Baldini

David, Spring is a common & known problem, & in my view should have been a recall. It may (!) be worth pushing Guzzi on the warranty...? I found I could get neutral running it up the road - it wasn't easy & needed a bit of fiddling on the pedal. It is worth stopping & starting the bike between attempts. I think you should be able to remove selector plate whilst in gear. I didn't, so I'm not sure & I don't know any consequences.... It will be difficult to align selector forks if you try to replace plate with box in gear. Again, I don't know, but you should be able to get box to neutral by hand, unloaded, once cover is off. Carl Allison kindly sent me a spring that I believe (Carl?) came from Hank Blackstock in Oklahoma. There is a short section bent at 90 degrees (this is where it breaks) to the rest of the spring which retains it at the bottom end. The location is marginal - the spring tends to pull sideways in use & is not retained securely there. This short section, on the spring Carl sent me was even shorter than the Guzzi one. I was concerned that it could slide right off it's location, so I didn't use it. (sorry Carl, & thanks again ). Sweep recently said here that Guzzi have recognised the spring problem & issued a modified part, but I haven't been able to contact him. KB, Cymru

Box in NEUTRAL. Detach shock reservoir from bracket. Isolate battery. Remove starter motor. Detach neutral switch term. Detach shift link from shaft. Drain gbox oil. Remove 11 (5mm) socket cap bolts. Remove Selector cover plate (there's no gasket, goo holds pretty firm). Remove 2 selector gears (retained by circlips) & mechanism, to access spring. Ensure NEUTRAL in box (check spaces between sliding dogs & gears are equidistant) & in selector before replacing plate. It's a bit fiddly but fairly straight forward. KB, Cymru

Gthyni, I am an immigrant & am still learning the ways of my adopted country... Until warranty is up I'm reluctant to put non Guzzi parts in the box. I'm not sure how strong it is and failure could be very expensive! In a year's time I may well sort a better spring & retention unless Guzzi figure it themselves... John T, It's the thin spring (one short arm w/90 bend, one long arm, 04 23 83 00 in the parts book, most likely the one you didn't get!) on the bottom of the ratchet that's the problem. It seems it's mostly just 02 bikes... Thanks Jaap, that's bolloxed the conspiracy theory...or has it...just why did Sweep delete the thread anyway...? Did somebody...get to him... What do you make of it Watson? KB, Cymru

Thanks Jaap...but no... There was a thread in the past couple of months started by Sweep. He said he'd had 4 springs break in 10K miles or so. His dealer had told him that Guzzi acknowledged there was a problem and had an updated spring...he was going to post the part no. The whole thread has disappeared! I've emailed Sweep but had no response... If there is a spring w/new part no. I'd really like one... Has anyone done say 15K miles on an 02 V11 w/o this spring letting go? What sort of mileages have people got on 02 bikes? Cheers, KB, Wales. Jaap - If Sweep deleted his initial post which started the thread, would that delete also all the following posts on that thread?

Before this drifts off into the ether... Jaap - any idea what happened with those posts...? Sweep - are you there...? Part no? Gotta go...there's someone behind m.... Heh! Heh! Heh!

...And in an ideal world what should that 'reach' be or does it depend entirely on how the bike is to be used? (Still no sign of them posts Docc... !) Cheers, KB,Wales

Mike, I'm 210lb (Imperial) w/gear. I run 10Kg front/100Kg rear in Ohlins. They're fine, 1.05/105 would be fine too I suspect...maybe even a little better? Depends on how you ride it I guess. Am I right in thinking that a spring should require some preload for correct sag & that if a spring was used that required no preload to get sag, it would neccesarily be too hard? If so, is their a rough percentage of a spring's unloaded length that should be regarded as optimum for preload? KB, Wales

Captain Nemo, Everything I've heard or read says that sag should be about 30 - 33% of total suspension travel (travel between topping out & bottoming out). Whatever shock you're running. But...each to his own... KB, Wales

"...BBBOOIIIINNNGGGGG!!!! ...Mike realised he'd gone too hard on the suspension settings just as he approached the Woodland section..." Let us know next time you're over KB, Wales

...About 30- 35mm sag on Scura rear...I think... KB, Wales

Good God!! There is somebody there!! Docc, you gotta help me Docc....there was these posts see.......... KB.

Oh no... ...it's spooky in here... I shouldn't have come into the workshop so late at night ...I fear I've slipped into the parallel universe under the floorboards...why yes...is that the washer Docc dropped, glinting in the gloom...? Those posts, they're probably round here somewhere...if I can just... ...wait...what was that noise??!! Is there somebody there...?Did you read those posts too?...anybody...??? KB,Wales?

I've searched some more... No posts by Sweep since April...??? It was a few weeks back, there were replies...inc mine, but that don't show up on search either...SPEAK TO ME SWEEP!! There's something fishy here, and it isn't my underpants... KB, Wales.

I'm sure I read recent posts here from Sweep saying he was on 5th return spring, Aprilia UK had admitted the spring is a problem & had new part. I've done searches - perhaps I'm pressing the wrong buttons but I can't find it anywhere...or any recent posts from him...or anyone else on this...Sweep - are you there? Have you got a part no? ...and...who swiped the posts???!!! KB, Wales

both are quite smooth, no hint of grabbing Kiwi dave, Sorry, I've just come in from the pub, but I don't understand...( )? KB,Wales

Stefan, It may be different to Rosso, not sure, but the single plate in the Scura is pretty grabby too...I think there's some stuff on this if you do a search on this site. John O'Sullivan spoke to Agostinis about the clutch... You there John??? Cheers, KB, Wales

I found out what the Ohlins numbers mean... On a shock spring... 1091 is part no. for 160mm long spring (1093=150mm) 26/85: 26 is Ohlins code for 85N/mm spring rate L262 is just a batch no. KB, Wales

See There's specs, procedures & parts diagrams. It's pretty straight forward. Ohlins do a socket (4703-01) to undo the top nuts w/spigots. It's expensive but good. I removed fork tops from damper rods. I used slotted washer to locate on the preload tubes, which you need to compress to get at the nut at top of the damper rods. You could probably drain/refill w/o removing them but it would be a pain. There's a needle & spring at the bottom of the damper rods that'll drop out if you remove them...it's easier to drain all the oil if you do. When refilling take time to expell any air by pumping the dampers slowly, otherwise you'll get a false idea of the oil level. Ohlins give air gap of 85mm w/springs. I'm going to try 90/95mm cos maybe it's a little hard as is... Can't remember any problems. Do get the info off the Ohlins site it's pretty thorough. KB, Wales I just saw Jaap has put Ohlins stuff here, see under "fileshares" .

Is the cover ally? What's wrong with bare metal?

Paul, Chris, Thanks for the info. Anyone know if same relays are usable in all V11's or different for different years? Mine is 02. Foxbat...what was wrong with the bike? KB, Wales

Any opinions regarding using/not using the clutch on upchanges? KB, Wales

Paul Smart, Quick question...Where d'you get the relays UK? What's Part No?For 02 bikes?... KB, Wales