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I've got a U.S. model that reads in MPH, not kilometers. Here's a pic of the plate on the head. It looks like mine was made in June 2002 although registered as a 2003 bike. I used the link to look up the serial number and it identified the bike as a Rosso Mandello which is consistent with the grey paint on the side panels and cowl when I got the bike. Those twin 320mm brakes on the front sure slow the bike down in a hurry :-). I got some Mothers grease and bug remover which combined with Autosol liquid metal cleaner made the exhaust headers much easier to look at. Grant.

I wondered if anyone was going to bring up the Shay..

I just did a nice 320km day trip in Friesland!

I discovered that old British show on YouTube... when it comes to humor, English are hard to beat!!

Guys…sorry for not acknowledging your replies sooner. I sincerely appreciate - got sidetracked. Have some time tomorrow, so will start digging in a bit. Fingers crossed. Back in touch shortly with results-hopefully positive. Have a good night men. Sean

Nice. I'm glad you can ride it again.

Follow Scud's advice. Done it both ways, taking manifold of, and carefully getting bolts back include L of swearing. And I put the boot in a kettle of HOT water, way more doable then. Dish washing soap works for me as lubricant. Stein Dinse or TLM have parts, and probably in your own neighborhood. Cheers TOM.

Grant, It looks like you have a similar bike to mine. A US spec 2002 model Sport Naked, not the Rosso Mandello variant. Your production number is reasonably close to mine, ZGUKRAKR53M114957. The Rosso Mandello was a short frame variant, yours is not. Our Sport Nakeds were available in Grey, a Citrus Green colour and Burgundy like yours. All had grey tailpieces and sidecovers. The insert in the sidecover looks like mine and not that of a Rosso Mandello. Yours looks like it has a tail tidy and different handle bars/ risers and mirrors fitted. What I call a 2003 model is a different beast, fuel tank, headers, gauges, engine paint and colour schemes were among the changes made. Rob

See? this one is from Stein Dinse in Germany.

There are four rubber boots in total. Loosen the two rear ones that connect the airbox to the throttle bodies. Then you can push the har plastic tubes back into the airbox, which will give you room to back the throttle bodies away from the heads and remove the broken rubber boot(s). It doesn't sound like any further damage was caused, since the engine was running for quite a while with the broken intake boot. This is a common problem, because those parts wear out from age and vibration. When you put everything back together, put the new boots on the heads, then connect the RH throttle body, then the left. (since the RH cylinder is farther forward, connecting RH first gives you a better angle when you connect the LH throttle body.) Then attach the intake pipes from the airbox and tighten all the clamps.

Shay is an inline 3. Heisler is a V2.

From what I recall from my '02 Le Mans I didn't have to take anything off, but there was some prying and WD40 involved.

Does a locomotive with a transverse V2 driving an in-line geared shaft drive remind you of anything familiar?

This got me thinking about how much our Texas members > RIDE >> Maybe trying to " . . . lose those Lone Star Blues . . . " (How many celebrity "stars" do you see in this video?)

Just got back from an almost 1,200 mile trip on the Quota, mostly Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia. She did great, best tank was 44.5 mpg, worst was 38 mpg, average was a touch over 42 mpg. She ran great, I was basically up one gear when cruising. I do get an odd miss when cold, but only 2 or three times the whole trip. I did get a touch of spark knock in 5th climbing a steep hill, it was the tank with 89 octane and not 93. I did plenty of heavy throttle hill climbs before and after and no issues with 93 in the tank. The bike ran much better, smoother, more responsive, just more enjoyable. I'll pull the plugs tomorrow and give them a look. Oil temps were good, liquid cooling (rain) does a great job. They stayed about the same as testing, it did get hot in traffic in town, up to 220-240, but dropped quick enough when back up to speed. I really enjoyed the Quota as a touring bike, both bags were fully loaded, and it was still fun on the twisty roads, and it was comfortable cruising 4 lanes at 65 mph.

It's a reason for that, winning I mean. Going to Assen again this year. Cheers Tom.

I'll field this (not in Pete's place) When you feel this instability, lean forward and push the bars forward to see if it stabilizes. High-speed weave is less a function of brand than of wind pushing you rearward causing you to pull on the bars, which are engineered to have some weight on them. The dynamics are aeronautic-level complex but not too hard to cure once you see the symptoms. You can find hundreds of examples of wind-weave on YouTube- right up to 'tossed off hard'. Worst that can happen is I'm wrong.

On another fanatical note, the T1 trust has secured an assembly facility in Denison, Ohio less than 2 hours from my shop. I'll be discovering whether I can force my way in to touch anything. https://prrt1steamlocomotivetrust.org/

I have spoken with a a Guzzi guru who is a very experienced chap with Guzzi. (Mike de Clifford) Like you all said it needs a decent tune up! He knew straight away as did you guys! well beyond my knowledge!! So I’m taking it to him this weekend! Pete I had my Griso for 16 years. never really had an issue with it, except for lack of grease where it was required the most! The only other thing that I could probably say was condensation in the clocks.

I only know the Guzzi of helicopters.

I still remember the peculiar smell of the steam locomotives. In the 60's, while on vacation, each day I was going to the station to witness the departure of the train from Quiberon to Auray. The locomotive was a 231 Chapelon. The engineers were seeing me every day, and one time, they got me inside the cabin, and showed me the fire.... I will never forget the experience. At the time, I decided I was going to be a steam locomotive engineer.

His 242 A1 beat the fastest Diesel/Electric locomotives of the time. If you want to read something that is going to captivate you, I recommend this book; I own an original print like the one below. La Locomotive à Vapeur, André Chapelon currently sold on Amazon for USD 90 dollars. It is translated into English.

WE were discussing steam trains the other night and I told my wife , a steam locomotive EXISTS . It is alive , it breathes , it inhales , exhales , it does everything. No other form of transportation did , does or will do this .

It's badly designed, the electrics are dreadful, and it'll be a yoke around your neck and a drain on your wallet. Also, the parts to repair it are unavailable and expensive. I'm guessing here, but I could go on.

I do not think this would necessarily qualify for being the Moto Guzzi of locomotives, depending on what meaning you want to give it. As someone who actually loved steam, and had the opportunity to grow up when steam locomotives were still operating, while being phased out, if I had been born in the USA, I would have most likely picked the Big Boy. Now, if we want to really give the prize for the best ever, the Moto Guzzi of steam locomotive, I would award the title to the Chapelon 242A. André Chapelon was one of the prominent genius of the Steam locomotives. His magnificence was illustrated by the 242 A; this is the mother lode of Steam Locomotive. So good, that the French Railways scrapped it as fast as they could, since it was better than their diesel powered locomotives. I wish they had kept that locomotive for the museum, but as even politics were stronger than engineers. They made the best steam loco ever designed to disappear to not shadow electrical traction.

So, I've finally patched the bike up, and it's once again looking great! I still need to replace the windscreen, but it didn't want to fit properly anyways so I had to drill new holes just to get it on there. The frame of the fairing is a little bit asymmetrical and that's probably the cause of these fitment issues.

I appreciate the help and info. I have to put it to the side for a week as its time to head to work and other things but thanks for reaching out and I will take you up on that help for sure. Thanks

hmm... I am waiting for the eBay one, said to reach me sometimes around the 7th of June. If the bevelled box is too beaten up, and I don't like it aesthetically, then I will get the current one reconditioned with a set of new gears. It does not matter the cost; where I am going, I will not need money anymore.

Brother , I hear you on the "head above water" part. This version of a M/G needs appreciation more than adoration. It came out w/a lot of electrical problems that showed up in old age. The fuel system was tuned for an area that I am not sure exists . We all have found out the personality issues w/these bikes . If you need a bike to work on , you will enjoy this forum. Internet communication can be difficult to interpret. A terse response can sound like a smartass answer.. The fuel system on these bikes require perfect tuning , just like EFI systems do on your car/truck. They are all tuned to borderline lean so if it goes any leaner it gets hairy. Hang w/us and hang out . Any time you need any or a lot of info , PM and I will give you my cell # .

No need to heat, it's just plastic. It will curve just fine.

Tidy little bracket! Of the four Eagle medallions, only the one on the alternator cover has a slight curve to it? The factory aluminum one can be bowed a bit to fit. Can yours be heated and similarly bowed?

Almost a press fit. Need to clean off the cover and stick it in. One more proto and I think I'll have something.

Nope, neither. I have a sterile 1970 Honda 750 basket case chopper that I want to return to stock for the most part, a 1987 MG SP2 with 157,000 miles on it, and 1999 Suzuki Bandit 1200 with 38000 miles on it that just works and is my shop and chore bike and a 1981 Yamaha SR500 thats for sale and a 1973 MG V7 sport. I'm currently looking at a Honda Hawk GT650 as I want a lighter bike that has a electric start because after getting hit at 45 mph on my 2002 Lemans by a 84 year old man in a SUV... I limp and have a bit of trouble with my hip and kickstarting.... I'm busy trying to keep my head above water and its a chore.. gladly accepted chore for sure but never the less a chore for each bike done lovingly. Its what I like to do and when posting on here I'm really just hoping for a magic answer that solves the issue but when you get hit with tons of places to look it can be just as over whelming as the issue itself . My original post on here was about fuel injectors and having gone down that rabbit hole with thoughts and other places to look I realize that there is a ton to know. I had a 2008 MG 1200 sport that had the magic box from Guzzitech and it made the bike run rich as hell but it work well for the most part. The guy that runs that is pretty hard to talk with and so your on you own when figuring things out. I got that bike running well after doing all the things suggested which is what I will have to do with this one. Its hard to be a hobby mechanic and keep up on all the nuances of each bike, but life is short and I will ride as many as I can before I go... Sorted out a Ducati Monster S2r 1000 and rode it for a bit and then sold it to buy this bike which sat for most of its life... So I'm stoked that it is running and fine tuning will take a bit, but it sure felt good to ride it. So I choose neither pill and as far as a meaningless life goes.. 2 wheels are 2 wheels and when your riding it feels great no matter what you ride... I have a vintage bike group and I have had probably 100 bikes in the last 10 years from Hondas to Ducati's to moto guzzis and two stokes and stopped short of buying Nortons and Velocette as it was above my wheelhouse in cost and mechanicing ... Its all for fun and if life is meaningless on a bike your doing it wrong... PS, the bike I was talking about was done by Mike Velasco who was a factory AMA race mechanic for 35 years and it was a Kawasaki ZX12r and it was anything but meaningless when hitting triple digits. It had 185 hp and 105 foot pounds of torque... it was scary fast...but damn it was fun for the 2 years I had it... Cheers my friend

Well , are you braggin' or complainin' ? If I wanted Utopia , I'd take the blue pill and buy a sterile Honda and live a meaningless life . Instead , I will ride a M/G and enjoy my life !

I have had 4-cylinder bikes that put out 3 times as much HP that were easier to work on and they needed less of it. My goal is to get back to the bike I remember before I was hit on it and this one is much nicer. So much to know on a simple 2 valve motor... but its worth it in the long run.

Unfortunately , getting this bike in PERFECT condition is demanding and you have to follow every step to perfection to achieve any type of happyness .

I only skipped through that, but I noticed two with Pirelli Phantoms and clip-ons. I'd have one of those. I rather hope that there will be a model at some point with the V100 motor or a derivative thereof and clip-ons. Not holding my breath, though. Interesting that there was a California just before the end, and it looked a lot like a 1400 motor. I thought they were history. Maybe not.