jwh20

Those piston skirts just don't look too bad to me. The cylinder walls look OK as well. Did you check your valves? From the photos the rings look good. I'd expect to see a broken ring and scoring on the cylinder walls if this were a ring problem. BTW, I'd expect the compression to go up after adding oil. You have the oil in there taking up space and being a liquid it's not compressible. Since you have it open check for: 1) Bent rod on the low compression side. (Rare but easy to miss. Perhaps there was a hydro-lock issue and it got bent before you got it.) 2) Burned or poorly seating valves. This is, IMHO, the #1 issue with low compression. I'm assuming, of course, that before you went through the trouble of tearing down your engine you checked the valve clearance?? If it's too tight you get poor seating and a leak. On the V11 it's easy to fix this!! 3) The piston looks good but a cracked piston will obviously end up with low compression.

Busy day at work today plus messing with service peeps the last couple of days getting a new A/C installed at home. Lots of money flowing out (of course) but it's finally working and the wife is happy... So this evening it's a beautiful late Spring day in Central Indiana, sun is out and it's cooling off after a pretty warm day. Looking to relax with my favorite drink, vodka with lime on the rocks and not a lime in the house. Ok, I can't resist taking the LeMans over to Kroger to pick up a couple of limes... 100 miles later I'm home with the limes! Now that's the LONG way to the grocery! Now what was I stressed about????

Batteries fail in strange and mysterious ways.

Good news indeed! A bike you can't ride is no fun at all!

Wow! Glad you found that out. Hoping that there is no damage to your engine! I saw this on WildGuzzi the other day: http://wildguzzi.com/forum/index.php?topic=69730.0 I'm thinking it might be worthwhile to check for any metal particles in the sump. Nothing special about MG engines with respect to oil flow or lack thereof. Just about any engine will fail in a moment without good oil flow.

Oh the joys of bureaucracy! I'm no expert here but it seems they are worried about recall history for the vehicle in question which you should be able to get from Moto Guzzi USA. Is there a MG dealer in your area? Perhaps they can get an official copy of the recall data for you.

I had the same concern about my 2002 V11 but I'm told here that it's entirely normal. All of my previous bikes have been Japanese wet-clutch models so it was very disconcerting to hear the clutch on the V11. But other than the rattle, it works perfectly. My engine case is not peeling even though I understand this is typical in 2002's. But my rear drive case is about 1/3 peeled off. I've heard that touch-up or repainting with Harley-Davidson brand "Crinkle" paint is a possibility. But I've not tried it yet.

A decent welding shop should be able to fix that.

Dude, do you want a job? I Work with people who claim to be engineers who are clueless when it comes to troubleshooting! You've put them to SHAME!!

If that is the issue, and from the symptoms it might well be, I was just watching this video on the site showing exactly what the issue is and how to remedy it: http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=18541

I've wondered what the purpose for that balance pipe is. My 2002 LeMans does not have one and I see that is actually a GOOD thing from your "symbolic goodbye" shown above.

The oil drain and the oil filter access plug open into the same space. You may not get all the oil out through the oil filter plug but you will get most of it: It has a lip around it so it won't drain all the way to the bottom. #32 is the oil drain plug. #29 is the oil filter cover. So there might be a quart or less left in the bottom of the sump that won't drain and perhaps 1/2 qt. trapped in the filter itself.

I think you're good as is. If it was mine I'd leave the 5W-40 in there since that is what is in your manual and under the conditions you're likely to ride in around NC, that will be fine. Plus tossing out $25 or $30 worth of new oil is not all that attractive to me at least. But I think generally the opinion is that a heavier oil is a bit better for an air/oil-cooled engine. Of course if you go too think you end up with flow problems and that's counterproductive also. 15W-50 or 20W-50 are pretty common since they are types commonly recommended for Harley's so most bike shops have it or something similar.

That's very well put and even in my short time as a Moto Guzzi owner, I can see it. I've already been doing some "bonding" with my LeMans and I'm finding that it's really easy to work on which is, I'm sure, a byproduct of the relatively simple design compared to other bikes on the market.

I guess I heard this explained the other way around, namely that the 40 was the oil viscosity rating but the 5W was how it performed in cold temperatures. So a 5W-40 was 40 weight but performed like a 5 when cold. In other words it has enhancers to improve its low temperature viscosity. But agreed, it's a complex topic and not really well understood by anyone except perhaps the folks at SAE or API... I'm not an authority enough to dispute anything you said though.

The owners and shop manuals call for 20W50 and some here suggest even heavier especially if you live in an area where it's hot. Some have expressed concern about using fully synthetic oil as having a greater tendency to leak on some engines but I believe it's generally better for the engine than mineral-based oils. I just recently changed the oil on my "new-to-me" 2002 LeMans and I ended up using some Castrol semi-synthetic 20W50 that I found on sale. Now you're gonna send me back to the owner's manual, which is at home, to see what it specifies. I was pretty sure it called for 5W40, although it suggested a couple of other weight oils that were OK. I've had BMWs for many years, and they generally call for 20W50, but I don't think that's what the LeMans manual said. From the shop manual there are several options shown depending on your expected temp range. But as I recall the owners manual calls for 20W50 as the "standard". I don't think there is much difference under typical motorcycle operating conditions on the "W" side of these. How often do you run your engine in sub-freezing temps? Me? NEVER! So you're effectively running SAE 40 with your 5W-40. Should be good as the 40 will get you to the top of the temp scale. And here is what my Owners Manual says: But after looking online, it seems there is some disagreement among the various printings of the V11 Owners Manuals on the correct oil. Some do seem to say "5W-40" as yours does. In the end it probably doesn't matter much.

The owners and shop manuals call for 20W50 and some here suggest even heavier especially if you live in an area where it's hot. Some have expressed concern about using fully synthetic oil as having a greater tendency to leak on some engines but I believe it's generally better for the engine than mineral-based oils. I just recently changed the oil on my "new-to-me" 2002 LeMans and I ended up using some Castrol semi-synthetic 20W50 that I found on sale.

Having just pulled the tank on my 2002 LeMans to get at the fuel and air filters and replace some cracked rubber hosts, I can say that it was much easier than I expected. Of course no matter how tight I closed it the manual closure on the fuel tank would not shut off. So I got gasoline everywhere. Next time I'll know just stuff the drain line on it and drain it dry before. I took some time to inspect all the hidden parts under the tank and it looks to me that you could easily unbolt the front sub-frame (after supporting the engine from below since it supports the bike's weight) and have the timing cover off easily. I was interested in scoping this out since mine is leaking there also, well "weeping" would be a better word, just enough so that there is a small smear of oil in that area after a ride. Not a problem yet but in my experiences, oil leaks just get worse over time, never better.

The V11 headlight socket is an H4 so, in theory, any H4 compatible light, standard, Halogen, LED, or HID should work. The problem, of course, is that the LED and HID H4 "equivalent" bulbs I've seen are not EXACTLY the same. They have external components that need a place to be installed. I've not tried it myself, but was considering, but a fellow Kawasaki ZRX1200R user installed an H4 in his ZRX. While the Cree-branded H4 has a heatsink that sticks out behind the bulb, there is sufficient clearance in behind the ZRX headlight housing to mount it. The results look good. I was going to get one and test fit it into my V11 LeMans. It looks like it should fit. Perhaps someone else here has already tried this and can comment with some authority.

Actually that looks a lot easier than I imagined. I also like the washer idea to protect the aluminum. I recall doing something similar years ago on my just-out-of-warranty 1979 Suzuki GS850. The oil seal on one side of the engine started leaking a LOT of oil and the dealer said the engine had to be removed and the cases split to replace the oil seal. After looking at it myself I decided it just couldn't be that difficult. I pulled the old one out with a pair of pliers and pounded the new one in with a wooden dowel. It never leaked a drop after that. It looked to me that the original seal had been damaged during installation at the factory. The rubber had a slit in it that looked like it had been sliced by the sharp edge of the protruding end of the crankshaft. Figures, of course, that it would last just long enough to get through the warranty.

Very nice looking MG! Glad you got her going.

It may have been seized up due to sitting for so long. If it continues to be balky, I really like this stuff: Many motorcycle and bike shops have this stuff. It's the best stuff for lubing throttle, brake, and clutch (if not hydraulic) cables as well as any sort of lock. The binder fluid evaporates leaving dry graphite behind. So it doesn't cause dirt and grit to collect in your locks.

I missed this when it was posted but yes, I'm the one who got that one, actually from Cincinnati, but was also listed in the Indy CL. The PO was the original owner and bought it from a dealer in upstate New York in 2001. It's a 2002 model though.

From the topic here it looks like you got the key to turn. Good news! The V11 has an alternator but it doesn't make enough power to run all the bike electrics and charge the battery at idle. This is in no way unique to Moto Guzzi. So if you just let it idle the battery will slowly discharge. I think you need at least 2000-2500 rpm to get enough energy to charge the battery. But the idle speed is spec'd to be 1000-1100 rpm. So unless your "choke" is on, it's not really a choke on a FI engine, it's a idle-speeder-upper, you should not be having it idle at 2000 or even 3500 rpm. Could be a throttle linkage problem or perhaps the choke is on and you don't realize it. It's on the left handlebar, push it FORWARD to disengage. As far as smoke, I'm assuming oil-smell smoke not electrical-smell smoke. The first is understandable since it's been sitting and may have excess oil on parts that get hot. Mine oozes oil in a couple places at times but not so much that I'm ready to do anything about it. An 03 with 9k miles means it's been sitting around a lot. So there may be dry-rot hoses and dried out gaskets. See if you can locate the leaks and then determine if it's a temporary or urgent problem. But it seems that oil leaks in Moto Guzzi's are common. I'd definitely suggest a complete fluids change as well as the oil filter.

There are probably some others they didn't think of, but I agree, it seems to be a pretty exhaustive list. It includes some that I never would have imagined. But oil is their business so I'd expect them to be thorough.