docc

Aye, but, North Carolina? V-twin heaven!

Both switches gone south? That's like your wife and girlfriend both leaving you at the same time. . . Well, it's been known to happen. Poor bastard then, ya . . .

I'm looking forward to simply trying a smoother spring surface. I'm sure I've drug some fluid out of the forks everytime I pull a spring out. Next time in I'll recheck the luftkammer and reset. TD spoke to me about the 'WD40 cap measure'. Dan equated this with about 10mm height and the point at which most of us could tell a difference. I haven't yet quantified the WD40 cap measure. I'm not sure I have one of those caps . . .

I would think it could be the spacers are out of square, but the beautiful counterbored aluminum spacers that TD sent did it too. I'm thinking more and more it's the nodular surface of the wire material and the ribbed inside of the fork housing. Maybe polishing the spring surface would do it. I've asked Todd at GuzziTech for his input regarding the Hyperpro product. I really didn't think I wanted a 'rising rate' spring, but (obviously) what do I know? I left the oil in the forks that I had changed during the unseated cartridge debacle. Looking at Peter Verdone's charts I'm sure I could do better at choosing oils. This "centistokes@40 degrees centigrade" looks like a remarkable tool for fine tuning. "Thicker" for compression and lighter for rebound, ya think? I'm vague ( does it show ) on the luftkammer. I set mine to 100mm with the froks in the vice. Can it be set in situ ( with the forks on the bike)? With the spring and spacers in place, forks fully compressed?

Having upgraded the rear shock on the Sport to the Ohlins I moved to respring the front as well. Traxxion Dynamics recommended 1.0 kg/mm straight rate springs 1.35"x10.6" with 120mm spacer for my 185 pound riding weight. (Marzocchi spring: 1.37"x11.6") The ride is improved and sag is respectable. With 3/4 tank of fuel: 23mm static/37mm laden. 1)There is still a good bit of initial dive in sudden braking which I thought would be much improved going from 0.65 springs to 1.0. (Although the TD springs come up 0.85 on the "calculator"). Perhaps a stiffer spring is in order? 2)Worst of all, jouncing the front sounds like a squeeky swingset. TD suggested there should be a washer between the spring and spacer. My forks didn't ever have one and I'm not sure I can see how that would change the squeel. The surface of the new spring is quite nodular, or rough, compared to the original which is smooth. I wonder if springs from another source would be 'smoother' and won't squeek? TD offered to send me some 1.1 springs to try. They have been very cooperative and helpful. Yet, I do hate taking the forks apart again and again.

it does sound like a fuel supply failure. Make dure the fuel line from the petcock to the pump is groomed away from the cylinder fins. It may help to move the pump forward in its mount to straighten this line as much as possible. Shortening and even shielding the line are also options.

Those sockets have a reputation for being pretty weak. Once the soft contacts on the bulb wear down from the vibration (which is amplifed hanging at the back of the subframe) the connection is very poor. Seems like I was able to get a probe in the socket and bend the connections out a little. Adding a dab of copper antiseize paste is good. Also, change to a new bulb with fresh contacts. The 'long life' or Euro style bulbs have an eliptical contact that protrudes more.

What does it do when you try to restart? Pump whir? Starter truns over? Clicking?

I thought the Ducati and BMW ( Bosch) replacements are for the pre '02 big headlamps with the steel bucket.

The trick with the blue nuts ( sounds like it would hurt ), aside from being sure they are right side up, is to make certain they screw on far enough that the caps bottom ( or 'shoulder') completely before using them to lock the caps. I also learned from the Traxxion Dynamics excellent instruction package to preseat the rebound adjuster. The handling just keeps getting better. Tonight I did about 10 miles of high speed ( 85-95 mph) cruising past interstate trucks and such. I thought I had the weave sorted well before, but the high speed stability is remarkable with the new shock and springs. Four of my experienced and trusted companions listened to the noise this evening and shrugged saying, "Yeah, sometimes they do that." Sort of the same thing Traxxion said.

Seems like Sarasota would be a lot more pleasant for you to get to than anything to the north. Any luck getting the trans recall certified?

Stunt parking!

It's in both legs. It sounds like a swing set more than a hydraulic component. If my lawn mower made this noise I'd take it apart.

Ahh, yes, Glasshopper, the front glease fitting . . .

So, Terry, what year/model is the LeMans? It's not a Scura or a Tenni ? A Corsa ?

I'm pretty sure Pete answered Raz that he could just take off the front cover as in post #11. Ratch' , how may miles on yer 'hack? I've passed the 49,000 mark and still holding a steady idle. Could it be that the tensioners and chains need the 50,000 mile replacement?? I don't think it's just the oil that loosens up. All the tensile tolerances in the valvetrain should 'relax' at temperature. Still, the timing mark moving 4-7 mm? That seems like a lot of degrees BTDC. I'm somehow sure you've tightened the timing pick-up and every other simple thing. Does your bike flame out periodically at idle like Nose2winds?

Y'know, everything seemed pretty good before installing the new springs. My old sag numbers were sorted, but required too much preload to achieve. Topping out was too easy. The new springs really don't feel much stiffer, but do require less preload for the optimal sag. They are an inch shorter than the originals and measure 1.35" OD ( original Marzocchi 1.37"). I guess I'm lost on the stiction discussion and how to measure it. Yet, going from the familiar "squeesh-squeesh" before to "scrape-squeel" doesn't sit well with me. I just dropped the springs in and put the spacers on top. Am I missing something???

I tried for the 15 minute fork spring change. Add two three minute sessions of drumming on the practice pad to Pink Floyd and The Police. Add 20 minutes for setting one spacer on top of the spring and dropping the other spacer into the depths of Hell without thinking to put the spring in first. Add 20 minutes to release, and reset the rebound spring for the squeeking-scraping sound when jouncing the forks. Add 20 minutes to discuss the awful sound with TD. Add a 45 minute ride to see if the spring will 'center up.' Add an hour to make PVC spacers only to find the same scraping-squeeking upon reassembly. Another 30 minutes to pour and drain single malt and lament the fate of the mechanically engaged. Should the springs make noise like this? The sag looks good, I think, at 21mm static and 35 mm laden. It rides nice and I can't hear the noise while in motion. But, I am afraid of having bad dreams about stiction and wear and particulates in my fork oil.

Based on Verdone's work using cSt@40C it looks like most of the 'light' fork oil is still too heavy. I didn't like the Maxima oil I ended up with, but it looks to have about the right 'target' value of 16.00 cSt@40C ( actually 15.90). The Silkolene 5wt is rated 22.30. I have ended up with the 'heavier' Silkolene 5 wt in the rebound fork and the 'lighter' Maxima 5 wt on the compression side. Backwards by default? His chart on conventional slow speed damping adjusters is revealing. He shows that the adjustments are more sensitive in the first part of the range while making less and less difference toward the end. My estimation from the chart is that 10% of the 'clicks' is 25% of the damping; 40% of the clicks is 65% of the damping. I'll have to look, but I think I have the rebound adjuster on the fork turned in 75%. Based on Verdone's chart that is 95% of the damping. If I want 75% damping I should only turn in half the available clicks. + =

I'm still not one to answer Raz's question about the mechanics of changing the tensioner, but . . . If the chain or tensioner were shot couldn't you hook up an induction type timing light and watch a dot on the flywheel jump all over the place? If the dot stays put, it couldn't be the chain or tensioner?

Bill, I'd feel sorry for you if I hadn't seen you dancing the NOR-ge through the mountains. Are you changing your avatar? I hope you'll direct the Ballabio's new owner to the forum. I thought everyone with a V11 knew about this place until we ran into the guy with the silver Sport at Deal's Gap, Reiner Roemer. Did he say it took him two years to find someone to fix his transmission? We're pretty lucky here, I think. Tom, so the cartridge fluid comes in different weights? What is the "125/150" designation? And you would say the larger air gap is more "compliant?"

The springs are here. Traxxion had them here in a couple days. I do have my forks up 9mm to correct the ride height after putting the longer spacers over the stock springs. I had figured on going back to the original fork height with the new springs. Now to try and remember to take measurements on the front before I take it apart . . .

Now I wish I'd measured the same points with the Sachs so I knew eactly how much higher it is. I was too excited and skipped that step. I did measure the shock length difference after it would not go in without dropping the swingarm further. A 6mm longer shock would theoretically change the ride height how much?

Certainly, the 8mm static would suggest the spring is too much. I suspect the 1.0 springs for the front are also on the stiff side for my weight. We'll see what the sag shows . . .