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I recently got my drop-top coupé back from an extensive, fifteen week, repair. The absence caused me some interest in all of your comments and experiences. Just back from a weekend drive of nearly 200 miles/ 322km, I so enjoyed the engagement offered by the top-down experience. At times, a pungent aroma would fill the cabin and I would look about for the fresh-mown hay field; same sensory intensity crossing creeks and rivers on my way. Much like what we know of motorcycling. In fairness, I wore an earplug in the inboard ear for much of the trip as the buffeting can be annoying. Also, the option of top up and A/C is ever present and available. Yet, all-in-all, I always come away thinking (and I quote from the Clint Eastwood movie Gran Torino), "Ain't she sweet?"

How extraordinary our forum, and very specifically @audiomick came through on this matter!

Yes, it's still hard to believe how well it all turned out, but I'm very happy about it!

Sorry, I missed this. Probably the reason they tend to weave and wobble at higher speeds is because their suspension is far from crash hot and those enormous bags at the back coupled with a big screen if fitted will make it very ‘Wandery’. I have to say I’ve never been enamoured with the 1100 Calis. To be honest I’ve never been keen on any of the ‘Tall Head’ Tonti’s. They abandoned what made Tonti’s original design so brilliant, it’s compact nature.

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

Decided to add an extra earth to the bike. Removed the connection at the back of the gearbox and gave everything a good clean, wire brush, contact cleaner. Reconnected tighter than two big bags of tight things together with the earth strap shown. Covered the connection with grease. The cable was precisely the right length to connect to the frame where the exhaust mounts (no risk of it coming into contact with the UJ). Cleaned all that up and finished as above. Painted the exposed metal with Hammerite Smooth Red (a very good match). Hope I haven't inadvertently connected it in such a way as to disturb the space-time continuum. ;-)

No worries, i didnt expect an immediate response (but frequently get one here ) I love the idea of this 1100 Cali but am getting increasingly frustrated with it. The suspension is certainly not up to handling the bulk of this thing. Removing the screen does help but i do use it on highways sometimes. I think I have a choice here. make it as good as it can be and live with it or go back to what i know. I still want a Stelvio, not the new one. Or a V85TT if i cant find a good Stelvio. Thanks Guys, will let you know if i get enlightened..

A French philosopher said once, you wear clothing not to hide, but to showcase. I think he knew what he was talking about... But if seems like GenZ and Millennials are no longer following the principle.

The key difference is the "temporary" emphasis. Yes, common lubricants can help get rubber parts assembled, but may also facilitate their coming back apart because they are not "temporary." In that regard isopropyl ("rubbing") alcohol can be a solution as it is "slippery when wet", but evaporates quickly. The P-80 is the engineered solution.

The concept of "bikini" comes to mind . . .

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

That's the only logical way to go at it, I reckon. The rubbers from the airbox to the throttle bodies retract into the airbox out of the way, so it makes sense to me to start at the engine end, put those rubbers on, put the throttle bodies on, and then put on the ones to the airbox. Much easier than it was on my GTR 1000 Kawasaki. Both the rubbers to the engine and the rubbers from the airbox were fixed in place. Getting the carburettor bank in required something akin to a set of tyre levers, much patience and brute force, and a plethora of cursing. Incidentally, someone mentioned further up replacing both the rubbers between the throttle bodies and the intake manifolds and the rubbers between the airbox and the throttle bodies. Good plan, but it is worth noting, I think, that the ones between the throttle bodies and the intake manifold are more critical. They are downstream of the injectors, and if there is an air leak there it will definitely affect engine performance. The ones from the airbox to the throttle bodies are upstream of the injectors, so a leak there will allow "dirty air" into the system, but should not affect the mixture and thereby engine performance.

As I've mentioned before the easiest way to fit throttle bodies and TB rubbers is to remove the inlet manifold from the head. The reason? because the TB's are set at an angle to the cylinders and the "natural" neutral tension position is only achieved when they are the correct distance front to rear from the heads. You can wrestle and grunt them around to flex the rubbers and make then fit but it's hard on the throttle bodies and their mounts. Far, far easier to simply remove the aluminium manifold straight push the manifold onto the rubbers and move the aluminium manifold forward again to align with the head surface and bolt it up. No stress no pushing and pulling. Phil

A related note: The T fitting on each injector is not symmetrical - one nipple is longer than the other. On my bike the longer side faces forward and the shorter side faces rearward and is connected to the hose that loops the injectors. So on the right injector fuel flows IN the long side, OUT the short side but on the left injector fuel flows IN the short and OUT the long. So it seems to me that direction does not affect flow but probably more for fuel line routing.

To be clear, part of the discovery here is not simply to stop pulling backwards (light touch) but to purposefully weight the bars forward. As Pete has said, the windshield and bags which I hadn't taken into account may add more to the poor feel at speed. Give the bars as much weight forward as you would a set of clip-ons, that will tell with certainty whether the wind and your bar pressure are any or all of the problem.

I found that it's much easier to install the rubbers onto the engine side first, as it's stable. Then the throttle bodies into the stable rubbers.

thanks everyone for your advices , after contacting a moto guzzi mechanic in belgium , they said that apparently you can put the new rubber without taking the body throttle out , ordered the pieces at TLM in Holland . Will keep you updated of the process . igor

Thanks for your post Rob. Our bikes are closely related for sure. I changed the mirrors hoping the rectangular, longer mirrors would let me see around me. They still aren't wide enough. The bars were set up with 4 inch risers when I bought the bike and give a sit up position when riding. Very comfortable. No regrets on the Puig windshield either. It covers wind buffeting well. I like the look of the tail tidy too. I expect the 2003 model isn't that different to ride than what we have in spite of the list of changes. Keep the rubber side down. Grant.

High quality 3M double side. Cover is insulated with that plastic stand off. Heat is not an issue. the PVC sleeve is more than capable of withstanding the heat. Throw a laser thermometer on that area next time you think it's hot.

Ahhh, I dunno. Naked is good, but a carefully considered bit of "clothing" is also definitely a good thing.

I mean, if you are going to sport, Sport Naked . . .

Welldone, @O2 V11!

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

Good morning from the Isle of Man. Had a scout around through the FAQs but couldn't see the answer to this question. Apologies if I've overlooked it. I need to replace one of the pilot bulbs. eBay shows two options: R284 (2.3w) and R286 (1.2w). I was going to order the 2.3w bulbs but before I did I thought I'd ask if there's a preferred option? LED perhaps? Thanks in advance for your advice. Off to watch the bikes come through Kirk Michael. :-)

Hi everyone , so yesterday i felt some air explosion on my left leg and the motor started to do some loud exhaust explosions , after stopping i realized the manifold was broken and ripped . So here are my questions , could this have cause some other problems in the engine , can this manifold be replaced without unmounting the carburator and would some have some links for this part in europe for my v11 le mans ? thanks a lot for your help here is a picture

While these relays are shown to be 35 amp NO/ 20 amp NC, it is not specified whether that is "continuous current" or inrush. I suspect it is the inrush value. This specification, then, over-rates the relay's capacity for carrying continuous current (our application). Re-reading the data sheets for the Pickers Components and the CIT, I see the rating on the Pickers Components is "Resistive" (continuous) and the rating on the CIT is "switching" (inrush?) . . . I am more inclined to trust the Pickers Components over everything else currently available. edit: I see, now the "HKE" is 35 amps "switching capacity: "Switching capacity 35A " Also, I see no declaration of contact material (silver alloy being preferable).

I was only looking at an easement of the task. As with any of the supplies we buy, we use them once, punctually, and then they expire, because the shelf life is short. I noticed, that due to the temperatures in Texas, some of my supplies don't last more than one usage.

Thanks! Yes those steering head bearings were on my list too. I have checked them for play and notchiness and they seem to be good. I could try the loosening greasing and tightening but am keen not to add any issues. But i need to have a good methodical approach. I will do a thorough service fit new tyres and evaluate after that. I will record what happens here for anyone else comes looking for info

Back in ol' Sportster days, every single one of them got loose stem bearings; there is a very specific procedure for tightening them and if too loose the bike would weave and worst case death wobble. Perhaps that got serviced?

Very nice. I also rather like the sort of thing that accentuates what is underneath.

Stein-Dinse has been mentioned. Wendel in Berlin has also has them, delivery a week or so https://wendelmotorraeder.de/hose_gu01114390-p-1034021.html?language=en&ref=expl and I dare say TLM in the Netherlands would have them. As has also been mentioned, they are available. Search a bit, and you may find a source nearer to you.

French national railways, I gather. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SNCF

Short answer: state of tune. FWIW, I gradually roll the throttle open while cranking and release it when it starts. When hot, I use no throttle or "high idle setting" and it catches instantly. This start was a little slow for mySport, but it is due a "Decent Tune-up" and, most especially, fresh sparkplugs.

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.

That seems the likely candidate to me. As you said yourself, if something is shorting out, it would be prone to blow fuses. If there is an intermittent contact somewhere, things will just stop working, and when you wiggle it all to get the contact back, start working again. Until the contact gets lost again. PS: it might be in the wire where there is a stress point, for instance, or a connector that is not sitting properly or going bad due to long-term poor contact.

True and actual rubber assembly lube: https://www.amazon.com/IPC-Emulsion-Temporary-Assembly-Lubricant/dp/B008AYUQVG

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

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.

See? this one is from Stein Dinse in Germany.

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.

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/

Are/were the same technologies used with the Western locomotives as the European locomotives ? No , I'm not stupid either. What I am asking is , did the technology advance faster in the 1800-1900s faster in the West than Europe ?

I know turning 137,000 miles doesn't seem like much to celebrate. But I'm celebrating, anyway. ( I intended this to be my 20,000th post, but I used that to reference fixing a broken link that @mikev had pointed out. As it should be, I reckon! )

Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale