chamberlin

There's a guy selling a few sets of carbon fiber on eBay USA...if you really gotta have the proper CF side covers. About $900 a set. Make him an offer. Comes with front screen, front fender, and both side covers. Sounds like a fun project!

Thanks man! Yea, to be honest, the Cafe Sport tank color is a 'touch' subdued for my liking, but it's growing on me. I could have gotton a slightly lighter grey tank from my Italy contact; it was new but scratched slightly, so I held out for the perfect condition tank... I never saw a picture of it until it arrived. He told me it was "grey" in general terms, so I figured it had to be either my original dark gunmetal grey, or the straight grey (like on your bike?). Oh well, I've now got a new fuel pump assembly coming, and I should have this pig fired up in a few weeks! Time to wrap it up! (just in time for monsoon season ) Fantastic shot of your V11 LeMans BTW!

Hello Roy, I have the Speedhut gauges installed, and I am getting close to a first startup since my restoration project began last year. Everything seems to be ready to go but since the bike is not in a running state yet, I can't check the tachometer. I installed a resistor in the yellow/black line per the instructions when coming straight off the ECU...however, you didn't mention anything about that. Is that resistor needed only for automotive ECUs or something?

Thanks a bunch man! Sorry about the parts hoarding! Don't worry, I'll have an 'end of project' sell-off to try to recoup some of these costs! Btw, I now have a new fuel pump and complete key/lock set coming...so the whole bike will be on a single key again.

Nice Greenie http://sandiego.en.craigslist.org/csd/mcy/4488564333.html

YES! And pictures taken with my Nikon, instead of my damn (although extremely handy!) camera phone!

Finally decided to drain the clutch and brake lines in preparation for the new (Rizoma knock-off) reservoirs. While the systems are drained, I figured now's my chance to re-route the clutch line. It is *barely* long enough with the new riser bars, but I found a routing that works well. I was about 2 minutes away from ordering a longer clutch line. Both reservoirs were cracking and yellowed...they had to go. Here is the disgusting routing from before, followed by the newer streamlined setup: Brand new Cafe Sport gas tank has arrived! It has a greyish-champagne color to it, and it generally goes well with the rest of the bike. As you can see, for the time being I have moved away from the custom paint job option, and gone with a carbon fiber theme Just couldn't find any suitable painters. But I still have enough spare parts to do a whole painted setup if I want to. Brand new OEM carbon look rear seat cover backrest to match the new carbon look seat. BTW, the original seat and rest on this bike are the smooth textured type. Also pictured is a brand new pillion cover. Ironically, its color matches bike's original cover/tank (dark grey) perfectly...oh well, sometimes when you get stuff from Italy, you have to just roll the dice! I will keep an eye out for a Cafe Sport cover. The other (3rd) spare pillion cover I bought is another shade of grey, so it's staying in my parts bin for now. Almost ready to go! BTW, I am going to develop a fairly painless method to remove the ethanol from my gasoline.I am not going to put any ethanol blend gas into this new tank as long as I own the bike! There are no pure gas stations anywhere near me, and if anything the GOV'T is going to bump from E10 to E15, not remove ethanol, so I figure I mind as well plan for the corn future. I'll start a new ethanol thread once I get my system up and running. I've already bought a nice big vintage (Italian!) 5 gallon glass jug that has a petcock on it. Should be an interesting experiment.

Haha thanks czakky! Hate to say though, my bike's still at least a 10-15 foot bike! There are just some things that just can't be easily replaced/cleaned up! I commend you for pulling the fairing off of your Le Mans though! Nice brackets, glad they worked out. I think you'll enjoy the "air in the face" down there in Tampa! I just took a ride today on the Naked Norge, and our temps are already over 100 here...it was like driving through a pizza oven. I started to feel sorry for the Norge when I hit some slow traffic! Anyways, I like your naked Le Mans, it is refreshing to see that color scheme in a non faired bike! Cheers!

OK, time for an update! Been busy building a new PC for the last month, but I finally got some time to work on the Goose this weekend. A wave of OCD came over me again, and I decided to removed the vestigial (1st gen fuel pump?) bracket on the top of the spine. I don't know why I just didn't leave it alone, but it was really starting to bother me. I guess most of you guys aren't used to seeing your bike with the tank off as much as I am! Also, I did hack off the helmet lock bracket (see earlier posts), so why not this bracket which serves no purpose. After some careful cutting, sanding and paint matching, you can hardly tell there was ever a bracket there: Picked up a complete OEM carbon fiber set (there's still a couple on eBay BTW). Not cheap, but I really just got it for the front fender. But then I figured I should replace my faded front fairing of course! I was planning to sell the side covers, but then I decided to see if I could make them work without the stock air-box installed. I already have an aftermarket CF starter cover, which is slightly nicer than the OEM part (larger weave however)...so for now, that is the only left over part. Anyways the results are below! Time to buy some V11 Sport stickers! Top view with both covers installed. One gear clamp per cover, and they are nice an tight and don't move around. Easy to take off as well. Here's some shots of the new CF windscreen and installed fender (still has carbon dust on it from the factory!). I like the clean one piece look (I'm just saying that to make myself feel better about the price and the work I had to do to install it LOL) It sucked having to remove the front wheel to attach the damn fender, but it was a good learning experience. I just jacked up the bike from the pan (using a slab of Poplar wood), had my wife balance the bike while I removed the wheel. It was a bit harder getting the axle back through, but a blow from a rubber mallet fixed that problem. I also bled the rear break and the clutch. I'm gonna wait until I get new reservoirs before bleeding the fronts and moving the clutch line (I don't like the current routing over the top of the triple clamp). A brand new gas tank and some other bits are on their way here from Italy now....It's been a month already, so hopefully they'll arrive soon and I can pour some gas in this pig! Although it's already so farking hot here, I'll have to wait for a cloudy day to ride! Kinda the opposite of the rest of the world. Cheers!

Forget the gas prices, the damn limes were probably the biggest cost! Recent flooding in Mexico has wiped them from the shelves here in the southwest. If you can find them they are tiny key limes or just really stupid expensive regular limes. Sounds like a fun ride none the less!

Btw, I found a faux anodizing paint that matches the later style porkchops very well. Just strip the chops, apply self etching primer, then paint with an undercoat of bright silver (smooth, not metallic fleck), apply the special red faux paint, and finish it off with a nice clear coat. PM me if anyone wants more info.

Hello Van, we are looking into adding a "garage" module to the forums, so that we can have a more useful, organized and autonomous system. We'll still keep the existing model by model threads going for pictures and such, but they will likely go into their own subforum to clean things up. Hopefully the garage system will allow us to enter in VIN numbers (optionally of course) and actually track some production information related to these great bikes! Cheers Joe

Nice Tenni going fast! http://www.ebay.com/itm/2002-Moto-Guzzi-LeMans-Tenni-108-of-170-mfg-3-900-miles-great-shape-throughout-/251528377424?_trksid=p2054897.l4275 Does anybody proof-read anymore? Here is a V11 "Scuba"! http://amarillo.craigslist.org/mcy/4433513553.html Not sure about the color scheme on this one: http://fresno.craigslist.org/mcy/4460710622.html Cafe Sport! http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/mcy/4468432794.html

Agreed! Well put!

Docc, it might have 3555 miles (according to eBay details....but either way it is a nice low mileage LM! It's getting harder and harder to look at these low mileage bikes.... if I had the means (i.e. Lotto winner) I'd be picking up one of each for the collection!

red bike explosion lately! http://www.ebay.com/itm/Moto-Guzzi-V11-Sport-/111352934382 http://www.ebay.com/itm/Moto-Guzzi-V11-LeMans-/351070901457

http://www.ebay.com/itm/03-Moto-Guzzi-California-V11-ENGINE-Less-than-14-000-miles-Runs-Very-Good-/121335131839?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item1c40232ebf&vxp=mtr

"Famous" greenie custom for sale....saw this one on youtube last year, some body builder guy owned it? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Moto-Guzzi-Moto-Guzzi-V11-Sport-2000-moto-guzzi-v-11-custom-brian-ghezzi-rare-color-/201084164694?pt=US_motorcycles&hash=item2ed18cda56 Very nice Le Mans: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Moto-Guzzi-V11-LeMans-2004-moto-guzzi-v-11-lemans-3555-miles-/331199400342?pt=US_motorcycles&hash=item4d1d05c996

Picked up a copy of the magazine today! You article was just about the only thing I was interested in for this issue! Cheers again! Joe

Thanks nobleswood! I do understand about keeping the bike original! However in my case, there were just too many issues cosmetically speaking that needed attention. If this was going into a living room collection, I would certainly pay the piper for the OEM stuff accross the board. But for a practical bike that I plan to ride for the foreseeable future, the best I can do is just hang on to all the original parts, and build a mild "resto-mod" to taste. Here are some shots for you. I finally heard back from one of the bike painters I contacted, but he's out of the business now...great. So I'm getting close to just bolting on the original tank and having some fun. I may possibly order a new tank from Italy, but I'm still on the fence. I've got enough spare parts now to have fun riding the bike, and as time passes, hopefully find somebody to do the custom paintwork on the spare parts. I plan on keeping all the original body panels as-is regardless of what happens.

Bravo Frank! Very nice article, and great photo (your wife took) too!

Man, after seeing the shoddy ITI gauges' internals and the rumours they aren't even calibrated correctly, I just don't think I could do a direct replacement gauge, unless I was restoring a bike for a collection or something. How much did the ITI speedo cost? Here is the post where I first selected the gauges and prices are shown also: http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=18247&page=5&do=findComment&comment=194875

Thanks much simaster! Nothing really to it at this point, just some double sided 3M tape! I can't comment on the performance of the SpeedHut gauges yet, but I can say that the ordering/customization process was very well done and I really felt like they had a personal investment in my project.

OK here is a quick update! Bought another quart of RedLine transmission oil for the rear bevel box, and it is now refilled! Also got some heavy weight oil for the motor, nothing but high heat here in AZ, we're already into the 90's! I think this Motul oil also has a decent zinc package, but I don't want to get into an oil debate here...I'll probably change oil fairly often regardless. GenericTaiwanese plastic tailpiece worked out pretty well, just waiting for the LED tail light to arrive now, since the '06 Breva tail light was WAY too big to work, and it was broken as I found out when I took the lens off....binned it. The plate holder (not visible) is the original metal Moto Guzzi plate holder. Decided to install the rocker box covers and silicone gaskets! These gaskets work great, I have them on my Norge too. Also installed a lot of stainless hardware from one of those eBay kits. Be sure to use your anti-seize compunds! And don't get any on the silicone gaskets! And don't forget the arrangement of the washers on the bolts that also go through the head protectors! Sheeesh! BTW, the head protectors are the new OEM parts from the Cafe Sport and other bikes that use black ones. Since this photo was taken, the gauge wiring has been tidied up and the battery re-installed. GPS antenna is mounted on top triple clamp, clear view of the sky, attains signal very quickly....now I just gotta get a tank installed and some gas pumped in!!! Still deciding whether to order another new tank or just screw it... Horns are also re-installed now....be sure to adjust the muting screw on those things, because mine were completely anemic at first...as-in deadly quiet. A quick turn and some locktite, and now both horns will make your ears bleed...glad I checked those things out!

Yea, must just be a coincidence on my bike! Thanks for posting your ink stamps Docc!