slug

Ugh. Bad memories from this experience. Both times I had to replace a bearing, the inner races broke free. I had to resort to a dremel with cutting discs to get the outer races out. Good luck.

Check out Edge GPS and look in the rebuilt/refurbished section. They usually have good deals. I bought a refurbished Garmin StreetPilot 2610 for $189 (with a free MapSource 2008 update coupon). I bought the Garmin motorcycle cradle and a RAM mount and it works just dandy.

Go in peace, Dr. Know.

I use System Three WR-LPU Topcoat on the carbon fiber stuff that I make. It's pretty easy to work with (thins with distilled water) and sprays easily. The only drawback is the price. I think I paid $40 for a quart.

I could be doing worse things...

Comedians, all of ya.

One more thing to check is your rear wheel bearings. Get the bike up on a stand and see if the wheel wiggles from side to side. Before my bearing(s) munched I also heard a whining noise, much like you described.

Who listens to Ratch' anyway. Will do if I do it. I had them on my first V11 and loved them so no problem there. And yes, I clean and oil the pod filters with each oil change.

I'm going to re-mount my SPC velocity stacks and pod filters on my Ballabio so the airbox is going to be yanked out. So like I don't have enough to do in my life, I came up with the silly idea of relocating the battery on my Ballabio from under the seat to under the tank. I've already measured and the battery will fit. So, here's the list of pros and cons that I've come up with: Pros: - Approximately 10 lbs. of dead weight moved forward ~12 inches. Slight handling improvement? - Additional storage space under the seat with a little fabrication. Cons: - Approximately 10 lbs. of dead weight raised ~6 inches. Would that negate any handling improvement by raising the COG? - Would heat coming off the engine shorten the life of the battery? - Relocating wires (wouldn't be that bad). Questions: - Is it safe to mount a battery at an angle (~30 degrees)? I know they're fine upright or laid flat. - Is this a truly silly or just plain stupid idea?

I use it for mail and occasional web development. Nothing special.

Oh, I am so tempted. Last night I had to climb 30+ feet up a cedar tree to get the little bastard down. This is the second time in a week he's been chased up a tree. If he ever does it again, screw climbing the tree, I'll coax him down with a 12 gauge. However, I don't think he's going outside ever again.

My cat peed on my cherished copy of Guzziology (signed by Dave Richardson himself!). Must... fight... urge... to... kill... Anyone know how to rid a book of the stench of cat pee?

One more thing to look at is the TPS. If it's too far out of adjustment it can mess with your fuel consumption. If the bike doesn't have a PCIII on it, the TPS should be putting out .500 volts with the throttle fully closed. What alarms me though, is that you stated the previous owner rewired the ECU??? Um, why and to what extent?

Tim rocks! Awesome rider, great friend. We met at one of the Washington Guzzi Breakfasts last year and instantly became riding buddies. In fact... here's a ride report on ADVRider from our Washington/B.C. ride last summer: Our V's vs. RVs You better start posting more, Bucko.

Cool, as long as I'm not pulled over by one. (BTW, that's been buried on the Guzzi site for a couple years)

Oops. Didn't even think of doing that. I'm planning on doing this at regular intervals, so perhaps next time...

My '04 Ballabio came with a replacement speedo which now has 1000 miles on it. I cracked it open last night and gave it a good slathering of grease on all the gears. I'm lucky I did, they were pretty dry. The whole thing was easy to do. Sealed it back up with some RTV gasket stuff. Fingers are crossed that this will prevent future headaches.

This must have something to do with both of them putting the engines in sideways.

I bought my Guzzi when I was 30. I saw my first Guzzi when I was a wee one. I was at a summer camp and one of the camp employees rode it in one day. My memory's fuzzy but I think it was a LeMans III. I do remember that my jaw dropped to the ground. How could they fit such a huge engine on such a small bike (didn't know crap about bikes at that age...)? Fast forward 15+ years and I kept thinking of that bike. Where could I find one? I looked for the local dealer in Seattle. It was some run-down looking shop in South Seattle. I dragged my girlfriend (who thought I was crazy, but still ended up being my wife) down there to find that bike. IIRC, the shop was Moto International's first shop (correct me if I'm wrong Greg, my memory is still a bit fuzzy). All I saw at the shop were old Ambos and Californias. Nothing sporty. I gave up. Fast forward a couple more years and I saw a silver, '00 - '01 V11 Sport parked on the street. I must have spent 10 minutes drooling over that bike while my girlfriend impatiently waited for me. Right there I decided I must have THAT bike. Problem is, I didn't know how much they cost and I sure didn't have any money to buy one, so to the back of the brain it went. A year or so later I moved in to an apartment where one of the other residents parked his silver V11 Sport in the garage. Every time I went to the garage to take the trash out, I'd drool over that bike for at least five minutes. A year or so later, I'm married and while out on an errand, I drive by Moto International. On a whim I stopped in and my eyes instantly locked in on a green '02-'03 V11 Sport. I started talking with Dave and he told me the story of the bike. They have a customer from Oregon that has bought 10 - 15 bikes from them. He'll ride one for a couple thousand miles, decide he doesn't like it and will consign or trade it in for another bike. This was one of these bikes. Since the bike had 1400 miles on it, Dave quoted me a price I couldn't refuse. I had to get approval from the Mrs. so I raced home, printed out a picture of the bike and ran over to her office and asked her if it would be ok. Surprisingly she said yes, not knowing what she was getting herself in to. The next day (getting no sleep from the excitement) I was able to secure funding, went and bought a helmet, went to the DMV to get my motorcycle permit (I had ridden other people's bikes many times before, but this was my first bike) and went to Moto International with the check in my hot little hands. After all the paperwork, I rode that bike home with the utmost care and respect (since I was a new rider and the last thing I wanted to do was wad the thing up on my first ride.) Since then, I've become obsessed with Guzzis. I can't go five minutes without thinking about riding or working on it. What cinched the deal for me? The bike is everything it should be, and nothing that shouldn't. Elegantly styled but raw and powerful. Plus, everyone who rides a Guzzi is a weirdo, so I fit right in. Sadly, I've wadded that bike twice, but its been replaced with an '04 Ballabio. It's not quite like the original, but it's getting there.

I have mixed feelings about the Rossopuro sliders. I had a set on DirtyBird #1. They prevented a lot of damage when the bike tipped over when parked on a steep hill, but the entire head guard snapped off when I crashed last September: As you can see, the entire guard was torn off the head. Notice that the outer mounting screws weren't torn out of the head like the two inner screws. The head guard snapped at these two points. IMHO the metal thickness at these mount points is way too thin (less than half the thickness of Moto International's head guards.) Also the screws that attach the spool and it's mount were sheared off (wrong grade fastener?). My gut feeling is that the sliders can create too much leverage against the four mount points of the guard (much more than guards w/o the sliders), which can cause enough damage to the head to render it unsalvageable. In the case of my crash, I don't think any head guard could have prevented the damage done to the head because of the angle and amount of force of the impact. BUT, IMHO these protectors could cause more harm than good. Thoughts?

Looking for a pair of pre-2004 V11 Sport headlight mounts. These are the ones that bolt to the upper and lower triple-clamps. Also looking for pre-2004 V11 Sport instrument panel mounts (w/intact rubber). Thanks!

Since your bike is an '02 with the single indicator, I'm pretty sure that your situation is exactly like mine was. Here was my solution from one of my earlier posts: I have enough parts (regular and zener diodes) to solder up a fix for you. The fix will separate the left and right front signal circuits, and address any current leakage from your flasher. PM me if you're interested.

Hi Bruce, I had to use diodes as in the diagram I posted. The resistor in the diagram is for the LED that I used to replace the incandescent bulb, so don't let it distract you. I didn't need resistors on each signal because I replaced the stock flasher unit with an electronic one. What year is your V11? Does your instrument cluster have a single turn indicator lamp or dedicated left and right indicator lamps? - Slug

Are these still available???