Leaderboard

Back in February my brother came out for The One Show and despite it being a bit "brisk" we got out for a little ride. It was his first time on a V11 Sport. He didn't mind it. Fast forward to yesterday... He and a buddy went down to SC (not too far away) and snagged this thing. It wasn't expensive. Apparently the owner got some Italian lust and had to have it. Kept the bike inside the house. The master of the house (wife) wasn't too please with the new mistress and made him sell it. Very low miles. Engine paint is, of course, not good. The rest looks nice. Some sweet bits on those models. Olins and carbon everywhere! Not bad for not being green.

Thank you. Owned it since new and haven’t seen or ridden anything that gets under my skin like it does. Cheers!

Just the wear of the chain,sprockets and tensioner and associated timing shift. Plus the fact you have another failure point with the tensioner and when a chain is let wear badly they generally start contacting cases and producing metal. Then of course there is ease of maintenance. I was also surprised that I needed to crank the idle down 200 rpm on my engine when I fitted the gears which i assumed meant that there was less friction but it may have been timing related, dont know. Once you have a quality set of gears they should outlast the engine with regular oil and filter changes so there's no real wear related issues to consider. maintenance is easier in that if you want to remove the oil pump or cam retainer flange your not messing about with tensioners and pulling chains etc you just pull the retaining nut for what your working on etc. The only real advantages I can see for a chain is cost and maybe they are better able to handle debris in the engine oil if your a slack servicer or you have a significant internal failure the causes contamination. There's a reason high end engines use gear drives. You wont find an F1 of MotoGP engine using chain driven cams or chain driven anything really. Like gas turbine engine accessory drive gearboxes, no chains. Ferrari Ducati V4 Desmosedici Ciao

Wow, first two SpineRaiders from extreme opposite coasts of the country! Bravo, guys!!!

From all I can see, the bracket welded to the underside of the RedFrame is centered to the spine. The welded bracket is shown in the early workshop manual, but not on the dimensioned drawing! @Pressureangle , is this frame-to-engine/gearbox plate present on the 1100 Sport-i ? Here is a reference image of the connecting plate added to my Sport. So hard to even capture an image, let alone sneak in a roll of toweling . . . (View looking up and forward from behind the right throttle body, both injectors and linkage rod visible):

40 or 45 a few months ago. I forgot. call him, they're nice folks.

Well Dave, my brother tries to one-up me all the time too. Looks like he got a nice one. I think there are more V11 Sport/LeMans in houses and displays than any other motorcycle. Before I bought Brad's Greenie, I tried to get one that was in an Atlanta McMansion that was displayed next to a full grand piano. They are beautiful works of art aesthetically, well the Greenies are.

Italian Police Surplus Carabinieri Waterproof Motorcycle Jacket, New Sportsman's Guide carries top-quality discount Outdoor and Hunting Gear, Guns, Ammo, Fishing Supplies and more - all at great low prices! www.sportsmansguide.com There's $100 deal for surplus Italian Motorcycle Cop Jackets. It appears they are practical and well made. Armor, removable liner and rain proof.For $100, I thought I'd give it a try.Got my jacket. The size runs true, no need to get a larger size. I'd say it's the highest quality motorcycle apparel I've ever owned. Top quality. Three quarter length. Really heavy liner, almost a jacket in itself. Armor installed. Even comes with its own hanger and garment bag cover.The nits, are no vents, so it might be winter only? It's got those silly stars and left hand zipper. Yesterday, I had to test ride it. Low 70s here and 20 mph wind, would guess more like 30+.I took the liner out and did not snap the zipper fly. There are pass throughs in the two front pockets, I have no idea if they are vents or what the purpose is. Anyway, I found the jacket comfortable and breathable, just about perfect for the weather. In fact it seemed so breezy that I am wondering if it really is waterproof. I still wouldn't ride it in 90 degree weather but I think it's close to the same as my other (vented) textile jacket. Buffeting was good. I did about 80+ into that strong headwind and it was totally acceptable, then I noted that I hadn't cinched the sleeves down, so perhaps it's even better?This is my first 3/4 riding jacket and could feel the back armor go all the way to my lower back. I noticed the armor is much stiffer than the foam rubber stuff in my other jackets.One note on the sizing, the jackets run standard size, so they are larger than the normal motorcycle jacket. I usually wear a large tshirt, XL jacket and 2X motorcycle jacket. This 2x has plenty of room, I could have probably gotten by with an XL. But I was able to cinch it with internal cords, in fact I got them a little tight and loosened them.Nothing bad to say about it other than the little stars on the collar, otherwise it's neat, well made and functional. I could see this being a $300 jacket. Today I took it out in 84 degree muggy windy weather. Jacket was still acceptable, perhaps getting the larger size might help vent. I did feel some heat on the sleeves in direct sunlight but still acceptable. Normally I'd be wearing mesh today anyway. I think it's my "go to" jacket now.

Way back in the mists of time you used to be able to get helically cut steel gears that fitted the motors with the oil pump with roller bearings in and a (?) straight shaft but these were unobtanium by the 1990's as far as I know. The earlier 700, 750 and early Eldorados also used gears but the oil pump gear for these had a (?) tapered shaft and would not fit the later oil pumps. Now from memory the story with these, (Early type, not the ones available for later bikes.) gears was that they were cast steel of some sort and quite high carbon. This made them very tough but unfortunately also frangible. They were fine if you used them in a standard motor with the 'Lawnmower' cam, small valves and teeny-weeny 29 or 30mm VHB carbs but if you tried to 'Hop the motor up' in any way they were prone to shattering the cam gear. I had a set of the steel 'Factory' gears available through the aftermarket in my SP 1000 that over some 20+ years morphed into my little short stroke hot-rod. Being helically cut as well as being vernierable it was possible to shim the cam gear for incredible precision for cam timing which was a bit of fun back in the day, especially with a couple of the cams I ran back then! By the time I'd finished with it it was producing close to the 'Mythical' 100 hp/litre but I had to rev it so hard that it's oil pump would cavitate and big end shells were limited life items! The gears never gave me a moment of issue and when I wrecked the motor out in about 2008 I gave them to another bloke to use in his post-Classic racer where, I assume, they are still doing stirling service. That type of gear though are long, long gone. Nowadays the choice is chain or Joe's gears. Unless you want to play 'Timing chest lotto' with any of the execrable aluminium or alloy/steel composite sets.

What's wrong with it? I thought only the early models with the wrinkle finish had problems.

Dave, you’re from Oregon!.... u know nothing is water proof other than seam sealed neoprene and vis-queen 😎 They say the stitch is water proof, and it’s fine for a little shower on the way to work or along the way wherever. But if you’re really riding in the rain, which is an unfortunate reality in my riding life now and then, only a legit goretex shell over whatever else I’m wearing is really going to keep the water out. I prefer to have a “water proof” riding jacket, which is then fine for most riding and occasional rain showers, but any long trip means I have my goretex pullover in my bag and ready to put on over the top. Even jackets that do a great job of being seam sealed and all that, will still wick in somewhere, so the Pullover shell rules in my humble opinion.

Depends on which dealer you go to. Also where in this country you are.

That's the asking price and at a dealer. And it's in a language I can't read. Obviously going to be expensive.

I live in a high-cost country, so I'm possibly affected. $6000 for this repainted V11: https://www.finn.no/176491460

Hello At the end of last season I thought I had developed a main seal leak on my 2000 V11 Sport. Further diagnosed a week ago that in fact that the rear fuel filter line clamp was loose. Therefore allowing some fuel to come out and run down the engine along with some grease and minor oil sweat residue. Resulting in a minor dripping on the ground by the left rear of the engine. Probably because the bike leans this way on the stand. Anyways. Tightened the clamp and all is good again. Just FYI.

Yes, mainly the aluminum gear sets are bad. There may be a bad set of steel gears, but I don't know of them. The steel gears Joe does are art, and work brilliantly.

A red frame with an Ohlins front end? Sweet!

Hey Docc, You're right I should have added the qualifier, " not to install poor quality timing gears." Iirc I think our bike engines evolved, from a design originally based around a good set of timing gears, and do well with a good quality refit. Quality comes at a price; I've never looked hard at them, but my impression is good timing gears are either rare or expensive. I'm not into rare and expensive, so I cheaped out on my bike and cut my own timing chain from Mercebes Benz stock, partly due to ease of sourcing in Canada. fwiw ymmv Kelly

Only the aluminum timing gears are a bad idea, yes?

This is worth watching as a bit of a look back to the 500 two stroke days. The guys that rode these things really did have big balls. maybe not the ultimate speed of modern GP bikes but such handfuls. The opening song by Barnsey melds nicely with the slow mo action. Part 2 Ciao

Seagulls are the least of your worries at PI. The place can be crowded with Cape Barron geese. They make gulls look like pesky flies. Try headbutting one of these at any speed and you wont have a head. Marty Craghill hit one on the straight many years ago on his shoulder and it nearly finished his racing career permanently as opposed to 18 months out of action. Ciao

Fantastic looking bike. Up here in Canada the Scura wasn’t available so i added all the Scura parts including Ohlins forks and rear shocks to my 2000 V11 Sport. It’s now kind of like Scura, but with glossy black paint and carbon fiber front rotor. Good luck with the sale! If you took instalments I’d buy it in a heartbeat.. Regards, Francesco

Here’s a few more pics of the Centauro bracket against a metric scale (P/N GU37202805): By adjusting the size of the image of the V11 bracket on my screen to match the size of the earlier bracket that I have on hand I can see that the earlier bracket has more top hole offset / asymmetry.

Yea look at me I've got paper towels to throw around. My wifes still dreaming about childhood where she used to make toilet paper wedding dresses. Times do indeed change I make no comment on the measurement, I'm just the deliverer of the information although I've always thought it was around the figures mentioned previously. Ciao

RIP Gavin.....

Yes I'll certainly back you up John on the quality of Joes gears and his commitment to his customers. So rare to find these things these days. having said that there's not a lot to complain about with regards to the chain drive its more a matter of what your feelings are with regards to engineering elegance. Ciao

Don't be tempted by any of the alloy or alloy/steel composite sets available. They're all garbage despite what their fanboys will try to tell you.

I'm really looking forward to coming out from California to the S'xteenth South'n Spine Raid..and meeting some of the inmates from around the country........I booked my hotel room and inside parking space this morning!! Hopefully by then a good part of this lockdown can be lifted..I'm itchin to ride....CHEERS!

Pretty sure those are on KINDOY2's Rosso Mandello in California ?

Heat is the answer, it softens Loctite. A large soldering iron will do the job, I always use that trick to remove brake rotor fasteners.

I'm happy to report that the bike has been recovered. There is some damage to the ignition, seat and turn signal. It's still in the tow lot and I haven't gotten to check it out yet.

Jackets and pants, they shrink over time. I've got a wardrobe full of gear thats shrunken, I'm thinking of trying to get a class action up against all these manufacturers. Ciao

There are some long threads on riding gear for long tours; After reading a lot and wringing my hands, I did 10k miles and 8 weeks with an Aerostich Roadmaster suit, long sets of Underarmor, Thorlo socks and Gasolina boots. Aside from collecting a Patagonia thin hoody along the way, it was a perfect combination for credit card touring. I had one t-shirt and one pair of jeans, since I spent all my time riding. I would, though it may be heresy, consider having the bike transported and flying in if I didn't have at least a week on either side of the SSR to make the round trip.

I made the trip from SSR 2019 to Port Angeles, WA last year. There is a lot of...something less than exhilarating...geography to cross between corners. How much time do you have to spend? My first thought was to review the Members Map and see what route takes you near other members, may take a bit of the drudgery out of a couple days. Depending on what you're riding, your tolerance for speed risk and saddle sores, I'd say you might make better time on the secondary roads rather than interstate. I came up from Chattanooga to Little Rock to Shawnee OK, Liberal KS, Denver/Cheyenne/Yellowstone/Boseman MT. The only sufferage was western OK and Kansas in September, but though it wasn't exciting it was new and went pretty fast. Gas stops pushed the 1100 Sport's tank capacity to the limit. It's a trip I wouldn't trade for anything, and I'll do again some day when I can spend a bit more time in the places I wished I could have. <edit> oops ya 2018. Time flies.

I happen to have the tank off right now. I measured 124mm from spine to base of LH rocker cover, and 133mm from spine to base of RH rocker cover - the same 9mm difference that Docc mentioned. The V11 "hangs to the right." But it's only offset from center by half of 9mm (4.5mm). Not sure what to do with this information, but at least we saved Craig from trying to straighten his out. What a bunch of geeky motorheads we are.

Fixed it for ya, buddy. Oddly, it posted flush right causing the text to look like it disappeared . At first, I thought the post was blank . . .

Docc - looks like you got the same measurement in both pictures, which makes sense, because they are both of the left. Did you take a picture of the right side too?