al_roethlisberger Posted January 20, 2003 Posted January 20, 2003 Ok, believe it or not, there doesn't seem to be a wealth of Champangne LeMans out there with either the carbon-fiber or titanium Leo Vince's installed... at least with photos on the web so I can compare them. So first, if anyone has any good photos of their V11 LeMans with either, especially the titanium cans installed, that would help me a lot. Please feel free to post some pics to this this thread, or just email them directly to me. I know this seems like a simple decision, and the easiest selection would be the carbon cans as, as a default, I know it looks "good". However, after doing some rather poor and quickie Photoshopped pics, I think the titanium may make for a striking contrast to the lower all-black rear, and maybe even match well with the champagne paint, and the various silver/gold-hue finishes abounding on the bike. *sigh*... I dunno... I am also interested in the titanium because of the durability over carbon. I'm sure they've gotten better, but I've just seen too many 3 year-old carbon cans on Ducatis, etc... that are all faded and shedding their resin, that I'd like some $700 exhausts to last longer. Durability is especially a concern for me, as during trips and 2-up rides, I don't want the CF cans to get all scratched and worn if something happens to rub, like a bag... or shoe. Anyway, it's mostly personal choice of course... and honestly I'm leaning toward the titaniums now. But since the weekend debacle gave me a couple or three more days to decide what cans to order, I'm trying to think it through. Thx al
al_roethlisberger Posted January 20, 2003 Author Posted January 20, 2003 P.S. Please don't make too much fun of my really baaaaad Photoshop job there ...it was just a "quickie." al
jtucker Posted January 20, 2003 Posted January 20, 2003 Personally, I like the look of titanium over carbon. I would have gotten Ti on my V11S, but the light silver color of that bike looks better with aluminum cans rather than Ti. The color of your bike is darker than the silver I have, though... so I say go for the Ti... I think it will look great!
Guest no1ukn0 Posted January 20, 2003 Posted January 20, 2003 Hey, The problem with c/f fading has to do with cleaning. The resins used for carbon fiber do not like any kind of soaps or cleaners. When you wash your bike, the first thing you should do is wipe the carbon with a rag of WD40. Then, wash your bike being careful not to get any soap on the carbon. After you finish washing and drying your beloved, go over the carbon once more with a rag liberally sprayed with WD40 and that's it. Sometimes, tatty looking carbon can be made new looking again with the WD40 treatment. If you wash the carbon with soap and water, it will dry out the carbon in a very short time. Perry
Paul Minnaert Posted January 20, 2003 Posted January 20, 2003 go for titaniaum, not for the weight, that is no issue, but they look as clean after 3 years as new. Carbon doesn't. It can't handle the heat.
joe camarda Posted January 20, 2003 Posted January 20, 2003 Al, I have Ti Leo's on my silver V11 Sport. I think that the cans are one of the most visually appealing features of the V11 Sport/Lemans series and (imho) the CF cans simply "dissapear". If I can get someone to take a photo of my Ti cans I will be glad to send them. (Carl, are you available?)
joe camarda Posted January 20, 2003 Posted January 20, 2003 Al, I have some stock silver V11 Sport wheels that would look very nice on your bike...wanna trade?
al_roethlisberger Posted January 20, 2003 Author Posted January 20, 2003 Hrmm, dunno about the wheels Joe.... on two points. I kinda like my black/gray wheels Also, what year are your silver wheels? As of 2002 the rear is 1" wider I believe.... I think the pure silver wheels might be a bit "bright", but if they had a slightly gold tone, they might match the champagne better... dunno. Might have to get together with you later in the season and put the front on just to see what it might look like. Never know... might look really good. al P.S... back on topic, BTW anyone have any recommended best sources for Leo's online to recommend? ...esp in regard to price? I've got a quote for ~$715 from Moto Italiano, which seems pretty good for Carbon or Titanium Leo's so far. Oh, and P.P.S ...if anyone has pics of the Leo's from the rear, regardless of color, I'd love to see how their straps/mounts help with the uneven spacing of our stock mufflers.... or if they do at all. Part of this "problem" is from the straps/mounts on the OEM cans themselves being uneven, so obviously if the Leo's just have standard "even" brackets, that'll help. But with 2002+ bikes, an extra inch is added on the right by the passenger peg and exhaust mount bracket being "bent" out further from the factory. So, I'm wondering if the Leo's allow you to mount the right muffler on the inside of the bracket, and the left on the outside to help offset this uneven-ness... or if their brackets somehow take this offset into account... the net result being centered mufflers. Or, if their mounting setup ignores it completely. I still can't get over why they didn't make the footpeg brackets "even" when they pushed the right-hand one out to accomodate the wider rim for 2002+. Very weird. Just as a sanity check: When looking at your LeMans from the rear, is everyone's exhaust/passenger-footpeg black brackets noticeably uneven, or did I get a powdercoated 2000 bracket on the left side by accident? It's really obvious that the right bracket sticks out further when looking at the rear of my bike. You can see it clearly here: Al's uneven exhausts.... check out the difference between the left and right-hand passenger-peg brackets
Orson Posted January 21, 2003 Posted January 21, 2003 A factor to consider that has nothing to do with appearances would be the heat dissipation of carbon fiber. The only time this should matter would be when you have your saddlebags mounted.
joe camarda Posted January 21, 2003 Posted January 21, 2003 Al, my Leo's are evenly spaced to the (4.5 inch) rear wheel on my 02 V11 Sport. The bolt-up was very simple, very clean and very solid. All in all, I'm very happy with the Leo's. PS...I like the job that you did on the rear fender, looks nicely finished!
callison Posted January 21, 2003 Posted January 21, 2003 I've dropped my Sporti on it's side a couple of times. The tabs welded to the frame for the footrest/silencers get bent in a tad with the results you have in your picture. After you've bent it back out about three times, you have to get it re-welded. You haven't by any chance, forgotten to fully deploy your sidestand at some time have you?
al_roethlisberger Posted January 21, 2003 Author Posted January 21, 2003 Nope, never have dropped the bike. My brackets came delivered this way. And in my case, it's not a case of the mounting tabs being bent, the actual brackets have a different cast-in curve/bend. The one on the right is made with it's bend a bit greater. I've always assumed that this, along with the special bracket on the right muffler was to accomodate the slightly wider rear wheel, rear bevel-box, etc.. Question: On everyone else's LeMans, are your passenger/exhaust brackets bent/angled out differently too(the right hand side sticks out more, please see my photo link above)? If not, I need to get my dealer to order me the correct 2002 unit under warrantee for the left side But I think it's supposed to be that way... I'm guessing. thx al
joe camarda Posted January 21, 2003 Posted January 21, 2003 Al, methinks there is something wrong.Two possible solutions come to mind. (1) The left cannister needs to move outward: Is it possible that the cannister tab mounts to the OUTSIDE of the hanger bracket? (2) The right cannister needs to move inward (but is already mounted to the inside of the hanger bracket): Is it possible that the tab that attaches to the side of the cannister is reversed? Can the tab be flipped over so that it angles up TOWARDS the top of the cannister? and then the top of this tab attaches to the hanger bracket? Being as I'm away from home and unable to look at the cannisters, I'm only guessing at "solution" 2. But as I recall, the cannisters were mounted to different sides of the hanger brackets on my V11 Sport. Good luck. Something looks awry there mate!
al_roethlisberger Posted January 21, 2003 Author Posted January 21, 2003 Nope First we need to confirm that we are speaking the same "language" So from this point on, let's go with these definitions: - bracket = the triangular solid piece of aluminum attached to the exhaust cans themselves by two bolts. - hangar = the triangular "ladder" passenger peg mount, and exhaust hangar mounted to the seat/tail frame of the bike I think that will make things easier OK, that done... let me explain. With the wider rear wheel on the 2002+ models, MG had to make some more room in the back. So they widened the spacing between the exhausts a bit to clear the swingarm and bevel-box on the right. My quandry however, is on my bike... did I accidentally get two unevenly "bent" hangars or are all 2002+ bikes "equipped" with these nicely uneven hangars as viewed from the rear? I'd like a couple people to stand behind their bikes, ignore the exhaust can brackets, and just look at the hangar and see if they are evenly bent out from the bike, or if the right hand one is sticking out more... like mine in the photo: Rear View of Al's Bike Now, to your point about the "brackets"... yes, from the factory on 2002+ models, these FOR SURE aren't the same left and right. The right-hand bracket is bent further, to kick the right muffler out a little bit more, again to clear the widened wheel/swingarm. As delivered from the factory, these are mounted to the inside of the hangar. But to try to even it up a little-bit, I moved my left-hand bracket to the outside of the hangar, and that helped a little. But the exhausts were still noticeably off-center. I then tried getting a bracket from another set of OEM mufflers, and used the left-hand bracket for my right... but the OEM and Stucci x-over, in combination with the hangars, will only let you twist and move the cans so far left or right, so I was unable to adjust them perfectly even. So, the only real issue and question I need resolved is, are my hangars the same as everyone elses' 2002+ with the right being "bent out" several degrees more than the left, when looking at the rear as in my photo above? If so, I need to get MG to get me a new left bracket that matches under warrantee. If not, well it'll still be better with the Leo's as they knock it a bit more straight with matching brackets at least And if this is just mix-up by MG on my bike, this would at least put my mind to rest that the designers at MG were nuts when they intentionally made the rear exhaust so cock-eyed Please walk behind your LeMans guys, squat down, and let me know so I can let the shop order the right one if necessary this week al
Guest Brent Posted January 21, 2003 Posted January 21, 2003 Al, I don't know if it's just the difference between looking at a picture or looking at the real thing, but my right hangar doesn't appear to stick out as much as yours. I measured (as best I could) the distance from the wheel (outside of rim) to the inside of each hangar (lowest portion where the muffler is attached) and got 4" on left and 4.75" on right. Hope this helps.
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now