Lucky Phil

You can blame the US justice/legal system for that. Castrol and Mobil fought out that battle in the US courts about 35 years ago and Castrol won the argument. Apparently that's how the complex details of oil engineering and chemistry are evaluated and decide upon.......by an old guy in a black gown whose only experience of oil is the stuff he uses on his salad. Ciao

Don't forget that one of the best lubricating oils ever, even compared to modern oils was/is vegetable bases lubricants such as Castrol R. Very difficult to manage even for racing as it was corrosive and needed to be drained after every meeting plus other issues like gum formation but as an actual lubricant it was very good. Ciao

It depends to what extent you can keep the rotating mass down to minimise the secondary vibrations. Of course twin balance shafts these days negate the secondaries as well. Both my cars have twin bear driven balance shafts turning a twice engine rpm. Ciao

Nice work. Engineering plus creativity, if you can combine those then "genius" isn't far away. Ciao

Length Ctr to Ctr 278mm Bolt dia 12mm Bush O/D both ends 25mm so with a around a .6mm radius on the OD edge it's 23.75mm across the flat face. Ciao

Ha I'll show my teenage kids this:) I seriously lack any real artistic creativity in any form though, it's an engineers mind minus the creativity. Oh I have others. The Dale Earnhardt NASCAR Chev and the Ford Mustang engine are both 1/4 scale full metal diecast and too heavy for most shelves and the Ferrari V12 is 1/6 scale. My wife forgives me my lunacy.

I own an Offy engine, well kinda. GMP all metal diecast 1/6 scale. Weighs about 5 lbs. They had their day in the sun.

They tell you almost nothing. I'm not using oil that I can't source the specific details on even if it uses "their own recipe of magic additives" Without full disclosure of the specific details it's all just a marketing exercise. Ciao

Quicker steering, yes, more twitchy depends on what frame your bike has. The long or short frame. An English 2002 bike, not sure. Does it have the additional gearbox support? Ciao

Maxton are a reputable company so why don't they know the dimensions already? I had a Wilbers custom made for my bike and they knew all the dimensions. I can get the dimensions for you tomorrow as I have a std shock in the workshop. You can only go I think it was 10mm longer or you run into drive shaft fwd universal joint contact with the swingarm tunnel issues. Ciao

The brakes on the RE are adequate even 2 up. They have ABS as well of course. I one or two 2 finger brake on everything I own and the RE is no exception. I just need to use more lever pressure on it. I never even use the rear brakes for stopping on any of my bikes. As with HP on modern bikes brakes are somewhat the same, a fair bit more than the average rider can utilise. A friend of mine and ex national A grade racer rides a basic Ducati 750 Sport from about 20 years ago that he's had from brand new. We used to ride together all the time, him 2 up with his wife and me solo, him always leading because he was faster than me even 2 up. The Sport was a single front disk bike and he said a few times he couldn't understand how all the road testers of the day complained about the lack of braking power from the single disk. This guy was an A grade road racer back in the day and competed in a few Castrol 6 hour racers. I like the power of a modern brake set up on my 1198 Ducati but it's way more than is needed on the road and sometimes can get you into trouble as it has a LOT of initial bite. You grab at the brakes in a panic and it's the brakes that will have you down the road before the actual situation. Ciao

Thats why I mentioned it. Guzzi apparently aren't smart enough to bring proper display stands to a bloody motorcycle show and need to shoo people off the bikes. A bike show display where you can't sit on the bikes, brilliant. Ciao

I own an Interceptor 650 and the gearbox complaints are rubbish, as it's a very good gearbox. Suspension is average but acceptable on a "value" bike and the complaints about the fuel gauge are from old duffers with their first or only new bike in 40 years that expect modern car fuel gauge performance from a budget bike or any bike for that matter. 99% of reviews on the 650's are glowing ( not that I put a lot of faith in that) and that's why they are one of the best selling bikes world wide. The parts that they have obviously cut corners on the budget are the things that are easily replaceable by the owner like mirrors, levers, indicators etc. Ciao

Notice how all the manufacturers have bikes on bolt down stands which is the "norm" for obvious reason at these kind of shows, except the new Guzzi. Just there on workshop stands! Somewhat risky. Ciao

I meant images of the modifications to your bike. Ciao

I see it has a Quickshifter fitted. Up and down hopefully. Ciao

Depends whether the pump feed check valve is functioning ok. Ciao

Images? Ciao

Electric fuel tap probably. Ciao