po18guy
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Posts posted by po18guy
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7 hours ago, Chuck said:
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."
And with the V11's glide ratio only slightly worse than that of a Seabee...
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On 6/28/2022 at 8:05 PM, p6x said:
@docc the main drain is underneath the sump, is it not?
That is the "manhole" to access the filter, but the oil drain plug is rear and center.
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3 hours ago, cash1000 said:
I have one fitted to my RM. Got out of the USA a few years ago. It is differcult to use. I've put my back out several times trying to heave bike onto stand. They is no way to rock the bike on to the stand. The idea of using a 6 x 2 gets around that. Also they only fit 2000 & 2001 bikes. Its been a few years since I fitted mine but what I can remember is you need to remove the mufflers then you mount stand to the side plates. The outer ends of the red part of the stand fit to the outside of the plates.
Sounds like the Teo Lamers stand. Not badly made, but somewhat poorly designed. The stand's legs are too short and the pivot point is too low such that the stand is probably 30º from vertical when you must lever it up over center. Seeing the space beneath the rear tire once the stand was deployed, I too came to the conclusion that placing a board (6X2/2X6) behind the rear tire then rolling the bike onto the board allowed the stand to touch earth much closer to vertical. At that point, balancing it all is a bit delicate, but rocking it onto the stand is then much easier.
The fix would be to make the legs about 2" longer and raise the pivot point an equal amount.
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Welcome from the Land of Evil Spirits!
Kindly note that all known and some unknown issues with V11s have all been solved here - or at least made workable.
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5 hours ago, guzziart said:
So, I see the latest posts on the Lucky Phil/Chuck Extender Mod and thought I'd chime in.
After I removed the lowered foot peg set-up installed by the PO of my Lemans, I installed the Lucky Phil/Chuck Extender Mod. I have no regrets, like the short throw and think it has a more natural feel or at least what I am used to on a modern day motorcycle.
Thanks for coming up with this mod and making it readily available to the rest of us.
Art
PS - One of these days I still have to do the shift spring thing before I lose track of the replacement.
The forum consists not only of beta testers, but also beta fixers.
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Have not tried the shift extender yet, but that is coming soon. The fact is that lever travel is a large part of missed shifts, up or down. While I have not measured the actual travel of the lever tip, my foot tells me that it is greater than the on the Japanese machines I have owned to date. Demographics is another aspect of the phenomenon: We are no longer kids. By itself, aging naturally reduces both flexibility and muscle strength. That lost flexibility and strength - even in virtually unnoticeable amounts - can translate to missed shifts.
I take note of this particularly as I am combating post-transplant "graft-versus-host-disease" which manifests it self differently in different patients. One aspect of the disease is a thickening of the fascia which lies beneath the skin. Another is scleroderma (scarring/thickening of the skin) which together can greatly reduce range of motion and add to the effort required in normal functioning.
But, pre-loading the shifter makes an immense improvement.
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My experience: H4/9003 LED units have the familiar three-pronged flange which locates the bulb and is held in place by the retaining spring. However, quite a few of the LED light units will rotate within that flange so that the beam dispersion and lo/high beam patterns may be adjusted. Due to the design of the headlight bucket, this requires the the lens/reflector be out of the bucket in order to do this. Usually, some fiddling with bulb positioning will net you the classic "Z" low beam and decent hi beam patterning.
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1 hour ago, GuzziMoto said:
It does. But an easier method is to put the bike on a rear stand so the rear tire is off the ground, pull both spark plugs, put the bike in a higher gear, and use the rear tire to rotate the engine. That makes it easy to rotate the engine the correct way, just spin the rear tire the same direction it would spin going down the road, and using a higher gear gives you leverage over it to make it easier to rotate. You can do it without the rear stand, just rolling the bike in gear with the plugs out if you lack a rear stand.
Good news. Thank you. The bike came with a Teo Lamers centerstand, and I have a block of wood for the rear tire so as to make the stand usable.
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First 'Guzzi' valve adjust here. The manual advises to set the clearance and nothing more. Does removing the alternator cover reveal a nut underneath so as to hand rotate the motor?
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So, TDC is found by looking in the spark plug hole? No nifty cap to pull on the crank nose with a rotor clearly marked "TDC1" and "TDC2" on them?
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Greatminds...
I think the Japanese attraction to the V7 is somehow related to the Marusho/Lilac V-twins of the 50s and early 60s. Regarding "catch cans", did a very elementary variation of that on my 650 Yamaha, which being a 360º crank, had tons of oil mist (653cc exactly) pumped out of the breather each rotation. Fabbed up an alloy baffle and connected hoses from the OEM "Y" splitter to the countershaft sprocket cover. In three months, rode 15K miles through 38 states with zero lube and one chain adjustment.
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I like the Bronco. Funny thing with Ford is that their badges run all over the map. The various gens of Broncos are related only by name. But, after the Bronco II rollover "thing" Ford wisely decided to increase the track substantially. That is clearly a very decent off-roader.
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18 hours ago, Pressureangle said:
My first road bike was a KZ400. It had a soul. It's just that soul was reminiscent of the slaves who built the pyramids. Honda Hawks seemed relevant at the time, but their soul was part of the Honda hive mind. EX500s (the 80's ones) had the most obnoxious exhaust tone ever to come from a spark plug. Perhaps the newer stuff isn't so bad. I'm not persecuting them really, they just leave a bad taste in my ears.
OK, fair enough - the 360º crank of the KZ400/440 provided a pleasant exhaust note. But, the XS360/400 Yamaha, Honda CB350s, CB360s and Hawks, basically all of the commuter bikes were 180º twins with that Lawn Boy sound. For me it began with 250 and 300 Hondas in the 60s. In an age of Triumphs, BSAs, Nortons and Sportsters, the universal condemnation of a bike was "It sounds like a Honda"
The redeeming factor of the EX is the 7K-10K power band when it sounds more like a Waring blender.
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Soulless? Ride a KZ440 or a Honda 400 Hawk. But add an airbox mod, jet kit, WebCam 245 cams, some Cobra F1 slipons and its ready for the UJM special olympics.
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You can do a 270º or 277º XS650 if you prefer less vibes and a Guzzi soundtrack, Hugh's Handbuilt does those conversions.
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1 hour ago, docc said:
As much as I have ridden my ShortFrame 25º 2000 Sport, I really haven't ridden many other SpineFrames.
By comparison, I recall riding a friend's 26º '97 1100 Sport-i. I thought it felt a lot like my 1975 GoldWing. A totally reliable track without any hint of "quickness" or surprise. Expect effort to turn-in.
During the brief time that Nashville had a Moto Guzzi dealer, there was a "Demo Ride" event. [early-mid 2000s]
I rode a LongFrame Café Sport (Öhlins plus handlebars, not like my "clip-ons"). It felt so predictable and forgiving. I remember thinking, "They have tamed the SpineFrame."
My *impression* from those brief riding experiences is that the later generation LongFrame V11 (especially the handlebar versions) strike a balance between the mid-nineties SpineFrames and the more demanding V11 ShortFrame/RedFrame.
The comparison really impressed me that there were "people" at Moto Guzzi that continued to work relentlessly to make the Moto Guzzi experience better for the user (us) . . .
A cranky old man on the Kawi EX-500 forum described the 1100 Sport he rode as "a truck." Clearly, he never rode another spine frame.
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T5 LEDs are plug-n-play. The caveat is that many of them are really low-end products. But, the OEM bulbs may have welded themselves into the now hard=-as-granite rubber sockets. Heat was the enemy and bikes originally equipped with LEDs will not have this problem in the future.
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I guess anything is possible, time, money and energy permitting.
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Although under vastly different circumstances, culture and technology, he was the Rossi of his generation. Oh, the stories he can tell! Still sharp as a tack, but what's worse, he still has all of his hair!
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On 6/12/2022 at 7:07 AM, LowRyter said:
I've never heard so much whining over the threat of progress regarding clean, efficient and fast transportation
Gees I haven't seen a Pinto, Duster, Olds Diesel, K-car, or Chevette on the streets in 20 years. Who says they really miss them? But if you want keep one of these marvelous contraptions in your garage 40 years from now, I don't think anyone would stop you.
Absolutely sterile and devoid of soul. No wait! They can have the stereo make Geo Metro three-cylinder noises!
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My impression is that the 1100 Sport is more of a GT bike, whereas the steering was quickened substantially on the '99-'02 V11, then slowed up just a bit. The 3.5/5.5 wheels also affect handling, in a plus or minus trade-off.
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Never thought all that much of Staintunes. Now, I can't seem to get them out of my mind when I ride.
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I'll be long dead before the Brave New World is fully instituted. In fact, I might be dead before it is partially instituted. History will reveal that the ruling elite dd not care nearly as much about saving the earth as it did about securing absolute power and their own wealth.
Broken human nature. Understanding it is the key.
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No special bleeder needed - except a bleeder banjo bolt at the master cylinder. This easily cured the air problem my V11 developed. The M/C being the high point in the system, the air naturally rises to it. And, need I say...it is "slightly" more accessible than deep in the bowels of the machine. This Ti unit is from RaceTi in the UK. Not all that expensive and very well made.
Light rattle in gearbox when pushing my bike.
in Technical Topics
Posted
Before doing something drastic, why not roll it back and forth clutch out. Same noise? Potential problem. No noise? No problem.
Consider the racket that the clutch makes running, disengaged, in either neutral or in gear. Have a friend de-clutch the running bike while you listen from beside the transmission. A side effect of the design is that the clutch is noisy. If shifting and power transmission are otherwise fine, I do not immediately see any need to dismantle things. But, I am not there.