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Always so great to see you guys! It occurs to me that if the bikes showed up, with no Spine Raiders, there would be no Spine Raid. Yet, even if the Spine Raiders showed up with no bikes, it would still be a Spine Raid!

. Still looking as if we'll be caging it ... ... but at least it's still looking as if we'll be there. B&K

I decided remove the things altogether and just use a blanking screw and store the adaptors with my sync tool. One less point of failure. Phil

I had a minor vacuum leak at one of the taps that gave me a fit before finding it. Similar fits when the rubber caps had cracked and loosened on the taps. For a time, I used shortened bolts to block the vacuum access, but one time the threads pulled out and I went back to the taps with silicone caps.

Eight weeks out. Changed engine and gearbox oil, Decent Tune-up, and addressed some niggles. Pondering matters of tires . . . [edit/46 minutes later: "pondering" turned into a fresh set of Pirelli Angel GT on the way . . . ]

The recurring take-away regarding "manufacturers' recommendations" : Due to the increasingly stringent approval regulations . . . This is certainly the case with reduced zinc and phosphorous (ZDDP) considered desirable for our flat tappet engines. The matter of PAO and ester base oils being obscured has much to do with what oil manufacturers can get by with (cheaper, easier to source base oils) while still marketing, and charging for, a "synthetic" product. A couple things I learned from well informed other sources about the desirability of pure (group 4 group 5) is vastly improved shear resistance (stable viscosity over the service life) and near-zero evaporative losses from heat (something to consider with air cooled motors with funky crankcase ventilation systems).

When it comes to Moto Guzzi, or other Italian brands actual or from the past, they seem to have liked giving names to their motorcycles. Some are extremely obvious and translatable in all languages, such as the Ducati "Mostro", that quickly evolved into its English moniker: "Monster". Our Japanese manufacturers were less inclined into that practice; well, if you remember the early days of Kawasaki two strokes, we had the Samurai, Avenger that evolved into S1, S2, S3, S4 and Mach III, H1A, H2 and so forth. The English were also inspired by strong names, such as Bonneville, Commando and the like. Of course, Suzuki and its Hayabusa, but before that, Bandit, Inazuma... Honda was a bit stern with the CB's and CX, but did venture into Hornets. Yamaha started with Yas and RDs, XT, FJ, but never really moved far away from these; not even with the VMAX, the Ténéré, or the Virago. So, the Griso.... if I am well-informed, the Griso was Moto Guzzi's attempt to take a ride on Ducati Monster's success. I am certain that some of you heard it before; the Griso, was an imaginary personage from a novel written by author Alessandro Manzoni. The story takes place in the 17th century, 1628/30 following the 30 years war; the final edition of the book was published in 1840/42. In English: The Betrothed. Il Griso, or in English, the Griso, was the Brave's chief; he was exploited at will for anything risky, unique. Just picture a hit man for a Capo Mafioso. The Griso was completely dedicated to his master, Don Rodrigo, having earned his complete trust. Described in English as: Griso, one of Don Rodrigo's henchmen, a silent and treacherous man. If you want to get an idea, a good example of the Griso would be "Tommy DeVito in the movie Goodfellas. In the movie, DeVito is not exclusively devoted to Jimmy Conway the way the Griso is to Don Rodrigo, but he does do whatever Jimmy Conway wants. Somebody in Guzzi must have read the book, and liked the Griso enough to name a motorcycle after him. I found the Italian original version on the Internet, I am going to read it. If anybody else is interested: I Promessi Sposi So, the Griso... a motorcycle named after a dodgy character, but Ducati did do the Diavel after all...

This might help someone. (and apologies if it has already been noted) I had carefully set the TPS by the book and the bike (2002 LeMans) suffered from surging when hot and abrupt on/off throttle transition and slight pinking at full throttle. The surging and throttle transition made the bike frustrating to ride. I retested the TPS it was still 160mV with throttle plate closed = not significantly different than where I'd set it last year. I then noticed that when the throttle was pulled open that the first motion was to take up throttle shaft wear. (to check for wear, grab the throttle shaft nut under the throttle body and move it side to side. The right side has more play that the left, perhaps because of the return spring. There are rubber seals on the shafts but may be unable to compensate for the wear or have failed after 23 years.) In one of the TPS discussions KiwiRoy suggested that because the voltage increase with rotation is not linear that the goal of setting the TPS was not so much to achieve precisely 150mV (or 157mV), but to make sure the setting was on the tail of voltage increase. I pictured the voltage increase as a curve similar to exponential growth with 150mV somewhere close to the baseline suggesting that at 150mV the computer can sense the TPS but is not yet altering fuel settings. After setting the TPS the manual states that throttle plate angle should be set to 3-3.5 degrees. I wondered how to do this because I don't have Guzzidiag computer setup, but another post (I forget who posted) stated that throttle plate angle at idle corresponded to 470-480mV. Another post stated that instructions for installing a new mixture map that the idle throttle stop should be set at exactly 475mV. My idle stop was at 311mV so I decided to experiment with changing it. I set the TPS to show about 470mV just as the throttle starts to lift off the idle stop. As the throttle linkage is pulled the first movement takes up play in the worn throttle shaft and the mV increases. All the play is taken up and the throttle starts to open at about 470mV but my TPS reads about 420mV when the spring holds the throttle against the idle stop. (differing amounts of wear should result in different idle stop mV) With the throttle plate fully closed (as in setting by the book) the TPS shows about 220mV. I then balanced throttle bodies side to side. The result is dramatic! There is no hint of surging even at low rpm and low speed and the harsh on/off throttle transition is mostly gone. There is no pinking. It has really improved the bike. Yes, I know there someone has posted a tutorial for replacing throttle shaft bushings. I have even bought new bushings and seals and will get to it eventually, but I am very happy with the way the bike runs now.

The paint on those GB500s was called black green by Honda. So I call mine the Black Green Meenie...

We all have spines, in various states of disrepair.

No, the 'Sport has 4 micro relays, same as used in the V11 1997, dunno if it changed from previous years.

Which is all the more reason to use Guzzidiag to set the idle speed.

That's the plan!

No get rid of it all. Phil

Fine to cap the intake taps and see if it changes your issue. I finally sourced silicone caps that hold up much better to the heat cycling and fuel exposure. With the tank off, you can "T" the tank vent and overflow together to route an exit behind the rear of the sump. I loosely zip-tie mine to the fitting for the oil evap return line. At some point, my funky, old tub-of-a-Sport started leaving a puddle on the lift, so I added a spooge catcher. I've never seen anyone devalue a V11 that was without the evap mess. When I pulled mine off the early Sport with dual canisters in the underseat tool tray, I found there was twenty (20!) feet of 1/2" US fuel line and the mess weighed five pounds. Of course, I saved it in the cabinet full of Sport stuff.

296km today up in the mountains. IPA time for sure. Cheers Tom. Sent fra min SM-S906B via Tapatalk

Just feeling a bit funky.

I just let AI do some work for me docc. First search "is Mobil1 a group 4 oil" Yes it is. Then I looked at the dates of the info. Did the same search with 2025 at the front and "no it's now a group 3 base oil" Looks like you were right AND Mobil have turned into the usual modern day corporate scoundrels. Bit like 50% of the packaged food these days in the supermarket. The shelf price is the same as usual but they gradually reduce the qty of the product. Cadbury chocolate bars used to be 200gms and now quietly they have been reduced to 180gms. Pringles moved their factory to New Zealand and the size of their chips shrunk. Corporate bastards. Phil

Three months (thirteen weeks) out, and Ken (the innkeeper) tells me there are four rooms (of 16) left at The Lodge at Tellico. Of the twenty-one years of this "South'n SpineRaid ", this is our sixteenth at this location. There are "reasons" we keep going back . . . Y'all come, now! Ya hear?

Recently, a fellow explained to me that motorcycles are essential to a man's survival, even if they are sitting in the garage just to be gazed upon. His compelling argument? "Dinosaurs didn't have motorcycles. Look what happened to them !"

I don't even know what the new one looks like. But the real one, the original GSX 1100 S, was one of the most significant motorcycle designs ever. And it was a good bike into the bargain. Allmoto

It would be someone's great find to locate a source for the mounting block complete with the receptacles . . .