al_roethlisberger

Here are the NGK "racing" plug wires I ended up getting: http://www.heeters.com/sparkplugs.shtml Very well made, and have a 90-degree boot 5k resistor model as well. al

Here are the NGK "Racing" Wires I ended up getting: http://www.heeters.com/sparkplugs.shtml al

...oh come on, you don't buy into long-grain super oxygen free copper hexagonal super twist air core dielectric oval copper braid speaker cable!? I do like my Analysis Plus Oval 12's though. They're purple, and everyone knows that purple cables sound better al

Because I've held the heart of my engine in my bare hands.... soooooo many times, I'd recognize it's ugly mug anywhere The rubber surround is a give-away as well If it's not the same pump, it's a freakin' twin And I Marelli and Weber have often cooperated. Keep in mind, I'm not 100% certain, but if the photo is correct for that part number, I don't see how it couldn't be our pump. Honestly. al

Do you recall the dimensions or cross-reference(which ones from other bikes fit the V11) for the Ohlins you used? Knowing this would be helpful for those that may need to replace a defective Bitubo unit, and can find a nice used Ohlins on eBay from another bike. thx! al

... I dunno, talk to a lot of people, and they'll say "quality" wires are all pretty much comparable. I think it's much like the inevitable "oil thread" every motorcycle forum sees once a year But that being said, I bought NGK "race" wires for about the same for my dual-plug project. And I know NGK makes quality products. al

I'm not 100% certain, but while browsing around looking for an external(not attached to the tank) fuel pressure regulator, I came across the following: Redline Weber Fuel Pumps and Regulators It appears that the fuel pump 99009-152 is our pump So, just an interesting cross-reference. al

...nope, but it's on my list I just sent off my pipes to Jet-Hot today, and the Ohlins forks are being resprung at Lindemann today, and I'm waiting on Victor at FBF to give me an ETA on the Duc axle.... ... and I'm installing wireless to my xDSL in the basement, and hanging a new door in the kitchen... ooops that's not Guzzi related Yeah, I've just been too busy with home-improvment projects this Summer to take the time to get to the various in-process bike projects. A couple of them entailed the bike being "down" for a while, and I wanted to be able to ride it. And I wanted to wait until several of these projects coincided so I could do them all at once instead of tinkering every weekend. Oh.. and the garage is still stuffed with the GF and kids' boxes, so.... It depends, but I'll probably start to get several of these things finished in October. The dual-plug is one of the easiest though. I've got all the parts, and even though it would be ideal to be able to tweak the timing, TLM assures me that the bike will run fine without adjusting it... and in fact will run better. We'll see al

....particularly expensive on our bikes, since you'd have to go get some carbs in the first place! al

Here's a thread we had on plug-wires: Spark Plug Wire Thread ...but specifically in regard to the Nology wires, I spoke with a couple folks such as Ken at Evoluzione.net and their thoughts were that the Nology wires will actually provide a shorter duration spark, and for our low-rpm engines that would not be beneficial. His explanation, which unfortunately I cannot remember, basically said that this type of system, even a CDI system, really is only beneficial for high-rpm applications which our engines do not approach. Anyway, my conversations with several folks said that the Nology wires wouldn't be beneficial and a waste of money. They're very pricey... But if you give them a try, let us know your experience... al

So whatever happened with the experiment with the Brisk plugs? al

...that is true regarding noise regulations to some degree, but air-boxes also provide an important performance engineering function, providing a large "reservoir" of still and relatively constant pressure air on demand. An intake system, and specifically an EFI/carb can benefit from eliminating as many variables/unknowns to deliver expected performance as designed, and guaranteeing that the intake charge is at a relatively constant pressure, velocity, etc helps a great deal in tuning the intake... hence air-boxes. Utilizing the largest airbox within reason usually is most beneficial, but of course limitations on the available space under the fuel-tank make an infinitey large box impossible. If you ran the engine on a motorcycle sitting still, at constant pressure, with completely efficient intake, then you could consider the atmosphere the perfect and infinite air-box But of course, with the bike moving, changing elevation, etc... engineers design the air-box to smooth out those effects as much as possible. Believe it or not, this sometimes includes making the air inlet/snorkel relatively restrictive. It's all a package, intake to exhaust.... However, I don't think our Guzzi's are quite that well thought out. But maybe the new ones will be with Aprilia's investment al

Jeff, I agree with that ....and goes to my comments about tuned intakes being a different discussion than "ram air", and indeed being potentially beneficial. We've seen solutions capitalizing on this technology on a variety of engines over the decades, even some of the old original 1950's Chrysler Hemis and their "longhorn" intake runners Obviously a well-designed intake will create some flow and positive pressure, pulses, etc... at speed, but yes... my point was that with which you concur, any "ram air" marketing referencing a "supercharging" type effect is hype at the speeds(=pressure) we ride and would generate. Also as I was saying, I think a lot of the confusion on topics like this often seem to simply be rooted in semantics, and IMHO unfortunately much of that is the fault of manufacturers marketing hype That being "settled" .... as we mentioned briefly in the "what is a cross-over" thread, the design of higher-tech solutions like a variable exhaust takes huge engineering and financial resources, such that up to this point small manufacturers like Guzzi haven't been able to produce these solutions like Yamaha, Honda, etc. I think the same has been true of intake technology for our bikes. Moto Guzzi has been able to do the "basics" around intake airbox(and exhaust) design, but probably didn't have the resources to do any better, plus the one could still argue that especially with a relatively low-tech engine like the V11, the returns on such an intake is stilly probably minimal at normal speeds. But that being said, I'd be interested what people can come up with for the V11 in regards to tuning a more effective intake versus our relatively crude OEM air-box/snorkels... and admittedly simplistic mods currently at our disposal such as air-box lid eliminators, pods, etc... However, on-the-other-hand... going by what I've seen on various other forums on more "advanced" motorcycles, a lot of them end up ditching OEM solutions and still bolting on simple pod and drilled lid kits like we've already got.... so is it worth the effort to design a tuned intake "ram-air"-ish system for our bikes?? Maybe, who knows, but it's hard to come up with an equivalent solution in the garage that takes manufacturers some significant computing HP to design and deliver. I'll be interested to see what may come up though. At the very least I'm very interested in any solution that delivers access to a cool and clean air-stream, although since I've eliminated my air-box for a variety of other "advantages"... in my case I probably would stay with the pods Somewhere out there, there's even a fella that flipped the jugs over so that intake ports are up front al

....awesome Mike Great work! You'll have to let us know your thoughts of the Penske versus the Ohlins since you can ride them back-to-back now. I'm still on-the-fence about which to buy. al

I don't think even Guzzi knows! I second that! But honestly, I *think* the swingarms are the same. I don't recall hearing about any additional bracing on the swingarm, but who knows Mike can check for us though al

... the "snorkels" on the photo of the Sport1100 from CookedGoose are simply extensions from the airbox snorkels since they removed the faring and didn't have access to clean, cool air, not "ram-air". If they hadn't added those hoses they would have had the same poor OEM hot air pickup locations as our V11 This solution is what I have always advocated. I've talked to the LSR guys, and they use larger air-boxes, not ram-air though. The "dryer vents" extensions in the photos above would not be rigid enough, nor are smooth or "tuned" in any way to produce a "ram-air" effect. At speed, they are just going to flop around. These are just for "fresh air". That being said, I agree with what Jeff cites, but I don't consider that "ram-air" either. That is intake tuning, and engineering the intake to get access to a cool and clean airflow. IMHO, the term "ram air" takes a volume of air and compresses it through velocity and physically constricting the volume of the intake, hence creating a supercharger like effect. This just isn't possible at the speeds we all ride normally. And is the conundrum I've cited above. However, incorporating intake runners that increase air-box volume, and manipulate the air-flow to and within the air-box to increase efficiency is certainly possible and beneficial. This is more related to the benefit I mentioned of indeed engineering intake runners that get access to a clean and clean air-stream. As I mentioned before, there is certainly a benefit to this as the location and design of our OEM intake snorkels are terrible. Perhaps this is more an issue of semantics, but my definition of "ram air" on a motorcycle, is hype al

Exhaust "cross-overs", collectors, h-pipes, and bridges... all various names for similar exhaust parts, are part of a well-designed exhaust system. Cross-overs are designed to tune an exhaust such that the exhaust pulses can scavenge exhaust gasses from the other header runners. Different header lengths, cross-over/collector configurations, and tube diameters can be chosen to move the torque-curve and peak HP curves where the designer targets. Here are some useful specific links: Exhaust Fundamentals Treatise on the NSX Forum Exhaust Theory Overview As with any performance part and modification, different MG V11 cross-overs deliver different torque/HP peaks in the RPM range because there is always a trade-off with the different designs. There are several other threads in the Forum that discuss the characteristics between the popular cross-overs such as the Mistral, FBF, and Stucchi. Hope that helps... al

Rich is not using pods, just a flat K&N OEM replacement filter, that drops right into the airbox. He employed an airbox lid eliminator "ring" like the one Fast by Ferracchi sells, but he made it himself out of diamond-plate aluminum. This exposes the whole OEM flat filter to open air under the tank, and let's one "eliminate" the airbox lid and associated snorkels. If I hadn't relocated my fuel-pump under the tank after tossing the airbox, this would have been a good solution I would have considered as well. A lot of folks do this as it is simple, and seems to have measureable results. The variou filter numbers are in the FAQ section: Forum intake and air-filter FAQ He's got a photo of his home-made ring floating around somewhere although I coudn't find it. But you can get your own kit, including filter, from FBF as well. al

Yeah, I think mine were just the victim of sitting around Paolo's house for an extra month, and then shipping and handling But the "damage" is very minor, and is only minimally cosmetic. No one by myself will really ever notice al

...AWESOME Thanks again Paul, looks great!! Curiously, is there a safety-wire or pin for the axle nut? So BTW, since it's now obvious that these forks aren't OEM forks for the Scura, Rosso Corsa, or Cafe Sport.... as I thought they were(which is fine)... I wonder what bike these forks were intended for? Or are they just non-OEM, and simply aftermarket forks from Ohlins that they sell to fit the V11? Interesting to wonder. Regarding being a bit longer, when mine arrived from Paolo via FedEx from Italy, the top edge around the crown of the forks were dinged up as if during packing or handling, someone had set the forks on the top end and rotated them around... mabe even stood them on end or something. The dings are very small, but noticeable, so Lindemann said they can run a polisher around the top 5mm or so to get them out, but it will be silver instead of gold. So I'll end up with a silver "ring" around the top edge of mine, but that's fine. Anyway, I'll order my axle ASAP, and should get my forks back from Lindemann next week sometime. Hopefully I can get them installed soon after al

...well, YMMV ... and as you say, at 150MPH maybe you might see a little boost in peak HP under ideal circumstances I just don't know anyone who rides at that speed, except the Moto Guzzi LSR team and they only reached ~138MPH Oh, and interestingly, those guys... whose sole goal is top speed, don't use "ram-air" at all. In fact, they rely on an enlarged airbox on the LeMans, and have removed the fairing on the Sport1100 they sometimes run, and simply extended hoses to get fresh-air to the air-box. At those high speeds, as you point out, it's actually quite difficult to design an airfoil and scoop design that doesn't actually increase turbulence and decrease effeciency. High HP, esp at high speeds, actually benefits more from a large volume of constant pressure, still air. So in reality, a larger air-box is generally a better benefit. But we all hate air-boxes, so ...but my opinion, and the engineers' I've spoken to on the subject, suggest it's unlikely one would ever normally reach nor ride consistently at those elevated speeds to make the "ram-air" excericise worth-while. As it is only at those ~150/200mph+ speeds one would note any measureable gain. Feel free to experiment with it though, and I'm sure that if you have access to a wind-tunnel(which is what you would need in coordination with the dyno to truly evaluate the results) we would love to see the outcome. I'd love to be proven incorrect, especially if one could show improved performance at the normal speeds (~70-90MPH) we all ride on a day-to-day basis. Keep in mind, I'm only parroting what I was emphatically told by several folks with engineering backgrounds, after I was quite the proponent of "ram-air" myself a while back. You sound like me 18 months ago Good luck al

....yep, my Sachs-Boge is white As far as the filter, the part # is: RU 1780 The intake runner "option" isn't an issue with these filters, as the filter has an extension built into the filter(which is cylindrical, not conical like some of the other models) such that they more-or-less have the runner built in to the filter. Although the filter in this case does bolt on to the TB directly, there is a good 3 inches of tube integrated into the filter to smooth the airflow. Check out the photos in the thread referenced above al

Hrmm, I thought all the 2003 bikes have a larger axle than the 2002s? That is what was mentioned in all the 2003 marketing hoopla along with the move to 43mm forks Anyway, specific to my 2002 LeMans, no.... the stock MG axle on my 2002 is 25mm diameter on one end x about 17mm on the threaded end, and the ~17mm end is threaded/screwed into the Marz left fork leg eye. Although I haven't had the axle out of the front yet, I believe that the stock 2002 MG solid axle is 25mm diameter throughout, with just the threaded end a slightly smaller diameter(again ~17mm). The Ohlins forks we bought do not have any threading in either fork leg to receive a threaded axle, and although I didn't measure both eyes, I know that one is definitely 25mm, and Paul(who has the same forks) measured the other eye as 30mm.... hence his recommendation for the Duc axle. How are the Ohlins/axle fitted on the 2003 Rosso Corsa? Is the axle threaded into the fork eye, or does the axle pass through have a nut like the Ducati axles we are buying? From what I understood, the forks we bought were the same as those fitted to the 2003 Rosso. Perhaps I misunderstood. If so, and the Rosso uses a larger, but still threaded axle.... then the stock Rosso axle parts will not work with this setup, and the only option becomes the Ducati kit. My only final concern, although I'm not worried about it as Paul has measured it all up... is that the new Ohlins are the right length, and perhaps most importantly are the right diameter to slide right in to the stock 2002 triples. Paul does have photos of his mounted, but I'm not sure which model year bike his triples came from. I'm sure Paul can chime-in on the axle, fork length, diameter... etc al

Hi Capt Yep, am very familiar with the folks up your way at Moto International(USA TLM affiliate - our Forum sponsor ).... I assume that's who you are referring to. I've talked to them on the phone many times, and order all my MG parts from them now Couple of comments on both of your topics, intake and suspension: 1) First, I am sure that Jason is very knowledgeable, but I've never seen a V11 Sport with the WP suspension. We've actually had this discussion on here somewhere, but I can't find the thread. But the consensus was reached that yes, WP bits were on the Sport1100 series, and although all the press material for the V11 bikes at least up to 2002 said "either Sachs-Boge or WP suspension" ... in reality, no V11 Sport/LeMans models anyone has seen have indeed had any WP components, front or rear, delivered from the factory. Now that's not to say that your mechanic's advice is spot-on, or that someone may have installed a WP unit aftermarket.... or maybe you are the one fella we've seen in the world with a WP shock from the factory But just a comment. I'm sure his advice is fine though, regardless of the manufacturer of the componentry 2) Regarding the K&N pods question, we have a lengthy thread on the subject here: Intake Mod Thread It's actually the "norm" and recommended practice to always put the pods on the intake runner "extensions" as opposed to directly on the TBs. So your mechanic's recommendation is fairly common and works fine. That being said, I have noticed that never-the-less, especially in Europe, attaching the smaller cone-shaped filters to the TBs directly seems to be more common, and I have not heard of any ill effects. So perhaps there is some degree of "urban legendry" to the recommendation of using the extensions? I don't know, but then again, the K&N filters I used have the extension already built-in Hope that helps! al

The only stupid question is the one that goes unspoken ...doesn't hurt to ask Thanks! al