po18guy

Nice job! Will it ever appear like this one on the Mistral website?

In August bought an '04 Ballabio with 4.5K miles for $4,900. Garage queen. Came with Hepco & Becker bags and rack, Staintune slipons, manuals, a Pete Roper plate, various and sundry gaskets and, rather ominously, a spare shift detent spring. They are out there if you are patient.

Thank you and likewise. Was beginning to think that I had a one-of-one.

Wink wink. Back in the day, I helped a couple of fellow wrenches who were campaigning an "Econorail" - a dragster chassis with a single 4bbl V8 engine. They tried a Kendig carburetor - a perhaps too-radical design that was extremely simple but as difficult to tune as a Weber. Talk about stack fires! Here's a link to the Kendig Variable Venturi Carburetor: http://www.tlawebstuff.com/kendig.htm

The secret to the vacuum secondaries on a Holley is to plug the air bleed from the vacuum diaphragm chamber into the secondary venturi, leaving the bleed into the primary venturi open. Some soft solder tapped into the passage with a pin punch does the job nicely. Then, you can get the vacuum secondaries to operate virtually identically to the gear-drive secondaries on the double-pumpers. With the correct diaphragm spring, you can get them to begin opening at about half throttle once past about 4K. Feels a bit like a turbo kicking in, as you need not move the throttle for them to open. The secondaries stay closed when intake velocity is low or manifold vacuum is high. Had a Holley 4239 (700-715 cfm depending on source) on my hot-rodded 283. It was half of a big block chev dual-quad setup. No provisions for choke, power valve, and it had the "whistle" vent in the primary float bowl. Man, when that engine came on the cam and the secondaries opened, life was good!

Resuscitating this DOA thread, I think its a Lilac 200 or 250. OK, maybe not.

Since there does not seem to be one for these "parts bin" neither-here-nor-there models, might as well begin one. ZGUKTC0254M111321 located in western Washington State, USA. EDIT: To include pic.

Might as well bolt a Holley 600 cfm four barrel on it. That'll give it some fuel! Far better, in my limited experience, to work on incremental increases in the flow of intake and exhaust. The '04 models have 9.8:1 compression, and with a very old combustion chamber design, and relatively inefficient air-cooling, that is pushing it. If she could handle more, I think MG would have given that to us. The engine may be close to its thermal limit, and that is best respected.

Just how I came to be standing between timber and Pontiac escapes me. As Paul Simon sang... "Either way you look at it, you lose..."

One of the folding multi-tools, often for bicycle use w/hex wrenches, can be very handy. A Co2 tire inflator is good. Maybe 10/12 and 13/14 open/box end wrenches. 4-in-1 screwdriver. Maybe a 6" Crescent wrench. I'll have to dig my kit out and see what they put in there.

It seems that the '99-'01s ('02s?) have 53mm tubes and the later bikes have 54s. Got a message back from a fellow on eBay and his measurement was 53.25mm. I like the OEM bars, as they have that "safety bolt" which threads into the upper triple to keep the bar from rotating. Might be more show than go, but it offers at least some assurance.

Like to stay Guzzi, but Buell and some GSXRs (that I know of) also used 54mm bars. And Woodcraft is waiting in the wings.

If those are 54mm at the clamping surface, they are exactly what I am looking for. Also appears that they accept standard 7/8" bars?

Now, those bars you have on "Hi Ho Silver", are they the OEM clipons?

At 18mm, I suppose another 12-15mm, depending o the bars. I know that it would slightly quicken the steering, but I believe it was slowed a bit in the transition from short to long frame.

Am thinking of clipons atop the upper triple on an '04 Ballabio. This will necessitate raising the fork tubes in the triples. They are currently standing about 18mm above the upper triple. Apparently, there is no handling or stability deficit? Anyone have a set? Finish need not be perfect. Otherwise, I search the web.

A shock with length adjustment would be near ideal, as it would retain all of its travel and damping qualities. Then sliding the forks up a bit combined with a few seat mods would probably do the trick rather nicely. Moving up from a 400lb 500cc bike was quite a change for me, but the V11 carries its weight fairly low. Slightly clumsy at say 0-5mph, it quickly stabilizes and is enormously satisfying to ride your favorite twisty roads on. Now, my 500 has cheap suspension, but the V11 transitions from left-right more quickly and more precisely. That's what a real frame and real suspension do, I'm told.

Quite right. V11 Sports are known for quite good cornering clearance. Thus, one could reduce rear pre-load or go to a shorter spring, plus raise the forks in the triples to gain a bit. A good upholstery shop might be able to carve the seat foam and provide a lower or narrower seat. My Ballabio came with an aftermarket center stand, but it is poorly engineered. There is no tab or arm extending with which to apply some foot leverage, and the pivot is about 2"-3" too low, so that the bike must be lifted vertically as much as rearward. Not good with 500+ pounds and a twice operated on lumbar spine. It works acceptably only if the rear tire is up on the narrow side of a 2X4.

"Big Red" because "V11 Sport Ballabio" confuses them.

Since that line would be a feed (suction) line, rather than a pressure line, it need not have a "burst strength." That said, as a suction line, it must resist collapsing and starving the pump for fuel. Unless Guzzi plumbing is like their electrics, in which case all bets are off.

And me with near perfect vision now, and I cannot see a thing! Have often remarked to DW that I need both a T-shirt as well as a bumper sticker machine. In my case, either would be trouble.

There is a small washer that slips over the drive cable. Other than that, I am mot aware of anything else to beware of. Bought a spare for my '04 as soon as I could find one. Possibly the worst cable design ever. Same guy must have designed the shift detent spring. Cousin's company made them or something.

Just had eye surgery yesterday. I am squinting. Doesn't help. Don't you subscribe to ImgZeit? Reallllllly cool image host. Just coincidentally developed by a forum member I am told. But don't believe me - here's a favorable write-up on Dreddit. Did I spell that right?

Thank you. I had never thought about getting one until my BIL put his up for sale. For those of us who grew up in the 60s, the Dunstall Norton was the fire-breathing superbike. The EX is almost exactly as quick and fast. How times change.

I must admit that the Chinese brand names seem to be taken from Google Translate. As to accessory lights and light bars, etc. I think it was PIAA who determined that there is an upper limit - due to the retro-reflective street signs. LEDs can be made so bright that a driver blinds themselves. Undoubtedly, the Chinese will invent some glasses or windshield tinting that will prevent this - but not yet.