al_roethlisberger

HEY ARBI!! We wondered what happened to you ...the last we heard, you had a Sport and new Ballabio for sale(due to MGNA hijinks), then that you had suffered a bad crash on one of the bikes We all wished you the best(on the forum) but never heard how you crashed, how you were, and were also a bit curious which bike was unfortunately wrecked. Hope all is well. al

Well, to be fair... and to diminish the worrying a bit, while this problem is "common" it doesn't seem to be ubiquitous either. The number of failures we know of are in the 10s of bikes maybe, out of how many made in the last 4+ years?? I'm still going to take mine apart sometime in the next few weeks and measure the boss and check on the spring. But I think it *might* be safe to say that if you've gone... say... 5-10k miles without it breaking, you have one of the "good ones" and shouldn't worry to much about it?? Whaddya think? Has anyone had any of these springs fail after 5-10k or greater miles? It seems like most here report the spring failing pretty early, then repeatedly on a similar interval of a couple/three thousand miles? al

Sheesh $600? You can get Ti Leo Vince's for around $800... I know that a $200 differential isn't small change, but $600 doesn't really sound "cheap" in comparison BTW, I am very impressed with Leo Vince quality, and the sound al

I'm sure the screws would do fine just holding a piece of plexi... but most of the folks that use plexi(such as GoldWing riders) on their headlights use some small squares of white/clear velcro on the lens itself. al

I would try your local Buell dealer. I bet they have a longer direct replacement, or the "spacers" needed as the same brand is used on their bikes. It's a good place to start anyway al

...too bad for sure, and unfortunately I don't have a source for you. But I think it is a good idea to get some of that clear 3M protective film made for many headlights. I doubt anyone makes one just for the LeMans, but since it's just a round headlight, giving a dealer/manufacturer the diameter should be fine. ...or does someone indeed already sell some the correct size? al

Hrmmm, where do you have your thermometer mounted? Mine doesn't seem affected by the heat from the motorcycle, at least not noticeably. Although any vehicle mounted thermometer is certainly subject to it's own "bubble of air", and if the vehicle has heated said "bubble" up a few degrees than ambient, it will show You are lucky you have one of the new liquid filled units though. Mine is the second generation that at least doesn't sling the paint off the needle(like my first two, replaced free under warantee BTW ) ... but mine still "dances" quite a bit when the engine is running. It's readable, but you have to "interpolate" the median of the vibrating needle al

...a thought Spend a little time trolling the local Sportbike forums in your area, and I bet you can find a custom leather shop that specializes in custom gear that is a much higher quality than the mass-produced stuff, and probably only marginally more $$. We have a couple such shops up here in NorCal, so I'm sure there has to be some in LA. I had a great jacket made by San Jose Leather, and then there's Helimot... al

That's a good point.. I wonder how the sound of the single-plate unit might grate on one's nerves tooling along on longish "sport touring" rides ...or does it only rattle in neutral(not under load)? If so then I guess it's a non issue. al

Yep, Formotion makes several of the clocks/thermometers that HD sells... and rebadges as HD items ...or you can get them direct from Formotion, your choice

Lots of us have fitted clocks, some are just old wrist-watches velcroed onto the triple/bars somewhere, where others are bicycle clocks, or MC specific jobs. I personally got a clock and thermometer from Formotion Products and like them very much. http://www.formotionproducts.com/

...aaaaaaaaactually, it's the right(as sitting on the bike) side hangar that is "longer" For a while, I thought it was just the 2002+ bikes with the wider rear wheel that had the uneven pipes, but further investigation showed that for all the V11 Sport varieties from 2000+: 1) The right hangar is "kicked out" a few degrees more than the left to clear the bevel/swingarm(but hangs the pipe at the same height, so it is "longer" than the left ) 2) The swingarms on all years are the same width, just the rim got wider 3) The right OEM exhaust cannister further exacerbates the uneveness by using a different bracket than the left, that pushes it out even further. If you stand behind any stock V11 Sport/LeMans, you will notice this uneveness... and for "anal" people like myself, it drives me bonkers I've said from the start that I couldn't BELIEVE that as much as Italians are often berated for considering aesthetics above engineering, they let this slip by. As to my eyes, it's really quite obvious from the rear of the bike. Now, that being said... is it a huge deal? Naw For instance, if one installs aftermarket exhausts, you will reduce the uneveness quite a bit since the OEM right exhaust bracket on the LaFranconi will now be gone, and the mouting points on the new exhausts will be equivalent. So, this will often dramatically reduce the offset. Other solutions, such as milling custom spacers for the exhaust mount work as well to even out the exhausts. This is what I did. You can see them in the photo above as a spool shaped piece of milled aluminum. And of course, in line with the topic of this thread... simply swapping out to the MG Ti kit/Sport1100 brackets as pictured above, will *solve* the issue, as these are perfectly even since they sweep the pipes up a few more inches, thereby negating the need to "kick out" the right hangar to clear the bevel/swingarm. If you don't need side bags, this is a great solution. And even if you do plan to tour occasionally, you can always put the longer OEM hangars back on to lower the pipes for the duration of the trip You can get some Sport1100 hangars for about $30 if you watch eBay, and the adapter plates are $50 from MGNA. al

....wow, it sure is a good thing you are getting your bike back in a day or so But I think the failure rate on the PCIII is pretty low actually. And keep in mind that several of us(including yours truly) have had the stock ECU fail as well without warning They are just electronics after all, produced to a price point(i.e. not Mil Spec), and are subject to the harsh environment a MC presents. Back "on topic"... sorry to hear about the PCIII dying, but then again I'm also glad to hear you've identified the problem... which is the real victory. Mystery intermittent gremlins are just the worst. If you have any issues with Dynojet waranteeing the PCIII, drop Todd Eagan at Guzzitech a line. If anyone can get it taken care of, he can, as he deals with Dynojet on behalf of the MG community almost exclusively, and has a very good relationship with them. ...but my experience with Dynojet has been good. They upgraded my firmware on a second-hand PCIII for free last year before I bought the new USB version al

...now we know why Antonio has been so "irritable"

Question: I plan to do this preventative check in the next few weeks, and although I know it's been briefly discussed before .... what gasket-goop(if any) should one use to reliably/permanently reseal the side of the case after reassembly? al

Updated the FAQ with this thread If I might suggest, it would be equally good to recreate this thread with all the relevant photos and steps in the "How To" section..... al

My grandfather had an entire push lawnmower made of magnesium, and of course there's the old VW engines people burn.... al

Here is the Sport1100 hangar, in combination with the adapter plate, in a mock-up install with my exhausts. Note that the adapter plate and hangars themselves can be installed in a couple different configurations that will work, but will put the passenger peg, and exhaust mount at slightly different angles/heights depending. The combination I've chosen in the photo below preserves the peg height as close as possible to the original V11 passenger pegs, and allows the exhaust clamp to be further back along the can for better mounting/leverage. I believe this configuration is actually in reverse to how the kit is installed in the photos I've seen of the Copa Italia, etc.... but it works well with my configuration. al

The Sport1100 bracket(silver) is on the left and the MG Ti kit bracket(black) is on the right, and the adapter plate is above. The MG Ti kit bracket is simply painted black, versus a thick powder coat like the normal V11 hangar, so the finish is a bit more fragile... mine arrived new from MGNA already knicked up

Just as an FYI, after ordering a salvage set of Sport1100 exhaust hangars from a bike breaker in the UK, and also ordering the hangars from MG for their Ti Exhaust Kit, I found that they are identical parts Neither will bolt right up to the V11 rear subframe, but the MG Ti Kit also comes with a set of adapter plates to mate the Sport1100 hangars. The only difference is that the MG Ti hangars are painted black, where the Sport1100 hangars are silver. So, if for some reason you need a set of either, just a handy cross reference. al

I guess it depends on the shop you find, and their pricing.... but www.cyclefinish.com here in my area charged me $350 to repaint the tank. I think that's their going rate per panel. al

Not 100% sure, and I think another night on the Battery Tender will tell the tale.... but I think my stock battery is finally about to give up the ghost. So, what's the verdict on the OEM battery used by Guzzi, versus the Westco Lex mentions above, or others?? Thanks. al

YMMV, but you shouldn't have any trouble. It does depend on the dealer I suppose, but I've never heard of any refusing warantee work based on the removal of the emissions gear or the addition of your own fluids. al

....which rack is this based upon? al

Not being familiar with the rest of the rack's mounting system, from the photos, that looks like an awful lot of torque/stress on those two forward bolts attaching to the exhaust hangar mounts I would be concerned that even empty, much less loaded up, that the torque would bend those bars, or break the welds where the bars attach to the rack itself? Of course, I may be missing something