Lucky Phil

Grumman tracker? Ciao

Doh, you're correct. My amazement at their temp tolerance was always sort of linked to their Nikasil cylinders and their resistance to seizing which your 900 had as well. When sitting in traffic the front gets virtually no cooling either. The front cylinder on a Ducati only cools better when on the move. Like all air cooled engines cooling is marginal when at rest no matter what the configuration. Did it continue to smoke after the sitting in traffic situation? The usual issue with overheating with regards to pistons and cylinders is the rings lose thier tension and the cylinders can glaze. Usually new rings and a run through the bore with a flex hone sorts the situation. Ciao

You need to remember that the oil temp doesn't actually need to reach 100 deg C or 212 F to evaporate off the water. Put a pot of water on the stove and watch the vapour start rising way before 100 deg. It's just that obviously 100 deg C will make it happen more quickly. It will still evaporate off at say 90 or so but it takes a lot longer. So longer runs at a lower than 100 deg oil temp will still get the job done. Ciao

I've got a bunch of personal photos from the Daytona pits from that year of the Cosworth and plenty of other bikes. All very detailed with the bodywork off etc. can't get that sort of access anymore. Ciao

Beetle ( Mark) has done a very nice retro thermostat fit to your old Grisso you would be aware of Pete. Pricey but neat.Gives better fueling control and economy as well. Ciao

You know without knowing all the details here I doubt the traffic heat did your Ducati any real harm. I say this with confidence because in my race track experience I've never seen any engine that can cope with temperature abuse like a Ducati twin. I once saw an 851 superbike back in the day run completely out of coolant during a race and arrived in the pits with the cooling hose fittings (plastic in those days) melted off. Result? fit new coolant fittings and rectify the leak and back out for the next race with no issues. I've seen another rider with a bike I know well sit at the end of pit lane idling the race bike until it boiled and started dumping fluid on several occasions and away it went without problems and was fine when pulled down. The rider had to be re educated to NOT head out as soon as pit lane opened and cruise down to the end and sit there and wait for the green flag. He was a owner/rider but didn't work on the bike and had zero mechanical skills or knowledge but he had deep pockets which made education on mechanical sympathy difficult. I remember a delayed WSB race once in Italy when it was very hot and Troy Bayliss came back to his bike on pole position after going for a quick toilet break before the delayed start and gesticulating to his mechanic and pointing at the dash and the mechanic shrugging. Troy gave him the old Aussie "Arr @#!#$# it wave off" and the race got going and he won. I knew what he was gesticulating at........engine temp. It had overheated on the grid. Didn't matter though, still won. There'r heat tough Ducati twins. Mechanically a bit fragile in those days but temp tough. Ciao

The V11 has this standard but the Griso doesn't which seems odd but there you go. Ciao

Years later guys that rode it are a little more forthcoming about it's handling. I remember seeing it at PI years ago and looked at its lap times and recall it was about as fast around there as a good 600 Supersport bike at the time. A mate of mine worked as a race mechanic for one of the factory ASBK teams back in the Britten days and raced his own bikes as well. At Bathurst one year the Britten came over and all he could say was the whole Kiwi operation that weekend was a shambles. It never ran right and they didn't even have enough tools to work on it. I recall him saying a Ducati 900ss passed it on the straight, albeit it was running poorly. JB was a brilliant engineer but I think it's fair to say the hard tedious slog of refinement and development wasn't his forte. The main reason the Raceco Guzzi could give it some competition in the BOTT from time to time was Paul Lewis was jockey sized gun rider and much under rated and the Guzzi was far more manageable in the handling department. The heads on the latest iteration with the red cam covers look a lot wider than the earlier black heads. Ciao

Its a combination of many things but its mainly the difference between air and liquid cooling. Liquid cooling is a far superior and more stable way to cool an IC engine and that translates to less engine temp variability and lower oil temps. An air cooled engine relies to a much greater degree on the oil to assist with the cooling. Liquid cooling also has a greater reserve capacity than air cooling which has none as it takes exponentially more energy to heat water the hotter it gets so the system copes with changing conditions better. It has elasticity to an extent. 100-110 is well within the capabilities of a modern oil esp a full group 4 synthetic which you should be using these days. Ciao

Is this the old hickup at 3000 rpm issue or something different? If indeed the issue at this spot is a fuel related one then upping the fuel pressure is not a smart way to address it. Why would you mess about with regulated pressure and in turn mess up the fuel map everywhere else when literally 10 minutes on a computer via guzzi diag and tunerpro you can fine tune the fuel and or the ignition map in the exact spot you want? You haven't mentioned if you have replaced the fuel filter and checked the in tank hoses if an internal pump bike which should be at the top of the hit list for running issues I've been involves in adjustable fuel regs for Harleys back in the 90's when they used the exact same reg as we have but that was before the days of Guzzidiag and it was just Harley's Upping the fuel pressure which richens it up everywhere made them run better but it was a crude solution, but it made Harley owners happy when nothing much else was available. Ciao

Maybe it s so you can run a governor Ciao

Thats an impressive piece of individual engineering if thats what it is. As I mentioned previously though it's totally unworkable as any sort of serious motorcycle from a dynamic point of view. Pitty if thats what the aim was but I doubt it is. The frame is a case in point nicely done of course but I cant imagine any considerations with regard to the important controlled flex has been a consideration which is important for track handling. I'm always torn with these things. The creative engineer in me loves it but the pragmatic side always requires me to rationalise it. Guess thats why I'm not a "creative" or artist. The Britten was the same, loved the bike and the man behind it but it was a pig of a race bike and anyone that's been involved in racing can see that. Horribly high C of G which made it a truck in the tight stuff unstable in the fast corners, rear off the ground on the brakes and wheelie everywhere out of the corners. I always come away with more respect for the professional designers and engineers when I see these individual constructors and am amazed by the talent and creative flair of the individual builders. Happy all around I guess. Ciao

Yep, your paying Lexus freight there, like Ducati owner have been paying Ducati "freight" for years. Belts are Passe now chains are back. Hopefully gears are next:) Ciao

Yep agree with all of that, the last car I owned for 12 years before the RS was a 5.6L 6 speed Monaro ( Pontiac GTO) to you guys and I am a big fan of the Chevs. My dream is to build a Cobra replica or GT40 replica (RSR) and for that the sensible and easy choice would be a Chev crate engine but I think I'd end up using a Ford twin cam of one version or another. If you think the ST a hoot to drive the RS is in another league. AWD and 375HP with a simple hand held tune in it and old school "bugger the ride quality we're here to go around corners suspension. I need to watch myself after scaring some other motorists at roundabouts in attack mode.The wife loves the fast corners which is a bonus as well. Ciao

Yep thats it Chuck Ciao

Have you seen the modern engine valve adjustment requirements? My Focus RS, 2.3 litre twin cam DOHC Turbo 350HP stock, no valve adjustment intervals at all. No routine adjustment ever required. Modern 4 cylinder Superbike engines are out to 40,000 klm plus adjustment intervals from memory, probably more. Pushrod engines are more complicated. A basic modern twin cam engine has a cam chain and runner and a tensioner and 2 cams over adjustable buckets. A basic modern pushrod engine these days has a camchain (sometimes a tensioner) pushrods, cam, lifters, rocker arms, rocker arm pins or studs, valve clearance adjustment screws and locknuts, and we won't even go into the interior of the hydraulic lifters themselves with the closest tolerance components in the whole engine and highly sensitive to oil contamination. I read the development history of the Gen111 series of Chevrolet engines and wondered why when they were starting with a brand new design they retained pushrods. The 2 principle reasons were, they wanted an engine for all applications from delivery trucks to a Corvette and so being compact dimensionally was a factor esp for delivery van type applications and the designers at Chev were to scared to go down the OHC route because they had no OHC experience to speak of and knew pushrod engines inside out. Lucky the Gen 111 family turned out to be a great engine albeit pretty poor in the hp to capacity stakes. Ciao

There's a reason the Daytona engine is a High cam and not an OHC engine. It by and large keeps the cam drive out of the way of the cooling air flow and still allows it to be protected by covers. Pushrod engines have their place but OHC is more efficient with less complexity and wearing parts. Pushrod engines are generally more compact. There's a hundred years worth of discussion on this but there's also a reason the for the most part pushrod engines are gradually dyeing out in the motorcycle/automotive world. Ciao

Same here but window didn't delete just a warning pop up and when you selected "further info" you then clicked "run anyway" and away it went. maybe thats something for the OP to consider. But the original point? What is shown in my image are the cable drivers and not the reader/writer. Unless I accidentally stumbled my way through it you can use guzzidiag without downloading the reader writers. I'm sure I correct on that. Some people will never want to download their map/.bin file and just want GD for general tune up purposes. Happy to be proven wrong because I'm no computer wiz, but. Ciao

Yes understood, but aren't these the cable drivers require? not the reader/writer programs. If you buy the approved KKL Guzzi adaptor then it loads its own driver for the cable and if you use the non approved for want of a better phrase USB-KKL Adaptor then you should use the one indicated here, 2.08.14 or it will automatically load a net based version which can be problematical? Ciao

Correct me if I'm wrong with the OP's original issue but the Guzzidiag "reader" file has nothing to do with Guzzidia connecting. The "reader" file or software is for reading and downloading the ECU map file in a .bin format so that it can be read and manipulated in human format in Tunerpro as required. You then use the Guzzidiag writer to re write the modified maps. The Guzzidiag software is a separate stand alone software and allows you to see what parameters the ECU is seeing in real time and make adjustments to the CO for example on the 15m and on later ECU reset the throttle base setting and turn the closed and open loop on and off and also read and clear faults on all ecu's. Ciao

Fits Guzzi's apparently according to a poster on WildGuzzi https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01A7VLTFQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Ciao

You need to pre-load the lever on the Guzzi for up and down shifts to be clean. I dont even use the clutch for up shifts from 2nd upwards. Ciao

You have to laugh I guess. Look at that frontal area/width. I can tell you from years of Ducati track bikes open belts aren't the best idea in the world and Ducati belts are relatively protected compared to these, however if you made nice carbon covers for them then you you'd protect the belts and lose virtually all your cooling. I'd like it in my lounge room on display though. It's a tool room engine looking for a sensible home. Ciao

How much fuel was in the tank at the time? I've run out of fuel twice in exactly the same location slowing down for a give way sign on a long downhill section( not steep) as soon as I roll through the give way sign and the road goes a little up hill it fires up again. Both times to get me to the servo about 300 metres away. Ciao

Ha that's funny. Biggest issue is some tend to suffer from the "wasn't thought of by us so I'm not going to take it seriously" mentality. Airbus wasn't much better but you had the :"French factor" to deal with as well. Ciao