dlaing

Yes, you should ride within the limitations of the machine, but the fact is we often ride beyond our abilities. Better suspension increases the chance of survival. Today while rounding a turn at about 70% of my capable speed, I ran over a squirrel. My Ohlins swallowed up the impact like no suspension that I have ever owned. If I was on an undersprung, poorly damped, bike like my old Honda CT110, I probably would have been lucky to have kept the bike up, even if I was going alot slower. Later in the day I hit a small pothole in the road while going around a turn at about 80 or 90% of my comfort level....again, the Ohlins sucked it up much better than my UNMODIFIED Marzocchis would have, and I probably would have been pushing just as hard through that turn with Marzocchi. Good suspension prepares you for the unexpected. Speed wobble is another thing that can happen unexpectedly. If I was riding a V11S with an inch of sag in the front, fork tubes in factory position, and 3 inches of sag in the rear, riding within the limits of the bike would probably mean not exceeding 70MPH on straights and obeying all the yellow warning signs with recommended speed limits.. If that is good enough for you, fine. It is your choice. But proper suspension tuning costs less than a pair of slip-on mufflers and it will usually make a bike so much better that one would never think of going back to stock.

That is kind of what I was thinking I figured if it lowered the oil an inch from the sump you could make a compromise and instead lower it half an inch. The other unit has a built in windage tray and the external filter, which would be a bonus....but the price is getting up there and your point that the cornering clearance could be an issue does trouble me, not because I am fast, but because my bike is kind of on the low side of the stock configuration....as it should be IMHO Probably a good solution for the strictly touring bikes. Thanks for the reply! PS One other idea for the windage tray: I have a hell of a time balancing my bike with one hand while managing to screw the dipstick in straight. time and tiime again, when I start threading it in, the stick dips prematurely, skewing my reading. If the windage tray guided the stick away from the premature dip, that would be a BONUS! Any opinions about that? Am I the only spaz in the house

How about the sump extenders here http://www.mgcycle.com/oil.html Will they work on the v11 sixspeeds?

GEI relay is in my opinion a neccessity. I just blew my 30A fuse the weekend before last. Not sure why I think I'll order a full set of GEI relays just to eliminate potential problems. Maybe your battery is getting old and weak and the charging has to work harder??????

I am with Ratchet. The stock springs are about right for Al Pacino's weight while many of us are in the Marlon Brando's fuller years weight category. Even if you are an Al Pacino, adjusting the fork spring spacers and the rear preload will maximize predictable road behavior. However if you grew up riding Harley Hard tails and you get a kick out of being jarred by bottoming suspension and you have no appreciation for balanced suspension, more power to you, just leave it stock. Today I visited San Diego's first motorcycle superstore, Fun Bike Center. It gave me an opportunity to sit on a few bikes and bounce the suspension. Geeze, there is a wide variety of factory springing out there. Everything I tried seemed to have a lot of stiction and lousy damping, but maybe that was because it needed breaking in and adjustment. The SV650 seemed to be sprung even softer than a stock V11S, while the new Ninja 650 twin felt nice and firm...both had nice ergonomics, but they both felt soooo cheap. The Japanese bikes do seem to reserve the quality build for 150+MPH bikes...there are probably exceptions, like maybe the Vstrohm.

Always avoiding answering the question....

The Napoleons help take the vibes away from your hands, but they themselves are pretty darn fuzzy.

How Tx got rid of his last wife... Or is that FrenchBob

Yah, Nancy Boy economies like the USA depend on that crap like a baby to its momma's nipple. Where is a Real economy? Shang Hai, Calcutta??? enquiring minds need to know.

not my choice of beer

exercises 1-4 weren't bad either. http://pages.globetrotter.net/mcordeau/hum...wet-t-shirt.htm

Sorry. I should just ignore them. Crud! So the seal failure may be "normal" for Ohlins. I guess I better keep my Marzocchis.

well duh! Please direct your pointing at someone else.

stop being an ass, please.

Why are you attacking me for disagreeing? You guys are a bunch of thought thugs.

and pretty close to what I said.

No, you did not call anyone a philistine. That was a joke. Ratchet has only used the word how many times?????? It seems to have taken on the meaning of anyone who disagrees with him. So, that is how it was used. As for gold nitride not doing anything, again we disagree. You are the expert, but I defer to other experts, like this Max at Traxxion guy. As for the tubes being unscored and smooth, that would be a good indicator of a future successful seal life. But we don't have enough information. S251 suggested that there was a problem all along. I would hope the warranty would cover the tubes and seals and rear shock. I would be checking the tubes to see if they are unscored and smooth rather than suggesting they are fine after an 8500km faillure. Perhaps dragging a pencil eraser across the surface would give an indication of whether the seal would feel increased friction where the nitride has worn off...an electron microscope might be overkill and still not give a good indication. For me this fork failure is a wake up call to better protect my ti-nitride. 323, thanks for posting about the sealmate FWIW, I wish the forks were silver colored instead of gold to better match the bike, but I can't expect you to share the same aesthetic taste. I value the function of the Ohlins and the nitride coating over the aesthetics, but I probably won't get an award from Ratchet for it because I probably spent so much money on the upgrade.

Nog and Ratchet, the technical forums would be more enjoyable if you stop acting like asses. Who really cares if you think appreciators of gold nitride coated fork tubes are philistines?!? Getting back to the topic. Something caused the seals to fail too soon. My money is on the forks tubes causing the failure. Nogbad, says I am wrong. No big surprise that Nog and Ratchet disagree with me. Assuming I am wrong,and his new seals will last longer than 10,000km what does that leave? Replace seals and: 1-Keep your forks and seals cleaner and properly lubed (Ohlins green grease) http://www.pitposse.com/moprosefosec.html (the aforementioned sealmate) 2-install something to protect the forks, like the Aprilia fender or neoprene fork guards or rubber boots. Here is an article that may be of interest to the philistines: http://www.pace-racing.co.uk/newsstory.asp?id=161 It warns of aluminum nitride wearing through and some cases of it wearing through the chrome to the base metal. Note their forks are for bicycles. This article http://www.pace-racing.co.uk/newsstory.asp?id=225 suggested that fork oil be used rather than grease And this is interesting from Max at Traxxion:

The good pictures may appear here http://www.pirelli.com/calendar But here is a teaser:

For a good time, see pictures of Bush Kerry Edwards and Cheney in wigs http://www.happyscrappy.com/archives/jumps/drag.html

http://widelec.org/zidane.html

I think spoked wheels would bring the V11 up to par in the cosmetics department...but "real men" don't care about aesthetics, right When are those Alpina spoked wheels going to be ready?!? PS Gorgeous bike, Chris!

First of all, what does this have to do with absolutism? Second of all, I disagree with Nog's recommendation to live with the worn tubes. I'll bet you if he does not replace the tubes he will see seal failure within another 8300km. Third of all, we all have are vanities. Some get all frayed when you start criticising their Harley vanities, and some have immaculate bikes and classy black leathers, refusing to wear tacky colored garb. Who gives a crap,buy what is on sale that is of sufficient quality, and suffer with the cheesy bright colors. By the way, I have some purple and yellow leathers that will fit you perfectly for sale, cheap.

-- http://dreams.rhapsodic.org/2005/12/