belfastguzzi

OK I found this info on Wild and a thread here from a year ago.

With a Tonti, there's about 3 or 4 final drive options, iirc. For the V11s & CARC models, the final drive gearing is what it is: there're no other alternatives [ie, other models w/ the same driveline that used different final drive gearing.] Now *that's* what Piaggio should do: offer a different final gear set as part of the performance package one has to run to compete in the Griso Cup series in Europe. Then the other CARC models would have an option, tho' it would be rather expensive I'm certain... Reality is that more lettuce and less potatoes would be more effective. That's just as difficult to achieve though. I was wondering what work the Griso race bikes have done / what parts fitted. Do you have any info on what the performance package is for the Griso Cup?

Hey, the Tennisiti are (slightly) more intelligent than I thought. Most people wouldn't have noticed the difference between the two topics. Queeny coming through, any day now, yay! Get yourself to Dublin, all flagged-up.

Gearing change is an interesting subject, for 'normal' bikes. I'd like to try the Guzzi with lower gearing, but with shaft drive, there's no practical way for Joe Bloggs to change it. The Griso has a lot of 'go' in the higher rev range, but in terms of max speed, because of the seating position and wide bars, it gets harder to hold on above say, 90/100mph – so it could stand a reduction. The Griso vs V11 performance characteristics topic has been discussed before but it came into focus again when I did a track day. Bikes that the Griso would catch coming up to corners, ran away again out of the corners and into the straights. I'd a weight handicap (both bike and rider) and the Guzzi twin won't match a sports four, but I do wonder if I'd get more useful snap by 'dropping a tooth or two on the front cog'. The Griso doesn't really need gearing for a high top speed, as it's practically un-useable: both legally and more to the point, because of the seating/riding position. This current bike has a faster engine than my 2002 Guzzi and better overall handling, but I reckon that my 2002 Moto Guzzi V11 is faster to ride (as discussed before by various folk). That's mainly because the V11 has clip-ons and a small bikini fairing: the riding position is just better. The Griso (current bike) is an odd mixture of style/design. It goes well, though it is long and heavy, but the seating position is more like a cruiser and the windage becomes a real problem. I originally fancied trying to fit clip-ons or at least lower risers. In the end, I've decided against it. I reckon that the extra control/leverage of the wide bars has saved the day a number of times when either the front or back end has gone. In fact, perhaps I would have lost it at the track day when another bike knocked my front wheel away, if I'd had clip-ons. The revised 8Vs are re-cammed for the *zip to come in at lower revs at the expense of the higher range of the first motors (as far as I understand). Would a better solution be to have lower gearing? There isn't any practical way to do this, is there? For example, with a car, one easy change would be to swap the diff, but there aren't other variants for the Guzzi. *Edit, it would probably be better to use the description 'grunt' rather than 'zip', a couple of sentences above.

pictures would be handy and a Google map, just for interest

Looks ok. Today, Thursday morning: The bike has been sitting just around the corner from where it was stolen! I did start to look around on Monday night, but then thought there was no point in hunting as it was sure to be away in the back of a van. If only I had gone a few more yards I would have seen it. Thankfully I was able to get the recovery van to come back when the bike was lifted this morning – as otherwise I'd have had to pay £185 or so, to get it released. The Police had gone. I spoke to someone on the phone and asked a number of times if they would check the cctv cameras, as there are a couple covering the street right there. He just kept saying that would be standard practice but wouldn't confirm that they would actually be doing it, so I don't know if there'll be any follow-up or not. There were no forensics done. Whatever, BIG thanks to all involved in the successful recovery. The main damage I can see now is the broken steering lock (a cast part) and bent bolts & steel frame bracket where it's attached. The ignition wires are ripped out. They make the circuit live, but the bike won't start without the chip in the key, or a code being entered – so the thieves abandoned it. Must put a new code in tonight. It's at default, which is probably 0000 or something simple like that!

There IS light at the end of the tunnel. Have just recovered the bike! Stolen by amateurs. More later. Thanks for your support, folks.

Whiskey if it's from the local peat lands whisky if it's from the bogs across the water

Aye, just renewed the insurance a short while ago. In hindsight I should have valued it higher though. I won't get enough to replace it, plus there were the Arrow cans etc. and then there's the policy excess, blah, blah. Anyway, this is just stuff – and it helps to release steam in a fairly harmless, if whining manner. There are other more important things, which don't get talked about or it's not appropriate to talk about them in this type of www setting. I've been holding off on sending a PM – and I owe Baldini a note, so I'll send a few sentences... D

Saw it tonight and well, it was extraordinary, absolutely extraordinary. A unique film of unique experience, stories, commitment, way of life (and death), action... The 3D was interesting, if a bit artificial.

Yep, trackday last month. Survived two bikes colliding in front of me on only the second lap and someone taking my front wheel away on very last session of the day (I ended up on the grass but kept upright). Apart from that, and a severe dose of flu or whatever it was, it was a grand day. I've another booked in June and have been thinking of doing one at the end of this month. Not so sure about that now, as last night's episode will hit the finances, but also I don't have a fall-back bike anymore, if anything goes wrong on the track. Wrong thread topic, but here we go: some design differences may be apparent

Had been taking a break out in the country as various recent circumstances have been difficult. Had the Aprilia SM750 Dorso: would have taken the Guzzi but I've softish, new BT003 tyres on the Griso at the moment and didn't want to be riding up and down a rough stoney track on them in case the Bridgestones got cut up a bit. Came back up to town yesterday evening and parked to go see some music I'd been looking forward to (Drive By Truckers!). Came back to the parking spot at midnight – and the bike was gone. Probably in a van and over the border by now. Opened a letter this morning: Notice of Intended Prosecution, for speeding (on the Aprilia). Is May going to continue the same way that April has been? I thought all this stuff was only meant to come in threes? The bike is rare enough, so if anyone sees a low-mileage, year old, red Dorsoduro or parts, on eBay etc, give me a shout. Arrow cans fitted. If only it had been the Griso: it would have been one problem solved, instead of another created!

I imagine that average speeds/overall speeds are higher and that riding speeds & conditions are more consistent. My big generalisation is that the roads here (locally) are much smaller: very short straight bits, lots of acceleration and deceleration, loads of corners... whereas photos of USA roads show, naturally, much bigger, longer roads, bigger corners etc. The tyre pressure comment is interesting as I'd never have the tyres that high, so maybe it's a factor too. The Griso came with Metzelers (M3) and they were completely done at 3,500 miles. My (shed-bound) V11 has Metzeler Roadtecs (Z6) which I and others here liked. They are obsolete now too, though the replacement Roadtec Interact may still be on the go. It gets a good review here: review picked at random, see March 25, 2009 entry > http://byckers.blogspot.com/ That review talks about 32 lb front and rear. tmcafe's pressure is a full 10lbs more!

Urls fixed. I've noticed this issue a few times: Flickr addresses can change shortly after photos are uploaded. If the links are copied too soon, then they no longer work.

I thought that Strada is obsolete? Replaced with the Angel ST a couple of years ago? I have the Angels and they're good tyres. I had two rear punctures when the tyre was fairly new, but that's just bad luck. They'll never do anything close to 9,000 miles: though I doubt if the Stradas would have approached that here either. There's often a big disparity between the mileage reported in USA and the mileage that we get in Europe/UK/Ireland. I can only attribute it to very different types of roads and riding conditions. There wouldn't be harder tyres made for USA, would there? 3,000 miles is about the top here for sports/touring tyres. At the moment I've swopped the Angels for stickier BT-003s, but will go back to the Angels for the winter (if the Bridgestones last that long).

Here are part numbers, but I don't think that anyone was ever able to get them. A safety/liability issue? > ______________________________________________________________ http://www.ducatisti.co.uk/forum/technical-help/6436-has-anyone-rebuilt-brembo-goldline-caliper.html Parts here? > http://www.yoyodyneti.com/category.aspx?categoryID=3017 See here > http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=10837&st=15

The conclusion from previous research etc was that there is no rebuild kit available. You need to buy a whole new calliper. (And so do I) Don't know about F08. Tonti front caliper? P32B GOLDLINE

Nah: life's too short. But if you need the Tenni Forum, it's still here >>> http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=12226

the sun would always shine on them like today

Nice diagnosis, doctor. I'll keep taking the headache pills and hope for the best. Looking forward to the next oil change already. Thanks Pete. Baldini - thanks for the PM. I'll reply later in the week, as long as there's an internet connection at the country cottage. Taking a few days off after today. I might even post pictures of... country cottage stuff!

No those last pics are the old parts. I'm just reposting them to make a more complete collection. The 2nd photo, the set of parts, is a pic I found on the web once. Maybe Paul M has it on his site? I'm not sure. I need to gather the photos together by subject / part area and put them into separate topics, to build the library on the forum here. Some other day though. Meantime, I thought I'd just add them here, as Pete had already shared some extra photos that help create the picture of how these things are put together and work.

And here is the tensioner and tunnel on the right cylinder, the one that is actually accessible.

The cam and follower/bowl

As Pete shared some pics of the cam box and the tappet bowls, here are a few more, showing how the bowls move in the box as the cam rotates (c.f. Pete's photo). Pete's photo of cam in box and tappets "One of the camboxes. Note how with the cam positioned as it would be at TDC the tops of the cam followers are just proud of the top of the cambox, (These are the things the little pushrods are sitting in and the parts that wear if the cam/tappets fail)." Here are the cam followers/cam bowls at different heights as cam rotates

I've looked into the abyss – and seen a tensioner blade. It's intact. In other words, it is not broken. So that's a good thing but the question remains then: where the heck did the plastic bits in the sump come from? And if some of that stuff is metallic rather than plastic, where did it come from? Here are photos, looking in at the top tip of the plastic tensioner blade. All looks in order... Pete? It's down there screwdriver between chain and tensioner Part no. 26