AndyH

Huh? Pics of the girl or of no Guzzis?Ha ha!

I have to agree with Craig. Just the other week on my trip into London (when the Thruxton let me down q.v.) the oil light was flickering on at odd times in town: the traffic was dense, progress was slow, the engine was getting hot and bothered and it was damp to boot. The clue it was electrical was when the neutral light stayed on on gear at the same time... seen it several times under these circumstances albeit usually in much warmer weather. Both Oil and Neutral lights were working as they should on the way back and it was absolutely pi**ing down then. So I won't say nothing sinister in your case, but I've learned to tell the difference with mine.

So put higher bars on it! But can't just not ride it... What's wrong with them?

Not even that...!

How do you manage that, docc?

Thanks Bjorn. I like the tip about greasing the splines: last time I found the trapped air pushed grease out of the other ends of the shaft and made quite a mess when spinning up, so had to clean grease from one groove in the splines to give the air an escape route. I'm about to do the annual maintenance on mine so will remember this. "the largest Guzzi shop in The Netherlands": TLM, I assume? Whoever they are, they sound like they have superb attention to detail, excellent customer service and are a limitless fount of experience.

Me too, shows a higher cause. Hope he found a buyer with the same attitude

Sorry to hear about yr accident, dangerous. Get back on the road soon Andy

Allegedly designed to be able to carry a basket of eggs across a ploughed field without breaking them, that same suspension and knife-narrow wheels offered 'interesting' road holding...(as in Chinese curse: 'May you live in interesting times')

My first thought.. but no. The fuel pump priming spun up but the start button did nothing, just caused the fuel pump to spin up again.Right as rain now. There are forces beyond our ken... having ruled out human stupidity first of course!

Thruxton's OK but as you might have guessed I'm not wild about the handling. A word to the wise tho' if you're thinking of getting one, it is not worth contemplating without a decent exhaust. She was about to sell hers it was so gutless, then got the Triumph-own brand 'not for road use' silencers and decided to keep it.

There was a tube strike in London yesterday, so in spite of truly extreme shite weather in promise, I agreed with the customer I'd turn up by bike, in whatever state of presentability that involved, just be there. V11 was not considered an option, as the bevel box had been drained of oil for service and tank and fuel system was totally emptied, etc etc. so I'd have to use the wife's Thruxton. I got togged up, cargo pack on the back of the Thruxton, pressed start button... nada! Nothing would get the bike started. It had a strong light and good battery, but just wouldn't start, or even click the solenoid. Gone all Italian on me! So I filled up the V11 bevel box with EP90, the missus sped out to get me a can of fuel from the local fuel station and I hurriedly fitted and tightened up a few other things and filled up the tank. The beauty started first time - all Japanese-like (never does that after a lay up)! It was nice to be back on the V11 again. At the end of the day, the return journey was through some of the wettest weather I've ridden in for some time. The V11 didn't miss a beat and felt so solid and smooth, that I had every reason to be glad the Thruxton hadn't started (I find it rather twitchy on slippery wet roads). Back in the garage at home I decided to investigate the starting problem with the Thruxton... no need: it started up straight away!? What da F...? Some kind of plot. I still don't know what I've learned from all this but kind of glad at how it worked out. Thought I'd share.

Like the Griso style side rad, tigger tank strips, rocker cover and head protectors nice colour, blocks of wood (sometimes there's no substitute). Wonder what silencer? Pipe just disappears! Twin headlights? Someone with confidence in his alternator output!

Gosh, and I thought I was just being timid not wanting to go into the bevel box!! With good reason it seems: if it ain't broke... Good luck mate! You'll be an expert by the time you're done.

I think the blower replaces the crankcase induction of your normal two stroke. Exactly how, would take a better engineer than I could ever be to explain.

A Maserati owner told me that if you get a problem with the engine, they hook it out, shrink wrap it and send it off to Italy. No one (in the UK dealers anyway) works on them themselves - small volumes etc. This guy however actually does for himself rather than going through all that: got the manual, tools etc. The point is, they're talking 50,000 units per annum according to one bit of blurb (on the Internet so must be true - what's a zero between friends?), so they'd better get a few more mechanics in their dealers who know the difference between their big end and bell end before trying for those numbers. Got their eye on rich Chinese Party officials and oligarchs, evidently.

Jones 1942 supercharged two stroke (!!) flat four. The Norton colours are misleading but maybe a Norton frame? Found this link: http://www.eriksbikeworld.com/index.php/bikes/vintage-racers/25-supercharged-period-4-cylinder-racer

Another blower!?

Well your clues helped. Laverda... Gemini 200. Nice one!

Top job! Congrats! Will definitely try this at home Kids! PS. I vote for this to be in the 'How To' section, Admins!

Looks like the dog's doodahs! What sort of price is that? (I know that'll be into the States so there will be shipping costs and taxes as well)

All I can offer is bafflement...!

That would be a whole tub of grease on the long side of the swing arm... ha ha!

I took mine to a local gent who had slide hammers, all the kit, the lot and in the end it took grinding, heating and pure brute force to extract them. The one on the shaft side was, by far, the worst to get out. He said he couldn't recall a worse bearing extraction job and he wasn't a young man. Those bearings are very wide: a lot of friction to overcome and in a blind hole too. Shame they're so short lived. I have a spare swing arm too. Just a thought: if I get started now, I might have the bearings out of that one and the lot re-coated in time for when the bearings in the current one go kaput!

Can't really do a 'spray and cook' job with them in, though, but I'm with you on "a lot of grief". Not something done without "language"!