Stick

This forum is very V11 - centric. Probably better to ask over in the WildGuzzi.com forum.

Just try not to have that shit-eating grin displayed for your visit before the judge!

Regarding chargers, I have a few of the $20 Shumacher charge/maint. type from Walmart. They take the battery all the way up to 14.40V, and then go into float mode. I've have excellent results with these, but I also use a 24hr timer. It's like plugging it in once a day for a couple of hrs. 10+ years on OEM batteries. Pb acid, and AGM. Note that these chargers are rated for at least 1.5A charging. IMHO, much better than a Battery Tender Jr. (0.5A ??) I also own an older Battery Minder. Awesome charger with the desulphation mode that I've SEEN work. It removed some desulphation from a 16AH "wet" cell battery on my Ducati ST2 years back. That OEM battery went close to 8 years. I prematurely replaced it only to "upgrade" to a 22A-hr AGM.

My first 2002 Lemans had the original spring in it at 60K mi. when I sold it. My second 2002 Lemans has about 13K mi on it, so it will probably break, right?

I have another ?? Does anybody know what the CARC bikes use for a starter? Same as older bikes? Maybe I'll take mine off and have a look... Maybe I should ask over on WildGuzzi?

In all seriousness, I'm thinking of saving the good parts. I think the armature is good. Brushes, solenoid, housing, bendix, etc. All look good. I believe one could rebuild with that magnet housing from EME. I figured that for a few more $$'s that I'll have a 100% new "off brand" unit. Not sure if I want to trust the French engineering much more, too. If anyone needs/ wants it, or pieces, let me know. Just pay 4 shipping! Stick Oh, and Merry Christmas !!!!

Yep..."Legs up to her neck" as Rod Stewart would sing...

So, I installed it today. First, I looked at the drive tooth. Got a pen in-hand to count the teeth. Casting looks identical to the Valeo... I came up with 9T. Well, after me counting more than once, then I handed it to my son with the pen to help...He came up with 9 teeth !!! The order said 8T. I really wanted 9T, but was willing to "experiment". Anyway, same size, bolted right up, easily. Tested it briefly, and it sounded good. Connected battery all the way, and it started right up. Happy as all heck right now. My 2 sons and I took a 50 mile ride today! One is on his permit, and he's "graduated" from a 250 ninja, to a V11 Lemans !!! I could not believe the way he was able to chase me today. Older son was on my 2013 Stelvio. Totally awesome. I grabbed my 2003 ST4s Ducati. Absolutely awesome day. So I recommend this starter. Oh, It was $70.xx including shipping. Not sure "how", but I ordered it on Sunday. And it got shipped in 2 days! Mon. & T are business days. I was amazed. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0081SAT1I?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

I ordered the $70 starter from DB Electrical. The cross-ref. p/n's they show match what I've read on the web. Also, there is a gent either in here or over on WildGuzzi that claims to have used a 9T starter on his Lemans III, even when his original starter was 8T. So I'm going to try it, but inverse. 9T to 8T. Let you know how it works. Ordered it Sunday, and it just got delivered to my house (two days of shipping from TN to Mass??). Depends on the weather if I will get it installed tonight. Stick

So, finally removed my starter. It was the easiest starter to remove that I've ever encountered! Tried hot-wiring the starter. Kicked the solenoid with a test lead. Bendix gear deploys just like I thought. But no rotation. Took it apart. One magnet dropped off, and appears to have been rubbing against the armature. Not sure how long, but there's a LOT of magnetic debris in there. The maggnet is notably thinner than the intact other 3. I can place pics if you gent want to see the destruction. let me know. What I'm tring to decide is the starter replacement. There are $70 ones on eBay from DB Electric. I've done business w/ them before for small engine starters. BUT I cannot read my Valeo part number...I can see D6R but no other characters. And many of these starters say "8 Teeth" or "9 Teeth". I count 9 on mine. Here are 2 that I see: 9 teeth : http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-MOTO-GUZZI-STARTER-0307307110-30730710-30730711-/171213848637?fits=Make%3AMoto+Guzzi&hash=item27dd24003d:g:UXsAAOSw~bFWKmbE&vxp=mtr 8 T: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Replacement-Moto-Guzzi-Starter-D6RA21-D6RA210-MG-3073071-EnDuraLast-NEW-/252160230039?fits=Year%3A2002|Make%3AMoto+Guzzi|Model%3AV11|Submodel%3ALeMans&hash=item3ab5ebc297:g:XBMAAOSwwbdWPRFA and this one says it's compatible w/ my 2002 Lemans. Here's another 9T: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-STARTER-MOTOR-FITS-MOTO-GUZZI-V11-1998-1999-EV-2000-JACKEL-2000-2001-SPORT-/400811360064?hash=item5d5237ff40:g:eLEAAOSwPcVVvtKJ Here's DB Electric: http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-STARTER-NTX750-V1000-California-II-III-MOTO-GUZZI-MOTORCYCLE-1982-1992-/360832986741?fits=Make%3AMoto+Guzzi&hash=item5403526e75:g:ACgAAOSwFnFWCUYT&vxp=mtr I'm leaning sticking with a 9 Tooth model... Just doing a sanity check.

Great! So the PCIII is not hardwired? That's great news. No bufoon...just learning the ins and outs of your machine. And it wasn't obvious until you lifted the ECU... And a drinking straw is a great indicator to use for piston rise. Nothing to scar the piston or the spark plug thread holes with!

Wow gents, thank again for the tips. I'll try to make sure that the magnets stay in their original positions. I'll mark or paint them before removing, if I can. I studied rotating machines in college, so DC motors are no stranger to me. I had a chop saw that I grabbed "off the curb" about 10 years ago. B&D brand. The motor was toast. Then I grabbed a some other B&D tool off the curb. Maybe a hedge trimmer. Motors seemed identical. R&R into the saw. Blade rotated backwards (usable, but pretty dangerous). I ended up rewiring the field windings backwards. Problem solved! See?...sometimes you CAN turn Shite into gold! For now, my Stelvio is doing my grunt commute daily here. But I'll be digging in, maybe over the holidays. Too bad, too, cuz I just installed an H4 LED element in my headlight of the Lemans...and have not tried it in the dark yet! But the Stelvio has the better alternator for my electric heated gear anyway... Stick

Where did this map come from? It looks like you're going to be running leaner-than-stock in the 2250 and 2500 rpm areas. Those negative numbers reduce the fuel (from the OEM map). Does anyone else have a PCIII map for a Lemans to compare with? Can you make a copy of the map? I believe the PCIII will allow you to download the map, and save it on your computer. There should be a port right on the PCIII. You should be able to edit the map. Maybe try 0's instead of the minus numbers. If you changed all the numbers to zeros, that's called a "zero map", which is basically the OEM map that's in the ECU... If you could save your map, you could always load it back into your PCIII Stick

Andy, great idea. Forgot this as I used to do this on my old 6 cyl. Camaro. Roy: I should have mentioned that I did try a booster box with no change in the "clack". And the battery voltage sags down towards 6V when 180 A is flowing (no huge surprise to me). A different, newer battery showed the same results. Sounds to me like the magnets might have dropped off the housing. Seems logical. I didn't know that this sort of thing was a "known failure". And if this is the case, I'll skip trying the bump-start push-the-button idea... Anyone know what Middle Age Warrior used for adhesive? Just a nice slow setting 2 part epoxy? I know motors well, so I'm leaning that way. Thanks very much for all the replies! Stick

I didn't want to hijack the other recent thread on the starter solenoid... So my 2002 Lemans decided that it doesn't want to crank the engine. Sounds like the starter is engaging with a loud CLACK, but the engine won't spin over. Oh, she's got only about 12,000 miles... So out comes the wrenches and a voltmeter. Take all the wirea off both battery posts, clean them, then put only the necessary wires back on. (leaving the tender pigtail off, the electric heated lead, etc.) CLACK. shift it up to 6th gear to make sure the engine still turns. Yes, thankfully. Back to neutral, look at the voltage drop on the + wire from battery to starter. 1.5 volts while I hold the start button. about 1V on the black wire from (-) battery post to the engine. Grabbed my DC ammeter (clamp-on - Sears Craftsman.. about $60 !!!) I see an impulse of over 200A, down to about 180A. And now I notice some heat from various areas, like the + post on battery. But even more heat from the rear of the starter. I'm going to try one more "test" to se if I can make the starter spin. I thought about this late last night: Go back to 5th or 6th gear. Mount the bike, coast down driveway then simultaneously bump the engine w/ the clutch and hit the starter button -- see if engine flywheel and "kick" the starter into action. Any other ideas before I kill myself doing this? Other idea is to remove starter and bench test... Stick

Would be nice if you told us the bike your dealing with. I assume, from the above statement, and your "list"... 02 V11 Le Mans, '08 1200 4V Sport, ...that it's the '08 1200 4V Sport?

FWIW, any time my bikes are parked for extended periods, I use a battery maintainer, by Schumacher (Walmart ~$20). But after having my garden tractor battery go flat over the winter many years ago, I now use these chargers along with a 24hr timer. Every day, the timer turns on the charger for about 2 hours. If you've played with these charger maintainers, you might notice that after they go into the float mode, if you disconnect and reconnect, it starts charging again (and then will finally go back to float mode after many minutes). What's happening? The charging mode uses 1.75A, and brings the battery to 14.4V. Then goes to "float", where it goes into a 1mA trickle mode. This small charging state actually lets the battery settle back towards 13.x volts. When unplugged and reconnected, the charger "sees" that it's not up at 14.4V, and resumes the cycle - charge to 14.4, and then float. The timer essentially does this for me, every day. It gives the maintainer a "fresh look" at the battery. And goes thru it's cycle. BTW, the timer is about $3 at wally-world. I get over 10 years out of my batteries doing this. Wet-cell car battery in the "nice car", AGMs and also wet cells in the bikes. And I don't disconnect or remove the batteries over the winter.

I agree with Footgoose. A Sport 1100 or Sport 1100i is a fraction of the cost, and will give you the "entry" into Moto Guzzi that you're looking for. I see by the list of bikes you have that you do tend to like the sport-side of riding. That said, I bought a 1996 Sport 1100 a few years ago that filled an itch that I've had for many years. Just looking at this bike stirs the adrenaline level. It's actually featured in my formal foyer of my house! Next year I plan to put a few more pleasurable miles on her... It's a much more reasonable bike to buy, especially if you'd like to "try" it. And, if your condition (sorry to hear about your ailment) cannot put up with the ergonomics, you will most likely be able to sell it easily without losing a ton of money.

The new 'guzzis state 10W60 synthetic. It's my belief that synthetic is best used in a air cooled motorcycle engine, where the syn will not "fry crispy" like dino oil. Especially if/when you get stopped in traffic on a hot summer day... Naw,,, that never happens, right?

Thanks for the feedback! And I was able to locate the ''that bloody expletive expletive front universal'' discussion. Looks like I've got my work cut out for me. Along with some new words to add to my vocabulary! Thanks again, gents! Stick

Ok, So I see 2 lube grease fittings near the final drive. One on the shaft, and one on the rear U joint. I can get my grease gun to admit grease into the shaft zerk fitting, but cannot seem to push required grease into the U joint fitting, even with the zerk fitting point downwards at the 6:00 posiotion. I thought that this would be the opimum postition for access for the flex line on my grease gun. But NOOOOOOO.... After a few pumps, it became obvious that any additional pumping would be a mess on the outside of said fittings. I even relieved the zerk ball with a pointy tool before trying. Questions: How many grease fittings are the shafts on our V11's? 3? Shaft + rear U + front U ????? Q2: I assume there's one on the front U joint... WHY don't we have as easy access to it as the rear U joint? Looks like the rupture cage needs to be removed to access this fitting???? Looks like PTIA Other Q?: Do I need a special, close quarters grease doohickie for my grease gun for the U-joints? Seems like the one I have must not have totally engaged to do the job...note the mess that occurred with repeated pumping. Any suggesions, help? Q: Are there any other fittings on the shaft that I might be missing? Q: Are there any other zerk fittings on the bike that fI should be greasing?

I had the big shoulder bolt snap off on me one time. About a $27 part, still available. Snug it up nice, but don't over tighten it. Mine snapped right where the shoulder meets the threads. I made sure to lube the new one up with grease. Works much nicer when she's lubed.

I've measured 0.002 A of parasitic draw on a couple of Ducati bikes. These were a 1998 ST2, and a 2003 ST4s. Both F.I., but different ECUs. I'd consider this "normal". Stick

If you leave it unplugged, I'm purdy sure it leaves the ECU in the enrich mode (cold motor). At least that's what the H20 temp sender does on a Ducati. These have the same inverse resistance/temp. curves. They're probably the same parts. If you want, you can lie to the ECU with a 220 ohm resistor. The ECU will think the oil is at 207 F. But it might be hard starting cold, if you leave in in there for the next day...

Napkin.pdf I sort of assumed, on 'Guzzis, that since the dip stick is angled, that it is aimed, and hits in the center of the sump. In this case, it might not matter if the bike is vertical, or on the side stand. The reading will will be the same (when full). But, it would benefit to be vertical if the oil level is suspected to be low. Draw it out on your napkin, you'll see. Alrighty then, I scanned the napkin for ya...