al_roethlisberger

That looks like it is going to be a lot of fun

... ah the seasonally reoccurring "why does everyone think these bikes break all the time" thread rears it's head again Yeah, go to any make/model specific forum and you'll find the same observation. Go to the FJR forum and you'll hear about overheating and ticking valves. Go to the Honda forums and hear about VFR and ST1300 frames cracking. Go to Suzuki forums and hear about bad pistons, and mushrooming valves on the Kawi forums ... it's the nature of "forums" and the human condition. We more readily put energy into complaining or asking questions about problems, than singing praises about reliability and perfection In fact, I'd speculate that if all of these various makes were nearly 100% perfect and reliable, forums like this very one would dry up Don't worry, it's just that most people are out riding when their bikes are working perfectly, but are first to post a question or concern when something is amiss. So it appears that it is nothing but complaints, when in fact a large percentage of "good news" is out there, but being enjoyed "silently" al

Thanks for the review, which I read earlier from a link on Wildguzzi I like a lot of the other Breva design studies as well. Very interesting. I'll be very keen to see what Piaggio/MG does with this platform over the next couple years. al

Yeah, MG added the "new"(not really so new, as some old MGs used to have it ) front crossover, marketed as "boosting low/mid torque" in 2003 A lot of folks have had some issues with it as well, as noted in this thread: http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?...exhaust++gasket .... so it is a mixed bag, but certainly not a big deal either way. If you don't have one, I wouldn't suggest that it is worth pursuing. al

Yep, here is the thread: http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?...exhaust++gasket It was a "limited run" but he may be able to make more if there is enough demand for another group buy Drop him a note

...any news on your Daytona? al

You shouldn't have to remove both to fix the problem if the valve is fixed or removed. al

Welcome back Rich .... knew you couldn't stay gone long

.... aww crap, and this is why my bike has been at the shop for 4 months? I'll have to get this info to them first thing Tuesday when they open the doors! Thanks Brian al

.... "no input" , you simply have one of the '02 spec, '03 V11 Nakeds Yours is indeed a "2003" and was sold and registered as such, but almost all the '03 V11 Nakeds I've seen didn't manage to get the 03 features, and were really still '02 spec bikes. It's not really a problem. It simply "is what it is" But it does cause some minor confusion at times for owners, especially when trying to replace parts or troubleshoot a problem, such as this thread exhibited. It's simply the quirky result of a small manufacturer phasing in new features al

Question: Which crossover are you asking about? With 2000-2002 bikes, there was only the main crossover, under the transmission. With 2003+ bikes, they added the front crossover, in front of/above the alternator. If you have a 2002 LeMans, you should only have one crossover, up under the bike's transmission. If you don't have either, it's technically not a problem per se.... although you must have some really custom exhaust system from the headers back, and I would think a totally seperate dual-exhaust system would lose some performance. I suspect you are asking about the 2003+ front crossover though, and if so, the absence of it on your 2002 is normal Hope that helps. al

Heh, yeah I just ran across that cam in my garage a few days ago... nearly forgot about it. No, I received the part while(or just prior) to the bike going into the shop, so I haven't had a chance to test it. But it is on my list al

I doubt the change in CR was much. I think I recall something like .4 point or something, and MG is always optimistic and inaccurate in this area, so the actual CR may be significantly less. I don't know/think they changed the piston, but they may have. They probably just reworked the head a little bit. As far as the oil cooling, from what I heard/know they just added some upward shooting jets. al

BTW, quick clarification/disclaimer: For those that might get confused the make/model discussion. To be clear, for some reason the year models outside of North America, well at least in Europe, seem to be a "year earlier" than what ours in North America are marketed as. So, for example, one occasionally will see a "2003" LeMans in Europe noted and registered as a 2002. But for the sake of clarity, I'll continue to stick with the North American model year nomenclature as sold here for my descriptions. In North America, 2003 models were the year the changes above were introduced. I just wanted to clarify that before the questions about what year is what got even more confusing al

ouch

Excellent ...it is always great to hear some praise and "good news" online about the bikes, as the norm is that typically only problems get posted... by their very nature BTW, the photo looks like you were just about to(or maybe just did) get rained on al

I avoid the Alices 9/Skyline/84 circuit these days. I have been up there as of last Fall, but the squid and LEO presence, not mention the sheer traffic, just puts a damper on the whole affair. It seems like there is a wreck or two every weekend once the "season" kicks in ...it's not so bad on a weekday though. I would love to take a ride with a scenic destination(or the trip itself) in mind, one that perhaps gleaned from Pashnit.com... but most importantly is a "road less travelled" by the cycling masses We should definitely try to plan something in the coming months, although I have to say my schedule is going to be very dicey with work(2wks on-call in May), travel, and getting the house ready to sell from now until July/August al

Now now, be careful to cast stones at Carl, lest you jinx yourself ... heck, if only *I* had a bike I guess that's what I get for trying to plan ahead and put the bike "in early to get it done over Winter". How silly of me It's been like 4 months at this point I couldn't have gone anyway though. We had to take the baby to hospital this morning. But it looks like all is fine.... just a viral thing. al

True, but fortunately since the bike is so darned popular... there are tons of suspension options for the bike.... everything from swapping shocks from GSXR suspension goodies, to new aftermarket kits. And with all of them out there, especially used as track bikes, these parts are a "dime a dozen" The SV is really a great bike to keep in mind, as the options are quite varied... and affordable all-around. And yes, I've always heard good things about the Mille, but I hear better things about the Tuono It will be interesting to see what Aprilia will do next, since they killed off the Falco(another great bike) and the Futura. al

No.... well sorta You have a 2003 V11 Naked, but it is basically a 2002 spec bike. MG sorta pulled a "fast one" in my humble opinion with the V11 Naked in early to mid 2003 ... in North America anyway I guess MG had a bunch of 2002 V11 Nakeds left over in parts They marketed all the great new features of the 2003 bikes, of which several new owners of the '03 V11 Naked here thought they received(which we have discussed here a couple times).... but in the end did not. The only bike that received these updates right away was the LeMans apparently. Fortunately for these 2003 2002-spec Naked owners, the 2003 improvements, while desireable, didn't represent enough of a major change that left the owners wanting enough to care about taking it up with MG(as if that would have gone anywhere anyway ) ...at least the owners that have chatted about it here. What you have is essentially still a 2002 spec bike. There's a thread or two on this somewhere, but basically in 2003 MG revised the V11 Sport/LeMans, changing to: - 2003 has a new tank,with internal fuel-pump, filter, regulator, slightly larger capacity. The new tank is immediately recognizeable because it doesn't have the "chin pad" nor the petcock under the left side, or the external fuel-regulator/return under the right. The new tank seems to eliminated the dreaded tank-suck and vapor-lock issues of the earlier bikes. - 2003 has black ITT gauges that replaced the problematic white Veglias - 2003 has smooth "satin" engine, transmission, and bevel paint to replace the faulty "fuzzy" textured engine paint of the 2002(and 2001 Rosso Mandello) series. - 2003 has larger(43mm??) front forks with adjustable preload and either compression or rebound, I forget which, but not both. But the adjustments are available in both legs. The 2002 and earlier forks were 40mm if I recall, and only had compression and rebound(in each leg exclusively) and no preload. The 2002 and earlier forks are immediately recognizeable by their big Tonka Toy caps, and the giant "C" and "R" printed on them. The 2003 has more contemporary caps, with a blue nut/cap for adjustment. - 2003 has a new front mini-crossover in front of the alternator connecting the headers. This along with the increased CR, was supposed to boost low/mid range torque. - 2003 marketed(but never verified AFAIK) slightly higher compression - 2003 has oil jet cooling of the underside of the piston crown .... and of course, as you have noticed, the 2002 spec and earlier bikes have the speedo gear drive. I'm sure there are other differences that were introduced in 2003, but those are the major ones I can recall off-hand. So yes, you have the 2002 speedo parts. I am surprised your cable actually broke, but we have seen routing of the cable to be an issue for all years to some degree. Hope that helps. al

I don't think it was ever settled with regard to who made the single plate clutches in the RM, Scura, and Tenni. Many have suggested it is a RAM copy, but again, it is open to debate I think There is a ton of info here, all 16 pages of it, although the last 5 pages or so seem to have drifted off-topic a bit http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3520 http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?...=2659&hl=clutch al

Yeah, for the 2003+ bikes that ditched the bevel-gear in favor of the bent tube housing, your experience is what many folks with this problem have observed. One owner had a longer cable made(I forget who), but I don't know how well that ultimately worked out. Others have tried to more carefully route the cable. I haven't heard of the internal gear getting stripped though thank goodness. In prior years to 2003, the speedo cable was driven by a bevel gear that attached to the transmission. This setup worked fine, except that the construction of the gear housing was subject to failure by pushing itself apart. The "new" bent tube housing on the 2003+ bikes was apparently to address the failures with the gear driven original(and/or support the new black ITI gauges), but introduced their own problems as you have seen. If the manufacturer of the original gear drive had built them just a bit more durably, they never would have failed. But for those with the old style gear drives, some have observed that the main culprit of their exploding is ham-fisted installation. So make sure that the gear drive and its companion align smoothly when reinstalling. Finally, FYI: the "new" bent tube housing and old gear drive housing cables are not interchangeable. The gear ratios in the speedo drive internal to the transmission are different. This also means that one cannot put a 2003+ transmission on a pre-2003 bike(and vice versa) without some additional work to get the speedo to read correctly. al

Very cool experience, and glad to hear you have the support of a good dealer ...as far as the SV650, I agree that it has got to be in the top 10 of current "do it all well" bikes. Especially out here in CA, people tour on them, race them, do courier work on them, etc.... a great "do all" bike, and it has good performance and reliability to boot They are extremely popular. al

....great work on that replica As far as the headless Cafe Sport, very odd indeed. Did you see how cleanly all the switchgear/etc was just cut off. Very weird looking. If it went cheaply enough, it would be a heck of a deal for someone local. al

It's called a "vapor recovery system"...and as such is pretty self explanatory It allows the intake to "suck" out the fuel vapor that would otherwise be vented out of the tank cap. That vapor is then collected in the charcoal cannister, where it can be drawn off and combusted, and/or condenses. That's the simple explanation