Hello all,
I'm happy to report that the problem has been isolated and quickly fixed. Once I've had a chance to properly look around the bike (tank off, seat off, air box off) Off all things to go wrong the right side throtle body poped out of the intake boot. The bike is running fine once again.
While I was at it I removed the charcoal canister, pluged up the vacuum tubes on the side of the throttle bodies, removed a few pieces of plastic here and there and had a general look-see around the bike.
I also made myself a quick fix for a lidless air box, seems to work ok.
The only complainant I have about the bike is the gas tank is a real pain in the butt to remove and install without a second pair of hands (when tank is full).
cheers all, I was quite happy to see the response I recieved when I posted my initial problem on the fourm...I guess it's ture, you meet the nicest people on a Guzzi.
John