stefano

just the ones i marry......:-) stef

my driveshaft has alignment marks, 3 punchmarks with paint lines over them. kinda wierd, they're 90 degrees off from each other,(or 270 deg depending on how you look at it) which means they're actually still on the same plane. (yeah i've looked) i've had the '02 le Mans about 8 mos. haven't had the rear wheel off yet but plan to soon to grease front u joint. scf

yeah, that V35 is pretty neat. too bad marcos couldn't keep the 883 HD also, one can't have too many M/Cs last year a fellow at work was having a cardiac emergency, asked me to ride his 883 sportster home as the took him to the hospital (he's fine now) although i wouldn't buy one, i found it a blast to ride, kinda funky, lotsa mechanical & chuffing noise,lotsa vibration, would be a good around town bike. also these things get great fuel mileage. guess i just like motorcycles........ cheers, stef

my '02 acts exactly like this about 50% of the time.(although i've not tried to bump start) you've probably already tried this, but when this happens i turn off the kill switch on right bar, then turn it back on & it will start every time. good luck, stef

very tidy job callison. being a machinist too, i can appreciate the work & time they took to fabricate. first to design, then move one thing, then something else needs to be moved to accommodate the first, then something else......... stef

devildogg, how do you like the placement of the footpegs? do you have any trouble shifting & brakeing with them moved back? (i like that they're moved down) i suspect the right one bolts directly to the brake pivot, can't see it very well. nice bike cheers, stef

i'm about remove my tank also, '02 le Mans with rubber pad on top of tank. i have a knurled round knob on the fuel petcock on left side of tank, this is the fuel shut off? mine will only turn about an eighth of a turn clockwise, then it won't turn anymore, i don't want to break it. how many revolutions should it turn 'til fuel shuts off? or am i doing something wrong? thanks, stef thanks for info. just filled tank last night, think i'll have to use it up (oh darn) before i fool with the shut off, it's really stuck. the breather hose looks kinda suspect from what i can see, think i'll replace it also, & the fuel filter, and...and..... cheers, stef Stef, yes that is the shutoff valve.It (the valve) requires a lot of turns to seat and open. Purchace a small brand of Channel-lock pliers to help you to seat the valve. Mine was a booger to work the first few times.

i've been getting mid to high 30s with the le mans, i average high 40s with my BMW airhead, but the le Mans is much more fun to ride. i've been divorced twice, compared to those, M/C fuel costs don't even factor in. just my opinion, stef

i'm about remove my tank also, '02 le Mans with rubber pad on top of tank. i have a knurled round knob on the fuel petcock on left side of tank, this is the fuel shut off? mine will only turn about an eighth of a turn clockwise, then it won't turn anymore, i don't want to break it. how many revolutions should it turn 'til fuel shuts off? or am i doing something wrong? thanks, stef

are you saying ACE hardware has a swivel fitting that u used W/O heating/bending, or removing the swingarm or the shaft? you just applied the fitting to the front zerc somehow and were able to grease it? wow, i have an ace hardware in my town,think i'll go & see what i can find. cheers,stef

hi david, couple weeks ago i had a mouse start a nest over the weekend in one of my boots i leave at work. we get some really big mouse nests, it rains a LOT here, & it's dry inside the shop.(& my boots) if you don't already, i would consider removing the rear wheel yourself, and adjusting the valves yourself. pretty routine maintainance. and doing most of your own work builds confidence, plus it's cheaper & as pirsig says, you won't have some kid hammering on your bike with a cold chisel. i haven't done tps, or throttle bodies yet as bike runs great(sheesh, i shouldn't have mentioned that,knock wood) so i can't advise on that. guess i will learn how eventually. i know what you mean about learning more visually than reading manuals. me too...... good luck, stef

It is possible to remove the lamp out through the bottom, after all that's the way the holder went in, use a little lube on the rubber grommet like thing you see and wriggle it out with a pair of pliers or something. They are such a shoddy holder I was more than glad to ditch them and replace all the lamps with LEDs which are much brighter. Read the note I posted earlier about single sided lamp base contact or you might be blowing some fuses. thanks for the replys. think i'll live without the charging bulb, when i have to dive into the dash for something more important it'll get fixed then. for the most part i've found maintainance on the my '02 le mans quite simple. cheers, stef

my charging light hasn't worked for 6 mos. or so,(although the bike charges just fine)lately the light works *some* of the time. haven't been able to get the cover off to try to change bulb, as the top 2 little allen screws come out, bottom one just spins. i think this is what you're talking about, i don't think i want to change the bulb bad enough to get the hammer out. any other way? thanks, stef

If you owned a pre-Flying Brick model that is what would happen. Oil Heads & Flying Bricks, I am not sure of....... yeah, i've done a couple spline lubes on my airhead. i don't think the problem was a lousy working clutch, (although i have heard of that), i think it was more of an issue where the spline actually rusts, & the splines get sharp, then disappear altogether, then a new trans mainshaft($$$) is in order. the lube (on the airhead) is actually a pretty easy job, after you've done one. i also don't know if oilheads or bricks are prone to this. stef

so it's an O ring, i guessed it was. thx for the tip. i purchased my '02 le mans last september, i've managed to put 1000 mi on it thru our rainy winter. had 2 leaks, the steering damper, must be out of oil by now, as it quit leakin, bike works fine without it. won't fix that. but the sensor weeps a little, not a leak, but wet all around it. i still have an O ring kit from my days as a caterpillar mechanic. just put one on the rear brake lever stop, (you know, the snubber/stop) guess the sensor's next. cheers, stef

with all the discussion of different model V11, you know, sport, corsa, tenni, lemans, etc, etc, my insurance policy calls my '02 lemans a quote "V11(all models)" they don't give a shit what model it is. they lump 'em all together. further mystery is my '83 R100RS costs me more $$ for the exact same coverage. is the RS worth more? i don't know, although i doubt it. the lemans is considerably faster, i thought it'd be more to insure on that alone. do they consider the lemans safer because it's newer? i asked my agent, she doesn't know either. just another of life's mysterys i guess. stay safe, stef

i always zero the tripometer when i fuel up. if you do it also you're getting MUCH better fuel mileage than i am. :-D cheers,esteban

I consider this part of the Moto Guzzi's 'quaint character'. I eliminated mine fogging quite by accident when I installed a Givi mini fairing on the bike. Steve i must have scanned this before finishing reading it, as broken tach glass came to mind after seeing *eliminated fogging* and *accident* BTW, if i kept goldfish in mine, i couldn't keep the cat off the bike. stef

went for my annual winter solstice ride after work tonight. a ways into the 100 mi. ride the glass on the tach starts fogging up. still quite readable, but inside pretty foggy. not raining, but damp air, about 42 degrees F. went into the garage 10 min. after parking the bike, check on tach, it's clear again, no fog. anybody have this problem? maybe a vent clogged? maybe just a solstice thing? cheers, stef

As Doc said #25 is the one that breaks. It seems like a lot of '02 owners have had this problem, but I've seen quite a few owners of the later bikes report that they've had their springs break too. FWIW I got about 15k miles on the stock spring, 7k miles on the Racecrafters spring, and now have 10k miles on the MG updated spring. I also ground down the boss on the pawl to the correct diameter when I installed the updated spring. hi tom, are you gonna get nervous & change the spring before it breaks again or wait( being as you ground down the boss & maybe the upgraded one won't break?) btw,the shift plate on my '02 appears to have been off at some point. scf

while i'm not an advocate of fixing things when they're not broken, you guys have convinced me. even though my '02 le mans with 16,000 miles shifts flawlessly ,i'll be replacing my shift pawl spring soon. i'd rather do it in my garage than on the side of the road. i guess this is routine maintainance like the relays, or the 20,000mi. or so transmission spline lube we owners of bmw airheads do. cheers, steve

well, i'll be watching that game, oughta be good. i'll look for ya. my teams play friday, Oregon then Boise St. tv'll have to do it for me... go Ducks, go Broncos stef

thanks for the white bread tip. i'll use it next time. nice to have water again. used girlfriends hairdryer to warm up the broken pvc & cpvc pipes while glueing. hope i can get all of the mud out of it before she comes over this weekend. :-) cheers, stef

got home from work to eat lunch today,heard a wierd noise in kitchen, after looking everywhere, realized it was coming from under the house. we've had 20 degree weather, thought pipes were wrapped ok...... call work,i won't be back today...... had the stuff to fix it, i'm now soaking wet, muddy, have drop lights on pvc repairs, am waiting couple hours to turn water back on. funny thing, i came in after repairs, want to wash some mud off in the sink, duh....the water's off.....huh... hope those were the only breaks, i'll know in couple hours. hope your day is going better than mine....:-) stef

also much easier to smoke a cigarette while riding without that pesky full face helmet :-)