al_roethlisberger

Nice work cleaning up your levers ...however, I actually like the rough sand-cast look of them. What I don't like though is that being cast, they are likely to break(and do) instead of merely bend if the bike is dropped

Carl, I don't think you have anything to apologize for, given the great job you've done for everyone by making these schematics available There will always be corrections over time al

OK, so I'm confused Can someone summarize what's going on?? Is there a ride this Sunday? If so, when, where, and the destination?? If the destination is Yosemite, I'll probably pass(don't even know if I can go anyway ). But I know I can't be gone quite that long this weekend. al

You can certainly get moderately higher wattage bulbs, and/or rewire the headlight on a separate direct power feed(there's a thread or two with instructions on that as well)... as the power runs through the switch and rather roundabout, leaving some juice behind as a result But, many people have found that simply adjusting the headlight makes a world of difference Also, here in the US, the HID H4, etc... conversion "kits" that were being sold for a while are indeed now illegal. But although I suppose one could get ticketed for the kits I describe, these are actually fully legal self contained and calibrated projector housings from Audis, BMWs, etc... and if installed and aimed correctly, are no more a hazard than as installed OEM I don't think it's a necessary thing though on our bikes, and many researchers have pointed out that the extreme white/blue of HIDs may actually be a hinderance to night vision and safety anyway. al

I believe this coming Monday, October 11th will be the next "Ducati Nights" if anyone is interested. I don't know if I'll have my bike in-hand or at the shop, but just an FYI. You may want to check the Club Desmo site to double-check the date. But also of interest, this Sunday October 10th is the "La Ducati" day in La Honda, CA up in the SC mountains... all day the bikes take over the town, representation from Ducati NA, vendors, and lots of bikes of all makes. al

Due to kiddo's Soccer games, et al.... Sundays are really the only "Group Ride" type days open to me through mid November. If ya'll put together a ride on a Sunday, let me know and I'll see. I'd love to go on a day ride. ...although the bike will be in the shop for an indeterminate amount of time any day now for the case swap, etc... sooo Just let us all know what develops. al

I assume you mean HID lighting versus "Xenon" bulbs? If so, HID systems actually require LESS power than conventional Halogen bulbs. I'll try to find the thread that I posted here last Spring?? on the subject. Basically, there are many kits out there, and the "trick" is to go into the deal with a friend to buy a set, and split the cost. The real challenge is/would be to fit the projector housing into the bucket and fairing of the LeMans. It definitely wouldn't fit in a V11 Sport headlight housing. Since we have a single beam solution, a projector housing that physically moves the focal length of the bulb via a servo, and uses a mechanical shade, is required versus a separate low/high bulb combo. al

I'm sure that is EXACTLY what happens, as many of the parts in these bikes haven't changed in 30 years and the bikes are assembled from "bins" of parts that just keep getting replenished by dumping in more as the supply runs low. But this isn't unique to Guzzi. A similar example is dating Fender guitars from the 1960s via their serial numbers. Although one can get a general "window" of manufacturing date from the number, in actuality, the assembler just randomly pulled a plate from a "bin" of plates as the guitars were assembled. In theory, as new plates were delivered and dumped in the bin, a guitar with a serial number that dates from 10 years prior could conceivably just have been assembled as the plates were mixed up and randomly grabbed. It happens all the time in scenarios like this. So conceivably, a 2005 V11 could still get a mis-sized boss, if one of those arms is still hanging around the pile But in theory, over time, it should be less and less likely as those parts are culled/used from the stock. al

...yeah, it just "depends".... on several factors. MGNA, MG Italia, Dealer, luck... etc And sometimes several seem to conspire In fact, humorously, I just received a call from Moto Italiano this last Saturday telling me that "my front fender was in". I said "huh??" It turns out that when I bought the bike about 29 months ago, I made a list of warantee issues before I even took the bike home. Most of them were cosmetic. One of those issues was a chipped front fender. Well, time passed, and I eventually forgot about it.... especially since I changed out the forks and required a new CF fender anyway. Well, it turns out that the warantee fender eventually showed up about 6 months ago(they estimate), and it got "lost" amongst a stack of boxes in storage at the shop, that they just discovered when digging through the stuff the other day .... so in the end, I told them to just keep it, as I sold the original fender over a year ago! Wow, effectively over two years to get a warantee front fender. wow.... Funny But to be fair, Moto Italiano has come through on many other warantee items for me quite quickly , and often with few to no questions asked. This was an exceptional example, but an interesting one none-the-less. al

You eeeeeeeeeediot ....now you've gone and done it Well.... now it'll break probably in the next few days, most likely somewhere inconvenient In all seriousness though, if it hasn't broken in that many miles, I bet you got the correctly sized boss and/or better spring(whichever the cause) and will probably be alright going forward. At least I hope so, now that I've "fixed" mine based on those assumptions

We have "high test"(high octane) but CA uses specifically formulated(oxygenated) gas, and is the only State in the Nation with such fuel requirments. I've heard comparisons saying 91 octane fuel in CA is like mid 80s octane elsewhere. Our gas definitely has some issues al

I don't want to say "you can't do it"..... mostly because I am not an expert in this area But when I talked to Mike Rich about this a while back, he said it is possible(he milled mine a tad, maybe getting .2-.25cr increase as part of his head porting job), but only to a small degree before you start messing up the squish-band, introduce problems with interference(valves hitting things), and add a lot of complication. In then end the results aren't worth the trouble. It's far easier to get different pistons. At least that's what I've been told al

I don't have mine yet(they are in the mail ) ...although they should be here any day now, then into the shop for the case swap. I'll let you know how the Mike Rich pistons seem to work. Unfortunately a new cam is going in at the same time, so it will be hard to isolate where the benefit(if any) comes from. But I'll report what I can. I think I will be the only one on the forum(at least that has spoken up) that will have the Mike Rich pistons.... although he has apparently sold many to the community at large. Everyone else seems to have gone with the FBF "11:1" kit. The Mike Rich kit will be a true 10.5:1 from what I understand. al

Well, although not exactly the same as the FBF pistons, my Mike Rich pistons, cam, springs, and lifters(need new ones with a new cam) are on their way. So I should be able to drop them off at Moto Italiano for the case replacement sometime next week Hopefully the results are as positive as what you all have experienced with the FBF variety. al

Yep, not hard though, and there's a whole thread on the subject in the "How To" forum Thanks for the compliments. I'll have to get some current photos one of these days with the "correct" red plates and covers installed

...very weird, as this one works for me al

What's the correct length of the spacer BTW? al

BTW: the thumbnails have been working for me without problem

Cool I tried to fit the Specialized computer a while back, but it didn't look right with the very "analog" look of the V11 cockpit. So in the end I realized I only really cared about a clock, and would like to have a thermometer. So I went with Formotion clocks. I also had the issues with pickup placement as you did. I never did work it out though, as I lost interest as noted above. Glad to hear you worked it out though! al

Yeah, a few points.... First, the valve covers in the photos of this thread, were my "phase I" attempt at powercoating the covers red. They turned out quite nice, but were definitely more orange, and had some nifty metal-flake in them. But they didn't really match the bike so I tried again. In the end though, I never found a finish that exactly matched the original red sideplates, so I had them both coated the color I liked, which BTW was pretty close to the original red of the sideplates before they started fading. The red valve covers that I have on the bike now are a deep candy red, along with the side-plates, and some other bits. It's a very "rich" color. Now, WRT to matching the Scura(and other "anodized" appearing red sideplates)... you have two options: 1) You can order a set of red valve covers from the Rosso Mandello, Rosso Corsa, or Nero Corsa. These will match, although not quite perfectly if I recall. Anyway, the last time I checked, these were about $300 for the pair. They may be more now that MG increased their parts prices across the board by about 13%(from what I heard) earlier this Summer prior to the buyout. Keep in mind that although they appear to be anodized, neither the sideplates nor the valve covers are. They are painted, and as such chip pretty easily. They seem to have a true "candy" paint scheme, with an initial coat of silver/gray, then the red "candy" overcoat. It chips quite easily as MG put the paint on thickly to get the anodized "effect". Plus, as mentioned, the original finish on the valve covers tends to fade to an orange over time, if that bothers you 2) You can have you existing valve covers and/or sideplates painted or powdercoated to match. Again, this is what I did, and in the end it costs about the same as option #1(if you remove/reinstall everything yourself), but you are guaranteed a match, and if you choose powder coating, it is much more durable than the original finish. Hope that helps. al

Agreed, and kudos The best I got, with similar mods(excepting ported heads in my case) was 86HP. But then again, it was very hot that day here too, so maybe if it had been cooler .... (excuses, excuses ) My "kit"(pistons, cam, valve springs) from Mike Rich shows up sometime next week for the engine case swap though. So I'll be very interested to see what happens post installation WRT power when I get another mapping/run later. al

Very nice, and welcome The color scheme on that bike is very understated, but in that sense.... very classy. I don't think we have too many members with that bike yet. al

Very cool.... those are some excellent results, especially from what I can tell, the rest of the engine internals are stock??

Well, I can't say for certain, but since the rear rotor is solid(i.e. not floating), it was probably painted as one piece, then ground off where the pads will run. So, along the outer edge, a gold "ring" could have been left during this process I'm sure it's nothing "special" though al

...yeah, the classic brake groan I think we all get it eventually. My solution was to clean the heck outta the thing. I took the caliper off, and LIBERALLY washed it out with brake cleaner, and was frankly amazed at the amount of gunk that came out. I think this is just symptomatic of the caliper being underslung. This cured the problem for a long while.... but it does come back until one cleans it again. I don't know if this is everyone's problem(versus warped rotors, etc), but it was a solution for mine al