al_roethlisberger

View with rear plate reattached:

Just as a clarification, after drilling out the holes in the back plate, one does *not* cut out the rear support/weld for the inner muffler tube. The extended tube that normally peeks out of the rear "finishing plate/cover" is simply cut-off flush with it's weld as seen in the photos below. So this does not leave the inner tube/guts of the OEM Lafranconi mufflers unsupported as suggested above. Trimming off this extension allows the gasses and sound to now escape around and out of the now more open hole in the "finishing plate/cover". So no modification whatsoever is required for for the "finishing plate/cover" for the new increased sound and gasses to escape. It looks totally stock from the rear, unless an experienced eye is looking The photo below shows quite a "hodge-podge" of seemingly random holes, and I agree with Janus that this many holes are not really necessary. Probably no more than 9 or 10 holes drilled around the perimeter of the rear of the muffler are sufficient to add a little more bark and baritone to your exhaust without over-doing it. Hopefully it's clear in the photos. BTW, you are not alone Janus. I really liked the stock can's design and look as well. My only gripes were: - Heavy...very heavy - Fading fast, and turning purple.. even though my bike was low mileage and stored indoors - ...a bit restrictive, comparatively speaking - They also showed scratches/knicks very easily I think most folks found them attractive though, I know I did. al

...just curious if in the last 6-ish months anyone has seen anything new on this topic?? i.e. any aftermarket units show up since then? I have yet to see any, although all-in-all I think the LeMans/Sport is blessed with some relatively attractive OEM stalk/lights, so it's not such a major thing One a number of more pressing and complicated operationally oriented projects are complete, I'm still thinking about taking a stroll through my local "TAP Plastics" and seeing what my mind could dream up al

Two exhaust info sources: Forum Exhaust Mod FAQ Drilled Exhaust Discussion ...hope that helps

....all excellent ideas, but here's one other thing to consider... many of the "best" roads in the USA, and I'd venture worldwide, have already been reviewed extensively by regional riders. In those cases, whoever wanted to review "road X" might want to search to see if a review is already extant, and just cite that URL for the extended comments. No need to reinvent the wheel Great examples are at: www.pashnit.com Just some additional thoughts... al

Baldini, I would recommend picking up a copy of "Guzziology" from Moto International in Seattle, or just from Amazon.com It describes all these procedures step by step.. However in the case of balancing the TBs, it's actually the easiest of all the regular "tune-up" items I would argue. As Rich stated, you simply use a set of vaccuum gauges, mercury guages(sticks), or easiest of all, the Twin Max balancer. You attach these to the vaccuum inlets on your intake runners that your emissions hoses attach to, and hook up the Twin Max(or other). After setting a base level, run the bike up to about 3k RPM and use the white nylon thumb-screw under the TB linkage on the left of the bike to adjust the "balance" of the TBs such that the Twin Max reads "even"(which is zero) or similarly your mercury sticks balance. Once this is done periodically, your engine will run and idle much more happily. Again, that was the "quick and dirty" and "Guzziology" has far more detail on the procedure. Here's a related question though: Without a gas analyzer, how does one properly set the CO and air bypass screws accordingly. This seems like a critical thing for setting idle, etc, however it doesn't sound like one can do it as a shade-tree in their garage?? My idle is a tad high, and I've let off the throttle set-screws as much as I can. This only leaves the air bypass screws, and I don't want to tinker with them since they were last set at the shop since I don't know how to set them correctly. al

...hey Joe, I think the Triumph lights would look great That's my favorite part of the Speed Triple, and I came within a hair's breath of buying one of those! Be sure to post pics when the conversion is done, especially of any custom bracketry reguired. If I had an unfaired Sport, this would be one of the first 'cosmetic' mods I'd consider. al

hrmm, odd.... yes I wonder as well if maybe they just sent you the incorrect shock, especially considering the incorrect diameter eyelets as well?? BTW, this is great though... once you get the Penske on the '00 Sport, you'll have the 'alternate' suspension combination I am considering all on one bike! - Penske rear, LE modified Marz front as opposed to all Ohlins front and rear. ....really can't wait for your comparison between this combo and the all Ohlins setup on the Rosso. BTW, do you have a quick and dirty perpective on the LE front after riding the '00 home from Moto Italiano, after riding the Rosso for the last month or two?? I'm really crossing my fingers that it comes out "close enough" in performance between the two alternatives so that I can save some dough, and keep the black front forks Unless you find the Penske worlds better in the rear, I actually might like to go for the Ohlins out back since it has the remotely adjustable preload. That would be great for trips and the incidental 2-up ride al

Is "Jet Hot" the same as the shiny 'ceramic' coatings we've seen on a couple bikes on the forum, where the exhaust looks basically "perma-chromed"?? Oops... update, went and checked out the website and answered my own question Anyway, yep, the stuff actually looks kinda neat. Since my new Ti exhausts and pipes after the x-over won't be turning "gold" like the rest of the SS system, this actually might be a good looking alternative. One other advantage is that if the coating shields the heat a bit from the engine and transmission casings, those with 2002 "fuzzy" black engine cases might see less detioration if the headers aren't radiating quite as much heat right next to them??? al

....got a photo of his "results"? al

...wow, I bet those "superbike" forks are pricey! al

...so here's and updated, update Attached is a photo from a '00 Sport that was on eBay. From the rear shot, one can clearly see that the right exhaust hangar is "kicked out" just as it is on my '02 as I've reported. Now, from the photo it is impossible to tell how far the hangar on the '00 is "kicked out" over the left, or if it's equivalent or much less than the '02+ bikes with the 5.5-inch wheel. But it's just interesting to note, that in true Guzzi style, these things can apparently vary from bike to bike. Perhaps some pre-02 bikes do indeed also have unevenly spaced exhausts/hangars as delivered from the factory as well. Just something to consider when mounting aftermarket exhausts, and trying to "even them up". BTW, my Stucci x-over is very apparently "uneven" from the factory, so my pipes don't quite sit level. I'll bend it, but it's a bit annoying that they got such a simple thing wrong. al

FYI, just noticed today that I have a few bubbles starting on the tranny as well. It's down toward the bottom, near the union of the engine and transmission. Personally, this is the first I've heard of that. The bubbles are small, but then again that's how they started on the engine It's pretty obvious that it's heat related though, as even on the tranny bubbles, they seem to be localized to where the headers pass close to the case. If they don't get too much worse, these can be handled with HDavidson touch-up paint, as I did with the engine bubbles until they became as big as my fingernail and started falling off in chunks al

I guess we have to call you "TinkerAl" from now on Cool, can you change my tag-line from "Forum flooder :)" to "TinkerAl" ? I tried to get you to make it "Postus Prolificus"[Thanks Carl ] but I guess you never got around to it But yeah, after the dual-plug and fuel-pump relo, I think any major tinkering will be done until Winter. I think when the cases get split for the paint issue, I'll have them add a few things, but nothing major. The really only major final tweak will be suspension, and I'm not sure when $$ will allow that. ...still waiting on Mike's suspension review to help drive priorities there as well Honestly, I'm thinking that after the Winter, there really won't be much left to do... and I think it will be relatively static after the things listed above. ...now if I can juuuuuuuuust get 90hp at the rear-wheel... I'll be satisfied That's the target I've set, for no good reason BTW. I don't think I'll be putting in higher-comp pistons nor bigger valves though(since I just got head work done), so maybe it isn't quite possible. Who knows though, we'll see I'd actually like to stop major tinkering eventually al

I have been using the AN-8 high-pressure/heat hose you can get at speed shops for fuel/oil/coolant lines. It's blue colored, nearly indestructable, and rated at 250PSI and something like 300 degrees I think... I think it's made by Aeroquip. al

Looks great Mike! BTW, my bike is still running "like a top" after our valve adjust. I need to check the right valve-cover gasket as I seem to have a small weep, but everything else it great. We need to get the word out to the shops that adjusting the valves to looser Euro Specs is *the fix* for the hot-idle-stumble/die. It's still coughed/missed two or three times in just the right scenario, but it's been rare. I rode the bike to work today in 100-degree stop&go traffic, as well as some relatively fast runs... and not a single miss, and that's usually the type of riding that will bring it out My USB PCIII is on the way too. As soon as I get all my kit together for the dual-plugs and final phase of the fuel-pump relocation, I'll be heading back down to Hare for a final mapping. ...so I guess there'll be a used PCIII on eBay for a V11 Guzzi pretty soon al

I'm hoping my various modifications are as successful.

WOW... .... I can only dream I suspect to get that kind of gain in efficiency, we get back to the need to tune the timing correctly as well, which we've already determined I can't do easily(read: affordably) right now. [...among the multitude of other things he did such as high-comp pistons, Carillo rods, balanced/blueprinted engine/tranny, flywheel, etc... not all of which I'd be interested in doing necessarily. But who knows one day ] But it'll be interesting to see the before and after no doubt. As soon as I get it all hooked up, the new PCIII-USB in from Todd, and mapped... we will know if it makes any more power according to the Dyno. Frankly I'll be surprised if it's much more as nothing more than adding a second plug will have happened at that point, but one never knows Hopefully due to not being able to tweak the timing correctly... I won't actually lose power. It's always a possibility with these things, especially when experimenting like I am. Here's to hoping that it all works well together though Keep your fingers crossed al

Here's something else interesting... in spirit at least: Buell Accessory Thermostatically Controlled Fan It's a bit pricey, and I'm sure one could go down to the local electronics superstore(like Fry's here in the States) and put it together for a lot less. But if one lived in a very hot environment, and at altitude... and was concerned about heating problems... something like this could be a useful accessory to keep air moving under the tank/spine. al

Once again, it ain't just Guzzis: New BMW Oilhead Problems

YIKES ...I'm really sorry to hear about that Carl. It's amazing how quickly these things can add up. Here's an interesting observation I have noticed about myself though. When I hear about a multi-hundred or thousand $$ bill for repairs for my car, heck even my house, I tend to delay or find alternatives. However, when I think about similar bills for accessories or hot-rodding my bike, it almost .... seems like no big deal. What kind of sickness is this? Thanks Jaap ...we'll see won't we? I actually don't have any specific expectations... that's bad isn't it? I just did it to see what it would do... just curiosity really. So we'll see. What would I like to see though? Higher mileage(efficiency) and more power, but then again... who wouldn't want that in general? al

Indeed, we'll see for sure. I used to have some detonation(pinging) under hard acceleration before I had the head-work and the PCIII. But so far(knocking on wood) it seems to be gone. I did speak with Mike Rich, and he doesn't see any issues per se.... but he did recommend going with a cooler plug, the NGK BPR8ES and CR8HSA for the secondary. I've actually picked up a couple of the equivalent Denso Iridium plugs for grins-and-giggles to try out though. In any case, he recommended slightly cooler plugs. So, I received the coils from TLM yesterday, and as advertised they are exactly the same as the OEM single-output versions. My only concern is that the two coils they sent, although very similar, are obviously by different manufacturers. Their cases are slightly different in design, and one is clearly marked "Champion", where the other is unmarked. I suspect they are the same MG part#, just from a different supplier/lot... which isn't uncommon. However just for safety's sake I've got an email off to Martijn at TLM to verify that they are indeed the same part/specs before bolting them up to the bike. ....yes indeed... very close now I'm pretty excited after starting this journey late last year.... At least Jason, and others, won't have to revisit this once they decide to go this route. The only variable left unresolved is timing modification, but if Todd convinces Dyno to make a PCIIIr.... that will be the final piece to fall into place! When it's all said-and-done, this will be a fun FAQ to finally be able to write... and actually a pretty short one! al

ahhh, I guess it got "lost" in the discussion about your friend's Paoli forks My "jury is still out" until I also hear from Mike Stewart and how well the Lindeman Engineering tweaked OEM forks on his '00 V11 compare with the Ohlins on his new Corsa. I hear he may be finally getting the bike back from the shop, so he can give us his impressions of both thx! al

...really?? Hrmm, I guess I must have missed that post Paul, apologies Thanks for the tips, but I don't/can't really keep an eye on the Italian, German, or Dutch sites as I don't speak the language. So any "heads-up" you guys in Euro-land can give us when a good deal shows up is greatly appreciated. 1200Euro seems like a good deal, although I'm not sure I have that lying aroud right this min ...tempting. Sure, forward me the fella's email and I'll mull it over... thx! al

The high-mounts do look nice, but has anyone tried them(or just measured) with the Tekno MG side-bags? Just from the photos, it looks like the high-mounts + Tekno bags wouldn't be compatible?? al