John O'Sullivan

A dammed conspiracy! Mine blew the 15 Amp starter circuit fuse last week. I replaced it the following day, pressed the starter and away we went. I tell you its an international conspiracy of 15 Amp fuses! Do not let them congregate or militancy can be expected. Will life ever be the same again? What time is it where you are?

Since when did Baldini shave his armpits? Then again he does look nice in white.

Martin, Those pictures remind me of a great weekend The Centauro has since been fitted with K & N Pods, engine guards and a stucchi crossover. It has a Creedon C5 chip, the intakes balanced and still it does not run as well as my V11. It stumbles at 2,700 rpm and again at 3,700 rpm(60 mph). The good news is that above 5,000 rpm it goes like a raped ape.....but that 80mph and penelty points come in multiples at that speed. I need to look up that lady on my bike, Cheers , John

Antonio, RU 0800 (Black Rubber) 49 Euro from Teo Lamers. They fit well and no problems in over 2 years.

Oh, he's going to have to head south as Newcastle Brown will chill in his veins and at under 20 degrees centigrade he'll fall for the BIG MAMMA

I'm having a quiet read and you post up my name in lights! I have been riding my Centauro over the weekend, to the roadraces at Athea and today to visit a friend. My impressions of the Centauro versus the V11 Scura are. There are good reason the Centauro did not sell, it was terrible in stock format, it stalled and shuddered under 5,000 rpm. It is a totally different story over 5,000 rpm as it pulls like a train all the way to the redline. The Centauro is in need of a suspension set-up as the rear is far too soft and with our bad roads my rear is now very .....I won't go there. The V11 is a far better sorted bike with cleaner ignition but much less urge to gooooooooo................ The Ohlins set up on the Scura are far better but the Centauro handles better in twisties. I'll have a lot of work to do to get the Centauro sorted. I like the power but it truly needs the animal to be tamed. BTW I see that their are two Centauros for sale in the current Grumblemongers.

It does seem idiotic........bloody foolish.......also anal...and fishy in a smelly way. I have been pointed at (outside the factory, in Mandello), sniggerred at (at V11 UK Bash) and generally made to feel unclean over the unholy racket my lovely SINGLE PLATE CLUTCH makes at tickover. I'm taking pinging, rattling, clacking and the very best description; two hammers fornicating in a galvinised bucket I CAN'T HEAR WHAT YOUR SAYING? Wait and I'll engage the clutch....IS THAT BETTER(SORRY I'M shouting), this Scura's clutch is fine, it got a blessing from Agostini's head mechanic. I have only 32,000 km on it as yet. I let you know when its over the 100,000km. I don't expect trouble, I'll deal with it if it happens and in the mean time I'll enjoy the ride and the cacophony at idle if I don't go deaf first. In the meantime, I think you all may go blind.

I'm going back to Inchigeelagh in the next few weeks to map out some interesting runs for the Saturday and Sunday of the rally. I recently spent a very happy Saturday riding the back roads of West Cork. Visited Roscarbery,Bantry, Skibbereen, Baltimore, Glengarriff and Kenmare in total a round trip of 180 miles (300km.) Had Lunch of Crab Salad in Bantry just below the Library with the mill wheel in the center of the town. I hope we get the weather for the rally weekend as the area is spectacular with mountain and sea views. hope to see you all, John

How far away from Dublin do you reckon this is, i.e. for people arriving off the ferry or meeting there, how long would it take to get to the meet site? 46041[/snapback] Dublin to Cork City is 120 Miles (200 Km) Inchigeelagh is 30 Miles (50 Km) west from Cork City...... follow signs for Killarney and before Macroom town.....at sign which says "Welcome to Macroom" turn left, Inchigeelagh is 10 Miles (17 Km). For your average trip allow 4 hours in total from Dublin.

Rally Accommodation: The camping facilities look good if the local football club provide their grounds, its 100 metres from the hotel and has toilets and showers, alternatively their is a picturesque riverside site with toilets only about 300 metres from the hotel, showers available at the hotel. The international code for Ireland is +353 and omit the leading 0 from the 026. Local Hotel: Lake Hotel 026-49010 (in the village) Here are two local B&Bs: Mrs. Cronin 026-49187 (1 mile from village) Mrs. Forbes 026-42569 (2 miles from village) Further afield: Macroom is 11 Miles (17.5 Km) away. Castle Hotel 026-41074 (Excellent) Victoria Hotel 026-41082 Self Catering: Mrs. Latour 026-47151 Hope this helps. John

Oh you sad bastard, the internet was invented in Kerry by Al Gore Unfortunately Creedons hotel is booked out for the weekend however I have a tent for you Dave I will do my best to get nice accommodation in B&Bs (Bed & Breakfasts) in the area for anyone that wants it. I will take a spin up there in the next week or so and get some phone numbers which I'll post here. Theres a great road from Killarney to Ballyvourney which gets me half the way and thereafter its rubbish, slow with a poor surface, in total its about 60 miles which is a nice run.

Simple, tell them that your a broker and offer them a good chance to make money. First ask them to send you $10,000

Carl, The first center stand I got from TLM was for pre 2002 models and was returned to them for a full refund. The new stand which became available 6 months later fits my 2002 scura very nicely. Its very well made with a little know-how needed in deploying the stand initially. It now comes naturally (using right toe to deploy stand, move bike forward maybe 6 inches and then quickly reverse motion snapping bike up on stand).

Oh this one is beautiful Connie Francis - "Who's Sorry Now" George O'Dowd ( better known as Boy George, DJ and vocalist; solo and with Culture Club )

Chris, Make this meeting somewhere near Stranraer. Hopefully we can then make it in a day http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/stranraer/stranraer/ Have a peaceful Christmas, John

Brian, I'm one of the greyhaired in that photo from the V11 UK meeting last summer. The software package comes from http://www.technoresearch.com You may want to check out the ECU being made down under, ask Carl Allison as he has the kit. Regards and have a good one, John

Kieth, 18,000 miles 30,000 kms so far but I've been busy for a while and am not getting out as often as I'd like. Just done the oils: engine, gearbox and bevelbox. The plugs looked like sh1t after 6,000 miles, running rich...need to get working on that but too much happening. Have fun, John

I recently replaced an old barbacue with a Canadian manufactured "Broil King" which has a cast aluminium body with a black semi-gloss crinkle finish. A friend has one of these barbacues for the last ten years and the paint finish is still good having been left outside year round. They have a black heat resistant paint listed in their spares and accessories order form for about Stg £9.00 The company operates under this title: The Onward Manufacturing Company, Waterloo, Canada. May be worth trying as a winter project

Nige, I'd like to add my tuppance worth here also. As the owner of the noiseyist clutch on a scura (or V11 for that matter) at the recent V11 UK meeting I'm happy to report that I've had no trouble with the clutch in 28,000km. The single plate clutch fitted to the scura is an "improved" model not the single plate from the rosso mandello, this is the gospel according to the chief mechanic at Agostini who should surely "know his onions". Regards, John

I think i heard mention somewhere of a BMW headlight being a match. I don't know which model. For $250 it should be made of unobtanium titanium.

Recently I've had bettery issues, the starter would barely crank then after a few minutes rest the starter would spin and the engine would fire up as usual. I took the bike to my usual car mechanic who tested the cranking amps available. The result was that the battery was putting out only 230 amps instead of its rated 545 amps. The cure is simple: cycle the battery twice. Drain the battery fully by leaving the lights on with the kill switch on, when the battery is flat it won't even light the warning lights. Charge using a low ampage charger with a good battery to start the charge (I used my lawnmower battery) for about 36 hours. The cranking ampage of the battery has risen but I've not bothered the mechanic to get a digital readout of the result. I hope this helps.

Al, Be very careful taking off the rear swing arm axle pivots. These are held in place by the big nuts in the lower center of of the sideplates. The repair/service manual states that you have to measure the length of pivot outside the sideplate before removal and replace to the same exact depth on each side. This is for the alingment of the rear wheel and you understand how that may effect handling. I'd be inclined to remove the rear wheel and swing arm before changing the sideplates as the rear wheel/swing arm are heavy, if you do you can also grease that "Bloody" front grease zerk when you have the rear swing arm off. You will probally get away with one sideplate at the time, have fun

Kieth, I'm at aboput 23,600kms at the moment. I replaced my faulty starter with a new one. Shipped from the U.S. cheaper than I could source locally and that includes the postage! There made in France but get cheaper having crossed the atlantic twice Looking forward to meeting some of you in June

Brian, Pop the plastic dust covers/seals on the new bearings with a small knife and half-fill with grease, replace the dust covers/seals. The bearings will last many more years with a little lubrication.

Jaap, I also fitted K & Ns and fitted my air sensor in a 35mm film box, cutting the cover very carefully to install the sensor and then taping the sensor in place with black tape. I also taped the box closed for security. No problem in over a year. Regards and great site