GuzziMoto

I suspect it will actually light a fire under them, as they will both be auditioning for a ride on a team that will be on the grid next year. Rins looking fast, but he can be fast. His issue is can he not crash. If he can stop crashing without loosing much speed, he could be a contender. As they say, it is easier to teach a fast guy to not crash then teach a slow guy to be fast. Looking forward to seeing that shoulder cam in the race. Hopefully it will be a clear view, with Aleix out front. A second win would be sweet. I can dream. Sad about Suzuki. Their motorcycle arm seems to have taken a back seat. It sounds like they will have no presence in upper tier motorcycle racing in any class.

So, it does work. You just can't have as much free play as you want. A slightly longer push rod should do very much the same thing, take out the dead travel, as adjusting that. What if you just upgrade the clutch lever to an adjustable clutch lever. Then you could remove the excess free play and still put the lever where you want it.

From the ""Customers also purchased" section of that page https://www.mgcycle.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=193&products_id=4690 A longer pushrod designed for use with the RAM clutch on 5 speed transmissions. I assume there is a similar pushrod available for 6 speed boxes. Or, as mentioned, you may be able to use a single ball bearing to extend the current pushrod setup. If the clutch is working correctly and has no air in the system, it may be an issue with the pushrod length.

Also, you mentioned an occasional grunt below 2,000 rpm. I don't run it that low. 2,000 rpm would be absolute minimum, and rarely below 3,000 rpm. It isn't a stump puller, it is more about midrange.

I simply drilled a bunch of small holes in the stock plastic dipstick, in the range between the marks on the stick. The holes hold oil, making it easier to see the level of the oil on the dip stick.

I was never much of a fan of Max Biaggi. I respected his talent, but I didn't care for his attitude. But I did enjoy when Biaggi rode for Aprilia in WSBK. Like him or not, he has skills. The Espargaro brothers have a cockyness that seems out of place in a racer who hasn't really won anything. But I respect their heart, they try hard. Especially Aleix. Vinales was always a hot and cold racer, who would often run cold more than he runs hot. If he is able to get his confidence on the Aprilia he may end up winning a race. If that happens, it would not surprise me. But that will never happen on a regular basis. Signing him was a mistake. Aprilia could have used that money to sign a rider who was on their way up, not a guy who is on his way out. I want to see Aprilia do well. But it was a pipe dream to think Vinales was going to come in and run up front on a regular basis. He just isn't that kind of racer. He is way to hit and miss, with the emphasis on miss.

Petrucci was riding well, but he had not yet shown Gagne a wheel or put him under pressure in any way. In Jake's mind he just made a stupid unforced mistake. He certainly didn't seem to be under pressure. But, it doesn't matter if he was under pressure or not. In the end, Gagne crashed and Petrucci walked away to an easy win. But that was offset by the Ducati failing. The sad part is, we are still waiting for a straight up race between Gagne and Petrucci. I am looking forward to that. I suspect it is only going to get better. I am super happy to see Aprilia do well. I am not a fan of either Espargaro, but I am a fan of Aprilia. So I am happy to see Aleix do well.

Are you sure you don't have air in the clutch system? Air in a hydraulic clutch can cause decreased throw of the pressure plate, causing clutch drag. Because the air compresses.

That is a sweet sounding Guzzi. I really like engines that rev up and down fast. It gives them a sharpness. The exhaust system on that Guzzi is art. Not just the sound, but the look.

Well, Ferracci certainly knows what he is doing. Good to see him back in racing at the top level in this country.

He did have a great start to racing here in the states. It helped that the first two races were at a track he knew well (probably had more laps around COTA than the American racers). Then they went to Road Atlanta, where he had never been. He still did well there the first race, winning after the leader (Gagne) crashed. Had Gagne not crashed it did not look like Petrucci had anything for him. But, as they say, to finish first first you must finish. In the second race at Road Atlanta Petrucci's Ducati failed him, and Gagne didn't crash. So Gagne won by a mile. I do think how well Petrucci is doing says something about the level of competition here in the states. It says that the top guys here are pretty F'ing fast. Because Petrucci is a top level rider and he isn't having a cake walk here. Petrucci is running at the front, but he isn't way out in front. There are at least a couple guys here who can run with him and even beat him. That said, I like Petrucci and am glad he is racing here. I think it is good for our series. The guy is a true racer. He elevates the series, and is forcing the other competitors to step up.

Could be. I would say FQ needs to finish the first lap still in the lead. Just starting up front doesn't help if he gets beat to turn one.

Racing is fickle. It runs hot and cold on riders from certain countries. At one point riders from America were hot, and they were getting the good rides, the opportunities. There have also been runs of guys from Australia. And right now it seems it is Spain. The reality is being successful at motorcycle racing is a combination of talent and opportunity. Talent is equally distributed, but opportunity isn't. Running in Europe, in particular in Spain, is useful to get you noticed, to possibly get you the opportunity. But it isn't required to develop the skills. Take Beaubier for example. He rose to the top here in America racing superbikes. The same as Spies, and most of the Americans before him. Roberts went to Europe, but it really didn't pan out for him and he came back here to race production based bikes and re-establish himself. In the end, who gets the opportunity and who doesn't is something of a lottery. No doubt as we speak somebody in some obscure part of the world is racing motorcycles and doing things most of us could never dream of. But he won't get the opportunity to race MotoGP.

I have only taken the sump off once prior to now, where the sump is off to install a Roper plate. But I am surprised that so many people never take the sump off. I thought it was more popular to use a hose clamp on the oil filter to keep it from loosening. And that seems to require sump removal. I have yet to have an issue with the oil filter, but I can see how it could be an issue. Normally a loose oil filter would show a leak but on the V11 it would simply leak back into the sump. Develop enough of a leak and you don't have sufficient oil pressure. But I have been lucky so far and not had a leak there. On a side note, I wonder if the modern CARC sump from a Griso 1100 would fit on a V11 block. It might need both the sump and the sump spacer. Or it might be completely different. It has a cut out in it for the oil filter, instead of putting the oil filter in the sump. A better design in my opinion.

Yeah, I am sure FQ knows Jerez. But I don't think that is as important as how well his Yamaha will do there compared to the others. If he can't get away then he risks others on bikes like the Ducati motoring past him on the straights and holding him up in the corners. Jerez doesn't have excessive straights, so he has a better shot at getting away then he will at some other tracks. At least that is the theory. But last year Fabio didn't do well at Jerez, finishing 13th. It was his worst race all year. It will be interesting to see how it goes. Joe Roberts is clearly aiming to be in MotoGP. And I hope he makes it. If he does, I will be happy for him. But between him and Cameron Beaubier I think Beaubier has accomplished more success so far and has shown more potential. But never say never, there is still hope. Roberts needs to take a step up. Maybe this win will give him the confidence he needs. But in the end he got this win because the 7 guys faster than he was that day crashed. Most of them crashed because of a freak rain and not really rider error. Only one guy was rider error. But hey, I will root for any American out there. Once upon a time American were a dominant force in GP racing. Now we are happy to have two guys in Moto2.

Yes, too loud is right. But they both still sounded excellent. Back in 1990 I was standing next to Fred Merkels RC30 as he warmed it up in the pits at Mosport. The racket it made was mechanical music to me. Also impressive was how quickly it rev'd up and down. It was instant, like a switch. My buddies 851 was too loud. But it still sounded great. It had a more aggressive sound than most later Ducati's I have heard, not counting racebikes.

Yeah, I can see FQ doing well at some tracks beyond this past weekend, tracks like Jerez for example. But I also can see him struggling to even be in the top 10 at other tracks. That could be his downfall in the championship chase. Joe Roberts is not related to Kenny Roberts, it is just coincidence that his name is Roberts. He raced in the Red Bull Rookies Cup series for a few years, but really didn't do anything amazing. He came back to the US to race back in 2014, 2015, and 2016. He did well. But was running lesser classes like Stock600 and SuperSport. Then he jumped back up to the world stage, getting a ride in Moto2. I don't think he has really raced at the top level in this country. His focus seems to be on Europe and the world stage. He seems to be well connected, his friends include people like John Ulrich it seems. And he is talented, but I am not sure he has the talent required to win a world championship. I would like to see him do well. But he has had a shot on some of the best teams in Moto2 and so far he hasn't put it together. But the reality in motorcycle racing is it isn't just the rider and their talent. And it isn't just the quality of the team and bike. It is the right combination of rider, team, and bike. It takes all three, and often some luck as well.

The Guzzi V twin does sound nice. But I have heard better sounding motorcycles. Without getting into obscure options like the Honda 250 six GP bike, one of the coolest motorcycles I have heard was the factory RC30 superbike of Fred Merkel. Also high on my list is my old friends Ducati 851 with LaFranconi reverse cone megaphones. It was a little too loud, but boy did it sound great. My Griso has a two into one exhaust with a sweet aftermarket set up and it also sounds really nice. The two into one set up makes for a more aggressive sound. There are so many great sounding motorcycles, but I can say I like the sound of the Moto Guzzi V twin. I just can't say it is the best sounding motorcycle.

I get that. And to an extent that is a good idea. But when I put a Lithium battery in my '07 Griso 1100 it didn't work that way. Like many fuel injected bikes my Griso will abort the start attempt if the voltage drops below the required threshold. And it doesn't turn on the headlight when not running, only the running light. And that doesn't seem to have enough current draw to warm the battery. Later versions of the Griso would run the starter anyway if you held the starter button down. But the early versions would not. So, on my Griso, the Lithium battery was a fail. And the weight savings was unnoticeable, a few pounds saved on a 500 pound motorcycle is insignificant. The technology is improving. And not only for weight savings but for energy density. The amount of power they are fitting into such small packages is amazing. We are currently running a Lithium battery in the wife's Monster and have two 100A Lithium batteries in our RV. I can see eventually all our battery applications could end up being Lithium. But currently for some of our applications a lead acid battery is still the better choice. The Odyssey battery that got pulled out of the wife's V11 is still running my lawn tractor. It is easily more than ten years old. It just keeps going. That said, our EV has a Lithium battery.

That was a crazy race. Good on FQ, he really made the most of the Yamaha. Clearly he is the only guy able to get that sort of speed out of the Yamaha. No one else on a Yamaha has that sort of speed. But I can't see him being able to do that at too many tracks. This track allowed him to do that, in part because it doesn't have any long straights that you come out onto from slow corners. When FQ went by the Suzuki he flew by down that short straight. He must have carried so much more speed onto that short straight. Wow. The Moto2 race was something of a disaster for most of the fast guys. Good on Joe Roberts. But I was more impressed with Cameron Beaubier. He seemed to have some serious pace.

For sure adding non-ethanol fuel into a tank that is already half full of ethanol fuel is going to result in a tank of fuel with half the ethanol in it the ethanol fuel had. The two fuels are 100% mixable.

I run Odyssey batteries in some things, like the V11 and our Jeep. I run Lithium batteries in other things where appropriate. There are times when a Lithium battery makes sense. But there are times where the increased cost and cold weather issues don't. In some applications the reduced weight of a Lithium battery is an advantage. And applications where the small size required means the Lithium battery is the better option. Like the wife's Ducati Monster. There is no good lead acid battery that will fit in that small space and deliver the desired power. So it now has a Lithium battery. That said, I can't see as much of an advantage to putting a Lithium battery in a V11. But to each their own.

The system is basically, fuel pump to left injector to right injector to fuel pressure regulator. The fuel pressure regulator regulates fuel pressure by controlling the flow back into the tank. The more it restricts fuel flow back into the fuel tank the higher fuel pressure is. The less it restricts fuel flow the lower fuel pressure is. The system is pretty much constantly flowing fuel and recirculating it from the pump past the injectors and back into the tank. It is not designed to be a dead head system. It is designed to have a supply and return. The return is at the fuel pressure regulator. Of note, that exposed nipple on the fuel pressure regulator is just a reference to atmosphere. It is supposed to be empty, to not have a hose on it. It give the fuel pressure regulator a reference to atmospheric pressure.

I have ordered a bunch of stuff from MG Cycles recently, and all three orders have been promptly shipped and arrived as quick as I could expect. And they had a surprising collection of parts in stock. I am happy to support people that are semi-local and keep this stuff in stock.

I agree with footgoose. It could be something else, but it really sounds like water in the fuel tank. I had that on my Buell. The water sits at the bottom of the tank. When I would go up hill the water would run to the back of the tank where the fuel intake for the fuel pump was. It would misfire. Then once level or downhill again it would stop it after a minute or two. One of the joys of buying a used bike this old is fixing all the stupid stuff that is wrong with it. But this could be an easy fix if it is indeed water. Drain the fuel tank into a translucent fuel can and look for water in the bottom. If there is water in the fuel it will settle to the bottom. While paying someone a bunch of money to fix a motorcycle can work, it is often better to learn how to do it yourself. And with the smart guys around here and all their experience you can learn. If I can learn from these guys you can.