dlaing

What is 'blow by'? and what is the correct term for excessive oil being blown into my air filter box? My concern was that raising the oil level enough for the windage plate to be effective, would blow more oil into my airbox. Your assertion that the windage plate will actually reduce "oil breathed out" is reassuring Thanks!

Checking the charging is the number one thing to check. Check for over voltage and for resistance between regulator and battery. Try riding with headlight disconnected (DISCLAIMER Don't do it if it is illegal ) Look for a loose horn wire. Look for bad tachometer ground. Look for bad brake light circuit. Look for loose battery connection

FWIW that is what I got, too. Face of dipstick is where the o-ring is. Subtract another 13mm if measuring from the other face of dipstick (at the bottom of the threads, where Greg recommends measuring from) Maybe someone's math is good enough to figure out the one to root two relationship, I won't bother. I still think the best way to figure out the manual recommended oil level is to drop the pan and look. But it may all be irrellevant if Pete and Greg say it is OK to run the oil up to gasket between sump and crankcase, especially with a windage plate in place reducing blow-by. So, if that is settled, possibly my last nit-pick is, how difficult is it to drop the sump?

Excellent explanation! You now have me more than half convinced.

"Oh for f@cks sakes!" What bull. You don't give me due respect. You have treated me like an ass ever since the global warming thread. Here is how I see the evidence. 1- I never see the oil light coming on durring accelleration (and I am one of those morons who spends too much time looking at the tach while accellerating) 2- I suspect, (as evidenced by the photos) my oil level is at about the top of the pan, as recommended by the manual. Are we arguing this point??? The photos seem to confirm this. Is anyone going to confirm this by dropping the pan. Probably not. Pete seems to be happy with the fill it with yak fat till it blows oil....which brings me to the next point 3-Mine blows Yak fat. The left side of the inside of my airbox is coated with oil, and the bottom of the airbox collects oil. I empty it once per year at filter service time. Does this mean my oil level is too high? 4- So assuming my oil level is too high, and the most obvious interpretation of the photos are correct, than a windage plate would do just about nothing if it was placed at the bottom of the crank. So, you mean to tell me that you have been doing the dipstick by the manual for nearly 40,000 miles, and now you are going to both increase your oil level about one liter and add a windage tray? I recollect you have in the past bragged that your bike burns no noticeable amount of oil, so that might put you into the category of people who might be able to increase the oil level. It just does not make sense to do both without more evidence. If you just add more oil, that will give you a greater safety margin. If you just add a windage plate, it could work wonders if sandwiched just over the pan, but it won't do much of anything up by the crankcase unless the oil level is raised, or a crank scraper is added. Until proven otherwise, count me out. (but thanks for offering) ooops, sorry, too late.

I can't believe my engine has not yet blown up I guess I better increase the level immediately. Thanks Pete and Greg. I wish you had told us this years ago, but I guess I can't complain as your advice is free, like beer. EDIT 8/26/07 Last October Ratchet posted accurate measurements This translates into my suspected high mark being 6mm lower than actual and the low mark 14mm below the pan gasket. IMHO a sloppage sheet at the pan gasket might work very well. Of course it will do nothing for windage unless oil level drops below 7/10 full, measured immediately after running, but it might stabilize very well at that point, and the sloppage protection would be in place. Of course ideally the sheet should be above the high mark. http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/1630/dipstickmodqq6.jpg If you use Greg's not screwed in method the difference of course is much greater and the Roper plate at the top of the sump will work very well. How was I abusive?

Thats it, blame me when you are too inept. Whatever happened to your motto, what was it? Trust but Verify????? Whatever happened to the enquiring mind??????? Am I the only one that remembers a photo of the dipstick dangling below the plane of the sumps lower face???? Maybe the photo had both the pan and sump off??????? In anycase here is another photo to keep the sheople from being flocked over the edge of blind guzzichondria:

I am not sure what you mean by "full butt contact" I would say the best connection is a Western Union Splice Don't forget to put the shrink-wrap on the wire before soldering But I have often been too lazy to do a western union and just do a rat's tail...but there is no excuse... Posi Lock and Posi Seal are also very acceptable in my opinion...and have the advantage of semi-quick detachability.

Only if you do it with pizzazz Ideally the word should rhyme with hetero or homo. Metro and Retro are close... Pesto is is stretching it and Pest is really stretching it, but funny none-the-less Got any more photos? Did you see Gargoyle?

Ditto Heads

I guess Luigi gave me too big of a dipstick...I wish God had done the same when I was born(for sake of f@cks)But then again I would need to find a sump big enough for it or maybe my camera parallax is just f@cking with my head, and the dipstick is the right size and it measures the yak fat up near the bottom of the block

I estimate the high mid and low on the dipstick to all be below the LOWER joint camera angles can deceive... Someone previously posted a picture with the pan removed to show the position of the dipstick and I recall it was below the top of the pan??????

The way I see it now is you have the oil pan, the sump and the crank case and Greg wants to put it not between oil pan and sump, but between sump and crank case. So, like an inch or two higher than the pan gasket. (EDIT I just measured roughly an inch and a quarter higher) It seems to me that won't help much with the slosh. But I sure could be wrong.

I think you are mis-comprehending. The windage plate will be where the pan gasket is. The dipstick will be where it always is, but it will be read at a higher height than the manual suggests. (kind of like we aren't high enough to read what some dipsticks post ) So, if the mid-point of the dipstick was an inch below the gasket and windage plate, now it will roughly level with the gasket and the windage plate. ...or maybe I got it all wrong EDIT I guess I have it all wrong, unless Pete has a different idea than Greg??????? I did not even realize the sump had an upper half. Then it sounds like alot of work to install the windage plate?????????????????

What a shame if you are our only rep at the national rally. I love that Breva, from what I know, very original, with an excellent blend of form and function. Kind of Retrosexual

The simplest test is to attach a volt meter to the battery and check the voltage with the engine running. Idle voltage is probably pretty low and varies depending on idle setting and the load, but from what I saw the voltage will probably be in the 12.5 to 12.9 range. The critical test is at higher rpms. Make sure you are getting in the 14.0 to 14.6 voltage range from 3000 to 7000RPMs Test with headlight on, so that you have some load. If it is out of range, it may be the regulator and it may something else. From the manual

Thanks for the tip. That will make checking the oil level easier. But Damn! Now you have me scared that my oil level has been too low. Glad to see Nog's accelleration test passed, and I too have not noticed such a problem, but that does not mean there is not a problem. I guess I'll buy some guzzichondria insurance just so I won't have to put in nearly 4 liters of oil. I would be worried that the high mark with the dip stick not screwed in would rob the guzzi of precious power. Has anyone done dynotests on a Guzzi to see if lower oil levels produce more power?

Yah, extreme christians are just cowards who "vote" for the chosen extreme christians like GWB to blow shit up for God only knows what reason. And then you have the pro-lifers blowing clinics up, and shit. And your statement that Muslims don't speak out against blowing shit up is a crock. And just as true, many Jews speak out against Israel blowing shit up. And just as true, many Yanks and Brits speak out against the Coalition blowing shit up. I think the solution to the problem TX brought to us is to provide muslim women with retractable face shield helmets to replace their veils. It could also help them survive the bombings from you know who....

First thing to check when your Tach goes out, is your headlight. If the headlight ain't workin' then the problem is likely the starter relay. The second thing to check is the ground. Otherwise, I suppose the tach is dead

You may just have to give it a basic tuneup. Valves, TPS, etc.

I am using two. The rest are Bosch. I believe I was Dan's first GEI customer. My 2 GEI relays are still going strong while the Bosch and Siemmens all failed many times for me when used as the starter relay. YMMV But it is cheap insurance. I am going to order a full set from him, just to give me piece of mind, having just replaced my regulator and a one year old battery. I am not sure if the battery killed the regulator or the other way around. I suspect the regulator killed the battery. My fuse did not blow when the regulator went bad, but the wiring sure did get cooked. You should check for voltage drop between the regulator and the battery. (Let us know if you need to know how to test that) If your fuse blew, your line may also be blown too. I think it is only 16 gauge wire, but it carries over 30amps when the fuse blows. According to this chart http://www.tessco.com/yts/industry/product.../get_wired.html it is ok to use 16 Gauge, but I used 14 gauge when I rewired the new aftermarket regulator

I think Ratchet's suspension modification was under $150 in parts and little more labor than the normal fork service. EDIT FWIW my Ohlins forks were a lot more, and they are obviously not for everyone, but spending $2000 is not what Ratchet is talking about. The HyperCoil spring for my Sachs was $60 plus shipping (US dollars)...but installation was a pain....Traxxion and RaceTech will charge a bit over $100 for the spring, but installation is free(minus shipping). I disagree with Ratchet's term Perfect as I don't think there is such a thing as perfect suspension setup. But Excellent Sag numbers are easily achievable and they will make your bike ride better to a degree that is directly proportional to how far off they were. You don't have to do it, and you don't have to put ideal air pressure in your tires, either....

Caused by... Bad Battery???? Bad Regulator??? Bad Wiring?? If it is a bad regulator or wiring, the relays may be somewhat toasted. Pyro Dan is the Relay Man! He is listed on my wonderful site that I just moved from work to geocities.com http://www.geocities.com/rcdlaing/

Recognizing the chart is the half way point to optimization...You can do it!!!! EDIT when you said, "Seems to work for me." did you mean you optimized it already????

Nog, You may wish to take care of the Buell suspension, especially if you are heavy set. This is just from some the first google search I could find, but it seems to be evidence that your bike may be as softly sprung as the V11. Of course I have no knowledge of the guys credibility and he is talking racing, not sport touring.