Lucky Phil Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 Uh oh. Turning into a Norton thread. You don't have to go inside a Commando engine to see the parts, wait long enough and they will come out to see you. Bought my Commando new in '72. Rode home and noticed the rear indicator bracket had snapped off. A week later the centre stand snapped. Mains failed at 3,000 miles. Advance and retard at 5,000 which went to full retard and turned the downpipes bright red, not a problem as one then snapped a while later so needed changing anyways. Zener diode failure and boiled battery. The disc pads are not really held in too well, when the pad wears down you find the backing plate is the same thickness as the gap between the disc and the caliper so it flies out in front of you. Does alert you to the brake failure, what a cunning design. Oh, oil tank lower mount cracks through dumping all oil onto rear wheel, carb float bowl screws fall out...... Actually I love the bike and still have it today after 46 years, although safely in bits in the shed. Love it. If a Commando owner ever suggests you go touring together politely decline unless love roadside rebuilds more than riding:) The Combat engines were the worst, hand grenades. Superblend main bearings and gearbox needle bearing conversion helps. Ciao 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swooshdave Posted July 25, 2018 Author Share Posted July 25, 2018 Love it. If a Commando owner ever suggests you go touring together politely decline unless love roadside rebuilds more than riding:) The Combat engines were the worst, hand grenades. Superblend main bearings and gearbox needle bearing conversion helps. Ciao Overrevving (easy to do with the 2S cam) was the demise of the Combat. Treat them fairly and they won't blow. I don't know what you mean about the gearbox needle bearing, I believe you mean the roller bearing conversion (although higher quality ball bearings work better) on the mainshaft? That was not Combat specific, the blame has traditionally be placed on Portuguese source ball bearings and affected only some bikes, more likely then 850s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68C Posted July 27, 2018 Share Posted July 27, 2018 You are right, mine is a Combat engine. There are two problems with that engine. To increase the compression they just skimmed the cylinder head but they did not alter the pushrod lengths so the geometry changed increasing side load on the valve stem, cured by shortening the rods. The main bearing problem came about due to fitting roller bearings on both sides of the crank rather than the earlier roller and ball bearing set up. At max revs the crank flexes and so the edges of the rollers dig in and fail. The Superblend bearings are slightly barrel shaped so no sharp edge. Any other manufacturer would have tried to stop the crank flexing! Of course this was the 1970's when British manufacturers sold you what they could make cheap rather than what you wanted. Think of the number of Brit built 'US spec' bikes that we lusted after but could not buy in the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rox Lemans Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 To get back on the V11...... Finally reflashed my Scura. The Scura is offically mighty however like any Italian bike soon the electrics will need to be resorted ( meaning rip out the Italian "thatll do let's get lunch) electrics and fully modernize it. Right now it's the rear light fixture . Victim of the v twin vibes. Ill be going full LED soon . Right now it's just the head and tail lights. Then Ill start the Lemans. Mechanically theyre as solid as they'd ever been. The v11 has always been my bucket list bike and now I have 2. Between those and the Triumph t595 And t509 since I saw Mission Impossible 2....lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gstallons Posted August 1, 2018 Share Posted August 1, 2018 99.999 pct. of electrical wiring issues is at the connection . IDK if I would tear out anything . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowRyter Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbolesaz Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 I can see it is a coke bottle, but it does look like homage to Nicola Tesla. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LowRyter Posted August 2, 2018 Share Posted August 2, 2018 It's on Rt 66 ..... Pop's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swooshdave Posted August 10, 2018 Author Share Posted August 10, 2018 Went over to my buddy’s house to see him start his bike for the first time. Meanwhile in the parking lot I caught a photo of these two V-twins. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rox Lemans Posted August 11, 2018 Share Posted August 11, 2018 I wonder if the Guzzi employee that came up with the lime green was drinking Mountain Dew when he decided to submit that color to the higher ups..... Hmmmmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swooshdave Posted August 11, 2018 Author Share Posted August 11, 2018 I wonder if the Guzzi employee that came up with the lime green was drinking Mountain Dew when he decided to submit that color to the higher ups..... Hmmmmm Well, considering the green came from the original V7 Sport back around 1970 it was probably something a lot stronger than Mt. Dew. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docc Posted August 11, 2018 Share Posted August 11, 2018 Seems they electrified the modern version of that color. I'd love to see the original green V7 Sport sitting next to the Greenie V11. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
czakky Posted August 11, 2018 Share Posted August 11, 2018 That’s a true Guzzisti. There’s a Vincent barely peeking by the Guzzi. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docc Posted August 12, 2018 Share Posted August 12, 2018 Today's ride went differently in my mind . . . https://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=20515&p=234480 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
footgoose Posted August 12, 2018 Share Posted August 12, 2018 great spot! you coulda camped there if you had to. and cell phone coverage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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