Scud

Say when. I wouldn't mind a longish haul to meet up with other Guzzis! OK - I threw a date and ride-concept out for your consideration. See San Diego (International?) V11 Ride. I really want to make a run to Monterey up PCH too - and back South through the mountains. Haven't done that in a long time. Oh - and Sherman Pass over the Sierra Nevadas!!!!! I could go on.....

More stuff to learn? Ok, I did not expect such a thorough eduction when I got this bike (and joined this forum). The wire is connected directly to the battery. I ran it behind the headlight where I can also plug in the charger or USB adapter; it has a 7.5 fuse. I think the Battery Tender product is only intended to test batteries at rest - in fact, they don't even call it a meter, they call it a "Voltage Indicator." The button just wakes it up for about 10 seconds, then it displays the voltage digitally (not backlit) and lights up Green for charged (>12.0v), Yellow for low (11.6v to 12.0v), and Red for discharged ( I just tested it again and payed closer attention to the numbers Bike at rest without key: 12.6 Bike off, but key on: 12.1 Running at 4,000 RPM: 13.7 FYI - high beams were on for key on and running tests. Also used multi-meter for two tests (would need another set of hands to test while running) Key off: 12.62 Key on: 12.20 (high beams still on) While they call this product a voltage indicator, it seems to also be a fairly accurate meter. The battery is new as of three months ago when I got the bike (dealer installed). It's a Yuasa with these numbers: 12V 13Ah (10HR) VRLA YTX15L-BS (M6215L) I saw something on another thread about battery conditioning, which I have never done before. I also don't know how to increase charging voltage. How is that done? And if you don't mind, could you explain why 14.2 volts charging is important?

Ghezzi-Brian Carbon Fiber Guacamole Scoop!

Any potential participants for a one-day V11 ride in San Diego County? I'd be willing to put together a GPS route that includes some options for varying distances - say 250-500 miles. The concept is: Leave out of North San Diego County. Then explore some of most twisty and lonely roads in the county. Maybe park at the border and walk into Tecate, Mexico for a taco - and find some more twisty stuff to ride before dinner. If anyone comes in from out of the area and spends the night, we could also get together the evening before. My schedule's not entirely predictable, but as of now, May 2 and 3, 2015 look pretty good. The weather should be still cool enough then to tolerate a desert pass, if desired. Here's a sample of an 8-hour, 320-mile loop I did recently. It was not an aggressive pace and I stopped a lot - gas, food, pictures, repeat as necessary... Who's interested?

Your orange riding freinds musn't use their bikes much! My orange bikes develop leaky slaves at about 25 K, there are more reliable aftermarked slaves available but they look a bit bling Some do, others don't. They just don't feel like respecting the Husky. I return the "favor" when appropriate. @dangerous - if the cylinder turns out to be the problem (not a leaky hose or loose connection), consider replacing the whole unit rather than just the O-ring. It'll cost more, but you won't have to think about it again for a long time. At least that's my experience with a different bike.

Came around a corner with poor visibility this morning and encountered avocados in the road. Straightened up in a hurry, but I did hit a whole avocado dead-on with the front tire. Pretty loud noise, but no shake or wobble - so I assume the steering damper did its job. Now, Ive had to wipe avocado off my own chin before, but this is the first time I ever had to wipe it off my motorcycle's chin spoiler. First time for everything, right? ...banter and other silly remarks?

I think it will be easier to get to if you remove the rear wheel - just more room to see what you're doing. I like your topic title by the way. It reminds me of A. Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. I suspect The Case of the Disappearing Clutch Fluid will be solved by its re-discovery in the housing (assuming no external or line leakage, which should be the first test). Elementary, my dear dangerous.

I got this Battery Tender unit. Advantage: it's on and off with a quick disconnect plug and works on my other bikes too. The display shows the actual voltage at rest (12.5 on mine) and while running (13.6 at 4,000 rpm on mine). Disadvantage: it's not a full-time monitor, because it turns itself off after a few seconds of display. Moto Fugazzi kindly sold me his Kuryakyn take-off, which I think I can permanently mount (with a little custom bracket) on a turn indicator stalk. If so, it will be hidden behind the fairing, but still give me a little glow-warning if there's an under- or over-charging problem.

My KTM 950 Adventure had a wet clutch and synthetic oil was required. I used synthetic and I thrashed that bike, overheated it regularly on rocky single track with excessive clutch use. No problems.

I have not had this problem on the V11, but I had exactly the same symptoms as you describe on my Husqvarna. The problem was an internal leak in the slave cylinder. I first replaced the O-ring, which worked for a little while. Then, since the cylinder walls were also a bit worn, I ended up replacing the whole unit. FWIW - I rode it for quite a while before I figured it out - just carried a small bottle of fluid (mineral oil in this case) and kept topping it up. This engendered great mockery from riders of orange bikes. Coincidentally - my first top-up of the Husky's clutch fluid was done yesterday - and the replacement cylinder was a few years ago - I assume (aka hope) this is due to wear, not further leakage. My first repair was analogous to part 11 in the attached diagram. Second repair was the whole unit, analogous to parts 8 through 13. I think you can remove the slave cylinder housing (part 13) without disconnecting the hydraulic line - then you can see if it's leaking inside.

That bike is delicious... Some admirable darkening on it too: passenger pegs, rider pegs, porkchops, brake pedal, sidestand, voltage regulator. Yeah, I've been staring at it...... As a Scura owner who is beginning to suffer the indignities of paint bubbling, my eyes are also drawn to the outstanding job on the engine paint, which is carried to final drive. I do recall seeing this image recently - it was in this linked thread.

I have basically no idea what you guys are talking about, so I figured I'd try to learn something. I just serviced my Husky, including an oil change (so I can beat it up in Arizona next weekend). I used Maxima's Premium4 20w50 petroleum - looked at the label and whaddya know? The label claims that the contents exceed SG specs - so I guess that's good. And the Maxima ProPlus (full synthetic and motorcycle specific) 20w50 that I plan to use on the Scura next time also exceeds SG specs. I looked up the Mobil 1 V-twin and 4T oils on Mobil's website - and they do not claim to exceed SG specs (and neither did any other stray oil on my shelf - I looked at 'em all) @Czakky - sounds like you and Docc had good experience with the Mobil 1 product and I really have no idea why SG is Supposedly Gooder. But Mobil 1 and Maxima are about the same price - and it sounds like another credible source recommended Maxima earlier in this topic. Besides, the Mobil 1 V-Twin product has a picture of a cruiser on it - who wants to look at that? I may be lost, but this topic has helped me decide what oil I'm going to use. I am just going to use the Maxima, because it is SG: So Good, or Super Groovy, or Slippery Gears, or... Carry on.........

This is such an interesting topic with a rare motorcycle, a barn, mystery, intrigue, jurisprudence, and ethical conundrums. Thank-you. Will you be making a movie? I would totally watch it.

@Zooter: Your Tenni and my Scura are both 2002. I believe the engine and drivetrain are identical, except for some reason the Tenni won't keep you wondering when she's going to frag you with flywheel shrapnel - where's her sense of adventure? I was fortunate enough to get the original owners manual with mine and thought you might like to see the page with the all the fluid specs. Engine oil is Agip 4T 20W50 (synthetic) - no options. I'm going to use Maxima, because it's easy to find here. Maxima's Pro-Plus is fully synthetic and 4T rated, not a blend - just like the Agip 4T. A gallon of it is US$37 on Amazon. I think you mentioned elsewhere that you can get Amazon shipments into NZ pretty easily. So for me, this is a pretty easy decision; just follow the instructions. As for final drive and transmission oil, I'm also following the directions (as slightly modified by my dealer to use the same oil for both). However, others seem to have had good experiences with milkshakes, smoothies, or lemon custard. I'll look into that some more when it's time. PS - With the Scura I also get to ignore the fork oil recommendation.

Thanks Rhino. Did you get solid leathers or the pro-perf with the little vent holes all over? I'm drawn to the idea of the perforated leathers for summer riding - and I could probably get a thin, wind-resistant layer underneath for colder rides. I did a little more investigation on Vanson's website. The RR22 suit looks like the same jacket and pants that I've been eyeing, but they zip together all the way around the waist and all the armor and back pad is included. Wow - they custom make them to measurements, not off-the-rack. Still a pretty big price, but safety first...

I guess that makes me older than the dirt from which the oil is drawn. At least I still have my memory. I had the dealer do my break-in service and first oil change. I just assumed they used organic oil - but it's a good shop and I'm confident that they used whatever Guzzi recommends (or equivalent) - and so will I. The manual specifies Agip 4T Super Racing SAE 20W50 for the engine, which I just looked up - it is synthetic. The dealer recommended a Maxima product for the transmission and rear drive, which I purchased and used. I know there is a wide range of opinions on oil change intervals. It doesn't hurt to change oil more frequently, like Gio does. My manual says oil and filter every 6,000 miles (10,000km). I thought doing oil and filter every 5,000 miles would be conservative and easy to remember - did Guzzi get the interval wrong?

...so I can be Darth Vader or Batman, depending on whether I feel good or evil.

I'm all for buying quality oil, and motorcycle-specific, because it has the right sort of additives - even though I don't know or really care what they are. I'm sneaking up on doing my first oil change (second ever for my bike). I think I'm going to do them every 5,000 miles, which is a little shorter interval than recommended, but also makes it easy to remember that every time I see an even 5,000 mile increment on the odometer it's time for a change. My question is about organic vs synthetic oils. I've heard that it's good to run organic for a little while in a new motor to get everything settled in nicely - then switch to synthetic because it is a better lubricant, thus reducing further wear. Is this the right kind of thinking? Should I switch to synthetic at the next oil change (5,000 miles total) - or maybe go to 10,000 miles with organic?

Thinking about some new riding gear, and I keep looking at Vanson Leathers' Mark 2 Sportrider jacket and pants. The stuff is pricey though - and I wonder if it is worth the premium. My specific question: Does anyone have Vanson gear and are you happy with it? More generally, what else do you like for riding gear? I have a Hein Gericke fabric mesh jacket and over-pants with wind and waterproof removable liners that I like, but the jacket and liner are showing their age and the over-pants are kind of slippery on the seat (so I end up not wearing them as much as I ought to). I'm a big fan of Arai helmets - have had several. I recently got this aerodynamic Ogio backpack, which I am happy with. It has a laptop compartment for commuting, and it's hydration compatible for long rides.

Great music you guys! I don't wear headphones while riding a motorcycle, but I played the sh!# out of Hang On St. Christopher (which refers to California and Nevada locations) many years ago in my 1965 Mustang. "Do a hundred on the grapevine..." FYI, "the Grapevine" is a mountain pass North of Los Angeles, where the Mustang has done the ton while playing that song - because, really, how can you not go 100 when you're on the same road and the song says to? Statute of limitations... OK to admit it now. But this is also why I should not listen to music while riding. Öhlins are staying blonde. Team Sverige.

I want to mount a small voltage meter, will this diagram show the proper way to connect a meter? I tried sending a PM to help with posting your diagram, but you cannot receive any messages. So I guess you have a full inbox.

I remember when the Greenie first came out. I loved it immediately (but didn't commit and just kept my BMW). It's fun that everyone thinks their own model is the best - when everyone knows, by any reasonable and objective criteria, that the best looking motorcycle of all time is the Scura. That's why the Scura is the only bike on this forum to have a dedicated smiley-guy. In fact, it has two:

I think there are two lessons here. One for retailers and one for consumers. For retailers - theft of other people's ideas, while inherently bad to start with, can also cause damage to customer relationships. However, some infringements are unintentional and forgivable. I have had a few experiences where a copyright violator was able to demonstrate that they copied a previous copy, which they thought was in the public domain. While the possibility of this being the case here seems small, it does remain a possibility. For consumers - we "vote" with our spending. I think it's really cool when independent people come up with useful products that help their customers in some way - and they can at least make a little "beer-money" from their efforts. I don't mind paying a bit more to support innovation - but I have to be aware of the innovation first. I am now going to unabashedly endorse all the independents that I have purchased something from in the last 3 months during my Scura-project: Pete Roper - no need to say more. Ghezzi-Brian - they make a whole bunch of stuff for V11s, including Carbon Fiber belly pans, which many people were having a hard time finding. Brian hooked us up with a group discount for forum members for a short time. Marc Parnes - this guy is a machinist, who makes a bunch of specialty tools for all kinds of motorcycles. I bought his wheel balancer, which costs about twice as much as some others. But the care and precision in manufacturing is just amazing. It it so sensitive that I am sure my wheels are perfectly balanced, which, if I'm not mistaken, can prolong the life of wheel bearings. He also makes all sorts of adapters for different types of wheels, so if some other unusual motorcycle shows up in my garage someday, I think I'll be covered. Mitch Patrie - this guy makes the mojolever and mojoblocks that fit the Harbor Freight Motorcycle Tire Changer. Without these blocks, it is a wheel-destroyer, not a tire changer. At the risk of sounding all "American-pride," this sentence in the US Constitution was an incredible innovation that laid the foundation for our current understanding of copyright and patent rules globally: To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries. This topic is about Pete Roper's exclusive right, for a limited time, to his discovery (invention).

Hadn't thought about the song's opening that way, but now that you mention it, it sounds like my clutch. Maybe a high-energy Southern Rocker for you like Molly Hatchet's Flirtin' with Disaster "I'm traveling down that lonesome road..." It was a pleasure - thanks for the encouragement along the way. Absolute classic. Hadn't heard that in forever. Thanks.

Quite common here too; 33% of all motorcycles in my garage are Scuras. For useful information, there's a Scura Register on this forum. I've heard 700 were made and the badge numbers on the register seem to support that.