jrt

I'm sorry I didn't drive my V11 over here- I'm in Maine at the moment. I have bars on my V11 that are about 2" rise and 1 1/2" pull back. I use the stock brake line and it works pretty well for me. As long as the rise of the bar is about in line with the forks, you won't have any tank fouling issues. If you need pull-backs...maybe look at old Eldorado pullbacks? Not sure that would work on the V11. Some pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jrtelford/GuzziV11Sport#

ow ow ow ow ow ow ow. etc. ow.

Well, I'm off to Maine for a conference. Not taking the V11 this time (I took it on the last trip). Rather, I am going to ride my wife's Breva 750. Should be interesting.

Great bike, great story and great wife! Congratulations! Do something nice for you wife also. J

Hard to say. The pieces on the left look like little gear teeth, the piece on the rght looks like general swarf. Sorry...

I cut the splines by mounting the piece on a rotary table (to index the splines) and scraping the 'v' sections out with a boring bar. Not as elegant as casting, but it seems to work just fine.

Congrats- I hope you enjoy the bike a long time. 1. even 2 seconds is not good. Have you checked the oil level? Make sure it is topped up. The basic problem is that the main bearings run on a thin film of oil- if you lose oil pressure, you lose the film of oil. If you lose the film of oil, you lose the main bearings. You might try Moto International (Greg Field) in Seattle WA for the Roper plate. I think they carry or used to carry them. 2. The stock lift points for the shop stand are the two nuts that stick out at the bottom of the 'pork chop' plates. 3. It all sounds normal- they can make a lot of noise, including gear whine from the transmission. Don't lug the bike around at low rpm- keep it up above 4K. Lower rpm just puts more stress on the engine for no benefit. 4. Again, MI? Not sure who has them, but there have been several long threads on the subject. Use the V11 sport manual- it's essentially the same bike: http://www.thisoldtractor.com/gtbender/mot...orkshop_manuals but use 'raceco' values for the valve clearances 0.15 mm intake, 0.2 mm exhaust (.004", .006") Good luck Jason

I'm sorry to report that it is a mix of sun and clouds, spotty showers and ~28 C here. Just don't ask about the weather in August....

Ah, you are missing the splined adapter? My kit was missing it, too. It's not that hard to make the parts. If you are patient, I can make you the adapter. I am leaving for Maine next week, so it would be 2-3 weeks before I could get to it, but I think I have enough scrap aluminum to make the part up. It won't be as pretty as the stock piece, but it is quite functional. You can buy the heim joints from McMaster Carr and get the threaded rod from Ace Hardware or McMaster or almost anywhere. PM me off list if you want to do that. My cost is that you will owe me a beer if we ever meet.

I have this setup on my bike right now. By "clutch", I think you mean "gearshift". The spacer is so that when you attach the brake pushrod to the brake footlever, it stays straight. You can use it or elect not to depending on how cocked the pushrod is. See this picture: http://picasaweb.google.com/jrtelford/Guzz...909265218287778 The extra part replaces the dogleg shift lever on the transmission case. That part was missing from the set I bought, so I fabricated one that I think is pretty similar. Anyhow- you will also need a 6mm threaded rod to connect the shifter to that piece. See here: http://picasaweb.google.com/jrtelford/Guzz...460901704304082 http://picasaweb.google.com/jrtelford/Guzz...460936064042466 Installation is pretty straightforward, the pictures should help. Let me know if you need more (or browse my picasaweb folder for a couple of other angles) Jason

At 8300 miles you're not even close to break-in yet. It only gets better and better

Sadly, I am headed the other way- to Maine for a business trip. At least I get to ride out there.

Keep the rpms up.

Greg Bender has a discussion of ZDDP on his website. This is geared to the older Loopframes, but if Ratchet is correct, then it applies equally well to the V11s. http://www.thisoldtractor.com/gtbender/loo...maintenance.htm

I guess it would be past tense: deactivated ouch.

Don't think there are any real differences in upgrades, so it's ok to continue to covet the old upgrades. Olde ways are goode ways. Es OK Me too There are two (I think two) lines under somewhere in the center of the tank- one's an overflow, the other is a vent if I recall. I put the back of tank on the broad side of a 2X4 and unhook all the lines. Dont forget to unplug the fuel petcock and....some other electical line (been too long and my beard is grey also). When you take off the carbon things, save them (just in case). There's two lines with a T right at the back of the fuel tank. I plugged one side and ran the other down the frame and open to air.

Well, they do say these bikes are kind of pigs??? Um, my guess would be running a bit lean. Have you set your TPS lately? I've let mine sit for 4-5 months and it ran ok, so I don't know if I would attribute it to just bad gas, but you could run some seafoam through it? Other thought- it could be vapor lock. Did it do this shortly after starting it hot?

Nice lookin' bike!

psst. Ratchet, it's "Englysh polyce"

Those look like mistrals- I have the same ones, but I didn't have rivets in mine. They came with stickers Putting pop rivets in your existing holes sounds pretty reasonable. I doubt that the badges are available, but you could contact Agostini in Italy. I bet they could give you a definitive answer. I like the look of that little fairing. Is that from a Breva 750? Looks similar.

I got mine and never took them out of the bubble wrap. Hey nuevototem, try this if you want something a bit different: http://sportcyclepacific.com/featureditems.htm At the current exchange rate, they are not too high priced.

And an environmental law forum.

With legs llike that, you really will need to relocate the pegs a bit. Sadly, Guzzi's are designed more for apes than people: long arms and short legs usually fit best. If you are really interested in getting a Sport, find one that is close and in good shape. I personally wouldn't worry too much about whether it is a Ballabio, Sport, Cafe, Nero, etc. They are all the same frame (after '01) and the same motor, running gear etc. They will all have the same feel when driving and basically, the same look. The Ohlins shocks are on a few models. If you were interested in that, you wouldn't be looking at a Sport. If it comes with a Magni fairing, you are lucky. You can pop that off, sell it and use the money to buy bars, headlight, couple of beers. Here's a list of changes by year: http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5691 Under the FAQ, there is also a heading or two on footpeg relocation (a popular mod, I guess). One serious suggestion I have is to give Greg Field a call at MI and order that footpeg relocating kit. It is very little money and when you do get a Sport, you'll have it on hand rather than trying to engineer a retrofit. If you never buy a Sport, I'd bet you could sell it for what you paid.

The neutral switch sounds more like a grounding problem. Usually, when a switch dies, it dies. It doesn't switch back and forth between. But I could easily be wrong. My neutral switch is the original- still works fine. One datum. My bike used to die coming up to a stop light or sign also. My guess is you have only a few miles on the bike (less than 10K?)? And this is mostly on warm, but not yet hot days and you have been running it kind of fast? That is pretty typical. I have K&N's and it makes no difference. The engine is still tight; it will loosen up and break in but it takes a hell of a long time. At 20K miles, mine is just starting to open up. You can give your bike a bit more idle, that will help. Also make sure the TPS is adjusted properly. But I could kill mine pretty regularly if I came to an idle after even a few miles of highway driving. Especially if 'highway' meant 80-90 mph.