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Incidently, I reckon a potential new owner might be scratching his head trying to figure out where this bit fits onto a V11 Sport.

And that despite the "or best offer". I would have at least given him two quid for it.

That, and I reckon there is some electrical stuff in between the side plates, more or less where the airbox should be. Maybe the battery? Whatever, he must have put a fair bit of effort into "customising" the poor thing. The question is, why so much effort to get to that result?

Thanks for sharing your experience, Pete (again...). I wasn't aware that this could happen.

I reckon he just sprayed everything he could get to with grey from a spray can.

As far as I can tell, it is, but that doesn't mean you need to go for test rides each time you change the shims. The process is, as far as I can tell, bolt it up with engineer's blue on one side, turn it a couple of times, and take it apart to see where the contact surface is. I'm fairly sure you know what engineer's blue is. For those that don't, this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Engineer's_blue I learned what it is from the novel "The Sand Pebbles" from Richard McKenna, which was proscribed literature in my English classes at school at some point. Just shows to go you what school is good for.

Mate, yours is a gem. Here's some pictures for future generations who might read this after the ad has been taken down. The bike in question (one can actually see the green on the tank where the spray-can grey has worn off) and the seat sub-frame in red and a photo of parts showing the green front mud-guard.

I see the ad is "ended", and a further look at all the photos indicates that the poor thing was once a Greenie. One can only hope that she has been passed on to someone with enough decency to restore her to her former glory.

By the way, does anyone need the Griso 1100 muffler shown in the picture above? The bloke who had the fairing part for sale also had that, and was so dead set on getting rid of it that he gave it to me. The number on it is ZGU1001 So if anyone needs it, and thinks the delivery costs from Germany to wherever are worth it, it's up for grabs. Just for the cost of delivery, or come an pick it up in Leipzig.

Must be good, then, eh.

Yes. I took the final drive from my V35 Imola to the workshop when I rebuilt it for exactly that reason. I feel it is a job that should probably be done by someone who has a bit of experience, and has a "feel" for it. And a bucket of shims to swap them in and out until it is right. Having said that, I gather it is not actually all that difficult. The older workshop manuals explain it fairly well. For instance here, on page 93. https://guzzitek.org/atelier/gb/1000/1000SP_G5_Atelier(F)V3.pdf PS: I think there are also a couple of "special tools" involved.

So, on the way "home from work" today, I stopped off in Königsbronn and bought this.

You could do either one, or just fill it back up and see if it developes any nasty noises. I dare say that if there is any serious damage in there, it will become acoustically obvious pretty quickly. If it's broken, it's already broken, and if it's not, continuing to ride it with fresh oil will not do any damage.

What, the memories, or the compulsory event? Those were good times all round. And Darrell Eastlake was a bit of an idiot. Thank god Barry was the other commentator.

I'd be incllined to buy her, just to rescue her from the humiliation.

I wouldn't be worried about that, it just shows the testers ignorance. The bikes in the film were all Z900 or Z1000 Kawasakis, except for the one Z650, and Max Rockatansky didn't even ride a bike. The cop on the bike was Jim Goose. No, wait, the one that Jim Goose rode in on with his leg in plaster was a Kawasaki 2 stroke triple, a 400, I think. PS: very pretty bike you have. Please look after it well.

That has been mentioned a couple of times, and now one more time. I had a look at those on mine, and can only confirm the advice to check them regularly. The "bullet" type connector is one that is inclined to get loose with time, and those ones on the V11 are in a dumb place into the bargain. Whatever else you do, look at them first. I agree with that, in the sense of getting the existing systems in good order, or as good as possible, before you start doing mods that might not address the actual issue. The reservation is, it is possible that the bike might not start every time at the first button push even if everything is in good order. Mine doesn't. However, the "not starting" is not a complete failure to do anything when the button is pushed. That would be a symptom that points to, for instance, the aforementioned bullet connectors (along with the fact that the steering position makes a difference, as already mentioned in other posts). What mine does is the classic "startus interruptus": Sometimes it starts fine, sometimes it just clicks. A few more jabs on the button, and clicks, and then it starts. The position of the steering makes no difference. The problem is that not enough volts get through to the solenoid on the starter. I've measured that on mine, and it is the case. I've done a clean-up on the electrics on the bits that are easy to get to, and the problem got better, but it is still there. The solution is either go through electrics from start to finish and bring every single connector back to as new condition, or install the additional relay as described further up. The plan is to add the additional relay, but I have a couple of other issues that are more urgent. Putting the forks back in when I get them back from the workshop, for instance, and finding out why it runs so badly on a constant throttle.

I feel the urge to clarify that If it is "the same" in the sense that the brakes stay "pumped up" and still have a good feel after standing for some minutes with no wheel rotation, the problem is probably the disk or bearings or something at that end. Something that pushes the pads back away from the disk when the wheel rotates, causing them to need to be "pumped back up" when the brakes are applied. If it "the same" in the sense that the brakes need "pumping up" again after standing for some time, there is probably air in the system that needs bleeding out.

Those are likely to be explained here somewhere, but the workshop manual does a good job too. here: https://guzzitek.org/gb/ma_us_uk/1100/V11_1999-2003_Atelier(Compil-GB-D-NL).pdf Section D, starting on page 57, covers regular maintence. Best to read all of that section, actually. Engine oil page 60 ff., filter follows that. Gearbox oil page 74 ff. PS: the linked document is a compilation. The "section D" I referred to is in the first section, for the earlier models. However, the information doesn't turn up again in the later sections of the document, i.e. in the section for the later models, so I assume that the information for the first model continues to apply for all following models.

Or a warped disc, perhaps, although not as likely as bad bearings.

Yeah, I was pretty knocked over when I first saw the site http://www.magni.it/ . There are some very pretty Guzzis on there.

As far as I see it, plastic is not only to do with price. It is also lightweight. Alternatives to plastic for the same weight are significantly more expensive to produce. Ok, so maybe it is just price. Anyway, I can see that. Changing out plastic bits for metal bits, without increasing the weight, makes sense. Can be expensive, but I can understand that There are a few things on the aforementioned V35 Imola that I would like to change. The seat, for instance. It is really heavy, and that on a bike with not much power, and a total weight of not much more than 160 kg. It would have to look the same as the original, but I have a vision of how it could be done. Saving weight on that bike would be an advantage, but very expensive, I fear. There are also any number of bits that one could exchange for Titanium substitutes. Probably wont happen, but maybe. One day.

That is a very pertinent point, I reckon. And this What good arguments are there for mucking up a perfectly good bike when one can just buy a different one that fulfills the objective? On the other hand, I can perfectly understand wanting to build the "ideal bike" oneself. I've always wanted to, but have never managed it. The closest I have come is my V35 Imola. I bought on a whim, and it was dead when I bought it. It had been in a cellar for about 19 years, had no ignition switch, and the wiring and ignition system was in a dismal state. In the meantime, it has a Silent Hektik electronic ignition and alternator, a short-throw throttle grip, Koni rear shocks, and a clutch from a V9 which is much lighter to activate and lighter in weight than the original. I'm working on a Valeo starter motor because it is lighter than the 3 ton Lucas original. And I've got a fair bit of a 4-Valve 350 motor that I might one day get complete and install. The real point is, I have dis- and reassembled everything on that bike myself, except the final drive assembly. I gave that to a workshop who has experience with that, as I wasn't inclined to learn how to set it up properly by trial and error, or to buy the necessary bucket full of shims to get it set up. So that bike is mine. I know it, in every last detail, intimately. I like that. In that perspective, I can understand wanting to modify a bike to make it "personal". But, as @Lucky Phil has already written, it should be all about making it better. Putting things on a bike purely for visual reasons is bullshit. Individuality is also a thing. I can understand it, but somehow the quest for individuality seems to inevitably lead to "one more cafe racer" or "one more chopper". So called "custom bikes" tend to always end up fitting to a pattern. And when a bike is visually "customised" without first paying attention to getting it mechanically perfect, well, that is bullshit too.