68C

Thanks for all the encouragement, stuck within this body so just have to make the best of it. At least it is wet and cold outside so not missing much I suppose.

I am now at day fifteen after a left knee replacement due to arthritis, once healed expect to get the other one done. I am starting to get dark thoughts about my ability to continue to ride the V11 once fully healed in perhaps a year to eighteen months time. How have others got on with this one, I will admit I was becoming nervous riding the bike in the last few months before surgery due to worry my arthritic knee may collapse at any time as the V11 is a little wide and top heavy. I am 69, reasonably fit and do like to ride.

Remember the first time I ducked down behind the fairing while going fast. It was all so quiet and strangely dreamlike, not real. Then I imagined the broken leg would feel very real if I did not concentrate.

It is the charging circuit I am more interested in, being able to raise the voltage so the admittedly small battery can be properly charged. Of course, unlike my motorhome when on electric hook-up, the bike alternator does not run for hour after hour so we perhaps need to not concern ourselves too much with ensuring we have a full multi level charge profile with protection to ensure no fluid loss/excessive gassing but would like to ensure battery does fully charge. I am being careful not to quote any specific charge voltages here as depends on ambient temperature and cell type. I suggested the DD-DC converter to protect the ECU and any other sensitive equipment that may be connected such as GPS, LED lighting.

My motorhome has a solar panel which outputs from 0 to 18volts depending on sunshine. The Maximum Power Point Tracker (MPPT) controller drops the voltage to a safe battery charge level, then converts the excess power to raise the amperage. As the sunshine varies it tries to keep the charge voltage constant while altering the amperage. Like most battery chargers it also senses battery voltage for the relevant bulk, absorb and float requirements. I imagine the voltage regulator fitted to our bikes does something similar however it will not raise the voltage to the commonly required 14.4volts to fully charge a battery. I assume this is because everything else on the bike is happier at a slightly lower voltage. The DC-DC converter takes in any DC voltage and converts it to the required DC voltage, lets say 13volts for arguments sake. So by using an MPPT controller we can take the raw frequency and voltage wild output from the alternator, rectify it and apply it to the MPPT controller to facilitate battery charging with a sophisticated charge routine, then apply a constant smooth voltage to the DC circuits through the DC-DC converter. I wonder if anyone else has done this, these are not that dear and can handle 20Amps or more easily.

Some live in cold areas, some live in hot. Some open the throttle, some do not.

Come off it docc, diaphragm? That's not even a real carb. God invented the flat slide for a reason

Yes, not perfect but real. Over the last week we have heard so many stories about him, yours adds to it. They say Democracy is not perfect but the other systems are worse, perhaps the same could be said of Monarchy.

Our Queen has ruled for almost my entire life, I cannot imagine how hard it will be since losing her husband. I have a strange sense of foreboding about the future, I cannot put it into words it is a little like losing your parents.

T and B?

These are the casting that make up just one cylinder head. I think there are twenty castings all told and about the same number of ball bearings, the only plain bearings being on the gear selector mechanism and kick start shaft. Makes the V11 rather simple.

Sorry to open an old thread but thought I would carry on with the story. So, it's now 2021, Covid and retirement has given me time to get back to the Ducati 750GT motor rebuild. Some inheritance money has enabled my brother and I to spend a little more than we intended on the bike. Bought a Machine Mart bead blasting cabinet and started to clean up the castings. The raised threaded section on the LH case for the clutch adjuster was broken. Also the RH side case support for the kickstart was broken off. Took them to a welder who complained about my using glass beads as they remain embedded in the metal and ruin his weld so he will have them vapour blasted. Lesson learnt I have now bought some soda blasting medium and recleaned the rest of the parts, at least that just washes off with water. Then found the bevel gear fitted to the crank had chipped teeth. It seems it is a weak part on the 750GT design, any wear and then play in the main bearings mean the bevel gear loses its precise engagement and causes the damage. The later 860 engine has a different layout with a conventional spur gear driving a lay shaft with the bevel gear, any crank endfloat just makes the spur gear slide in and out without upsetting the bevel gear. Luckily managed to get one from Australia, Bevel Heaven put me in contact with Vee Two who kindly parted one out for me. Now waiting for the cases to come back from the welder.

I bought a used triple clamp and drilled it, as you say there is a raised boss on the undersurface obviously there for that purpose. Sadly not wide enough to allow fitting of rubber bushes. I used an old set of clamps from a Honda CB00, remember them?

My bike had corrosion on the Ohlins front fork attachment lugs to the carbon fibre front mudguard. Managed to clean it up then used plastic spacers.

Bigger than my house!

Resin impregnating would work best with a new set of cases that had never seen oil. MV did it in their early 750s, do not know how they did it, I imagined some kind of tank with the casing completely submerged and put under pressure. Must have been fun determining the time to leave it in the tank, to short and not fully impregnated, too long and nicely encased in a solid block of resin. These folk seem to have it covered, interesting read. https://www.midlanddeburrandfinish.co.uk/casting-impregnation?gclid=CjwKCAiAu8SABhAxEiwAsodSZIgrKkXwzzYCJq7A8IJACW-TTPC0_4hlMRPaw1ke-C4BFyDGMyUWTxoCKt0QAvD_BwE

Mine have 05-02-35-30 in raised numbers inside the covers. Also different to the ones in Doccs picture, the HT lesd tunnel is rounded rather than square. So which HT lead cover do I need, is it one or two piece? Thanks.

Does the spark plug cover act as a protection for the silly fell over while manouvering bike type of damage?

Many thanks, will start hunting for them. Lucky Phil, I think it was your bike that set me of down this trail.

Does anyone know the correct name for the black plastic covers over the Grisso 2V type valve covers. I want to fit the tidier valve covers, got the covers but cannot find the plastic parts. Do I need special HT leads?

The Centauro has to be one ugliest bikes around, in my opinion of course.

I should have added loads of spares for the basic bike as just a variation of bikes made back into the 1970's, many T3 and on parts will fit. May not be so easy to get body parts as did not sell in very high numbers.

You will notice a lack of power and of any real rev band. Great bike for poodling around, you can short shift 1-3-5 and still make progress. The cast iron discs corrode so wipe down after wet weather to reduce the amount of brown rust thrown about. Comfortable for a pillion with sensible footpeg position, feels like the centre of gravity is lower than a V11 LeMans so again easier to ride. The side stand is not so good, some folk fit the left lower frame rail and the long California stsnd.

Is that the long chain to your wallet in your Levi's back pocket.

Bit harsh.