docc

What kind of animals does that make us?

These have rubber intakes like the later V11? TBs that squeek make me think of an intake leak . . .

Changed plugs, checked valves . . . nice, but, set the TPS and synched the TBs and !!! what a jolt! It's not like she was running badly before but OH is she ready to go now! Something like how your Golden Retriever acts when you take the double gun down from the wall and hitch up the boat . . .

Tx, that may be your most concise reply ever . . .

I checked my tool kit on the 2000 Sport. The spark plug wrench doesn't have the hex key on its backside.

I bought the beautiful billet tool from my Guzzi dealer but it came with out the hex side and is only for the filter. So , I had to have one of these as I'm tired of the axle nut solution. But, now I see THIS POST. Could it be so simple? None of us have seen this before?

Time to chime in, I suppose. I've always admired the 'Sport-tourer' class of bike. The Honda Pan and BMW K1200 GT both come to mind and are often benchmarks for the genre. Several aspects haev always brought me short of bringing one home. Honestly, I just don't ride that far. Maybe two or three 500-1500 mile trips a year but mostly cafe jaunts and little burn-ups averaging 75 miles. Second, the weight. Pans and the GT both weigh on at 750 pounds. That's a big lady for my 165#, 5'9" self. Having lived in Bavaria as a youth I've always wanted to like BMW motorcycles. Unfortunately , they lack that brio that keeps us enamoured with our Guzzis. I suspect riding the available Sport-tourers back to back would reveal the built in fun factor of the Nor-gay. Finally, my bubble of desire for a Sport-tourer has largely been burst by the trend toward the Duel-Sport (sic), Adventure-tourer, Dirt-bagger sort of bike. Several of the experienced riders I know have graduated to this aspect of riding and I have grown to admire the appeal. Sit-up position, weather protection, long travel suspension make for some real time advantages on today's roads. Maybe a Breva based 550# Quota . . . but what would they call it? Allis-Chalmers?

Blind demand with good credit?

It's hard to imagine those roads becoming routine. Sounds kind of like pilots yawning at the controls of an F-18. I can remember that route from previous excursions and would be glad to take point. My approach is: ride your own ride, it's not a race. Shuffle positions at the stops or in passing zones, no passing in the curves. We'll regroup at every turn so no one has to memorize the whole route or end up on their own. My only concerns about The Gap is the thickness of the law enforcement presence and the even thicker reputation of some of the intense riders who frequent that stretch of road. For anyone who's not ever done it, it's worth the T-shirt. The route into Georgia to TWO is nice, the roads are good, really good, but not the double-back twisting intensity of The Gap. There's a good lunch stop at Tucker's Corner and always lots of interesting iron at Two Wheels Only Campground. I suppose we'll have Bill mediate a consensus Friday night in the parking lot at the Best western. Now, off to adjust valves and synch throttle bodies . . .

What Bill said^ Riders leaving Middle Tennessee are meeting at the Cracker Barrel on I 65, exit 46 at 8:30 am. We'll stomp the backroads east through Bell Buckle to McMinnville and hop TN 30 over the plateau.

I wa thinking the tranny recall was up through some of the 2001 bikes but no '02s. There is a VIN range on some the old gearbox recall threads. Try a search and make sure you're not in it.

SB, Where are you in TN? Maybe we can get together to compare notes and ride. Click on: South'n Spine Raid for info on a gathering of V11s at the end of July in east Tennessee. Hope to see you and welcome!

I'm certainly hoping to make this a regular summer ride. Nothing compares to the magic of gathering with other riders. We'll try to post ( a link to) some photos this year. Bill wouldn't allow cameras last time although the surveillance video was probably quite revealing . . .

I thought it was funny. But I hadn't looked too deeply into the controversy. One of the aspects of motorcycling that has always appealed to my dysanthropic nature is when you don't like the company you can crank it up and ride off in your own direction. Assuming it starts.

Nog's got to speak for himself on this but I'm taking it as the rod that pushes out of the slave cylinder located on the back of the gearbox. Those slaves can be intensely difficult to remove especially with the driveline in the bike. Try this easy three part antidote: 1) clean, tighten and grease the shift linkage. It may require shimming one end with a thin brass washer. 2) Change the oil to Redline and 3) bleed the clutch system. I'd be surprised if this doesn't make a noticable difference and these are cheap, easy maintenance points. Thinking more darkly, could there be any chance your gearbox is in the recall for slidng dogs and such?

I hope you'll give us a good (link to a) pic of the Stornello. It would be so fun to tinker on an old Guzzi . . . oh, wait . . . I think my y2k Sport may qualify already . . .

You've skeered me into it. I'm taking my BMW M Roadster on a jaunt next week. It has no spare and originally came with a compressor and fixit kit. Today I bought a plug kit ( the brown ropes) and a 12v compressor to take along. I'll look at repackaging it for use on the Sport for the South'n Spine Raid to the TN-NC-GA mountains next month. Like the Sport, the Roadster has no jack ( aka: "centerstand")

Thang, No problem at all. I am really happy to contribute the springs to the process. My 2000 is not as likely to develop this trouble as the later bikes. Any effort you can make to help the forum members is most appreciated. I am very glad to see you are still checking in and willing to work on the spring supply!

I don't think this source will go anywhere. That was 2 1/2 years ago I sent a set of springs to Thang. His supplier shyed from the liabilty and I never got my springs back. Since then, much has come to light about the boss size and specific years more likely affected. There are other threads which deal with this at length as well as other threads that detail the concerns with the earliest gearboxes on the 1999-2001 Sports.

Welcome home, Bill! Glad to hear the Italy trip was a delight and that you were able to ride while there. Dreamy! I'm hoping to pull in to Sweetwater about nightfall. Still not sure how many riders to expect but that's part of the anticipation. I PM'd Scott to find out his plans for Saturday but we can always decide on a route over grappa and single malt. Are you headed home Saturday or staying through Sunday morning?

I was thinking "V11" is a motor designation. Doesn't the new Brayva-Greetzo-Norgay motor have a different designation?

The lamp on my 2000 Sport is different but perhaps you should take the thing apart and be sure the seals are all in place. Maybe one got crimped in assembly. also the '02 bucket is a plastic affair. Check it for splits or cracks. I seem to recall access to the lamp requires fairing removal. One of the Lemans boys will surely confirm or deny this for you . . .

This is typically the 'bullet' connectors on the leftt side of the frame under the front of the tank. This connection allows the clutch switch to activate the starter relay. "No clutch- no starter." Have a look at post#2 from THIS THREAD.

Many car beattery chargers work at a rate of 5 or 6 amps. Your bike battery will be a lot happier at 1 or 1.5 amps. Check voltage with a good digital meter. The gel batteries should throw 12.7vDC. Unlike wet batteries a drop of even 0.1 makes the battery suspect.