Skeeve

If you decide to do so, then remember that the 100LL avgas has way more lead in it than any road fuel ever did, and that it's synergistic w/ the unleaded fuel additives, ie: by filling your tank 7/8 full with premium road fuel and then topping off the last bit w/ the avgas, you'll end up with higher octane than the premium with less lead going down the pipes. Used to do that all the time with the old Beetle back when there was still leaded Premium in our pumps here in Lo-Cal So. Cal... [the premium pump was the last to go to unleaded; since there were lots of cars still on the road that required leaded fuel, the CARB decided "let them eat cake!" figuring that the higher prices for premium would encourage people to trade in their old lead-burners sooner rather than later...] Have fun at the track day!

Yah, those Beemer owners don't respect anything w/o those dumb kidney-shaped grills, not even a Bimmer...

The '04s have an oxy sensor in the x-over? Who knew? I thought it was only the Brevas & newer that came with an oxy sensor for FI feedback... The reason your handbook says unleaded fuel only is because of the cat converters in the exhaust cans. Running leaded will kill those things before you can run thru one tankful, and then you've done two things: made it impossible for your bike to pass smog [if you live somewhere that regularly smogs motorcycles] and plugged up your cans even more than they came plugged [in order to pass noise limits] in stock form. The oxygen sensor would be of secondary concern; since they used them to tune back in the days when you could still buy leaded gas, I'm guessing they're not too susceptible to occasional leaded fuel exposure the way that the platinum & palladium in catcons are... Executive Summary: don't use an avgas booster shot in an '03 or '04 V11 unless you've replaced the stock cans with aftermarket [none of which come with catalytic converters.] Ride on!

Those "grease nipples" were invented by a fellow named Zerk back in the teens? 1920s? - anyway, you come up with a mundane but hugely needful invention & you can put your name on it, & then in another 80 years or so people will be asking "Whutz a Nogbad? I call'em magnetohydrodynamic adjustable spanners" & getting derided for it by the clueful old geezers...

The idea is to pull cooler air from in front of the engine, rather than warm air from above it.

Um... Don't see where that's going to solve the problem. Insulating the fuel lines & keeping the whole thing away from the source of heat [ie, anywhere above the engine] is the route to bliss. Routing the fuel lines inside the spine somehow might be a neat bodge, as the frame would act as a heat sink, but I'd sure hate to have to replace them down the road!

That's Thom, he's one of the LABikers, & has a whole fleet of sidehacks! He also had (has?) a beautiful blue G&B. One of the nicest guys you'd ever hope to meet...

Um... I know Mark put a HiCam into a loop frame [Mother Goose; 4valve in an Eldorado donor] but am unaware of others. Todd heavily modded a Jackal, but I think it's still all same-same wrt the original motor & frame combo. As far as the original question regarding the braided stainless return vs. the old twin-rubber hose route: I think the factory chose to go w/ the braided for longevity reasons, not related to pressure, but hey, the xtra bling factor is worth using the braided line, isn't it?

Sorry to our fine admin Jaap & all the other wonderful Guzzisti world wide that make v11LeMans.com the fine place it is, but I think this is only valid in USA... BOGO Diablo Strada Tire promotion The free tire is only available in a 120/70ZR17, but since that's what v11 spineys use, ACT NOW BEFORE THEY RUNOUT! try swmototires.com & others for a good price on a qualifying Strada rear [forum consensus suggests 170/60 is prefered to the factory supplied 180/55, fwiw.] Good luck!

Well, thanks for all the input! As usual, the v11LM.com community comes thru in fine style with great info; as luck would have it, however, the point is moo. You know, like a cow's opinion - it doesn't matter. It's moo... Why? Because the following promotion is only for a 120/70 front tire! [Geez, doncha wish I'd read the fine print sometimes?] [sorry for those outside the USA, I think it's only good Stateside...] BOGO Pirellli Strada Front tire promo offer Potential source for the 170/60 [or 180/55 for the "follow the owner's manual at all costs" sort (which I usually am, but this forum has all the answers, so I trust the 170/60 recommendation)] - try swmototires Be advised that Pirelli has allocated a set number of tires to the promotion, so you'll have to act fast!

[1] Yikes! 310 E$ is a LOT for a seat with a lower marginal utility than the standard vinyl unit... [2] Hopefully, they'll close'em out to some aftermarket dealer like they did with the spare stock of V11 engines to that German shop, & the buyer can in turn make'em available at a much lower price! [3] Anyone with a Tenni has the choice of: 1) bagging the suede seat & keeping it unused until such time as they sell it with the bike or enter the bike in a concours [for the added "collector value" the pristine seat will bring] or 2) using it as a spare while they're having the standard seat customized for comfort or 3) selling it on Ebay for someone who doesn't understand that Omobono Tenni used a suede seat way back in the day because the suspension of the time [even tho' Guzzi was in the vanguard of this tech forefront] was so execrable that he needed help staying on [which, as contemporary accounts seem to make clear, he was not entirely successful in doing at times... ] I'd actually fall into the Category 3 buying position, sorta, since I'd want it to use for Category 2 purposes & then be a Cat3 seller when I'm done with it... Hey, can I get a Brotherhood of the Traveling Seat goin' here? Maybe we can make a movie out of it & recover the costs of recovering (& recontouring, repadding, etc.) our seats!

O.K., so there's been lots of discussion about how the 170/60 rear tire makes for slightly better handling Guzzi than the stock 180/55 size. But has anyone tried a 120/60 front vs. the (slightly oddball) 120/70 size? Is the difference substantial? The difference in axle height works out to about 12mm; I haven't done the trig, but it should work out to slightly decreased rake & slightly greater trail figures. [Kinda like the old "dropping the forks 1/2" in the triple trees to quicken the turn in..." squid trick] Just curious, since the industry standard seems to be the /60 profile, so those tires will usually be cheaper. Ride on,

Interesting that only the Scura flywheels [later than Rosso & Tenni, right?] have failed. I didn't say that Guzzi didn't know about the problem, just that they weren't likely to take responsibility for fixing it unless owners file complaints w/ their respective govt. oversight bureaus [here in the U.S.A., the Dept. of Transportation ("DOT") maintains a website where disgruntled owners can file equipment failure reports; if enough of these accrue, the DOT will force a recall.] Do we have any more info on the Scura clutches vs. the version in the Rosso Mandellos & Tennis? Did Guzzi get the clutches for the earlier bikes from an outside vendor, & then decide they could make the Scuras' Al clutch themselves? It's too bad that the clutch is such a pain to get to, but any Scura owner should start planning now to do the job, if only to save the cost of replacing their engine cases!

Finalmente! I asked for a picture of an exploded clutch when this topic first came up on the board a year & a half ago. Thanks Paul! Anyway, the picture is truly worth 10^3 words (at minimum!) It's pretty clear that there is a stress riser at the perimeter of the bolt hole circle at the center of the disc; possibly some of the bolt holes themselves, since the cracks extend into them (indicating they may actually be the initial failure point.) So, bad machining or a combination of that with poor choice of alloy [a la' the use of 4253 alloy for the first Al scuba tanks many years ago; seemed to work great, until the necks of the bottles started to go at the base of the threads!] As someone else correctly pointed out, with aluminum, it's not a case of "if" but "when" for these kinds of things: either the part was designed correctly at the outset & it won't fail, or you'll see all of this design eventually fail. [Anyone remember the Lockheed Constellation?] Also, don't forget it's not just Scura's with the aluminum single plate clutches; Rosso Mandellos & Tennis all share this component. I'm surprised that none of the owners of these models here in the U.S. have filed a comment on the DOT's recall site; without that, there's virtually no way that Guzzi is going to shoulder the cost to swap these out... Heck, at this point, I would think Piaggio would just offer a credit against the Brevona or Griso if they were cornered on the clutch failures by the DOT. I guess having that guy buy the Tenni I was considering the day before I went to pick it up over a year ago was lucky after all...

Does that 40 include the ones in Japan that I told you about when you first came to v11LM.com & started trying to create a Tenni registry? 'Cause if not, then you ought to try to contact the Japanese Tenni owners group & add them to your registry... Ride on!

Hate to rain on your parade, but that's the same day as the LABikers' Spring Ride for the Road Gods [fundraiser] on Angeles Crest [aka the Yves Bolomet Memorial Highway.] It's not a huge turnout, & just a casual ride up the Crest from the Shell to Newcomb's, where you can eat, or not & eventually they'll pass the hat for contributions to go to the emergency crews [who frequently run out of budget to scrape the squids off the pavement & wind up buying their own bandages.] Good cause & all that, so you've got the options of: Going ahead with the GRR/GMR route [too bad the secret's out; that road used to be great before the frickin' moto mags all outed it! Now the FS & county just shut it down periodically 'cause they don't want to deal with the squids...] & figure the Road Gods ride will drain off some people to get in your way, or... Incorporate/show up for the Road Gods ride & toss a couple bucks in the hat up @ Newcomb's & feel good about yourself for helping your fellow riders [be they dopey squid types or not.] ;-) Ride on!

[1] Of course! Be forewarned: there are those (severely lacking in taste & aesthetic awareness ) who consider the v11LM to be "ugly." While not as pleasing as the most beautiful Guzzi ever [the 1100 Sport, in yellow ], the v11LM is nevertheless a gorgeous bike (confirmed by my mom, who hates bikes in general ) Altho' tempting, don't waste your time trying to raise the awareness of these microcephalic idiots; they were born without taste, & no amount of training will enable them to distinguish between, say, the wonderful organic curves of the v11LeMans & the bizarre origami foldings of a Kawasaki ZX10. It's really tragic, but the best thing you can do is shrug & move on... [2] You always need another bike. [3] 2002 models have an external fuel pump, which has led to some vapor-lock issues. Tenni models mount the fuel pump in a different location, & are largely exempted thereby. The fuel return on these leads to a "phantom gallon" that cannot be used - this, more than the vapor lock issue, seems to be the biggest complaint of that vintage. 2003/4 models have the fuel pump embedded in the gas tank, which eliminates the vapor lock problem; iirc, the change in fuel pump location also did something to help with the low-fuel scenario too, but don't quote me on it. The later models also have the "second x-over" about 12" from the exhaust valve, to help fill in the "4k rpm hole in the powerband" experienced in the models without that crossover. [4] If you came here for insight, boy are YOU ever lost! Ride on,

Dunno about NAPA ["Napa" is a town in No. Cal where they bottle spoiled grape juice & fleece the tourists... ] or Kragen/Checkers/Whatever, but the Pep Boys carry PuroLator motorcycle oil filters & at least the one here in da LBC carries the correct model # for Guzzis. Just a datapoint.

Ebay windage tray Just to distract you guys from the bickering... What do you think of this windage tray on eBay? Seems awfully complex compared to the simple flat-sheet cutout that Pete Roper? did up. BTW, did anyone ever makeup a PDF of that thing, so anyone can print it out, tape it down, & cut out their own windage tray? Seems like it would be a popular DIY sort of mod... Ride on!

Sure they are. In Myanmar, circling the base of the Petronas towers. Homologation is smoke & mirrors: go to Bolivia, pay the mordida to the appropriate minister for road-going approval, & sell 50 bikes over the Internet with shipping included to their home country. Harley did it in Poland because at the time, Poland was coming out from under the Soviet thumb & hard currency was direly needed, plus they had 2smoke cars on the road, so what kind of emissions is a 4stroke V2 going to produce? Nada. Easy peesy approval & Bob's yer uncle. Ride on!

A turn-out is a section of paved (or at least graded) surface off to the side of the 2 lane roadway situated such that slow drivers can easily exit, pause, & reenter the roadway in order to allow the 2 miles of traffic they're holding up behind them to pass!

VRat: This was all covered in an old thread; you can look it up [DeBenGuzzi already posted one of the pictures I made of the opened up can] but the net result was that the stockers are too well built by half (which explains their "lead anchor" qualities of heft.) The only mods possible are going to be minimally effective; short of that, you'll spend as much in man hours bodging them as it would take you working to pay for a much better aftermarket solution. It's just not worth it. Even I, notorious cheapskate that I am, have been forced to recognize that! Best "bang for buck" solution for the stockers is to remove the back beauty cover surrounding the exhaust tip, take a small dia drill & swiss cheese the back end of the can, & replace the beauty cover. It's all in the thread, you can go read it if you like... Next stop on my list of "check this out" is to see if anyone making mufflers for the "tuner" market [automotive rice burners] is making an inexpensive muffler w/ suitable entry pipes that will fit inside the stock Guzzi oval beauty covers. So far, no luck... Shucks! Sure would be nice to pick up a pair of cheap mufflers that outperform the stockers for Saving my pennies for Mistrals in the meantime. Ride on!

Huh? What battery box? Duuude, that's an ammo box for holding the limpet mines you're gonna slap on the daft BDCs who're holding up traffic! Seriously, the battery box is the least of this guy's troubles: the donor bike he started with was a Le Mans, the b@st@rd!..

Superbowl Sunday: great timing! Everyone's going to be parked in front of the tube. Normally, I wouldn't be one of them, but this year I rec'd. an invite from a friend of mine who's hosting a party. Since we go way back & he's always great to hang out w/ (something we don't get to do much anymore: dang adulthood! ), I'm sad to report I won't be making it. Hopefully, not all the SoCal lurkers have their priorities as messed up as I do!

O.K., this just in: I found an eBayer selling his '00 Sport's frame (I forget his reason) who was willing to weigh it [1] for me: 25.75# [that's only about 12kg for you metric lot] - that's all! That means it's hardly worthwhile even doing one up in aluminum, since you're only going to save about 5, maybe 6 lbs. [25% reduction rule of thumb; even tho' Al is 60% the wt. of steel, since it's weaker you only end up saving about 25% overall. ] How does Ghezzi&Brian shave off 100# from the usual v11? It's not in the frame, which leaves us the engine & tranny. Is G&B making the cases out of cast Ti, or are they inflating (with helium! ) their wt. figures? Where is all the lard hidden? It can't *all* be in the flywheel & clutch, that's for certain, or ol' Roper wouldn't be complaining about how the modern flywheels just don't weigh enough to suit him... Thoughts, theories, conjectures? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Ride on, [1] Hopefully, I'll be able to get the guy parting out his bassa on eBay to do the same for me w/ his Tonti frame, so we'll have a direct comparison between it & the spine frame wt. to see, what, if anything, Dr. John saved there.