dark_bike

what exactly are these made of?..is it just a piece of rubber tube or is there more to it? anyway, those on my bike are crumbling but I cant find them in any parts list. didnt find any reference to them in the forum either. I guess that when they're completele gone you get clonks from the rear as well as sloppy roadholding...

time to pick the collective V11 brains assembled here with a gearbox issue. Most of the time the box on my Scura shifts well, but there are days its downright unwilling (reluctant to change up, needs a proper kick then) or rather the reverse (need only to lift a toe and the lever moves up). whenever it is behaving badly the shift lever stays hanging in mid air so to speak ie doesnt return to its starting position. The latest event was that the box jumped out of gear when I hit a speed bump (unless I keep my foot on the lever) all this mainly occurs at lowish speeds/revs - hot or cold, no problem changing gear on the motorway. at higher revs the shift lever returns properly too. I found a number of posts on the gear change linkage becoming sloppy because of a nut working loose (still have to check that - how much play should be allowed anyway?) but I suspect the cause lies somewhere inside the box, because of the jumping out of gear. a duff spring? (but dont those either work or break?) I put redline shockproof heavy in the box but that didnt make any difference.

thats probably why they had a drain hole as a logo ..or was that because of all the state cash that went down it?

I do sympathise, I have the same feelings every now and then.. in the past 20 odd years of motoring i've more than once been tempted to push ta car/bike off a cliff. I happened to live in a flat country at the time however, so I had to put up with the aggro ;-) I guess it depends on the balance between fun and aggro. You want the excitement and put up with the aggro or you want reliablility and put up with the boredom. speaking for myself: when the aggro gets the upper hand the love is over and the car/bike gets a kick.(but I havent yet managed to persuade myself to get something utterly reliable;-)...I just get something which causes less aggro) Would there be some fundamental philosophical or even biological principle at play here? We can get men on the moon..remote control space probes millions of miles away and artificial vision is just around the corner but we cant make bikes or cars that are exciting AND reliable. They're either dull and reliable or exciting and falling apart all the time. The opposite (dull and falling apart all the time) is not gertting anywhere commercially but there must be examples of it...oh yes the austin allegro springs to mind

I've yet to check the air box, but the smoking has stopped, so it seems that oil blown into the air box is indeed the culprit (touching wood with crossed fingers)- note: there doesnt seem to be a phew-that's-a-relief icon ;-) maybe take it a bit easier on the throttle in future...though on motorways without speed restriction temptation to let those horses galop is hard to resist

Hi ratchet, I know what you mean, but it wasnt water vapour...too dense for that and it smelt of burnt oil...first time I noticed was yesterday afternoon when it was warm and very damp. also I had been riding the bike for about 25 miles. This morning of course the engine was coldish but it defo was oil smoke coming out....tonight however when leaving work, there wasnt a whisp of smoke.. is it character? I've been through some very characterful cars and bikes over the past two decades but this one takes some beating it seems Tom we'll see how things are tomorrow...

Yesterday I changed the gear box oil for the Redline shockproof stuff and went for a ride. I noticed upon startup that grey smoke was coming out of the exhausts (OMG). (I dont suppose there is a relationship between the two) it stopped after a while, but the same happened again this morning... also there seems to be oil weeping from the base of the left hand cylinder. admittedly I have driven the bike rather hard last week and it was very hot too...but shouldnt it stand up to that? I read something here about a blocked engine breather forcing oil down valve guides, but it it is that shouldnt there be smoke all the time? to me it seems like oil finds it way into the engine when it is not running, then burns when it runs and no more gets in when it is hot. any ideas? a blown head gasket? a warped head? both? head bolts needing torquing down?...at least there are no nasty noises the mind boggles...and the owner because there seems to be no end to what goes wrong..in just under 5,000 miles the score is: 1 broken rear wheel bearing, a blown valve cover gasket, a blown oil pressure sensor, 2 starter circuit fuses blown for no apparent reason....and the bike hasnt even done 20,000 miles yet. all nothing major but annoying all the same. not what I'd expect on a low mileage bike.. cheers Tom

hardly anything is ever easy in Germany and I found out that just fitting dB eaters isnt going to do to get them approved. I bought the cans on ebay but neither in the description nor on the pics it was clear they were slip-ons or for race use only. I've only ever seen road legal Ti cans so it simply didnt occur to me to ask (what do I know...) with a bit of luck the seller may be persuaded to take them back. as for german regulations, you can mod your bike but you have to have every modification approved, even if you did it with parts that are CE approved. the issue of tyres is a bit complicated. My bike had Metzeler Roadtecs on that didnt exist when the bike was first made in '02. they are specified for this bike by Metzeler so now it says in the reg document that only tyres that have been approved by the manufacturer for this model are allowed. back in the old days ie last year it would have said exactly what the type and dimensions were. if I then would have wanted to fit different tyres (because eg this model went out of production I had to get a piece of paper from the tyre supplier saying that it was all ok. also it isnt allowed to have front and rear tyres of different specs, so if only the rear tyre is own but this particular model isnt available anymore you had to buy 2 new tyres even if the front one was still ok. Are you still with me? There are loads of data on a German registration document and most of it is totally pointless. I spent an hour and a half getting the bike tested, of which the actual testing took less than 15 minutes. the rest was just bureaucratic blah blah blah... (Im now warming to my topic so hold on) Then you have to get a registration document and plates. In a large town like Cologne this can easily take 4-5 hours. once you're at the desk and have handed over your docs and ID you get a slip of paper and you can go out to have a plate made. this you present at the desk, it gets a couple of stickers on it and you're done. not surprisingly a whole business has sprung up of services who do it for you (if you have several registrations to make you go to a different desk where things move much much quicker...)

Hi all, I bought a pair of Guzzi titanium cans on the cheap that are a bit dented (already found a thread on how to get them sorted) but as I want to use them on the public road I'll need a pair of db eaters (they are race cans) and also the connection pipes to fit them in the first place. I'm a complete newby in this matter so any advice is welcome... I imagine that the fact that the right silencer is off-set makes it difficult to use parts of other bikes....

time to add my as I have a V7 classic on loan today as the Scura is in for some tuning. Unfortunately its pissing down here most of the time and I got to work anyway so it'll mainly see motorway and town use. Coming off a V11 it does feel a bit toy-like, but it is very easy to ride with a very un-guzzi like smooth gear change. I'm not a fan of the upright riding position (they would let me have the cafe racer ) but the handling is very good. on twisty country roads it'll sure come into its own but it isnt an autobahnburner obviously. The only serious gripe I have is the exhaust note: it sounds like a 300 cc two-stroke, very tinny. I've had a 750 Targa in 1991 and that sounded much better. soooo to sum it up: nice bike but could do with a bit more poke and different cans. I could imagine that the 850 griso engine would give just that bit of extra beef without adding too much weight. But I know why I chose a V11....

Thanks Martin,I'd probably make a test patch first somewhere in a little visible spot to see how it reacts to the heat..but it sounds like it's worth trying.

the exhausts on my Scura (which just went through its first set of rear wheel bearings at 16.5k miles ) have a few scratches. Any suggestions how to get rid of them? I wondered if I could just touch them up with clear varnish but that may not withstand the heat... cheers Tom

When I first rode my V11 I feared that I might ditch my electric toothbrush because of the vibrations, but fitting foam handle covers improved things a lot (the bike already had bar end weights). Now they're just a pleasant sign of life: I feel every stroke of the engine, but it doesnt give a dead feeling on long runs. I've had Guzzis before and they're rather endearing machines, faults and all. Not quite so raw-meat-eating like ducatis nor as antiseptic as Beemers. I ride mine every day, unless there is a really good excuse not to. It's the kind of bike on which you're sorry you've arrived at your destination. so: enjoy :-) cheers, also Tom

found 4 (!) more on sale in Italy...one even mentions serial number and one is a Scura R http://www.subito.it/annunci-toscana-itali...h=1&ccs=900

57 Italy ( in the factory car park) 60 Italy 84 Italy 90 Germany 98 Italy 99 Germany 107 Italy 111 Germany 134 Germany 135 Germany 150 Ireland 221 England 222 Scotland 225 Scotland 226 Germany 232 USA 250 Australia 251 Australia 254 Australia 255 Australia 261 Australia 272 USA 275 Australia 279 USA 281 USA 283 USA 287 USA 288 USA 300 Germany 310 Isle of Man 313 England 352 Australia 353 Australia 354 USA 358 USA 370 USA 381 USA 386 USA 395 USA 396 USA 397 Italy 401 Australia 464 France 484 Wales 489 England 497 Ireland 498 Scotland 502 Wales 505 Singapore 539 USA 545 NZ 565 Germany 580 Denmark 595 Italy 599 USA 617 USA 688 Italy

it took a bit of time but my Scura is street legal at last. I immediately took it for a long ride through the Eifel region to see what it is I bought exactly;-) I hadnt ridden a Scura before, only a standard V11 sport, and I was not exactly overwhelmed with that, but I put that down to bad set-up. The Scura is...absolutely fabulous. Motorcycling with a very capital M. at first it felt a bit wobbly in corners but I gave the steering damper a few tweaks and that improved things a lot. I might have to fiddle with the suspension a bit as well, but other than that oh my god what a bike. It makes all the right noises, it has loads of oomph. what surprised me most is that you dont notice the weight at all. My previous bike was a ducati 900 Superlight which weighs about 40 kilos less and that didnt handle quite as well as the V11. it needed a few cobwebs blowing but on an unrestricted motorway they were gone in no time, also the gear change improved. At first it was sometimes hard to change up to third but thats cured itself. I'm glad I didnt test ride it when it was new and I couldnt afford it, because it has a very high I-need-it-I-must-have-it-I-cant-do-without factor. a great pity for motoring mankind that they only made 600 tom

Hi all, my bike came with a pair of Arrow race cans, and as they are not street legal here in Germany and I don't intend to race my bike, they're up for sale. they are in very good condition but it seems like the name plate (originally blue has been given a lick of matt black paint). they're on ebay so have a look if interested. http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewIt...em=220383104696

see my entry there..here is another pic, this time from the front. that streetfighter fairing is now off - am waiting for headlight parts to arrive.

Number 226, ex UK now lives in Köln, Germany State photo will follow once that silly street fighter thingy has gone

The person I spoke to at Agostinis said the 2 plater is the better option if you do a lot of driving in heavy traffic, and the 1 plater is fine if you do more touring. I do a bit of both really. Will also depend a bit on what comes sooner: a usable s/hand clutch or clutch failure I test rode a V11 Sports (ie with a 2 plater) and that was already a great improvement as far as lightness of action is concerned over my present 900 SL Ducati (which I'm selling btw) it wasnt nearly as noisy as the Duke either (but then that is as loud as they get - which is very loud) 3 more hours till delivery..excited, moi?

a few phone calls later I learned the following: a new double plate set-up from Agostini costs a whopping € 1054 ex P&P, a single plate RAM clutch is €540... sooo as spending €1000+ is not on right now I've decided to try my luck and ride it with the present clutch and see what happens. Meanwhile I'll keep an eye open for a used double-plate unit. Or maybe fit the aftermarket RAM thing. bike is being delivered tomorrow , btw as it says on the London buses: There probably is no god so stop worrying and enjoy life

thanks guys, now thats what I call useful information My bike is still in the UK because the Ohlins fork seals needed to be replaced, so I'll have them check the clutch as suggested. if it still has the single plater it'll have to be replaced..better safe than sorry and all that.

I've recently bought a Scura and of course I'm a bit worried because of the infamous exploding flywheels. I checked the forum and though there is a lot of information about replacement options, most of the entries are several years old. So, I wonder what is the present situation? have all the defective flywheels exploded by now, in other words has anyone recently had any problems of this kind. My bike has a comprehensive history file and it doesn't say the clutch has been replaced by a dual plate set-up. it's highly likely then it still is on its first clutch (15 K miles). Short of pulling engine and box apart, is there any way to tell which type of clutch has been fitted? Tom

Hi Henry, after all the redness of various ducatis I thought it was time for something black and heavy .. this isnt my first Guzzi mind you, so I know more or less know what to expect..for better or for worse ;-) as for hitting breweries, they're still reeling from Karnaval. cheers tom

Hi everybody, as my nick suggests I've got a V11 Scura...ever since I first set eye on this model I was smitten, unfortunately circumstances blah blah, money blah blah, but at long last I've got one At the time of writing the bike is still in the UK but hopefully I'll have it at home soon. All I need to do is get it registered and then spring can come as far as I'm concerned Of course I searched this forum for any info on the dreaded clutch problem, but as this one doesnt seem to have any problems I'll hope for the best..is it too careless to assume that after 7 years and 15,000 miles with a full service history any problems will have shown up by now? happy motoring, Tom