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Showing content with the highest reputation on 07/01/2022 in all areas

  1. When The Kid got his first Guzzi, he called Gordon at MGcycles to get an oil temperature gauge that fit in the dipstick hole. Gordon said, " I know you are an aircraft mechanic and can see why you would want one. I'll sell you one, but you won't like what you see sometimes, and then what are you going to do about it?" "Good point, Gordon.. never mind."
    6 points
  2. And with the V11's glide ratio only slightly worse than that of a Seabee...
    3 points
  3. Then a friend gave me this DT 125. My life is now complete. I'm going to get my contact info to Phil so we can get his box shipped when he is ready. And I owe someone for a part I bought on here. I need to take care of that. But that's it for my participation in this thread. When parts for the V11 finally arrive and progress is made we shall return. Until then, my love goes out to my fellow Guzzisti
    3 points
  4. The Speed Twins are priceless family heirlooms and will illuminate my workspace. One lights up red, the other blue. Like I said, totally classy.
    3 points
  5. The mighty V11 must take a temporary back seat. Summer's here and the time is right for hanging plywood sheets, boy. My shop.
    3 points
  6. Yeah, my sweetie loves art deco. When we built our house she was the "designer" and I was the "making it happen" person. Here are our bookends on the coffee table books area.. When she was out in SoCal, I found and pulled wires, put a new switch in, put a new socket in, found the bulbs, did some paint work, etc. for her birthday. I think is is more Jetsons than Art deco.. but she loves it, and so do I.
    2 points
  7. you don't need one, you want one. It makes for better positive shifts. Some order more than one to get the numbers up to make a mfg run possible, and in case another V11 lands in the garage.
    2 points
  8. I just hope @p6x doesn't ask about a gear indicator Phil's comment on a pressure gauge at your knee, raised a wry smile, my R9T has just that & to read the dipstick temp on the Guzzis similarly requires me to look down to read it, with the Australia I need to get off the bike. Although not 100% certain, I don't believe BMW provide any form of warning on loss of oil pressure on these bikes, not even a light, so I installed a gauge. I only glance at these gauges ocassionally, as and when it's safe to do so. That either confirms or rebutts what I'm guessing might be occuring. I find it reassuring and can concentrate on the ride, rather than the lingering nagging doubt in the back of my mind, but I'm paranoid. IMHO it's personal choice there isn't a right or wrong answer, I understand and agree with some of the arguments against. I could also make a reasonable case to counter some of these arguments but I really cannot be arsed.
    2 points
  9. It's cool docc, I just look at things like modifications and subject them to the rationalisation test. I've seen people fit mechanical OPG's to the handlebars with a plastic tube carrying oil from the oil gallery under pressure to the back of the gauge with all the vulnerabilities and risk that entails. Sure you can get away with it on a car where if the tube or connection to the back of the gauge fails you'll just have a massive mess to deal with but imagine a plastic flex hose flexing every time you turn the bars and if you have a failure it's hot oil under pressure straight at the riders face basically or at the very least showering hot oil over the rider and bike. The other issue that amuses me is the same people that fit OPG's and oil temp indicators then start to wonder "what's normal" indication. They get a variation or indication thats a little different and they're on the internet seeking answers to issues they don't really need to be aware of in the first place. There's a good reason motorcycles dont use OPG's and oil temp indicators. Its because your attention is far better allocated to watching the road and things that may kill you and a simple effective LOP light is all that's needed to warn you of impending engine problems. Someone here years ago had an OPG mounted on a V11 Le Mans down on the horizontal face of the fairing side so to see the indication you had to basically look at your left knee! Cars on the other hand mount their gauges at somewhere approximating eye level or close to it however even the car world acknowledges the bullshit most engine gauges are with the exception of the coolant temp. My Focus RS has a 3 gauge cluster mounted on top of the dash in the middle pointed at the driver. Oil temp, oil pressure and boost pressure. All of them are ECU controlled indications not actual. So they are derived and calculated indications because the last thing Ford want is the punters comparing and questioning indication differences between owners. This is common practice in the automotive world. Give them gauges to make them feel good but because the average owner has zero mechanical expertise and is unable to interpret what they are seeing indicated and the reasons for variations we just let the ecu present an indication based on general parameters. So oil pressure indicated will be a function of engine coolant temp, engine rpm, and oil temp. Zero to do with the actual measured oil pressure. Cool, a semi faux gauge cluster. Personally my only justifiable additional gauge is a clock. I fitted one to my bike and the location I hate so next time the tank is off I'm moving it to a more discrete location. Why a clock? One reason only, we have 3 hours of school zones a day here and they aren't always indicated by flashing speed signs and are Policed so you need to know the exact time during certain periods of the day or risk a heavy fine or loss of licence. Phil
    2 points
  10. just curious. anyone know why they call them idiot lights?
    2 points
  11. Those are magnificent. I'm always on the lookout for that style of art deco lamp mooching around antique shops. Even the repro ones are nice. I had a lovely one at one time but the ex got it years ago in a settlement and I've been looking ever since. Phil
    1 point
  12. +1, and my point to, ride it the way good truckers do, look ahead, keep the speed up, enjoy the ride. Cheers Tom.
    1 point
  13. 1 point
  14. Sorry I'm just now seeing this - I'm not on the forum very often. I'll take one. Thanks for making another run of them!
    1 point
  15. We're a "pretty secure" site, but I would suggest putting that contact info in a "Personal" Message to @Chuck. Just hover over his username and select "Message." Once done, let's edit your post to better safeguard your security @LaGrasta.
    1 point
  16. Thanks for explaining @footgoose. Okay, I'll take one please @Chuck, confirm and I'll Paypal. Anthony
    1 point
  17. …late to the party. I haven't even got my 2003 V11s running yet. Assuming I will, do I need this mod? As I read other post, it would seem it's a marked improvement, easily notable once completed. I don't want to be left out, lol. I'll order one, but am confused as to why many of you are ordering more than one.
    1 point
  18. "I feel like funkin' it up . . ."
    1 point
  19. I'm pretty happy with my funked-out V11. It has mostly everything on it you guys have said was a good idea at the time. I suppose I'll need serious counseling later in life . . . Otherwise, I am pleased this thread got to grow legs of its own . . .
    1 point
  20. Don't get me wrong. If someone wants a gauge by all means fit one. The thing is that one fitted into the sump in one of the redundant plug holes or indeed anywhere else isn't going to give an accurate assessment of what the temperature of the oil is where it's actually doing the heat removing part of its work. Where that is is at the bearing faces on the crank, big ends and camshaft and to get any meaningful info you'd either need to have the sensor in a delivery gallery or better yet, in the stream of oil exiting the bearings. In one way this actually means that an oil temperature dipstick isn't actually too bad a solution! Where it sits in the motor means that it is in the path of the constant streamer of oil pouring out from between the connecting rods as the crank spins but it's still pretty hit and miss, literally, and of course it will be dumping heat even as it travels towards the probe on the stick! If the sensor is in the wall of the sump it's reading is going to reflect little on the temperature of the oil where it is doing its job and the sump wall itself is going to act as a dirty great heat sink! Then there is the types of gauge. This 'Analog' type of gauge must use a sensor with some sort of waxstat or the like in it which then pushes on the column of fluid in the feed tube to the handlebar mounted gauge itself. In the gauge one assumes the fluid presses on some sort of membrane or mechanism that translates that linear movement into the rotational movement that moves the needle. The problem there is of course that the environment that the tube passes through will have a profound effect on the gauge's *Reading*. Running it up the back of the block and then through the valley will lead to it being hotter and therefore the medium within it expanding more than if it is routed away from engine heat. That will change the reading on the gauge rendering it inaccurate. As will different ambient temperatures that the machine is run in and the bike's velocity as that will effect air flow. By all means fit a gauge if you want. Just don't put any stock by it! With the pushrod motors in all their iterations we know that unless something is really wrong with their set-up they are massively over-cooled and it will be very difficult to get them to overheat to a dangerous degree. The early Hi-Cams? Not so much. Later Hi-Cam is so grotesquely over cooled it is actually hard to keep them hot enough in winter!
    1 point
  21. Probably because "it's not a car". This subject is the province of those who are basically "car people" in mindset. What's wrong with you? Your DNA is that of a "car guy". You can't do anything about it I'm afraid you're just stuck with hanging extraneous crap and additional failure points on your bike together with being bombarded with information you in all likely hood won't fully understand and will therefore spend time worrying about. Phil
    1 point
  22. Great! this is how you prefer it. I myself want a battery of gauges to survey every aspect of the V11. There is no specific rationale that you would condone, it is just how I would like to do it. Which shouldn't my motorcycle provide me with the same information than my car? I like to know what time it is, I like to know what the outside temperature is. What's wrong with me?
    1 point
  23. Hi Scud, Here's why I would like to install an analogical oil temperature thermometer among other things; Let's go back when I was a young boy, growing up in the 60's. At that time, sports cars were invariably coming from the other side of the channel. Jaguar, BL Triumph, Mini, Aston Martin, MG... all these cars had something that fascinated us, envious youth. Dashboards full of these mysterious Smith or Jaeger gauges. We quickly devised a rule; the more gauges, the better car. This is the reason why one of my early car was an Innocenti Cooper, which had those wonderful little gauges, and no or little warning lights. Amps, Volts, Watts, Oil Temp, Oil Press, Water Temp... what not. I even owned a Renault 21 Turbo which had a boost pressure gauge... how about that? I even have an anecdote about oil pressure. The mechanic forgot to put oil in my Cooper. There was no oil pressure light, but the gauge reading was zero. A sensor can fail, a light can fail, an analogical instrument? not so much. Anyway, when I was testing battle tanks, we had additional manometers and gauges. Plenty of pressures and temperatures from various components that we were testing. To finish up with this, I spent thirty five years of my professional life logging oil wells. Initially, all the readings were analogical. All the tools were monitored using oscilloscopes and other equipment plotting the response from the tools. Back to my desire to monitor the oil temperature of the Guzzi today. Nostalgia? wanting to be closer to the V11? who knows. Porsche 911 air cooled had oil temperature indicators. Why not the Le Mans? How useful will it be? I don't know, but I know I will enjoy having one more thing to look at on those long rides...
    1 point
  24. Here is the direct link to the “Guzzi” cables. https://www.lonelec.com/product/guzzidiag-3pin-interface-cable-kit/ All you have to do is choose an option for the cable to plug to your computer/tablet/phone. The original cables came with USB-A plug attached for standard PC connection. I’d go for that, you can always use an adapter if you want to plug into a tablet/phone.
    1 point
  25. Lonelec in the UK had proven very reliable for the two diagnostic cables.
    1 point
  26. Usually picking up the mail don't get me excited, but sometimes,, thanks Chuck. Cheers tom.
    1 point
  27. Well, when you promise to make something longer... and the effect is greater power and precision with up and down motion... and it enhances the riding experience...
    1 point
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