docc

After experiencing my shift quality degrade to the point the dealer demanded guzzi-US replace the complete box, I intend to shift the thing like it has glass springs and hope it lasts forever.

At anything more than four beers per hour make sure the job gets done in the first 1/2 hour.

There'll be 2% difference just from the time a tire is new to the time it's shot.

I've run out of beer reading suspension threads. A couple observations: 1 Kg is 1 Newton. (there's more to it than that) The spring rates must specify a weight and distance (Kg/mm, N/mm, Lb/in) The rear spring rate of 85 must be Kg/cm. (475 Lb/in) a 550 Lb/in spring is 98 Kg/cm It does seem awfully stiff for a 500-550 lb bike and , say 200 lb rider. Some percentage of the weight is on the front ( anyone know how much??) and some of the weight is unsprung (wheel, tire, brakes, bevel box, and part of the swingarm and shaft).

I got a reply from my dealer today on my swingarm I ordered three weeks ago. I had asked him if it was going to take four months to get it . To this he says, "who knows?" I guess I' m assuming it'll take 3 months since they are apparently not stocked in the states. Very frustrating not knowing. It could be the dead of winter before I get the thing. Well, you asked for it. I'll try the knock on wood thing to see if that helps.

Al, all I could find in my Sport manual were the standard values by diameter in mm: 4mm 3-3.5 Nm 5x0.8 6-7 6x1 8-12 8x1.25 25-30 10x1.5 45-50

You've got a great helmet and you've had your head examined? We should all be so lucky.

600 grit wet-dry sand paper gives the surface a really uniform shine. follow this with "semi-Chrome" polish or "mother's" for the polished almost chromed look. Immediately they will begin to color again based on your tuning and riding style. I agree with John on the 'honey' color. That uniform bronze is a sign all is well. Any bluing makes me think the exhaust valve may be turning blue as well. :!: Worse yet when one is more blue than the other.

I found the Arai to be ' head and shoulders' above the Shoei which was a real nat catcher. The Arai is lighter too. The little Stucchi flyscreen really cleans up the airflow. I usually don't like windshields but it seems to clean up turbulence around the instrument pod. If you look, the naked instruments angle forward perhaps contributing to some lift at those Seattle freeway speeds. When I grow up I'm getting one of Goren's fighter pilot helmets in case I have to bail out in the northern Swedish jungle.

I can't imagine that there is something about a V11S/LM that someone on this site hasnt experienced and shared. Sure there is plenty about the gearbox that is suspect. After all, isn't this Guzzi's first new gearbox in decades? We'd be dreamin' to think it'd be perfect from the start. But what to recall? Return springs, front and rear seals, neutral indexer, heat treatment on the gears, cases that crack? Maybe that olive oil based sealant they were using between the cases? But pushrods? I haven't heard that one before. Soft valves, yeah, but what's with the pushrods?

This is completely true. The only difference i noticed was in the low beam.

My clutch also changed its tune after the gearbox was removed and replaced. Since then I've ridden it 10,000 miles and gotten used to the new sounds. The change worried me at first.

The experts disagree.

Not only will my keyboard not do that , I'm having trouble getting my mouth to do it. I'm assuming this is the same for "Goran" and , perhaps, even for "Opel?" And then ( to we isolated Americans), one the great V11LeMans forum mysteries: How does one pronounce "Jaap?"

Mike, Thanks for the feedback. I know there are several of us who are watching your results to make a more informed decision on suspension changes. I'm hearing "Ohlins." So, where are you setting the sag on the Ohlins?

Mike, Right you are on the pivot distances 20CM vs 40CM. I'm surprised the Penske is shorter. Is the Ohlins longer overall, raising the ride height?

Awright, Warren! What're you up to? You're fitting a 50's style dustbin fairing? Or a telelever suspension?

Good news! Hardly anyone ever gets huffy on this board. We are such a quiet tasteful group. When I first picked up my Sport with the Guzzi CF Mistrals they had those sweet little "off road only" plaques on them. We had alot of fun with it in one of the threads. Honest, Occifer, I've been keeping the little plaques off the road ever since. I'll bet the Ferraccis will never get you pulled over by themselves. But, I wonder (just to complicate matters), who makes the Ferracci pipes?

Paul, I'm wishing I do have more travel. The 2000 sales brochure states the 64mm "stroke". But my Sachs is lying on the bench and I am mesuring the stroke until the 'bumper' is hit: 32 mm . Also, my swingarm is off the bike and I measure the distance from the pivot to axle: 40 mm . Pivot to shock mount ~20 mm. This ratio makes me believe the axle travel is two times the stroke of the shock. (This is for 2000 sport). So, what gives?

The plot thickens: The front travel is 120 mm . The rear is only 64mm. The stroke of the shock is 1/2 of the axle travel ( 32 mm). The shop manual specifies spring preload of 11mm. (This is an open book quiz)

I thought all the parts on a motorcycle ought to be 'off road" except for the rubber parts.

So if they look like Ferraccis and they sound like Ferraccis . . . . ?

Drat! Does it show?? Here I thought I picked all this crap up from reliable sources (all of you).

Are you sure your highly modified clip-on postion is not the culprit? Also, having moved the clip-ons, be sure the cables hve proper free play.

Now, Bill, you have us all hungry for a photo so that we might all know . . . .