Scud

Some pretty fancy glitter though... oooohh... shiny.... Seriously, I haven't ridden a V85, but it seems to make a lot of people happy. From what I gather, the Stelvio is still more capable off-road despite it's weight. Mine does pretty well in the places I've taken it, which do not include any difficult technical terrain because I really don't want to drop it and be forced to lift the fat toad. My Husky 701 will leave that for dead... but that's a whole different animal.

Impressive. I wonder if they modified the engine at all. The rally tower is cool, and it looks they have a roll-chart holder on it. I also like that massive skid plate that even protect the lower header pipe from deep, narrow, rocky gaps.

My fault - I was describing the removal of the oil filter housing, which also has the pressure relief valve in it. What I wrote earlier has nothing to do with removing the pump itself. I'll go back and edit those posts - cuz that was a dumb thing I wrote.

Long rides up steep mountains... that's all mine wants to do. As for the current issue. If I were in your position, I would go ahead and remove at least the filter housing assembly to inspect the O-rings. IIRC, you can do that without removing the upper sump ring, and it maybe only four bolts. I know it's a bit more work, but since you are there, I would also remove the sump ring and check that gasket. I am biased by my prior experience, as I have seen that upper gasket fail. I think this requires removing the side stand, which is a weird little contraption. As a Reminder, I still have that oil pressure gauge, which you can screw into the block where you will remove the sensor. IMO, that is a "cleaner" test than hoping oil will spray out of an open hole. And even if oil does spray out, you will not know your oil pressure. Your local O'Reilly store might even loan you a pressure gauge for free. Also, I am 99% certain that I have a spare upper gasket. Are you still in Southern California? Someone at my house today is heading to Los Angeles Monday. Let me know if you want to send the gauge and gasket with him. Good to have a spare in case it gets damaged during removal.

Where I live, electric bicycles seem to be everywhere, and the dealers are having a hard time keeping supply. I'm seeing more of the cargo and other utility bikes too - going to the grocery store, out for dinner, doing errands. Street legal electric carts too - 3 or 4 wheelers. We just got an electric bicycle for my wife. All set up with basket on the back. I'm thinking about getting one myself. One of my neighbors has 6 e-bikes, one for everyone in the family. They go a lot of places together that they would previously have driven a car. They are having more fun, getting a bit of exercise, and burning less fossil fuels. One of the bike just rolled over 5,000 miles. This is in line with the video @Lucky Phil posted on the previous page. While I am not ready to give up my gas powered motorcycles, or my F250 that tows my trailer, I should be willing to ride an electric bike whenever practical. And if I had solar panels on my house, that would make it even "greener" - but I don't.

haha... no. I had a nice little oil pressure gauge and voltmeter made to match the Speedhut tach and speedo. But I was not sure about accuracy of the oil pressure gauge, so I temporarily strapped on the huge one and connected it to the block. Just rode a few miles like that for data collection.

Here's a link to the pressure vs flow topic: I just read it again... there are a lot of smart and helpful people on this forum.

On my ex 2003 LeMans, the oil light was often on at idle and would go out at higher revs. Then I installed an aftermarket oil pressure gauge in the dash. It read low... which started my investigation. When I hooked up my external oil pressure gauge, the readings were far below expectations at all rev levels. That's when I decided to drop the pan and found that the part marked "Gasket Area" above was missing. It had been like that since I bought the bike and I don't know how long before that. Even without that section of gasket, there was enough oil flow to supply the engine. However, when I put the new gasket in, the pressure jumped up to expectations. I don't recall all the details, but I had a whole topic on it. I think it was called "oil pressure vs oil flow." There are also O-rings where the oil filter housing connects through the sump ring. You should see if those are damage or missing.

I think I will be like the outlaw in Red Barchetta: But seriously, I would get an e-bike after technology and range improves. I think an electric dual sport would be cool - riding through the forest in near silence would be a joy. However, I am not likely to TRADE one of my current bikes for an e-bike (except maybe the TW200 for an electric dual sport).

Docc - I seem to recall you being a bass player. Isn't musical notation in base 8? An octave is 8 steps, right?

Yeah, tire and inner tube sizes are weird. Somehow most of the world got stuck with inches for wheel diameters - then went ahead with metric for width. Some truck tires in the US are all inches, a 35x12.50R15 is a 35 inch (0.9 meter) tall tire that is 12 1/2 inches wide and fits a 15 inch rim. These don't specify the sidewall as a proportion, they give the total height of the tire. @PJPR01 You're gonna need more than 400 Kelvin to melt the sugar on your Creme Brûlée and get that nice crusty top.

No, but they might say "move it about 5mm" Using decimals with SAE to divide inches works fine, and you can get calipers that do so, but I am not aware of any tools that use decimals - I don't have a .75 inch wrench, only a 3/4 inch. SAE is very difficult with decimals in larger measurements. But we are not consistent in the way we measure. We run a 1/4 mile, sometimes called a 440 in yards. Then we run a 100 yard dash, but never a 300 foot dash. With SAE, you are constantly switching bases: 12:1 for inches to feet, 3:1 for feet to yards, 5,280:1 for feet to miles. It's just silly. Metric is logical and everything is base-10, 10 of one unit always equal 1 of the next unit up, 10mm = 1cm. But some units are less frequently used, so they go 1,000:1 as in meters to kilometers.

Tioga Pass... 9,943' elevation at the West entrance to Yosemite on Hwy 120, on street-oriented tires. Then swapped wheels for some fun single-track, which was nice and damp from the recent rain. Having two complete wheel-sets, one with aggressive knobbies, the other with TKC80s, makes this by far the most versatile motorcycle I've ever had.

Metric is a clearly superior system. In the US, we had a chance to switch back in the late 70s or early 80s if I recall. But we blew it. I've got plenty of 10mm wrenches and sockets. They're in caddies by ascending size. The caddies never go back in the drawer with an empty space. And as aside... My 1997 F250 was such a PITA to work on. It was half Metric and half SAE. So I'd need to grab two sets of wrenches and two sets of sockets for every little task. And another cool thing about metric... you can go 200 km/h on a V11, but you cannot go 200 mph. Obviously, metric is faster.

I was thinking that the gauges on the original LeMans would be a good inspiration for a custom design with Speedhut. The RPM x 100 gives an interesting symmetry with the speedo - especially if tach is 0-80 in increments of 10, and the speedo is 0-160 MPH in increments of 20. (example in the photo is km/h). I also like the key-lines that divide the faces in quadrants. Some changes would have to be made for the digital display on the Speedhut speedo, but other than that, what do y'all think of these?

For charging, I carry a solar-powered battery with 2 USB charging ports. I can charge 2 things in the tank bag, backpack, or overnight. I charge it fully in advance of the trip, and I can set it in the sun to top it off. Then I don't have to carry all the other charging stuff for the accessories - just the cables. I like using a backpack, and for long trips, I take the Klim one that has a 3L water bladder. I'm not clear if you are intending to camp or use hotels. That would make a big difference.

And can I just rant? What the hell are these manufacturers thinking when the majority of mesh gear is black? I finally got some good vented dirt bike pants that are light grey - reflecting the heat make a big difference compared to the black pair I settled on before (due to availability). I have a Bright yellow mesh jacket, that still has a lot of black on it... and I can feel the difference on the black parts vs the yellow parts. WTF? Why is it so hard to find other than black? And for the record, I know it can be found... but it's uncommon. Seems like if staying cool is the goal, somebody would say, "Why are we making all this black mesh stuff? What about some light colors?" OK end of rant. But part of staying cool is: try to wear lighter colors.

I agree with checking the filter first, which is a known problem. Any more starts could be with un-lubricated surfaces. IMO - not worth starting again with a rocker-cover removed. In fact, you should not have to remove the rocker covers at all to solve this problem. I have an oil pressure gauge if you want to borrow it. To use it, you have to remove the sensor, then screw the gauge's hose into the block.

Congratulations on the bike, I checked out your album, and it's a beauty. If it's running "like a dream", leave it alone till after your trip. Just enjoy it for a while, then fuss with the tuning some more when you have plenty of time. The Titanium Kit Racing ECU has a good map already, but that map can be overwritten and you can remove the Power Commander if you want to. Send pics from the alps.

Here's a 1993 Daytona in Los Angeles on Craigslist: https://losangeles.craigslist.org/wst/mcy/d/venice-moto-guzzi-1993-daytona-1000/7352811864.html I'd be willing to ride it to Mexico for you so you can enjoy getting it back across the border.

This is crude, dirt-biker behavior, but it works. Just wear a thin, moisture wicking t-shirt and a mesh jacket. Get a big CamelBack and fill it with ice and water. Leave your jacket open a bit at the front. Take huge gulps of water and spit them down the inside of your t-shirt (helps to have a modular helmet for this step). If it's super hot, you can periodically take off you helmet and soak your hair with the ice water. Then you will find out how well your helmet vents work. I also wear shorts under mesh pants. I tried a cooling vest several years ago, and I was not impressed. Maybe technology has improved?

I can't help you with the wiring, as I just gave up and paid a shop to fix my voltage problem. But I am trying to give away a motorcycle tire changer... so you don't have to pay a shop for that next time.

The V85TT looks to be a great bike, but if want to hold that lovely Ballabio, you can probably find a lightly used Stelvio for quite a bit less than a new V85. If I had to guess about future values (vs current ones) I would bet that the special edition bikes and the Green sports will command the highest future values. From my perspective that seems to be happening already. I see "wanted" adds for special editions and greenies, but nothing else. Some years / models have known flaws that work agains the price. Such as the aluminum flywheel on Scura, Tenni, and Rosso Mandell - and the terrible 2002 engine paint. Good luck with your sale... or your addition, depending on what you decide to do.

I've got a Harbor Freight motorcycle tire changer, all set up with the Mojo Blocks and mounted on a pallet. I've done a bunch of tire changes on it, but recently upgraded to a No-Mar changer with a hitch mount for my truck. Free to whoever can come get it in Carlsbad, CA.

That is a pearl of wisdom, thank-you very much.