footgoose

I was just taking a trip down memory lane.. btw, when I stopped in the Duck dealer to get Ohlins fork seals and oil this spring, there was a Rosso sitting in the parking lot. I thought, "Oh, Conners must be here." Went over and looked, and it wasn't Rosie. Pristine, low mileage. When I asked about why it was there, the manager just said some guy dropped it off for service. (!) Ha! I guess it would've been pushy to ask "so who's the owner, and how does he imagine hiding from fellow Guzzisti?" Good to know there's one around town. The Carr's are pleasant people. Always (well, not always) happy to discuss bikes. I'm REALLY glad they seem to have made a success in Indy. I had an encouraging phone call with 'someone' there a couple years ago re: Guzzi service work, "we work on anything Italian". When I stopped in, the guy at the front desk was not so accepting of my V11's potential servicing. "we don't work on those". Eventually, I asked enough annoying questions to bring out the service mgr., Matt. He took me back to the shop, showed me the dyno, the computer, the mapping options, and was happy to tune my Goose. He seemed pleased to check out a different and interesting bike. He was also eager to use a compiled V11LM.com list of tune recommendations, if I wanted to bring it in. After I installed the MG Ti cans, I was so happy with the way she ran, I ended up not taking her in. I confess, I was also a little scared that the (since replaced) alm flywheel would explode on the dyno https://www.indyducati.com/

Welcome canavanr. Did you just acquire her? Slough is in UK?

Congrats on the Duc. Hope there are no cat fights in the garage

Formotion clock and thermometer. There's a bunch of cheaper ones around, but these I like for sure. My girl just gave me the cash for them a couple birthdays ago. I got the white faced to match the gauges. https://www.formotionproducts.com/

That tank pad is excellent for protecting the tank. I use it whether using the guzzi bag or a larger aftermarket bag. helps balance the bag as well.

fresh off the scanner.

The "yellow" one is just a prototype. There's another (better) pic in The Encyclopedia of Motorcycles by E Tragatsch. It's shot in the sunlight and has red wheels. Not really yellow, but not the green that made production. God, I'd love to have that solo saddle.

This pic was in Greg Field's '98 Moto Guzzi Big Twins book. Note the single seat. They called it Lime Green, and done as a Telaio Rosso replica paint. Looks yellow to me.

well deserved!

You know Chuck what Footgoose discribes is not uncommon in many motorcycle transmissions and my view is its down to gearbox revolutions. In the scenario mentioned the box often isnt rotating at a speed high enough for proper reliable dog alignment and it gets balky and misses shifts. I can tip in a few bucks if necessary to help the cause. Ciao Sure, I've seen that on many transmissions where you are caught off guard in a higher gear and suddenly *need* to get down into first. Footgoose is an experienced rider, though.. and no doubt knows what is normal and what is not. At any rate, I have some .071 and .080" music wire ordered. It's cheap. With any luck at all, I'll have some test springs made this coming week. Good description LPhil. That's what it fells like. And it's not normal for me and this bike. I also changed to the Phil/Chuck linkage arm at the same time. I would think that would make positive shifts easier, but this and a newly acquired hyper sensitivity to shifting right after the mods, may have played a part. Fwiw, I still feel that a better torsion spring is the better idea. I couldn't find one, and I can't make one. The extension spring mod is a great way to bypass the pita stock spring. And dead easy to do. The one advantage as I see it, is the extension spring mod eliminates the points of friction, and the 'twist and bind' stresses that will remain with any torsion spring. I always felt the oem spring looked too thin and spindly for the application. I'm confident you'll build it better. I'll buy one of the new Scud/Chuck springs just to carry as a lucky charm so mine will never break!

"But this thread started off looking at V11 Sport Rivals. I wouldn't have the Ducati instead of a V11, only next to a V11. But I can think of some local roads where I would prefer a Duck over a Goose." I'm tracking you sir. The duc would be a consideration for me as well, given your position (extra Guzzi's) It's a great rival bike, if not "the" closest rival. All of it is eye candy to me, but for the fairing and tail. The rest is yummy. Around here they get used for track bikes because they are less desirable ahem..in the appearance category, hence -cheaper. Some of the street customs I've seen utilize them as well, replacing the ugly with retro bodywork. Yet another rationalization for me would be a larger market for selling the duc, after you've tried her out. I don't mean to offend anyone, I think they blew it with that look. this one's a 900ss, but the same basic bike. I looovvee this bike!

I don't see anything broken!?! what's wrong with sae in a never seen spot, presumably never to service? fairly insignificant bolt usage here. jeesh, gimme a break here I promise, my license plate bolts are metric.

the prototype kit was assembled from on hand parts. I only own sae taps.

Well, I'm late to the party. For 5 days notifications have gone to spam for some unknown reason. Here's what I've done with the extension spring. http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=19827Works great btw, and no leaks. All parts are stainless, tho they don't need to be, and are from McMaster Carr. I did it this way so it can be ordered from the same place, and a "kit" of sorts could be assembled. Bolts and nuts are 8/32. I can get you the bit and tap size for the hole. There is a small bit of grinding required on the inside of the cover plate. Some nuts and washers came in multi packs, and I ordered different size spacers to experiment with, so I have misc extras if someone else wants to do this mod. Maybe get a new set of eyes on it.. make it better, simpler? I works fine for me, and I didn't see much interest, so the thread fizzled. My comment to Docc, in reference to changing the spring next time I'm in there was for this reason. When unscientifically comparing the spring tensions of the oem lever spring against two extension springs, I used a pull scale of 2 lb. Apples to apples pulls show the lever at 2 lb and my stiffest extension spring at 1.5 lb. I couldn't wait for a stiffer spring to arrive before the Spine Raid, so I went with what I had. As mentioned, It works. Occasionally, when coasting to a stop... the type when you are caught in too high a gear and must downshift 2 or 3 gears quickly without releasing the clutch, it would not "complete" one of the shifts. I can only attribute this to the lighter spring tension. I will know when I upgrade it. The only other possible reason I can think of, may be as Lucky Phil mentions, regarding the variable pull angles that the spring goes through in a cycle. Something I don't fully understand.

Ha... I've done it twice. Previous owners of my LeMans and Greenie both disabled the switches. I re-enabled the switches immediately after both touch-downs. after mine shorted the bike out I was determined to remove it. complacency led to a better decision to leave it there.

what's a Racecraft spring? My "alternative" mod is working well, but when I go back in there, I will stiffen up the spring.

I got to mine ok with the bike up and rear wheel off, and with a needle fitting.

I love me some Van. My favorite Van song by my favorite notVan artist, Glen Hansard, Swell Season. Thanks for the reminder

if you do get rid of it, I would consider purchasing it. I've seen Tenni's equipped with both & I like the pad over painted.

If I didn't already own my dream LeMans, I'd have paid 7k for that one, but it appears pristine. I'd call it a fair deal for both parties. I HOPE a member here got it. So many variables in "values"

Some of the chin pad bikes have a black covered piece, and some have a painted one. I wonder if what's under the cover and pad is just the piece they painted for the alternative.

I use a nm to ft lb converter. http://www.metric-conversions.org/energy-and-power/newton-meters-to-foot-pounds.htm

nice job, and coverage. Thanks

for the cover... others have described well. once the dots are aligned, look under one of the cogs (the one over the neutral switch) and you'll find a small indent (about 1/8" concave) and turn the cogs till the neutral switch plunger pops into the indent. thats neutral. for the gearbox, I just (as others have said) moved the selectors around (very scientific) until the rear wheel turns freely. The selector ends facing the cover form a sort of rectangle pattern as I recall.

On a modern engine the primary role of the airbox is for resonant tuning, so the airbox works in concert with the engine and exhaust system as a whole. Its similar to tuned length exhaust but on the intake side. The volume of the airbox and its associated resonance has a significant benificial effect on the airflow into the engine. Its also used in conjunction with variable length untake trumpets and the shape of the lip on the intake trumpets. Its quite a scientific process these days, hence nobody removes airboxes anymore as it will lose you a lot of power. The ram effect has a negligeable benifit especially on a road bike and the ram ducts bigger contribution is in feeding cooler more laminar air into the airbox more than any small static pressure increase. On the V11 Guzzi though the airbox is there to hold the air filter and for noise emission reasons, its design pre dates resonant intake tuning on production bikes. Still dont see the point of removing it though. Ciao I'm curious for you to go a step further with the airbox analysis. What about the effect of removal of the top of the box, which has the snorkels, like when the BMC filter is installed? Looks like I only lose the cool air benefit, and laminar air flow.