vtv11lemans

I can confirm that. Do not change them unless you are sure you have to. You will regret it. Just excercising them will probably suffice just fine. From what I could tell, the swing arm was painted (powder coated?) before they pressed the bearing in. The bearing area was probably supposed to be masked off... Thanks to all who responded. Just got the swing arm off this weekend. No need to remove the pork chop bracket (thank goodness). Yes, the bearings on the swingarm are a little notchy. Right side a little worse than left. I'm sure due to their relatively stationary position. The inner race of the bearings seems fine, very little play so I'm not replacing it. It does seem a bear of a job without the specific bearing removal tool. I purchased a blind hole bearing remover from Harbor freight which I'd use for replacing wheel bearings (which I haven't used yet). It's got a hammer slide but I'm not sure it's the proper tool for the job. I don't plan to find out. In theory, it should work and it does have the right size bearing grabbing thinga-ma-jig.My guess, in order to remove the swing arm bearing, would require some kind of threaded bearing puller. If anybody knows of such a bearing puller or has done this job, let us know. Leon

Yeah I think you'll have to remove the pork chop side plates, the swingarm, driveshaft, etc. Just make sure you mark the threads on the side plates for when you put it back together. Theres another recent thread on pork chop removal and you should check that out, it will help you alot. Hi having done this, you need only to remove swing arm and drive shaft. MAKE SURE ALL IS CLEAM BEFORE YOU HOOK OUT THE SEAL. As suggetsed make sure you take note of the setting of the screw in pins for the swingarm, but frankly it's not critical. Cheers Guzz Thanks for the input to both of you. Would this be a good time to check the swing arm bearings as well. The bike's got close to 70k miles on rough roads her in Vt. and other parts in Northeastern U.S. Wondering what the likelyhood would be. Leon

I have a leaky tranny seal at output shaft(where driveshaft connects). Have a replacement seal. I can see the bad seal and looks relatively easy to replace.....but.... not sure waht needs to be removed to get to it. Obviously the driveshaft needs to be disconnected at the frony u-joint. Looking at it, not sure if you can pull the u-joint out through the swing arm pass thru(It doesn't look good). My question is, for those that have performed this, do I need to remove the swing arm assembly to remove the driveshaft along with the protective housing for the cardan joint. I have a hook-like seal removal tool which I'm guessing is good nough to remove the old seal. Does anybody know of any other issues I might encounter replacing this seal. Thanks in advance for any help. Bike is an '02 LeMans with about 68k miles. Leon

Roy: I agree with Tom M's statement of checking your intake boots (cracks/leakage). I had a similar problem with my '02 LeMans. Started at about 40-45k miles. I had a surging/stumbling problem at 2300-2900 RPMs. Usually at slightly off throttle or steady throttle. No problem below or above that RPM, so I let it go and lived with it. At 60k miles my left intake boot finally cracked through on a ride and the problem grew worse tenfold. The bike started bucking,surging and backfiring across a wider RPM range. Same symptons but far worse. I replaced both boots (left and right) for about $33 US dollars. Easy to swap out as well. Not only did the violence subside but the subtle stumbling I experienced previously totally disappeared and the bike runs incredibly well with improved fuel economy. So if one of your intakes does show cracking (particularly left side- I have a theory on why that is!) then you might want to do a quick and dirty test, seal then up with either electrical tape or some kind of sealent wherever you see significant cracks and see if it runs better. Then order yourself a coupla boots. Got mine through MG cycle in US (888-464-2925). Good Luck. Leon

What do you mean by clips. Where the actual injector attaches to the housing? Leon

Thanks. I checked MG Cycle website and they are in stock. Now I've got to figure out the best way to maneuver my throttle body housing to get in there and slip in the new sleave. Anybody find a painless way of doing that. Leon

After 7 years and 63K miles, my left side Intake boot (in front of the injector housing) has cracked through (02 LeMans). I'm not particularly enamored by the quality of the rubber used. Does anybody know of an after market part that's an exact fit that can handle the rigors better (silicone based rubber or something of the sort). My left side boot showed cracking after only 2-3 years in service. My right side show's very little wear (mystery). Also the fit on the ride side boot is more snug against the The injector housing as well as the intake plate. It's almost like the cylinder head on the left is further away from the position of the throttle body housing. Hopefully I'll be able to find the part somewhere in stock or at the national distributor. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. Leon

Ended up getting Convertibars. Installation was a bit more involved. Required removing the upper triple clamp, removing components off the original bars and remounting onto the new ones. Once the new brackets are in place, it's a bit of a balancing act to mount the new clip-ons in the right position for clearence and comfort. A second set of hands is highly recommended. Took me five hours to complete from start to finish (did a little maint. in between). Once on, the kit looks and is of high quality. I added the accessory kit for my Throttle- Meister as well. came to about $280 US. With the LeMans, due to the fairing bracket, the rise is about 1.25" to 1.5". With the offset of the main mounting post, the handlebars are splayed outward about 1.5 inches on each side. I rotated the handlebars back towards the tank about 3-4". That made a tremendous difference. Also, the adjustable angular orientation of each clip-on (upward, downward and towards rear) gave me an additional rise of about 1/2 inch. First ride on the bike, I was amazed at the difference. Comfort, handling. Particularly the new width of the handlebars, significant improvement in input on curvies. An added bonus is a noticeable reduction of vibration at the handlebars due to the vibration isolation fixture at the mounting point of each handlebar. All lines except the throttle cable didn't need rerouting. I rerouted the throttle cable from between the forks to the outside of the right fork. The clutch hydraulic was a bit tight at the lock position. Not enough to be a problem. Highly recommended kit. Thanks to everybody's input. Great forum! I will try to post some pics. Leon

I hope I'm using the "reply" correctly, screwed up the first time. Thanks for the input on the MPH's. I might try these. One question. Are there any clearence issues when handle bars are swung in the full lock position on either end. I noticed that there's significantly less handlebar clearence when swung under the support rod for the fairing. I'm assuming your LeMans has a stock fairing. Secondly, regarding the MPH extension bracket, roughly what is its rise (I'm guessing about two inches). It also appears that the handlebars can be rotated slightly aft (towards the back). Is that something you did to aleviate fairing clearence. Thanks for your reply and to everybody else who replied.

Planning a trip from Vermont to Utah and back. I've considered getting risers for my '02 LeMans but haven't yet. This is a good a time as any. I want to retain the stock clip-ons and hydraulics. I've read that if the risers stay within the range of 1.5 inches high and no more than an inch back, the stock hydraulics have enough play. I've read on a few postings regarding this subject, a dude calling himself Gargoyle mentioned a succesful conversion using Convertabars on an '04 LeMans. My question for him (should he read this) was the stock brake and clutch line retained. I tryed finding Convertabars on-line but to no avail. Anybody know the name of the company. Does anybody know of anybody who has a good riser kit that retains the stock handle bar and hydraulic lines. I did come across risers sold by MPH but it appears they require replacement of the brake and clutch lines (they come with the kit). Because of that, I thought the kit was pricey ($400). Another posting by "fotoguzzi" showed his LeMans fitted with what looked like the MPH kit. If you should read this, is that the case and were the hydraulic lines replaced (I did see you put an xtension on the clutch side)? I also looked into Spieglers kit and am not interested in replacing my handlebars. So if anybody is aware of such a kit for an '02 Lemans (or V11's with similars bars), let me know. Thanks. Leon from Vt.

Thanks for your advice Jason. I'm seriously considering this route. I will run it by the wrench at the dealership and hope he's got the resources and desire. The only thing I have to clarify is the spacer length. The spec I got from a previous posting was 113.05mm +/- .02mm. You're quoting 114.3 mm. Can you or anyone else clear this up. Is the spec different on your V11 sport vs. my '02 LeMans. Or is the spacer intentionally long to allow for subsequent compression during wheel changes. Leon

This is in referance to my July topic "Rear Wheel Bearing Bugaboo" ('02 LeMans). It's apparent that I need a new inner bearing spacer prior to installing new bearings. An order was placed by a N.H. MG dealer (where my Bike presently resides) to the NA distributor. I've learned (after 2 weeks) that they're out of stock and can't provide an availability date (according to the dealer). Just started to call around other dealers in US to see if there's anybody out there with one on hand. It's the large spacer between the main bearings, approx 113mm in length. So far I've struck out with Harpers (though Curtice did mention he's got rear brake pedals available, for those in need). Any other dealers likely to have this item in stock? Does anybody have a part # for this elusive item (perhaps an upgraded beefier part) and secondly perhaps a second source (small machine shop). I'd also like to pursue a dealer/shop or an individual that has resources to get a part from Europe/Britain as long as the shipping isn't too absurd. Perhaps the European distributorship is a little more competent. Any other suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks. Leon

My mistake on the wheel bearing #, it's 6204. Another unfortunate note, I've learned that there are no rear wheel inner spacers to be found by the US distributor and no timeline as to when they'll be coming from Italy (apparently all of Italy is on vacation). Thus my Lemans sits at a NH dealership with 2 bearings at hand sans a spacer. I hope you're not in need of a spacer. Anybody out there have an alternative source besides Moto Guzzi NA. Hope you have better luck in getting yours on the road. Leon

The left side bearing (brake side) IS the usual culprit. Look up my post dated in July "Wheel Bearing Bugaboo". Had a similar experience of a bearing failure about 2500 mi. after a tire change ('02 LeMans had 28000 on odometer). Before changing the bearings, make sure the shim spacer inside the hub is still in spec. The bearing # is a 6402 (I believe). In my case I might have over torqued the axle nut by 10-20 ft/lbs. The proper spec is 88 ft/lbs. By over-torqueing, the spacer shim could shrink to under-spec. For what ever reason, this rear bearing design is not particularly forgiving. Hope this helps. Leon

After 3-1/2 seasons of virtually trouble free riding on my '02 LeMans, left side (circlip side)rear wheel bearing fragged on me after a 2600 mile trip to NC (Blue Ridge area) and back to Vt., with 28000 mi. on odometer. Had to ride it for about 150 miles on the bad bearing (no choice-no dealer would touch it). I managed to gingerly wobble it home. I had just replaced tires (before trip) on front/rear and torqued the rear axle to about 100-110 ft/lbs. I later found out it was supposed to be 88 ft/lbs. Could this have led to early demise. I've read the about how critical the inner spacer dimensions are. Though when I inspected the spacer face that rides against the inside of left bearing, it didn't look unusually worn (I could see it because the bearing inner race virtually fell out after wheel removal). I subsequently took wheel to Guzzi dealer in NH. I requested he inspect the inners of the hub to make sure I didn't do further damage by riding it. Also mentioned to him about how critical the inner spacer dimensions are. He didn't seem to be overly concerned about that nor the over torqueing I had performed. To his defense, he couldn't recollect doing any bearing changes on either V11 Sports or Lemans's. He subsequently replaced both bearings (left and right) manufactured in France (stock were Italian I believe). This time I was a little conservative and torqued it to 80 ft/lbs. Within 700 miles the same bearing failed and far more immediately, within 50-60 miles of the first sign of trouble (grease weeping out at the inner diameter of grease seal-where it mates with caliper spacer). Then came the ugly clunking noise and next thing I know, I'm wobbling again. Fortunatley only rode it for about 10 miles. What's your thoughts on this and what should I stress to the mechanic. Am I looking at replacing the whole hub or just a new spacer. The ouside right bearing looked fine. Thanks. Leon