nose2wind

Carbon: The hardest to scratch or dent noticably. Look good. Does not stand up to UV exposure very well. The nicest low ones I have sold are FBF. Todd Haven prefers the M4 mufflers. I trust his opinion, but have never personally seen a pair of them. Mistral makes the only high versions that I know of, and also a low version. One thing I do not like about the Mistrals is that the attached inlet pipe for the mufflers bows out much farther to the side than do the pipes for all the other options. I have a set of Mistrals on a 2000 V11s with St-Xover. Mine are mounted outside the hangar with no apparent problems. I seemed to rember trying to fit them inside with the stock x-over and they seemed to bind. I might try inside now with the Stuchhi. With respect to the mistrals and the M4's. I would really consider the m4's. I visited the factory here in Dallas with my Mistral in hand looking for a replacement ss band. After comparing the 2 side by side the M4 is a better product. We took the mistral apart to fix the band. Inside the m4 uses a heavy duty matting and the way it is applied looks like it would be less likely to blow out or at least last longer stay quieter etc... The carbon fiber wrap is also thicker and more glossy better looking IMHO. All around a better product if you ask me.

I really like what you have done with the bike, color etc... My least favorite part is the chrome tank. However the rest is great! I don't know why you want to change to the K&N filters. The ones you have look fine. I like the way you painted the base. Looks like your missing the o-ring on the foot brake stop. I picked up a pack at a hardware store cause they are always breaking. Like the hugger, is that an availiable part, Carbon fiber maybe? Later

BTW - Long as y'er at it, in case you don't yet know Skeeve's Most Phenomenal Discovery - If you trade springs between the one on the throttle advance cable at the TB with the one at the seat end of the seat cable release, BOTH will actually work the way they're supposed to!! Hope this helps. I noticed this before. I guess this spring swap makes the seat spring stronger and the T advance easier. My throttle advance does seem hard to advance, However the seat seems fine. thanks, dv

I agree with most advise given here. I might add that if most of your discomfort is from riding with pillion not solo. Consider this. When I ride with a pillion sometimes the rider is leaning on forward and transferring additional weight to your hands. More so if you are riding aggressive and using the brakes at stops etc.. Something that has worked for me is to instruct the pillion to reach around your waist and put her hands on the back of the tank. This will remove and lessen the weight transfer when on the brakes or downhill etc.. She won't be able to do this all the time, just when riding aggressive. Also adjusting the preload is very important as mentioned earlier. On my bike with pod filters I can just reach in and turn the spring. Hope this helps dv

Hello, Been doing some idle adjusting and noticed the fast idle adjustment was not haveing much effect. There is a post (pressed fitting) down on the linkage where the cable connects. The cable operates a cam which rubs against this post which advances the throttle. This post is very loose mine also has a small rubber tube over the post. The problem is this post is so loose it leans away from the cam rendering the whole affair usless. The cam is moving the max it can move. I was thinking of drilling the post out and putting a bolt through from the bottom with a nut on top and a little tubing for a sleve that comes in contact with the cam. I could do all this without removing anything from the bike. Any better ideas? TIA

The threads are reversed. I used some blue threadlock not permanent. It is hard to get the bugger back on because the odo just wants to keep resetting. I just tried pushing and angling the knob to sort of hold it in a bind so the trip would not reset and the knob would have enough resistance to thread on with the small amount of thread lock making things difficult. I have 43K on mine and it hasn't fallen out. I was also able to remove it when the speedo gave up and I sent it to Hollywood speedo for a rebuild. Later, dv

I have a 2000 v11s with 42,000 miles. I bought it in 2001 with 1400 miles on it. I have toured all over the states with it. However, I do feel the bikini fairing is a must have especially if you plan to do a lot of over 80mph riding. Into the wind adds to the effect. I find 250 / 350 mile consecutive days to be the best, but have done occasional 450 mile days. I'm 51 years old. 5' 10" 180 lb rider. Ear plugs can also help. Good luck.

Being standed last weekend started me thinking of different ways to hold up the Guzzi if one needs to remove the wheel to fix it. Jack stands gave the idea of conc blocks I don't carry either. But one could find some easy enough. Some rope to tie up the bike if something over head is near. Any other Ideas?

Thanks for all the info, Got it apart last night and put back together too. Used the NAPA bearing. All the rest were ok except for the needle bearing. Glad I checked it too. It was rusty but I cleaned it real good and re-greased it. I think it can last till winter when I will look over the whole hind end again. I have 42,000 miles on the bike. My spacer seems to measure about the same as the space between the races. I don't have a micrometer just a tape measure. If this was way off I would think it could not have gone this far. If someone makes some replacements I would be interested. As far as the needle bearing that really seems to be a crappy piece of work. We should find a sealed unit that could replace it. Thanks again.

The washer like seal had disconnected from the bearing and you can see into the bearing. There are several balls missing and what is left is completely dry and rusty. I noticed this 300 miles from home when riding. I could feel a whoble when riding and a thunk! thunk! noise. I had to call for a rescue. I felt it was to dangerous to ride and would further damage the bike. I noticed the bearing was made in France! Thanks,

The wheel bearings are fairly easy to get out I searched for info on removal of the rear left outer wheel bearing and could not find any. Could still use some help. I don't see how you can tap the bearings out from the inside with the tube spacer in the way. Any suggestions?

It is the rear wheel bearing on the outer left or brake side of the wheel. It looks like a circlip holds a long tube in the wheel and the bearings are inside this tube. Can you somehow remove the bearings without removing the tube? I will search for an answer. TIA dv

Thanks for the info, I have found a completely dry rusted bearing on the brake side. This should help. I assume you just need to remove the circlip etc.. Any tricks? TIA, David

I have had this happen after letting the bike sit over night in the rain at a hotel. Seems that if it gets real wet it can play havock with the sensor. When it drys out the light goes out. Not your situation but nice to know. David

Not sure if the pics went through. Maybe this will help. The white plastic thing behind the pump is a pvc end cap 3/4" used to protect my air sensor. It seemed vurnable to breaking since it no longer resides in the airbox. I drilled some holes in the pvc cap and used an original mounting hole and bolt. The air sensor is inside the cap. Also these pics are before I shorted the fuel hose from pump to filter. Also,not shown in this pic, I moved the pump mount bracket back to the rear mount hole to facilitate moving the pump 1" closer to the petcock so I could use the stock shielded fuel line. Any questions. Sorry the bike is so dirty. I would rather ride it than wash it! Later David

I decided to move my pump where the filter is and the filter where the pump was kinda! Took about 1hour and did not involve any new parts. I have pod filters and a manual petcock. Pretty straight forward exchange. I removed the filter and pump first. I installed the pump with one clamp only at a slight angle to the frame using the mounting bolts that came with the filter mount. My air sensor is right behind the pump and this facilitated connecting my fuel line etc. This also meant I could use the stock fuel line to the petcock. The line out of the pump goes straight to the petcock. I reconnected the original elec. wires after re-routing them on the right side of the frame very easy. Moving to the filter I flipped the clamps over so the filter would be further up on the frame instead of hanging down close to th cylinder head like the pump was. I had to cut the fuel line from the pump to the filter as it was to long and fouling at the front of the tank where it bends to go aft to the filter. I used the original bolts and location for the pump. Re-attached everything and was done! Pretty easy switch. While I had the tank off I mixed some epoxy and glued some of the reflective material, that is mounted under and to the tank, back in place. I also changed the filter. Runs fine so far. Not a real heat test though. The filter sits between the cyl. head and the pump. should make for a nice heat shield. I have pictures if anyone is interested. I don't know how to post them. Thanks, David I'm headed up to Arkansas for some good ride'n. Will se how it goes.

The bike should be level in all aspects. I use a block of wood 2x4 to slip under the side stand. It's pretty close. This applies to the tranny sight glass too. Carefull you don't knock the bike over in this position. Ride on, David

Thanks for the reply. It seems that moving the fuel line is not an issue since yours sits on the head and with no ill effects. Obviously the pump is the problem since they felt it needed to be moved and partially wraped with shielding. I understand your comment on lack of ventilation under the tank, however it is farther away from the heat source and I could make an aluminum shield under the pump to reduce reflect some of the heat. Thanks again.

Wanted to add a little more info on my experience with this problem. My first incident was summer riding in colorado. Stopped for gas. Got about 100 yards from filling station and bike started bucking etc. quit. Was able to restart after cycling ignition switch several times. Bike ran fine for 2 years after that. Second incident summer riding at high altitude. Stopped for a rest. Same symptons as above. 30 mins cooling off would not fix problem. Upon disconnecting the fuel line from elec. petcock big gas-air bubble discharged. Reconnected line bike started and ran fine. Next stop low altitude still hot same problem. Managed to start bike and get underway. Upon returning home ordered manual petcock. My theory here was maybe the big gas-airbubble could work its way up through the fuel line into the tank even with the switch off (not possible with elec. petcock). Also shortened and tied fuel line with zip tie so it would be as far away from cylinder head ( Stock setup had the line resting on the cyl. Head!) Bike ran fine for another 3 years no other incidents. Never as stock either in hot Texas summer. Bike has 41,000 K Third incident is as my first post. First to occur in Texas. Fixed by removing and reconecting fuel line. Summary, I can move the pump? Is this a proven fix? I also wonder (since not all v11's have this problem with the pump in its stock location) if the pump is at fault. Maybe some work better in this situation because they have a better seal etc. Has anyone just tried fitting a new pump maybe even a different brand? Any suggestions on an alternate pump? Thanks again, David

Been gone for a while. My bike is a 2000 V11s. The pump is still in the stock location, no shielding. Was reading your article on relocating the pump. In the end did moving the pump alone solve the problem? I already have pod filters and a manual fuel cutoff so moving the pump alone would not be that hard. I have had the vapor lock problem occur at high altitudes and now at near sea level. I solved both by disconnecting the fuel line at the cutoff and reconecting. Bike restarted and ran perfectly. Thanks for any help, David