Lucky Phil

All paint will fade to a certain extent in our conditions. Over the years I've seen many bikes with the telltale signs of a different shaped tank pad replacement. It's not a massive thing you notice from 20 feet away but if you're the type of person where you like to keep your paint nice and you're concerned enough to use a protector then I'd go for clear. Even if you by one and a spare getting the replacement on in exactly the same spot can be next to impossible. On the racetrack I use my knees for support when braking on the limit but not on the road. The V11 tank is the complete wrong shape for me to grip with my long legs. Ciao

A CV joint is a much more sophisticated device than a simple uni joint. Ciao

Yep that also. See my fuel tap mod thread. Ciao

Yes it's a problem that kind of fairing with regards to mirrors. I think I prefer fairing mounted ones but they need to be the "right ones" Ciao

I can say for sure the r/h sensor in the first image is for the airbox ambient temp sensor. Ciao

Its easier to fit the manifolds to the throttle bodies and then bolt the whole lot to the heads. Ciao

The fuel tap appears to be black/yellow and black. The tap is wired to the F8 fuse so if you have a meter you can trace it back to there. Ciao

Yes docc will chime in with the parts required, he's not long done his. Ciao

Thats a lot of grief to process. Keep going, better times ahead. Ciao

Top feed stops the oil gravitating back to the sump when resting John but I've seen it done both ways. Dont think it matters that much. Ciao

It should be fine but i'd keep and eye on the mount bolts for tension and breakage. When you install a wedged shim like that you now introduce a bending load on the bolts when you tighten them up because the threaded bolt hole is no longer perpendicular to the mounting face. just something to keep in mind. It's not great engineering, an additional foot on the end of the stand or a slightly longer stand would be preferable. Ciao

It's largely simple revenue raising under the guise of safety. We had a government policy here of cameras are only located at know dangerous locations. So then they opened a brand new 20klm stretch of freeway and put 2 sets of speed cameras 3 klms apart on a section with no obvious issues. Questions were asked about how they knew the locations were a safety issue on a brand new road that hadn't been used yet and if they were unsafe why bulild it that way? defening silence from the authorities. In the state of NSW all fixed and mobile cameras are required by law be signposted well before the camera. This includes mobile cameras used by police and contractors. They put a small mobile sign on the side of the road well before their location. Fixed cameras have a large permanent sign preceding. This is exactly right and supports the safety first approach. If you get caught by a camera in NSW you deserve it. Other states aren't so genuine. It's also pointless introducing the law as Germany is doing as you wont be able to practically police it. Ciao

The other thing Karsten mentioned was Guzzi Germany recommended that the valve clearances be opened to .15 and .2 from .1 and .15 for similar reasons you mentioned about the cams. Although it may help the valves more than the seats as the longer the valve sits on the seat the more heat it transfers to the head so not sure how it keeps the head cooler. I must say that the opening ramps do seem quite long from my memory doing the cam timing.The exhaust lifter starts moving around 150ish degrees BBDC. You dont need to go much past TDC to get the valve clearance slightly wrong on the exhausts at least. Ciao

I'll take your word docc on it's brilliance but the cost over here is extortionate. Ciao

Here's another thing to consider John. I emailed Karsten yesterday on the Guzzi.de forum to thank him for the Centi .bin maps he sent me(2 off) and asked him how well his bike used to start from cold. I had noticed a big difference in the engine temp trim between the Centi and V11 maps esp from 0 deg to 65 deg and was interested if his bike was an "easy starter" ( my V11 with the 2 valve motor was never an "easy starter" not bad but would never start on the first crank) I just put it down to big Italian twin stuff after 35 years of cold blooded Ducatis. Anyway he said it started fine BUT he had REMOVED the std oil cooler and made a bypass unit between the oil cooler fittings because his engine used to run too cold in the rain and didn't get off the mixture enrichment part of the trim. I'd imagine Germany and Scotland would have similar climes to some degree. Just some further info to complicate things:) Ciao

You need to carry a plug repair kit, but it's nice to know there's help out there. Ciao

Thanks john and a dullard you are not. I read your wiring post on the Sfida and was impressed. The 15M is from my limited knowledge of such thing a very similar electronic architecture to the 16M but is only half the size and has the flash ability so no need to burn chips etc. You can then simply email maps to people and they can download it via Guzzidiag in literally 15 seconds to your bike. Plus you can make changes directly to the mapping on your computer and then load the file to the ecu without burning chips etc. Once I've got my map fully sorted I'll be able to provide it freely to anyone that does the same project or has a need for the same ecu mapping combination. I've got to check the cold starting first. The other thing is that the 16M would be difficult to fit dimensionally under the V11 seat. The seat base comes very close to the stuff mounted under it and It keeps all the original wiring and ecu connectors etc. Much neater. I made a special long socket to deal with the oil pressure switch by welding and machining up 2 sockets. Along was too long and a std was too short so I made one in between. There's an image here somewhere. For the head feed my crank cases were under machined so as I mentioned you couldn't get a thin walled socket on the banjo head and an Open ender also had limited throw so it ended up a little under torqued. I pulled the fuel pump off and tied back the breather hose to achieve some added room and made up an open ended ring spanner and a 3/8 drive socket with the side cut out of it. It's still hard to torque up but it's doable now in situ. I'll post some tool images. So, the special oil pressure switch socket I made from a 22mm x 1/2 inch drive and a 3/8 drive socket machined and welded together to get the correct length. The other 2 are for the head feed line off the cases banjo. Note the high quality ring spanner I sacrificed ( inherited from someone) the cutout socket was one of my old AF Proto sockets in 11/16 which as a good fit on the banjo. I have no need for AF stuff anymore as I dont work on Boeings or any aircraft for that matter so I sacrifices it instead of one of my decent metric sockets. Still hurt though doing it to a Proto. I'm leaving the Oil pressure relief for now unless I have an issue or i get bored. 60 psi max is fine and as long as the hot idle is around 10 I'm happy as well. Keep up the good work John, I'll be interested to see how the cooler turns out. Ciao

But are they "elegant"? Ciao

The gold lever blades look a little "in your face" in the images, there're not as bad in real life. Those levers are so nicely made and functional and dirt cheap on ebay. I rate them. The only improvement that could be made is that the tiny indexing ball for the span adjuster tends to rust but its a simple and cheap solution to source a few SS bearing ball from the bearing shop and replace them. Should have gone with the silver blades and adjuster. Ciao

I'm so subliminally artistic it just comes without even being aware. Ciao

So glad I got the bins in the shot docc:) Ciao

Pretty much any mirror is like a wart but you do need them on a road bike, at least until someone comes up with a decent helmet or cycle mounted rear vision LED screen. Here are mine, Rizzoma bought 8 or so years ago. As small and neat as I could find and still provide a decent rear view. Owing to my massive,broad and manly shoulders I have them extending about an inch past the bar tips but you can adjust them in further and down further if you want a more stealth look. Quality pieces. Ciao