse? Thanks for feedback!

Oh no! I forgot about that one! I just walked over and gave a little tug with my thumbnail . . . and it popped right off! I see it brought some of the silver paint with it. Saved, again, by V11LeMans.com and its members.

Oh no! I forgot about that one!

moved here for more viewing enjoyment!

Skeeve's point is well taken: there is no going back from my approach. I cleaned all the adhesive off and roughed the backs of the aluminum badges with 80 grit paper, then scarred the side plates with the Dremel and affixed with high strength epoxy. Any repaint will have me masking the badges off. I still can't believe the thing fell off in my hand at the fuel-up.

Forget that. This is just to make the light bulb work (illumination). Has no effect whatsoever on the tach. Common fault on the white faced tachs seems to be break in one of the coil feed lines, which tend to break from vibration. This is fixable. I do see the diagram shows separate ground paths for the instrument and the illumination. It does look like the instrument itself grounds back through the harness. Certainly, the mounting studs only appear to ground the illumination. The diagram also shows two separate AMP connectors between the ECU and the tach. Before I replaced the tach, I would track those down for a cleaning and dielectric grease. It does appear the tach gets its signal from the ECU. From there, I would think the signal comes from the phase sensor. G2G, how does that fault in the coil feed lines figure in? Where would we look for that?

I would certainly try to restore the ground path through the mounting studs first.

Fueling up yesterday, the small eagle badge on the top triple clamp fell off. I was amazed it hadn't jumped off on a lonely stretch of back road. At home, I pulled at the badge on the swingarm side plate and it fell off in my hand! The adhesive appears to be a proprietary olive oil based foam. I'm in the process of roughing the surfaces with 80 grit paper and using an epoxy to reattach. Don't let yours get away!

Good safety tip there, Ray! Don't cross the streams and don't ignite the brake cleaner in the presence of argon. "Mustard gas" - nasty. Same as mixing bleach with ammonia. Sure it gets the shower clean, but . . .

Ah! There it is: page 80 in the Owner's Manual. Good work, Guzzimoto. The LeMans may have slightly higher rear axle loads as the wheel is wider and the tire is bigger. The frame changes from the Sport might also affect the loads. Any one out there with a LeMans manual? BTW, my Ohlins remote preload adjuster is cable actuated. Again, I'm not sure if the stock Guzzi Ohlins has remote preload adjustment.

Hmm, I don't see a published GVWR for my 2000 Sport in the Owner's manual, Workshop Manual, or the sales brochure. Many of us have found that anyone who has ever been aquainted with cornbread or bratwurst might have more personal mass than the springs were designed for. Swapping to correct springs is not that difficult or expensive and really transforms any/the bike. Carrying passengers or adding luggage really makes remote rear preload adjustment a nice bonus. My aftermarket Ohlins has it, but I'm not sure if the Ohlins equipped LeMans of '03 and '04 are preload adjustable.

So, what does your tachometer show the idle speed to be?

I've had those same results from too much Grappa.

I guess it's just me hearing Wagner's Ride of the Valkyrie . . . I had a bike once that rode to Buddy Guy's Damn Right I Got the Blues . . .