GuzziMoto

Oil breaks down in two directions as it gets used. As the viscosity modifiers breakdown the oil gets thinner when hot. This generally doesn't affect the oil when cold, the cold viscosity doesn't really change as the viscosity modifiers breakdown. The second is as by-products of combustion collect in the oil it tends to get thicker when cold. This has less impact on the oil when hot, mainly affecting cold flow. A third aspect of oil as it is used is that the additives get used up, reducing the protection the additives bring to the party. Things like zinc do what they do in oil by being used up. So whatever amount of zinc an oil starts with, as it is used there will be, over time and use, less zinc. I do agree that the Guzzi V twin is not overly sensitive to oil, especially the 2 valve per cylinder engines. Some of us no doubt put more miles on their motorcycles then I do nowadays, sadly for me. I usually change my motorcycle oil due to age before mileage. Presently I only have one motorcycle that I change the oil based on mileage and not age, and even that one is likely to be changed based on age this time as I just haven't had time to ride enough this year. As always, an oil thread can be a slippery slope. But I am bored.

That would be more to my liking. A wider difference between the two numbers means the oil relies more heavily on viscosity modifiers. Viscosity modifiers are complex molecules that coil up when cold and uncoil when they get hot. They are prone to shear, to being cut up, in use. As they get cut up they stop doing what they do. In essence, an oil with a larger gap between the two numbers will breakdown quicker. When you see an oil like 10w-60, it is a 10 weight oil with viscosity modifiers to give it the performance of a 60 weight oil when hot. But those viscosity modifiers that give it the 60 weight when hot aren't as stable and long lasting as the rest of the oil is. So as it gets older under use it gets thinner and thinner when hot. It takes more viscosity modifiers to make a 10w-60 oil then it does a 20w-50 oil. That said, you can't go wrong using the oil they recommend. I don't agree with their recommendation, but it is their recommendation.

To each their own. But my experience is that faster speeds don't mean less force to the head, in fact the opposite can be true. A crash at speed can be a nice smooth low side, in which case less force to the head is likely vs just falling over from vertical. But, as mentioned, to each their own. If you knew how you were going to crash perhaps a better choice would be not to crash....

I kinda agree with Phil. I would treat the header itself as the head guard. But that is me. Either way, sweet Guzzi Tomchri. I like it.

It would probably be easier to find one at an Aprilia or Ducati dealer. It is a Brembo part, I would assume. I would take the bad switch to one of those dealers and match it up. Or you can order it from MG Cycles; https://www.mgcycle.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=110_146&products_id=4469 It shows In Stock. Notice, $18 is for the switch and the hardware, $10 for just the switch.

Those types of racing series can be pretty entertaining. One of the big ones here was BMW did a series of mostly ex-racers and moto-journalists on identical BMW Boxers. It was crazy. People like Yvon DuHamel, even retired, were still more aggressive than most people on the track. Perhaps it would have been better to put those guys on something slower like a GSX 125.

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I remember those days as well. Some of it I was aware of, but other things I likely never knew. It was funny to see guys on production bikes bumpstarting them. We were not going to cheat to the extent others were prepared to. Racing the Sportster was just a side show for us, our main focus in those days was racing air-cooled Ducati 750s. But I did enjoy racing the Sportster, most of the mid-pack guys were great fun to hang around. And due to the slow-motion nature of racing a Sportster I learned about fun things like reaching over and tapping the other guy on his far shoulder as you slowly went by, so they would look over their left should while you were going by on their right. I also learned about other less fun things like reaching over and turning some else's kill switch off. Learned to move the kill switch to a location they could not easily reach with their left hand.

I think my most important bolt to fall off was an engine mount bolt from my TZ250 racebike. The cool thing was, it happened at a track and I was able to walk the track and find it. Good thing, that was not an easy to source bolt.

It can't hurt anything to do that. But the reality is, racers remove and replace their front wheels more than anyone else and I have never done that on my racebike or seen another race team do it. It is fine advice, it can't hurt. I have done it on my streetbikes, but I have no evidence it did anything. I will leave it at that. The point about snugging up the pinch bolts back and forth is a good point. When I raced, I used an inch/pound torque wrench on them. But for street use I use the justafeet (said with an Italian accent) method. It is a basic Italian unit of tightness.

My two cents... Most front forks in my experience tighten the front wheel up against on leg of the fork, with the other leg sort of floating to an extent on the axle until it is clamped to the axle. The axle typically has a step in it on the end opposite the nut side, that step pulls the wheel towards the other fork leg where the nut is. That design allows the fork legs to both be straight without being pinched towards each other when you tighten the front wheel. For that reason, I generally want to tighten the axle nut first, and then the pinch bolts that clamp the bottom of the fork legs to the axle. That avoids any chance of pinching the fork legs inward towards each other with most fork designs.

I don't know about that. Not likely unless your Kwacker's are built. The Aprilia 457 motor is pretty stout. That said, I am not a huge fan of selling Aprilia's as Moto Guzzi's. Sharing some tech I can understand. But if they just rebadge the Aprilia as a Guzzi that I hope not to see. On the other side of the coin, I don't see Guzzi as married to the transverse V twin. They have a long history of singles and parallel twins. I am fine with other engine configurations. I just don't want an Aprilia Tuono 457 sold as a Moto Guzzi. If I want that I will buy the Ape (I have already seriously considered it)

It has one, the heart shaped icon in the bottom right of a post. Like, as well as four other options are there. Welcome to the forum.

Siemens (yes, this is the correct spelling, I would know...) relays were what the wife's 2000 V11 Sport came with. And they failed her within the first month. Turned the bike off at a gas station and it would not start back up.

Well, the front tire fiasco thickens. I must admit, I have always been a fan of Michelin motorcycle tires but this is really turning me off from them. At this point they can't be out of MotoGP soon enough. It is a shame we will have to endure one more year of this, one more season (after this one) of tires playing a large roll in who wins and who loses, one more season of tire pressure roulette. https://www.crash.net/motogp/news/1075073/1/official-michelin-wont-introduce-new-motogp-front-tyre Michelin has officially confirmed it will not introduce its long-planned new front tyre for the 2026 MotoGP season.