jrt

Sonya and I are going to be in Ventura all next week for a conference, then Friday, Jan. 28th head down to L.A. and Pasadena. Anyone interested in either lunch in L.A. somewhere's or dinner in Pasadena or surrounding area that friday? I figure I *have* to get to MotoGuzziClassics. Not sure what I need, but I always find something to buy when I'm there. On a related note- any bike shops I can't miss in Santa Barbara or Ventura? I might have to skip an afternoon during the week just to get out for awhile. Jason

Why is it important to put the O2 sensor so close to the head? Is the O2 scavanged as it proceeds out the tailpipe, or is it just to eliminate any contribution from exhaust leaks downstream? J

Is 'belcrank' the same as my nomenclature: 'thingy on the transmission'? Belcrank has a certain joie de vivre. J

Damn, I like that matte color. How is the finish on them? Do they color any as they heat/cool? I'm guessing you like their work if you took them back to Performance Coatings. cheers, Jason [edited to remove image...sorry bout that]

The sintered plates in the RAM clutches seem to hold up ok. I know several people with many thousand miles on them. Don't know much about the bronze dual plate setup. Jason

Just a thought- to reverse the shift, you need to move the shift connecting arm from 'above' to 'below' the pivot. Try removing the shifter, then removing the triangular connector. Flip that upside down (you may have to make a new one, since it's not just flat). Or maybe its easier to flip the shift thingy on the transmission. You'll probably need a new connecting rod that's a bit longer. Alternatively, you can buy (good luck) the really expensive Guzzi 'ergal' shifter and just fit that on upside down. Jason

Hex head and no, not with a ratchet/socket. Maaaybe with a spanner, but I'm skeptical. I'll put up a picture in a couple hours. J

Ewe better be careful posting pictures like that. I'll be here all week, folks. Try the veal.

First point- it's not a "big SportBike"...it's uh, Moto Guzzi. Don't say anything else about it. Show them a picture of a California . I pay like $130 US for coverage for mine. And no, I didn't mislead the insurance guy- Guzzi is so rare here that crash actuary tables dont cover them. Second- what's "LOUD"? You should definitely hear the valves, but mine sound about as loud as any machine- like a mill or a lathe maybe. My Eldorado sounds like it's about to assplode everywhere and you better duck the shrapnel. Any bike is going to be kind of tappy at -25 °C until the oil warms up and gets circulated. I wonder if you're pumping oil through the bypass circuit instead of up into the heads? Jason

Dolph- Enjoy the J

Has anyone done the pepsi challenge on them? J

Or if you would rather support the producers directly: Faster Website J

That's cool- props to ATD for good service. One thing I didn't notice that will also make a difference- tight valve settings. Ask ATD to use 'world settings' for valves (if they don't already). Jason

I'm downloading it now- thanks for the pointer! J

I encourage you to be extremely careful if you use a sandblaster. Just a little bit of sand up in the galley's will do you a world of hurt. I know- you say you won't open the case, but if anyone does- be careful with it. I've never heard good things coming out of sandblasting. Jason

Here's a couple of places to check- Guzzitech is a clearinghouse for all sorts of good stuff: http://www.guzzitech.com/EVTuneup-Jeff_B.html It's for an EV, but works for the LeMans as well. The three wires *may* be different. Also, there's probably no reason to torque the heads as described. Here's a good thread (and Carl has a link inside the discussion) on this site: http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3228 I've found in practice that if you don't bother to take the injector links apart; just measure the TPS without mucking with balance, it works pretty well and is very quick. Depends on how much time you want to invest. And- check for air leaks- that's a good idea, too. Hope that helps- Jason

How does the engagement feel? I can tell you from firsthand experience that you will definitely know if the plates came apart- the clutch gets real grabby. But I don't really know of any instances where a dual plate clutch has come off J

Holy fungus amongus, Batman! The driver has the worst case of ringworm I've ever seen!

Does sound like it's running a bit lean. If you're a diy'er (and I hope you are), then do a search on 'TPS' or 'setting TPS' to see how to richen it up a bit- it's easy. I've noticed on ALL my Guzzi's that one header blues more than the other. Not usually by much, but a little. Congrats, and welcome! Jason

You'd have to pay me more than a dollar....

ok, that was funny. To answer though- yes, you can carry a passenger. No, not for long. My wife lasts about 2 hours, then calls it quits. On the bike, ya'll, on the bike.

Damn, I don't know who or what you guys are married to...but damn. Male flatmates have *always* been more of a pain than females. /long winter already......

You're sweet, Dan. I can't forget the pants because they are zipped to the jacket. I'm not forced to wear them, but in practice I usually do. If it gets too hot, I can either zip the pants down (the zipper unzips from top toward bottom) or just take them off. There's some ventilating zippers on the pants, but you are correct- they can get pretty hot. On the plus side, I'm just more comfortable wearing it. Not body-temp comfort, but mentally comfortable. I'm not sure where you live, but heavy textile suits like this are not a good solution for everyone. I couldn't wear it if I still lived in Texas but it's ok for the midwest because it doesn't get too hot here (except for 2 weeks in August). Has anyone tried the Joe Rocket or related style ventilated riding pants? Those look like they would be ok for hot weather. J

Different people have varying degrees of sensitivity to perineal pressure. It's a real problem-there's an artery that runs along that track and it's suceptible to being crushed if there is too much pressure on it. Yes, crushed. And it's the one that services your junk, including all the nerve tissue (and there's a fair amount of nerves there as you well know). So numbness, and erectile dysfunction are possible results. Solution- use your hip bones to sit on, not your perineum. Fernando, I'm glad you're ok and thanks for bringing this up- it's something we all should think about. I used to ride bicycles a lot, so I looked into this pretty carefully. There's three things in life that make it worth living- good food, good motorcyles, and good companionship. I don't want to give up any of those. J

I got a copy as a Christmas present. You're right- it's very cool. Now it comes as a 2 DVD set, and it is very interesting to watch the evolution of the races and racers over the years. Jason