slug

Personally, I'd sand it. Even with sandblasting there's potential for unevenness if you dwell on one spot for too long. P.S. Bondo is your friend.

Welcome! Can't say if 4-5 hours is too much, but someone else will know. There'll always be a bit of vibration in the bars (most here have fitted wicked-heavy bar ends with good results), but if it's putting your hands to sleep, it sounds like something is mis-adjusted. When my bike had a bad buzz, it was caused by one of the valves being way, way out of adjustment. When you take the bike in be sure to mention the vibration.

I'll trade you a well broken-in '03 V11 Sport for Billy Bob.

Magpie Guzzi will be yet another V11 related site. No discussion forum, that's what V11Lemans is for . The main focus will be a V11 related Wiki that will hopefully be an organized resource for V11 specs, reference, maintenance, hacks, bodges and the like. It will be open so anyone will be able to contribute. I'd also like to have a directory of businesses and individuals that make/sell V11 related stuff. (Shameless Plug: I'll be selling my carbon fiber bits from here) This whole thing is still in its infancy and I still have a lot of stuff to work/figure out. If anyone wants to help or make fun of me, just PM me. I know there are other sites that have how-tos (including this one) but IMHO I think we all need something more organized (no offense Jaap )...

Don't worry, I'll still be around, in fact... is starting to take shape.

I knew Dirty Bird was dead as I slid down the asphalt, watching the bike coast in to a ditch on the left side of the road, bounce out of the ditch back in to the road and flop on it's left side, and slide some more. Well, that and the big pool of 20W-50 it bled all over the road. The cracked engine case & shredded head & barrel alone should warrant a total loss (broken wheel doesn't help either.) One funny thing: I had the fuzzy black wrinkle paint, and it never flaked off after 19998 miles. Go figure. Thanks! I very well could have fixated on the rock, but only for a fraction of a second, and I just plain saw it too late. I think I had been scanning the road ahead, looking for a safe place to pass the car in front of me.

Thanks All. The cop was super-nice. No problems whatsoever. The accident wasn't my fault, I was going the speed limit and not doing anything squidly, plus he was impressed that I was wearing all the gear. The cop I am pissed at is the one that passed me going the other way, not a minute before I crashed, who didn't stop to get the rock out of the road. He couldn't have not seen it. Seriously. I asked the cop that was helping me if they normally stop to get rocks out of the road and he said that they did. Gloves didn't blow apart at all, in fact they held up really well. I think the skin of my knuckles just rubbed against the glove liner too hard. I think it would happen with any glove.

Yesterday I went for a ride from what I hoped to be Seattle to Washington Pass on the North Cascades Highway and back. Unfortunately, it didn't go as planned. I was heading eastbound on Highway 20, about ten miles east of Marblemount, following a car that was doing the speed limit (50 mph). I was about three seconds behind the car. I should have been further. We go around a gentle left-hander and I see the car twitch to the side a bit. Then I see why: they had just gone over a rock roughly the size of a bowling ball (they cleared it), and it was directly in my path. By the time I started to swerve, it was too late. I hit the rock nearly straight on with my front wheel, HARD. A five inch chunk of the rim shattered off, instantly deflating the tire. I think the impact threw me up off the seat while it pitched the bike to the right. I think I landed part way back on the seat, but instantly lost my grip (maybe speed-wobbled?) and peeled off the left side of the bike. I hit the ground on my butt (I think) and slid on my back, butt and shoulder for about 50-75 feet. Meanwhile, my bike kept going (still in gear) and veered left in to a ditch, where it bounced back out in to the road, landing on its left side. It slid for a bit and came to a rest in the middle of the lane I was travelling in. I was able to get up right away, relatively unhurt. I twisted my left ankle and had a bit of rugburn on the knuckles of my left hand. Later, my back started to hurt, probably from landing on my butt. The car that was in front of me stopped and the guy ran back towards me. He helped me drag my bike out of the road while his wife directed traffic. The good stuff: 1. I was ATGATT with full leather Aprilia race pants, full leather Moto Guzzi race jacket, Sidi Vertigo boots, Alpinestars back protector, full leather Olympia gauntlet-style gloves w/kevlar stitching and an Arai Astral-X helmet. All the gear did it's job, especially the back protector. I know the impact would have messed my back up more if I hadn't been wearing it. The Aprilia pants held up very well, too. The helmet took a light bonk and it's a bit scraped up. 2. Traffic in the oncoming lane was very heavy (lots of RVs, too). Fortunately the accident happened in a break in the traffic, because I came to rest in the middle of the oncoming lane. 3. The car in front of me stopped and helped me get the bike out of the road, helping prevent further accidents. 4. No ambulance ride this time! The bad stuff: 1. The bike (2003 Guzzi V11 Sport) is toast. Front wheel is shattered. Headlight, instrument cluster & left side controls all torn off. The left head & header obliterated. The engine case cracked open in several spots and tore away from the frame. Frame is most likely bent. 2. The bike has a salvage title, so I don't know how much I'll get for it. 3. My poor wife got lost trying to find me to pick me up, not to mention the stress knowing her husband crashed. 4. My new Hyperpro fork springs came in today. 5. I'll be bikeless for a while... Lessons learned: 1. Three seconds behind isn't enough. 2. ATGATT 3. ATGATT 4. ATGATT Some photos of the wreckage:

I have the factory race jacket, and crashed today. (Only injuries to me were a twisted ankle and a sore back. ATGATT!) The jacket did very, very well. I went down at 50 mph and slid 50-75 feet. A little spot wore through on the top of the left shoulder, right by the seam. A few scuffs on the back and that's it. I wouldn't hesitate to buy this jacket again. The bike, didn't do so well. I'll start another thread on that tomorrow...

Nice report Greg! Saw the poutine and had to try it. Made up a batch tonight, and mmmmm mmmmm Tasty!

It may be a while before I start. I still have to finish my tail section mold, tank pad mold, rear hugger mold, etc.

Heck, you shoulda seen the left bearing when it went Regarding the muffler juice: do you recommend synthetic or dino? Would the synthetic react with the chrome muffler bearings? Would blinker fluid work in a pinch?

About 11k for the first failure. Second failure happened around 19k. Didn't have time to monkey with the cush drive last night. Planning on doing that at the same time I replace my fork springs (if they ever arrive...)

Done. I went wide with the spacer @ 113.5mm. Seems to fit ok without the bearing sticking out too much. Used a touch of anti-seize on the outside surface of the bearings to ease removal, just in case I fry the bearings from the spacer being too long (if this was a bad idea, someone please speak up!!) Used "All Balls" brand (what a stupid name) 6204-2RS bearings. $10 each. Only problem I had was leaving the rear drive on it's side on the bench overnight, so lots of pepto-pink fluid to clean up (yes, I topped it off afterward). We'll see how it rides tomorrow. One day, when I update my own web site, I'll have a page dedicated to V11 specs, procedures and bodges. Might do it Wiki style so others can contribute. Anyone interested in helping?

Doing both sides. I checked the left one and it feels "gritty".

There's very little bluing anywhere. I did about 700 miles weekend before last, and I remember the clunking started around then but thought it was the torque bar that I got from Rossopuro. So with the riding I did (some two-up with the Mrs. ) after that, I'm guessing ~400 miles on a fragged bearing. Glad it wasn't the left-side bearing (again). Anyone in Seattle with a metal lathe that I could use for a few minutes to do up a new spacer??? I have enough material for three of them.

Argh. Rear brake wouldn't stop groaning. Pulled the caliper, cleaned and lubed the seals. No improvement. Heard clunking in the rear end. Thought it was the gimbal (sp?) joints on that torque rod thinger attached to the rear drive. Nope. Fine, I'll pull the fookin' rear wheel... Uh oh. Not good. Anyone need a slightly used wheel bearing? I believe I'm another victim of too-short wheel bearing spacer syndrome. Fortunately, after much cleaning, I'm happy to report there's no major damage. I have two spare bearings ready to go, and I picked up some 6061 T-6 aluminum tube to make a new spacer. www.onlinemetals.com rocks. Great resource for aluminum, stainless, copper, brass, titanium in small quantities. The upside? This means I'll be forced to ride my buddy's '06 Firebolt that I'm bike-sitting for the next couple of months while he's on a road trip. (But not too much. I noticed he wrote the mileage down in the owners manual...)

Argh. My odometer just quit on me (at 18,000 miles) and my speedo needle bounces too. Since so many are having issues with the Vaugelias, do we have any recourse with Moto Guzzi? Speedometers/odometers should not have this high of a failure rate!

Is Enzo coming this year?

More info here linky Think I'll check with my dealer...

+10

From a couple days ago at the top of Chinook Pass, Mt. Rainier National Park

Happy birthday Jaap!

Well look at you, Mr. Smarty-Pants!

My office is too stuffy to allow any such nonsense.