dark_bike

@docc ah, that‘s a good one. I did remove the battery a month ago. just checked: bingo! if I hadn‘t had so much on my mind right now I could have thought of it myself. Usually if something suddenly doesn‘t work on a car or bike I just worked on, there is a strong causal link between the one and the other. you saved the day, many thanks!

@80CX100 ah, Eastern Beaver, that rings a bell, many thanks👍 @docc, of course, Guzzi folk are friendly people. But that is indeed the response you can get on other forums. As far as the issue is concerned, I can see that the bulb filaments are OK. The fuse for the lights is OK, too. It is indeed Euro spec, it‘s number 226. To the best of my knowledge this Eastern Beaver harness has two relays. I noticed yesterday that the headlight was out (just the driving light was on) and haven‘t had time yet to pull things apart.

At the risk of provoking ‚use the effing search function‘ comments, I have the following question (because I did and it produced too many results) back in 2010 or thereabouts I bought a relay set-up to by pass the original wiring, as my Scura wouldn‘t charge properly on shorter runs with the lights on. All of a sudden my headlight doesn‘t work, and in case (I have yet to investigate the cause) I need a new relay system the question is, where to get it? Iirc it was sold by a member in Singapore or thereabouts but is he still in business? Maybe better/different solutions have been developed since? I‘ve not been active here for ages, but I didn‘t sit on my hands, have restored a Le Mans III in the mean time.🙄 best, Tom

thanks for the advice so far. when things work as normal the lever feels normal too, no excess free play. it is one of those nasty problems that only occur during driving. If the bike is standing, I can pull the clutch lever as much as I want and nothing untoward happens. if it would be the slave piston sticking, the problem would occur at all times (I'd guess). if however the clutch is stuck in the disengaged position, I can imagine that the slave piston is pulled back when I release the lever, and pushes into free space next time because there is nothing offers resistance.

Hi All, let me start with a few facts. My bike is a Scura with about 45k miles on the clock and still on its first clutch. Recently, i.e. since a few moths ago I noticed that the clutch occasionally sticks in the disengaged position. I can pump the lever and it feels as if there is no fluid in it at all. then it slowly regains resistance, sometimes something says 'ploink' an and it feels as if there is nothing in the line. a couple of times's pumping and all is well. to my inexpert ears it sounds like there is someting dry and/or worn.or is it the slave cylinder sticking? The problem is however that everything automotive is breaking down at present and I would like to know if there is a quick fix to this, at least to see me over a couple of months. The clutch isn't slipping or anything and it sounds fine so I'm reluctant to have things ripped apart and spend a lot of money if it isnt really necessary. best regards Tom

Well, for a concrete reason, what do y'all think of "adding to the patent pool?" Is there something Ducati owns that you can think of that Audi might want to apply to a cage? Better traction control software? I mean, besides the obvious halo f/x of owning another upscale brand [the same expert quoted above probably had the same thing to say when Audi acquired Lamborghini, after all... ] What do you think? I had a look at what patents Ducati Motor Holding spa has, but thats nothing that could interest Audi in any big way. And if there's anything worth having it would be easier to take a licence. You don't buy a supermarket just to get a pint of milk. I think it is a case of keeping up with the Jones's, or more to the point, the Quandts (who own a majority stake in BMW) They have mass production cars, niche luxury cars and now they have a luxury motorcycle brand. Exactly why Audi buys Ducati and not VW or the VAG holding is obscure to me. Ferdinand Piëch has a controlling share in the whole lot and he is nothing if not ambitious.

or maybe we get Audis with clattering clutches

Didn't know that one, don't think they were imported to NL, so I looked it up. MY EYES, MY EYES!!! I had to look it up too..OMG. gives a whole new meaning to 'tear jerker'. It is beond camp, hoyotoho, hoyotoho.

Havent motorbikes in general lost much of their butchness these days? I wouldn't call a big 1600 cc BMW touring bike necessarily camp but with a heated seat, radio, navigation, ABS, integrated dishwasher and hair dryer it barely qualifies as butch. A Mk III Le Mans, now that one was butch, if you define butch as extremely hard sprung with heavy controls and zero creature comforts. very entertaining bike though

not quite that model but that's the company. Probably made in China, or merde in China as they say in France... Unfortunately the automatic gearbox of my car packed up roughly around the same time so my wallet was gasping :-(...otherwise I'd gone for a Valeo straightaway. Interestingly my local dealer charged about €500 for as starter motor. Thats when I joined my wallet in gasping...

I think it is, yes. I'll make some pictures of the Alanko starter which shows curious signs of wear on the gear that the expired starter it replaced did not show. when it was cold it would struggle for the first few turns as if it had problems overcoming the viscosity of the oil in the bearings or something like that...once it got turning it would start the engine but not nearly as energetic as the Valeo, which buzzes the engine into life literally at the push of a button. chuff chuff chuff broooum :-) to me it seems that the Alanko not only drew more current but did less with it than the Valeo. A false economy if ever there was one. The alanko is fine if you only ride at 20C plus or so but as soon as circumstances become more demanding it is crap. In the end I think my problem of an insufficiently recharged battery was compounded by a dodgy starter.

Please elaborate! What exactly works now? The new Valeo starter or the diode cheap trick? What was the cheapo starter consumption and how much does the new Valeo starter/Solenoid combo suck off in comparison? What is the average ambient temperature now, also in comparison to your winter problems? @Tom M: If you realy measure 12.9V with the key off, at the battery I assume, then you have a perfectly and 100% charged battery. What more do you want? Hubert The battery is fully charged,also after frequent short rides, thanks to the diode. The bike starts easily also at subzero temperatures. Even with a full battery the cheapo starter was struggling at any temperature of 5C or under, like it was sticking. The Valeo just spins, as if there is no big lump of a V twin to fire up. I didnt bother to measure currents so cant say anything on that. The cheapo starter was made by Alanko btw. Tom

Time for an update. I havent been able to ride my bike for weeks after fitting the diode in the regulator wiring due to illness. However, I've been back in the saddle from early last week and things have worked a treat. Always starts on the button, no more lame battery, even after repeated short rides. In other words, it works :-) Tom PS I also replaced the cheapo starter motor with a proper Valeo one - makes a world of difference.

So the EU is taking over the German system then? It is just so silly - you buy tested parts and then you have to have the tested parts tested :-(. Interestingly, most testers here have no clue about 'exotic' bikes like Guzzis. Mine was criticised for not having the braided brake hoses listed in the reg documents as a conversion. When I said, erm no they are standard equipement and have been since the early 90s I got blank stares. They don't even have proper documentation on the V11, which was on sale here until fairly recently - it's not like we're talking ultra exotic bikes made 50 years ago. If you dont know what you're checking, what is the ffing point? all this approval BS is just another ploy to get at your cash. so, rant over, happy motoring :-)

Hi Roy, seems I have to add further wires then. what are the respective advantages of these starters? Is the valeo easier on the battery? the bosch better at bringing unwilling engines to life? tom

If you mainly use it at home this might be an option.My link no issues with cross-overs and easy to get the bike up, but not something you want to carry with you. Tom

I use Slavek's method which is straightforward IF those screws holding the alternator cover all come out. Inevitably it was the last one that refused to budge. I replaced them with Allen screws. Tom

It's early days yet as I wont be using the bike for however long it's going to take for temperatures to get above 0 C again, but so far nothing melted or caught fire :-) . will keep you posted.

I used a N4001 1amp silicon diode (cost €0.07). Of course you can solder it to a wire, tape it up and fit it but the fuse holder seemed a little more robust. The diode is in the reference wire, so that should cover all ancillaries you may have fitted that are wired directly from the battery. Not sure what happens once the headlight is off, didnt check that. I guess the diode will increase the charging voltage by 0.6 V at all times, so the battery will reload even quicker then. to me it is pretty theoretical as these days it is obligatory to drive with dipped beam t all times, so the headlight is always on. When you have loads of ancillaries running at the same time, but still have the original headlight wiring, fitting the diode may help to quickly reload the battery...or am I talking drivel here?

Problem solved. On Roy's advice I've fitted a diode in rhe reference wire of the regulator and now the voltage is 14.4 instead of 13.8. I,ve put the diode in aweatherproof fuseholder, and fitted that betwen the connectors of the reference wire.This can be easily done by pulling the connector apart and then join it up again so only the white wire is connected, and then I fitted the fuseholder between the connectors of the black wire. the moral of the story is that if you fit a relay harness for the headlight to bypass thecstandard system, you also need to fit a diode to the reference wire in order to keep the charging voltage adequate. tom

an update after much help from Kiwi_Roy. I've fitted a headlight relay harness and it turns out that this puts the regulator on the wrong foot. When I've understood it correctly the regulator does not notice the voltage drop when the lights are switched on as the original wiring is bypassed, and hence cant compensate for that. Tom

All fine, battery is a new hawker Odyssey, replaced battery and regulator about 3 months ago, cleaned any ground connections.

After sorting a number of electrical problems, mainly due to a dodgy regulator, I'm still stuck with a nagging problem. I use the bike a lot for commuting and these are fairly short runs, about 25-30 km, sometimes in dense traffic, and always with lights on. I find that in the cold season the bike won't start after a couple of days as the battery isnt recharged enough. So far I've overcome it with putting the bike on a charger but that's cumbersome: I've got to roll out a cable to the front garden, connect the bike, charge, then reverse the procedure. In short, can't the problem be solved by an alternator that has a higher output? and would that require a different regulator? I've had this problem with a guzzi before, a 1991 Targa 750 and there the alternator output was simply too low to cope with a lot of city driving with lights on. At least that's what I was told. any suggestions?

I've had a Sport1100 with carbs for a while, and to me it seemed like a halfway house between the tonti-framed Le Manses and the V11. Mine had a straight-cut 5 speed gearbox which gave it a decidedly tractor-like feel and made a lot of noise, but the handling of the bike was superb. It felt more sure-footed than my V11 Scura but I suspect this is partly due to the tyres. Metzeler Z6 may be hard-wearing but I felt the Continental Contiforces on the Sport1100 offered better grip. The driving position is killing though. The bike feels very long and the clip-ons are set really low. It is a very classy-looking bike and makes all the right noises. Would I get one again? yes, but the first priority would be to raise those clip-ons.