Lucky Phil

Well it's 12.7 actually. I'm fully conversant in both and can do the smaller calculations in my head. By instinct I measure something in fractions of a mm say .24 and immediately say to myself "oh yea that's 9.6 thou. Don't know why, no idea but my equipment in the last 20 years has been metric. I'll stop it one day I guess. Metric still makes more sense to me. Phil

Not sure if I've mentioned this before but I've been trying to understand why tying the brake lever on overnight significantly improves the lever feel after bleeding. I've had the question in my mind for a few years but never had an answer. My only thought is that the constant brake pressure over a longish period dissolves any formed air bubbles back into solution in the brake fluid where they don't have an effect. In other words the compressibility of a formed air bubble is different to the same amount of air suspended in solution in the brake fluid. Naturally this has to be within reason but I wonder if it's like the fuel drain checks I used to do on jets earlier in my career where the water suspended in the jet fuel wasn't a major issue until it was enough to separate out of suspension into straight water with a dividing line with the fuel. Same concept but different. So the question is does a quantity of dissolved air or air molecules suspended in a given amount of fluid in a sealed system have less affect on the compressibility of the fluid than the same amount of air in a formed bubble within the same system. It's in the realms of a scientific question and I've not been able to find an answer. I need a physicist. Any takers to answer this? Enquiring minds need to know. Phil

The logical version. Metric Phil

Bought one of these recently. Brilliant tool. Makes setting up a lot easier and measuring how flat and straight things are. Phil

The governing factor in the case of a 90 degree V twin with regards to the exhaust scavenging is the point of cross section dia of the secondary pipe. So the first major cross sectional change is what generates the negative pressure pulse. In multi cylinder engines they combine this with the collector shape so the designated cylinders "talk to each other" as well. This is a Ducati Corse 888 "spaghetti" exhaust. The small short link pipes between the front and rear cylinders primary role is to create the large cross sectional change in pipe dia to generate the negative pressure wave to help with cylinder evacuation and subsequent filling. It's not there specifically for splitting the exhaust flow to both mufflers. Thats a secondary benefit. There are two link pipes and the second one is obscured but you can see it's retaining spring underneath. Phil

Sorry F1 engine sound is just appalling noise to me. Add that display and you have F1 in a microcosm. Phil

Think the top flow injectors are hard to remove try the Daytona/Centauro side flow injectors. Nightmare. Phil

My advice is don't try to separate the throttle bodies unless you have no other choice. Phil

Exactly, this is the way I do it. If you think about the geometry of it it makes sense that the angles and dimensions are what they need to be for the bodies in their mounted position not an inch further away when released from the rubber connectors. Remove the aluminium manifolds and connect them and the rubber sections to the throttle bodies and then move the manifolds back onto the head. Easy. I can't believe people muscle the whole assembly around by the other method. Phil

Yes John it's actually an MGS-01 shaft which is just a std jackshaft cut down and machined to accept a 6005 roller bearing for the front case instead of the plain bearing running in the case. I seriously might just remove the rear jackshaft bearing and run the std front plain bearing in the case. The roller is good for friction but you lose the internal oil feed to the heads. I can see no reason at all Guzzi didn't do this on production engines. The rear jackshaft bearing on an 8 valver does no support that I can see and just adds friction and another oil loss path. Phil

Yes I have a set of Joes new gear and his updated pump. I thought I posted an image here a little while back. I had him make my cam gear 4mm narrower the same width as the V11 gears because a steel gear can have a higher tooth loading than the cheesy aluminium one and we save weight. His latest pump has reverted back to a plain bronze bush for the drive gear to minimise oil loss through the original oem style needle bearing. The new gears also have a different surface finish due to the previous providers of this going out of business I believe. So they are now a silver low friction finish. EDIT.. Oil pumps L to R Joes new pump, std, some aftermarket version which was almost impossible to remove due to the alignment pins being oversize. New gears and MGS-01 jackshaft

The Governments of the time were sold bullshit by the oil companies with regards to diesel powered cars because they make more money per barrel of oil from the far less refined diesel and the yield per barrel is higher so more profit. The rubbish they pedalled to European governments was better fuel economy (true) and "don't worry about the pollution we have future tech in the pipeline that will solve all that" (rubbish) The car manufacturers were on board because they could charge more for a given car because it used less fuel and the Bureaucrats bought it hook line and sinker. Does all this start sounding a bit familiar? Governments being sold bullshit by people with their own agendas. The diesel issue was a simple one, money and profits, easy to understand. The environmentalist agenda is a little more complex and is routed in politics itself and power. Don't kid yourselves into thinking it's because greater powers are trying to save your children's future. Phil

Really? What sort of mechanical noise? Clatter or whine? I have 2 sets of joes gears in engines and a 3rd set on the bench to go into another engine. Phil

The inch of virgin rubber on the edges of the tyres on bikes that are supposed to be ridden around corners fast. Phil

Up to probably the mid 80's when the KawasakiGPZ900 and the First GSXR750 Suzuki were released the Japanese were almost 100% focused on the US market and what was the US market focused on? Straight line acceleration. I remember those days where people would ditch their near new bike for a model that came out that was .1 seconds faster down the quarter and all every Japanese big bike owner could talk about was 1/4 mile times. Us European owners were like leapers there for a decade and a half or so, lol. Thankfully time have changed and now I'm surrounded by 25 year old wannabees in full racing leathers logoed up identical to their racing hero's on $80,000 sports bikes with one inch chicken strips on the tyres telling you how great the handling is. Oh hang on, can I go back to the mid 80's please. Phil

Surprise surprise the electricity to charge them is almost free and I'm guessing motoring in Norway isn't a popular pastime. Phil

People need to forget the outliers like Norway who produce 88% of their electricity by Hydro and has a population of 5.5 million people and the land area of Montana. It also has extreme daylight hour fluctuation depending on the seasons. It's a unique country with unique conditions and location in regards to topics such as this. Like making arguments about power source generation with a location on top of thermal springs and using them as aspirational or solar generation in Saudi Arabia. Just distorts the real argument.

Problem with the direct to the battery style is the reg is always live and has a parasitic draw on the battery while parked. Combined with the ecu parasitic draw you def need to use a battery tender if parked for any length of time. Phil

Email Agositins and ask them about the header dia they are good to deal with. My bike uses std V11 Sport headers, a Stucchi crossover and Agostini mufflers and I have no tapered pipes at the crossover. May just be they wanted larger dia at the crossover and secondary pipes. Phil

An unhappy Tesla owner and a comment on whatever generation she belongs to. Funny and sad at the same time. I didn't go looking for this honestly. It was posted on a car forum in the Funny and laughs section.

Reminds me of the argument Harley Sportster or Indian FTR owners use for their 12 litre petrol tanks Chuck. Like a car a motorcycle ride where you are planning fuel stops is a PITA and not fun. I regularly do 900klm plus trips and the last thing I want to be even considering is where the next fuel stop is and when I do get there I'm fuelled up and out of the place asap. I fuel the car and the wife buys the coffees and pays the bill and we're gone. If we want a break it will be at a Cafe of our choice on route and not some horrid fuel stop fast food catastrophe complete with screaming kids and frustrated frazzled parents. Don't want to be there any longer than absolutely necessary. BTW it's the same everywhere in the world, Italy road stops are just as horrible. Truth is I'm not opposed to EV's per sei I'm opposed to having them forced upon me whether I like it or not under spurious claims about saving the planet and how they really are so practical. Phil

Not sure if the SD clutch comes with the same friction disk. Ask SD if it has the MIBA friction disk and if it's the latest steel flywheel version. Make sure they do a physical check on the flywheel material, you know spare parts people. They know part numbers not actual things. Phil

This is what rational people are are up against. This statement is total rubbish. Currently Solid State batteries have at best an energy density of 500-800 WH/KG while gasoline is 12,700 WH/KG and an efficient ICE engine is between 30-40 % efficiency. Same as Range claims that when tested in the real world fall not just a bit short but orders of magnitude short. Charging time? well headline charge times are to 80% battery capacity and that last bit they always leave out. It's in the fine print. It's the last 20% that takes the time and is what you need on a long trip. Phil

A mate of mine bought one about 5 years ago in mint condition from Tassie. He also has a Rickman Kawasaki he's owned from new. Why he'd want a Mk111 Kawasaki I'll never know. Why anyone would want one I'll never know. I also know someone that raced one at Bathurst in a proddy race back in mid 70"s. There are some teenage memories I don't feel the need to re visit or repeat. Phil