Total noob '04 Ballabio

[po18guy]

I have made a couple of posts, but it was solely by way of introduction. Admired Guzzis from afar. Still have the '77 850 LeMans brochure. At the time I posted, I was looking at an '02 LeMans, and I wrote "because no one is selling a Ballabio." Well... wouldn't you know it, an '04 Ballabio came up on Craigslist shortly thereafter. Hmmm. Three hour drive but what the heck. The owner was, no surprise, a "mature" fellow. Had 20 bikes. RV. Airplane. Bad knees. Agreed to buy it on the spot. Garage queen with 4500 miles (no sign of replacement speedo cable). All records and the usual Guzzi spares, manuals, etc. Has fresh Pilot Roads, a Laminar Lip, MRA spoiler, Staintune cans, Hepco & Becker bags, a SS Aussie windage tray in a box and a few others.

Trailered it home. It is cleaner now then the pics (when I can upload them, that is), as that is the proper thing to do. Pulled the bag mounts and MRA spoiler off.  Low-mount pegs have to go. I have never owned a bike with pegs back far enough to suit me. They are "Motobits" forward/lowered style, but may not be that brand. OEM pegs came with it. Will have to find a pic of the OEM foot controls as installed, as it seems a few bits might have been reversed with the modded pegs. Has an LED Duc taillight. I just installed an LED headlight bulb after cleaning the haze from the inside of the headlight lens (assembly workers smoking?). Washed and waxed and rubber bits - not the tires - armoralled. Iridium plugs and now it fires off first press. 

Now it's raining.

EDIT: Pics added. Oh, for any who may not know (not likely here) that little red tab behind the pegs is a centerstand. It needs some re-engineering, as it is only usable when the rear tire is rolled up onto a 2X4. Otherwise, there goes the back.    

 

Bike as it was.

Bike with stuff.

Basso profundo.

[docc]

A big welcome po18guy!

You've got a great jump on your Ballabio and you are definitely in the right place, here at V11Lemans.com. 

You can upload pics to your Gallery or add them as attachments, but file sizes are limited. Using a hosting site is recommended. ( like SmugMug, flickr, etc. ) Personally, I use imgzeit, built by one of our members "well known to me."   It is no-nonsense, reliable, and worth the look, IMO.

Looking forward to following your experiences!

[pete roper]

If you plan on riding it as it should be ridden install the plate quick-sticks.

[po18guy]

11 minutes ago, pete roper said:

If you plan on riding it as it should be ridden install the plate quick-sticks.

So I hear. It is SS, extremely well made, and from Oz. Wouldn't be one of yours, would it?

[pete roper]

I'd bloody well hope so otherwise I'll have to find out who has nicked my design here and go and put a turd in their letterbox......

[docc]

My bone fide P.Roper plate is clearly etched:

motomoda

Australia

+61 417462440

[po18guy]

I have 50 years of poor-to-fair riding, but this bike is the first with real suspension and brakes. I dialed rear compression down and it actually went down. I suspect that the other adjustments will be as good. Just have to get the dirt bike bars and cruiser pegs off of it and it'll have some zoom-zoom. Now that I have the pegs pretty much figured, next comes the top triple and bars. I can either raise the tubes a bit more and use clipons above the clamp, or maybe luck into a LeMans triple and bars.  Have had two back surgeries and a knee surgery, but can still do the sporting crouch - it's actually easier on my back. 

[po18guy]

10 minutes ago, pete roper said:

I'd bloody well hope so otherwise I'll have to find out who has nicked my design here and go and put a turd in their letterbox......

Letterboxes are safe! I checked and it's a gennie. Blardy well heavy duty that bit. Would imagine that there is a bit of windage, what with all those gigantic parts flying about.

 

[Chuck]

I believe the proper term is "sloppage." Welcome to the forum..

[pete roper]

1 hour ago, po18guy said:

Letterboxes are safe! I checked and it's a gennie. Blardy well heavy duty that bit. Would imagine that there is a bit of windage, what with all those gigantic parts flying about.

 

 

It's not so much the windage, although it will help with that. It's oil surge under hard acceleration. The oil pick up in the 'Broad Sump' motors is at the front to the right of the sump. If you launch hard the oil sloshes backwards and can expose the pick up. This can be noticed by a flickering oil light but chances are you aren't going to be looking at that if you're nailing it in first and second gear or the front wheel is off the ground! A few events like this and you'll run the big ends. In the worst case scenario the rods weld themselves to the crank which is fun! You then have to cut that crap out of the case with a gas axe. Not fun!

[po18guy]

19 minutes ago, pete roper said:

 

It's not so much the windage, although it will help with that. It's oil surge under hard acceleration. The oil pick up in the 'Broad Sump' motors is at the front to the right of the sump. If you launch hard the oil sloshes backwards and can expose the pick up. This can be noticed by a flickering oil light but chances are you aren't going to be looking at that if you're nailing it in first and second gear or the front wheel is off the ground! A few events like this and you'll run the big ends. In the worst case scenario the rods weld themselves to the crank which is fun! You then have to cut that crap out of the case with a gas axe. Not fun!

Clearly something the designers, decades ago, had no inkling would ever happen. Quite different in the Chevy V8 I built and raced long ago. Rear sump. Rear pump. The "tray" I attached to the extended main bolts was to keep the oil away from all that crank and rods. The oil pan itself had a "trap door" to keep the oil from sloshing away from the pickup. My GPz500s have the same wide sump, but far less accelerative force to affect the oil.

Well, at (my) first oil change, in goes the plate. I'm riding it moderately until it has a few more clicks on it.     

[stewgnu]

7 hours ago, po18guy said:

I have 50 years of poor-to-fair riding, but this bike is the first with real suspension and brakes. I dialed rear compression down and it actually went down. I suspect that the other adjustments will be as good. Just have to get the dirt bike bars and cruiser pegs off of it and it'll have some zoom-zoom. Now that I have the pegs pretty much figured, next comes the top triple and bars. I can either raise the tubes a bit more and use clipons above the clamp, or maybe luck into a LeMans triple and bars.  Have had two back surgeries and a knee surgery, but can still do the sporting crouch - it's actually easier on my back. 

I’ve recently fitted Woodcraft clips with the 3” rise.  Installed them below the top yolk and due to the clamps being two-piece you can fit/fiddle/remove without disassembling the front end. Which is ace. For me they feel spot on and, due to the rise, there’s the option of raising them if required. 

[po18guy]

1 hour ago, stewgnu said:

I’ve recently fitted Woodcraft clips with the 3” rise.  Installed them below the top yolk and due to the clamps being two-piece you can fit/fiddle/remove without disassembling the front end. Which is ace. For me they feel spot on and, due to the rise, there’s the option of raising them if required. 

Thank you much. Will have to consider those, as the adjustability is really cool.

[vtwins4life]

Nice V11!

 

If you are done with those Motobits peg and lever parts please let me know. Was about to buy that kit for my V11 Sport. 

 

Thanks!

 

VT4L

[po18guy]

There is also another request for them. Before I let them go, I'm going to put a few miles on the OEM pegs and shifter. Since I have remained fairly flexible, I think the OEMs will be fine, but I will soon know. Raining today and I shed some blood contorting my hand in and around the hard underbits. Oh well, I'm used to that...