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Replaced exhaust hanger that had gone AWOL (thanks @MartyNZ for the help), evened out the exhaust height/spacing. Snugged up a few bolts that were loosening (hoping that will stop the small oil seepage problem), swapped stock ECU for the Titanium Kit Racing one, replaced the rubber nuts on the belly pan, gave it a bath and checked the tire pressure, ripped around a bit and topped off the tank. Ready for a proper ride in a few days.

So now I know I'm using it correctly when I say I'm just putzen around in the garage.

What @docc said ^^^^^^^ Replace your relays with fresh ones; they do fail and are easy to replace; and check/clean/tighten the connectors in the base sockets. That would eliminate that factor from your diagnostic. CAIG DeoxIT is a proven contact cleaner and Picker Components PC782-1C-12S-R-X is the best relay of choice so far for the V11’s.

Fresh Picker Components high current relays would be reasonable. I have always run the OEM style Hawker Odyssey AGM, formerly known as PC545. YMMV

Thanks @docc @Speedfrog. New relays look to be about £2.20 each so that's a no brainer, will get them ordered up. Odyssey battery proving a little more difficult, the joys of living in Northern Ireland where UK places won't post to and NI stockists not listing the battery 😑

Well, I guess I shouldn't have expected perfection... whilst cleaning up the rear drive, noticed the main crown bearing feels... old. So, out with the old and in with the new. Not too happy about the apparent quality of the SKF installed at the factory- the contact pattern on the crown gear shaft shows evidence of Chinesium. Nothing $200 worth of Timken and new seal can't fix.

Thanks, I didn't get that far. Seems a bit of a shame to have dismantled it. It doesn't look too bad in that (rather blurry) photo.

I've ordered sealing washers in both reinforced BUNA-N and UV resistant EPDM for the rear drive. We'll see how they fit, and then how long they last. And a 10-pack of Picker relays. This thing is still wearing all 5 originals.

Scrolling down through all the images, the seller clearly shows the V11 sport they dismantled: 2003 "carryover" Sport (2002 specification like a 2002 LeMans), black 40mm Marzocchi.

Everything I have read here and elsewhere indicates that. The link to e-bay further up (which got us onto Ballabio forks) claims the forks in the ad to be Ballabio, but the damping adjustment doesn't match. I "extracted" this picture from the ad. It shows comp. damping in one leg and rebound in the other In contrast, the top of one of my fork legs, which are 43 mm. Both are the same, and both have rebound damping. Given that the Ballabio was later than mine, and therefore should have the 43mm forks, I'm assuming that the claim in that ad that the forks are from a Ballabio is simply incorrect.

Well, nearly.

Have you ever had a look at the inside of the inner bearing? You can't see it or remove it through the axle hole. When I reassemble this, everything in the rust-prone zone will be perfectly clean and given a good dose of Cosmoline, and I'll look into some way to improve the seal at the axle/swingarm junction. My drive has some scabs where apparently a non-stock washer was used with a too-big hole which allowed to droop out of the recess and mushed up the edges a little. While normal maintenance was done, the outer roller bearing in particular is either well-attended or had been replaced still with 60k miles it's seen plenty of heat cycles as well as probably rain and maybe even washed once.

Today's work Get it up, get the swingarm off Pull the inner axle bearing- looks Great!

In Grok we trust

Yes. I had my leathers repaired after an accident in 2017. The jacket on the front of the right shoulder, the pants on the left knee. I had them repaired because the DIDN'T have a hole in them, BUT ALMOST DID. I wanted them repaired in case there might be a next time in which I might be relying on those spots to keep the road away from my skin. Oh, and the helmet lost about 3 mm of material about where my right cheekbone is. A further argument, for me, to never, ever wear an open face helmet.

I just unpacked a new inventory. 2 will go out Monday. I have 9 on hand.

It actually rained just a bit 10 minutes after that photo. But she is dry in the garage.

You just washed it, so it's bound to rain.

Fit the mufflers and ride it and see how it runs. Probably won't need to make any fuelling adjustments but if you do start familiarising yourself with Guzzidiag. It's free and awesome for tuning. Phil

If you can get the ‘Toons repaired it will probably be worth it. A V11 with ‘Toons is one of the best sounding motorcycles ever built. As for getting it to run right? First a proper tune up, then remapif you feel it needs it.

So what happened did you guys get those Roper plates made up in the end and are there still any available

Hi Docc, the relays are marked as 0339A 32B, not seeing G8 marked on them. I'll pull them all tomorrow and give them a clean and pop them back in, I'll also check the spade connectors. Is there a decent battery recommendation to help all this? The current battery is marked as 2TX15L BS but at the local distributor ive been sent YTX15L BS and when I phone them I get told MG12B 4 🤦‍♂️

Yessir. Thanks for posting those details. This is exactly what happens when the right outboard needle cage gets neglected. That should be cleaned and liberally greased with a waterproof grease regularly. I do mine every tire change. For me, that is 3-4000 miles/ yearly.

...but it ain't. So, that little roller bearing on the swingarm end of the rear drive, that gets rusty if you pay it no mind? Well, behind that is a steel spacer which also gets rusty, and plenty of space for water to collect with no exit. This bearing looked *fine* from the spline side. But I could'nt rotate it with a finger, and you can't get it out without taking the crown gear out. Lo and behold. So this should probably be added to the 'every so often'/'x miles'/'x years' maintenance check.

I had to think about the wiring changes between the early and later V11, but I believe one of the common weak links in the relays is the NC contact of Relay#1/front. The NC contact is the lowest rated and only kept in contact by the internal spring, not the power of the coil. Bounce or poor contact in the NC contact of Relay#1 would definitely be suspect for the cut out symptoms.

The best kind. There's a bloke in the German forum that has this in his signature: "If God had meant motorcycles to be clean, there would be dishwashing liquid in the rain". I agree wholeheartedly. And another one: the German word for a vehicle is "Fahrzeug", literally "drive stuff", "Zeug" being "stuff". The verb "clean" is "putzen", and therefore cleaning materials "Putzzeug". You can see it coming: "Das ist ein Fahrzeug, und kein Putzzeug". "That is a thing to drive (ride), and not a thing to clean".

I’ll be on my crusty, rusty and dusty Tonti.

No need for any changes to the ecu no matter what exhaust you fit inc the secondary crossover. The std ecu will accommodate any exhaust. The "titanium" exhaust ECU supplied with the Titanium mufflers was just a marketing thing and an exercise in Guzzi putting their hand in your pocket. Same as it was for Termi cans on Ducati's back in the day. Pod filters are an abomination that will make your bike run worse than stock and give less filtering. Phil

Are those OMRON G8HE or G8HN? Either way, but especially for the G8HN, the critical ones could have aged out (#2 and especially #5/the very back one for the fuel and ignition). Also, inspect the Sidestand switch, actuator, wiring, and connections. Another "cut out" point are the spade connectors for fuel/igmitinn/ECU under the fuse block. It can be carefully pried up to inspect and secure these hidden wonders:

A1 -I stepped on a nail wearing flip flops once. It pushed a small piece of sole into my foot. They are for public shower use only. A2 -I brushed a high curb with the toe of my heavy leather boot while riding, maybe 40mph. It burned a quarter dollar sized hole in the leather, a smaller hole in my sock, and match head sized hole in my toe.

CARCs is good! Bring yer friends!

I gotta CARC bike....

IF you own a motorcycle engine and this plate will fit it , the plate needs to be on it.

The issue is long gone as long as V11 owners realize that running a true, properly rated and constructed, high current micro-ISO relay is the biggest part of the solution. (Issues like tight relay connections can be contributors.) Presently, this Picker Components relay meets or exceeds what we learned to expect from the (nla) OMRON G8HE: https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/picker-components/PC782-1C-12S-R-X/12352866 DATA SHEET