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Showing content with the highest reputation on 12/24/2019 in all areas

  1. I had a good outcome to my 'wet clutch' saga. I was able to plug the small elongated drain hole with a rubber stopper and ran two bottles of mineral spirits through it, shaken not stirred, and topped it off with some brake clean. The bike exhibits no ill effects and I am also now the proud owner of a service manual! Now that all the fluids are properly replaced next up on my baseline service is a new air cleaner, new tires and plugs.
    7 points
  2. I added it to https://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?/topic/19609-ecu-bin-maps/ I'm not sure why I can and you can't, but I notice that the phase of the moon, daylight savings, and brexit cause many curious things to happen.
    2 points
  3. Rather eclectic, disjointed, even. From classical to Warren Zevon. Lately have been listening to Johnny Winter, i.e. "It's My Own Fault"
    2 points
  4. I took my 77 KZ1000 to a "mechanic" around 15 years ago to make it run right. Four cyl, four carb, valve adjust, ign, old ...neglected ...bla bla bla. His name is Ross. He had a small private shop in an industrial park. He took half his estimate when I brought it in, which I handed over after seeing his shop full of vintage bikes in various stages of repair, and enough various toolage to make him appear competent on some level. He at least seemed capable and interested in his work. After about five months of bs excuses, my surprise visits, seeing my bike pushed further to the rear of the shop, I emailed one day, as he stopped answering the phone, and said push it to the front, I will be picking it up tonight. He responded with pictures of disassembled carbs. Three weeks later I picked it up. It ran maybe 20% better, but it ran, and I hated him by then, so I paid the bill, which was higher (shock!) and took it home. On close inspection, I noticed the carb balance tube caps were used and mis-matched. I had provided all the new parts he would need and then some, including new caps. After some riding and realizing it was not properly tuned, #2 stopped firing, #4 intermittent, I confronted him. He said he needed the caps for another bike, and that they were "insignificant parts." The translation being .. I was an insignificant customer. I had served his purpose, cash infusion. I said to myself ..I can @#!#$# it up, alot faster and cheaper than shyster Ross, and at least learn something. I used several sources and tore into it. Rebuilding the rebuilt carbs, re-shimming the ignored valves, installing electronic ign. etc. #2 carb was better but not right. After cleaning twice more, I sourced another, rebuilt it and problem solved. I found an ex dealership tech to balance the carbs. He said they were very close already with my static setting. (an eighth inch drill bit). The spirit that gets properly brought to life in a Kaw Zed is a wonderful thing, especially when you owned showroom new one at age 26. So now I'm a "mechanic". Only for my own stuff, and only to a limited level. I will still sub out some things.. mostly to get to an oem baseline, but now do all maintenance and straight forward repairs myself. My recently acquired Guzzi Ohlins with 25k miles, went to a factory trained, and respected Ducati tech for said baseline rebuild. But the next time, I will do it. With my Guzzi's, the issues I am not comfortable with, I come here, V11LM.com,. to mooch advice and instruction from the keyboard mind of the experienced pro tech and the "extreem hobbiest". Advice given to help like minded owner/riders of a marque they love enough to want to keep on the road, even though it's not their own. Mechanically, I help friends with what I can, with marques I'm acquainted. If I charged for it I'd be a charlatan for sure. Ross stopped advertising and closed up shop a few months later. On my last visit with him I noticed someone had broken out his office door window, and Ross was wearing an ankle bracelet monitor. I'm guessing he fled the area to start up his scam in some other town, to take advantage of the (then) recent vintage boom. Watch out for him. finished and smiling....
    1 point
  5. Hey All New to the forum here, suggested by the wildguzzi guys to post here. I have wanted a v11 sport since I got out of college in 04 and I have 1) Either not had the money or 2) Had the money and for the life of me couldn't find one. As a recent college grad I remember finding GT Motors as a valid dealer. I worked at a multi line dealer in Lansing and I never had heard of them. Anyway, went there one day, surprised as I was and knocked on the door. Had a great time talking with Larry Klein, he proceeded to tell me he had a brand new one. Walked across the street and he had one brand new in the crate. Then he went on that he probably wouldnt sell it to me Unfortunately i did see it for sale in his estate sale last year, he refused to part with it. Anyway, I have had two Grisos in the mean time but always, always wanted one of these. I really really want green...But if there is a clean sport of another color I am open to it. Willing to drive a good distance if needed. I prefer mostly stock, with the bonus of aftermarket exhaust in a perfect world. Thanks in advance and look forward to joining in with the rest of you!
    1 point
  6. G'day and a Merry Christmas to all V11 addicts out there!! Hope you all have a great festive season. Stay safe and enjoy these bloody great bikes as much as possible. I know my new year resolution is to get out on it just for the fun of it more next year instead of the commute ! Cheers Guzzler
    1 point
  7. The correct answer is fly and ride. Otherwise just stay vigilant and the right greenie will turn up. Patience is the key. I thought estate sales were posthumous? Maybe wait a little longer and Larry will keel over?
    1 point
  8. Hey Mark, Welcome aboard, It's not my gig and I don't want to speak out of turn, but I think if you follow SCUD's PayPal instructions a few posts back, you should be in like Flint. Kelly
    1 point
  9. For me in central Ohio the riding season now, is sporadic and I spend more time on maintaining my bikes and also learning, reading , watching videos to understand more of the mechanical systems that make the machines work as they do. One of the places I'm spending a lot of time ( so my wife says ) is Dave Moss tuning. He's on Youtube, FB all over the place. I haven't signed up for the subscription yet, as I want to learn as much as I can from the free stuff before then. So that hopefully I can comprehend the details that he's talking about. A comprehensive collection of free videos from Dave Moss are at; https://davemosstuning.com/free-vidoes/ustream/ The image quality is poor but they are detailed, they explain clearly the subject at hand and , for me, manage to knit together the way the suspension relates to chasis balance, braking, how the bike steers & tire wear. Worth having a look. We, as a collective, talk comfortably about engine specs but when it comes to suspension often the discussion covers which brand of shock or fork we've installed but few details beyond that. Hopefully this can clear the fog of confusion somewhat. Oh yeah, and though he only occasionally mentions it, he's English.
    1 point
  10. Hmmm... I have 9 boxes ready, based on payments received through this evening. You can see some of the forum names above, but some PayPal payments came with addresses and I don't know their forum names. This is working fine for me. I think some people were just going to order a couple to make it worthwhile for the community - not because they needed the springs. As I mentioned earlier, nobody should feel compelled to buy anything. I'm comfortable with this small financial risk.
    1 point
  11. 1 point
  12. ok,.... got it. I did not know those existed. sometimes when I run out of options finding things, I google the part number. I have been surprised on several occasions.
    1 point
  13. It was unusually above 50* today & sunny, so I used that as an excuse to take the Griso out on an errand. This year I scored a Termignoni muffler and after installing that downloaded a Beetle map specifically for that set up. As I rode around today I was reminded of how smooth the Griso is now. Before there wasn't a stumble at 3k - 4k as on the V11 but the on /off throttle below 4k created quite a lurch which was a pain halfway through a corner. Now that's gone. The overrun when decelerating made the bike sound like a f ing harley. Popping & banging! Now that's gone. So I'm really pleased with Beetle's map. Which makes me want to instal Meinolf's map, for the V11, this coming year & hope for a similar inprovement.
    1 point
  14. Bikes are so cheap in the US, I cant believe it. Ciao
    1 point
  15. That color looks like the same as Rosso Corsa. Is that your impression? I have a pair of those but quite faded. Surj, Did you have those painted? Or are they oem? Stunning
    1 point
  16. And here, I thought it was Moto Guzzi turning riders into mechanics (since 1921 !) . . . Fine, fine looking Kawi Zed, footgoose!
    1 point
  17. Ok so this is not a song, but the sound is pure hypnotic motorcycle bliss. Turn up the volume!
    1 point
  18. Hey the bike looks great ! Sh**heads & charlatans come in all shapes, sizes & professions. Glad you are past that & added to your mechanical skills because of it.
    1 point
  19. I like the Red heads....were they painted that color or are they from a Rosso Corsa? If they are from a Rosso Corsa, I would like to make you an offer....if you decide your willing to sell your spares. Thanks Jake
    1 point
  20. Interesting you guys have both been here about the same time. We had a much testier time here before that. Muuuuuuch better these days, all around, IMO. It's easy to agree that I like it better here (everywhere?) when we can all ease up. It's also easy to agree that it's nice to have all the pertinent parameters on a problem before we all dive in the problem solving (that we do seem to love so much). Trouble with that is there are now so many V11 that the present owner may not have complete knowledge on what has been changed or that any one of us might not realize a particular change is an important, even crucial, part of the puzzle. Since there really is nowhere else in the world that a V11 owner can get a solid education and reliable help to keep these beasts on the fly, I do hope anyone coming here will get a feeling of genuine support and camaraderie. On this, I believe we excel (especially in the web-world).
    1 point
  21. Thanks guys - this is working nicely. I'm stacking up the boxes as the orders come in... and filling out the customs forms. By the way, I had a good talk with the manufacturer and they are paying close attention to the specs since we needed a re-do last time.
    1 point
  22. Order is placed. If all goes well, I can ship out springs before January 15, 2020. How to order: I'd prefer that you send money via PayPal as a friend (to avoid fees) and include your shipping address in the PayPal notes. My PayPal ID is scudder(dot)tim(at)gmail(dot)com. $12.00 per spring Please Add: $8.00 for US Postal Service (USPS) shipping to USA $12.00 for USPS shipping to Canada $18.00 for USPS shipping anywhere else You can send funds now if you want, I will pre-address all the boxes so I can just drop in the appropriate number of springs and do a mass-mailing on "spring day." I'll make another forum donation when I pass the financial break-even point. Let there be no fear... of bike stuck in gear... far away or near.
    1 point
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