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Many thanks, @p6x! Before and after pics of the Kangol (before pic itself was after removal of Green Bay Packers patch and attempted but failed supergluing of larger patch). Cheers, Frey

The Greenie's booked in for a new set of shoes on Friday! Went with another pair of Angel GT 2's as this set has seen it all (apart from snow and Ice) in the 18K and never once did they misbehave. This also includes 10k of usage before the suspension was sorted and serviced so I'm bloody impressed. Cheers Ps can't wait!

When it comes to alternate tire sizes, there's some leeway with the rear. Better handling, go 170. I guess you can go 160? I know 170 works really well. 200 is the max. I tried it. I didn't like it. You'd thin more of a contact patch would be better, but too much sidewall can get a little wabbly when pushing it. At least it did for me. As for the front, I wouldn't really deviate. You're certainly gonna feel it. I would think less sidewall would be better. As for Kenda.. Why? If it's budget, check out the Dunlop GPR300. I slapped them on my Scura because I had to register 4 motorcycles at the same time, so it was budget... And they're pretty friggin good. I've heard people getting 5-6k out of them, which isn't that bad. Not great, but not bad. And they don't get squirrelly. Even on hot desert asphalt. https://www.cyclegear.com/tires/dunlop-sportmax-gpr300-tires?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjw3NyxBhBmEiwAyofDYXXG43QbbctgWl8zWOF9B2R5dT6091ZXcm7It6JaEIW3GGBMQMxenxoCOxMQAvD_BwE

Thank you, again, @p6x !

What a total wanker. The bike was rubbish years ago when it was first released and still is. As for British made wank? Well, Wheels and suspension aren't just for starters. Foot pegs and carriers that look like something I made in my workshop. Rubbish sold on "Britishness" that doesn't exist and poor quality, masquerading as rawness and simplicity. Phil

Make sure you get everything as clos to 90degree angles and the same angle to get the best shift possible. A VERY old crane mechanic stressed the importance of this to me and I do it as much as possible.

The reduction in engine capacity should change the aerodynamic needs, but it won't make them go away. It will make the bikes harder to ride. It likely won't reduce speeds anymore then it did last time they tried smaller engine capacity. As to safety, the smaller engine capacity bikes were arguably less safe as they meant racers had to carry more speed through the corners as the bikes lacked the torque of the larger engine displacement. That tends to lead to more highsides. I am sad that they aren't banning aero, but okay with banning the ride height devices. But the reduction of engine capacity seems misguided, like they don't remember history. The worst thing about all this is we are at a place in time where everyone is so close, and a rules change like this will likely spread the field out as some teams / manufacturers will get it more right then others will.

At one South'n SpineRaid we measured the "standoff" of the threaded part of the pivot pins on six or eight spine frames. I had already taken great pains to set mine to center my tire contact patches to one another using a laser. The conclusion came down to : turn each pivot in equally until they bottom, then back each off very slightly to unload the inner bearing races.

Yeah, that's not so much the problem, although they do get a bit flat in the middle. It's more the front tyres. Not so much that the profile dissapears, but that you (can) get very uneven wear happening. In particular, what is known as "Sägezahnbildung" in German, i.e. "saw-tooth developement" more or less. That thing where the tread blocks wear more on the leading edges, and you get steps developing from one to the next. I've had front tyres that still had enough profile to be legal, but were really not good for the handling on the bike. Tyre pressure is critical. Too little pressure accelerates the process dramatically.

Are you sure those tires are radial tires? Pretty sure they aren't. Kenda does make a radial tire, the KM1. And it does come in the right sizes for a V11 Sport. Neither of those tires are the right size for a V11 Sport. And not being radials will probably mean less miles of use and not sure how they would handle on a bike made for radial tires.

Just installed Michelin Road 6’s 👍🏼, in stock short frame sizes 170/60ZR17 & 120/70ZR17

I certainly do: 160/60. Not sure about the 160/70 on the short frame Sports. Pretty sure I've never heard of 130 on the front of a V11. Plus I'm really not convinced a bigger tire will automatically provide more longevity. (Just a reminder that all LongFrame V11, 2002-on, have a 5.5" rear rim that were delivered with a 180 while many find a 170 nicely suited to the larger rim.)

The Norton Commando has been trying to resurrect from its ashes several times now... Let's hope this time it will be real! I really like its looks and how it sounds.

Ha ha. Don't hold back now mate! Hilarious.

No docc C3 just refers to the bearings internal clearance. The V11 wheel bearings are the classic single row deep groove ball bearing as an example. Phil

I don't back them off docc, too much chance of introducing freeplay. All single/double groove ball bearings will accept a decent amount of axial load and commonly do in practice. It's when it becomes excessive it's an issue such as when the wheel bearing spacer is too short and the amount of torque applied by the axle nut has to be tolerated. Remember even in that case the wheel bearings still last quite a while. In the case of the massive double row ball bearings at the pivot a small amount of preload is preferable to zero or clearance. When I say small I mean "nipped up" to coin an Aussie phrase. Maybe 1 foot pound or so. Think about ball races in a car gearbox main shaft and layshaft for example restraining the lateral force imposed by helical cut gears and 5 or 6 hundred foot pounds of torque generated by the engine. The Koyo bearing catalogue also backs this up for deep groove ball bearings and advises if axial loads are large to increase the shoulder radial depth in the housing. So they accept that significant axial loads will sometimes occur. Phil

I just had a wee look but not enough time to watch all of it... Think you might be right about the public school twat ha ha . Anyways I don't think they ( Norton ) got it right with the standard Commando,To me the pipes are wrong and the tail lights embedded in the rear cowling look ah crap. Having said this, I think they got it absolutely spot on with the Dominator version, but this was under the previous management. (or lack thereof). That version is one of the best looking bikes I've seen. Cheers Ps I also prefer v twins though.

Well, the bike is pretty. The film is mediocre. The camera person is an amateur, and they don't really have the audio sorted. Wind noise should not ever happen. And the bloke corresponds almost perfectly to the classic stereotype of a public school twat. Ok, that is not really fair, and perhaps says something about my personal predjudices, but still... But the bike really is pretty. Pity I don't like parallel twins.

…will do just that, thank you @docc

The reason I was considering these sizes, is because they didn't come in the OEM size. I didn't want sport bike tires because most of my riding is straight freeway. I wanted this particular model because they are longer lasting, due to better center compound. I'm sold on Kenda, many good experiences with them, both with street and dirt, they represent great value. I may just go with their sport bike tire model, KM1. They are available in the correct size.

I beg to differ. If you are constrained to the consevative 110 km/h that is allowed in Australia, yes. If you are really on an Autobahn, it depends entirely on how fast you are prepared to ride. My normal cruising speed on the GTR 1000 was about 150 - 160 km/h (average, mind you. Peak around 180 km/h. More than that, and I start getting nervous on public roads...). That, particularly on that heavy bike, is not exactly conducive to long tyre life, front or rear. And smooth B roads are only the norm in southern / western Germany. Here in the region around Leipzig, and in fact all of what was the DDR prior to 1989, you get everything from freshly made roads through "patches on the patches" to cobblestones. Makes a trip across country through unknown territory quite interesting. EDIT: having said that, even around Heilbronn, where I lived previous to Leipzig, there were some pretty shitful roads. That is in Baden-Württemberg, which is a pretty well-off state, but some of the back roads are still pretty ordinary.

The most complex and contentious subject in the automotive and motorcycle world, tyres. In theory a wider tyre on the same size rim should have a flatter profile so put more rubber on the ground even upright so all other other things being equal less weight/square CM you should get improved tyre life but it's obviously far more complex than that. One thing I learned a long long time ago was the thing that truly kills rear tyre mileage is stop start traffic conditions. Every time you accelerate the mass of the bike from a standing start it multiplies the wear exponentially compared to steady state riding. And I don't mean hard launches either just the normal bike riders urban riding from a stop to 60kph or so. Add riding on our type of not so smooth B roads on the weekends in our hotter weather and rear tyre life is pretty poor. Cool European conditions, smooth B roads and Autobahn cruising makes for decent tyre life. Phil

So, yes, Tenni had a black seat (like all other V11), but were delivered with a brown (faux suede) seat. I would consider it a good sign the brown seat has stayed with the bike.

don't love the design myself either, but this is the reasoning for it:

Wow. Love how they turned out. I'm partial to this green and they did a great representation of it. It will perfectly cover the HD logo on one of my jackets. Thank you again sir.

The Allen head bolt in purple is the one you want lubricated well . When I did my rigging , I got a l.h. threaded rod end and a stud that had l.h. and r.h. threads so I could adjust the shift lever height. A great improvement. I think I got this stuff from Midwest Controls ?

Have you downloaded the manuals Greg Bender made available? They're about 10MB. https://www.thisoldtractor.com/moto_guzzi_misc_spare_parts_catalogs___exploded_parts_diagrams___parts_fiche.html

You were mistaken: those are jugs!

Something about those jugs...

I run a vintage Gilera group, with few members. An offshoot of the old Yahoo group days. Mr brother, a big shot businessman, suggested increasing the group's internet presence to get more people, so I posted a vintage Gilera advertisement photo ... and two members just quit. Is this really that salacious, that over-the-top? I'm just trying to stay afloat in these facebook days.

Everyone wants to say the V11 is heavy. Depends, I guess. My first liter bike was a first-year GoldWing. I pared it down to a sport-tour trim. Not to the degree shown below, but that big valve, big carb, hot cam, first year motor was a rippin' delight! At 650 pounds it makes the V11 Sport a comparative lightweight . . .

Hi All, Fwiw.....

I did the same as Tom; added terminal blocks. A jumper goes to each battery terminal, so there are only 2 connections to each battery terminal.

After almost 2 years of searching for a good low-mileage one, my Le Mans arrived yesterday! Bone stock, and only 12k miles. Thanks to Qtip for responding to my WTB ad. Already have the carbon fiber Mistrals ready to install today!

Leave it alone.....looks better .

Uh, is it too late to say "set them back to the same depths they were at before you removed the rear swing arm?