Scud

Photo-op at an overlook on Sunrise Highway.

I'm not going to say "I'm done" because I imagine I'll tweak something else at some point. I do have a few mechanical and electrical things to do yet, including the Roper plate, when it arrives. But cosmetically, it's Scura-enough for me. So, rather than post up some more garage pics, I took my nice camera along for a ride today. Here are the GPS stats: 320 miles 8 hours (6am to 2pm) 24,806 feet elevation. That's nearly 5 vertical miles up - and down - over a few mountains, with a few peeks over the fence into Mexico. Step One: Awaken the dark beastie. Scura con Camels Breakfast stop in Julian

For reference, here's a set of pictures of the bike with only a few hundred miles on it - and before I changed anything.

I just had a Lagunitas IPA - very nice. My favorite is Stone Brewing's Ruination IPA (8%). Over-hopped and proud of it....... http://www.stonebrewing.com/ruin/

Surface area is the other variable - more pleats, plates, (or whatever) increases the surface area so it is possible to have more flow and better filtration. I assume that more internal filter material translates into higher cost - and I am suspicious that the inverse is true with store-brand products. As for me, I always use the recommended, or other generally accepted aftermarket filters. To me, it's not worth taking a chance to save a couple bucks.

This is sooooo cool. I've also been enjoying the occasional glimpses into your vinyl music collection. Marshall Tucker Band... Can't You See.

Isn't the original problem about over charging? It seems that some of these products only indicate under and correct charging, while the Küryakyn unit shows under, correct, and over charging. If the Küryakyn is too bright, you could just spray the LED area with lens tint until it no longer offends.

Here's the night-test of the black vinyl reflective tape. Photo taken with flash from phone. The tape is almost unnoticeable during the day (except of course for the infill on the fork bottoms, which IMO looks kind of cool). In addition to the forks, I put two strips on the lower frame and three on the swingarm, and cut out some pieces to fit the sides of the license plate light mount on the fender and wrap the raised strip that goes around the plate light. Safety first. Where are the rear brake lever and master cylinder guard? I can't see them.

Bad Black Bolts It looks like the zinc plating bolts were not a good decision. I noticed a few little spots of rust on a couple of them after the bike got some heavy salt-air dew on it. Did a little more research and found that Zinc plating is not recommended for outdoor use, especially near the ocean. I will put the original bolts back in (after darkening by other means, of course). Bummer for me, but at least I have an actual "bucket of bolts" and can paint or powdercoat them all at once while the Zinc plated bolts hold the bike together. I just wanted to post this in case anybody else thought the zinc plated bolts were a good idea, - because it is not. I'll edit an earlier post with a warning. I hope I didn't lead anyone down the wrong dark path...

Welcome to the club of darkness - which is how another forum member greeted me, so I guess that's the "secret Scura handshake." You can update the Scura Register. My bike is still 11,000 miles behind yours - which coincidentally is about one round trip between our homes. Maybe some Scura owners tucked the bikes away for fear of the magic exploding flywheel - or they just became art - or maybe they were afraid of the dark. Low mileage, affordable, used bikes for us. You know you're going to sneak it out before spring. I am having a blast with mine (took a completely unnecessary 40-mile detour to work this morning). If you do nothing else, get the suspension dialed in correctly. You have direct access to the "suspension gods" on this site (baldini, camn, docc, guzzimoto, luhbo). Your prayers will be answered. Some of their collective wisdom is earlier in this topic.

It's a UM. I don't know the model/year, but here's a link to their website. http://www.umglobal.com/en/

The shop (North County Powder Coating in San Marcos, CA) took great care of me and included a little bag of bolts in another run of flat black. All back together now.

Thanks guys for the paint and metallurgy briefing. Looks like science trumps wishful thinking yet again. If Einstein really said "Imagination is more important than knowledge", he must not have had a Moto Guzzi. I ordered the other paint too. FAIL (and not just on the seal joke) -- The Seal All didn't hold, which stopped me from going for an evening ride. My "new glue" is Griplock - the stuff that sticks your grips to the bars so hard that you have to cut them off later. We'll see if that stuff holds. @Docc: I was kind of surprised that you asked about the adhesive for that. Is sidestand bumper separation a common problem?

Thanks. I am currently sitting in a county courthouse waiting room, hoping not to be selected for jury duty today. Idle hands being the devil's workshop... I just ordered a little bottle of that Gun Blue. I'll give it a try and maybe black out all the oil filler caps and final drive bolt heads (where I thought paint would not hold up). If, hypothetically, in the not too distant future, someone's paint bubbled off and they also needed to replace their flywheel, could Gun Blue be used to do the complete engine, transmission, and driveshaft output cases? I read that manufacturers use it to protect molds - so it seems pretty tough. How cool would a gun-metal-black lump of Guzzi motor look? Seems it would be easier maintenance than paint too - just rub some more on whenever it gets scratched or pitted. Have this been done before?

That's funny. They should have used the bubbling paint on the engine instead of the seat. That would have made it hilarious. I was playing with stickers (not markers) tonight. Since I couldn't powder coat the fork bottoms, I got some black Öhlins stickers from eBay and a roll of black reflector tape. I'm going to find a few more discreet locations for this reflector tape - invisibility by day, visibility and safety by night.

That is a cool bike - just read up on it here. (link shows picture of complete bike). 4 crankshafts... amazing.

At first, I was not sure about the red pork chops. But I really like them now that some of the stuff around them is less noticeable. I've made a lot of parts and fasteners just disappear into the darkness. My family is pretending to be amused when I say "look what else you can't see." I was laughing about Chamberlin's earlier comment that the bike is becoming a black hole - because I actually had to use a flashlight in the middle of the day to see what I was doing when putting the horns and voltage regulator back on. In the "chest" picture, you can't see: horn rims, horn brackets, side-stand mounting brackets and bits, side-stand bumper bracket, and fasteners on: alternator cover, oil cooler, horn brackets, starter, valve cover, belly pan, and front fender. I'm super-pleased with the powder-coated alternator cover. It was far more affordable than a new carbon fiber part and it should be much more durable too.

I'm not trying to be a spoil-sport, and I apparently cannot refrain from looking. I click the thumbnail pictures to expand them and get a better view - can't help but notice the title of the image. Anyway - I am way over my head in this quiz, you guys are at whole 'nother level. Maybe you should call it the "dissertation" instead of the "quiz." Good fun!

Thanks Docc. Adhesives: Aguila=Eagle in Italian... had to look that up. I used 3M Permanent Mounting Tape, which is a double-sided adhesive foam. I cut a piece off the roll that's a bit smaller than the badge. BTW - I brush-painted the badge with Testors gold enamel (model paint). That way, when it gets FUBAR by tire spray, I can just retouch it with a brush. Side-stand bumper - I used Seal All, which is an oil-resistant contact cement. I also used that for the heat shield under the tank, which has held. The bumber has held for about 18 hours so far; let the long-term test begin. BTW - the bumper's retaining nut touches the pipe, which doesn't seem like a good idea. I didn't notice that before, but I'm going to take that off and elongate the hole in the bracket to lower the bumper. Grounding: Since I had the horn brackets off to the get powder coated (to get rid of that nasty, shiny, chrome...) I attached the ground wire to the upper horn bracket mount, which is the frame. I agree that the lower part (at the horn itself) would not be a good place for grounding. I'll look at that again, but I assumed that since the regulator is mounted to the frame that the least vibration would be another point on the frame. (I have not forgotten your advice re additional 30-amp fuse, just didn't get there yet.) Leak-Sleuthing: Thanks for the tip. Can I use baby powder for my baby? Scura-er vs. Scura-est: I'm not going for a total blackout. I think Tikkanen's is darker than I will go. He darkened big pieces - brake rotor hubs, porkchops, added LeMans-style fairing (which hides some of the forks and that "ugly" silver damper that you so graciously offered to trade with me). I really like his modified Scura/LeMans, but I took a different approach and have been darkening the little pieces - which, IMO, lets the larger parts show more boldly and highlights the original design.

Electrical update: Ran battery tender plug behind headlight so I can also use a USB adapter up there. Installed second ground wire (12 gauge) from voltage regulator LH mounting bolt to horn bracket. Installed all new Omron 5-pin relays, which are noticeably heavier than the stock (Tyco brand) 5-pin relay. I assume heavier (at least for relays) is evidence of better-built and more reliable. Also stashed some extras in case of emergency. Replaced battery bolts with longer screws: better grip that should not work itself loose, and I can never again accidentally arc a wrench to the ECU. I never want to see a spark there again. Now I will be forced to use a phillips screwdriver. 12-year old new-bike issues: It had developed a little hiccup, I put electrical tape over the small crack in the rubber fitting between throttle body and cylinder. It seems to run better - but I only rode it 5 miles since I put the tape on. It looks like I will be replacing those fittings sooner than anticipated. The factory paint is not very durable (this is probably a blinding flash of the obvious to you seasoned V11 veterans). I used blue painters tape (the stuff that's supposed to come off really easy) when I was measuring my suspension settings - it took a lot of paint off the lower triple clamp. I have a small amount of oil weeping from the RH side of what I think is the timing chain cover (in front of the piston). Not sure what, if anything, to do about that right now. Many of you warned regarding lack of grease. This is true and good advice. There was little or no grease on: side-stand pivot, brake pedal pivot, gear-shift bolt (the one that goes through the porkchop and is the pivot for the lever), passenger peg pivots, etc. Connections between hard rubber and metal fasteners didn't hold. I re-glued the side-stand bumper and got a new exhaust vibration damper, because the metal was spinning in the rubber. Darkening: I still have a few more little things planned, but here are a couple close-up shots with the powder-coated parts installed. Along with prior darkening, this one shows the alternator cover and all 288 parts of the side-stand. I decided not to paint the voltage regulator because: 1) the wires go into a huge ball of stuff that is all taped together, 2) I didn't want to do anything that might interfere with the function, since I learned how important it is for this part to be appropriately grounded, 3) I really just wanted to put it all back together so I could go riding. This one shows the shift lever and slave arm, passenger peg, and bracket with all fasteners.

I think if you click the "edit" button on the message you posted that you can delete the photo. Then just rename it on your desktop (or wherever you have it saved) and upload it again. I know what the bike is - but I'm not sayin'

@ velofish - maybe you can edit your post and change the filename of the image so it doesn't show up when you click it. I was all ready to play and then you gave me the answer. Cool bike too.

I can't advise you regarding the mechanics with the mechanics, but I do recall seeing some detailed topics about the engine swap, as Guzzirider mentioned. FWIW, I read this regarding the 1200 Sport when they changed from 2V to 4V engines: "Both engine and gearbox are very smooth, but it doesn’t have the grunt of the older 95bhp two-valve motor, which used to be in this bike. It does have more top-end power if you’re prepared to rev it, though. For a machine like this, which despite its ‘Sport’ tag prefers to cruise rather than scratch, we think Guzzi should have left the old engine in." Full review: http://www.motorcyclenews.com/bike-reviews/moto-guzzi/1200-sport/2008/ I don't know if the 1200 Sport has the same engine as the Daytona - so hopefully this is not off-topic for you. However, it has a 4V engine and a 6-speed, which sounds like what you are looking for.

I got all these parts done for $75, which is the shop's minimum charge.

The pipes were a cool gold when I got it and they have been developing a great blue-ish patina. I didn't think any of the color samples I got looked better than the metal - so I chose "none of the above" - at least for now. I got home from business travel today and got to open a box full of flat black powder coated parts and started putting some of them on. I should have had them mask a few more areas. I ended up filing or drilling out a few areas that should not have been coated. Passenger footpegs and brackets were my biggest miss; I didn't mask anywhere on those parts. The springs and balls wouldn't go back in, the pin didn't fit anymore, and the thickness of the powder coating made it impossible to get the spacers/ball-lock plates into the footpeg brackets. I got everything thing to fit correctly, but it took a while. I thought "I'll start with an easy part." Wrong. So if you're taking anything for powder coating, learn from my mistake and take some time to think through what needs to get masked or plugged - beyond the obvious threads, splines, machined surfaces, etc.