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Cheap? well not anymore. As they have now become the norm, they are no longer providing cheaper goods than the brick and mortar. Besides they are also taking cost cutting measures, not mentioning twisting the hands of those companies that sell on A.com. Now they have allowed a lot of third party sellers underneath them, I have had a lot of unpleasant surprises. Now A.com is my last resort. I make an effort to purchase from other store fronts or local dealers whenever possible. Even if I have to pay for the shipping and wait longer.

I took off my seat to check the tank's fastener and found it unscrewed. The head was clearly off the large washer, allowing the tank to move laterally. I guess this was the root cause of the problem as when I removed the fairing to change the head lamp, I did not notice anything wrong with the tank being armed by the support on the left side. Don't know how that screw could become that loose.

hmmm..... you probably meant EVERYBODY participating to this forum, right??? right!! Indeed, it occurred to me the left cylinder position could also have something to do with it, and I was wondering about neoprene to protect the tank, or a spacer to tip it up. Now, tipping up the tank may have some hidden consequences too...

I agree on more spin needed. Which makes it easier to pin point TDC, even if it requires more spinning. Agreed also on being around the mark. I used both rockers play, and piston TDC both sides. Adjust the gap, did one complete cycle and verified.

Why would spin direction make any difference? just curious. TDC is TDC coming from either way?

I do not have a "D" for destro if related to cilindro destro, lato destro. In any case, the marking on my fly wheel does not correspond to the PMH or TDC. I just check the play to confirm my rockers are free, with the top of the piston visible. That should do it.

I do not think turning the engine one way or the other is detrimental to the operation. However, you need to make sure that whatever direction you were going, you did not go back and forth without catching on the mechanical play. This is very clear to me. As far as I understand the "straw verification", if the spark plug was vertical in the same travel axis of the piston, you can clearly see the moment when the "Straw" has reached the TDC. With a V11, the straw can not be used in that way, because of the way the spark plug port is drilled with regards to the cylinder. Laterally. You just need to look through the port and make sure the piston is all the way up. I agree a straw is safer than wood, although you could still severe a piece of the straw and needing to go fishing. I just turn without anything in, and check it with my flash light.

I use a wooden dowel. You can find them at Michael's here in the USA. But it is of limited vetting. You don't need it because the piston is right in front of the spark plug port. You can see it with a flash light. Actually, if you leave it inserted into the port, the piston may severe it, or at least damage it. Now I obviously can't turn the wheel and check the spark plug port at the same time. So I just check when I have free play on both rockers. Prying on the flywheel teeth would probably be the best way to fine tune it, if one was not afraid to damage the crankcase by using it as a lever for a screw driver.

I did the left hand side. At PMH (TDC), the "S" marking does not appear in the viewport. But the piston is clearly visible through the spark plug port, since it is tangential. You are correct, moving the engine by rotating the wheel is not easy because there is very little movement required to jump the TDC when you are in sixth gear. It is a seek and trial to get it right. And I can confirm I do not have a "D" that I can find on the side of the flywheel. Luigi went for a bathroom break and when he came back, the engine had moved to the next station.

Thanks for the suggestions; I will start with the easy solutions first, then move on if I can't get it resolved. I will go spark plugs first, and Engine Temperature Sensor thereafter.

I checked; The retaining screw is the proper length. The tank directly rubs on the support bracket. Only on the left hand side. The right side is fine. I dropped the bike on that side after I got it. I am wondering if the fuel in the tank could have some hammer effect and bent the support. But it is clearly the support, not the screw. I need to do something about it in any case.

To remove the valves cover, on the Le Mans, the two screws at the back also hold a support bracket for the fairing. I noticed the tank is being abraded where it contacts the support. It may only be specific to my motorcycle, since I lean on the tank to tuck myself behind the screen. I think I am going to glue some rubber on the two places where the metal touches the tank. Anyone else had the same issue with a Le Mans or any V11 with the front fairing?

I removed the plugs to be able to turn the engine easily, and I noticed they were very black. Which normally indicates the mixture is rich. Anyone else with black spark plugs in their V11? I guess there is not much that can be done, besides the recommended injection tune up. But even if my TPS and injection circuit are perfects, the ECU mapping may need something 100+ degF and humidity compensation. Every day we are most between 105 and 110 F....

Both the plugs are out. However, as I was saying in my previous post, the spark plug well is tangential on the V11. I tried with a wooden dowel, but it is not really as helpful as with a vertical well above the piston.

The point I was making is that I did not find a "D" mark. Even with the "S" mark in the center of the view port, the exhaust rocker had no play. Since I am using the rear wheel to turn the engine, it is a hit and miss process. Putting a dowel through the spark plug well does not work either, because the hole is not in phase. You can check the top of the piston can be visible with a flashlight. I am thinking of doing it valve by valve. Get to the point where the rocker can be moved, and do that valve, repeat for the others. Even if I am not properly at TDC, it should work.

I could see three cold stamped markings: -There is an "S" which I believe stands for Sinistro or Sinistra for left in Italian; does it mean TDC Left Cylinder? should there be a "D"? -there is another one with =- - which last indentation could be a 1 There is a third one which has been painted on and makes it unreadable. I reviewed the workshop manuals but could not find any nomenclature on those. Anybody knows?

It gives you complete confidence about the seller who put up that listing...

I never think about trying to sell the stuff because I can't be bothered to devote the time and deal with the attempted fraudsters. I took a shot at reselling my Alpinestars TechAir5, which now retail for 750 USD.... I only used it once, because it is simply too hot to wear it in Texas. Invariably I got people hitting me with the usual fraud attempts. I am participating to a forum for musicians, and every other week there is a horror story about sellers getting scammed on Reverb or eBay. These sites protects the buyers mostly.

check your knowledge: Is the Stelvio shown in the video below equipped with the flat or roller tappet?

I could not get past his pronunciation of Guzzi in Gutsy....

Getting stuff from Europe when you are in the USA is more difficult or/and expensive than it used to be. In another post, I mentioned some SIXS garments which UPS wanted 400 dollars to return, when I paid below 100 Euros to get from Italy. But I did not know about Walter and Daniela di Valpolini who seem to be a good source of spares for our machines.

The metal dipstick is a little harder to read, some people have put a minor notch in it Is the dipstick hollow? the stick part containing the sensing part of the thermometer. Or, it is just used to conduct the heat to the sensor which is located in the dial, which would make construction cheaper and easier. I have seen these "RR" thermometers sold in Europe for different motorcycles. It possibly explains why it is only available in degrees Celcius? What is your typical oil temperature? 100 degC?

I searched on part number, this is why 14023760 hit on the MG Cycle website.

I need to adjust my valves, and I should change the valve cover gaskets. MG Cycle offers two qualities; I am not concerned about the price difference. Typically, I would go with the cheap one, and change each time I adjust the gap. Even if the difference in price is negligible. https://www.mgcycle.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=68_127&products_id=2455

I had one on my Harley, in 1979. But the Harley had a dry sump, so I did not have to check the level using the dipstick. How easy is it to check the oil level with this one? as "easy" as with the original dipstick? better?