belfastguzzi

Basically, yes! That's why I booked early – and guess what – I'm back home... 'cos I missed the ferry! What a chump. I need a holiday! Coming home again from the terminal, I joined the seemingly endless stream of bikes that I'd seen on my way in, all heading for the North West. If I'd thought sooner, before I re-booked a new ticket for this evening, I should have booked the ferry for tomorrow and just stayed with the bikes going north for today. I would have been there for the practice and the atmosphere. Kicking myself for every possible reason. See you, at some stage.

I'm heading for the ferry soon. Be there tonight.

...heavy hammer, drill, dremel, axe and more beer

Never mind the lard, Arbroath Smokies or any other sort of consumables. Just bring a load of SG oil and set-up a stall. Whoever does that, will make a killing. Actually, come to think of it, those Arbroath Smokies are SG rated, aren't they?

Some people have had a lot of difficulty getting this out. Some others have found it to 'slide' out easily. I, of course, had great trouble with it and a MG mechanic in England who I spoke to said that they are often difficult. He dremels them. See the posts here for previous woes, warnings and solutions: (watch-out for that captive washer) http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?...ost&p=48465 http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?...ost&p=49022 http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?...ost&p=50054 more in this thread: http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?...ost&p=49457

The Armoy site is only coming on-line. It's not finished and all the content isn't there. When I tried it, sometimes it was very slow and parts of it took forever to load. It just gives a 'taster' for now. Guzzi report? Unless Gyles and Guzzbun get themselves over here pronto, I predict that there won't be a Guzzi in sight.

£5,699 in UK MCN First impressions: Moto Guzzi V7 launch - V7 classic is a retro roadster By Phil West Bike tests 13 May 2008 11:03 Phil West is testing the new Moto Guzzi V7 classic around Lake Como in Italy and these are his initial thoughts: “The V7 Classic is a straight forward retro roadster that aims to take on Triumph’s proven and popular Bonneville and perhaps unsurprisingly it does a really honest and authentic job of it. “It’s based on the Nevada 750 running gear with styling that harks back to the old V7 and V7 Sport of the early 1970s. Not only does it look good, it’s also simple, straightforward and easy to use whilst having bags of classic Guzzi V-twin character too. “In a nutshell it’s half way between the Triumph Bonneville and the Ducati GT1000 Sport Classic and it’s priced between the two as well at £5699. As an introduction to Italian bikes they don’t come much sweeter.” Phil’s full test report on the Moto Guzzi V7 in MCN on May 21, 2008.

- Live practice is on now – Pics with commentary, including hard-as-nails champion Phil McCallen and Steve Parrish. This is the Real Player link. Go to site for other Windows stuff. http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/nw200...200_16x9_bb.ram Weather is fantastic! Michael Rutter and NW200 Ducati is out on the road, at the mo' Guy Martin is fastest – at this very early stage. Edit – John McGuinness now. The Ducati is 4th fastest. This is the big set-up, sort-out night. Thursday evening will be next practice night.

Greg explained why SH and following aren't 'better' than SG (they're 'different' and I suppose better for most cars) which is why I was looking for the other post that I couldn't find. I think it was primarily because of the reduction in phosphorous and maybe also because other additives aren't good for our motors. If it's JUST because of the phosphorous – then clearly it's not straightforward. SG is not a solid guarantee of correct or highest phosphorous / zinc concentrations, it seems. There must be other factors.

You've missed the IMPORTANT DETAIL Soren! I'm their letting agent (don't listen if they deny it). If you select Villa A in Huddersfield, make sure that the cash goes to me, not Guy the housekeeper. Same goes for the Stevenage pad. I can't really recommend Apartment A to be honest. You would have to be very robust to survive the combination of a Scots housekeeper and the Dutch lodger. Of course, it's cheap!

SOME EXPLANATION OF THE CATEGORIES, WHICH I HAVE FOUND. I can’t vouch for anything here being 100% correct or being what it seems – but until anyone says otherwise, I’ve no reason to doubt it. This must have been written before SM was introduced. PI = American Petroleum Institute S = Service - Petrol Engine Performance C = Commercial - Diesel Engine Performance PETROL SG - Introduced 1989 has much more active dispersant to combat black sludge. SH - Introduced 1993 has same engine tests as SG, but includes phosphorus limit 0.12%, together with control of foam, volatility and shear stability. SJ - Introduced 1996 has the same engine tests as SG/SH, but phosphorus limit 0.10% together with variation on volatility limits SL - Introduced 2001, all new engine tests reflective of modern engine designs meeting current emmissions standards DIESEL CD - Introduced 1955, international standard for turbo diesel engine oils for many years, uses single cylinder test engine only CE - Introduced 1984, improved control of oil consumption, oil thickening, piston deposits an wear, uses additional multi cylinder test engines CF4 - Introduced 1990, further improvements in control of oil consumption and piston deposits, uses low emmission test engine CF - Introduced 1994, modernised version of CD, reverts to single cylinder low emission test engine. Intended for certain indirect injection engines CF2 - Introduced 1994, defines effective control of cylinder deposits and ring face scuffing, intended for 2 stroke diesel engines CG4 - Introduced 1994, development of CF4 giving improved control of piston deposits, wear, oxidation stability and soot entrainment. Uses low sulphur diesel fuel in engine tests CH4 - Introduced 1998, development of CG4, giving further improvements in control of soot related wear and piston deposits, uses more comprehensive engine test program to include low and high sulphur fuelsSG - Introduced 1989 has much more active dispersant to combat black sludge. ACEA Specifications (Association des Constructeurs Europeens d Automobiles) ACEA ratings are prefixed with A for petrol, B for light or passenger car diesel and E for heavy duty diesel. The current specifications are: A1 Fuel economy petrol A2 Standard performance level A3 High performance and/or extended drain A4 Reserved for future use in certain direct injection engines A5 Combines A1 fuel economy with A3 performance B1 Fuel economy diesel B2 Standard performance level B3 High performance and/or extended drain B4 For direct injection car diesel engines B5 Combines B1 fuel economy with B3/B4 performance E1 Non-turbocharged light duty diesel engines E2 Standard performance level E3 High performance and extended drain E4 Higher performance and longer extended drain E5 High performance and long drain plus API performances Basestock categories and descriptions All oils are comprised of basestocks and additives. Basestocks make up the majority of the finished product and represent between 75-95%. Not all basestocks are derived from petroleum, in fact the better quality ones are synthetics made in laboratories by chemists specifically designed for the application for which they are intended. Basestocks are classified in 5 Groups as follows: Group I These are derived from petroleum and are the least refined. These are used in a small amount of automotive oils where the applications are not demanding. Group II These are derived from petroleum and are mainly used in mineral automotive oils. Their performance is acceptable with regards to wear, thermal stability and oxidation stability but not so good at lower temperatures. Group III These are derived from petroleum but are the most refined of the mineral oil basestocks. They are not chemically engineered like synthetics but offer the highest level of performance of all the petroleum basestocks. They are also known as “hydrocracked” or “molecularly modified” basestocks. They are usually labelled/marketed as synthetic or semi-synthetic oils and make up a very high percentage of the oils retailed today. Group IV These are polyalphaolefins known as PAO and are chemically manufactured rather than being dug out of the ground. These basestocks have excellent stability in both hot and cold temperatures and give superior protection due to their uniform molecules. Group V These special basestocks are also chemically engineered but are not PAO. The main types used in automotive oils are diesters and polyolesters. Like the group IV basestocks they have uniform molecules and give superior performance and protection over petroleum basestocks. These special stocks are used in all aviation engines due to their stability and durability. Esters are also polar (electro statically attracted to metal surfaces) which has great benefits. They are usually blended with Group IV stocks rather than being used exclusively. It is common practice for oil companies to blend different basestocks to achieve a certain specification, performance or cost. The blending of group IV and V produces lubricants with the best overall performance which cannot be matched by any of the petroleum basestock groups.

ACEA A2/A3 with B2/B3 or B4 Quote from Penrite info >> There have been a number of articles and we have heard comments from various “expert” commentators regarding the more recent API specifications and their impact on older petrol engined vehicles. Unfortunately there is a lot of mis-information out there and also contradictory information as to what can and cannot be used in older vehicles. The focus has been on zinc, or more correctly, ZDTP (zinc di-thiophosphate). For many years this has been the anti wear additive of choice as it is the most cost effective (and one of the most effective) chemistry to use. Also incorrectly described as an extreme pressure additive, its primary role is to prevent wear in the rings and in the valve train (cams, tappets, valve stems etc) of the engine. When you add ZDTP you also add phosphorus. This is a catalyst poison and there have been limits on it since the days of API SH (1994) when a 0.12% limit was imposed. Prior to that, in the days of API SG (1989) many manufacturers already had put a 0.10% limit on phosphorus. So, “low” phosphorus has been with us for quite some time. In effect, an engine oil that contains about 0.1% phosphorus or higher, will easily provide the required anti wear properties for older engines and in fact ones at around 0.07% will do the job very nicely. As a rule of thumb, zinc content is about 10% higher than the phosphorus content but there are some variances occasioanally. Within these changes was the incorporation of friction modifiers. The early ones were very active and did cause oil consumption in older engines. These days, technology is well advanced and this no longer is the case. Now we have API SM – for the first time, the limit on phosphorus is from 0.06-0.08%. There are industry concerns about the applicability of these oils in older engines. However, the limit only applies to 0W-20, 0W-30, 5W-20, 5W-30 and 10W-30 oils (so called “ILSAC” grades, GF-4). Any other grades are exempt from this. In the US though the same additive tends to get used all the way from 0W-20 to 20W-50 as as a result, the new low phosphorus SM/GF-4 packs find their way into older engines. This is why many of the "beware of no zinc" papers and articles are coming from the US. There is one other factor with non-ILSAC oil grades. If they also have the European ACEA A2/A3 with B2/B3 or B4 performance levels, phosphorus levels will also be at 0.10 % to 0.12% as their tests have been more severe than the API for some time. Hence an oil that is SL (SM)/CF/A3/B3 also well exceeds the anti-wear requirements for older engines. The irony is that API SF and SG oils formulated in recent years usually have phosphorus contents of around 0.08% (usually 0.1% maximum) anyway due to other advances in technology, unless the blender chooses to add extra additive. This brings us to diesel oils. Currently, they have no phosphorus limits – as such many people recommend them for older cars, even though many others say that the detergent levels are too high and the engine will use oil. Well, you cannot have it both ways. This one originated from the USA and hence did not take into account European ACEA standard petrol engine oils, which are easy to find in Australia, NZ and Europe, but a lot harder to find in North America.

If you don't mind, I'm moving some content here from the other thread, where I brought up the SG and ACEA stuff. None of this is to contradict what Greg said about Mobil, car lube, SG necessity etc. I'm just trying to get a better grasp of it and connect the info to what is actually available in the shops. I'm also interested to see if differences in USA and Euro specs mean that an oil may be suitable in UK / Europe, when stuff with the same name is not right in America: or are there factors that mean it's fundamentally not right despite what some of the letters appear to be saying? So, 1) what SG oils have people found, that are generally available? 2) Any 10w-60 stuff? Re-post, with a few more bits There is a recent thread where Greg explains the necessity of SG oil. I can't find it. Doing a search for any particular oil thread is a bit like looking for a little black thing in a dirty oil sump. This one will have to do. Where have people found SG oil in the UK? 10w-60 is the stuff that the Griso uses. AGIP does Racing 10-60 SG – if you can find it. MG says that the Griso needs this. In the thread that I was looking for, Grossohc said that he was going to Halfords for SG(?) at a more reasonable price. I did have Halfords synthetic, SG rated, so I went there this afternoon to get some more. Of course, it's SJ now! Their oils are all SJ or SL. There was nothing at SG. There were no 10w-60s either. CASTROL I see on the web there is a Castrol R4 Superbike 10w-50 fully synthetic 4 stroke motorcycle engine oil, API SG, JASO MA. This may be old hat in the USA. Looking out for SG grade oil, the latest that I've seen in the shops here is Yamaha's own: YAMALUBE 4-FS 4-Stroke Engine Oil Fully Synthetic 15W-50 API SG JASO MA 1L bottle is £9.99 SILKOLENE Motorcycle lube: Silkolene Pro 4 Plus 10w/50 API SF & SG, JASO MA, CCMC G5 Same price: about £10 MOBIL I looked again at Mobil 1 (car oil) to see what ACEA rating it has. The 15w-50 Motorsport fully synth says: ACEA A3/B3/B4 It is API SJ/SL/SM/CF "Mobil 1 15W-50 is also recommended for older valve train designs that may benefit from a higher level of anti-wear normally not required for newer generation vehicles. Mobil 1 15W-50 will also provide better anti-wear protection for higher valve spring tensions in certain racing engines." (The bike oil is Mobil 1 Racing 4T 15W-50 API SH JASO MA Anyone know what ACEA specs are on it?) PENRITE I've looked up Penrite, 'cos P.R. uses this. He has a 10W-70! I associate Penrite with old classics. I don't see the 10w-70: maybe it hasn't made it to the UK yet. There is the following info though. Looks like it's saying that the 50/60/70 oils do have higher phosphorous, because the limit only applies to the lower number weight range? – OUTSIDE of USA anyway– I read similar elsewhere. The 10W-70 is an SM. Note the classification: ACEA A2/A3 with B2/B3 or B4 performance levels. So maybe, in Europe, Australia..., SL and SM are good, if they show ACEA A2/A3 with B2/B3 or B4? Hmm... see next post

Are the rest of the bike's bearings as dry as this!

Dear friend Soren, Are you looking for 2008 Moto Guzzi Rooms in UK? Would you like to rent a comfortable apartment traveling to the V.11 UK 2008 MG Rally? I have two villas and one apartment in UK for rent during May 2008. They are new, clean, and warm, with perfect decoration and complete furniture. When the weather is fine, the houses will be full of warm sunshine! Make reservations right now! Villa A: Location: The villa is situated in the northwest of Huddersfield, offering convenient transportation. It is only 25000 meters away from “Bird’s Nest”, the main hot-food take-away. In addition, the nearby limpid **** and verdant **** provide you with ideal places where you can **** and **** your ****. Structure: The villa is three-story high, with a total area of 380 square meters. It faces south, featuring five bedrooms, two living rooms, one kitchen and four bathrooms. Furniture: Moto Guzzi, Wooden floor, sofa, TV, refrigerator, full-automatic washing machine, microwave oven, baking oven, gas burner, telephone, Internet, computer, central heating, air-conditioner, 24 hour hot water, double bathtub, shower room, video interphone, and table tennis tables. All are new! Rent: The charge is 1200 US dollars/day (including water and electricity fee). Villa B: Location: This villa is Stevenage. Hertfordshire which is only just north of London, if that's kinder to your baboon-like arse. It is close to the expressway to the urban area, and 15000 meters away from “Another Bird’s Nest”, the main hot-food take-away. Structure: The villa is three-story high, with a total area of 268 square meters. It faces south, featuring four bedrooms, one living room, one kitchen and three bathrooms. Furniture: Moto Guzzi, wooden floor, sofa, large-screen LCD TV, refrigerator, full-automatic washing machine, microwave oven, baking oven, gas burner, telephone, Internet, computer, central heating, air-conditioner, 24 hour hot water, double bathtub, shower room, video interphone, and billiard tables. All are new! Rent: The charge is 1200 US dollars/day (including water and electricity fee). Apartment A: MACGUZZI'S HOUSE in the Big Towne in Chaoyang District, Scotland Location: It takes only ten minutes’ walk from MACGUZZI' HOUSE to “Bird’s Nest Again”, the main hot-food take-away. The apartment enjoys superior geographical position, with supermarket, KFC, McDonald's, bank, hospital, post office and telephone office nearby. Structure: The newly built apartment is located on the 3rd floor, covering an area of 65 square meters, with a bedroom, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Facing south, it features cleanness, adequate sunshine, modern decoration, as well as complete furniture. Furniture: Moto Guzzi, a visiting Dutchman, wooden floor, sofa, KING SIZE bed, TV, refrigerator, washing machine, computer desk, induction cooker, telephone, Brand Band, heating, air-conditioner, water heater, and VCD player. All are new! Rent: The charge is 400 US dollars/day (including water and electricity fee). Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26077160@N08/ Payment method: 1. Cash Contact: Contact person: Mr. BelfastBob C/O Belfastguzzi The exciting moments of the V.11UK Rally start from here! It will be my pleasure to serve you and you will have a good time here under my service! I’m looking forward to seeing you in UK! Best wishes!

There's a new website here dedicated to the Armoy Armada http://www.armoyarmada.com/#/1_home/ It's unfinished, so not all the content is there. It goes with a guided tour of the area. Halcyon days: the Armoy Armada and the Dromara Destroyers.

There is live streaming on the BBC website of Tuesday night practice. http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/nw200.../coverage.shtml Michael Rutter on the Ducati: http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/nw200...ml?v=rutter_new

What happened? I'll be traveling the opposite direction to you on both days. I might try to listen to Radio Ulster on Saturday, when out and about in Scotland. As I said in another thread, it's going to be strange going against the tide: rolling onto the boat when masses of bikes are rolling off. Chris Jessop had said that he's coming over for the races. Look out for his green V.11, or maybe a Breva. Have you looked at the BBC site that I pointed to in the other thread? http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/nw200/

I thought only a DeLorean could do that.

That's what I'm wondering. The article seems to say so – at least outside of USA....???? The article is from the Penrite UK website: http://www.penriteoil.com/uk/nextpage.php?...20Engine%20Oils

I've looked up Penrite, 'cos P.R. uses this. He has a 10W-70! I associate Penrite with old classics. I don't see the 10w-70: maybe it hasn't made it to the UK yet. There is the following info though. Looks like it's saying that the 50/60/70 oils do have higher phosphorous, because the limit only applies to the lower number weight range? – OUTSIDE of USA anyway– I read similar elsewhere. The 10W-70 is an SM. Note the classification: ACEA A2/A3 with B2/B3 or B4 performance levels. So maybe, in Europe, Australia..., SL and SM are good, if they show ACEA A2/A3 with B2/B3 or B4? Hmm... >> There have been a number of articles and we have heard comments from various “expert” commentators regarding the more recent API specifications and their impact on older petrol engined vehicles. Unfortunately there is a lot of mis-information out there and also contradictory information as to what can and cannot be used in older vehicles. The focus has been on zinc, or more correctly, ZDTP (zinc di-thiophosphate). For many years this has been the anti wear additive of choice as it is the most cost effective (and one of the most effective) chemistry to use. Also incorrectly described as an extreme pressure additive, its primary role is to prevent wear in the rings and in the valve train (cams, tappets, valve stems etc) of the engine. When you add ZDTP you also add phosphorus. This is a catalyst poison and there have been limits on it since the days of API SH (1994) when a 0.12% limit was imposed. Prior to that, in the days of API SG (1989) many manufacturers already had put a 0.10% limit on phosphorus. So, “low” phosphorus has been with us for quite some time. In effect, an engine oil that contains about 0.1% phosphorus or higher, will easily provide the required anti wear properties for older engines and in fact ones at around 0.07% will do the job very nicely. As a rule of thumb, zinc content is about 10% higher than the phosphorus content but there are some variances occasioanally. Within these changes was the incorporation of friction modifiers. The early ones were very active and did cause oil consumption in older engines. These days, technology is well advanced and this no longer is the case. Now we have API SM – for the first time, the limit on phosphorus is from 0.06-0.08%. There are industry concerns about the applicability of these oils in older engines. However, the limit only applies to 0W-20, 0W-30, 5W-20, 5W-30 and 10W-30 oils (so called “ILSAC” grades, GF-4). Any other grades are exempt from this. In the US though the same additive tends to get used all the way from 0W-20 to 20W-50 as as a result, the new low phosphorus SM/GF-4 packs find their way into older engines. This is why many of the "beware of no zinc" papers and articles are coming from the US. There is one other factor with non-ILSAC oil grades. If they also have the European ACEA A2/A3 with B2/B3 or B4 performance levels, phosphorus levels will also be at 0.10 % to 0.12% as their tests have been more severe than the API for some time. Hence an oil that is SL (SM)/CF/A3/B3 also well exceeds the anti-wear requirements for older engines. The irony is that API SF and SG oils formulated in recent years usually have phosphorus contents of around 0.08% (usually 0.1% maximum) anyway due to other advances in technology, unless the blender chooses to add extra additive. This brings us to diesel oils. Currently, they have no phosphorus limits – as such many people recommend them for older cars, even though many others say that the detergent levels are too high and the engine will use oil. Well, you cannot have it both ways. This one originated from the USA and hence did not take into account European ACEA standard petrol engine oils, which are easy to find in Australia, NZ and Europe, but a lot harder to find in North America.

There is a recent thread where Greg explains the necessity of SG oil. I can't find it. Doing a search for any particular oil thread is a bit like looking for a little black thing in a dirty oil sump. This one will have to do. Where have people found SG oil in the UK? 10w-60 is the stuff that the Griso uses. AGIP does Racing 10-60 SG – if you can find it. In the thread that I was looking for, Grossohc said that he was going to Halfords for SG(?) at a more reasonable price. I did have Halfords synthetic, SG rated, so I went there this afternoon to get some more. Of course, it's SJ now! Their oils are all SJ or SL. There was nothing at SG. There were no 10w-60s either. I see on the web there is a Castrol R4 Superbike 10w-50 fully synthetic 4 stroke motorcycle engine oil, API SG, JASO MA. So, what SG oils have people found, that are generally available? Any 10w-60 stuff?

That'll put hair on your chest.

Name dropper. But are you sure it wasn't just a big hairy monkey?

Ralph Werner