Enzo Posted November 11, 2004 Author Posted November 11, 2004 John, I wasn't too impressed with my first dyno and the guy who did it. On the other hand, my second dyno with George Dean I can count on. He has a very good rep in the racing community and has done over 1500 dynos. When he says my bike is putting out 87 RWHP, I believe him. So, I am going to use HIS dyno as a base line for all future mods. Just pretend this dyno is my first one. He was also very impressed with my flat torque curve and said my twin was maybe the strongest 'unmodified' twin he has ever seen. Now, it would be nice if I went back now that I have the windage plate. I guess I would do it and pay the money if I had something to sell. I don't have anything to sell. I ought to be selling my Enzo Cobra Pipes, but no one is interested. Pete is going to be selling the windage plate, but again, I don't know if there is any interest. So, to me, I have nothing to prove. I only know what my 'seat of the pants' impressions are - and I am pleased. Actually, I SHOULD create a sort of business selling what I think works well with the V11. Problem is, I don't think there is a market for it.
robbiekb Posted November 11, 2004 Posted November 11, 2004 the thing is, that your mods are so individual, that the instant you start mass producing them, you're starting to deviate from that which youve had so much fun with from the beginning, personalising your own bike so that it fits you. I don't know about you, but it feels nice to know that noone has the exact same config as my bike, although obviously with yours, you also have a unique paint job taking it a step further. Most peeps on this board would probably love a magic bullet giving them an extra 20 rwhp, but, given that isn't going to happen with the 2 valve motor, I would imagine that other issues such as aesthetics and the pipes sound come into play with purchasing decisions. Personally i'd put a supertrap type exhaust on a scura or any other V11 with a flat black paint job but not on my Green V11. I like my "smoking" guns upswept Robbie
Steve G. Posted November 11, 2004 Posted November 11, 2004 Great reading here lads. A well lubed up engine. The plate makes her outrun a jap superbike to 100mph. MMMMmmm! Well Enzo, I wish I had half your energy to the holy grail of extracting usable long term extra horsepower out of these lovely little v-twins. As you have displayed, you have been kind enough to use your V11 as a working test bed to these one off components. I wish you luck. Ciao, Steve G.
Baldini Posted November 11, 2004 Posted November 11, 2004 When I had my engine lightened and balanced, it was knife edged. ... JohnT, what's "knife edged" mean? Is there a full spec of your bike somewhere online? Thanks, KB
pete roper Posted November 11, 2004 Posted November 11, 2004 Actually, I SHOULD create a sort of business selling what I think works well with the V11. Problem is, I don't think there is a market for it. 37063[/snapback] And thereby hangs the nub! Over the last few years I've done several short production runs of not only my own interpretations of things but also stuff that people were clamoring for. Tapered roller steering head conversions for smallblocks! Real ones, not the shite only one taperered roller on the bottom because that is where the stress is ( ) with inserts and a longer stem to take 30205's at a fraction of the price of the Guzzi-crap cup and cone bicycle bearings. I was told people would slaughter their mothers for such a thing and they stayed away in droves!!! It took me a year and ahalf to get rid of 'em and I didn't turn a cent! With the trays? I made a run of 50 and still have at least a dozen! I've given several away. Kev got two! One is going on our Mille and if he wants he can stick the other one on his MkV. I gave one to Greg, Enzo and Cam, Wayne and Bill also got them for nix. I sourced and offered to supply the Fiat springs I recommend for hotter motors and once again I ended up with stock on the shelf that I ended up puting in customers' motors just to get rid of 'em. "Rev your T3 to 9,000 Sir? No worries!!!" Look, Guzzis are such a weird and eclectic field that everybody is going to try and skin the cat differently. In my tiny mind there is nothing wrong with that, but it does mean that it is highly unlikely that there will ever be a.) agreement on what is the *best* way of doing things or b.) an easy and guaranteed way of turning a quid from it. If you want a simple example just look at the arguments about sorting out or altering the fuel injection! Daggers drawn at two paces on that one and the thing is all the solutions work but their protagonists get all hot under the collar and protective about *their* speciality! Look, I'm all in favor of people modifying their machines. I personally see any factory product as just that, a factory product, built down to a price and compromised at every step of the manufacturing process. Anything from adding shiny bling to modifying the f@ck out of the engine, gearbox, driveline, chassis, is FINE by me but I'm afraid I'm no longer naieve enough to beleive that any of us are going to be able to retire to the South Pacific and have nubile young titters wait on us hand and foot for the rest of our lives on the profits from manufacturing weirdo parts for obscure, obsolete, Italian motorbikes. If I read about something that I see as actively dangerous or damaging mechanically, (Poxy alloy timing gears f'rinstance! ) I'll rail against it with all might but otherwise I say live and let live. We're all experimenting and with experimentation there is always an element of risk. If you can't hack that I'd suggest selling your bike, (Any bloody bike!) and buying something simple and trustworthy like Toyota Camry. The downside to that is that travelling in a Toyota Camry is like travelling in a hearse without actually being dead. In fact being dead in a hearse is probably considerably more exciting AND enjoyable than a Camry! Me? I'll continue to bugger-arse around with my poxy old 's because a.) I can and b.) they deserve it. And so should you, because without striving for betterment we all might as well give up and start watching 'Reality TV' and personally I'd rather stick my @#$$#! in a blender Pete
jrt Posted November 11, 2004 Posted November 11, 2004 John- very nice! Since Pete has crushed my dreams of retiring to a south pacific isle with nubile young titters (?!), I may as well keep teaching... no money in that either. J
Guest John T Posted November 11, 2004 Posted November 11, 2004 JohnT, what's "knife edged" mean? Is there a full spec of your bike somewhere online? Thanks, KB 37091[/snapback] I wish I took a pict of the crank before it was done. The counter weights on the crank were very square with sharp edges. When lightened, they were smoothed out to the shape you see so they cut through the air cleaner when spinning fast. Anyone have a picture of a stock crank??? Guzzitech has an article on my bike. Enzo......why are you putting such a light oil in your bike??? 5W-30?????
Admin Jaap Posted November 11, 2004 Posted November 11, 2004 Pete, I took your last post and put it on the frontpage of the site. Hope you don't mind...
Enzo Posted November 11, 2004 Author Posted November 11, 2004 Enzo......why are you putting such a light oil in your bike??? 5W-30????? Well, I live in Seattle where it is pretty cold. About 40 degrees f. all Winter. The bike sits out there in an unheated shed. That's a mighty cold engine and reservoir of oil. So, I figure that it needs something thin when starting and warming up. Then, I think the Guzz is a pretty cool running engine. I think a very high quality lubricant like Redline or Mobil One is very adequate. 30 weight up here with a low revving engine seems OK to me.
Baldini Posted November 11, 2004 Posted November 11, 2004 Pete, I took your last post and put it on the frontpage of the site... It was good wasn't it
al_roethlisberger Posted November 11, 2004 Posted November 11, 2004 Good write-up Pete, and the mental imagery of "nubile young titters"... well ....so anyway, I got a brief response from Mike Rich on the Windage Plate subject. His emails are always brief, and as such there's not much meat in the response, but again, he loooooves to talk, so if anyone has any interest in chatting with him on the subject, feel free to actually give him a call From: MRMSPORT1@aol.com HELLO AL ---- SORRY FOR THE DELAY IN RESPONCE - ---- WINDAGE TRAYS ON A GUZZI --- THE TYPE WHICH I BELIEVE YOU SPEEK OF IS REALLY JUST A BAFFLE PLATE KEEPING THE OIL IN THE PAN---- IF YOU THINK ABOUT THIS THE ONLY TIMES A BAFFLE PLATE WORKS IS UNDER HARD BRAKING ,HIGH LATTERAL G LOADS , AND OR WHEELIES AND STOPPIES. MOTOR CYCLES IN GENERAL HAVE THERE G LOADS VERTICAL NOT HORIZONTAL,( WHEN THE BIKE IS LEANED OVER TO THE RIGHT THE G LOAD IS TO THE LEFT AND VISEVERSA) THE POWER GAIN FROM A BAFFLE PLATE IS ZERO. IT CANT HURT MUCH TO HAVE ONE, UNLESS IT DOESN'T DRAIN DOWN PROPERLY. A WINDAGE PLATE IS A DEVICE THAT LITERALLY SCRAPES THE OIL OFF THE CRANK SHAFT AND KEEPS AIR MOVEMENT TO A MINIMUM. THIS IS PRETTY HARD TO DO IN A GUZZI BECAUSE OF MOUNTING ISSUES AND DOWN SIDE IS LESS THAN IDEAL PISTON AND WRIST PIN LUBRICATION. FOR RACING APPLICATIONS ONLY! So it sounds like we may be having some degree of semantic issues here as well, as has been mentioned earlier So maybe we are really talking more of a "baffle plate" that Pete/Enzo have developed, and as such it doesn't sound like Mike thinks it is too much of a risk versus a true WP Anyway, don't know if that's helpful, but there ya go al
pete roper Posted November 11, 2004 Posted November 11, 2004 So it sounds like we may be having some degree of semantic issues here as well, as has been mentioned earlier So maybe we are really talking more of a "baffle plate" that Pete/Enzo have developed, and as such it doesn't sound like Mike thinks it is too much of a risk versus a true WP Anyway, don't know if that's helpful, but there ya go al 37128[/snapback] Yup, As I have said a true windage plate would have scrapers and screens but I've always seen these sorts of plates reffered to as windage plates so that's what I called 'em. If people would prefer me to call them a baffle plate I'm quite happy with that. I'm more interested in what it can achieve and just to repeat the main advantages are that it helps the breather system cope and secondly will help prevent oil surge and exposure of the pick-up under hard acceleration and braking. The fact that my machine runns appreciably cooler with a plate fitted surprised me and was simply an added bonus. Once again, I DON'T claim that it's some sort of miracle cure for all ills, it's simply something I've found successful on older models and the principle would seem to be similarly useful on later models. Incidentally guzzi323 sent me an email via the forum and Helicopter Jim has done so in the past. How the hell do I reply to these as they don't seem to include the poster's email address? Do I just reply as I wuld to any other mesage and the miracle of technology takes care of the rest of it????
Admin Jaap Posted November 11, 2004 Posted November 11, 2004 Do I just reply as I wuld to any other mesage and the miracle of technology takes care of the rest of it???? yep
al_roethlisberger Posted November 12, 2004 Posted November 12, 2004 Well, with these distinctions noted, I am still interested to see how well this works out for Enzo's bike longish-term. If/when he can make them available at a reasonable price, and his engine doesn't show any ill effects, I will probably be interested. Maybe Ed had a different type of plate installed when his engine failed?? Todd? al
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