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!

My 2000 sport is offset 40 mm also. I wonder about the 2002 and newer?

Bruce, That's it. Rotate the shaft and note the movement in the linkage. Go for center. Thought about your clutch jumping into engagement as I rode today. Off day for me as I missed gears all day. Grrr! The six-speeder just doesn't want to hurry. You might want to bleed the clutch fluid if that's over 6000 miles. Later, docc

My information (albeit, translated loosely from the Italian) says my 2000 V11port has 1471 mm wheelbase, 25 degree caster and 92 mm trail. The current breed is1490 mm , 25 degree caster and 104 mm trail. How did they change the trail that much without changing the caster angle? Or are there vagueries in the numbers?

Bruce, Those 'nuts' lock the shaft that centers the throw of the shifting pawl inside the side case. The top nut is just a cap that seals the oil in. the inner nut jams the shaft which has a screw slot in it. Both nuts require standard crush washers. They are also so close to the shifter boss that you will need a 19 mm 'crow's foot' to get a good purchase without removing the exhaust cross-over. The shaft moves the foot lever up and down. It only rotates maybe 60 degrees and , therefor is fairly sensitive. Watch the movement of the dog bolted directly to the shaft to center the throw. Then be sure your foot lever doesn't foul the frame in downshift. Change the length of the linkage if necessary. Grease all the pivot points while your at it. That said, the hesitant engagement sounds more like a clutch issue. My 2000 V11 Sport has done that 'jump into the next gear' thing in the past. Lately, I've been more deliberate about allowing the rpm to drop before releasing the clutch. It just takes an instant but seems to provide much more consistent shifts with the 11 speed ( 6 forward, 5 neutrals). Hope this is what you were looking for, docc

Where are the marks? Are they visible without any dissassmbly?

Juicing up the springs seems like good advice. I'm wonderng, then, if the rear will be all out of sorts? Can I get a better spring for my "sux?" (Oh, it's true - I looked very closely and - bummer - It's not a WP, but "Sachs." Did anyone really get a WP rear shock??

OK , i know it's a small thing but does the Stucchi weigh less than the stocker ? And how much less? (Mistrals weigh 10 lbs less!)

Mike, glad to hear you're getting the bike dialed in! What rear tire size and tire pressures are you running? Ride well, docc

It is notable that the 'hopefully ' dry clutch is in that husing. When my 00sport weped gearoil there it wet the clutch. 6 weeks and Guzzi replaced the seal and the clutch and pressure plate (at 4300 miles). If you're out of warranty it might be worth fixing before it craps out the clutch.

E-mail Dan Prunuske at Design Tech Engineering dan@dpguzzi.com He just sent me a bank of Bosch relays for my sport at $3.25 each. Always nice to do business with another Guzzi enthusiast. Good luck, docc

just a casual obsevation but it appeaers the 'sports' don't vapor lock like the 'LeMans.' Is this just an air flow issue?

After my own idiotic experience , then draining my tank on the 2000 V11 Sport, it refilled with 5.1 US gallons. This is without clicking and coaxing in any extra as I always end up spilling fuel doing that. Of course, as Al says, you can't get all of that fuel back out under normal circumstances. In another idiotic circumstance I found that when the bike begins to sputter (miles from a gas station) flicking it side to side apparently sloshes a little more trapped fuel down to the pick-up propelling the the poor,dry beast a little further before sputtering again. This embarassing procedure can be carried on repeatedly and, with luck, some source of fuel will appear on the horizon.

If the leak is gear oil and left side, check where the shafts penetrate the side case. One is visible below the starter but the other is behind it. If they're wet. clean with a q-tip and sol;vent, seal with a good RTV silicone.

Sure you can crank up the preload and even the damping but Jason's right :the spring is probably still too soft unless you're a real flyweight. Which shock is fitted to your sport?

The synchronization (especially) and the break-in are both going to smooth out your V11. Yet the 00 sport was notorious for the vibration especially in the left grip. Damping with bar end mirrors makes a huge diffference. Check out the threads on that approach.

Did you fuse a hot wire straight from the battery? 18 guage is big enough?

Carl, Thanks for being so kindly persistent with the truth about the relay. I've the tank coming off soon for a fuel filter and plan to add the relay then. No question you are right about the switch not being up to the draw. Especially not as much as I blow the trumpets! Thanks again! docc

Acid test: Today led 9 bikes on 350 miles. Four dogs in all : Two changed direction, two stopped and cowered from the sound of the Fiamms. I say "bravo."