stewgnu

I learned on, and took, my ‘big’ licence on a school’s Fazer 600. I was riding a cheapo, learner 125 single at the time and even though the 600 had the power i realised i enjoyed riding the single home after lessons more. It was the sound. That beat of the engine thudding away gave me a proper grin. After i got my licence i bought a w650 cos i knew i wouldn’t love a multi and i loved the ace styling. It was a superb bike and, in retrospect, perfect for a new rider. At the time there was an excellent forum for the model too. Eventually i crashed her by opening the throttle too soon on a wet and sharp bend that had tram tracks- awful road condition combo but a good lesson. So what to buy next? Always loved the first gen speed triple 900’s, and Aprilia Falcos looked funky…. Came very close to buying a trx850 (still want one) then i was re-reading an old 1999 issue of Ride magazine which had a tiny article on weird Italian bike. I think it only had 1 photo of the bike- oddball green colour, loved the styling, and it was a twin. I’m possibly a tad vain when it comes to bikes- styling and noise come first for me, couldn’t give 2 hoots about performance really. V11’s look damn fine. And with the right pipings sound perfect- booming at low revs and snarling more and more as you open it up. Perfect.

Sorry folks, seems i don’t know my assay from my elbow. Also apologies for the diagram not being ‘standard electrician’ grade- i see that anyone with colour-blindness would struggle with my crappy lash-up.

Mainly for the addition of Roy’s relay- please let me know if I’ve got the wrong end of the stick with that and I’ll amend it. Having the relays set bolder helped me anyway.

oo a skorpion?

were you on 2 wheels though?

there’s one, maybe two, weak-points in the system

I remember sitting in a cafe once when a chap pulled up at the lights, and stalled, his old Gold Star…. Gave me a chance to drink in the beautiful bike but also gave me backache just watching him trying to kick the bugger to life again!

100 bucks?? holy moly…. there’s a guy here in sheffield will powdercoat them bar ends for a tenner. He did the brake hanger on my old v11 for that much anyway. Did my monza wheels for 100…

it’s also known to be one of the heaviest, ultimo densio pieces of engineering known to man

good time to check needle bearing 31 for grittiness too. And lube the snot out of it.

Absolutely phil- whomever is making the decisions at RE is knocking it outta the park

Yeah man- ‘zooming’ on a w650 is sitting at 90 with your chin ont tank haha Although, even on the V11 i hate taking it past 90 -100mph.

Gorgeous docc. Just lovely. I’ll also sing the praises of the old Kawa W650 all day long, it’s a cracking bike, and apart from the rude welding on the frame, very nicely put th’gither. Zooming on mine from Santiago De Compostela (beautiful town) across to Bilbao to catch the ferry is an ace memory.

ah sorry- i’m a bit grumpy just now.

hummm i dunno man- the old ‘weight and horsepower’ debate? …who cares really? if a bikes fun to ride it’s fun to ride. if you spend most time touring at high speed get a sport tourer, not a retro. if you spend most time nipping thru the city get a scooter, not a retro. Get a retro cos you like the style. end of. they’re all likely extremely capable machines so get the one you like the look of. which is a moto guzzi v11. 😀

oil comes from a few sources… had a ‘leak’ recently that turned out to be blowing out of the airbox

the Enfields certainly are popular, and seem well liked for what they are… but i have a w650 so that’s that itch scratched. When I look at every year’s line-up of retros, neo-retros, modtros etc, I can’t help but think: “But I’ve got a V11 already”, and then I feel all smug likes.

Yes but they’re on the bike sorry! All shined up nice. I much prefer the look to the mushrooms

i’d kind’ve ignored the clutch safety as i’d assumed the po had bypassed it, rookie error i spose

yes i checked them twice previously as i was going thru it, but didn’t identify the problem, missed it. i was doing the old yank all the cables routine and that did it

Hey man I have a set of the Rossopuro ones with the crash mushrooms attached- is that what you’re after?

Well, like a blind hedgehog shuffling about in a sack, I’ve finally found the light… Problem traced to one of the two bullet connectors by the headstock. I got stranded far from home yesterday and after checking over all the usual suspects I poked a finger down the front of the tank to wiggle the cables and boom baby! Repeated and got the same result- had to start the bike a few times during the journey and it worked every time, fired up strong and instantly. At this stage I haven’t had the tank off for a closer look so I can’t say whether it’s the black or grey, or both, wires that’s causing the problem. But I’m going to cut and replace with spades when I do. So, long story short: It was a knackered starter and bad bullets. But I’ve been thru everything and so the starter system should be 👍 from now on 😀

Ok, i think the issue is somewhere around the wiring past the headstock. i thought i’d cleaned out the connectors but maybe i didn’t. If i did then there’s still a loose connection or maybe a tortured wire there- some of the loom looked very sharply bent about. There’s nowt else left to fix at this stage 😀

That 87 and 30? I’m fair baffled with the issue- wondering whether there’s some weak connection or stressed bit of wiring somewhere in the loom that’s been bent about too much.

What ho, I have some oe clip-ons going spare if anyone’s interested? I’m keeping the bars so it’s just the clips available. Great condition. Dunno what they’re worth- does £180 plus postage seem reasonable?