Lucky Phil

I find this with everything these days from Car/Motorcycle mechanics to any tradesman that works on your house to pretty much any service you engage. It's just the natural evolution of the capitalistic system where each individual is now their own little corporation and like a corporation the whole reason for existing is to make a profit. The rest is just vehicle to take you to that end. Try and find anyone these days that is in a profession for the pure pleasure of it or is just happy to be doing what they consider they were born to do and that's the primary reward . Pretty hard, but it used to be quite common. If history has shown us anything the 20th century demonstrated the total failure of the Communist and Socialist systems with the massive slaughter of its own countrymen and others and it's corruption induced collapse but having said that the capitalist system I believe is now in a serious downward spiral. The current problem of finding decent skilled people that care about what they do and take pride in what they achieve in their chosen field regardless of the financial rewards is just another indicator of the rot setting in. Of course the problem is as I get older my capacity to do the things I'v always done diminishes and the thought of having to rely on the current crop of charlatans is somewhat of a concern. There are of course still a few good people out there but finding them can be pretty much impossible. Nice old Kawasaki BTW. Ciao

Are those aluminium shavings? If so Is the gearbox input hub contacting the gearbox casing producing the aluminium? Ciao

Try these guys, they make a V11 kit and are in the US. https://traxxion.com/?make=3994&model=4008&year_id=4009&post_type=product&action=vpf-search Ciao

So Suzuki K7 forks Centre to centre 205 mm (V11 210) Length unloaded top of fork to axle ctr 720 (V11 750) Distance triples are apart ( ie steering stem approx length) 200 (V11 190) upper dia outer leg 50 (V11 54) lower dia outer leg 56 (V11 54) So it looks like from a brief overview that you could bore the V11 lowers out 2mm and run some short fork extensions with sleeves on the upper triples if you wanted to retail the V11 triples. Or you could bore the V11 lower triple and get a custom made upper triple. Ciao

While you're in there you may as well do an accurate measurement of the pick-up gap and look at the cam retainer flange for wear. Ciao How is this best accomplished? Pull back and forth on the cam sprocket and feel for end float. The earlier retainers didnt have any oil relief grooves cut into the face and tended to wear while the later ones had 3 oil relief grooves. If you have the older type and its new or not heavily worn you can file the grooves in yourself with a round file or use a 6mm parallel rotary cutter in a hand drill and do it. Here's a brand new latest type with the oil reliefs in the thrust face. Hears the old type with no oil relief and heavy wear on the thrust face. Notice how the cam sprocket flange has worn down into the retainer thrust face in this case probably close to 1 mm. It"s so perfect looking people think recess into the thrust face is normal and they reinstall it during rebuilds. Its not it's actually heavy wear as you can see by the comparison with the new one. Without the oil reliefs as the sprocket flange wears into the retainer thrust face it exacerbates the lack of oil issue as it creates the small ring which inhibits oil supply even more and it gets worse as it wears. The more wear the more shielding and less oil. A spiralling situation Ciao Curious about the mileage ? Cheers tom. Phil, thanks for the tip; I'll check that. Bike has about 18K miles. It's a 2004 naked. The tensioner has as much strength as wet cardboard The gasket was leaking low on the LHS which pushed me into getting on with the job. Currently fighting the stuck woodruff key that drives the alternator. Tapping on the crankshaft is not something I'd think is a good idea. You can usually pry them out with a small screw driver. Tapping them back into the slot wont do any harm. Use one of the later metal gaskets with the pressure sensitive sealant coating. I wouldn't use a standard old style gasket when you can get these. http://www.mgcycle.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=170&products_id=5044 Ciao +1 on the metal gasket. And anyone who still has the paper gasket should have one on hand so you are ready when the paper one does start leaking... and it will. Anyone have thoughts on the "improved" tensioner, MG Cycle #13058200 ? http://www.mgcycle.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=347 Work good.. last long time. I dont really know what the better style is and being a "gear" man myself I cant offer any practical experience. It is however interesting to note the comments here that refer to the "banana" style tensioner. Not commenting on the quality of this just the style which is the same as the standard type by and large. https://hmb-guzzi.de/Timing-Chain-tensioner-CNC-made-HMB-design Ciao Yah, I keep looking for my timing marks to jump around under the strobe. I figure that would tell me the tensioner/ chain is due. No leaks as yet (but don't let her hear this! ) . . . Seems V11 timing chest leaks are more likely on the wrinkle black finishes of '02 & '03-carry-overs I also note the Banana style tensioner gets a mention in Guzziology for the increased noise factor. Maybe just a new spring and rubbing block is the safest bet. Why the black models would be more prone to leaking I dont know docc. Ciao I seem to recall the weak wrinkle black paint might have been applied to the mating surfaces and led to poor sealing? Ok, not heard that but I can say after stripping it off a gearbox that its the work of the devil. Worst paint I've ever removed and I've been involved in stripping paint off heavy jets. Actually the original stripper for jets back in the seventies was great stuff, paint came off in big sheets for the most part. Then they went to the environmentally friendly stuff and not so great. Scudd didnt have any issues stripping wrinkle paint off a gearbox though I recall. Ciao New tensioners too? I just had the timing chest serviced. I am about ready surrender this bike to guy that wants a Greenie "That got a blower on it, man??" "You wanna find out?" Go ahead, make my day?:) Ciao ^ there may be some connection between those statements. And deeper we go.... Pick up measured 0.7mm 0.7 Perfect. Hows the wear on the cam retaining bush? any ridge on the thrust face OD? Ciao After a strong cup of tea, I'm going back to the shed to pull the cam thingy you warned us of. We'll find out soon.. You dont need to pull it to see the wear. Its on the font thrust face. I can see it has wear just not to what extent.It doesnt look really bad as there's no marking on the front main bearing flange at 12 oclock from the phonic wheel which happens with a really worn bush as the cam floats for and aft. Here's a new one with the oil relief cutouts Heres a worn one without the oil reliefs.Note the sharp lip on the edge of the thrust face. Ciao Sorry I was orientated backwards; I thought the wear was on the back side. Anyway, pulled the part & added the oil relief grooves as instructed. Looking at the surface you can just see the beginning of the wear you indicated. Docc, can you attach Lucky Phil's recommended improvement to the cam chain tensioner thread ?

Good question, I'll look and measure them up tomorrow. Minesa K7 2007 model 1000. I think from memory others have used 750 fork from what year i'm not sure and the triples also I believe with a shortened stem. Ciao

Awesome Paul, above and beyond the call:) You didnt need to destroy a V11 box for me though. I hope it wasn't a usable one. Ciao

Its always a hard one, at what point do you just accept what you've got and enhance it as much as possible and at what point do you actually dilute the essence of the bike. All its shortcomings also add up to the whole. If you go the GSXR fork route you'll probably end up with better front end but then you'll have different tripples,different forks,different brakes, probably different instruments or find a way to adapt the originals to the new triples, different front guard different front wheel. I mean when does it stop being a V11 and end up a Guzzuki. Personally I'd retain the original forks and fit cartridges. I have the same issue with my bike and fitting the Daytona engine, it still needs to be at heart a V11 so major components like forks I'll live with and update internally. My aim is also to be able to return it to a std V11 if necessary so no major structural changes. Ciao

For reference to anyone thats interested when I installed the RAM single plater on the Daytona engine and fitted up the gearbox I measured the distance between the gearbox actuating piston and the face of the flange that the slave cylinder bolts to and compared it to the 2 valve motor and gearbox with the twin plate clutch. The difference was around a little less than 1 mm from memory. I just wanted a reference to make sure we were in the ball park. If someone needs to know the exact dimension difference between the two I can measure it again. The clutch releases fine on the new engine/gearbox assy static but engages closer to the bar than the old clutch. Ciao

I've had the RSV engine apart and its pretty much bullet proof, so no issues there. Balance shafts make it really smooth as well. If you can find a low klm or really nice one go for it. The only thing with a crash damaged one is that the alloy frame and swingarm are susceptible to cosmetic damage. They look beautiful but its hard to reproduce the finish even if its damaged by flying gravel during a low side. One of my bikes was an insurance write off due to cosmetic damage only. I bought it and rebuilt it rode it for a while and sold it. Only down side I can think of is fairly tall seat height and more top heavy handling wise than a Ducati. Ciao

Aprilia make a very nice product. I've owned 2 RSV1000R's ( ohlins suspension and forged wheels model) and a standard RSV1000. They all were very good bikes and under appreciated by the market at the time. Aprilia quality is first class. Ciao

What you want for a track bike is one you're not bothered about crashing and a bike that is so much better than you are that your total concentration and focus is on doing the actual riding and working on improving and enhancing your riding technique and skills. You also dont want something that's so fast it scares you, or is too heavy or has significant shortcomings you need to compensate for. Its all about the riding not the bike. Losing the brakes doesn't seem to full fill at least one of my criteria Ciao

All my MV's were the early round pipe bikes with the TIG welded frames. They are absolutely beautiful engineering and go pretty well. Mine were kept in my lounge room and when I was single every woman I brought home was shocked to see a bike in a lounge room. After their first encounter though they all then completely accepted it as part of the furniture. Still wish I had my 1000 but I'm still friendly with the woman that bought it off me about 10 years ago and she still has it. I owned 3 triumphs in the past,one of the original Speed Triples and 2 of the later aluminium framed Daytona's. The ST was a pretty basic,weighty and top heavy old bus but ok. Both Daytonas were of a quality that in the end I wasn't willing to accept considering they cost more than the equivalent Honda at the time. Honda are my benchmark for mass produced motorcycle quality. I got to know Triumph pretty well from a technical aspect back then as I also knew people that were racing them and preparing them for racing and I wasn't that impressed. Having said all that it was OMG 20 years ago now that I count back and from what I can gather the the current triples are very good things. The current Moto2 engines are basically a bored out and hotted up version of the 675 triple. ciao

Sorry Scud, none whatsoever. What issues do they have? Ciao

Brilliant Paul thanks for that the image is perfect for comparison. I havent actually looked at the left side differences I've only looked at the right. Any chance you could take an image of the right side of the centy airbox from the same perspective? Ciao

Ok thats odd as my parts books show different numbers between the models. Maybe they changed over the years or i'm missing something. I'm in a semi rural area to the NE of the city ( Melbourne) and so far the fires have not been an issue. NSW and the Sydney surrounds have been hit the worst with fires just about everywhere. The last 2 days here at home have been in the low 40's C with gusty hot northerly winds. Its like living in an oven but thankfully no fires. Hopefully its a bit more relaxing for your daughter in Argentina. Better here in Melbourne for weather in the late spring and Autumn I think. Ciao

I've owned 3 MV F4's, 2 750's and a 1000. Such a work of art and one of the few bikes that look better with the bodywork off than on. Well to an engineering type that is. TIG welded frame( newer are now MIG welded unfortunately) and even the smallest unseen bracket is designed with form and beauty in mind. The only issue with them is that they are a bit susceptible to frame damage on the cylinder head mount where it wraps around head in a low side crash and the cost and availability of parts. Early models also ran very hot especially in traffic to the point of overheating but the unfaired street fighter versions seemed to be ok in that respect.Oh the riding position is quite extreme as well for the road. Ciao

Thanks for that info Paul, I'm working a lot by scaling dimensions of internet images as I dont have all the various parts in my hand. The part numbers for the airbox rubbers is different between the centy and the V11 and the diameter of the centy inlet trumpets is 9.5mm larger than the V11. I tried fitting the V11 rubbers over the centy trumpets and you can stretch them to fit but I think they are just too tight to work when fitted to the box. I have a pair of new centy rubbers coming so that should be ok. You may be able to lift the airbox a fraction if the holes are only 3mm difference as you say but you cant lift the airbox very much as the rear end of the side covers will then interfere with the tail unit. Without the side covers fitted you could probably space the airbox up quite a bit. I have fitted the trumpets in the airbox without the rubbers and then tried to connect it to the throttle body and it seems to be a long way out. As I said it appears to be around 10mm too low but I havent started opening the hole in the airbox as I wanted to make sure I had covered all the possibilities before I started hacking away at the box. Thought I might be missing an obvious solution by just swapping out parts. Thanks for providing me the info and if you can think of anything else or find out anymore from your contacts in the future I'd appreciate it. The purpose of me posting this is to share the process and solutions for others to maybe of use in the future. I was using this image of the centy airbox to scale the openings. Ciao

Yes the DS is a nice bike and I've used it a few times at Phillip Island as well as the tighter Broardford. I've done a few mods to it as well. Its a nice ride and a favourite of mine although they are a bit over geared. Ciao