Janusz

This is the only way to catch Al in quantity department, I guess. I like it.

Disclaimer: i am talking only the original exhaust, the one without connecting pipe in the front.

And it works perfectly well with Ferraci pipes, by the way.

I do not have time for a lot of typing and explaining why right now, but I am convinced that STUCCHI is the only X-over to go with. Believe it please, it's true.

Let me share my experience with this pesky little cover and how I managed a 100% cure 3.5 years ago: All you need is a wheel paint for few bucks. The brand is VHT, it is called polyurethane wheel paint, color code SP-186 (Rally Silver), sold in 11oz. spray can for CA$7.52. This paint is really amazing, fully protects aluminum, steel or chrome (yes, it comes clearcoat too) surface against oxidation, is totally chip resistant, extremely hard when dries. No primer needed. I ride my bike all year. Today when I went for a ride I saw lots of dried salt on the streets and hwy. I am convinced my whole bike will rust away before that cover will have even one chip or blemish. Seriously. One of these days I will spray my oil pan with it too. If needed it'll be good for the engine also, I'm sure.

Thank you for all the input. the idea of rewiring has lots of appeal. How difficult is it to do? Electrics is my Achilles tendon. Would that be just a matter of unplugging the bulb, connecting the relay to the wire (do I need cut off the connector?) and then run a hot wire to battery? Does relay (relays?) fit both into the bucket? And final thought: why factory does not do it? If it is a marked improvement for maybe 2-3 $ cost increase would that make sense abandoning an idea of relayed headlight on the bikes? After all it is very important having a proper light and compromising for couple of bucks makes no sense. I do not think any manufacturer including Japanese uses relays. Why not?

And that is why those crafty Krauts used an old generation R1 and not much faster and better handling new one.

Yamaha price 21,895 DM Guzzi price 92,000 DM How the comparison can even begin to be fair? No amount of money thrown into Guzzi will make it better performing then latest generation R1 (the one I just bought BTW) No amount of money thrown into yamaha R1 - or almost any other bike in the world BTW- will make it more charismatic then Guzzi. And that is why, boys andf girls, YOU NEED THEM BOTH !!!

Thanks Al. That would be good, that Speaker's product, but it looks they make only 7 inch light aimed more towards harley crowd. I would also much prefer less avant-garde look of the split reflector which does not fit very well with general style of the bike. The regular Hella reflector would be ideal but i could not get a proper size. do they make it? I do not know.

I am thinking about improving a lousy IMO main headlight. Since, I think, LeMans reflector is somewhat smaller therefore I would be interested in some advice for a naked V11S, naturally. When measured its diameter is 18.6cm (7.5/8in) by the way. In cars with regular round reflector i had excellent results replacing stock light with an aftermarket Hella unit. This is of course somewhat smaller and would'nt fit V11 housing. Did anybody succeed improving a stock headlight? I am absolutely not interested in these atrocious futuristic looking lights like B&G Furia etc. I also know about HID lights and it is no the way i would like to go this time. Changing bulbs solves nothing. I think the reflector or/and glass is just lousy.

And you're telling me that NOW? But seriously, thanks.

OK, guys. I bought it today. Silver 2004 R1, brand new. ($2,500 below 2005 list price). Nobody had any 2004 leftover but this one dealer I know had and I just couldn't resist. It is all your fault guys; not even one person adviced me against. I asked you for some words of sanity and here's what happened. Anyways, I am picking it up next week after it is prepared. Thanks for all the words of encouragement. Now I have 5 bikes (includind one old 1983 Honda which will be perfect for a sidecar when I am 80-something and cannot keep my balance too well). Hope it will rot forever (this Honda I mean).

You're smart. Work sucks IMO. The last time I've worked for hire was in 1980 when I quit flying the airline. I enjoyed life ever since immensely. Enough money for everything, lots of time for family, self improvement, satisfying activities. Work is slavery. On the topic though self cancelling turn indicator is more annoying for me then improvement. I have it on the cruiser and it takes my attention away from riding more then normal on/off switch. You constantly keep checking: is it still on?, did it turned off already?. You never know since it seems to have mind of its own, being a function of time, distance, speed possibly...

I will make an assumption what you actually meant to say since your sentence does not seem to be gramatically correct: Actually "clown" is too mild. Forget policeman or not but any approx.250 lb, strong young man, trained in martial arts, fully armed and equipped with taser, pepper spray AND semiautomatic deadly handgun, protected by body armour and confronted with COMPLETELY DRUNK, 115lbs woman 20ft away, who pulls the gun and shoots to kill is not worth of the name "human being" in my book. By the way I have met Const. Jewers and know his looks, size and abilities. Can we talk motorcycles now? I am done with this thread.

Which law exactly prevents me from saying the truth? Where exactly you detect any judgment in my statement? Jewers name was mentioned in a local paper by the way. So, Brian, you don't need to worry about my well being. You could direct your attention towards mastering proper shifting technique instead. When they train these clowns they are taught never shoot one bullet but always in pairs. If the victim was shot only once it just goes to prove how good the shooter's aim is from a distance of 20 ft.

If speed killed all Germans would be dead already and 3/4 of the rest of Europe. There was one case when E-mail ramblings of two North Vancouver cops became public for some reason. When reading transcripts even I could not believe how mean, hateful and generally evil these people are. That was a real eye opener. Recently another pillar of community, Const. Jewers from North Van detachment was confronted with a drunk 115 lbs woman on the street. She was over 20 ft away and produced something which scared brave constable into thinking that maybe it was a knife. He forgot all his Tazer guns, pepper sprays, martial arts training, handcuffs etc. but went for his semiautomatic pistol with high volume magazine full of high velocity bullets and repeatedly shot the woman in the chest. Then he got many days of trauma counselling and paid leave (finally time to go fishing). The woman victim (she luckily survived) and her family was left to her own devices.

....and nowadays you can have your dog to get a degree in something or other, like carpentry or social "science". Lower Mainland cops are very big on steroids. Thats their daily staple now. About decision making is not all true. Many are mean on their own account.

Over the years I rode standard/sportsbikes and since 2001 enjoyed my V11 the most. Almost a year ago, last March, I bought a cruiser, Yamaha V-Star Silverado on the pretext that I needed something to comfortably cruise/tour with my wife. Unexpectedly it turned out to be a real Cinderella and it somewhat amuses me as a pleasant and satisfying diversion. We toured the whole Northern California on it last Summer and before that in April crossed Rockies back and forth to Alberta riding in a blizzard over the passes and enjoying every moment of it. I also bought an used SV650S (original version) last May supposedly for my son but I "steal" it from him anytime I can and really like its nimble, effortless handling. But now I am on the verge of buying a new R1 and this trend starts to worry me. Do I really need it? Am I too old for it? Will I like it? Please knock me over head and confirm that buying 1-2 bikes a year to ride them all for no good reason makes no sense and will bring a bad result. Or, like my wife says, I should go for it and enjoy now, when I still can. She told me this just today upon learning that father of my son's friend, 45 years old always healthy and successful man, was struck with a massive stroke and is in an intensive care.

I've met plenty of policemen over the years, in all kinds of circumstances, and as far as I can remember only one was Good, sensible and somewhat intelligent maybe. I bet he did not stay on the force for long. All the rest was Bad, Ugly or indiffrent. "Hypocritical" would be the best characteristic most common for all of them. Reading their forum makes an excellent confirmation of that. As people they mostly stay in their "profession" not to help others but to boost their own ego and excercise power over others which they are unable to achieve on their own for lack of wits and inteligence. Career criminals, by the way, have a very similar psychological profile.

Right on! I love my own race the most and all the others next. I hope all other people are the same. After all only this is normal and natural, I suppose. The same goes for family, country, neighbourhood, species etc. etc. Only with gender is different: here I love women more...

IMO going for a simple solution, tried and true, is the best route. FBF pipes, Stucchi X-over, lid off the airbox and K&N held down by simply designed and elegant FBF frame and brackets plus all this complemented by Powercommander. What can be more satisfying, better sounding and looking? I think nothing. And yes, FBF cans do sound the best (I heard at least 4 other) and probably the loudest. The quality of carbon finish is fantastic; for sure better then all the others I've ever seen. There is some kind of clearcoat layer on the carbonfiber and it looks like new after 14 months and 12,000 km. No fading at all.

I think your theoretical explanation is right on the money dlaing, but what really matters, at least for me, is what works and brings desired result and what not. I am a true believer of experimenting and finding out by trial and error when considering any changes to a stock vehicle. All I can say that I've given a try to progressive springs on two bikes before and they both sucked. Only regular spring of proper hardness gives me control and feel I want. I am a true control freak as far as riding/driving is concerned and only the bike which gives me as much feedback as possible will satisfy me. No soft seats, mushy grips, rubber mounted handlebars, flexible footpegs or progressive springs will do. As far as oil levels go I prefer vary its viscosity first and keep the level stock. Again, I do not know or care why but it seems to work better for me. My real pride and joy of seat of the pants adjustments is PC fueling map which took me a long time of minute changes after each ride but the result is truly fantastic. No commercial dyno operator will ever achieve even similar result on paying customer's bike I believe unless he spends all day on your bike perhaps and charges you exorbitant amount of money. He also has to be able and willing to do it.

As far as progressive spring I think it would be a mistake. The regular spring works better and 1.05 for a heavy klotz like me is perfect.

I've got mine from Lindemann Eng. in California. 1-408-3716151; just call and ask for 1.05 springs for v11s and they will send you a perfectly matched springs for Marz. forks. If you want to do only one, most important upgrade for your suspension that is the one. Do not forget to back down all the dampings and then set them up carefully avoiding overdamping - the most common mistake made by majority of people. You will find out that you will need more rebound damping on your front though.

My view is that any restriction which is not directly preventing anybody from use force or fraud agaist an individual is wrong. Nobody can injure me in any way no matter what he writes and therefore I couldn't care less what he says on any internet forum. If somebody enjoys being nasty, rude or otherwise making idiot of himself according to my opinion and I don't like it I just pay no attention to it; it's simple and easy for me. One of big pluses of total freedom is that it indentifies morons right away and allows one to continue an useful discussion with others.