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A picture? Why.. yes, yes I do. Back in the day, I used to rent a Cub for $5 an hour wet. I've been flying less and less over the years..just the operating expense is staggering to this cheap Guzzi Guy, even considering I build/maintain my own airplanes and don't have to pay hanger rent. Most of my flying has been from point A to point A anyway, so needing *something to do* during Covid, I built Bullet. As in slower than a speeding.. Two gallons per hour of auto fuel. Here, we had just returned from a Dawn Patrol.. no enemy ships or balloons encountered, all quiet on the Western front.

I followed @Lucky Phil's experience and advice and fixed 1 leaking tap. 2 more to go. Steps are: enlarge the O-ring grooves, machine an anti-rotation slot in the plunger, adapt screw to make an anti-rotation pin, tap a hole to the valve body, fit bronze anti-friction washers on each side of the knob, put sealant under the anti-rotation pin, assemble with fuel resistant grease. @cash1000 tells me that his modified tap is easy to open/close, and it doesn't leak.

In the Northwest, drops of water on things is perfectly normal...

Absolutely it's the humidity that makes the difference.... I've ridden in 46 degrees and traffic a few times... yep in the gear ( leathers ) but as a younger bloke! The last time I tried that was in a crazy heat wave here about 10 years ago, I hydrated big time before the 25 kay commute home (back then) but it really knocked me about. It was rammed home to me in a big way that I'm not 30 years old and fit any more....! I think we (well me anyways ha ha ) seemed to be a bit slow to realise the fact that we're old farts now... but I do get it NOW. So for the last 10 or so years I don't ride under 5 and over 35, well not if I can help it. Must admit we're getting more of the humidity from the north coming down here at times the last few years and I hate it, no where near as bad as Houston though and makes working in the yard a pain! Or most anything really. Yep it took one more reminder to learn for good. 28 degs + the humidity and I did 5 big hours in the yard in the sun and it bloody knocked me out...Collapsed into the pool dragged myself inside and drank litres of water plus electrolyte drinks plus didn't move from the sofa rest of the day!Lesson well and truly learnt! You don't muck about with dehydration! Cheers Ps I'm a big fan of the old traditional leathers and have never tried a mesh jacket so can't comment on them.

Bought 4 last year from Ghezzi Brian, good guy with high quality carbon work. Cheers Tom.

There are a thousand petcocks that screw onto the tank just fine, but none have the 12mm outlet for the large hose to the fuel pump, and very few have a certainty of delivering enough fuel. Not only must it feed the engine as with carbs, but it must keep the pump well fed including what bypasses the regulator back into the tank. Pingel is the only maker I'm familiar with to rest assured the flow is adequate.

Totally different gear box, the Cali has a 5 speed

here's a link to a pic:

I've never been very fond of the "Form Follows Function" aesthetic of the MPH risers. I suppose they would just "disappear from the eye" after a time . . . The Mototec are very elegant, on the other hand . . .

I searched for Caig here in Germany. Practically not available. The place I bought it from specialises in repairing and maintaining tube amplifiers.

Looking for a set of clip-on bar risers for V11 LeMans...need up and back. gettin old aint for pussies Andy

I thought I was just a hack for leaving mine open continuously! I'm intrigued. YES

Ha ha I doubt Priscilla and co would've gotten the same reception in the wilds of Kazakhstan as they did in Broken Hill though...! But yeah, I reckon an overland trip including the Stans would be a great trip though. Alas I've missed the boat on such trips now but am grateful for the travel I've been able to do! Still having travelled it does give you a greater opportunity to see the whole world in a grain of sand as opposed to never having done so.. Cheers Guzzler

Mate When you get away from the coast here in Oz the heat tends to be a drier heat and not as draining on you but still need to be wary of it as it does still knock you about.It sounds like the conditions you describe in Kazakhstan and other desert environments. I was a fair bit more resilient when younger ( ha ha weren't we all ) and coped but wasn't really keen on it. The weather is changing and as I mentioned we're getting some ( albeit lesser ) humidity coming down from the north here and I don't like it at all. Ha ha I grew up in CHCH ( Christchurch ) New Zealand and on the odd occasion ( very odd occasion I might add ) it hit 30 degrees and the nor wester came through it knocked the tripe out of us.... Nigh on 40 years here in Oz and I'm better with heat now ( blood thinned out a bit?) but still reckon I'm warm blooded and handle the cold better! Cheers Ps plus one on the layering of gear too!

maybe something here for you https://roxspeedfx.com/collections/block-risers

MPH in Houston, TX makes a set of risers that a lot of folks have used and seem happy with. Not cheap but come with a set of extended hydraulic lines. https://mphcycles.com/category/cool-stuff-we-like/bolt-on-parts/

Very expensive, I know, but anyway.... https://shop.daes-mototec.com/de/Fahrwerk-7/Lenker/DAeS-Lenkerstummel-Kit-fuer-MOTO-GUZZI-V11-Le-Mans--alle-Mod--V11-Coppa-Italia---Scura---Naked-02-.html

No, definitely not. When it's hot, you have to keep pouring the water in. Yes, I find that with the leathers, too. My favourite at the moment is a very old pure cotton skivvy that I have. Because it is so old, it is very thin. The roll neck keeps the leather collar of the jacket off my skin, and the long sleeves help too. It absorbs the sweat (mostly), and if the jacket is open a bit it thereby helps keep cool, at least as long as I'm moving. The bonus is, the same combination is also good when it is slightly cool, i.e. good in the heat all afternoon, and in to the evening when it starts to cool down.

@guzzler After viewing "Priscilla Queen of the Desert" several times, I always dreamed of doing that same trip on a motorcycle. I had once the opportunity to be transferred to Australia, but ended up in Kazakhstan instead; by the way, another place in the world very prone to discovery on a motorcycle. Somehow, I am really resilient to extreme heat, and I can ride under the scalding conditions we often experience here. But that does not make the ride more pleasant. Any kind of jacket, vented, mesh what not, is heavier than the Elite which weight can be compared to that of a T-shirt. Unlike a T-shirt, it is tight on your body, so the cooling effect is subdued. Yesterday, I rode with it directly on my skin, and verified it is not a good idea. You still need an undergarment to absorb moisture. This is where the SIXS shirts come handy. Unfortunately, none of those brands are distributed in the USA.

I don't think you need to be concerned. Remember, Guzzidiag is an executable file, and doesn't need installation. That means trying out a newer version won't disturb the previous installation, because it was never installed in that sense, it was only ever just executed. Leave the older version on the computer, get the new one and run it instead. If it doesn't work, the old one is still there. You can even put them both in the same folder on the computer. The one you click on is the one that will run.

As promised before, here's a (46 minutes) video of my (boring) ride from Medina to Leakey in Texas... This took place in May 26th, within the Motorcycle Grand Tour of Texas 2023. The video image quality is poor, unfortunately, due to vibrations. I used a dampener, but it did not really filtrate anything; rather, I think it made the viewing worse. Another issue I experienced is that my DGI Osmo pocket 2, equipped with gimbals, cannot take the wind pressure. The gimbals lock up. Even if located behind the screen, there was enough buffeting to stop the recording each time I would go above 40 mph. I ran some tests before, as my intention was to provide footage of a Moto Guzzi V11 Le Mans. Unfortunately my tests were not ran at normal speed, so I did not discover the gimbals lockup until I was running on the 337. Editing and publishing the video is another ordeal. Manipulating large files, uploading large files require better computer power than what I currently have. Anyway, here's the footage. I suggest you watch it while you have coffee in the morning, before you go to work. Put it on your TV screen, and let it run in the background.... for 46 minutes lol....

Some of you may be aware of my ongoing frustration with these things. Briefly I've had one that refused to close off and another that has leaked when in the open position. Time to investigate. I suspected that the issue was junk seals and it turned out I was correct. I carefully removed the crimped section of the aluminium operating knob so I could screw it off the body and remove the internal plunger. The seals were toast which was causing the leaking in the open position. Bearing in mind that this thing gets used once in a blue moon the seals shouldn't have an issue really. So seals removed measured up and left in fuel overnight. I also tested a seal from an elcheapo kit I bought at the local Aldi store for comparison. No idea what the Aldi seal is made of but it was almost an identical size to the original. The first image shows the two seals after 24 hours in fuel ( the originals hadn't seen fuel for a week or so) As you can see the original has swelled a lot, around 1 mm in dia. So if your manual tap is difficult to open and shut and needs pliers to do so here's your reason. Garbage non fuel compatible seals. My cheap control seal is fine and hasn't swelled at all. This sort of thing drives me nuts, to save pennies they use rubbish seals and to compound the issue they aren't replaceable.......until now,hopefully. The difference in the seal sizes is quite obvious after 24 hrs in fuel. So what we need is Viton or FKM seals which I suspect will need to be 10 mm ID X 2.4 mm CS. I'll confirm this soon. The problem is what to do now with the the tap and its lack of open stop since we have removed the crimped section from the knurled nut. The issue for me is the lack of equipment. I've got plenty of nice ideas but dont have a mill which would allow me to do it properly. What I came up with is in the following image. I drilled and tapped the plunger for a 4 mm grub screw that can be inserted into its hole through the tap outlet. This grub screw when installed now forms the down stop for the plunger internally by it striking the inner bottom edge of the outlet hole replacing the crimped section of the aluminium knurled nut. The only issue I had was that I drilled and tapped the plunger hole about 1 mm too high which caused issues when the tap was closed. I resolved this by opening up the throat of the outlet port up near the closed seal face. Downside? a reduction in outlet area but i doubt it would be an issue as the inlet and filter screen are smaller than the tap outlet spigot ID.Next time I'd drill and tap a 6mm access hole on the tap body opposite the outlet port and make the 4mm hole in the plunger all the way through. I'd then have a 4mm stainless grub screw with the stop end turned down to 2 mm and it would be accessed through the 6 mm body screw from the opposite side. This would be much neater and minimise the loss of outlet area. The 6 mm access screw hole would need to be sealed with some thread sealer but the tap could be easily pulled apart for seal replacement and servicing.Note here only 1 seal is fitted to the plunger. I give this idea to the greater Guzzi community and forego retiring in luxury on the Caribbean on the obvious fiscal benefits I could derive from patenting etc. Ciao

240 Euros as of January this year, shipping to US included.

Well, I have worked in various places in the world, including Libya, Saudi Arabia, Chad just to list those with a desert... Texas and Houston feels the worst. It is really a sauna. I have been outside by 45 degC while working in N'jamena, and it was a breeze in comparison.

I am using GuzziDiag V0.47 with Mac OS 10.13.6 (Kind of afraid to upgrade the guzzidiag version since what I have "works" . . . )

ha! it seems that the version I was trying to run is an older build. Thanks!

Oh, no. Visibility out of this bad boy is hard to beat.

From here, only Sweden, and they are not allowed to send rattle cans thru the mail. It's a boring highway trip to Stockholm, so rather go south and pick up some. Cheers Tom.

The o-rings came today, so I reassembled. I used a little Ospho to get rid of the worst of the white deposits- they're pretty tough. The o-ring grooves in the pintle are 2mm x 11mm, and the opening in the body 14+mm. The o-rings are 2mm x 10mm ID. 11mm + 4mm = 15mm, so 1mm-ish of compression on the installed rings. The only o-rings I could source quickly are 90 durometer; I used a silicone grease to install them, which is fairly sticky. Assembly was straightforward between squeezing in the vise and rotating the pintle gently. Between the hard rings (70 durometer is catalogued but not available quickly) and the sticky grease, the pintle doesn't slide extremely easily; a drop of light oil in the top of the pintle did loosen it a little bit. It will probably loosen a little with fuel exposure, and seems like a tight but manageable turn by hand for someone with thumbs that work. To do over I'd probably use a silicone spray and the softer o-rings. I can say with certainty it's tight enough not to leak. Since I don't have the means here to manage the slot/screw internal stop, I simply used a small punch to ding the top of the thumbwheel a little, which gives a plenty firm stop when it gets to the first thread, as did the compressed stock ring. I'll update further when it's in the fuel.

I spent a couple of relaxing hours in the garage today. The first task was "extracting" the starter circuit from the circuit diagramme out of the workshop manual. It is only a rough pencil drawing, but here it is for posterity: Having done the drawing, I had a bit of a poke around with the multimeter. No success in as much as I didn't find anything that looked like a problem. Still using the suspect battery, contact 30 of relay #1 showed the same voltage as the plus pole of the battery, as did the wire from contact 87 of that relay that plugs on to the starter motor to switch the solenoid. That was all without a load, i.e. with the relay not plugged in (for contact 30), or with the wire not plugged in to the starter. Theoretically, the voltage at the solenoid could be different if the wire were connected to the load. However, I've just had the starter completely apart, and it looks almost brand new inside, so I don't believe there is anything amiss there. I've got the suspect battery on the charger at the moment, and will put it back in on Wednesday and see how it behaves. I'm not confident that simply charging the battery will be the solution; I reckon the battery has probably done it's dash, but I'll give it one last chance.

I finally paid $18 for some Caig spray. Just a hint, the only place my whole town that had it was the "Guitar Center". Not any hardware store.

No , you're gonna love it. Don't expect wheelies , stoppies or whatever else they call these stunts . Just fun . You now are officially a weirdo !

I rode my V11 Lemans to the monthly Northeast Ohio Guzzi breakfast at Mike's Place in Kent, Ohio this morning. Earlier this week I pulled the leaking timing sensor out, cleaned off the gasket sealer I had previously used (permatex 300), applied new sealer (permatex motoseal gasket maker) and re-installed. I have about 350 miles on it now and no leaks or seeps yet. Yeah, new oring seals both times. Anyway, good food & conversation was enjoyed by all the attendees, I think.

Believe me, I looked at doing a Guzzi powerplant. Inverted V with a dry sump to put the thrust line where it needs to be. But. It's too heavy, and makes best power at 5500 rpm. That means a reduction drive..which I have off the Aero engine.. efficient prop rpm needs to be around 2500 or less. That additional weight makes it a no go. This 3 cylinder weighs 80 lbs.

No blue hair in a Buick or brain dead texter trying to run over me..

This one easy to look at too. It’s all about the 10 finger base

@Guzzi-in-Vancouver posted this delightful track in another thread, but I thought it deserved a place here. As pretty and talented as the vocalist is, I can't take my eyes off the funky, animated clarinetist!

Last night had the honor of seeing the Orrin Evans Quintet, featuring Ravi Coltrane (son of John Coltrane) at Chris' Jazz Club in Philly. He's playing his father's sax. An evening to remember! https://photos.app.goo.gl/PzuxVRhtnLwiNs2C9 Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

Got some carbon fiber goodies from Bruno (aka Brian) of Ghezzi Brian. It's always a happy day when packages arrive from Italy. I rather like the small rear fender, which I have on my Scura, although it sits a bit too high above the tire. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that GB have modified the bracket to make the fender sit closer to the tire (you can actually adjust it till it touches the tire, so be careful). Now it nestles between two rails on the swingarm, (it sat above the rails with the prior bracket.) It was also pre-drilled with mounting holes, which almost lined up with the bracket, and the holes were almost big enough for the included mounting hardware. So let's call those pilot holes. Dremel tool with small stone-cone bit required to get good fit and alignment. So, still kind of a weird shape on one side, still not perfect, but definitely improved. See thread re what makes these bikes quirky... Two reasons I like this fender: 1: it does a surprisingly good job of keeping debris off the lower shock mount and transmission. 2: you can see every inch of the beautiful swingarm, wheel, and final drive (unlike the massive stock unit that hides everything and shovels crap onto the aforementioned areas.) And possibly true but almost certainly irrelevant... it reduces unsprung weight on the rear.

I was doing some research for Joe Caruso on the latest iteration of his aftermarket oil pump and was postulating along with him on the reasoning behind using helical gears in the std pump as opposed to straight cut gears. I was looking at one of my pumps on the bench and the only advantage I could see was that as the gear tooth passed the inlet and outlet ports in the housing it did so in a gradual manner due to the angle of the tooth and not open and shut as a straight tooth would. I thought this would lead to less pressure spikes and a more constant delivery. So after about 3 hours of research I found that I was indeed correct and even found a pressure graph demonstrating the differences. Another puzzle solved and the satisfaction of realising that I had worked it out myself and the thought that maybe just maybe all the time I've devoted to thinking about "engineering" over the last 50 years or so has actually taught me stuff. A rare moment indeed. I once read as a teenager all about the pros and cons of Georotor pumps but have forgotten what they were, lol. Time to revisit. Ciao

Ever see a moment pass by when you have specific information, but wonder if it should see the light of day? This is one of those moments. There was a discussion about oil pumps back in the '90s when I was racing 883 Sportsters. They have a georotor oil pump. The question at hand, an academic one, is why H-D went to georotor after decades with a gear pump in that place. One guy who happened around during the discussion was an automotive engine builder of some renoun; he said he'd been told that gear pumps with high pressures had the problem of pressure spikes when they were too tight, and that bleeding mitigated those spikes. No consequence of those spikes was put forth. The trade-off was that idle oil pressure was reduced. Upon building a small-block Chevrolet for my pickup truck last summer, I saw offered a spiral-cut gear pump for high-pressure/performance applications, with the claim to reduce pressure spikes. The claim was that these pressure spikes increased hydraulic lifter pump-up particularly in 'stock' or 'limited modification' engines. Meh. Who knows? H-D went to the Georotor pump at the same time they started using hydraulic lifters in the Sportsters. I do know that in most American engines, distributor/oil pump drive gears are a point of failure, and it's critical to choose compatible components. Maybe there's something there on the durability scale. My daily navel-gazing.

It won't last. The issue is the orings swell in fuel because they are plain nitrile. I reworked a few to use Viton seals. It's the only long term solution. Ciao