dlaing

The only difference I noticed was that it shifted a little worse and leaked oil. Playing with the adjuster under the acorn got the shifting to be better than ever. The oil leak was more fun than a thread full of hooters

From the Guzzitech article, JoeB added the following addendum to his blurb about the Dayco hose: I have no reason to speculate that the Ford hose would hold up any better, so maybe the OEM is not so bad afterall. If I can get three years out of the ford hose, I'll be happy. But if less, I'll be looking for better quality hose like Ratchet found, and combine it with a pair of proper elbows, like the Help! brand that I found. The only problem with the elbows is that instead of just 2 hose clamped connections yearning to leak, you get 6 hosed clamped connections, all a potential threat

The recall on the tranny did some dubious things that sort of fit that description. It is much more likely that the latter bike he rode was just better tuned, but on hearing that the tranny was improved, he probably falsely attributed it to that. From the recall notice "Stronger shit sleeves and redesigned Cush-drive assembly employed in production since May 2001 will be Installed." Not sure what the redesigned Cush-drive assembly is, but I could see why someone might attribute (falsely or otherwise) backlash and jerky driving to the earlier Cush-drive.

I looked into it, but my zerk is pointing sternward of the cage, so it would not help. What really gets in the way is the cut out through the swing arm that the shaft goes through. Another thing that helped was pulling the shaft back a couple millimeters and turning it to get the best angle...almost at 12 O'clock position. If my fitting was just four millimeters shorter, it would be a breeze. I am keeping my eyes out for a smaller one, ideally 90 degree angle. If Frank or someone could post some measurements that might be helpful, but I suspect some of us just have less room to get the fitting in. I'll have to find that 90degree fitting that I tried before. I may be able to modify it... Or maybe the Ace Hardware one is smaller than the one I have(lost).

Does the headlight turn off when you hit the starter? If yes Then there it is likely a bad solenoid or the wire between the relay and solenoid has a bad connection....or a bad starter. Although the battery could just be too weak to activate it, If No, Then it is likely one of the following. Bad clutch switch or the connectors to it. (usually it becomes intermittent before completely failing, so not likely) Bad starter button switch (never heard of one going bad) It could be when the kickstand was bypassed, previous owner did a bad job, but if (s)he did it is more likely the bike would have stopped on you while riding. Neutral switch should not be a problem if kickstand is up or in your case is by-passed. But the bypass still could be bad (it is just so easy to blame previous owner) Otherwise the only thing I can think of is a bad contact in the key switch(also known to be very reliable) Or go back to trouble shooting relays and connections.

Not if one knee is on the pad and the other gliding overe the asphalt. Considering you don't have any chicken strips, I suspect you mislead about the Road Geez thing. If you wanna go slow, stay behind me dlaing, AKA slower than slowpoke

Your pads look very nice and really help the classic retro look.

Try turning on the key, make sure you are in neutral, hold the starter button in and repeatedly activate the clutch. If that does not work hold in the clutch and starter button and move the handlebars back and forth. If that does not work, I'd take another look at the relays and connections. If in addition to the warning lights not working, the horn does not work, that would be a clue.

I would like to mount a combination fairing lower, knee pad support, so that when going down hill or braking, I do not slide forward. This would take pressure off my back and wrists. Of course I could just use horse back riding muscles, but I don't have any. My V65SP used to have knee pad in the fairing lowers, and they worked great! The trick would be to not make it look UGLY.

I finally got the grease fitting to fit, but barely. I had previously tried a 90 degree fitting, but it was too big. The last time I greased it, I took the rear swing arm off to get to it, and I did not wan to do that again. The problem on my bike is not the u-joint cage. There are two problems. The first is that there is little room between the U-Joint and the zerk. My solution was to grind the grease gun's fitting down to fit...no problem. The second problem is that I could not the hose to bend enough within the hole in the swingarm. The hole in the swing arm is too small. My solution was to grind the grease gun's fitting down even more, where it was binding and also abit on the tip to effectively shorten it. I ended up grinding it down to the point where I created a hole in the wall of the fitting But no big deal, it just leaked a tiny bit. I was then barely able to get the fitting on. And because I had to wedge it in, it took me twenty minutes to get it back off In the future I need a smaller 90 degree angle gun fitting. Possibly like the McMaster 1090K47 if it is small enough. ...or I need to see if I can turn the zerk fitting on the U-joint 180 degrees. Has anyone tried that? I suspect some have less trouble because the zerk is at the correct angle.

If you read through some of the technical articles at http://www.traxxion.com/ you will find lots of professional opinions on the quality of various stock Japanese bike suspensions. For example in this forum thread http://www.traxxion.com/forum/topic.asp?TO...archTerms=guzzi we learn about suzuki forks and the article at the end of the thread points to this article http://venus.13x.com/roadracingworld/issues/mar01/susp.htm which suggest gsxr 600/750 have better forks than the gsxr1000 Another article on "gas charged" cartridges which could prove to be the future of suspension upgrades. http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?article=24731 ....put those in Marzocchis and then the only thing wrong with them will be the stiction and flexing! a comparison suspension of 600 sport bikes http://venus.13x.com/roadracingworld/issues/dec00/max.htm and more http://www.traxxion.com/technical.articles.shtml

Yah, me too. I don't expect it to last very long, but 8 months leak free is a good start, especially since everything else that i have tried has failed. PVC piping does not hold up. Generic 3/4" heater hose eventually loosens up and has trouble maintaining a good seal. The ford hose is tighter than the 3/4inch ID heater hose, and I think that is a good thing. If I could get my hands on 3/4inch Oil and fuel hose I think that would work better with a couple of proper 45 and 90 degree elbows. But for now I am happy

http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?...opic=1301&st=15 eight months and counting on ford hose, leak free!

For all you Quat-D fans, check out the sweet sound when one visits this website http://www.motowheels.com/ Before I even saw that they sell QuatD (EDIT not advertised here for Guzzi)I recognized the sound

It looks like Metzeler has a deal going on too. On the front page of where I got my tire: http://www.buymoto.com/ ...only 240 racetech tires left EDIT only 237 tires left, and counting EDIT2 208 tires left

I think you are correct, but you can always bend your elbows. And an advantage is that going down hill, if you are seated back and more upright, I believe the weight distribution is better and you have better control.

These Marzocchi look nice and have a good reputation from the people that sell them I might take them over the Ohlins just because they are 50mm and Italian and RED and seem to claim superior damping I got upset when Gthynni said the Bitubo steering damper was crap. Heck I appreciated the piece of crap friction damper on my V65 (RIP) but the Bitubo is hydraulic, so I was ready to defend it. But I must agree that compared to HyperPro and Ohlins, it is crap. The Marzocchi on our bike have inferior damping. How can I make this claim? From predicting how my bike would be with better springs and comparing it, and having read the efforts that Mike Stewart went through to get his set up right. Of course he is the one who sold me the Ohlins, so maybe I got set up Just kidding Mike, I love getting forked over by you. Basically the Marzocchi forks have too much high speed damping. If you can fix that, you have done pretty good. Aside from revalving I think the best one can do is use 5W oil on the Compression side and dial out damping to the minimum. WARNING you should only do this if you have properly firm spring weights as a lack of damping can cause instability, and by reducing the damping by going to 5w high and low speed damping are both reduced...not ideal, but with firm springs, it will probably work very well. On a side note, I wonder if using progressive springs like Ratchet's Wilbers is bad for the forks. When the compressed progressive spring makes contact with itself, does it wear metal into the fork housing and oil? Do the metal particles mung up the damping and seals and precipitate wear?

Oh Crap, I just installed a rear Strada this last weekend, but I can't find the damn receipt! EDIT found it!!!! Now to read the fine print.... EDIT I hate giving my credit card, etc. out for crap like this, but it is a great offer and it does not look like a scam, right?! EDIT Thanks OrangeOkie, I'll get it sent out today. I know my dealer has a Parts Unlimited catalog, but I don't know if they are a parts unlimited dealer...

You are correct, I never gave proper springs a chance on the Marz, and went straight to what I know is the better solution. Here is a more proper comparison. Marzocchi Pros Made in Italy Elegant aluminum finish Light weight Free if you already paid for them... Anything you do to modify them will make them better. Cons Allegedly rated by the fine staff at Traxxion as having about the worse dampers that they have seen. Expensive to upgrade damper with proper balance of high and low speed damping. Rebound on one side and compression on the other(debateably a con, I suspect that it creates tire and frame oscillation, but also has advantages for example tuning with different oil weights in each tube) Slim axle. Difficult to upgrade to radial mounted brakes. No gold nitride coating Ohlins Pros Made in Sweden (Love them Swedish Ladie Athletes ) Top Quality, arguably, nothing compares, although some of the Showa are pretty good, too. Sprung out of the box for most riders. Suspension shops are very familiar with them, so they are easy to get someone to set them up "right" Documentation is superior to what is available for the Marzocchi. Balance of high and low speed damping is excellent. Large selection of very high quality springs available from Ohlins as well as other parts. Available radial mounted brake mount External Preload. Fat hollow axle. Gold Nitride coated tubes. Rossi Rides on Ohlins. Cons Price and weight is a little heavier than the Marzocchi. Bright anodized Gold Bling finish (I prefer the look of the the Marz with my silver bike) PS Marz needs women

Just click on the vomiting happy face

Is not finishing first manly or courteous?

Excellent, just the evidence that I was looking for to prove that CURLING ROCKS!!!

Does he just simply remember that number 17 was stolen? But he does not remember the owner? Perhaps someone should start a stolen guzzi registry?????

And silly me, I was going to suggest that rather than ratchet go to smaller valves, he should go to smaller throttle bodies.

You might just end up having started a major brawl In my unhumble but ignorant opinion, this is far superior to what mister roper propagates. But I could be wrong. It looks like the one Pete suggests require an extra pan gasket and increases the chance of leaking, while this one appears not to do that. EDIT I am wrong, the one Pete suggests goes up higher in the sump, so you need an extra sump gasket, not a pan gasket....and so the risk of leaking is much less as this is a more permanent sealing point