al_roethlisberger
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Posts posted by al_roethlisberger
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.... HA, you actually had me laughing out loud on that one...
Of course, with the new moniker "Forum Flooder"... maybe I should take some time off and let some folks catch up before I appear to be a bit too, well, errrr... manic
Well, I got my Throttlemeisters in this afternoon. I'll have to let ya'll know tomorrow how they fit, if they do...
Great work as usual Jaap!
al
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...107
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...well, I got all excited that something miraculous may happen when I reached 100 posts!
Not even an extra star!
al
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...maybe, but my conversations with Will Creedon on the Guzzi Forum seem to be less encouraging.
He's done some mathematics, and based on other experience he's had in aeronautics, he's not convinced it would make much difference... except maybe in the cool-air area.
For more info, check out the thread at:
http://guzzi.com.au/forum/guzzi/
I'm still keeping it "turning" in the back of my mind, but it's on the back-burner for now. And since I plan to keep my oil-cooler, I can't take advantage of the scenario you describe... but for those that install the deep oil-sump, it may be a different story.
al
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......unacceptable.... purely.
Almost without exception, just about every owner of a new LeMans(and other V11 varieties) on this list has had some significant issue like this.... bolts falling out(big ones, like engine mounts!), gasket failures(mine, timing cover... big mess, could have caused a wreck), other oil-system failures(Jaap, leaking fittings), yours... and the thread I just responded to regarding "shadowing".... come on MG... do you read these lists?
I love my bike, but if this keeps up, we should start a petition via this forum detailing all of these issues and forward it to multiple executives at MG and Aprilia to let them know how disatisfied we are with the Quality Control/Assurance at the factory.
It's not that we don't like the bikes, or their potential... but for the price we've paid, and the relative low-tech of the machinery, it's a shame that we can't be confident that they bikes can carry us several thousand reasonable miles without a major and potentially dangerous failure.
Guzzi needs to get this under control before there is serious deterioration in customer confidence, and Aprilia's investment is a losing proposition.
...most disappointing. I'm really sorry to hear this Hank.
al
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...........ahhh, "shadowing".... yessss, "shadowing".....
Now see, that upsets me. My timing-cover "shadowed" for a couple weeks before "exploding" in a torrent of oil <_>
I do NOT consider it normal or acceptable for any of the bolts to be "finger loose/tight" and oil to weep. The engine design may be old, but technology, especially gasket and oil technology ,have come a long way over the last decades. Come on Guzzi, do you think we are idiots??
MG needs to get their act together here, and hopefully Aprilia can help in that regard. First let's get the parts situation, at least here in the USA, sorted out... then get to reliability and serviceability issues like this.
It's not rocket science to keep oil in a relatively low-tech engine like this one. geez.....
al
....whose LeMans "shadows" in the aforementioned places as well
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...no, this isn't normal.
Did this just start? My LeMans has "missed" 4 or 5 times since I've owned it, but it was a quick lone-event... and I've never had a prolonged stumble or pinging. I also use "premium" fuel.
I don't know the solution, but I'd have your map checked as well as the stadard tune-up stuff. If your shop can't find anything, try someone else. Also, we saw that one fella apparently had a bad computer that was making diagnosing his similar problems very difficult. You could check into that as well.
BTW, I actually got 36 1/2MPG the other day.. whoo hoo.. ah hem
al
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Two topics:
First, an interesting twist on the rear-brake noise this weekend.... while riding down to Hollister, I heard the infamous rear-brake "groan" while actually travelling *forward*! ... at a very slow crawling-in-traffic pace. At first I thought it was coming from the front rotors, and it was cyclic... so I thought "did I warp them?". Then I recognized the "groan", tapped the rear brake... and it was gone
So I guess it's just an issue of "setting the pads" once they get cock-eyed. I had just used the brakes heavily a few moments before, so who knows.... it never happened again, and didn't affect braking. Just an odd noise.
Second, you didn't miss much at the "Rally". It wasn't much of a "Rally"... what is one anyway these days except somewhere to buy stuff it seems?? There were a TON of Harley's of course, must have been several hundred on Friday, and I think we counted 8 non-Harley bikes
But most were pretty cookie-cutter, and the real stand-outs were full-on customs that I wouldn't even call Harley's anyway... but very nice work none-the-less.
I tell ya though, I never saw soooo many people wearing skimpy leather and bikinis ... that.... well..... shouldn't.
...yuck. ...very loud bunch too. I don't know how they ride those bikes with pipes that loud. Anyway, we walked around for a couple hours, saw all the stereotypical product booths such as obligatory leather thongs and claw-kick-stands... then headed out to ride across to the coast, and back over Highway 9.
BTW, saw two bikes, a late 90's R1 and some bigger Ninja, being hauled up the mountain-side by wreckers. Totalled.... but I got the impression that no one was seriously hurt, just the bikes going down the hill.
al
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On a technical note, I've heard various pseudo-science over the years about how it's bad on the electronics, etc... to shut the engine down one way versus the other.
I've never bought into any of these wives-tales, but perhaps there's a kernal of truth loosely based on some old bike waaaay bike that had some peculiarity?? Who knows... If anyone knows where this myth came from, I'd love to hear it's history
al
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Beniamino,
I am very sorry to hear about the loss of your bike. I know it can be a very personally upsetting thing to have something so personal taken, leaving you feel violated and vulnerable.
Hopefully they will find your bike, but take heart that if not, I have seen many Rosso's for sale over these last months online, etc.
And, I know how you must feel, as in this first couple months I've grown very attached to the bike... and I'm almost embarrased to admit that I catch myself just walking around the bike at times in the garage "taking it in"...
We'll all keep an eye out for your bike as well, and if anything turns up, we'll let you know.
Best wishes and good luck!
al
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Neat
I'm sure that Fernando and John will be really interested to see how that kit looks and is priced then.
We'll keep an eye out! Keep us posted.
al
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....ah, so you were up at Alices today eh? I was up there at about 8:30pm last Sunday night... but haven't been there yet with the LeMans when there was any crowd to speak of. I was the only bike, except for an old K75 or something.
Today we just hung around the house, and then we climbed up on the roof to watch the fireworks here in San Jose. Since I basically live downtown, it's a good show
Tomorrow should be a good ride to Hollister though. Should be interesting.Regarding that "other pinky"... and general long-distance comfort, check these out:
I bought a pair of the regular cotton and special "dryline" ones to give them both a try. They are both extremely comfortable, and either seems good enough for me in regard to dryness, etc. They are certainly better than standard undergarments. My butt used to go numb in places on my long 10+ hour days, but these seem much better without as many seams, etc. Anyway just something to check out.
...and yep, I'll let you know how the Throttlemeisters turn out. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they'll fit. I ordered the "heavy" units, so that is going to be the best "vibe-cancellation" that I can get with them. So we'll see how well that works out too.
I'll keep you posted!
al
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....ah hem, I think the Dutch term for "pinky" is a bit different than the American one
al
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... bicycle shorts on his *pinky*?!
I would recommend gel-gloves perhaps
al
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...there may be some LeMans manuals around, I dunno.... but I only received a V11 Sport manual back in May when I got mine.
al
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Great idea to use the Guzzi bars ...that looks really classy, especially with the MG logo on the clamp. But I wonder if it is far enough back, etc... to work with the fairing on a LeMans?? I guess someone would have to do some measuring.
I feel fortunate that I'm happy with my OEM clip-ons! Saves me some time and money to not want to modify at least that one part!!
So, BTW, what does LSL mean by a "superbike kit"??
al
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Well, it seems to me that you have two obvious alternatives:
1) Stop taking long rides
or
2) Cut your pinky off
...sorry, I'm just in a silly mood today!
al
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...hanging out with family and friends
Just got back from lunch, and probably about to go catch a movie. The kids want to see "Lilo and Stitch" while the 'grown ups'
...want to see "Men in Black II"... we'll see who wins the day!But naw, probably no riding for me today. But tomorrow I am heading out at about 10am with a couple friends to go down to Hollister to "crash" the HD rally down there
...ought to be interesting to see what comments and questions the LeMans gets, if any. And of course, both of my friends will be on Honda F4's so that should be interesting too
al
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Indeed ...I had contacted them as well, so maybe they'll add the link.
I also dropped Mr. Wedge, who admins the MGNOC site, an email to see if he'd like to visit this forum. Hopefully he'll take me up on the offer
al
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...yeah yeah, well you just went into "fanatic" mode yourself you know!!
Of course you're hiding behing that "administrator" moniker, but just lookee at your "4 blue squares" and the story is told!
But yeah, the chat-room idea is not a big deal. I've only seen 3 or 4 people logged-in at any given time so far, so it's unlikely we'll have the right combination of people online at just the right moment to take advantage of it anyway. ...and we all have the ability to link to our various Instant Messenger services directly from the board... so no worries. I was just curious
al
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Just curious if this board has a chat-room option/portal? Not a big deal, but it might be a nice thing to have as an option when more than two people want to chat casually outside of ICQ, etc...
I guess we need another poll
al
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....yeah yeah, according to my nifty Formotion thermometer, it was well over 90F in the sun the other day on my ride
Wearing black helmet, jacket, gloves, boots.... I was a tad hot
But there's one side benefit. As soon as I stop, unload all that gear and sit down... almost any other place feels *air-conditioned*!!
al
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...and I wonder if poor Mr Wedge was disappointed in seeing the new '03 all-red and all-black LeMans after all that work repainting the bike?
We need to find this fella though and make sure he knows about this forum!
al
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... interesting modifications to last year's(our) LeMans:
http://www.mgnoc.com/Articles/allredv11lemans.htm
John, check out those bars.
al
Fairing Squeaks
in Technical Topics
Posted
...darn, I was going to say "hey, it's probably that black flat piece behind the gauges"
...seriously. That's where mine was when I found my one squeak. The right fairing(sitting on the bike) was installed incorrectly under the subframe, and in combination, this somehow made that panel behind the guages squeak.
But I've pretty much had my fairing complete off, and checked all my nuts/bolts for thread-lock and over-tightening after the factory cracked my fairing by being ham-fisted with the wrench
Sorry to say, but it could be anywhere. I'd check the headlight as it does move, and perhaps the rubber gasket isn't seated well against the fairing??
You'll probably just have to get a friend to bounce the bike and get down there with your ear
....every bike is different. It took me about a month to track down one particularly annoying rattle on my FJ, right at, and only at... 4k RPM.
al