Lucky Phil

It's all geometry docc. That's why there's a practical limit to the capacity of a traditional flat plane crank 4 cylinder engine before you need balance shafts. It's generally around the 2.0 litre mark give or take. Doesn't mean you can't have a 2.5 4 cylinder engine without a pair of balance shafts turning at 2X engine speeds but the secondaries get a bit much for a DD. Some engines don't need the cam drive dampers such as VFR Hondas and MV Agustas and the Guzzi. Ciao

Yes thats what creates secondary vibrations. The piston travel in the first and last 90 deg of crank rotation is greater than the second and 3rd 90 degs. Ciao

It's worth bearing in mind that you can't as a general principle translate everything in engineering across all installations and applications. What works perfectly fine in one application can have issues and problems in another. From my sketchy memory gears weren't favoured by NASCAR engine builders because in the operating envelope they ran at harmonic vibrations were an issue with gear driven cams. Chain driven cams dampened this out. Remember though this is/was pushing an original design to it's limits and a lack of rigidity in cranks combined with sustained high rpm introduced it's own issues unique to those engines. It's what makes engineering interesting and challenging and keeps designers awake at night. It worked here on that, so it "should" be ok on this, then it turns out it's not and back to the drawing board, testing and investigating. Rolls Royce engineers and designers spent 5 years of the war on a merry go round like this developing the Merlin and Griffon engines among others. Quite often it was a minor modification required or a materials change and the issue was solved. Ciao

Ciao

Yes my experience too docc. Ciao

These are actually a bona fide secondary sealing mechanism in the aviation business. As opposed to the automotive world where they are seen as a dust excluder. Ciao

Yea thanks docc, I saw that one. It looks a little ropey and with shipping is very expensive for a $10 item. Cleared out my messages. You were right, full inbox. Ciao

What could be the reason for this docc? Too much stuff in my PM box? I kinda figured I wouldn't be able to available docc but thanks anyway. Who knows the call in the new year might be "lucky"lol. Ciao

I need one too if anyone has one. Ciao

Maybe I was explaining it wrong docc or we are at crossed purposes. Ciao

So if I string line a bike from the rear wheel using a pair of stands at the front or use a parallel and I measure the gap from the parallel or string to both sides of the front wheel and get a measurement of 20mm on one side and 30mm on the other side what is the track deviation? In my world it's a bike that's track is 5mm out of alignment. What about you? Ciao

I don't see the minor variation in crank speed due to the firing order having any meaningful effect on vacuum balance or cylinder filling. There are too many other variables involved for this to be a significant contributor. It's something that looks better in theory than actuality. Same as measuring exhaust temps on idle, what meaningful information does that give you within realistic parameters? Small EGT variations could be due to many things. Ciao

Forget the tyre's, tyres are variable. So you place a pair of straight edges on each side of the rear rim and they run forward past the front rim so you can measure the gap differences on each side of the front rim aft and fwd. Lets assume the frame is perfectly straight the measured gap between the sides of the front rim aft and fwd will be exactly the same. Now lets assume you move the "centre line" of the front wheel one way by 5mm the measured gap between the sides of the front wheel to the straight edges will now be a 10mm "difference" in measurement. So the measured "difference" between the sides is twice the actual centreline track offset. Ciao

I've never had any issues with side stand components loosening myself. Most side stand issues I've seen have just been a lack of maintenance and foolish owners that think sitting on the bike while it's on the side stand is a "think to do" or pull the bike over on the side stand and use it to pivot the bike around to point the other way or to rotate the back wheel to lube the chain. A lot of side stands aren't engineered for those sort of actions and stresses. Guzzi did upgrade the V11 Sport side stand support bracket secondary bolt from 6mm to 8mm. Yes they way the Italians design a side stand you'd think they consider it a bonus item. The self retracing unit on my 851 looked like an afterthought and some I've had were almost impossible to extend without being an expert in Yoga, on or off the bike. Only Vehicles category LC (motorcycles) manufactured after 1 July 1988 require a stand in any form per the Australian Vehicle standards. Prior to that you can register them leant against a wall or propped up with a stick you carry in your jacket. Ciao

Or so the coils don't interfere with each other on extension/retraction so the stand operates smoothly. At the end of the day it's a spring loaded metal stick with foot on the end of it so it doesn't pierce soft ground. I doubt harmonics is a factor really. Especially an Italian side stand. The fact you get one in the first place from the Italians is a bonus. Ciao

Yea, I had a feeling there were quite a few makes out there that were offset for one reason or another. Harleys don't surprise me as handling doesn't seem to be on top of their agenda. It's better to be aligned of course but within reason it's not an issue. It's also worth remembering that the track difference when measuring from the side of the rims as a differential is twice the actual centreline offset so say a 5mm side to side difference is only 2.5mm centreline offset which doesn't seem as bad. Ciao

Ok docc looks like I misinterpreted "again" I'll change my post. Thanks. Ciao

I want a TIG welder. Can someone buy one for me for Christmas:) A really, really good one, lol. Are you listening Santa? Ciao

It's about increasing the area under the foot not the overall length of the stand. Ciao

It has a piece of string tied to it and looped over the l/h bar grip. Get on the bike, retract the sidestand and pull up the string wrap it around the stand plate and put it in your jacket. That's what I'd do. Just off to patent that now. Ciao

There're marketing people not Historians, lol. Ciao

Not quite, she's a bit older these days:) I met Barry about 30 years ago. We were racing at PI and he was staying at the same Motel. Ciao

Barry Sheene helmet and leathers and boots. Ciao

Try leaving the throttle alone and applying the cold idle lever instead before you hit the button. How much you ask? Depends how it's adjusted as they tend to have a fair amount of "dead band" if adjusted properly. Move the lever while looking at the mechanism on the r/h throttle body until it starts moving the throttle shaft to get an idea of the size of the dead band then give it a little bit more for a cold start and crank it and don't mess with the throttle. When it fires it will probably go straight to 2000rpm or so and you can then slowly back it off to a high idle of 16-1800 rpm for a minute and then off and use the throttle. I think playing with the throttle at low cranking speeds isn't the optimal scenario for the ecu trying to apply the correct injector timing duration. Ciao

Yes. Actuating the fast idle lever is the same as cracking the throttle it's basically a hand throttle or variable throttle stop. The engine ecu has a "cranking enrichment map" to add extra fuel for a pre determined amount of engine revolutions at start up. In the case of the V11 it is for 4000 engine revolutions and is at maximum "richness" from the first revolution of the engine tapering down to zero enrichment until 4000 revolutions have been done. This map is adjustable and one I modified on my bike to assist starting which was initially very hard with the 2 valve start enrichment map percentages. It is also active no matter what the engine temp is so even works with a hot engine. This is why when adjusting the CO level you need to start the engine and wait for around 3-4 min before any CO adjustment can be assessed by engine idling. In addition there is also the enrichment determined by the engine and OAT temp sensors which are added to the base map along with the Cranking map. At extremely low temps all this adds up to around 200% extra fuel at the initial hit of the button. This is also why your tank range is reduced quite noticeably with a lot of cold start cycles esp in cold weather. Add to this the TPS adjustment accuracy, wear in the throttle shafts and, how the air bleeds are set and valve clearances etc and it's a wonder they start at all, lol. They all start differently but in my experience all need a little throttle when cold. There is a big difference also between manual throttle manipulation and using the fast idle lever and using the twist grip. My bike starts very well using the fast idle lever before you hit the button but not as well if you try and manipulate the throttle by hand. The difference is quite distinct. Ciao