footgoose

Very interesting. Simple solutions for the non-racer, and some for the racer. Wouldn't changing the "O" port to a "D" port require a ramp of some sort, or is that ledge which creates the "tumble"?

an artist, exercising his chops.

Yes, that must be in there. It keeps the bearings in place when tightening the axle nut. Yours not have one?

Bad crash good lesson. In that instance, it's all natural reaction. If you must think, it's too late. Brush up on your skills by riding to do so once in awhile. Think about what you're doing. Don't chase or race. Leave the gopro at home. Bond.

hey, don't forget Kansas ! "if I claim to be a wise man..... it surely means that I don't know"

"Italian tune up"

Welcome Surj. Beautiful RM. I've never seen those pipes on a V11 before. Let me know if they annoy you how many miles on her?

I was just lookin Docc https://www.cyclopsadventuresports.com/7000-Lumen-H4-LED-Headlight-Bulb_p_169.html

Woulda been helpful, right Chuck? I had a customer that became... in my opinion, ridiculously obsessed that his v11 cafe sport spring was *going to break* because of allllllllllllll the wrong assumptions and frankly... ignorant speculation and assumptions over the internet about the “certain failure” of these springs. So, I ordered another “bad” spring...took the whole assembly apart, and approached it’s replacement like I would anything....I basically measured and polished and precision fit everything that was reasonable or relevant. I remember putting a hardened shim washer or two somewhere (this was nearly ten years ago so my memory is mot 100%). The thing worked even better than to start and ladt I checked he was up around 55-60k miles with zero issues there. I also had a neighboring shop give me a broken spring out of another bike... and took the good extracted cafe sport spring and the other broken one to a shop that does heat treating work for me. They’re opinion after breaking one and looking at the striation in the metal is that the springs likely suffered from a form of embrittlement either thru less than ideal manufacturing (the formng and /or heat treating), incorrect specificaton and or poor assembly or assembly specifications / QC. They did a hardness test of the wire, and it was too hard for the application, typically speaking, as these are commonly used. One of several conclusions we came to is that, as a result, if it was over extending, it would also mal-positioning and interfere with other compinents, further compromising it thru a nick/ stress riser, etc. That, combined with inherent vibration within the application meant there were *potentially* a few points of compromise, premature fatigue or possible failure. Or..... not. I am not telling you anything you guys probably do not already know. However... I noticed there is a lot of bad assumptions being made by people who are not subject matter experts, or just like to make snarky comments about Guzzis etc. That is a real shame. This is not that big a deal. The other thing I have personally witnessed many many times with people (Guzzi or otherwise) that have repeated failures of a component.... (specifically these type of shift springs....or clutches, or.... whatever), is that that beat their shit out of their machines in some way. Each time, I would go ride with the person having the repeat failures,.. and EVERY TIME.... I immediately understood why. One guy had broken five return springs on his BMW /5. He shifted like he was a drunken irish clog dancer... kicking the damn pedal up and down. It was ridiculous. Another guy kept burning out Sport 1100 clutches. Seven, In three years to be exact. This guy loved to go online and shit talk how bad a machines Guzzis were. He was a robotics engineer. He treated his Sport like he was drag racing... slipping and dropping the clutch excessively in every direction, like it was a japanese modern multiplate slipper clutch and hecwas racing some bastard form if dirt track moto gp. He had very unrealistic, misguided expectation of the Guzzis design. He was an educated man... but still blamed the marque, rather than himself.... of course. Chuck.... what you have done here is terriffic. I can say with an acceptable degree of certainty that you have designed and now developed a part with far more application considerations and actual testing than the Guzzi engineers ever had done. That is not a slight to them, what-so-ever. It is all too likely tgat Guzzis supplier screwed up some specification... and these bikes *were* built at a time when the assembly controls were inconsistent,( to be grossly understated about it), due to multiple factors....company mis / disorganization, labor issues etc etc. I just spent hours going thru every post... and enjoyed it immensely. (I have to say... that coil spring modification is very unwise for multiple reasons.... but an interesting effort). I have to do this kind of thing for Vincents pretty constantly. It is a LOT of work that no one really is ever able to appriciate or even have a frame of reference for. I have had 0.000 spring failures on my v11LeMans. Frankly, I don’t anticipate one either. BUT.... I dont need to have someone field test it to know that you’ve already made a better mousetrap. So... Please count me in for a batch of them. Even ones from your bench rather than whatever manufacturer does is fine for me. Let me know how much per spring, and how to get you the money... and then I can determine the number. Maybe ten? I am just so impressed that someone actually DID something logical to help put all this spring nonsense to a rest in some way, and help support those having problems... I just want to support that. Maybe someday I’ll actually need one. Stephen Pate stephenpatemoto@gmail.com "(I have to say... that coil spring modification is very unwise for multiple reasons.... but an interesting effort)." "very unwise but interesting"? please enlighten me. It's in my bike, and the statement seems contradictory. Regarding the "certain" failure assumptions, my take is in the context of a rider... wanting to avoid the most likely failure of something that will ruin my day. The same way you think about the spring, I used to think about the aluminum flywheel in my bike (Tenni) and others Mandello and Scura. "so a few of them blew up, doesn't mean mine will. those guys probably thrashed them anyway" Internet hype= paranoia. Right? I finally decided that the evidence was enough, the rational made sense, and the worry of the probability was not worth it. I changed my clutch. Most others have too. I had a spring break. It was mounted on a boss that was incorrectly made (too large) which would not allow the spring to operate as designed. It ruined my day. I had another V11 LM at the same time so I changed the spring in it preemptively. It had the larger boss too. I swapped it not because of all the assumptions, but because of my reality, and the fact that I don't gamble. Your rationale suggests I shouldn't have worried about that one? That spring has ruined days for a lot of folks. Some things are just made wrong, and need to be changed.

The V11 is kind of a heavy bike. It doesn't bother me. I think MG did a pretty good job keeping it light as possible, given the cost/market/profit parameters. I'm happy with it. The custom's article premise is false, or at least, way overstated. As said by 68c, it's about a custom bike, and like so many "featured" customs, is an advert about the abilities of the builder. I think the article has merit in this thread, to show the lengths one must go to, to significantly reduce weight. Even if he didn't complete the said objective. I like the bike in question, but what I like about it has little to do with it's weight. As the author states, it's a "cool cafe" but converted from a clunker??...Hardly

Member 'stewgnu' posted this link http://www.returnofthecaferacers.com/2017/03/motoguzzi-v11-caferacer.htmlin the "interesting Guzzi builds" thread. .. http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=20246&page=2&do=findComment&comment=229223 I'm dragging it over here because the build concentrates on weight savings.

My phone is not working too well with private messaging at the moment. Would you mind PM me with your phone number and a good time to call. Thanks

are you in NY? What part?

Jerry Douglass, probably the greatest steel player ever. Got a sound you can pick out of a recording he's just helping out on. And there's a lot of those.

Try this with the micro-switch... loosen the bolts slightly, and pull the body to the outside, and re-tighten. It's worked for myself and others. I think it was outside, if not try in.

Lordy, it's as if you've been talking to a lawyer. T'wasn't I. Good morning from the frozen solid top of Virginia, where it's about the same temp as much of Lower Pa., in other words, WAY too cold. Will try (again) to make the SSR (without failing as last year) ... even tho that is the same weekend as the anniversary of the Battle of Eutaw Springs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Eutaw_Springs. My fifth great grandfather, James Hagan, Jr., was grievously wounded there. Born in 1754 not 10 miles from where I sit sipping coffee and pecking out this wandering post, he served in the Maryland Regiment of the Continental Army from 1776 to 1783. Yes, I digress -- you are surprised? -- but I knew you'd want to know. Happy New Year and best to all from (Iron) Cross Junction (where, thankfully, four visiting grandkids from Carlisle Barracks are only now just stirring; pandemonium begins anew in minutes! ), Bill The Eutaw Springs event read was interesting. I'm easily pulled into those stories and enjoy them. A tiny bit of Googling produced another Hagan. Also a relative? Lt. Col. John William Hagan. Seems his regiment was at Eutaw Springs. http://www.carolana.com/NC/Revolution/nc_mecklenburg_county_regiment.html Happy new year to you as well. Hope to see you in TN this year.

Yes. I replaced one arm and used a nice file and some patience to get the other one down just under 15mm. Realize, if filing it, it doesn't need to be perfectly round or sized. Just smaller, close to and under 15mm and smooth.

can't wait!

Chuck, I'm not certain they did not break. I'm assuming they were of better quality because of the early bike owner reports I've read here. Only thing I know first hand is the spring in my bike #1 that broke, my other bike #2 which I replaced, the oem spring ordered from Harpers, and the so called "updated" spring from MGCycles, all mic'd at .078. The one from MGCycles had a more rounded bend on the long end, and a few thou larger coiled dia. Both bikes had the 16+mm boss.

Here's a great one not on Traveler, and has a thread appropriate title... Look up his stuff with The Steeldrivers too

That's a thing? hmmm . . . In Indy several years ago, we had a sweet vintage bike forum start up. A mini version of this forum. A Helpful forum. They linked it to facebook and the forum basically fizzled. Everyone went to facebook. Technical help and discussions were basically non existent. The content was dominated by local bike sellers. A shame.

I hope he visits V11LM.Com

Addressing the "early bikes don't seem to be affected by the broken spring" evidence, and evidence presented here over the past several years, it seems there are no less than three iterations of springs up to the new "forum spring". The original design put into early bikes, up to...? Which was apparently a pretty good spring. The second batch which came along sometime later, when the bean counters inevitably needed to shave off a bit of cost here and there, and sourced a new supplier. (some 2002 at least, had these.) Aprilia purchased Guzzi in April of 2000, and the financial difficulties ensued until Piaggio took over in '04. A third batch, in some instances being labeled "upgraded". I'm not sure if these came about with the factory "fix" to the pre-selector problems (the new cover) or if the "upgraded" springs were yet another (possibly aftermarket) hopeful fix. So, it seems all springs made and produced after the earliest ones, were not up to the job. My assumptions are just that. I doubt we'll ever know why the early bikes spring seemingly, does not break. Can anyone shed light on the reasons behind the gear selector box update/upgrade? Was spring breakage part of it, or were there other issues they were trying to address? And when was it made available? Just a curiosity, as the new 'forum spring' will no doubt, bring this discussion to a welcome halt.

It IS a little sprung/plunger that rides on one of the shift pre-selector wheels. There is a recess it drops into when neutral is reached, activating the switch. the plunger there on the right. the rest sticks out of the case. I can't remember if it's above or below the fluid line. MGCycles has them.

This bike is gorgeous! Is there a thread for this thing? I did look at the gallery... very nice.