dlaing

Merry Christmas Santa! That is WAY generous. If only I had room... (let me know if you want to give away your Quat-D )

Word is they won't FIX THIRE design. We would have to pay full price, or maybe they would give us a break in price for recycling the pan. Al Roethlisberger appears to have gotten it right the first time: http://www.pashnit.com/bikes/V11-Lemans.htm

One thing about the Corbin, is that if you sit all the way back, the rear suspension will want to make you FEEL every bump. Also I slide forward in the corbin because of the slope, especially going down hill or braking. I like my Corbin, and can ride for many more hours than stock, and the slope keeps the pressure off the taint, but I am hoping a better rear shock will make the ride more tolerable. Otherwise I may go for a custom Corbin and have them move the riding position forward and reduce the slope just a little. The move forward may also benefit your leg positon and better distribute weight over the bike. That my two cents. Ergonomics are certainly a personal preference, and I would not mind my pegs down and back an inch or two ...Or a Rich Maund seat may work better.

Is your neck starting to hurt from tilting to the left? Don't be too jealous. On January first we'll be lucky to see even a leather clad angel, as the lookout at that time of year is cold and windy, and most of the hot ones are sucking down bloody marys in the comfort of some warm bed. But the good news is that most of the highway patrol will be asleep after pulling double duty.

I am still not a big fan of FIM. There chips are inexpensive if they work for your bike, but if you need to change the map, they seem to be too expensive. But I guess TuneBoy tuning on a dyno could get expensive too, depending on how close you want to approach perfection. This was an interesting chart: Not a Guzzi, but it does show how critical individual cylinder tuning is. And for me trying to tune with just the seat of my pants, it is a daunting task....which is why I want a WBO2 logger. I do think you should try modifying your own map. If I had a Centauro, Sporti or Daytona, that is the root I would take. Software is free. Chip PROM programmer is not too much money. Just don't erase your PROM

Fruit?!? Do you also have an umbrella with your bloody marys!?! Or are you talking Sangria PS Todd, did you verify that the lookout will be open New Years Day? If not we'll have to bring Thermoses® of COFFEE. I love the lookout : PS when I try to login to the new SoCal site it does not work and if I try to change my password I get,

I don't remember if Derek ever answered how percentage oxygen relates to air:fuel ratio. While searching on eBay, I found this interesting photo of a vintage gas tester, that presumably measures CO. Sometimes it amazes me how little we have progressed: 106 years later and we are just beginning to take advantage of Nernst's work. Well I guess Oxygen sensors have been in use since the Seventies, even wideband, but only now are wideband sensors are just beginning to be utilized. I'll bet in another 4 years, we'll see four gas analyzers for under $1000, and the wideband kits that cost $500 now will be alot less.

I have never been a big fan of all this gadgetry myself, but Carl is pointing this product out because of my interest in tuning without hours at a dyno shop. I think this product is really cool, especially with the HUD, but it is missing some key features. It cannot log TPS or WBO2 voltage output. Right now, the PLX R-500 is about the most complete logging and tuning solution with the ability to log. But it does not have HUD : Right now on sale for $639 you can get an R-500 with: Exhaust Gas Temperature Ignition Pulse (RPM) Throttle Position (TPS) Air Intake Temp (AIT) Engine Coolant Temp (head temperature for our bike) Acceleration (PLX G Sensor) PLX Wideband Air/Fuel Ratio But I am probably going to go with Zeitronix ZT-2 It does not have a display, or a G sensor, but for $280 it can do: Ignition Pulse (RPM) Throttle Position (TPS) Air/Fuel Ratio And one other analog input. (I'll probably go with engine temperature) I just wish it had on-board logging, but it does not, so I'll have to use a laptop. Exhaust Gas Temperature is another $77 But my first step is to save up for the SS Bungs and installation. By the I get that done, there will be four gas analyzers selling for $500

I can't get over how pretty she is all black and silver....

OK you Garage Hobbits, stay away from my Ohlins, yah the forks were a bit over $2000, but gawddammit it was an easy fix. One thing I miss about the Marzocchii is that they are lighter. Speaking of lightness, it is interesting that one of you went with five weight and the other ten weight. My money would be on the lighter oil, especially in the compression fork. Jedione, I'll buy you six pack if you rip off the compression fork and try swapping the oil for five weight, actually no I won't, I don't have any money left from the Ohlins But I still think the biggest problem with the Marzocchi is the excessive high speed compression damping, and the easiest fix is backing off the screw, and the second easiest fix, is five weight. Heres to all you who braved the elbow grease to get a better handling, riding bike.

Any bike can wobble, even "properly" set up race bikes. The short framed V11 is probably just a little more prone to wobbles. But Guzzis in general are not wobble prone. I had one Continental tire that caused speed wobbles, but that does not mean all Continentals do. Compared to a V1100Sport, the V11Sport is as loose as a wild goose. I remember much of the commentary was more about looseness and concern for stability than real high speed wobble experience. One guy on this list was upset about it enough that, combined with other problems, he sold the bike, rather than fix the problem. His classified ad read, something like, "runs great, nothing wrong with it" But the good news is that if enough people think the bikes are dangerous, they'll be on eBay for $4000! And I could use a parts bike

The Bitubo seems to actually have a spring in it that pushes the steering to one side. If it is not a spring, it is air or gas pressure. I am not sure if the force is strong enough to counter steer. And I can't recall if the bitubo pushes in the direction required to cause this problem, but it does push. Maybe I'll take it off and see if it stops pulling to the right. But nobody has ever claimed to have this problem with the bitubo, so maybe my alignment is screwed and I have to live with it. I have already adjusted the swing arm as much as it can move to the right without binding(Not Much...) If you adjust yours, pull the rear shock so that you can move it through the range of travel and make sure it does not bind. Mine binded where I did not expect it to. So, beware. I guess I could shim the front wheel to the right a little....

What a cool site! I can't believe I have not discovered this sooner. http://www.mindspring.com/~wayne.orwig/utils.html

I don't think he has to bend anything. He just needs to put the washers below the bracket that they rest on, rather than above. My guess is the washers are supposed to be a rubber bushing, that is missing.

Checkout me talking to myself about it here: http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=6602 There should be no reason you can't do it too. Some, like the NGK and Zenotronix don't do onboard logging, which I think is pretty critical for us without dynos, but there are work arounds like laptops in your tankbag, etc. Keep in mind the WBO2 is going to suck up around 1.0 to 1.5 Amps.

the VDST does not map the ECU The direct Link DOES map the ECU, but not on your bike They sell PLX WBO2 controllers, but I think you can find better prices elsewhere. My feeling on WBO2 is that I am not sure how accurately it inferes the incoming A:F ratio from the limited gases that it sniffs. I am not as skeptical as this guy, Marc Salvisberg, but close. http://66.47.68.116/dyno/4gasEGAvso2sensor.html What is interesting is that he and Derek Capito are nearly lone voices of dissent in a world that hypes up the value of WBO2 controllers. Even if you try to google informatin on it, you end up right back here at V11lemans.com, obviously on the cutting edge

I have always thought that a hybrid of fuel injection and Bernoulli venturi carburetion would be the best, but I used to have a hyundai that did something like that, (electronic controlled carburetion) and it was not all good. Stilll I am going to give smoothing the map a shot. I can't believe all those moutains and valleys programmed into the ECU hold up to real world bike variations and modificatons. But maybe I am wrong And if I am wrong, it is going to difficult to pinpoint adjacent cells that need great variations...in which case I will need to buy the WBO2 and or CO meters. It will be fun riding around with a big CO meter in my tank bag! I am convinced that measuring CO is the way to go on tight budget. It just takes a lot longer to get data than with WBO2, but it less likely to be misleading.

I had the earlier muffler, and it is different. V50Man should know.

I wonder if the bikes that added oil spraying (2003-2004+) require a little thinner winter grade Allegedly the Californias with the hydraulic valve adjusters need just the right weight oil, so if you own one of them, you might only want to ride in mild weather...

Notice that from the above chart that it is roughly just as bad to start a bike with 20W50 at -15ºC as it is to start a bike with 5W30 at -30ºC. Following that logic, the guy who toasted his Aston Martin was probably running straight SAE30 or 40 Yak Fat...or maybe the Aston Martin has narrow oil galleys or something... FWIW I think synthetic 5W50 is the no brainer way to go. 0W40 is probably better for a Canadian Winter, and 20W50 is probably better for Southern California down to just a hair above freezing

Take those rose colored goggles off, your bike is B-L-A-C-K-

I think the beauty of the 77 Grand Marnier is not the aging, but the memories. I remember hanging out in a bar with my mother in 1977, me and by bro sipping 7UP and Grenadine, and my mother Grand Marnier.... Times have changed. Today, a twelve year old kid would not be allowed at that bar. I also wonder if Grand Marnier is as good as it used to be, possibly ruined by corporate greed I seem to remember it being mellower yet less sweet, in the eighties, compared to recently. Today I would take house brandy over Grand Marnier, but in the eighties I thought it was as good as Martells or Hennessey Cognac. Maybe my tastes have changed.

These are on eBay Item number: 8020697706 Beware of shipping costs, from Hong Kong. Do they look like genuine Honda???????

Do the Buell pegs fold back and retain the spring loading?

DIY is generally my philosophy, too. It is just tough without Dyno and analysis tools. But I am confident that without WBO2, CO, CO2, NOx and HC meters, I can still get the bike to perform better than a well tuned carb bike. I wonder if I can take the bike to the local automotive emmision control center and pay them twenty bucks just to sniff it at idle and a couple of higher RPMS. My current plan is to score a WBO2 and a CO meter off of ebay so I can get it to run like a well tuned EFI bike. Emission meters could be a good investment, because unlike TuneBoy and PCIII, I can also use WBO2 and CO meters for any future bikes, and my car, too. PS I wonder why Rapid Bike is listed for Centauro, but not the other 1.6Marelli????? In anycase, it is probably just like PCIII, but missing features like TuningLink. DirectLink would be good, they don't make it for the 1.6Marelli.