Scud

Looks like a good adventure. And totally fine to post Triumph pics. Glad you found some of the fun back roads and it looks like you went by the camel dairy on Old Julian Highway. I keep meaning to take a tour and maybe buy some camel cheese or whatever they do with camel milk. I went up Mount Palomar yesterday on my Stelvio. There is still some snow above 5,000 feet - so you probably did well to avoid the town of Julian when you were here. @docc a chocolate bologna sandwich? That's precious...

Thanks... interesting. My Scura came with Ohlins damper. It's a very noticeable part with just the small windscreen. With the full fairing, you can't see the damper unless you look right down into the fairing, so why not use a less expensive part? Who would notice? Silly me... assuming all the special models with Ohlins forks also had an Ohlins damper.

@Tomchri It looks like your Nero Corsa has a Bitubo steering damper. Do you know if that was the original that came fitted to the bike? Mine also had a Bitubo and I assumed that the Ohlins unit had been removed. As far as I knew, all bikes with Ohlins forks also had Ohlins dampers.

Sew... you have the races out and the bores in the frame are slightly bigger than the outside diameter of the races? And possibly oblong? Sorry I don't have and advice to contribute, but I'm curious to see how this can be addressed.

Like Footgoose, I have a Vanson perforated jacket. It also has zipper-vents on the back and at the inside bend of the elbows. The elbow ones are tremendously effective as they force air up the sleeves and out the back. For riding in extreme heat I will wear a moisture-wicking t-shirt under a dirt-bike stye impact rig. This is a light mesh garment with serious protection, including a quality back protector. Downside - most of the these are only available in black, but with patience, you can find a lighter color. If it gets colder, I can just layer up over it without adding more impact protection. I have a Klim adventure-style jacket that has no pad at all (forgot which model-name). It rolls up tight, and slips easily over the impact rig. I also picked up a hi-vis mesh jacket by Joe Rocket. It's a decent, solid, jacket with insulating and waterproof inside layers. I'm pretty happy with that, but it is not like the quality you would get from companies like Dainese or Klim.

Good luck with the sale. My 1989 LeMans is a lot of fun to ride, makes a good stable mate to the V11. I assume the Mille would be similar, isn't it basically the same as the LeMans 1000 except for the fairing and the more upright riding position?

I saw what appeared to be a good used silver gearbox on ebay recently.

That means I have to retract what I said earlier about turning the key on and off several times to look for a leak. In fact, doing that could CAUSE the leak.

It goes with the Barry White song he plays when he gets busy... "Oh baby..."

I don't know about the wheel swap, but I had the same problem with losing some air pressure. I put in some Ride-On tire sealant and balancer and removed the wheel weights. Now they hold pressure, and I have a little insurance against tire punctures.

Does Bubbles' clankiness go away when you pull the clutch lever in? If so, you may have yourself a bike with a RAM single-plate clutch and flywheel.

Extra straps for security = peace of mind. But the factory stand is super-stable. It lifts the bike from a low middle point and the rear wheel is off the ground. I've never used the spindle that comes with it, which is intended to lift the front wheel. I prefer a platform jack for that - in which case both wheels are off the ground. I can remove the front wheel and it's still rock-solid. Before I had the factory stand, I used ceiling straps.

I've found that the Moto Guzzi factory stand and a front wheel chock are rock solid without need for overhead straps. Those two stands and a platform jack, serve almost every maintenance need I've. But rarely have to use all three at the same time (and all without overhead straps). Many wheel chocks have anchor points so you can run a strap to the bars or lower triple clamp for extra stability.

^ Like Docc said. Every fuel line and fitting. Start with the puddle and work your way up. Extra attention to anything you removed and reinstalled. It's also possible that you just sloshed a little gas around while installing the tank and that some ran down a drain hose. In that case, your problem will not re-occur. Maybe shake those vent lines to see if another drop of fuel comes out.

Hey nice progress. And damn quick fix on the neutral light. One problem down... a few more to go. Torsion bar and shock mount need to be addressed no matter what you do with the bike cosmetically. The tank and fairing are centered on the frame but the engine is offset a bit to the right. The fairing has two brackets from the heads that look deceptively similar, but are not the same. The longer bracket should go on the LH side to compensate for the engine offset. If the brackets are in the wrong sides, spacing around the tank will be too tight on the left and overly wide on the right. Fuel leak - try turning key (or kill switch) several times and check your fuel lines. The pump will keep priming and hopefully you can find what is wrong. Smoke - since it didn't run long, we can't rule out a bit of condensation in one pipe. Something to keep an eye on after it runs longer without leaking fuel.

The Ghezzi Brian rear fender can be mounted closer to the tire. The one I ordered recently has a longer bracket than the one I got several years ago - the modified bracket makes it possible to lower fender until it touches the tire - so you can choose whatever size gap you want.

Since y'all like the shim idea... and this is a first-time job for dbarb3, here is a bit more detail. Rather than use the whole length of the shim, I just cut a section that starts smaller than the gap and is only a few inches long. You should be able to jam it in by hand enough to release the clamping pressure (or a very light tap with a hammer - you don't need to expand it very much to release the fork tube. With shims in top and bottom, the fork could drop suddenly, so it's a good idea to have something to support it or cushion it. BTW - Those shims are also good for forcing the pistons back into the brake calipers. Just insert one from each side of the caliper, then force them together till they are slightly thicker than the brake rotor.

When removing and reinstalling forks, I like to use sections of composite carpenters shims. You can force them in the gaps (after removing the bolts) just enough the forks will slide easily. It reduces the risk of scratching the forks (learned the hard way).

I had to take the dash off so I could work on the whole assembly on the bench and get all the wires to fit inside the stock gauge cups. Here is how I finally organized everything so it would fit. and the back view of the finished product. I saved 5 minutes by not fully reading the instructions for how to set the tach, then wasted a couple hours of rework. But in the end, goal accomplished... The push-button is for resetting the trip meter.

My Stelvio has wire wheels, and I've had a little difficulty with air leakage, but I started running Ride-On balancer and sealant. Wire wheels are better for off road as they will bend more before breaking - which should not be a consideration for most Grisos.

Given that there is no dipstick like the engine and no spill-over hole like the final drive, the window is the only thing that lets you check the oil level. As for accuracy I don't know, but it holds only 850ml. And for cleaning the sight glass, it's been a while, but I think I cleaned the slight glass in an ultrasonic cleaner. I had a transmission where the redline heavy had turned to a solid gel. I probably used diesel fuel in the ultrasonic.

^ they'll find this site and realize what a special machine they have.

Haha, I thought about smoothing out the cast line when I got my triple clamps powder coated. Ended up not doing it - makes me feel better hearing you say it was waste of time. But you saved a couple grams of weight...

Belly Up gets some amazing big-name shows, as well as a lot of local talent and fun tribute bands. And we are gonna have to chat about those Chicago days... I love the Chicago Blues scene. Have you seen the movie Cadillac Records? It's about Chess records and does a pretty good job with the story - early emphasis on Muddy Waters. Beyonce plays Etta James... and wow.

BUDDY GUY I took my daughter to see him last night at the Belly Up Tavern in Solana Beach. All the "old folks" who were there early went to the tables with seats. So we walked right up to the stage and had an memorable "front-row" experience. Buddy even took my daughter's hand and had her strum his guitar in the middle of a song. He is a phenomenal showman and story teller. If you don't know Buddy Guy and his influence, check out his wikipedia page. At age 86, he is a literal living legend. So many potential songs to choose from... but here is one. The keyboard player and second guitar player in this video are still with him and played the gig last night.