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po18guy

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Everything posted by po18guy

  1. A properly sized pipe cleaner with something like naphtha or denatured alcohol can enter the female spade connectors for cleaning. Then Caig DeoxIt is a good reassembly precaution. In short, there are too many vulnerable weak links in the starting chain. The sidestand switch, neutral light, clutch safety switch and all relevant connections in addition to fuses and relays can truly confound troubleshooting. My malfunction, which has been chased away temporarily, is key on, pumps powers up, but not even a click at the starter button. Nothing. After a bump start and the usual riding vibration, all is again good.
  2. I think that in Germany the Cali is a type of Continental Harley - but one where you can actually drive to the factory if you need to agitate for parts.
  3. It asks me to sign in(?) I think that potential buyers view the 38K miles with suspicion, as many bikes are in need of freshening at that point. As well the Cali was meant to evoke the 1060s-1970s San Francisco PD Guzzis and that may narrow the field even more. It is getting to the point where listing compression check results might help. These bikes are exotic, rare and eccentric in the grand scheme of things, but that does not always translate into desirable. The sporting side of Guzzi always attracted more eyes, as the US market is awash in cruisers.
  4. I am only on anti-social media. Please tell what the particulars are.
  5. At the prior change, I noted that the HifloFiltros have an unusually thick and compressible gasket (about 8mm). Therefore, I tighten the filter until it bottoms, and one can easily feel when it does - less than that I would fear oil pressure blowing past the "spongy" gasket.
  6. GASKET REMINDER! Just pulled my HiFlo Filtro out and the rubber gasket remained in the engine. I noticed that as I tipped the filter over to empty it. The gasket came right off of the filter boss, but I seem to remember someone having oil light issues related to threading a new filter and gasket over the old stuck gasket. Best to check the bike's prostate and do the finger wave around the filter gasket boss.
  7. I take an angle grinder and feather the tires to the edges. Then I bevel the pegs at 45º. Then I pull up to the local bike hangout, hook my pants leg on one of the pegs and promptly fall over. Honestly, roughing the tires out to the edges might actually have benefit, in case you go in a little hot and have to tighten a corner up.
  8. From the "unwinding" of the spring at the time of failure, it appears that selector travel is a prime culprit.
  9. On my '04, there always seems to be about 1/2 second between button activation and starter engagement. Almost as if there is a slight time delay. Then, it seems as if the starter is shaken awake and must then lean into the task.
  10. I run nothing but 92 octane ethanol-free gas in my '04. With supposed 9.8:1 compression and old-school combustion chambers, high octane is the way to go. My ECU has been re-flashed, probably by Guzzi-Tech, but the label is unreadable. Never any trace of pinging. I would check your timing.
  11. I bought folding Ken Sean bar-end mirrors. They came with horrible soft rubber plugs that allowed the mirrors to vibrate too much and would not hold their position. I bought some Delrin rod online and worked them down so they would slip into the bars. Bored them through at 8mm and cut in two at a 60º or so angle so that they would wedge into the bar. Placed an M8 serrated flange nut on the inside and it stays in place when tightening them. They were a bit of a pain to fabricate, but have worked very well.
  12. I find checking the oil level to be a rather curious affair. Firstly, the dipstick enters the crankcase at an angle, which does not allow precise measurement. The lean angle of the bike when parked on the stand introduces another variable. Any change in the lean of the bike (suspension sag, tire height/profile, or slight uphill/downhill grade tosses another figurative wrench in the gears, said wrench invariably striking the shift detent spring. Was the bike, even though on the side stand, on a level surface? Or was it on a center stand or rear axle spool stand? Remember Emerson, Lake and Palmer's song, "The Endless Enigma"?
  13. Ain't it ever-so-Guzzi to install both heims on the shift linkage with the same threads? Adjust it all day and the lever moves not one bit. Or is it just my example?
  14. Beer > Tylenol > beer. Repeat as necessary.
  15. Then back off 1/4 turn. Same with stripping bolts.
  16. This fellow, who does a lot of tech vids, disagrees on 285º parallel twins.
  17. I also fell in love with the "Trixie." They are a cult bike elsewhere, still popular in Japan. The early models had oil consumption problems, which was the recall, if "I" recall correctly. I also looked at the more recent MT-07, which was the first wave of the new 270s. It was too much of a "transformer" style for me. The YZF-07 seems a rather nice bike, if slightly extreme for many "mature" riders. Yamaha is often odd-man out in engineering, trying all manner of new designs. In the 689 parallel twin, they moved the cylinder centerline forward in relation to the crank centerline. This gives the rod increased leverage over the crank as it fires. This changes crank angle at TDC, but they have dealt with that. But a piddling 65 BHP out of such a high-tech engine seems a waste, when 75-80 HP is available. Oh, well...
  18. Have you checked the web for Italian labor union strikes? There may be some sympathy programmed in somewhere. Couple of months ago, My V11 would not activate the starter on one particular day. Key off and on numerous times, pump priming, clutch in and out. Finally had to pop a vein and bump start it. Cleaned the micro-plunger in the clutch safety micro switch, the micro switch clicked in and out as it should. Was fine for a couple of weeks, then did it again, but has not ever since. I do now tend to park with a grade to bump start it though. We hear a lot about "AI" these days. I am much more concerned with "IE" - Italian Electrics.
  19. Too many other ships telling you to lower your high beams.
  20. They do have junk in their trunk. I was hoping for an update of the MKI LeMans, with the safety orange/red bikini fairing. The V11 quarter fairings are very functional, but lacking in aesthetics.
  21. Well, mine would have to actually start first... The early models, although not really lighter, have a cleaner, more compact look. The longer ones have that cantilevered fairing - good thing I'm sitting behind it. LM plastic always struck me as bulbous. Would like something in between, but I'm playing Goldilocks here.
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