belfastguzzi

You're quite right. I was working on the left, brake, side where there is more clearance. Now that I'm on the other side I have remembered about the swingarm being wider – that's why there's extra length on the x-over pipes. What a dumbo! I've already cut the x-over and put it back on. The left side is much better, but the right will be too close. Cutting one side shorter would let the pipes lie in a better postion, but then one would be further back than the other. Looks like there is no easy solution. As for me, looks like I'm going to have to take the whole lot off again and the pipe will have to be welded back. I didn't want to relocate the signals because I thought that the pipes would be better a little bit lower anyway. Now I'm going to have to reconsider. I should have waited a while, to get a reply on here.

Cream reforms tonight for 4 nights of London gigs, at the Albert Hall. I'd give up an evening's Guzzi fettling to be there. (Tickets are going for £1,000, just heard of one bought for £2,850.)

There have been comments about the poor/difficult/uneven fit of Guzzi's own Ti. silencer system. The footrest hangers aren't purpose made and the whole thing doesn't line-up terribly well. A bracket that would be somewhere in between the length of the stock V.11 ones and the kit-supplied (Daytona?) ones would seem a better size. Another problem for me is that the new pipe-end position is exactly where the indicators are on the new tail-bracket that is meant to be a V.11 fit. After spending time making up an extension for the footrest hanger to give a slightly lower mount for the silencer band, I'm now thinking that the best solution would be to cut the crossover outlet pipes shorter. I think that this would let the whole silencer line-up much better. The bottom end would not be kicked out so much and the silencer assembly would come further forward. This would also make everything less wobbly (ref recent wobbly cans posts). This is a Stucchi x-over, but the outlet pipes position/length are the same as the standard crossover. What is different is that, while the stock silencer pipes will fully fit onto the x-over, the connection pipes that Guzzi makes for their Ti kit don't fully fit! Why have they done this? They only go half way on. So I am going to cut 3.5 cm off the crossover pipes. I don't remember reading about this being done before – if anyone has ideas or knowledge about this I would be grateful for a quick reply, before I do something irreversible.

I dreamt (had a nightmare) about the thing last night! In my dream the V.11 had a more conventional frame and it was sitting on the ground without its wheels. Someone knocked into it, which caused part of the frame to fall off, due to rust. This let all the pressurised air out of the frame. The air was there because, of course, the Ohlins suspension works by pressurised air that is stored in the frame. Then I woke up, which is a good job as I had no idea how I was going to fix that one.

Slap some of that anti-fretting on it – should cut down on wear and tear.

2002 seems to have been a bad year for Italian measurement capacity, what with too short spacers and too big spring bosses...

Amazing - mine is much newer but was rusty and notchy enough to merit a change, although if I didn't have everything else apart and wasn't already changing the other bearings, maybe I would have just cleaned and greased it. There must be something else for you to worry about. Have you checked the spring and ball bearing in the rear footrest swivel joint? It could be rusting horribly!

Yours is probably a fake. What about the excellent drawing: it's a chicken on wheels!

What model year is the bike? How did you check the tightness of the spacer? Are you sure that it is the correct length? The faulty spacers are only 1mm too short – that's not much, so you would need to measure accurately. Your bad bearing is the same one that was very bad in my bike and I found that the spacer was short.

er, can I be the first one to ask... is there a fender extender that fits?

Dear Mr. Rottenburger You must come and work with us. We quite simply can't design the right fit for our tank. As you can see, we can't think 'out of the box' and keep cutting our tank protector in straight lines and little squares. It don't half look a mess. We hear that you're a whacky sort of chap and might be just the sort of johnny who could make this stuff fit our tanks. We're desperate to make 'em transparent, you see, (or not - if you're successful). Do the right job – and there's a medal in this. Yours commandingly General Fotheringay-Beagle

and of course it looks like this before the overcoat and big trousers go back on

I managed to get speaking on the phone to a very experienced MG technician in England. I wasn't actually talking about this bearing, but he happened to mention it and said that IT IS normally real torture to get out. He said that he has to take a dremel to it and it sounded like it's usually a real hack job. • So, be warned. [Nogbad] It may not always be so difficult. Paul made it sound easy (probably because he's skilled) and Big J had no problems (probably because he used a 10lb lump hammer).

Do you do delivery, for special friends? I don't mind waiting a bit.

Hi Antonio "It is not clearly enough to see it here in Amsterdam." England/Wales must be getting in the way of your telescope. it's not a finished alternative for the back end – it's only the bike with the parts removed. The bigger picture is in another thread No complaints, rare fun from last week. The point is that I do like the look of the bike when the emphasis is on the shape (and bulk) of the engine and tank. There is such a big visual shift when the big seat, wide tailpiece, long mudguard, big rearlight, hugger and plastic endcaps go on – oh yes, and the exhaust system. That's why I was seriously considering the Quat-D. For the same reasons I would also prefer not to have the small screen/fairing, but for practicality it's worth keeping. The later models have pushed the screen much too far forwards though. As a small measure I'm changing the rear light/mudguard and painting the tailpiece mostly black. What's it like riding with the hugger off? Is a lot more water & dirt thrown around the rider's legs? I actually agree with (some of) D.L.'s comments (on lawyer's advice, I'll not say which ones). Now, if Paul would expand his range and design & produce another tailpiece: slimmed down, single seat, without the light in the end, and that could easily be swapped off for the stock double seat when required...

Have you been drinking DL? 11 points out of 10 to you for bravery. PS The stock seat is better with the cowl. It is all a bit monstous round the back though. as I said a while ago, it's best without the seat and tailpiece altogether.

I don't know what sort of finish is on the gloss bikes, but the clearcoat on the mat / matte finish Scura seems quite soft to me. I previously posted pictures of the clearcoat peeling off my fuel tank. I'm currently working on the tailpiece and have decided to completely rub it down rather than paint on top of the clearcoat finish. I found that a little solvent, such as in a new coat of paint, made the topcoat soft and rubbery so that it would rub/peel off by hand. The coloured coats underneath are harder. But as I say, perhaps the glossy bikes have a harder finish.

mmmm. Can't understand why he's selling it. I'm sure he's got a 'genuine' reason though. New Sandringham 4-seater forces reluctant sale?

Extraordinarily smooth riding, Mr G Bun, quite extraordinary! May the road continue to always fall downhill and the wind always blow behind you.

Germanic functionality not your thing? Here's a more 'comfortable' approach to a back-end solution. nice sticky-out exhaust pipes, eh?

CD copies of this 2-cd training set are on sale on eBay now, also the workshop manual cd. Could make someone a pretty penny.

I see it's for sale in eBay now. EDIT: oh and Amazon

A question for you GB: what is matt polish – presumably a polish that dries to a matt finish – and where do you get it?

I think you are.

...the very picture that I have torn out of MCN and happen to have sitting on the floor beside me – very nice. How's the insurance quest going? Have you no peeling paint at all? Not even on the bevel box? I have used various high temperature matt black paints for spotting in, including barbecue paint. Seems to be ok but I haven't painted large areas, such as the whole engine.