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Pressureangle

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Posts posted by Pressureangle

  1. 22 minutes ago, Scud said:

    I've been enjoying my recently acquired 1989 LeMans. It has carbs, pods, electronic ignition, and full aftermarket exhaust. It's got a bit, fat, mid-range and pulls surprisingly well. I've been tempted to say it is equal to my Scura in some respects, but I am going to enlist a buddy to join me for a ride on the LeMans and Scura so we can both ride both bikes on the same roads and compare notes.

    So far my impression is simply that V11 Scura is more refined than the Tonti-framed LeMans. I think the smoothness of the Scura's fuel injection, lightweight flywheel, and easy-shifting 6-speed make the LeMans V seem more brutish by comparison. 

    I spent a *lot* of research, time, and money on my '85 LM1000. The Web 86b cam is so big I had to change lifters and mill the lifter bores- yet it is far more drivable than the stock camshaft. I milled in perhaps .5 point compression and had the heads ported, but retained the stock Dellorto carbs. It's my studied opinion that the 'brutish feel' of these old hot rods is the 'brick on a stick' camshafts they had, ancient paper designs whereas the modern bikes (and aftermarket cams) have the benefit of computer dynamic modelling of both airflow and valvetrain dynamics, so both power and drivability can be largely determined before the first spark is thrown griding the cam. My '97 1100 Sport-i isn't as smooth, even with the newly installed Caruso gearset- which was an enormous improvement.

    • Like 3
  2. 11 hours ago, docc said:

    Hm, Maybe it's a Firefox thing (that's what I'm on).

    edit: Well, not visible on my iPhone using Safari, either.

    FWIW I'm using the Dissenter browser, and I've had less utility issues with it than with Chrome; additionally Dissenter is second to none in privacy. <shrug>

    • Like 1
  3. 5 hours ago, po18guy said:

    Imgzeit. $11/year. Super easy to use and easy to copy and paste images. I'm sold.

    Yeah, I have a real problem being forced into paying for something that used to be free, and still is elsewhere. 
    What actually interests me is why some people can see the images and others can't.

    • Like 1
  4. Today's mission is to replace all the fuel lines and filter. Even if they're clear of water, they're old enough to show checking. Check. Yesterday's project was to undo the deferred maintenance under the gas cap; the leaky gasket allowed the gas/ethanol/water to collect under the lid, eventually eating away enough paint to plug the drain and really cock things up. So I cut away all the paint that was loose, prepped the rusty bare metal with Ospho and coated everything in about 5 layers of Caswell's gas tank sealer I've had laying around for a few years waiting for the Norton project to come up. I disassembled the gas cap, hoping to replace the rubber gasket but you *know* it's not available separately, so I cleaned and prepped metal and rubber and applied Seal-All to all the surfaces except the tank contact ring. Hopefully that will prevent any future leaks and further attacks on paint and fuel quality. If not, It's $130 for a new tank door assembly- I didn't even bother to call and ask if that's available. Yeesh. 

    03BrD4kNwOVQgaXDj5H_N2jXTLfe9zYS0Z3gqnSDD72pPsRJm-7uz6_Mlc0lN6BjIzBV2Q9KQ7sct0mh

  5. On 6/23/2021 at 7:37 AM, 68C said:

    Come off it docc, diaphragm?  That's not even a real carb.  God invented the flat slide for a reason 

    Just think of the diaphragm as a *really* simple computer that interfaces the carb and the unpracticed throttle hand.

    • Like 1
    • Haha 1
  6. 1 hour ago, hammershaug said:

    Thanks for sharing. Very interesting topic. No one has mentioned the cost, so I guess I have to ask Mr. Caruso...

    Mine were 670 UK pounds in February, shipping in. I'd expect that with materials skyrocketing, they'll be more today.
    E.

    • Thanks 1
  7. Ok, probably the last post here unless questions.

    I went for a short, 11 mile sub-50mph shakedown, all low throttle sub-4000rpms. 
    First, I cannot overstate how much more cleanly this thing drives at low rpm and low throttle. The 'city manners' are incredibly improved. The idle is steady, stable, and never missed a single beat, even though it's 100rpm lower than I had it set previously. The 'driveline snatch' at slow speed/low throttle have *disappeared*. I have to attribute this to idle/low rpm spark timing being precise, which leads to the conclusion that the stock chain tensioner is not tight enough to control the cam/crank relationship at low rpms. Significantly, the whole reason I put these gears in was because I 'thought' I heard the cam chain slapping around, and didn't know whether the bike had a spring tensioner or manual and figured if I'm in there I may as well go all the way. Supporting that suspicion is that during today's ride I had the fairing on and everything final assembled, and the reflected engine noise from the front is *immensely* lower. There was enough noise with the chain to be a constant source of discontent; not only are the gears quiet, they are comparatively silent. I've leaned my idle mixture and yesterday's ride told me the plugs are way rich at the throttle settings I rode today, though I've yet to read the plugs with my changes it felt fine which means still plenty rich. I'll have to re-tune everything, certainly everything in the low RPM columns and the low throttle settings. We'll see. At the end of the day, Joe's gears are what should be in them from the factory...but Guzzi already knew that a long time ago, didn't they?

    Edit; I'll add here that I've always used the 'book value' valve lash settings; This time I've used the Guzziology values, Euro +.002" I think, .006" for intakes and .008" for exhaust. It's probably a contributor, but I would not expect that to make the huge difference I feel. 

    • Like 3
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  8. So I went around the block yesterday. Felt good, road damp. Blew the front seal out of the case. WTF... I only replaced it because the old one appeared to be original but it wasn't leaking... I'll toss this in the bin of 'Chinese Crap'. Anyway, I'd ordered a replacement seal for shelf that came today so we'll give it another shot. I haven't put the stix on it to balance the intakes yet, but I did start an experiment in tuning- since I had to reduce idle speed, I adjusted air screws, idle fuel and spark timing to minimize exhaust temps at ~1100rpm. Original values were 6.25* timing, 2860 injector. Timing proved perfect, I ended up leaning the injectors to 2760. Not big changes. I closed the air screws about 3/4 turn each, they are within a quarter turn of each other off their seats between 1/4-1/2 turns out. Exhaust pipe temp is 742* + or - 10* on the top of the pipe- interestingly, the top is +200* from the bottom at the head. I'll get the carb stix out soon and see where it landed. 
    In other news, I was able to get the thing tuned to take big handfuls of throttle smoothly from idle, something I was never able to do before. It's so much crisper than before I wish I'd degreed the cam with the old chain and after the gears to see if it's advanced. The chain had about 35k miles on it. 
    Here's your clip of the day.

    Idle blips

    • Like 3
    • Thanks 1
  9. Ok, up and running.

    I of course adjusted the valves, the exhausts were very tight cold, which explains why it had been a little snotty to start and warm up. My bad, it's probably been 7k miles since last adjustment. 
    Valves aside, the thing started better than ever, it seems, and even 1/2 warm it idles at 1250rpm or so, up from ~1k-ish. Somebody elsewhere said that was their experience too, so there be a rebalancing coming soon. The gears are not as loud as some were hoping, they're pretty hard to discern above the valve clatter. Overall it hits me as far more happy and stable than with the chain (and tight valves). 
    Here's your movie short.

    Joe's Gears

    • Like 2
    • Thanks 1
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