Skeeve

Well, if you must know, it was a Skeevism, since in the original thread where we all were discussing windage trays & Pete was saying his design wasn't going to be designed to such close tolerances that it would skim oil off the crank ("windage") but would instead be focused on keeping the oil from sloshing around in the sump, at which point I coined the term "sloppage sheet" in one of my replies. "Sump baffle" is entirely too plebian. Accurate, but boring. Shame on you! BTW, what's a Zerox? You planning on running w/o a crossover, ie, zero-x? Ride on,

Er, isn't it a Laverda... w/ ape hanger bars!?! [aka, "sacrilege..."]

^H^H^H^H^H "specifications!" eg: "Whutz moto-st?"

Yours is a 2003+? It has cats in the mufflers; the tailpipes will look clean for many thousands of miles yet!

Alex: Here in the States, pump octane is an average of the Research (aka "made up") & Manual (aka "test") octane numbers, expressed on the side of the pump as (MON+RON)/2. My understanding is that in Europe the RON is the number on the pump, so the octane numbers in Europe are consistently higher for what is the same grade of fuel Stateside. This in turn is complicated by places like California which mandate "oxygenated" fuels (aka "cut it w/ alcohol or ketones & f!ck everyone's mileage") which even tho' they may have octane ratings that are as high as real gasoline, burn much leaner (hotter) than the real deal & consequently contribute to pinging in vehicles that aren't water-cooled...

What he's saying [routing the intake so it's drawing in cool air from the front of the vehicle instead of hot air from over the cylinders] isn't "ram air!" FWIW, "ram air" doesn't depend on forcing air into the airbox anyhow; the name isn't very accurate, in that respect, but it's what we've got to work with, so there it is. That solution for pinging is predicated upon cooling the intake charge, and is really only applicable if you're only experiencing the pinging when trundling slowly along in heavy traffic; at anything much over 25mph, the airflow past the bike/cylinders isn't going to allow for hot air getting into the airbox anyhow. If you're riding along at 60mph & 100 Fdeg (40C?) ambient and getting pinging, then pulling 100deg air from in front of the bike isn't going to make any difference to the pinging vs. 100.5 degree air from right over the cylinders, now is it? WRT the original question, "How can I solve this?": Like someone else pointed out, 1st thing is to make sure your TPS is set correctly & throttle bodies balanced, and that you've got your tappets adjusted to the "world spec" settings. Buy a can of toluene (in the paint supply section, aka "toluol"; it's an aromatic hydrocarbon much like benzene & xylene) and add some to your gas. Straight toluene has an octane rating of about 120; if you live someplace where you can buy decent gasoline in the 1st place, it won't have a large effect & you'll have to add more, but in places like Calif. w/ it's cr@p gas, it'll have a noticeable effect. At $8? $10? $12? a quart, it's not cheap, but it's less ex$pen$ive than the $10 pint of "octane boost 104" or whatever that's the "branded" high price version of the paint solvent. Beyond this, you're looking at ever increasing orders of complexity & cost: Power Commanders, TuneBoys, Mike Rich pistons and/or head work, etc. etc. etc. Best o' luck!

Actually, Paul & my idea are one & the same, he just expressed it more clearly. Good job on the graphic, & to Paul for his clarity of description to enable you to get the graphic right... WRT the "homage" to the competizione LM1 pipes... give it up! "Ya cain't get there from here" since the stock V11 headers & x-over don't have anything like the visual cue from the equivalent pieces from the LM1 pipes. It's a nice idea, but you'd have to completely redo the entire exhaust system (which wouldn't be that big a deal, since the compe' pipes are much simpler than the V11 units & since they're painted black anyway, could be done up in mild steel pipe w/ ceramicoat once everything is dialed in), which in turn would entail a complete remap of the injection, and moreover, probably wouldn't have the performance of the stock V11 system due to the cruder x-over [altho' I almost certainly am wrong about this last bit, since my predictions on almost everything usually wind up in the trash too! ] Ride on!

Replace the whole thing w/ a proper set of Heim joints & Ti tube? [W/ some zerk fittings also, so you can keep the spherical bearings lubed & make it a 1x deal...]

How about a decent picture so we've at least got something to work with?

Don't care for either option, visually; don't like the "kink," regardless of whether it's set high or low! Something in the "middle ground," with the megaphone on a visually straight line w/ the point right behind the pilots footpegs where the pipes come out from the the x-over would likely be most pleasing both visually & practically. JMNSHO, of course! Ride on!

I liked the original Bidual concept bike; it had some real panache! Flat (boxer?) twin, arranged front-back (like a Douglas), but with the cylinders tilted at an angle to keep the wheelbase within reason... This one? Eh, not very interesting... Ride on!

Plan B: Sigma electronic digital bicycle speedometer. Even the full zoot, every feature under the sun model will probably cost you less than $50, it's more accurate than the stock Guzzi unit, smaller, lighter & the only real drawback is that it's harder to read than the stock analog speedo. Best o' luck,

Generally speaking, you want to either ride entirely in the "pocket" or have the turbulence hit you about shoulder ht. (which allows you to crouch down behind the screen to get in the pocket when needed, but otherwise allows for better visibility, better cooling [always a consideration here in Lo-Cal So. Cal! ] and generally better looking as well. You should be looking into a shorter screen, most likely, or investigating the Laminar Lip, which is an added airfoil that helps quiet turbulence. The problem w/ the LL is that sometimes it looks just too dang dorky, but it is reportedly very effective. Alternatively, you can drill some bleed holes near the base of the wind screen, to cut down on the pressure differential between the pocket & the front of the wind screen: this will stabilize the turbulence to some extent, so that it is less severe & easier to live with [this is the basic premise behind the LL, only not as elegant nor controlled.] From the "FWIW" file: I cut down the windscreen on my '86 Gold Wing by about 6" (20cm?) because when I got it, the screen was so old & scratched that I couldn't see thru it. My modification undertaken solely for visibility benefits to the rider was a complete revelation when I realized that the fluttering turbulence that was now hitting my chest made it more comfortable to ride in the heat and also increased my travel radius because the slight, nagging headache that I tended to develop before [from the turbulence hitting my helmet & rapidly varying air pressure inside it] was no longer contributing to my fatigue level. So, I'd recommend a mix of remedies, instead of just expecting a taller screen to solve everything. Best o' luck!

IIRC, the Stucchi x-over is as much about dealing with the top-end power fade as the hole in the 3k-4k rpm range. The bikes w/ the front x-over don't gain as much from the Stucchi in the low rpm, but afaik, they still benefit from the superior flow at high rpm. Bottom line: unless you spend a lot of time WFO, you don't need to spend the money on the Stucchi. OTOH, the Stucchi probably weighs less than the stock "pre-muffler" so you can justify the expense as "necessary wt. savings" if you still want to go that route... Ride on!

"They gots hooked beaks & claws, ain't they?" [/Colonel Sanders][1] Ride on! [1] - In a famous interview back in the 60s, someone asked Colonel Sanders [of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame] if he liked hippies [as most proper southern rednecks of that time despised them.] His eminently appropriate reply was: "They eats chicken[2], don't they?" [2] - Chickens got breasts, so this post isn't entirely beyond the scope of this thread. Just 99.9999999%

What you're describing is sometimes referred to as a "bathtub" chamber; it's something that Harry Ricardo wrote about some 40 years before Guzzi put the hemi chamber in production for the 1st big block Carcano V-2 and while having some much superior characteristics for a 2v head, isn't available for our favorite V11 bikes. It's what modern Harleys (& Buells) use, & mostly why their big twins went from approximately 30mpg w/ the Shovelhead (hemi chamber) to 50mpg w/ the Evo & later models. Ride on,

Gee, can I have your old ones?

Well, something to remember is that DOT/EPA certification is "by type," so Guzzi supplies a representative [blueprinted, naturally!] sample for testing & approval, and then relies upon factory assembly protocols (aka, Luigi ) to keep the rank & file within reasonable tolerances [aka, "shouting distance"] of the type sample... Probably a very good thing that nobody stateside subjects motorcycles to recurring smog tests the way cars are done, or Guzzi would have an even lower presence here than now!

Is that a small block or big block? I'd be very interested in such for a big block... Return to your prior state of mind & see if you can remember more details!

If you're going to go the DIY route, use your stock rubber pad to make the layup mold for your CF version. Best o' luck...

Since the stock V11 mufflers tend to sound rather anemic, I suspect that they may prove to be aftermarket, but how about giving out more info? I understand, not everyone has a digicam to post a pic, etc., but some indication of what model & year your V11 is may prove helpful in resolving this issue. Are the cans oval in cross-section, or ??? AFAIK, all V11 stock cans are oval x-section Termignoni, so if someone else's logo is on the cans or they're round, triangular or some sort of tapered x-section, then they're definitely aftermarket. Hope this helps, & welcome! Ride on,

Nope. The alternative is to tune for a lower, broader power peak. That's not really satisfying either, for us speed freaks... Alternative: put in an EXUP-style exhaust valve to alter the resonance of the exhaust to better suit the engine in that 3k-4.5k rpm range & banish the hole in the powerband. Or, less ideal [but more easily implemented], put on a front x-over like on the 2003+ V11 bikes, which doesn't exactly banish the hole in power-band but fills it in to mostly flat. [Which is why Guzzi did just that for the 2003 & 2004 V11s... ] I don't know which model year bike Al has, but if it's from 2002 or before, I suspect he'll start prowling for the front x-over from somebody's later model V11 to help sort out his powerband (unless he just hates the look, as some people have stated when prior threads on the front x-over came up...)

Well, all modulars (flip front, whatever you wanna call'em) helmets are noisier than integral full-face helmets: there's just more edges to create turbulence, gaps for noise to get in, etc. etc. Since I never ride w/o earplugs anyway, it's not *that* much of an issue, altho' it's always less fatiguing to ride in a quieter helmet, so on long road trips you might want to continue using your older full-face helmets. But for the day to day commute, modulars get the big from me! Ride on!

First, the good news: I'm willing to bet your bike pulls like the Borax 20 Mule Team from 6k to redline. Next, the bad news: at 50% revs of the powerband, the intake & exhaust harmonics give you a flat spot. It's always been this way, & only recently *not* been by tricks like the path-doubling exhaust valves used by the Big 4, etc. So, short of changing your exhaust or cam around (more/again) about all you can do is live with the popping. If it is missing due to lean stumble, then going richer in that range should eliminate the popping in the exhaust & herky jerks; if it's missing because it is already too rich, then you'll just have to lean it back out & live w/ the hole in the powerband. That's life...

Look at the top of the MR piston, vs the other two. See how the former has a nice-flat top, vs. a peaky one on the others? This means in the case of the latter two pistons that the combustion chamber is essentially a "pair of spectacles" shape (essentially, two combustion chambers sharing a distantly offset spark plug), w/ the spark occurring essentially at the "bridge", with flame fronts propating across the top of the "lenses" & then down. With the Mike Rich piston, that flat top means you have one (albeit oddly shaped) combustion chamber w/ a flame front progressing more directly to the extremities thereof. Less pinging is the result. Clear as mud? Ride on!