docc

I made a few posts on ST.N. Face it, if you want to talk Guzzi you're in the right place right here. Al won't even talk to me over there. And you know how he "chats" . . . Seriously, I did get some good feedback on current road conditions in the North Carolina and Georgia mountains where I'm taking the sport in a few days. So, thanks , Al!

With my sport's tps set to spec the bike runs a bit rich and behaves at idle as you describe.(Worse when hot in hot weather). At 23,000 miles I found that it was much more stable idling with the air bypass at 1 full turn. I'm trying 3/4 turn now to see how it will behave.

'Zat make it a 'hand' stand?

Apparently, the early spine frames had the stand mounted even FURTHER forward. It was moved back on the 1100i.

In Greg Field's book"Moto Guzzi Big Twins" John Wittner talks about getting the "polar moment of inertia" of the motor aligned with that of the bike's polar moment in a lean. On the race bikes he acheived this through very high spring rates untenable for the street. The real advantage and impetus for the six-speed was to lower the output shaft so the motor could be rotated down to better align the polar moments. Adding the sixth cog was probably more for marketing IMO. While Wittner is no engineer either, he had the chance to work this out on the track then join the design team at MG to develop and refine what we're riding. I, for one, am eternally grateful. docc feeling all in the groove with my polar moments all aligned

Honestly, I've only touched down a few times. I'm of the opinion that touching down hard parts is an indication you've screwed up and blown your entry speed or line. I still can't see any other way that bolt could have bent. Haven't touched anything down since this last suspension revision. Headed to the north Georgia mountains next weekend and may find the limits there . . . There's this road called "War Woman Road" . . .

I got my aluminum cup wrench from my Guzzi dealer to the tune of 50 or 60 dollars. It really is a nicely machined piece. But when it arrived it lacks the hex drive to remove the cover. I found that the axle nut can be used to remove the cover.

Many of us have learned the side stand is first to ground in deep lefthanders. It has a springy, forgiving zing much like a spring loaded foot peg without the vibration to the boot. I found the stock LaFranconi to ground in right handers but haven't touched anything down on the right since changing to the round Mitsrals. Going over the bike carefully for a trip to the mountains I found a bent bolt that activates the side stand switch. Apparently it touched down in deep left cornering. Failing to activate the switch, the system thinks the stand is always up. Not a good thing if the bugger is down waiting to trip you up in that first lefthander. So, give it a look and be sure your side stand switch is telling the truth

Absotively, posilutely, cannot go wrong.

Dave, Glad to see you made it over here! These folks really know their sports and LeMans. When you bring that bike home you are likely to be back on here. Sorting, fettling as well as hobnobbing ,cohorting and otherwise hanging out with the enlightened. Ride well, docc

I seem to have found another simple source for shift problems on the sport. During routine maintenence I disassembled the clutch lever and found the pivot pin all grunged up and even gauled. I polished it out with 400 grit paper and regeased it all with BelRay waterproof grease. The pull is MUCH smoother and lighter. I can imagine the lever not fully releasing from a condtion like this contributing to the kind of 'jumping into gear' symptoms as Bruce has described. At least on the sport the pivot is well out in the weather and deserves a good cleaning and lubrication. (watch out for the tiny button that activates the microswitch as it likes to fall out and roll away to a far corner of the garage.)

Just got my V11 Sport Official Factory Manual. It states the CO to be 3.5 - 4.5 which covers your dealer's advice. I see I am running my TPS a little rich and the air bypass out to a full turn. Certainly not 'by the book' but the plug color is good , bike runs great and 34-38mpg. Lots of disagreement as to the procedure for setting the TPS. Just what is the relationship between 'degrees of opening' and 'millivolts?' (BTW, my dealer refused to check the CO as the taps are prone to stripping the header. Makes me wonder where in the world it's set and how to have it checked.)

Moto Guzzi? ? Dry clutch is a good clutch!

I get it ,Al. That makes sense since in normal operation the pump will stop whirring when the pressure comes up. So, Wanie, listen for the pump because the relays will often work again after sitting for a little while. Much luck and good riding, docc

Just finished wiring in a pair of the Siemen's relays for the Fiamms. Mounted the relays in tandem along the right side of the frame roouting the stockhorn wires carefully over to them. Wired 14 guage from the battery trough a fuse holder with a cap on it. Use heat shrink and zip ties all along the existing wiring harness. Made up two separate harnesses with a ground (from the right side fuel pump bolts) and the hot from each relay down to the horns (again, heatshrink , zip ties and dielectric grease). Now if one relay fritzes I have a redundant system. That and the 14 guage wire should be a satisfying overkill worthy of being on a Guzzi. Currently using 5 amp fuse. may go up to 7.5 amps if necessary. Biggest drawback to this install method was increased cost: wire, connectors, solder, heat shrink, fuse holder, fuses, zip ties , dielectric grease probably added $25- $30 to my $25 horns. But, hey, these things work GREAT and my switch is safe (saved by Carl!). ps: no surprise the 5 amp fuse wasn't up to the task, gone after 4 honks. Now running a 7.5 amp with several good sustained blows including one trying to convince a chasing dog that I was a one ton truck. I want the minimum fuse size and will post back if I have to move up to a 10amp. Edit ( 12-21-2003); The 7.5 amp fuse carries both of the Fiamms under extensive use. Changed the Seimans relays for Bosch.

I am wondering how one would differentiate "vapor lock" from, say, faulty relay? Both tend to cause the intermittent restart fault. From the history on these bikes it's good practice to be sure the relays are upgraded to the Bosch units before launching into a misguided diagnosis.

Ray, Was your bearing failure on the brake side?

Chasing a change in fuel delivery with changes to the ignition timing will likely be a can of worms. Before changing the ignition make sure the TPS is correctly set (a liitle to the high side) and perfect sychronization. CO of '4' seems a bit high. I'll have to check around but I seem to recall 3.4-3.5 as more typical. Good luck, docc

Early brackets were aluminum and prone to failure. Your replacements should be steel and will do fine.

With some careful sanding and measuring, I made a good set of spacers 17mm longer than stock, added 5wt Silkolene oil ( the most beautiful blue liquid I've ever seen!), and mounted the forks 10mm high in the clamps. A guy working on the house saw the bike on stands, front end all apart, saying, "wow, what happened to your bike?" I said, "nothing, just routine maintenence." Then there it is again: the hairy eyeball. I guess people expect to see things apart in a shop but not in someone's garage. Rich, better go ahead and make those tomatoe stakes out of your spare Guzzi parts. ( Are these bikes wonderful, or what?)

Carl, I ver muust enjoyed the roughly translated geometrikit deskribing the changes to V11 handling. I'll have to see if Konrad can help me out (I get "untersteuern" but " gevichsterlagerung??") And the 25 degrees? This is a myth? Like the 91 horsepower, 471 pounds and 5.8 gallon tank? Oh, and the speedometer that reads rather in excess of reality. ( if you average the extreme sweep of the oscillations).

They seem to kind of glaze when I say " MO'- to GOOT'-see" in my best Italian lilt. That and "schedule 40PVC" in the same sentence and their brain just shorts out. You can smell the neurons burning. The PVC is stouter than the stock spacers. If I can just get a good square cut on the stuff. The forks are apart now. The oil that came out was certainly begging to be changed. Rich, thanks for the encouragement! docc

Mike, When you say 10 mm "on top of the triple clamp" I assume you have dropped the clamp on the forks that amount? I would have thought dropping the clamps would STEEPEN the rake. How are you measuring that angle? My forks are on the bench. Wrestling with the dismantle. Changing spacer (hopefully) and oil (5 wt Silkolene). Maybe better springs next tme around.

Can you help me get my spacer off? I have taken the cartridge-spring assembly out of the fork slider. It appears the top cap should unscrew from the blue anodized stop just above the spring. I applied some considerable torque with no sign of it coming loose. The stock spacer appears to be a black plastic affair so I have more confidence using Rich's schedule 40 1" PVC. (Everyone I've suggested this to has given me the hairy eyeball.) Hoping my service manual will arrive in the mail tomorrow (dreamer). In the meantime, flying blind. Thanks for the consideration, docc

Cavemen and spacemen have this in common: Carburettors or FI , tuning fuel delivery is like conducting an orchestra. Let the brass get too loud and the strings change their tune. All must be in harmony. I can't imagine the frustration of riding the V11 without the benefits of a digital multimeter, mercury columns and a book or two. ( see "Guzziology" by Dave Richardson) A little tweak on the TPS, some VERY careful synchronization and this motor is a ripping panther!