Lamedog

I love the look of the MG cans, but have been scared off by the price. Not sure I could afford other mods once this is done.

Gary: Thanks - What a great offer! BTW: I'm familiar with your many excellent posts, so I will be getting to you on bolt removal (Hope it involves a torch...). Your attitude exemplifies what I love about the forum, and I'm sending a $ contribution to Jaap today. In fact, I engineer at a Bay Area CA refinery, with a machine shop full of motorheads who have also offerred help. Their input was that typically these things can't be turned. You sound to be speaking from experience. Did you replace or turn?

Setting scope for the winter's work as my '02 LeMans hits ~20k miles. Am on top of oil and simple stuff (valves, etc.), deferring the full 18k service until this winter - now here we are. Plans are; new filters (air/oil/fuel), and plugs. Replace all fluids (brake, clutch, engine, trans & bevel drive), adjsut valves and torque heads. I grease drive shaft with tire replacement and these were just done. Will upgrade shock springs per Wilbers recommendations for spring, fluid wt and air gap. Increasing rear preload has made this OK for my current riding style. Will enter transmission and replace pawl spring since I don't know its history. Figure the experience may come in handy sometime. Impress your friends by popping in the original on the roadside! Time to address low-speed shudder from front brake. Presume the rotor(s) warped, since cleaning by air-blowing the floating connections helped only a little. Bike has had this since I bought it at 12k miles. Don't know how problem developed but see no sign of damage to either rotor. Was this a common problem with '02's? Is ti likely to return if I replace with OEM Brembo 4.5 mm? Given the apparent effort to remove the rotors from the wheel, I was planning an eyeball clearance test with bright light at caliper and spin the front wheel (thanks to the center-stand) . Unless problem is clearly on one-side, I'm tempted to order parts in advance and save the time/energy/uncertainty of measuring and exploring turning as needed. Does experience show most folks end up replacing both rotors anyway? How often is turning an option for bikes with 20k miles? The Brembo page on GuzziTech implies the rotor can be changed to 5mm without changing calipers. There are a couple options for the thicker disk, slightly more expensive and lots (twice) more. Any experience justifying the upgrade if I'm after a reliable smooth performing "one-time fix", not a knee dragging late entry kinda guy? Thoughts? What am I missing?

The Mayer seat is out to another forum member on trial. Will let you know if he doesn't like it.

Shoei X11. Bought it based on comfort: fit and venting. While it is very comfortable, the various lumps and bumps associated with the vents add suprising amount of wind noise. No big deal since I wear plugs, but something to think about. Think I could have paid less for same fit and accepted a bit less vent/noise. While the helmet doesn't fog if I'm moving at all (and I don't have to use squirt'em on the visor) at low speeds in this climate (Northern Calif) its easy enough to crack the visor to control fog - most of the time.

Good Lord, you have rural down! I suppose this means you'll provide guide services? Let me know if you're into a weekend ride to Hoopa. Perhaps we can connect with the most eminent Dr Gil for dinner in Hoopa. Find out what kind'a Dr he really is. Being as Arcata is a University town he may be an educated fool. Puts him in good company on this forum...

Perfesser Gil: The trip report to Ashland was keen, but there was no evidence of a Guzzi anywhere! (I'm yet another Champagne '02). Its shocked and A-Pauled I am. Look forward to chace to see you amongs the other eggles. Perhaps you can enlighten me as to why there is so little overlap of the MGNOC and V11 LeMans crowd. Beyond your post, I can't recall this gathering receiving any mention. And I'm suprised that almost all respondants to "Where in the heck are the NorCal Guzzisti?" are ex-NorCal residents. I don't wanna find out this is a politically charged thing. Better apathy than antipathy, I always say.

I'm planning on attending the Eggle's Gathering, at least Saturday. To this point I have not encountered another LeMans on the road and its time this was corrected. Am hoping to learn the secret handshake and pick up closely guarded information like; what glue will successfully hold the center dash mounting well nut? Am so anxious that I practiced yesterday with a quick trip to Hog Island Oyster Co, Valley Ford, Bodega, lunch @ Howard's Cafe in Occidental. Beautiful rodes and wonderful country. To finish a perfect day, I used gap-filling epoxy on the wellnut, since silicone lasted two days. (Am not up to the extreme of either "JB Welding" the whole kebob, and my growing collection of button head metric screws doesn't yet include one long enough to through-bolt.....) BTW Dr. Gil: I'd appreciate a route recommendation for scenic one-day ride between Napa and Ashland. Say you had 9 hrs drive time for the trip? Hoping to make a loop staying one night with friends in Ashland, Another night with friends in Lakeview (Goose Lake). Then a long day home by most scenic. Ideers?

My '02 Guzzi came with a Rick Mayer (www.rickmayercycle.com, photo attached). Unusual yes, but not so much as a Russell. The saddle is comfortable for as long a day as I cared to put in (~600 mi). Recently picked up a stock saddle for sportier riding, intending to keep the Mayer for touring. I found the stock seat OK (am 6'2" 190 lbs), so I'm parting with the Mayer. I estimate the seat has no more than 5k miles and is in great shape. New is ~$600. I'll post on classifieds but you're welcome to email if interested. I'll vouch for Rich Maund's saddle quality as I came across one before ordering the stock replacement. Would have it today if it had worked on the '02 and later bikes. Rich is a big help and class act.

Thanks all! Same symptoms sprung up for me over the past week. Recently added the Buell pegs and presumed I'd screwed up the adjustment. This by shortening the threaded-end connecting rod until the lever position seemed OK. Throw range seemed unaffected by the few turns I took up. First thought was the sloppy shifting symptoms occurred after, now I'm thinking they started before and have been degrading quickly (in spite of the Redline shockproof heavy). I'll try this fix over the weekend.

I'm another who'd like to see some sort of get together - based on the forum, I thought these came with the bike? As a recent rider, new to Guzzi, I'd enjoy and benefit from talking with others about their experiences and opinions. East bay area (Walnut Creek). Lots of questions, no answers.

Couldn't get edge's link to work for me. Here are the part numbers he listed and I used for my conversion. I found prices very close and it is possible to get by with one pin if you grind of the cap and cut carefully. What the heck you're probably complete by now.

The septic seat results from undeserved confidence in my typing skills combined with forgetting to spellcheck. Rich's seats are great (I got one on trial but didn't fit since its for '01). My existing seat is a Rick Mayer and I'll put a plug in here, even though I have been unable to sit in a Maund seat for any period of time. I have sat in the Mayer saddle for 10+ hours and note that friends on Triumph Sprints, BMW GS & R1150, etc. regularly need to stand and stretch and wiggle. Now a little is healthy, but a lot is not a pretty sight since mid 40's guys are not my type. Also, the fit and finish of this leather saddle can be a real treat. However, this is a dedicated touring thingie which limits how aggressive you can be. The advantages of Rich Maund's seat is that it goes both ways and keeps a fairly stock look. And he's extremely helpful to this forum. Thanks Rich!

My sepcial order replacement seat from Guzzi has been met with 14 weeks of no response other than "backorder". Options through this group turned up an '01 model seat which didn't fit due to interference with the ECU. Today I called Harper's (my dealers recommendation, and they were able to find an '03 Ballabio seat, which looks identical in photos. Apparently there is some Guzzi parts software confirming the seats are interchangable, though there may be minor cosemtic variations which I don't care about. I'm kicking myself that I didn't open this option up earlier , and perhaps a bit dissappointed my local dealer didn't advise this path . But perhaps this is high risk behavior. I would be delighted if anyone with thoughts or cautions, or particularly those based on actual experience, would share them here. Piling on is OK, if not particularly good manners...

Finished this conversion and found it easily manageable even without access to a lathe. I used the part numbers listed on recent threads on this topic. With the springs, I ordered a single Buell pin rather than go the bushing route. The pin is a perfect fit for both the Buell peg bore ID and the stock Guzzi pin. Close tolerance of these pieces, and the final grind of the back end seems the most important determinant of ending up with secure and non-droopy pegs. Carefully cutting the pin in half saved the cost of a second pin (maybe $5). I chose to extend the brake and shift levers 5 mm, using metric bushings, 5 mm longer stanless screws and finishing washers. This was probably unnecessary since my feet are pretty good size, and the offset introduced by the new pegs is only a couple mm - but hey. Final result is comfy - I'm 6'2" size 12 foot. Still finalizing rear brake position. Looks like the eccentric stop bushing won't be necessary. Perhaps I'll remove it to offset the added weight of my new centerstand and pending windage plate.

I went direct to throttlemeister and got the heavy & black model. Looks sharp and definitely reduced vibration. Install took all of 20 minutes playing with spacers to get the "cruise control" tension in the right range.

I'm thinkin I'm in. This "Death by a thousand cuts" image is killing me. Besides I'm investing in pan gasket futures.

At the risk of standing in front of a logic train moving as fast as this one, may I ask if we are solving a problem supported by long-term data on overall engine life? Greg's observation identifies one of the "thousand cuts" that eventually take out the engine. But I thought this engine, with minor changes that don't include windage plates, has demonstrated a "very long life" in bikes no less subject to acceleration "abuse" than the bulks of ours. Are we striving to create a 200K mile engine that weighs a ton? Put me on the list of windage plate wanters. A real light one please. At least it will give me a place to store my spare sump gaskets. BTW: Greg - this isn't an attempt to double gasket sales is it?

Oops - posted this under "for sale". Don't get exicted, I'm just another guy wanting a seat... Looking for a "stock" saddle for sport riding and tack days. My bike has a beautiful Rick Mayer saddle - great for touring, but tough to move around on for aggressive riding. Nearly any condition is acceptable. I've been waiting 12 weeks for a special order from Guzzi, and there's no indication they are progressing this at all.....

Looking for a "stock" saddle for sport riding and tack days. My bike has a beautiful Rick Mayer saddle - great for touring, but tough to move around on for aggressive riding. Nearly any condition is acceptable. I've been waiting 12 weeks for a special order from Guzzi, and there's no indication they are progressing this at all.....

I'd appreciate a well documeted photo piece. Particularly useful to see on of the less anal folks tackle sag & spring adjust as long as you're opening the forks. A front and rear illustrated suspension piece with running commentary from the ratchet and others. Photos of sag measurement, & setting adjust. Spring calc's and replacement for someone of normal weight... Yum. I'll cover beer and grease costs.

Thanks for your comments.

Just replaced tires on my new to me '02 LeMans. LHS rear sealed bearing was galled in two sections of outer race 180 degrees apart. Lots and lots of posts on this toipic... My stock spacer measured at 113.05+/0.02 mm, vs the wheel bearing seat face-face 112.3 +/-0.04. This seems to be consensus of the thread as an acceptable delta between spacer and seats. I'm pretty confident that when the wheel is torqued up there is a continuous stack across the axle in any case, though hard to check whats going on between bevel drive and wheel. Next is to measure the bearing holder tolerances (outta round?). Any thoughts? And has the "new spindle" group got enough actual experience to support this as a fix? The removable inner race for the needle bearing on the bevel drive is also worn from apparently fixed contact with needles on about 1/3 of the circumference. The bearing had a minor bit of grit, but cleaned up well in place. After reading the many threads on this topic, had planned to replace bearing and race. But I don't see a good reason other than wrenching is sort of fun. This spot doesn't move much since there is no rotation other than the minor flexing allowed by the torque bar during acceleration and braking. What am I missing? Seems like it will just repeat itself. (Assume the dents are caused by the weight of the bike sitting on the bottom needles with no rotation between succesive bearing replacements...) Thanks to those who recommended valve check and TB balance for my intermittent cutout on decelleration. TB's were dead on, but valves were tighter than even California spec. Setting them to 15/20 solved the problem.

Replacing tires on my 2002 V11, I noticed the rear wheel outboard bearing is shot (spalled) and the bevel drive needle bearing inner race is worn (one third only) from contact with the bearings. Reading the many excellent posts on this site I have the following questions that I hope you can answer. Q 1. My wheel spacer looks stock (I'm not original owner), but is about 0.5 mm longer than the inner face dimension of the bearing holder. This seems in line with the thread consensus and should provide a continuous stack from each swingarm once torqued. Has the "change the spindle" crowd got real experience to confirm this change solves the problem? Also, is someone still putting together a spindle order? - details please. Q 2. Why do I care if the bevel drive outer needle bearing is? This location is essentially stationary expect for minor rotation allowed by the torque arm. So won't the same dents reappear regardless of the weather seal? Since I can replace the inner race separately, and the bearing cleaned up pretty well, is it common to replace just the race rather than mess with the risk and effort of pulling this blind back bearing? In fact, why not just rotate the inner, worn, race and let the new dents come.....

All: Thanks for the insights. Don't stop, I'm still getting off cheap. Some info I did not include: Previous owner (knowledgeable wrench) had done valves within past 1K miles, and afterward had throttlebodies professionally balanced at a Santa Cruz CA shop experienced in Moto Guzzi. This was AFTER unpacking the cans, which I understand has only minor performance impact. Second datum is that in changing the leaking battery (a well beaten thread on this forum).. anyway the wrench touched the ECU case and there was a spark. Scared the heck out of me, but I was relieved the bike started and has been running generally OK. This happened very early on, so I can't say it was source of observed performance. A search of this forum for "partially fried" ECU's caused me to discount this potential. (My take was ECU damage is either all or nothing, and there were plenty of folks coming clean about having made this incautious mistake once without severe consequence...). I'll check valves for sure, as soon as possible (seems straightforward). I can get a friend to help me with checking balance of throttlebodies, haven't done it yet but this piece of MG "stewardship" was anticipated. For when I eventually get in over my head, I would appreciate any "temperate" recommendations of Bay Area Calif shops particularly good with MG. Say between Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa? Thanks!