Grim

Banana may have been an exaggeration.

Hi Steve, I could probably straighten it yes, a replacement is pretty cheap from eBay etc. I meant if you put the bolt through and leave the nut off, and spin it from the socket end, you can see a slight oval movement in the shock and at the threaded end, with it all tight then nothing spins, as you say.

RS is rubber seal H is heavy duty JEM is quiet running, apparently.

Yes... Although I've put it back together! I will take it out and measure it again. I would say there was more than 5mm of exposed thread once the nut is done up, so it wouldn't make much difference either way.

Hmm, the Guzzi parts sites have it at 160mm, based on the part number, I wonder why the discrepancy. There is alot of exposed thread on mine come to think of it.

Good question, I think there's a bit of give on there (rightly or wrongly). If I spin the bolt the other end moves up and down, and the shock end also moves slightly. It may be worth looking out for a swingarm anyway as mine is terribly rusty. Good shout on the bolt, I found a stockist of M12x160 12.9 (marine shop) so may try new as they're cheap.

Thanks, I too used a caliper, had one side much further out that the other, so set it back as I found it! There might have been a reason. So are you saying if I had just wound the pins in till resistance was felt, then back off a tiny bit, I would have been fine?

I suspect that already happened, as it's got an aftermarket shock in there. I *think* SKF are decent quality, I went for SKF 6204-2RSH/C3

Thanks...I was only joking about hand tight! I used an adjustable spanner. I was surprised that nothing in the toolkit for is all. Everything inspected and greased as I went, the only bad bearing was the one I mentioned, I have bought an SKF one which should turn up Monday. What I really want is a not bent shock bolt! Are they 8.8 high tensile, I got the length but not sure on the thread? Coarse pitch I would say.

Hi... So I has a few hours, and now my wheel and swingarm are on the garage floor... The long bolt holding the shock to the swingarm is bent like a banana. I am heavy, but I don't think this was me. Can I get a replacement? Or what are the specs? A few other observations: The wheel bearing on the drive side of the wheel was loose, found it floating about in the bevel box after knocking the axle out. It is 47mm OD. It is knackered, so I'm slightly worried the 47mm replacement I have ordered will also be loose. I pumped both UJs full of red'n'tacky, whereby it pushed all the old grease out, but on the spline zerk I felt like I was pumping forever and never saw any grease coming out anywhere. I wasn't too worried because I coated the splines before assembly anyway. There is some slight rotational play in the driveshaft before it picks up drive, there is no play in either UJ, or the splines, so it that just the gearbox? All in all though, not a bad job, helps to have the tool kit, but nothing in the toolkit fits the big swingarm locknuts??? Are they just supposed to be hand tight? 😁

Both the ITI and CEV Speedos have their names stamped into the whit plastic housing in the back. I don't have a good photograph of my ITI one, here is the CEV: I can believe the mechanism inside come from some other manufacturer, as it is essentially identical between the two, the CEV just having some better quality parts. It is the plastic body that is slightly different, although not by much! This is my ITI, it has made in Italy just like the one in your photo.

Just an interesting point, the Ducati monster/750ss/900ss CEV / ITI gauges have a metal gear, where the Guzzi one is plastic . I replaced the gears myself in my ITI speedo and it's holding up well, unfortunately the speedo body is 2mm wider otherwise I would have just fit the whole thing! Here is my ITI speedo in pieces with the new parts fitted. So that silver worm gear on my (lovely) workbench is actually sliver plastic, whereas the one I fitted from the Ducati speedo is metal. Likewise for the long gear on the left, the old one is all chewed up as you can see, It is a weird design as it is tapers towards the bottom end and sits over another worm gear that, without enough grease, just rubs a notch in it over time. I also scavenged all the parts for the trip reset knob, which works fine now!

We are ALL VALVE BABY!

Thanks, from what I was reading/watching I get this part, I was interested in the hows and whys of completing this task. If you wanted power "in the old days" you went with torque, your lubrication is crap and you don't want to rev high and blow up, so your cylinder is long and thin, the combusting gas exerts it's force all at once on the piston, the lever is long and you get a big slug of torque. But an oversquare cylinder needs revs to make power, but it's harder to cool with air, and it's hard to rev fast with pushrods 'cos your valves might start to float. So is a guzzi engine kind of on the edge of what is possible with the design? Yeah I get this bit, they want to sell yesterdays tech at tomorrows prices and it works! I was really interested in how the Guzzi engine manages to make decent power, when by some accounts it is hamstrung by it's own design. So to get decent power from a C1100 v-twin, it seems manufactureres tend to make it oversquare, which usually requires water cooling / multi-valves and OHC, Guzzi just didn't seem to go down that road, which I love.

I would go with what he says ^^^ Night and day difference, and if you do it and it still runs like shit then you know at least you have ruled out the obvious!

Engineering wise, it is said that there are specific reasons that Indian can almost double Harley Davidson's bhp when it comes to the 1200 v-twin; those being Harley's marketing department insisting on pushrods and air cooling, necessitating a long stroke undersquare design to allow for slow valve train and maximum surface area for cooling. Indian use an oversquare, 4v, ohc, water cooled design to reach 100 odd bhp from the same displacement, and people make a big deal about it. So how does the air cooled pushrod engine in a Guzzi do almost the same thing? It's oversquare, but not by as much as the Indian 1200, and it's a narrower angle than a Harley, but it still has pushrods, and is also air-cooled (albeit better air-cooled). Could Harley not just follow suit or is it that pesky rear cylinder? PS I am not an engine expert (and it shows) just interested, so if I got some terms wrong I apologize.

My original tank was 2003, and the worst I have ever seen, the PO was using a leather bagster cover for a tank bag. Not sure that was the cause, leather being somewhat breathable. I guess it's luck of the draw

Yeah a full ally tank would be the holy grail, there are a few places in the UK, I've called/emailed alot of them and they either don't want to do it or it would be prohibitively expensive, or they don't answer. What are your reasons for disliking a false cover? Just personal preference or do you foresee some V11 specific problem? I have looked at sealing, too many horror stories of it coming off and going into the fuel lines. Some folks were adamant that the nylon of the V11 tank was to slippery for a seal to get a good hold on, even when agitated with nails etc Perhaps if a garage did it and would guarantee the seal? .

It's starting to look like a good long term option, hey we could alway sell them if it fits nice!!

It must be a bitsa... Yes, long frame, short tank, black ITI clocks.. it's like I got the worst of everything!!

Thanks... wishful thinking on my part. My "new" tank is now starting to go, it was fine, then all of a sudden it was really hard to get back on, and now I can see small bubbles starting on the top.... Although the £700 I was quoted was for the entire job through a professional outfit, I do have the opportunity for a friend to weld an ally tank for free, he just wants me to make the net and cut the sheet metal first. Seems a big job no? Will lose a bit of capacity.

Hi, before i put the hammer down on an internal fuel pump/non-chin pad tank, does anyone have any opinion on that style of tank's ethanol hardiness? Are they also Acerbis? The inside looks "whiter" than the earlier tanks, but do they bubble and warp as badly? I was contemplating making a smaller box tank from ally and just draping the top tank over it like a shell, but this is like £700, I could put a late tank on for £400. Thanks gents

Whilst it didn't solve it, it did give me peace of mind that I could rule them out, plus the old ones would have ripped eventually. What fixed it was re-setting the TPS, balancing the throttle bodies, then balancing air using air screws and a with vac gauge at 3k. Runs lovely now. Except I haven't ridden it during lockdown so I can't enjoy it!

Thanks Noel, I did infact replace both inlet rubbers during my troubles! someone on a facebook group kindly donated them to me to see if it helped. Looking at the originals, they were cracked but definately not all the way through, so probably ok...

Thanks Phil, I felt it was something to do with the battery, I don't get why they would put a bulge there in the seat pan!? Where the batteries lower in the short frame bikes? I'll try without the strap and see, I do have an upholstery stapler, so I could swap the covers over if I have to.