pasotibbs

Just as well you got rid of the Ducati. the engines really are just a pile of shite! I borrowed an ST2 in New Zealand last February, nice handling, fairly comfortable, but after a $1000 tuneup, I was told that the belts could not be changed, the covers couldn't be removed as the nuts inside the plastic were spinning. So after being told to nurse it for next 3 weeks, running 3500-6500rpm, the engine literally physically exploded, yes, the engine cases blew apart!!!! in the middle of nowhere! Never, NEVER will I EVER buy a belt drive Ducati EVER!!! BTW, the Aprilia will be a great bike, well done. Steve To be fair to Ducati's any badly maintained belt drive engine is going to let go in a big way eventually !! It sounds like that particular ST had been seriously mistreated, as the ST2 is basically a 2 valve 851/888 motor it is pretty tough and if maintained correctly reliable. Yes, maintaning a machine is important. In this case, the belts did not fail. I was pampering the bike because they could not be changed at the time. actually, there was a catastrophic gearbox failure that blew the engine cases apart, the bike was singing along at 110km in 6th, go figure. Although the belts didn't fail the fact that the covers could not be removed would seem to indicate that the 2yr belt change had been missed (maybe several times !!) and probably oil changes also,which could explain why the gearbox let go. I went to NZ in January so know what you mean about the "middle of nowhere" !!

Just as well you got rid of the Ducati. the engines really are just a pile of shite! I borrowed an ST2 in New Zealand last February, nice handling, fairly comfortable, but after a $1000 tuneup, I was told that the belts could not be changed, the covers couldn't be removed as the nuts inside the plastic were spinning. So after being told to nurse it for next 3 weeks, running 3500-6500rpm, the engine literally physically exploded, yes, the engine cases blew apart!!!! in the middle of nowhere! Never, NEVER will I EVER buy a belt drive Ducati EVER!!! BTW, the Aprilia will be a great bike, well done. Steve To be fair to Ducati's any badly maintained belt drive engine is going to let go in a big way eventually !! It sounds like that particular ST had been seriously mistreated, as the ST2 is basically a 2 valve 851/888 motor it is pretty tough and if maintained correctly reliable.

Sorry I used the wrong terms, we used the autotune as that is what I normally do but he said nothing was changing (maybe because it was already on target ?)so I changed the ECU switch to open loop and tried to get him to adjust the AFR manually but he couldn't get that to work properly so I took over the opimiser controls and tried but although the value changed the AFR stayed the same. As I couldn't work out what was happening I switched to the laptop which I now know that had issues of its own so was doomed to failure !! If I'd taken the other laptop the day may have been saved but I didn't.

Cliff I thought everything was going ok , running closed loop had improved the map and the bike was running better. The idea of the Dyno run was to hopefully get to the areas of map I'd missed but it just went from bad to worse! The optimiser and closed loop should have worked but I'll put that down to user error, my targets being wrong or the LC1 settings being incorrect (which I'll check first) as he held MON for 5 seconds but the AFR didn't change (I should probably have stuck with this and altered the targets to see what happened but decided to go open loop and adjust manually. The optimiser issue was weird,but as I run closed loop I've never tried altering the mixture anywhere other than idle so couldn't find the solution, it would appear to work for a couple of cells but then turning the variable resistor would change the value on the screen but the AFR stayed the same on the Dyno's readout.( I had the same issue when I gave up with the optimiser and used the laptop instead,I will have to investigate further but it appears that my laptop has taken a dislike to the controller software as it closes the program when I try to save a map to file which was the last straw (worked fine on another laptop when I got home and of course I had the choice to take either that morning...if only!!). I'll let you know if I find out what happened but hopefully just checking the LC1 is working ok and changing some targets may put me back on track ? Dave

Didn't go well on the dyno! The dyno guy was used to PC's and couldn't get the Autotune on Myecu to work so we went open loop and tried to set the mixture manually with the optimiser but that wouldn't work properly either,he altered the mixture but the bike ran exactly the same !! I connected the laptop and tried to change the settings but that would appear to work for a couple of cells then suddenly stop working and the software shut down before I had saved the changes. I have no idea what was going on but the end result was after 4 hours and £120 I am no closer to good AFR than before but know that my current map is way off , rich below 5000rpm and lean above!! Probably something really simple that I'm missing but at the moment it's really tempting to give up and put the stock x-over,exhausts and ECU back on !! I'm going to leave it for a few days until my mood improves !!

It has been attempted in the past. The stock, under-tranny x-over is more a "pre-muffler" than a true cross-over: the volume is just too dang large, so all the exhaust gases come chonkin' down the headers at high speed, hit that big open space & come to a halt, then meander down the extremely restrictive stock mufflers based upon the higher pressure in the pre-muffler bit & pressure pulses from the exhaust hammering those stagnant gases further down stream. [Yes, this is a bit of hyperbole, but play along for a bit, it gets better. ] If you open the stock x-over & pull out the central metal sponge space filler, you make the description above even more accurate, spoiling performance. Dyno tests have shown that the Stucchi x-over [which is designed to be a true x-over] has a slight improvement in the low-rpm hole in the power band, and also a slight improvement in top end power, with a raspier exhaust note. The Mycroft Holmes [sorry, forget the name, but it's the other big alt. to the Stucchi, and starts w/ an "M"] x-over has almost no actual gas x-fer, & is more of a balance pipe [meaning sonic & pressure sharing, but no real joining of flow], does a better job of filling in the low-rpm hole but loses power on top in comparison to the stocker. Ultimately, it has been clearly demonstrated that: 1) Dr. John did a very good job of coming up with a much more cosmetically appealing, but still quite adequate performing, alternative to the old "colostomy bag" x-over on the mid-90s Spot, Sporti & Daytona x-over. 2) If you want all out power or a more threatening exhaust note, you buy the Stucchi. 3) If you want to fit a centerstand or a more compliant throttle in traffic or just noodling around, you get the Myocardial infarction x-over [still haven't remembered the correct name... ] 4) It is ultimately pointless to mess around with the stock exhaust parts when pursuing performance enhancement: they were just designed too dang well upon European "don't mess with city hall" principles. Ride on! Mistral see Greg Field's review here

My bike is going on a Dyno next Tuesday, I've realized it's the only way I'll ever get my map sorted....hopefully anyway

One thing to be aware of in your search is that I'm pretty sure that the shaft drive joints limit the length of shock you can use so you must stay within the Ohlins specs(10mm longer than Sachs IIRC ?) for total length and range of movement. good luck, I'm sure many here will be interested if you find a match !!

The Sachs shock is not very good to start with so most here will advise you replace rather than waste money on a repair.

If you used the dipstick as MG say to use it (ie screwed in) then don't worry as most here suggest using the dipstick like a Honda (resting on the top thread) to avoid the oil pump sucking air when accelerating up a gradient.

Different connector but BMW 320 fits if I remember correctly.

It maybe the master cylinder not returning fully due to corrosion, I'd check that first(it was with mine anyway!!).

Dead battery may be as simple as leaving the parking light on as its easy to do (when turning the ign switch off you can select park not off) ? The clocks both have "issues",I believe a gear can strip in the speedo which stops the odometer working and the fine wires to the tacho stepper motor can break. Probably easier/cheaper to replace with a digital display if both have faults... Welcome to Moto Guzzi ownership !!

I believe the rear wheel spindle nut is 27mm and combined with a spanner can be used to remove the filter cover But best practice is to remove the oil pan and clean the oil pickup filter when you change the oil filter,as the bike is new to you this may be best as it may never have been done !! Also most here will say to top up the oil with the dipstick on the top thread (like a Honda) not as MG say (with it tightened) as that level seems to be too low. Dave

Yup. My bike got a little louder when I added an FBF crossover to the MG Ti exhaust system that was already on the bike. It accomplished what I wanted, more grunt, so the slight noise increase was worth it to me. I think Greg Field posted a crossover comparison a few years back that probably has comments on changes in noise and performance. Here

The film uses the new RealD (look like sunglasses) system not the old coloured lenses setup so should work for all with vision in both eyes,should be viewable for anybody colour blind and appear 2D for anyone who hasn't got vision in both eyes(I think ).

http://www.facebook.com/notes/tt3d-movie/tt3d-closer-to-the-edge-release-cinemas/194198773957983 Now showing in more locations, Sheffield have it on at the Odeon this Friday to next Thursday 8.10 pm and Cineworld tomorrow and Monday 8.55 pm Would have saved me a 90 mile round trip , but at least I can easily see it again now

Saw it last night, but it has already finished at the cinema I went to !!! I had to drive 45 miles to catch the last showing at a cinema in Nottingham. It was sold out so if you find somewhere still showing it may be best to reserve your tickets. Well worth seeing, it is a very well made film that even somebody with no interest in bikes or racing would enjoy. Hopefully it has exceeded expectations and more dates will be added. Guy Martin is brilliant !!! I bought this at Stafford Classic show on Sunday.

Mine sometimes does this also,and has done for ages, it appears to be the solenoid not engaging fully as I can hear it operate but the starter does not turn.When it fails to work I hold the starter button in and work the clutch switch until the starter turns (usually between 2 and 5 attempts works) ,it seems worse when the bikes been stood a while. I replaced the solenoid but could only get second hand(for free) as the starter repair place was having difficulty sourcing new parts due to the Euro exchange rate, it seemed to cure it for a while but the fault returned. I may try to get a new solenoid this year and give that a go.

A couple of years ago a friend asked me what I thought of the ST2(as he'd been offered one for very little money) and I told him what my Ducati mechanic had told me. My Ducati mechanic Ducati John needed a loan bike to lend to customers so bought an old ST2(because it was really cheap), after several months he began to notice that everybody he lent it to commented on how nice it was (regardless of what they normally rode)and that actually without noticing he was using it rather than his own 851 when he needed a bike. My friend bought the ST2 and loves it !!!

I like Ducati's advice in the manual to "Never start a cold motorcycle"

Most here agree that the MG method appears to set the oil level too low,with a plate fitted it's safe to use the dipstick like a Honda as it is still below the plate level.

When you fit the plate it's best to use the dipstick like you would on a Honda ie don't screw it in to check the level but hold it on the top thread.Some say this may be good practice even without a plate but it's safer with ! Dave

I saw this card in a shop Guzzi Garage I bought it of course !!

I've thought about this a few times as well, and just haven't followed through on getting it over to a driveshaft specialist to take a look. Not sure if it's feesable or not, but I'm guessing someone here has looked into it further. Somebody here did rebuild their U/J's with off the shelf parts, I believe it was RossoAndy ? I haven't seen him post for a while so you may have to search for the thread, he also did a thread on replacing the bearings in the rear drive box and he may have mentioned the shaft joints there ?