Lucky Phil

A critical part to using the V11 gearbox is to pre load the lever before pulling the clutch on the up AND down shifts. Seems like common sense, right, but the amount of riders I see on the road riding around using the "pull the clutch and stomp on the lever" method is amazing. Of course the Japanese have designed gearboxes for these type of riders for decades. The Italians not so much. Phil

This issue has closed quite a few tracks over here. Tracks built and run for 40 years miles from any housing then the developers move in build housing and the people that buy them in full knowledge the track's there then get together to get it closed down due to noise issues. As the old song go's, "Money ruins everything" Phil

I understand the concept that there's no money for motorcycle racing in the US it's even worse here but as far as the tracks go it's the car racing money that keeps them in business as well as corporate track days, driver training, car and bike track days etc. You would think with the amount of money sloshing around in the car world over there some of it would find it's way to upgrading and maintaining the tracks. I watched every bit of footage available on the Petrucci incident and ignored Danilo's time on the ground comments. No way should a rider be wandering around after a big get off like he had unassisted for that sort of time frame. I also take an interest in the marshalling around the world in all the racing I watch. With all the money involved in MotoGP these days they still rely on local Volunteers for marshalling which seems incongruous to me. Most is acceptable but you still see marshalling that's totally amateur even at that level. MotoGP uses it's own PR and television production crews these days and I think some money would be better spent on it's own professional marshal group myself. Local racing is another thing I agree, no money's available so it's volunteers.

I watch racing from every place in the world. Irish, British, WSB, MotoGP, Aussie Superbike and Moto America. The thing that stands out to me considering the amount of money sloshing around in the US is how "amateur hour" US racing seems to be. It's like club racing really. It's the same here in Australia but we have the excuse that there's not much money about. The US tracks have almost always the worst looking track surfaces I've ever seen. White bitumen and usually bumpy with patchwork everywhere, they look like they haven't been resurfaced in a hundred years. Then we have COTA and the complete mess they made of the original track and in previous years the total farce of MotoGP bikes riding through a cloud of dust from "track grinding" to remove the bumps just before the event. Couldn't even be bothered to vacuum up all the garbage after the track grinding exercise so the first 2 days looked more like a desert race on the back straight. Not sure whats going on over there with regards to racing. Some beautiful track layouts but poorly surfaced and appointed it seems. As I said money abounds but where it being spent? Petrucci was right to be annoyed after his crash at VIR. He lay on the ground for 35 seconds or so then got to his feet and wandered about for god knows how long before assistance. After a big off a rider being unattended for any amount of time greater than 5 or 10 seconds is unacceptable. Just because the rider is on his feet and walking doesn't mean the incident is over and the situation is under control. A rider can get to his feet and be concussed and confused and wander onto the track and get hit by another competitor even on the cool down lap. I remember a superbike race in the US about 10 years ago where a rider crashed and ended up off track and then actually ran back onto the track and lay down on purpose to bring out the red flag! Probably the most crazy racing thing I've seen. Ciao

If it's that bad then you've got more issues than CO at 21. Phil

You need to go to logged faults and clear any indicated before you can change the CO as well. CO at 21, no big deal. It may run better that way. There is no gospel rule that says it needs to be at zero. Phil

Yes thats right docc. Read and write are for mapping purposes and loading alternative maps. All you need is the Guzzidaig programme to access the ecu and see the parameters in real time and adjust the CO setting. You can also adjust the CO directly in the Eprom but I've never done it that way. That way has the benefit of not even needing to start the engine to change the CO as apposed to getting it above 60 deg C Ciao

What he means docc is that as is tradition with an air cooled race engine you can use fuel to assist in controlling engine temp to a degree but in a street engine that needs to meet emission and economy targets this strategy is not acceptable. One of the many reasons a water cooled engine is so far superior to and air cooled one. Ciao

Yea I'm hearin ya. This Kuga(Escape) a year ago at 85000klm ate its centre tail shaft bearing! This is essentially a FWD SUV with rear drive on demand. So I drive around with the dash set on an image that displays which wheels are getting the drive in real time. It uses the rear drive around 10% of the time so the tail shaft spends 90% of it's life spinning freely without transmitting any torque. It gets an easy life this car and still the centre bearing fails! So off to Ford because I'm in a situation where I can't fix it myself at present and the car needs to be on the road. New complete tail shaft required for a $50 bearing because now in the Lego car world the $50 centre tail shaft bearing is not replaceable. Total cost parts and labour $2000. The learnings? Buy a car with the longest possible warranty, Prioritise reliability and a quality track record over everything else for your DD. If your car ever has a serious technical issue just sell it and eat the costs because even with a warranty 98% dealer techs are so inept that they will butcher most seriously technical or involved repairs anyway and you'll end up in the repeated horror story of endless issues caused by them and repeated returns to the dealer. Don't buy a Ford. Ciao

I'm now sworn off Fords, forever. Ford Australia are total wasters. I've had 3 new Fords in the last 5 years from the same dealer, 2 focus RS Mk3 's and the wifes Kuga(Escape). 2016 model with 95,000 klms up. Two weeks ago the Kuga failed me visiting a relative in the country. Long story short the selector cable end fitting on the transmission had popped off the selector lever because the 50 cent plastic bush on the end fitting had fallen apart. Managed to get it going again and got home. Tie wrapped it in place the next day and took a run to the Ford dealer I'd bought it and the 2 RS's from and explained the issue and their response? Yea mate that's a new shifter cable, $156 and 3 hours labour and half the dash apart to fit it and the broken clips and dash rattles etc that go with that for a 50 cent plastic bush! Total cost $720. @#!#$# that, I'll machine up a bush before I'll pay that. Back home and 15min on the internet and source a Ford USA tech service bulletin for the updated plastic bush ($1.05) and the new protective cap which is a mod to keep oil off the bush, order from the States and it arrives 12 days later. Fifteen mins work to fit and it's done. Ford Australia are more than happy to ignore the US TSB and rip off the customer and the dealer is happy to go along for the ride. So pay the dealer $720 or do it yourself for $3.50. We are close to updating the Kuga and although I like the car I'll never buy another Ford, ever, period. The fish rots from the head down and here it applies to Ford Australia and it's dealers. BTW if you guys think I've accumulated some knowledge on Guzzi V11's it's nothing to what I've gained on Ford Ecoboost engines after the Focus RS Mk3 head gasket recall issue. But that's another story. Phil

You need Guzzidiag. Strap yourself in for some learnings and use a translator where necessary( these people invented it). No garbage about "I'm a luddite" and don't know computers. Neither did I and I'm conversant with it now. If you can't figure out Guzzidiag you may as well sell the bike, seriously. Without it it's maintenance with both hands tied behind your back. http://www.guzzi-forum.de/Forum/index.php?topic=16809.0" http://www.guzzi-forum.de/Forum/index.php?board=76.0 https://www.von-der-salierburg.de/download/GuzziDiag/ https://wildguzzi.com/forum/index.php?topic=96957.0 Phil

Here's you answer. Fuel injected, 270 degree crank with balance shaft, ABS, the cheapest spares in motorcycling, and dirt cheap to buy. Quality? outstanding. Phil

Whats your CO set at? Phil

The easiest way to re fit throttle bodies is to individually fit the manifolds to the throttle bodies with the new rubbers and than bolt the manifolds to the heads with the t/b's attached. Ciao

The tyres are a joke these days docc. So teams get their allocation of tyres and have them on the warmers during the weekend and obviously not all get used so they go back to Michelin for later use. All tyres are serialised and tracked and a log kept of how many hours and cycles they have been on the warmers. It's now at the point where a tyre thats been on a tyre warmer at a previous round is in effect a "second rate tyre" as in it's performance is degraded compared to a fresh new tyre straight off the warmers so those pre warm cycled tyre need to be used for non critical practice such as the first session when a riders getting up to speed at a new GP. Miller got caught out in practice 3 a GP ago when his bike broke down out on the track due to a technical issue and he needed to leg it back to the pits and go out on his spare which had new but warm cycled tyres on it. So when a good time is needed in practice 3 he's out on "degraded tyres" that won't cut a fast time. Then we have the choice of race tyre dependent on a variation of track temp of less than 10 deg C ( not air temp but track temp) tyres overheating because a rider is riding and battling in a "pack", overheating due to ride height devices, overheating due to aero. Bikes fitted with on board tyre temp and pressure monitoring that warn the rider when his front tyre temps and pressures are too high. Add to that rides generally have 3 front and rear tyre choices and it's all about tyres these days. When it gets to this level of complexity over tyres then it's gone off the rails. Phil

Yes this is true. Ride height and aero are ruining MotoGP as is electronics. However electronics have a practical benefit for road bikes and is therefor of value in a product sense for the manufacturers to incorporate into production bikes. Aero and dynamic ride height devices have zero benefit to road riders and even for track day riders. All they do is create overheating issues for front tyres to cope with and make overtaking difficult. MotoGP is disappearing up it's own fundamental just like F1. Big moneys involved and it's all about "the show" now so unpredictability is the aim. Most sports are the same. They start out for the benefit of the competitor and interested people come to watch and eventually it becomes a money making enterprise geared around the spectator to generate the capital. Phil

My comment was on the fact that control tyres have run their race and it's not unrealistic to provide a range of different construction tyres to teams that they feel suit their bike and rider at the start of the season instead of manufacturers having to reconstruct frames and swingarms after their next years bike has been designed and constructed to suit the new tyres Michelin decide on at end of season testing. Pointing out that Michelin in the past had the capacity to produce bespoke tyres overnight. Ciao

FWIW the later bikes used an M8 bolt and Daytonas and possibly Centauros didn't use any secondary bolt at all just a very similar bracket with the large bolt. You can't discount morons that sit on their bike using it as some sort of chair supported by the kickstand. I have zero sympathy for these people when the side stand fails on any bike. Phil

God Chuck what did you do to the poor thing. In 40 years riding Ducati's I've never had one let me down on the road or track and come to think of it same with my friends that I rode with on Ducati's. We had a new clutch basket fail in a WSB race once. That bike did the same race with a head gasket leaking coolant into the cylinder as well which we knew about before the race but it was powering our rider to a 10 place finish when the clutch basket failed. Apart from cracking cases those 996 engines were pretty tough and reliable. Our 600 TT2 did all IOM practices and 2 races without missing a beat and onto the TT2 World Championships on the same engine. The 750 engine did cough back through the rear inlet and pop the carburettor off as our rider shut the throttle after crossing the finish line in the senior race but the race was over so that doesn't count. Phil

As a previous poster mentioned, take a Stanley knife blade without the holder and carefully tap it into the joint. Pick a corner to start with and combine this with a soft faced hammer on the perimeter. I have used this technique a few times with success and no damage. I had to use it recently to get the oil pump off a BB engine. The aftermarket pump had the locating dowels a fraction off spec and the pump was impossible to get off in the normal fashion so it was the very careful Stanley blade method around the pump mounting perimeter. Took a good hour to get it off without and real damage to the case thankfully. The pump was also on but I won't be reusing that. The problem you are having is much like trying to work against suction. Try pulling something sucked down away directly and it's impossible but work at a small section to break the vacuum and it's much easier, same here. Once you get a corner to release and then work along an edge to get that to release it becomes exponentially easier. It's not suction holding the sump on of course but the principle is much the same. Phil

I got news for you, they have in the past and they did it all the time. In fact Michelin used to make custom tyres "OVERNIGHT" for the factory guys and fly them in for race day. So during Friday practice Michelin would email the factory and get them working on a custom tyre for each of the top guys whatever they thought they needed to use in qualifying and the race. Stoner mentioned this in his autobiography that "occasionally" in his first year in a satellite team if he was doing well in practice some of these tyres would be "bestowed" upon him and the "lesser lights" for qualifying. It's the reason he would often qualify well or even on pole then everyone would ask why he wasn't up front in the actual race. Reason? because even after getting pole he'd be back on the std "junk" tyres for the race. Naturally he found it quite annoying that Rossi et al would know that although he qualified well they wouldn't need to worry about him or the other satellite riders that qualified well because the top guys would prevent them having the best tyres for the race. The spec tyre changed all that for the good but now it's run it's course and I don't see any reason in the preseason testing teams couldn't choose from a number of different constructions offered to them that they thought worked best for them and their bike and rider and Michelin build those tyres for them for the season. The actual tyre construction variations aren't a big deal to build. Sure it would be more costly but all they need to do is cut down on the F1 style bullshit creeping into MotoGP and they'd find the money. Phil

This is where the control tyre situation doesn't work. Far faster, cheaper for the factories and easier to tailor make tyres for each bike than re design frames, swingarm, triple clamps and forks for each new iteration of tyre construction. All that chassis development out the window when Michelin change tyre constructions. Like tossing the deck of cards into the air and see who wins and loses in the "do they work with my chassis" game. Yamaha's problem is they like all the factories get sucked into the "hiring an old has been rider" thinking there is value in their experience. In fact there is almost zero value in old riders who are set in their ways and want the whole bike designed around their style to make up for their degenerated competitiveness. They still fall for it though. Franki Morbidelli who I like very much as a person has hit the wall a lot of rider hit after a big, big injury, a phycological one that many never recover from. Always the acid test of a top rider, how well they deal mentally with a big injury. Rossi's record was never the same after he broke his leg. Rookies just ride what they got and accept the current situation. The skill isn't cutting fast lap times on these bikes these days, even rookies can do that, it's learning to race them and then dealing with the pressure of being a "factory" rider if you ever get there. Phil

I suspect the KTM will be the end of Millers Career in MotoGP. KTM has 2 things going against it, a tubular frame and it's the only MotoGP bike using WP suspension. I don't think the tube frame is necessarily a limiting factor but when your bike is obviously lacking in performance then reducing the variables is the smart way of at the very least of gaining some comparative data with whats on every other winning bike. Of course politics plays a part and seeing KTM owns WP it's never going to happen but the smart move would be to use the Ohlins on the Tech3 bikes to see what it's like. When you're looking for answers sometimes it's best to be a follower for a while and use whats obviously winning for at the very least an objective alternative data. The only issue with a steel tube frame is consistency. Casy Stoner commented years ago when Ducati went to the carbon box frame that the only thing wrong with the trellis frame was that every individual one felt completely different to the other. So his #1 bike flexed totally different from his #2 bike and a replacement frame different to both. He postulated that with so many individual welded joints in a trellis that that may be the issue. Nobody before or since has had Stoners "feel" for a motorcycle chassis. Phil

Sure everything but the filter. Thanks Ciao

Johann Zarco, you mean the Johann Zarco that caused the biggest crash in MotoGP history at the Red Bull Ring a few years ago and thought he hadn't done anything wrong? That Johann Zarco, lol. I have a ton of respect for these guys that go out and lay it all on the line but It's extremely rare for me to take any view of a racing incident they have too seriously, esp if they have been involved. "Clearly Naka was never going to make that corner because if he was it means he's out braked me and I'm the best on the brakes in motoGP". That folks is how 99% of circuit riders brains work, lol. Phil