Lucky Phil

I thought the "carry over" thing for the 2002 models was an American thing only? A way they got rid of older unsold 2002 bikes in the US as re labelled 2003. Didn't think it applied to European bikes? Phil

I've not seen a 2002 Le Mans with the later 43mm forks, the non chin pad tank, the later ITI instruments and the handlebar holes in the top triple clamp Mick. Maybe it's had the whole front end changed at some point and the PO has had a handlebar kit on it or it's a transition thing. Not sure. All the different models for the V11 series I find a bit confusing to be honest. Change the colour and call it a different name! Phil

Maybe your bike has had a front end swap Mick from a late model Sport naked or Ballabio? as it appears to have the mount holes in the top triple clamp for the high, traditional bar mounts? Either that or the PO has had a traditional bar kit on it in the past. The later Sport Naked or Ballabio front end swap would account for the larger 43mm dia late forks as well. Interestingly I can not find an image of a 2002 Le Mans with the non chin piece tank either. Maybe your bike was made in 2002 but is a 2003 model. Not sure. The date of manufacture and the year model are a bit mirky in Europe V America with the next year model production started usually after the European Summer holiday shutdown in August Phil

What month of 2002 was your bike manufactured Mick. All the 2002 crinkle finish bikes I've seen on the internet have the 40mmm forks. Phil

Ok then it's Italian cross over stuff, model designation or it's been fitted with the later forks at some point. See the 2002 and 2003 bikes in Reddit parked side by side. Different forks. Phil

40mm forks. The second generation. Phil

I think you'll find Mick it has 40mm forks. Phil

If your bike has 43mm dia sliders and a hollow 25mm axle the Andreanis won't fit. The V11 Sport/Le mans series has 3 types of forks fitted apart from the Ohlins. All Marzocchi. The original 40mm on the first bikes which were silver and had a standard hex nut on the 20mm solid axle and an internal index for the cartridge at the inner base of the axle clamp/brake calliper support. No one makes carts for these. Then there was the next generation of 40mm forks with the flat inner base mount for the carts and black legs with the 20mm solid heavy axle and an integral thread in the left fork leg for the axle to thread into. Some of these were also made in silver legs from memory as well. Andreani make carts for these. First and second gen forks have adjustable rebound and comp on opposing legs, no preload adjustment. Then came at around 2003 the 43mm forks with the hollow 25mm axle, black stanchions, separate axle nut again and adjustable spring preload and rebound damping only on both legs and a different fork cap thread dia and pitch. Andreani carts don't fit these even if they advertise they do. All 3 versions have 54mm OD stanchions so all three fit all types of triple clamp the range cam with during it's 6 year model life. Then there was the 3 different fork clamps used but that's been covered already. Phil

The later 43mm forks with the 25mm axle fit the early bikes but you need to convert the front wheel to 25mm ID bearings and the later bearing spacer. More rigid, bigger dia cartridges with Rebound only adjustment and a much lighter front axle. A set of these with Maxton cartridges would be perfect and superior to Ohlins forks. There's a company in the US that will fit their own cartridges to your std forks. Can't remember their name now. Talked to them about it 10 years ago. Phil

I have bad experiences with Andreani cartridges. I ordered a set for my later v11 Sport/Le Mans 43mm forks as the carts were listed by Andreani as fitting 2001-2006 bikes but when I received them the fork caps were the wrong dia and thread pitch. I emailed Andreani and their after sales support was non existent. Zero interest in helping me. Never again will I deal with them. The cartridges themselves look nothing special and were 20mm as opposed to the std Marzocchi 25mm dia. Six months after I told them their model listings for the V11 Sport/Le Mans series was WRONG the Andreani site listings were still the same! Took me 6 months to get a refund on my money and I lost 100 dollars in the process. Do these cap threads look like they are the same thread pitch and dia? As usual you find out the true quality of a product/business when things go wrong. In Andreanis case they failed that test miserably.

Correct you should not plug the line to the airbox or the crankcases cant vent. If you have positive CC pressure due to blow by then you have a real issue. Most of what people see coming from the PCV or CC vent is air movement due to the pumping process of the pistons. It's easier for the CC air being pumped around by the rising and falling pistons to vent out the breather than follow the sometimes convoluted internal route to the underside of the rising piston. Sometimes CC pressure can briefly go to zero or a little below on a wet sump engine that uses a reed valve in the breather such as Ducati twins have for years and years. As the CC air is expelled out the breather any slight pressure is vented and the reed valve then closes and the CC pressure will go to zero or fractionally below very briefly. Phil

Here at last. Three litre inline 6 turbo and six speed manual. Basically a BMW Z4 with Toyota hardtop body. Two seats only and low.

You might want to look at the year model in the heading. Phil

Every time you turn on the ignition and power the ECU it activates the fuel pump for a prime period and also puts a shot of fuel down the intakes. Same as every time you start the bike no matter what the engine temp you get 4000 engine revolutions of the start enrichment map. Phil

Bad battery/battery connections. Voltage sag during start. Phil

By fuel pump switch I assume you mean the "kill switch"? I always pull the fuel pump fuse to eliminate the shot of fuel that goes down the intake ports every time you cycle the ignition switch. Phil

Green Scotchbrite gives the best satin finish to aluminium.

Yes it's a lovely place in it's own right. I did 2 TT's back in the mid 80's and my wife is quite keen to do one herself but after seeing a docco about the TT fortnight a few years ago I'm not super keen to return. These days you need to book 3 years in advance and it was fairly crowded back in the 80's but now it's wall to wall people during TT week/fortnight. A case of popularity ruining something that was really good. Seems popularity often has this impact on many endeavours the more I think of it. Climbing Everest is a complete joke these days as a classic example. Phil

Fit a new oil cooler. I bought one of these years ago as a spare. https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/175907905618?epid=18024036452&hash=item28f4eda052:g:CasAAOSwT6pVkuJ4&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4DGoZbS4KMUdszj0ffSVl%2Fhf%2FORfMYgJ158QIY%2FUntggB8nk8nWWkkcFeYpt%2Fp%2BYUW9n%2F%2FJkJ5rCj7O1Cp2VrwiwCBkQxw%2FQvo7VCikAwdWdGdWitVKc%2BR9OS6qujQ%2B9dq7HZyAt1eI6g4Zl3Yd3lDYvzcdXCDgxWk9wv%2BsbkRvzwoiI%2B5p2Oz6jaOUxfdyVm8TMIGIniiKscND5E9RvgHoK7c26a91tKA8xo47wkDKLXllQMoWoATI2FKWKL5yKIfokYtuHHiDegmOFZ5wa0TRDb2eh66JR3qsoHYc%2BwYIK|tkp%3ABk9SR57o--isYw

No because to achieve perfect primary balance in a 75 degree V twin you would need to offset the crank pins 30 degrees which KTM don't do in their RC8R engines for example. They still run a common crank pin but use a balance shaft to nullify the primary imbalance. The 90 degree V twin is perfect primary and secondary balance with a small rocking couple that needs no balance shaft because the RC is minor. Only commonly found engines that have perfect primary, secondary and zero RC are the inline 6 and V12. Phil

And thats why a 270 degree engine like a Royal Enfield 650 twin runs a balance shaft. The British also didn't want the complexity of an ignition system for a 270 or 285 engine compared to a 360 engine. Phil

Personally I'd like to go to the old WSB and current BSB qualifying format where the rider has one warmup lap and then a lap to put down his fastest time. Eliminates the towing bullshit, the yellow flag on the hot lap rubbish and the race grid reflects the true order of who has the outright speed. Currently you can and do have riders with 3rd and 4th row raw speed on the front two rows a lot of the time due to nothing more than getting a tow during qualifying. They then get in the way and hold up the genuinely faster rider at the race start for 5 or 6 laps and ruin his race. Phil