jwh20

I assume your talking about a V11 model and this is what Guzzi calls a "reaction rod" in the V11 parts diagram... If so, it seems to me that on the V11 a longer bar will force the rear gearbox to a different angle than originally designed. As I understand the operation of a cardan shaft (i.e. the drive shaft) you want to keep the angles for the front and rear U-joints as close to the same as possible in order to get the smoothest power delivery to the rear wheel. If one end is angled more than the other you will get uneven motion due to the un-matched U-joint motions. But it also seems that with 10 cm of extra length you are going to push the angle past 0 degrees and end up with an additive effect of the motions and make for a very uneven rotation of the shaft. It might be ride-able but probably will certainly add stress to the shaft, the transmission, and the rear gearbox. I suppose you could get the longer shaft and have a local machine shop cut 10 cm out of it and weld it back together. But for that cost you might even have a local machinist cut you one from a block of aluminum, titanium, or whatever your budget allows.

I'm no BMW expert but I would say the V11 is more "oilhead" than "airhead".

It probably is.

I agree that this is weldable but I wouldn't tackle it myself. A good welder will make fixing this look easy. Check for cracks elsewhere on both sides though and have the welder fix any other places while you have it off and at the shop.

It seems there is absolutely no consensus here. I recommend that further testing is necessary!

I wonder why someone would plasti-dip that nice looking LeMans fairing? Hmmmm.....

2000 V11 Sport on Craigslist in Valparaiso Indiana: http://indianapolis.craigslist.org/mcy/4533190214.html Not mine but it looks pretty nice from the pics.

Of course with your rear wheel off the bike, you're only 10-15 minutes away from having the swing arm off and the entire driveshaft removed for inspection, cleaning, and re-greasing. You can also tend to your swingarm bearings at the same time.

I'm not a fan of Scotch, single malt or otherwise. But I do like a good bourbon. I recently bought a bottle of Makers 46 and found it to be a very nice whiskey.

I found this on a Ducati forum that seems to indicate that filling the tank with 0% ethanol gasoline might cause it to shrink back to normal. I'm not sure about "C10 race fuel" but I know that there are places about here that sell non-Ethanol gasoline. In my town the CountryMark Farm Bureau Co-op advertises their "100% USA non-ethanol" gasoline. If they don't have such places in your area you might look into racing fuel. In the USA it's not legal for street use because it's not be taxed, but otherwise is still gasoline. Here is the posting: http://www.ducati.ms/forums/42-monster/99530-will-ethanol-expanded-plastic-tanks-shrink-back.html

I don't believe there is a way to return it to normal. As I understand the problem, the plastic absorbs the ethanol and it swells, most markedly in the long direction. I suppose you could remove the tank, drain it, and put it in a warm & dry place with lots of ventilation for the winter season and see if that shrinks it at all. I'm not enough of a chemist to understand the process that is taking place and whether it's reversible or not.

Mine is the same, but it will go in. In my case the back of the tank would not even go back down but a bit of prying with a padded long-handled screwdriver got it there. The rubber mount in front has quite a bit of give but it takes some pressure.

Note that the original routing may not be correct. Again, check for gentle curvature as well as no places where it's bent around an edge.

It'y my understanding that the biggest issue affecting the longevity of the speedo cable is routing. The cable is quite sensitive to how sharply it's bent and if it's bent beyond its design limits, it will break. Check the path of the cable and try to make sure it bends gently and smoothly all along its path. Make sure it's not going over an edge or being pressed on by other cable or part.

A good question, the obvious answer is that there is more on that 15 amp circuit than just the headlight. But hey, it's working!!

Measure the voltage on the battery when you press the starter button. If it drops low, say below 10 V, then the battery is bad.

Wow, that's great news! All it takes is one person at the BMV who knows their stuff and things happen. Electrical issues? That's EZ compared to the hassles you've been through. Don't assume the battery is OK even though you've charged it. It's common for a cell to become sulfated from sitting and it will appear to charge but the battery will not deliver current. If you take it to an auto part store like Auto Zone they can load test it and tell for sure. Glad this is finally working out!

According to the workshop manual for the V11 Sport the "Total ratio (engine-wheel)" is 1:4.1737 in 6th gear. In other words for every 4.1737 turns of the engine you get 1 turn of the rear wheel. The biggest uncertainty is the circumference of your rear tire but a 170/60-ZR17 should be about 78.64" according to a tire size calculator. At 4000 rpm (engine) you would have 4000/4.1737 = 958.38 rpm of the rear wheel. At 78.64" around, that gives you 958.38 * 78.64" = 75367.18 inches/min. Now just convert to miles/hour... 75367.18 inches/minute * 60 minutes/hour = 4522030.81 inches/hour / 12 inches/foot / 5280 ft/mile = 71.37 miles/hour So unless your rear tire is WAY smaller than it should be, either your tach or your speedo (or both) is way off. Speedo is easy to check with a GPS.

And you know this how? Your V11 must be setup much hotter than mine as I don't think it will go anywhere near that fast!!

Welcome to V11 world. I came to V11 from a Monster. Impossible to get at stuff round all that scaffolding: needed some funny shaped tools and double jointed fingers so didn't do as much on it myself as I shoulda.Do nearly everything myself now on the Guzzi. Mind you I need to... :-D Hard to find a workshop I can trust TBH. My LeMans is the only non-Japanese bike that I've ever owned but I do all my own work regardless. Most dealers don't have good mechanics because to have a good mechanic and keep them costs money. Most good mechanics are either in business for themselves or work at a specialty shop where you pay what it costs and you wait as long as it takes for them to get to it. The biggest roadblock for most people is the tools but if you apply the money you would have spent at a shop on the tools you need to do the job right, before long you'll have built-up both a lot of expertise and a well-stocked tool collection and be able to tackle almost anything. Factory service manuals are a great asset but they do leave a lot out. But there are forums for just about anything you might be working on somewhere with expertise readily available. Between this site and Wild Guzzi you can find documentation, usually with pictures, of just about any service or repair procedure you might be faced with.

I'm not sure I'd trust a BRAND NEW bike to take on a 1000+ mile trip the day after I bought it. In this case you have a really nice bike but it's 11 years old. Unless it was stored in a hermitically sealed ZipLoc bag for the last 10 years, it's certainly going to need some maintenance, Moto Guzzi or not!

I had the tank off my '02 LeMans a couple of weeks ago to replace the fuel and air filters and I didn't find it necessary to remove the fairing.

It looks like you remove the two circlips/snap-rings and the horseshoe shaped bar should be removed. It's not clear in the picture but the bolt in the center may go through the cover plate so it may need to be freed also.

Indeed! Limes were $0.99 EACH. So I limited myself to 3 and used sparingly. Such is life when a necessity is priced to high!

Even at almost $4/gallon, gasoline is cheaper than Prozac! More effective too.