Lucky Phil

It looks like V11 99-2000 frame or Daytona/Centauro frame fitted with a 1200 Griso/Sport engine and driveline and Daytona RS tank and fairing and Aprilia RSV1000R seat cowling. Interesting and fitted with the std Griso mufflers so one can assume it's been road legalised other wise why would you retain those massive things. Phil

The plug colour is almost totally dependent on the way you operate the engine. Lots of cold starts and short commuting trips and they will always be sooty with the std heat range. Flogged mercilessly and they will be clean. Plugs readings on a commuter bike is fraught with complications. Thats why race bikes did plug chops in the old days at the end of the practice session with a full throttle blast down the straight and race engines with 1000klms on them look clean as a whistle inside. Phil

Yes commonly done. On my bike the bush is about 15mm high but my fwd tank mounts have been raised 38mm. A 2 valve V11 would be less. Keeps the tank sides off the side covers. Phil

You think? try getting any satisfaction from ebay after being scammed by a seller that sells thousands of items every year. As a buyer/seller with 20 years on ebay and a 100% buying and selling record without even 1 neutral feedback they just fobbed me off even after I proved they were scamming overseas buyers with their own feedback data. Phil

No to the red bar ends but yes to the green front guard. Phil

Yes I think you're right. Phil

Damn you've got me interested now, more work. I have the std green guard but it's such a PITA to swap them out and it's also got a minor crack at one mount point. The black guard is a nice carbon one. Maybe green with a clear stripe in the middle to display the carbon, maybe. I doubt I can spray/reproduce the original colour myself though as the process is a bit tricky. Phil

Maybe some red fork gaiters Chuck? Phil

Strange I've done it many times here. Phil

10 psi on the bike and 15 on the cars that also have plastic reservoirs. The secret to perfect brakes on bikes is to remove the master from the bars and tip it up so the hose connections are lower than the reservoir and gently work the lever so you only move the piston a fraction (with the master off the bars you can't really apply any pressure anyway) This shakes loose air bubbles trapped at the master fitting and observe the air bubbles come back into the reservoir. I would do this procedure at least 6 or 8 times during the bleeding process along with tapping the hoses as well a lot. Patience is the key. I spent at least 45 min filling and bleeding the front brakes to get the best possible lever. Fluid replacement is quick and easy, air bleed from dry time consuming. Phil

I've said it a million times, you need to give brand new designs time to mature. People still don't believe it though. The new V100 Mandello is a case in point, lots of small but niggly detail faults ( and one major safety one) all so far connected to production issues but the design issues always take longer to make themselves apparent. People still seem to think engine designers have got it 100% nailed but nothing could be further from the truth. I recently spent a lot of time in researching issues with the new cars I was considering buying and there are a ton of serious problems with LOTS of major brands that require major mechanical invasion work thats never a good thing when you consider the skill of the average dealer mechanic these days. Here's just a few that come to mind. Mazda 2.5L turbo with the cylinder on demand system, that fails catastrophically. Recall for new head. Same model without COD and cracked heads around the exhaust port header mount. Replacement head. B58 BMW inline 6 oil pump failures and recall to replace the ( new) plastic pump gears. People are generally non technical these days so are totally unaware of these common problems, until it happens to them that is. I could be here all day on this subject but it's a fact. Buy a clean sheet design at your peril. Patience is the key and let the designe mature. It's been the case for nearly 100 years and is just the same today. Phil

Joe makes replacement steel gears for the crank, jackshaft and oil pump and also new pumps. I've been waiting for my third set of gears and pump for 3 years now and he informs me he's found a new gear maker so I should have them by the end of the year. Get an order in now if you want some. The alloy gears are rubbish but if your engine has low miles and isn't likely to accumulate too many then you should be ok. Phil

Here's what I used to bleed the front brakes from completely dry. It will get you 90% there from that point and the rest is the usual process. It will do 100% bleed for fluid changes etc. Cheap as chips and worth every penny. With my home made reservoir adaptor. Phil

If I was serious buyer I'd just message him on ebay with my mobile number and get him to give you a call or visa versa. Phil

Not entirely sure but I've been making my own braided lines for nearly 40 years on road bikes and never had an issue even in NSW where a yearly rego check was required. The benefit of having checks done by the local garage mechanic that rarely knows anything about motorcycles. Making your own for a road bike certainly isn't legal but in this case they were done professionally and are ADR compliant so I guess the answer is yes they can replace rubber hoses. It's not German regs here yet Mick thank god, but the way things go it probably will be eventually. Phil

Others have mentioned this but it's better in real life and if I was an expert in photo shopping so I could see what the variations would be I might consider it. The green is such a vivid and stand out colour though that it's easy to have too much of it I think. Anyone that knows how to photoshop really well I would welcome showing me versions with the fairing/and front guard in green and combinations of both. Maybe just the front guard green. Phil

The V11 has braided lines as standard Mick. Phil

A few more pieces to the never ending puzzle. Rebuilt 43mm Marzocchi forks. New seals bushes and sliders re chromed and ground. Brembo P4 34/34 calipers, later canted tripple clamps and clipons, clock re located, Ohlins steering damper, Titanium rear axle and nut, bevel housing shroud removed, new PVM 17 X 5.5 and 17 X 3.5 rims and 180 rear tyre, lightened rear brake calliper carrier, new brake lines to suit callipers. Next is to move the mufflers forward 35mm and make some new end caps that are not so long.

Motorcycle gearboxes don't need a hypoid oil either and an engine oil will suffice for lubrication. Even automotive gearboxes can use a non hypoid oil. We used to run ATF in Holden manual gearboxes 40 years ago without issues. After all auto gearboxes are full of gears as well. The Guzzi's just use it "because they can" but Japanese and Ducati gearbox gears aren't any bigger in dimension or quality than Guzzi gears and engine oil is fine for them as a lubricant. The main issue with Guzzi and BMW gearboxes and bevel boxes is the gears run IN an oil bath as opposed to simple splash lube like a Ducati or Japanese bike gearbox so they need an oil that resists foaming better than an engine oil. Engine oils can handle the lubrication requirements but probably not the foaming issue generated by gears running in an oil bath. Phil