Flatland Dan

Hooray, hooray. I am back on the road again. The mechanic changed out the air temp sensor, balanced the throttle bodies, checked the TPS settings again, and loosened the valve clearances to world specs. The result is a smoother running engine, better acceleration, and a happy rider. 350 miles between a Saturday ride and a Sunday ride. Went to wash it and give it a good coat of wax and found the rear wheel was coated with oil. The final drive seal is not sealing anymore. Oh well, already diagnosed and a seal ordered. Take it apart tonight and wait for the UPS man. Thanks again to all for the suggestions. Later, Dan

This is probably the most knowledgable, helpful, and enthusiastic group of people there is!!! Later, Dan

The suggestions given sor far, steps I've taken so far, and the results so far. Bob in CT.--Starving for fuel. Ran the bike for a couple of miles with the gas cap open and also checked for pinched lines. No luck. Al--ECU and valve lash. The dealer does not have another LeMans in the shop and the clearances are good. Big Unit--Water in the tank. I have run 3 tanks of gas through her now and still am having the problem. Mike Stewart--Stock exhausts? Yes, but I have FBF cans coming soon. The dealer offered them to me at cost minus to take care of the dents that they put in the stock ones. gthyni--remap the ecu. The dealer says that cannot be done. Is there a difference between Euro-spec and US-spec? Rotorhead--the air temp sensor. I think you are onto something. It only misbehaves when the air temperature is hot. I took a long ride today in upper 60 degree temperatures. About 15 miles in town-BORING-and about 40 miles in the countryside. And it only popped once. And that included about a 5-8 minute stop with the engine idling to get it good and warm while talking to a fellow Guzzi rider at a road construction stop. Definitely a heat issue me thinks. Will coerce the dealer into changing out the air temp sensor this weekend and see if that helps. Thanks for all suggestions. Later, Dan

Well, I finally found someone who could run me over to pick up my bike on a workday. Started perfectly but, 55 miles down the road, it all started in again. As long as I was cruising along at 3750 rpm or better, there was no problem. I am sure it is a heat related problem because when I got back into town and the engine warmed up some more, it started into backfiring and farting like crazy. Guzzi technical services told the mechanic that it was a fuel related problem. To me it sounds more like a timing problem. I had an old Chevy that had a bushing wear out on the distributor. Timing changed constantly. Will put a timing light on it with a cold engine and then again with a hot engine. Suspect I will find a difference. I'm starting to worry though, as I am running low on homebrew. Later, Dan

The dealer called this afternoon and said she is ready to ride. He set the TPS at 4.0. I don't have a factory service manual yet but, it seems I read somewhere on this forum that the standard is somewhere around 3.5. I am hoping this is not a band-aid masking a problem further on down the line. Thank you for all of the suggestions. I also received some good suggestions from when I posted my introduction yesterday. I'll burn some midnight oil and drink a homebrew while checking those out. thanks again, Dan.

I have owned this 2003 LeMans 2 weeks and 350 miles. A week and a half of that the bike has been sitting in the shop. At 2000 rpm to about 4000 rpm, acceleration is difficult. It stumbles and backfires through the airbox and acts just like a lean burn condition on a carbuerated bike. At 4000 rpm and above, it won't run at a steady throttle setting. However, it will run great guns above 3500 rpm if you are accelerating hard. TPS settings, air screws, throttle body balance, timing event sensor, valve clearance, and coils all test good. The computer is not throwing any codes and the dealer is stumped. If this was a semi at work, we would be replacing the computer. Has anyone else seen this before?