Lucky Phil

That will do it. Phil

There's not a racer on the planet that can currently win a race on the KTM let alone a title. KTM overestimated the performance of their bike and Ducati has taken a significant step in 2024. I still can't understand how any company would consider employing Vinales the ultimate soggy cornflakes man. 9 seasons in MotoGP, 10 wins and best finish in the Championship of 3rd 5 years ago, plus deliberately trying to destroy the engine in his bike in a childish fit of peek. Yet teams are cuing up to give him a ride. Shows you the state of decision making in MotoGP these days. Once the expectation kicked in and got into Acostas head the results have tapered off which was fairly predictable. He's done a Zarco in his first season. Next year when he's genuinely expected to produce the podiums he'll find it even harder. It's gong to be interesting to see which ex Ducati rider can actually deliver on the track next season once they have departed Ducati and are now on lesser bikes. Phil

Seems a random comment? Phil

Yes docc good point I would assume they use UOA for that as well to save money with semi's etc in large fleets. In these large trucking fleet companies I know they have dedicated departments that do nothing but monitor the trucks mechanicals in real time as they are on the road. I would assume they use UAO for plotting their oil changes as well. I guess it depends on the engines oil consumption. Engines that are used commercially and are running 24/7 obviously consume oil and it gets to a point where you no longer need to do oil changes because the consumption and top offs are cycling the oil through anyway. Big gas turbines are like this. Because they burn around a quart/hour you never change the oil like a bike or car, there is no point as fresh oil is always being installed. I remember when I started in aviation and some of the old guys had tons of experience on big radials they talked about how pointless and annoying it was doing a mandated oil change on the bloody things because they consumed so much it was a pointless exercise dumping 25 gallons of oil that was in reality never that many hours old. The old Lockheed Super Connie Qantas used to fly had a dedicated oil tank and engine replenishing system in the fueslarge that the flight engineer used to pump fresh oil to each engine on long flights to keep the main engine oil tanks at a safe level they used so much. Phil

I can live with the Victorian winters if they are 3 months long but these days, like for years now the heater is running from mid April to into the end of November We now have 2 seasons. An 8 month winter and a 4 month summer. PHil

Without knowing the history of your bike also check the front engine mount lugs on the engine cover. Even a lowside on a v11 Sport can break one of them so look for a cracked front case mount. Failing all that it's the lead weights I guess. BTW here in Aus the bolt on plastic weight used on garage roller doors is full of nice lead shot like shotgun pellets. Come to think of it you could always go to the local ammunition supplier and use lead shot I guess.

Have you checked the engine mount and front frame mount bolt torques? Phil

Agreed the weather in Victoria is shite this year but it's also cold all up the east coast as well. Phil

Do your std clip-ons have the std bar weight assemblies installed? The vibes aren't normally particularly obnoxious on a 2000 V11 Sport with the swan neck clip-ons. The later clip-ons and weights are a little better but you can't use them. Phil

Yea I know. We'll still have a couple of days there after it's over to hang with George though so that will be relaxing. Phil

Guess whos just discovered he's going to be in Mandello for this without a clue it was actually going to be on. Pleasantly surprised. https://www.motoguzzi.com/en_EN/moto-guzzi-world/events/moto-guzzi-open-house-2024/ Phil

Technique wise Pre loading the shift lever in both directions is the secret to sweet shifting on the 6 speed box. Phil

The 20,000 klm break in is a bit of a myth in my view. The rings are 90% seated in the first 200klms and nothing else inside the engine needs "breaking in". It just starts wearing out from day 1. There's 2 reasons manufacturers want you to follow a break in process. One is to cover themselves if they've made an assembly error so if something fails they may be able to get away with a repair not a replacement and so owners are guided towards driving conservatively when they first get the car or on the bike because it's in no ones interest that they snot themselves immediately due to unfamiliarity with the machine. The reason cars and bikes seem to perform better after a few thousand klms is because the rider/driver is more comfortable and subconsciously relaxes and starts to ride/drive in a bit more deliberate fashion. Bigger throttle input rates, faster shifting, harder braking because they're getting more comfortable on the machine. Even clutches and gearboxes don't loosen up anymore. A race engine isn't given tens of thousands of klms to break in because nobody has the time and it's not necessary. They are built to slightly looser tolerances in some areas to deal with the additional heat generated by running at high engine speeds and loads on the track but it's not a massive amount different to a road engine these days. Many years ago when bore finishes and machining tolerances were pretty poor the break in period was protracted but those days are long long gone and things have gradually been refined even over the last 20 years or so. Once the rings are seated in a few hundred KLMs that's as good as it's going to get. The rest is in the mind. Phil

The cost of the oil is the main thing and the fact it will shear down faster and absorb more engine power. Also bear in mind that higher viscosities also means reduced oil flow through the engine bearings and therefore less cooling for the bearings. What you want is the lowest grade oil you can run for cold starts and the lowest grade for normal operating conditions with some "headroom" for times when the engine is run hard such as flogged up a mountain pass or a track day or a high speed Autobahn run on a hot day. I remember years ago I read about a mod to the SB 4 valvers using Suzuki valves and springs was it? I also recall the main issue was the cam design in those engines as the reason they dropped valves. ZDDP is Zink Dialkyl Dithiophosphate a sacrificial anti wear additive that basically bonds to areas inside the engine under extreme pressure and acts as a sacrificial boundary layer if the oil film is compromised. So the lifter face to cam lobe interface on a flat tappet engine is a prime example. Interestingly too much ZDDP actually causes greater engine wear. PPM is parts per million. Zink levels have been gradually lowered over the years due to catalytic converter issues and the fact most modern engines don't use flap tappet lifters and have 4 valve heads without the heavy valve seat pressures of past years. Phil

Lubrication, cooling and cleaning. Phil

The 10W-60 is a total overkill Mick. I use 10W-60 for my bike with the Daytona engine but those engines have very specific needs. Primarily to hold up the oil pressure at idle in very hot weather in traffic and it's higher levels of Zink ( in this particular brand) for the stressed valve gear in this engine. 10W-60 isn't great in terms of viscosity range spread as it's very wide so the oil changes need to be much more frequent. I'd be using a full synthetic 0W-30 or 40 at the most in your climate with ZDDP around the 1000ppm or slightly higher if possible. Remember it's impossible in reality to have a winter viscosity that's too low in a group 4 oil esp in colder climates. At low OAT's the 0W is still a lot more viscous than even a 40 weight at operating temperature so it's never going to be "too thin" Phil

The oil viscosity range Mick is usage and operating temperature dependent. So for 99% of engines it can be varied dependent on local conditions and use. Having said that here's a blanket statement I'd be prepared to die on a hill for. The modern switch to 0W-20/16 and even 12 now are nothing to do with the long term benefit or health of the engine. They are 100% about squeezing the maximum fuel economy to reach the regulatory fuel economy targets set by governing bodies. The 0W part is fine and I've used 0W-40 Mobil 1 in the old Sport engine for years along with all the cars I drove over that time. It's still a great oil BTW. The issue is with the very low upper range viscosities. They are about saving fuel. Do some race teams use the 20 weight? Sure they do but that's "some" race engines where they aren't concerned about wear but horsepower and the engines are torn down after very short duty. They accept the extra wear. My Supra with the BMW B58 inline turbo six engine comes with 0W-20 standard and no other alternatives from the factory. After 1000klms it's out and a 5W-30 is used. Same with the other 2 newish cars I own. The 0/5W covers the cold temp with ease in my climate and the increase to 30 weight covers the normal temp running. It's a bit like the auto start stop in modern cars. They are 100% about saving fuel to the detriment of the mechanicals. I know they uprate the starting and electrical systems to cope and have additional coating on the big end and main shells but what does that tell you? It tells you the engine doesn't like start/stop functionality and it needs additional work to try and mitigate it. I always turn it off in all the cars. Btw when using even a modern multi viscosity group 4 oil try and keep the viscosity spread to a minimum. It's not massively critical if you change oil at reduced intervals but even full synthetic oils still use VI improvers that break down over mileage and a 0W-40 uses more than a 0w-30 or a 5/10W-40. The latest SP rated oils are out now which have LSPI protection for direct injection engines but also enhanced cam chain wear protection as well. For the German climate Mick I'd run the Sport/Le Mans on a 0W-30/40 due to the colder climate although I don't suppose you ride in temps below 10C. For a DD car in your climate used in all weather conditions it would be a 0W-30 for sure. Phil

I used to take oil samples for analysis as part of my job on commercial jet engines and send them off to Mobil labs for reports etc. Every engine had it's records kept and reviewed as part of it's history. I also used to do the Mag plug pulls all the time to monitor specific engine areas for problems so I'm fairly well versed in this area. The car forums are full of guys that send their oil out to Blackstones for regular analysis and in my opinion they are basically deluded. Same for the motorcycle world but to a lesser extent. An oil analysis programme is designed for commercial use such as airlines and trucking companies and earth moving equipment etc where you can't afford to have machinery down and or there is a lot of money to be saved in catching internal issues early before a failure or in the case of light aircraft engines an in flight failure where the consequences can be dire. The powerplants are also often working in the upper regions of their design parameters so are being pushed fairly hard. it's not really designed for the average Joe to do on his road vehicles. Why you may ask? Well because you need to ask yourself a simple question. Am I prepared to remove and strip down an engine on the strength of an oil report or a series of oil reports that show a particular trending? If there's any hesitation in the answer "yes I am" then you are wasting your time and just giving yourself something to worry about and keep you up at nights. In large organisations the answer is an unequivocal "yes" and that's what happens. The 10 million dollar engine is pulled and sent to the shop for a strip down or part strip down and component replacement. It's a commercial decision. Private owners, well not so much. Emotion and the hip pocket become seriously involved. Can you imagine having a discussion with a manufacturer about a replacement engine under warranty for your car that is running fine and giving no issues on the strength of an oil analysis that had a question mark in some area/s. I'd love to be at that meeting. I know what the outcome would be. No, a UOA programme is not for the average owner. Having one done to give piece of mind or confirm a suspicion from time to time maybe, but in general it's a complication you don't need. The car guys all proudly present their Blackstone reports on forums that are all fine no issues of course but they still don't have an answer for the "what if it's not perfect" or there are questionable areas. None have an answer for that, so in my view it's just naval gazing for the sake of it. I guess the next must do trend will be regular boroscopes of the cylinders, lol. Of course Labs that do the UOA aren't going to turn business away and happily get on the band wagon of the deluded. Business is business after all. Phil

AS you can see it's not that hard and the parts are available from other sources. Phil

If only it was that simple. As far as I'm aware the issue was with heat treatment and the updated parts are dimensionally identical to the original components. I have a gearbox I'd like to confirm as well. Phil

The copper will be from the rocker arm brass/bronze shims and valve guides. A known heavy wear item on a Guzzi BB engine.

Looks like there is a better shaft seal alternative out there docc than the Yamaha seals. Viton. Not cheap but CA cycleworks sell quality stuff. https://ca-cycleworks.com/t-seal.html Phil

I never tire of looking at it docc. It's still evolving. Just need to keep the DNA of the original and not get carried away and turn it into some sort of "custom bike". Instrument upgrade will be the next mission I think. Phil

On the contrary apart from the rear shock, wheels, belly pan, mufflers and brake disks it's all stock Guzzi. Just stuff everyone replaces eventually. Maybe not the wheels. Phil

This is the best looking Greenie on the planet. Personally I think it's the best looking Guzzi ever. Just my un biased opinion.