Jim Malm

I'm the second owner of this '02 Guzzi LeMans. It's got newer Michelin Pilot Power tires, Convertibar bar risers, a Throttlemeister cruise control, a Rich Maund custom gel seat, and a new Ventura luggage system. It has 93XX miles on it. The title is clear and the bike is licensed through May 2011. I'm asking $5,500 USD. Please give me (Jim) a call at 509-533-0801 in Spokane, WA. I'll happily send photos if you call and give me an e-mail address. Thanks!

I have an 02 LeMans and was wondering what suggestions those of you on the list have for soft luggage options for the rear of the bike? Suggestions of where to buy in the US will also be very much appreciated. Thanks! Jim

Gary- Thanks for the comment and information. It cost me a total of $13.06 for the switch and postage from Moto International. It went on and worked properly without any problem (other than the 10 minutes I spent looking for the small brass nut I dropped). I had it delivered to my door the day after I ordered it and the repair was made the day it arrived - record time in the world of Guzzi repairs. I suspected that the switch was probably a common electrical item, but the odds of finding it in Spokane were not high and I'm not skilled in cross referencing electrical components. In this case I feel the money I spent was was well worth the convenience I got from purchasing the part from a knowledgeable dealer. Jim

Thanks to all who replied regarding this problem. My invesitgation revealed that one of the male spade connectors on the microswitch was broken or very close to being so, as it came off in the female side (ouch!) when I disconnected the leads. I saw the stuff on the replacement switches and also contacted Moto International. MI has an after market replacement in stock for about $10 which I immediately ordered. I'll post a comment on how the thingy goes on. I touched the leads together to see if the brake light would work and it did, so the mystery is solved for now. I'm happy not to have to be looking for the wire connections in the bowels of the bike. Thanks again for the help - this forum is a great resource! Jim

Ron- It sounds like the problem may not be as daunting to solve as I thought it might be. As I mentioned in my original post, there's probably a good chance I pulled the wires lose when I installed the Convertibars. Thanks for your reply. Jim

Greg- Thanks to you too for that tip. I'll post my success or lack thereof to the forum. Jim

Thanks for the quick reply. It sounds like you may have experience with this problem. I hope that the solution is as straight forward as it appears. I'll give your suggestions a go tomorrow and hopefully not lose too many micro parts in the process. Thanks again for the help! Jim

During a ride yesterday, my riding buddy told me my front brake light was not working. I confirmed that he was correct, but determined my rear brake light is still working. I don't have a good parts or service manual for the bike and currently am at a loss on where to start trouble-shooting this problem. It appears that there is a switch right at the the lever, but it is so small and simple looking that I'm wondering if this is really the case. There are two wires that seem to enter a small plastic enclosure under the fulcrum end of the lever. I installed Convertibars on the bike and am wondering if prehaps I didn't pull a wire out of it's proper location when I did that. Any suggestions on where to start and how to proceed in tracking the problem down will very much be appeciated. Thanks! Jim Malm

Thanks for the replies and advice. It came to me in the middle of the night that that top triple clamp must be positioned right where it was to function properly. I've gotten to the point of getting the triple clamp off after figutring out the little knob on the top of the steering stem is threaded. The installation looks pretty straight forward, but know there is always something unanticipated that pops up. I did not get the extended cables. I'll probably have some more questions as the installation progresses this weekend. I'll post a summary when done in the event others might be interested. Thanks again! BTW no riding here today - 5 degress and a sub-zero wind chill. A good day to work in the heated shop! Jim

This directed to those of you who have installed the ConvertiBAR system on your LeMans. Did you mount the new clamps so that the top triple clamp is in the position where the stock bar clamp came off? The top of the triple clamp will now be where the top of the stock bar clamp was formerly located - about level with the top of the fork top. I fear my question may be stoopid, as it appears that the above configuration will be the best way to put things back together, but I have also discovered "intuitive" does not always work. Thanks for your input in advance. Are there any pitfalls in the installation that I should be aware of? I would appreciate any helpful hints you may have for me to make this installation go smoothly. Jim

Westside Motorsports picked up the Guzzi franchise held by Beaudry Motorsports in Post Falls, Idaho in 2005. My experience with Westside has been good so far in that they covered warranty work on my 02 LeMans with no hassle. I bought the LeMans used from a guy who bought it new in 2004 from Moto International. My impression is that Westside is trying hard to represent Guzzi well. I just hope the factory and MGNA will reciprocate.

Thanks for the reply. How tedious was the installation and how long did it take? How long have you had those bars on your Sport? Jim

Along those lines, has anyone tried the Convertibar kit for the V11 LeMans? If so: 1. How difficult was the installation? 2. Did you gain significantly better riding comfort? 3. Did you have to replace the hydraulic lines? Comments from anyone with first hand experience using that system would surely be appreciated. Though it's not very pretty, the Convertibar kit sure looks like it offers as much adjustment possibilites as anything I've found available so far. How much vertical and horizontal adjustment can you actually get on the Lemans without having to replace the hydraulic lines? Apologies for continuing to beat this dead horse, but I'm still searching for Nirvana in solving the bar comfort problem. Any other suggestions on bar optionswill be gladly accepted. Thanks, Jim

The parts ordered by me and my local dealer, Westside Powersports, in early September finally appeared last week. I had ordered a socket head screw for one missing on the LeMans' fairing and the dealer ordered parts for the broken shifter spring repair so often discussed in this forum. Is that the usual lag time it takes to get parts from Mr. Guzzi these days or is that an indication that the parts supply might be getting better under the new ownership? Thought comparing notes on this might be worthwhile. BTW the parts shipped for the spring repair included a new spring but no replacement pawl with a smaller boss. I'm really glad I got that replacement spring from the folks in Oklahoma City and had the pawl boss turned down to 15mm. The dealer was very kind in covering the repair under warranty using the aftermarket spring. Jim

I just received the Evolutione kit from MI and went to install it on my LeMans only to find out that the previous owner had beat me to it. The bike originally came from MI so that's not a surprise - just didn't know what the kit was till I got it. I'll post a photo that will hopefully show you a changed peg position. The peg gets dropped to the lowest hole on the bottom of the side plate. I obviously found that position a bit uncomfortable, but a bigger problem was that I didn't feel like I had good access to the foot controls, particularly the rear brake. My heels also touch the pipes with conversion. If the photo isn't clear, let me know and I'll send you some better shots at your personal e-mail. Jim

Thanks to all for the comments so far. Is "converitbars" a topic in the Forum? My seat will be off to Rich Maund today and I ordered a set of the Evoluvione (sp?) peg kits from MI. I may try using the the Ducati ST2/4 pegs with them. I'll post info. on how they work out. I'm still trying to figure out the best route to go with the bars. A machinist friend has some ideas for the bars we may try on my LeMans. Will also post info on that if succesful. Williamsville Competition now wants $375 for their product - ouch. Jim

Looks like I get to be the first one in 2006 to bring up this subject. I just waded through the many posts on handlebar mods and came to the conclusion that the Verlicchi and Williamsville Competition items appear to be the best bar risers that may actually be available. The MPH website has changed and I was unable to look at what they have available. I'm leaning (no pun intended) toward the Williamsville product because of the apparent ease of installion. Has anyone heard anything from GenMar or the other company that were looking into producing bar risers? Are there any other products out there that I should look at? I contacted Moto International in Seattle who told me they had a system that adapts Balabio bars to the LeMans, but I haven't seen a photo or been given a quote or any details on what it takes to put them on. Rich Maund looks like the guy to go to to improve the comfort of the seat. Again, any other suggestions on other options for seating? Has anyone come up with a system to move the foot pegs down and a bit forward? Good judgement and common sense would probably dictate that I look for another bike, but the LeMans just has too much uniqueness and personality to abandon. Your suggestions on what will make this a more comfortable bike to ride are appreciated. Thanks! Jim

Thanks for the links - I knew there had to be extensive information on the problem. Yet another Guzzi mystery... Jim

Thanks for the reply. I'll go investigate the instrument setup to see if I can figure the best spot to drill some holes. Is a 0.25" hole about the right size to allow drainage and ventilation? It's interesting that the tach seems to be the only one of the pair that has the condensation problem so far. I haven't ridden the Okanagan-Penticton route you mentioned, but will put it on my list to try. Most of my riding is short jaunts around here with some forays into the rolling hills of the Palouse. Jim

I see in the FAQ area on common problems that the way to eliminate condensation in the tachometer is to drill a small hole in the instrument. I haven't been able to locate any specifics on exactly what size hole is appropriate or where to drill that hole. Could someone point me to the instructions on that fix or let me know what size hole is needed and where it should be drilled? Thanks! Jim

Yikes! I hadn't checked the forum recently and now find that having my 16mm pawl boss turned down to 15mm and using the Racecraft spring might have been the wrong thing to do. Has anyone who has done the conversion had any problem because the spring might now be too loose? My bike seems to be shifting fine so far with the new spring and smaller pawl boss. Our new dealer, Westside Motorsports, here in Spokane has been pretty cool about the warranty thing so far. They replaced the factory spring with my after market Racecraft item and turned down pawl and haven't charged me anything (yet). As far as I know, the replacement part(s) they ordered from Guzzi for my bike have not yet arrived so I'm glad I brought in my own parts and got back on the road. If anything interesting on the warranty happens I'll post it it here. Jim

I just delivered the shifter arm to a friend with a nearby machine shop and a nice Bridgeport mill. He will be milling the spring boss down to 15mm today. His machining skills are much quicker and more accurate than my filing skills. Hopefully, that mod along with polishing the contact point, and the new spring will allow me to do some riding soon without worry of future spring failures. I did not initially realize how extensive the information on the spring in FAQ was - what a great resource it is! Thanks again for the help on this. Jim

I was referring to the diameter inside the coil of the spring. On face value just enlarging the diameter of the coil seemed likea pretty clever way to solve the problem. I'm guessing that's probably not the case though. Thanks for your replies on this. I hope I can get the problem resolved on this initial go at it. Jim

First, apologies for staring a new thread on this, but I was afraid my question would be lost in the plethora of replies to my original post on the subject. I got my new aftermarket spring yesterday and I went out to the dealer where my bike current resides, Westside Motorsports, to get my shifter pawl. I was provided the whole intact sideplate which I carefully dissassembled. I was prepared to start filing on the pawl boss to make the spring fit properly. Before commencing filing work on the boss I measured it and found that it was 16mm in diameter. I fitted the new spring on the boss and found that it fit loosely on the boss. It measured 17.03mm. I then tried the broken spring and found that it also fit loosely and measured 16.90 mm. Having read the info in FAQ, I was under the impression that the spring would be a tight fit on the boss and cause drag - not the apparent case. What I did find that was mentioned in FAQ was a rough area on the pawl mechaism where the short end of the spring rests. There was also a bright gouge where it had dug into the metal there. There's a very nice photo of that condition posted in FAQ. From what I found it doesn't appear that any work is need on the pawl boss as the new spring seems to fit without any drag. I plan on just smoothing out the area where the spring rides on the pawl mechanism so that it is provided the opportunity for better movement and then just putting it back together. Am I missing anything here? It looks like someone figured out that making the spring hole bigger could solve the problem. Has anyone else doiscovered this situation? Thanks! Jim

The pawl spring just broke on the trip home from the dealer after my 6K service. From reading past posts on this topic it looks like my problem occurred right on schedule. The tranny stuck in 2nd gear so I was able to limp back to the dealer. They discovered the broken spring and ordered the part which has an ETA of October 5th (maybe). I talked to Micha at MotoI to see if they had the part and he said they were also back ordered on the part. There was a reference to a spring supplier in past posts - Bonnie in OK at 405-524-7223 who is shipping me a replacement spring today for about $16 including shipping. My question is: Has Guzzi done anything special to address this problem on the bikes experiencing this problem? We are running out of riding season here and I would like to have my machine back before it snows, but don't want to do the repair now if a better fix is on the way. Any current updates on this problem would be appreciated. Thanks. Jim