dlaing

Cool! It has a touring curve and a sport curve and you can adjust the timing!!!! I am not sure if the 7900rpm kill is a good thing or not. This unit has a wasted spark, are our coils up to the task? How about twin pluggers like Al? Also, why do they recommend more advance for higher compression engines? I thought one would want less advance. Is it better to reduce pinging with fuel than ignition?

Are you are talking Imperial or US Gallons?

Always a fan of the common relay problem...if it is the relay, it is most likely the forward most sitting relay. But to support Gary's contention of a relay not being the prime suspect, I don't think the Balabio's were likely to have starter relay problems like the early sports did. All the same, it is easy to test the relay by swapping with an identical one. I had a problem before that looked like the clutch swithch, but turned out to be the starter relay. The symtom was identical to yours. With the bike in Neutral, holding in the starter button, I could get it to start after a few of the ol' in-outs on the clutch lever...but replacing the relays fixed the problem....strange, and that particular problem never resurfaced.

I met these two gals who were bi-ology geniuses, and let me tell you, that I cannot tell you the details on this family site!

MGNA appears to be shooting themselves in the foot over this one. The mom and pop shops are what have made Guzzi great. By making it possible for OC to undercut the competition, MGNA has yes, sold more bikes but only for the short run. This is of course assuming that MGNA gave them a bulk discount or something to that effect. I guess we may see the evidence if they go to court. They have also stung themselves by not adequately backing the warranty. Is OC going to be a Guzzi dealer five years from now? It is pretty ironic that of all the So Cal dealers that contribute to the Ramona annual rally, only GP is the remaining authorized dealer...this is sad. May the gods bless Cycle Garden, Moto Guzzi Classics, Pro Italia, and GP for their good spirit in supporting the Rally! But hey, for all I know, OC may have been unfairly rejected from contributing because of politics. Man, this sh^t makes me feel almost guilty for buying from Wilson's, who I believe has also undercut the competition. It boggles my mind that my 12,000 dollar bike can be sold new for about 8000 now. GP should have took my $10,000 plus tax offer. Perhaps MGNAi should just drop the middle man and sell everything on eBay with no warranty. eGuzzi! Fix It yourself sucka!

Are the Staintunes louder with the restrictor, or only without the restrictor?

I am getting more confused. Thanks for the post Pete. I had no idea Friction Modifiers were bad for dry clutched machines. From Mobil's FAQ: "Can I use Mobil 1 15W-50 in my bike, just like I use in my car? Mobil 1 is Mobil 1, right? Mobil 1 for cars and Mobil 1 for motorcycles are markedly different. Every oil is a balance of benefits. Mobil 1 Tri-Synthetic™ Formula for cars has been developed specifically to satisfy car manufacturers' needs for increased fuel economy and low emissions.That's why new cars come with friction-modified, low-phosphorus 5W-30 motor oil. The low viscosity and the friction modifiers help fuel economy. The low phosphorus levels help protect catalytic converters. " So no, you should not use automotive Mobil1, nor Castrol GTX, nor Syntec, nor most automotive oils....DRAT! So I guess it is motorcycle only, with a few exceptions like Amsoil. And thanks Gthyni for the post about the Motul 300v. I have used their 5100 a few times and seems to burn more quickly than the Maxum semi-synthetic motorcycle oil that I have used. Perhaps the 300V will do better.

Don't forget to stock up on Nanaimo Bars! Yum! I haven't had one of those in over ten years! But you can probably get them in Seattle....not San Diego, to my knowledge. I wish you smooth sailing. I took a slightly rough fairy once, the bike made it, but I was nervous, and they would not let me go below to watch it....

How can we find the perfect oil? Automotive synthetics are often inexpensive, and provide good value, but they don't have enough zinc phospate. Motorcycle oils are expensive, provide dubiously increased amounts of zinc, etc. but lack friction modifiers because they must work with wet clutches. So who makes a synthetic for dry clutched, catalytic converterless engines? I am not sure, but if you took Automotive synthetic, such as that offered by Mobil and Castrol and found a ZDDP zinc phospate additive, you could make the ideal oil.

Newer models will benefit less, but still benefit. Older US models have an underated relay, that will wear out early if you use the horn or high beam flasher. I am not sure about the European bikes that do not dim. but I suspect if they do not dim they will not have the overloaded relay problem. Older non-european models should either get the GEI relay or add the relays in the bucket. Newer models are already reliable in this area and will likely benefit just from increased brightness and possibly greater wire harnass longevity. I'll bet it would be simple to rig something up to dim the beams when starting. but we would need a wiring diagram...

I have not tried Rich's seat. But comparing the stock seat to the Corbin, I find my butt takes four times longer to get tired with the Corbin. With the Stock seat I have to stand up and air out every fifteen minutes. But the Corbin is not perfect. It is much heavier than stock, and the way mine is cut, I slide forward too easily. I still prefer it to the stock seat, but I recommend getting them to custom fit it. I am considering knee rests to prevent sliding forward. I have already put the clamps higher on the forks to compensate at the expense of stability...

mine puddles on the crossover, but not on the ground, anymore. For a would drip on the ground, but then my mechanic tightened a few easily accessible bolts. which slowed it a little, then I removed the starter and tightened all accessible bolts. That stopped it enough so that it no longer hit the ground. Then durring a recent tire change, I tightened up some more bolts...not much change. And then I put some non synthetic oil in. It shifts sluggishly when cold now, but is fine when warmed up. But it still smokes from the dripping oil. %$^@%&&!!! So, back to the dealer, I guess.... FWIW I believe the gearbox has no gaskets, so it depends on tight bolts and possibly that honey like gasket cement that does not harden.

One other side effect is the TPS readings. Your TPS will read the same at 1000rpms now as what it did previously at 900rpms. This is one of the reasons that the TPS should be set with the throttle set screw completely backed out. If you were to do the readings at idle, you would get a TPS setting less consistent with what is specified by the Guzzi or various websites. I am suprised you only got a 100 rpm jump. Mine jumps about 300 rpms going from .10/.15 to .15/.20mm But it is all voodoo anyhow, most people will find no ill effects. But a real world consideration would be if you had a powercommander mapped at US spec, the raceco specs would throw it off pretty well.(I believe, but I could be wrong...)

You mean: When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide Where I stop and I turn and I go for a ride Till I get to the bottom and I see you again Yeah yeah yeah Do you, don't you want me to love you I'm coming down fast but I'm miles above you Tell me, tell me, tell me, come on tell me the answer You may be a Guzzi but you ain't Charlie Manson Helter skelter, helter skelter, helter skelter yeah Will you, won't want me to make you I'm coming down fast but don't let me break you Tell me, tell me, tell me the answer You may be a lover but you ain't no dancer Look out helter skelter, helter skelter, helter skelter Look out 'cause here she comes When I get to the bottom I go back to the top of the slide And I stop and I turn and I go for a ride And I get to the bottom and I see you again Yeah yeah yeah Well do you, don't want me to make you I'm coming down fast but don't let me break you Tell me, tell me, tell me your answer You may be a lover but you ain't no dancer Look out helter skelter, helter skelter, helter skelter Look out helter skelter, she's coming down fast Yes she is, yes she is coming down fast [i got blisters on my fingers!]

On the earlier bikes, and maybe the later bikes, the only NC contact used was in the starter relay to activate/deactivate the lighting relay. The Normally Closed contacts are held in contact by a spring and deactivated by the coil The Normally Open contacts are held out of contact by a spring and Activated by the coil. To fix my problem I replaced my four Bosch relays and left the GEI starter relay in place. Now, I have to do a process of elimination to determine which relay failed....But it was not the GEI relay, which is the only relay that uses the NC contact. I will probably need to put some damping foam around the relays to lessen vibration. And order more relays from Dan P.

Cliffy, I think Cliff's My15M has your name on it! Or is it "My" name?!?! One thing that caught my interest is that Cliff writes on his site that the OEM 15M is SUPPOSED to be easily programmable. I don't think that is the case unless you have the factories software. The Motorbike Diagnostics software cannot program maps.

Awsome! I did not know Cliff built one for our bike. It is the ultimate. As far as I know, the only advantage a PCIII has is the Tuning Link technology. But Cliff's ECU can tune the ignition timing. So, is it easy to use? Can you post maps for it? Was it plug and play?

FWIW new relays fixed my rough running issues.

Adjusting the TPS can help in some cases, but it is always going to be a compromise. The Motorbike Diagnostics Software can give more control, and a Power Commander can give the ultimate control.

I think you are asking for trouble as that is too much free play. As for the alignment, you may be okay, but bring that free play down to nil or nothing or even less(lightly torque it). Go for a test ride on a flat, no crown road or parking lot, and look down your forks while riding in a straight line. If it is not symetrical, you likely need to make an adjustment. This is not the perfect test as the bike is not perfectly balanced, nor is your body...even if you are a chiropractor But it may give you a clue. The better way is to get out the straight edges, blocks, string, lasers, and or flash lights . I'll bet a bike handles a lot better in the rain if it is aligned...

Does it happen all the time? or more after warming up? My bike felt good immediately after the recall but after a few hundred miles it will now occasionally give me the feeling that I am running out of gas or running on one cylinder. It usually feels great for a couple miles then the hotter it gets the more it seems to happen. At first I suspected bad gas as I first noticed it after a fuel stop. But that was a few tanks ago. I tried disconnecting my powercommander, and it still appeared. I replaced the fuel filter, but that did not help. I pushed the spark plug wires into the coils, and that seemed to help for a while, than the symptoms return. I replaced all the relays, except the starter relay and that helped so far, for about twenty miles, but I have not ridden since. I suspect a loose wire is the real culprit. I find it seems worse when on a bumpy road. Also, I noticed my clutch housing is oily on the inside and may have a leaky seal. So perhaps the clutch is slipping, but I can't confirm. Also, the bike was in the shop for the recall so it sat for longer than I ever go without riding. Perhaps the fuel injectors gunked up a little???

I have found roughly the same that below spec is no good and a little above spec is fine, for handling and stability. I once had a Pirelli factory rep explain to me how to get the pressure correct. I don't remember exactly, but it went something like this: Go for a 10 minute ride at say 30-50mph measure the pressure Go for a 10 minute ride at twice the speed say 60mph or as fast as you need to go measure the pressure. The idea is to set the pressure high enough so that it does not vary much after the two rides, but that the pressure is low enough that if you dropped the pressure a couple pounds the difference in pressure between rides would be significant. That was what I got out of his explanation, he might say I got it all wrong, and what he said was "significant" could have been five or ten or fifteen pounds. Sorry I can't remember ; ( It would have been useful to know. Basically you do not want the tire to flex so much at high speeds that it causes the tire to heat up too much. A good experiment would be to try the test at Guzzi spec pressure and then try it at maximum pressure. Then try to get the pressure as low as possible while maintaining a pressure difference between speed tests that is nearly equal to that of maximum pressure results. Of course few will want to go through all that trouble... I have not. And I'll bet older tires would need more pressure following that test because the thinner carcass would flex more.

I love how helpful the Shop Manual is(NOT): "Reassembly: Carry out the disassembly procedures in reverse order." FWIW I would do something between Carl's and BMW's instructions. Maybe seat with 10lbs, backoff and torque to 5 foot pounds. That is assuming that it is turning smoothly and that "finger tight" would leave you with zero free play and that you had not replaced the bearings which might require more torque to seat. Anyone think that is too much torque? too little? I remember my V65 used to flex alot while torquing the adjusters, and that 10 foot lbs would have been too much, but that swingarm was aluminum. I have not torqued our's down, which is probably chromoly steel and more rigid. What is the torque spec for the lock nut?

Care to elaborate? What bikes did you put Hi Compression pistons in? Did you enrichen the mixture or reduce timing after the modification?

I like it! If it is as bright and wide angled as the stock light, I could go for it. I once tried making my own LED bulb from Radio Shack LEDs. After spending $20 on LEDs the light was too dim... I estimate it would have been $60 in LEDs to get it bright enough. Of course there are likely better sources of LEDs, but it is sooo confusing as they all claim that they are Super Bright! Maybe if www.webbikeworld.com does a review on it....