Lucky Phil

Wandering the streets of Roma and Milano you rarely see any Guzzis. Considering they build the things only 65klm's from Milano you'd think they would be commonly seen on the streets of Milano but nope. Here's a few I've spotted. The most common non scooter around the cities? The big BMW GS's in all their forms over the last 15 years or so. Hundreds of them. I've even spotted 2 old BMW K100RS's a blue and a red one both in beautiful condition the same as the new ones I toured Europe back in 84 and 86. Blue in 84 and red in 86. Guzzi's though are rare birds. Off to Mandello tomorrow. Sure to see some Guzzis there, maybe.

Nice story. I hadn't heard of this. A little surprised that there were so many newcomers that didn't know their way around on their first escorted lap as most including the year we were there with a newcomer we did a lot of laps before the practice week even started. There was no escorted laps in those days for newcomers. Phil

I use it for many many things. Cleaning the bugs off helmets and visors, the brake dust off bike and car wheels, and the whole bike really including the paintwork and screen. It's the racers bike cleaner in a toolbox at the track and has been for over 40 years for me.

I've got one word for you all, Mr Sheen. Phil

You can often drive the old bearing out with a largish flat bladed screwdriver of a 1/2 inch steel punch with a sharp edge by inserting the punch/scredriver into the axle hole from the opposite side and levering the spacer to one side to get the punch onto the inner race edge. Once one side is out the other is easy. I then grind a notch in one end of the spacer so next time the screwdriver gets onto the inner race easily. Heat the wheel hub with a heat gun and have the bearings in the freezer and they often just drop in and you can use the old bearing as a driving tool on the outer race if you need to.

There are aftermarket bushes available you need to measure the bush dimensions and order for a model thats applicable to that. Sometimes thats the only way. Phil

The valve is fine and the buildup to be expected on a 2 valve engine thats done a bit of suburban/commuter riding. Production port finish, same as just about any of the time

The original spacers are notorious for being too short and killing bearings before their time. Will do, first day and first gelato done. Phil

You can acquire an old windows laptop for exactly nothing these days. Thats what I would do

That wire is only the solenoid wire it doesn't carry starter current so the size is fine. Phil

That shouldn't happen if the wheel spacer is the correct length. You should be able to crank up the axle nut even over tight and it shouldn't affect the wheel bearing lateral clearance. You should check the spacer length as it's too short. The bearing clearance is independent of the axle nut torque. That is the precise purpose of the bearing spacer. Greetings from Roma

I don't have an image docc and the new throttle bodies on the Daytona engine don't suffer the issue. I considered bending the bracket as well but in the end I used some .028 lockwire in one wrap around the cable end Ferrell and wired back to the inboard side of the bracket. It served to pull the cable ferrell flange hard against the bracket face and keep it aligned. It also helped a tiny bit with throttle cable play as previously the ferrell flange would kick away at an angle to the bracket at zero throttle and then get pulled into alignment as you opened the throttle. If you look at yours when you open the throttle the ferrell probably gets pulled straight when you load the cable and all the wear occurs when the throttle is closed at idle or on the overrun. Thats the way it was with mine anyway. Phil

Not sure. My bike with the old engine did it with a new timing sensor, old sensor, new and older plugs and even with the timing chain replaced by gears which dispelled the theory it was timing chain slack/tensioner. Phil

A MAP torch doesn't usually have a fine enough tip for heating the bridge screws and you need to use great care as you can easily melt the alloy bridge very thing section around the retaining screw. The yamaha seals a re also very cheap and what I used. The p/n is in the thread I'm sure. Phil

Yea I've not seen that before either docc. Phil

The throttle sleeve angle is an old issue docc. I have lockwire around the sleeve and tied to the bracket to pull the outer sheath into alignment with the bracket so the cable has a straight shot at the cam. Sounds like you have got the other damage sorted though. No need for a new cable. Even flight control cables are allowed some broken wires. Phil

I've mentioned before the ignition timing step on the std map at the low throttle angles of 4.2 and 5.1 degrees at the problematical rpm. Standard map is and 18degree ignition advance between 2200 and 2700 rpm at 4.2 degrees. Meinolfs map has cut this to around 7 degrees in the same general area although he's changed the rpm break points a little so a perfect comparison isn't available. He's also pulled some timing out at the same rpm range at 5.2 throttle angle as well so if this has reduced the issue then if it was me I'd pull a bit more out at the same ranges and see if that cures it. You can't get tuning right 100% on lambda readings alone, feel and lots of miles in varying riding conditions comes into it as well. My old engine would cough at times and then you couldn't make it if you tried. Maybe the issue is just a mechanical design issue at the end of the day if it can't be tuned out. The v11 engine may just have a small area of combustion instability under certain conditions due to the combustion chamber and piston crown design. Not sure, but if the Meinolf map has improved the issue noticeably I'd try pulling some more advance out of it at those rpm and throttle break points and see if it goes away. If not then put it back in again. Nothing to lose. Phil

Significant changes there in every area. Phil

They forgot the final line in the add. "The bold way to make time" in the workshop up to your arse in oil and broken engine parts"

You need to refine or examine the engineering term for "trellis" as a starting point but also I'll point out that the carbon bike did not connect the steering head to the cases but to the the cylinder heads and there in lies the difference. And it's a major difference. The classic Ducati trellis design uses the engine as a "stressed" member and eventually they evolved to a "semi stressed" member with the 916 because they added frame connections to the swingarm pivot. So the engine could be removed and the chassis rolled around like any bike sans engine. This was done to compensate for quadrupling the engine power over the original design engine and massively more mechanical grip through wider radial tyres and also because the early bikes like the 851/888 series had issues with crash damage caused to the rhs rear engine mount which could also crack even through riding on poor condition country roads such as we have here. With regards to your 750 race bike experience and engine cases and frame interactions I'm afraid your mechanic was wrong. I've supported/built 600 and 750 powered F2 and F1 factory Ducati race bikes at the IOM TT the toughest racing there was and is on road race machinery and also in domestic racing here as well as my 888 race bike and later 996 Ducatis in WSB spec at WSB races as well as domestic racing and I can say that none of them ever leaked at the case joints due to stress the rider put on them. Non of them ever leaked at a case joint period that I put together. Even in 996 form in the hands of former national champions and regular WSB riders who rode them hard they were always oil tight unless they had a failure. They suffered other consequences to racing stress but I've never seen one leak at the case joint because of it. I can't offer any more value to this conversation so I'll make this my final post. Phil

Not sure about the exact change over date but post 2001 I think. My images don't have the exact date ranges. I came across a couple of new manual taps in the spares locker the other day and got them on the bench for when I return from holidays. Now that I have a mill I can do the valve bobbin slotting modification with greater accuracy and appearance. Won't work any better than the current mod but will look more professional if someone ever has it apart. Phil