jrt

I know when I'm beat...

What about a dental pick? We have a dental school here, so I get various shaped picks all the time. I've got the cleanest teeth around, but my gums are a bit perforated...

So....BFG should have said "Stick which in your pipe and smoke it." ??? beautiful, just beautiful (fragmentary clause)

Just leave it in gear- that holds the engine locked. Or put a wood brace through the rear wheel crossways and leave it in gear. No need for fancy lorry levers or spangled hammers.

There's an ointment for that.

I dunno. I just accidentally ran across that page. They sound good to me, and if you're happy with them......

look at the 'spark plugs' thread (Nogbad was last to post on it) in this Tech Topics. I didn't remember it, but someone posted a picture of there (just fine) plugs. Just fyi. Regarding the TPS- it is easy to adjust, but it is also nice to have someone around to point at stuff and help drink your beer. You can do twice as much damage in half the time that way.

From what I've read- stay away from BUB sumps. They have rubber hose inside the sump for high pressure oil routing and are prone to blowing said hoses. Might be a moot point, since BUB no longer makes them anymore nor would the old ones fit the V11. There are few people here on the forum that own MS deep sumps. From what I understand, you lose the oil cooler, but with the deep sump it is unnecessary. MGCycle has them. You could call other good dealers also- MPH Cycles in Houston, TX for example. I do not have one (can't justify that kind of cash), so I will let others comment on their usefulness.

The rubber tube that connects the throttle body and the cylinder (in the red circle):

Sounds like you are running lean- a very common problem. You can compare your plugs to those on this page but give them a little latitude for individual variation. The fix is to richen the mixture- are you comfortable resetting the TPS? Also check your valve clearance and make sure it isn't set to 'American' specs. Iridium plugs are a waste of money, in my opinion. With a low tech engine like we have....use a plain ol' single electrode spark plug. It's a good thing to ask questions. I didn't one time and I fried the electrical system on a Subaru. We all have a lot to learn.

Topica hosts a couple of Guzzi lists- http://lists.topica.com/lists/mgcl/ Also, the Guzzitech list mentioned earlier should be very appropriate and helpful. First things to check: apart from std. stuff like carbs, also drop the timing chest and throw out the old timing chain tensioner. Put a new one in there as the old versions tend to lose rubber into the oil system. Clean out the crankcase pan, clean out the wire filter and replace the oil filter (by '79, I think they had an oil filter but I'm not positive). Heck, replace all the oils. I think they were using nikosil cylinder liners by '79 also, so you should be good there. Check under the rocker covers for rust. Grease up the electrical connections....and see if it goes. How much you work on it and replace is kind of a function of how much money you want to spend and how pristine you want it to be. The T3 is a great bike- I hope you enjoy it! J

Can you tell if it is throttle position or engine speed that causes the fuse to blow? For example- does it happen if you wack the throttle open at 2500 rpm, or only at 5000+ or either?

If the bike is still under warranty, I would think MG has to offer you new cases. But I'm no expert, so I know that somewhere- buried in this forum- are the phone numbers for customer reps. J

Good going Ryan- glad to hear you got it out. I wouldn't use lube on the axle when you put it back in. The rust is a form of loctite and really- do you want the lubed axle to just fall out while you're riding? How safe would that be? BTW, If you want to replace your rear wheel axle spacer....uh....I can get you one on the cheap. J

If you get a Guzzi stand, be very careful in getting the forks under the nuts. It's easy to scratch the paint off the porkchops- mine are all scratched up. Doesn't hurt anything, but it doesn't look very nice.

Yah, but you can't search three letters. Four is minimum. Cool lookin' bike Ralph

bwa ha ha ha ha. How's that glass house there, mate?

Rather than whacking the threads and nut, you can drill a small detente in the center of the axle as a guide for a drift. That's kind of extreme- I hope you don't have to do that.

http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5691

John, What were (are) the valve clearances? Also, the top end of these bikes do make some tapping noises- it's the nature of the beast. Not loud, but some. Question about pre-ignition in general- Is detonation a regular or irregular occurance? That is, if a cylinder is prone to detonation, will it do so on every stroke or just once in a while?

My first thought would be that the computer is losing power somehow. Check the connections before you swap them again. If it is the computer: Some random electronic thoughts and questions- how hot was the comp. before it started cutting out? It could have taken ~20 minutes to get it up to temperature and exhibited this behavior. Can you open the ICU up? If so, you can test the components, but first off- look at the capacitors in there and see if the magic smoke came out of one. Tell-tale sign for cap failure is that the cap is 'bulging' and there may be some oily residue at the base. You might need a magnifying glass if your eyes are as good as mine.

"MRA" ???

My two theories about that, David: 1) Only a small fraction of women are interested in the detailed level of discussion that goes on in a forum like this. Only a small fraction of men also, but it's a larger fraction. 2) The sport isn't a real 'female friendly' bike. It's heavy, has a long arm reach and it can be finniky. Those are generalizations and I know there are exceptions to any generalization. One way to illustrate (1) is to paraphrase a discussion with wife, Sonya: S- 'why do you need to mess with your bikes? Aren't they running?' JRT- 'Of course they run, but I like to mess with them. Owning a Guzzi is a process, not an product' S- 'Stay away from my Breva'

Looks great!

Call up EPF cycles. They'll probably have the skinny on any meets around the area.