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What? You aren't using the Guzzi spec "white" oil so you could see it on the black dipstick?? I drilled a series of 1/16" holes in it, and that worked.

Good idea, another mod I've seen is to dimple the stick metal or plastic. Can't help think a flat metal stick would be better, like you used to get on older cars. I purchased the flashlight after losing 3 pints of oil when an oil cooler hose started to leak (you see now why I prefer to overfill). The subsequent Motorcycle Accident Invetigation Team report cited "user ineptitude" as the root cause of the failure. In accordance with the mandatory recommendations both lines were replaced. My main worry was too little oil, as if you're obeying the stick marks waaaaay overfilling isn't an issue with a "Roper Plate" installed One more thing the Australia with its solid belly pan, collects all the oil at the front which then blows rearwards and exits in the vicinity of the rear tyre. Coating the rear tyre with engine lube provides early fault warning, preventing premature engine failure by potentially trashing the whole bike insted.

I did what Chuck did, drill holes in the stock black plastic dipstick. They make it much easier to see where the oil level is. But I agree, the stock set up is hard to see. It should have the holes from the factory. Classic engineering fail.

A classic move when installing a Roper Plate is to install the oil dipstick while the plate is in place and mark the dipstick right under where the plate is relative to the dipstick. You can drill a couple holes there in the dipstick and use those to set oil level. As mentioned, with the Roper Plate installed you should be able to run the oil level right below the plate with no issues.

I saw this guy live at The Tampa Theater about 1980-ish. What a captivating showman . . .

Fwiw, the 35mm negatives have worked great for me over the years but I've not yet tried it on inverted forks. And, the film thing didn't work on my Wing last Fall so I bit the bullet and bought a Seal Doctor at RevZilla. The Seal Doctor worked great! It was hard to believe how much crap the Seal Doctor pulled out over and above what the 35mm film had removed. While I do my best to routinely make sure my fork tubs are clean and free of bug goo & dirt, the newest bike I have now is in excess of 16 years old so if I do experience a fork leak that film or Seal Dr can't resolve, I really can't complain. Also, FWIW, check this guy out....

There are so many great cuts on her 2003 release, Retrospective . . . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Retrospective%3A_The_Best_of_Suzanne_Vega

Well the Germans were way in front of everyone. Part of the reason they used inverted V12 engines was ease of maintenance. On a ME109 for instance the crews could do most of the engine work from the ground without stands by simply opening the bottom engine cowls to access the engine top end where most of the maintenance items were. On a Merlin you were working from a stand 6 feet off the ground on top of the engine cowls. Phil

Flight line, LFAB

That link leads to a Yamaha for about 17 and a half thou. . Who wants a bloody Yamahahaha?

+ 1 on the SealMate! And the oil level can be checked with the forks mounted if you have a way to support the bike safely and let it down to fully compress the forks with the top caps off. This is by using the "air gap" method to determine fill level.

I used SealMates on my Stelvio forks. They were leaking pretty good. Lots of crud came out and now everything seems like it should be. So that either means the fork is out of oil or there is oil and I fixed it. Only thing I dont know is how much leaked out for the previous owner. I don't think you can check oil level with forks installed. So if I take them out, new seals and wipers go in.

I copied Chuck's method so I wouldn't have to dig deeper into my wallet for the stuff that shows up better on the dipstick.

Great song writer...!!

Looks a lot like an 80's TV show to me. Great song.

That people who do things like this should be castrated and choked with their own testicles That is all.

Our air cooled, V-twin big block Guzzi are a good example of design based upon maintenance and reliability goals. The whole spineframe chassis, as well. The ease of wheel removal, brake service, and battery access is admirable, IMCO. Sure, there is that "tank off" thing for the air and fuel filters, but I've seen worse.