Scud

It occurs to me that the many changes to the pre-selector over the years were not needed. All that was needed was a better spring. My 2002 preselector has no eccentric to adjust the pawl lever - and with the new spring in place, that lever doesn't bounce up and hit the fixed pin anyway. The new spring applies more even pressure on upshifts and downshifts - more than stock on the upshifts and less than stock on the downshifts. I didn't miss any shifts... more testing soon... then I'll order a batch for us.

The short arm is one of two failure points, and I don't know which is more common. But Chuck noticed that the 90-degree bend in the short arm was tighter than "allowed" for that thickness of wire. He took care to give a bigger radius that bend on his new design. That, along with the extra coil and the thinner wire should solve the problem - especially if each person who installs one takes the time to smooth out the sharp edges on the stamped steel parts where the springs make contact. That is an interesting thought about using another cylinder to eliminate the 90-degree bend - but that would require a higher degree of skill/customization than simply replacing the spring.

I put the new spring in today. And here is the tale of three springs: Top: New, super groovy custom hand-made by Chuck with just under 2.5 coils. Middle: New Spring Bottom: Spring I took out of the Scura - which probably has less than 2,000 miles and already showing sign of fatigue. Turns out the Scura had a 16mm boss on the arm - but my spare pre-selector had a boss with 15mm. So I swapped them. Also note how the short arm on the spring had cut in the metal on this part. When I previously did the polishing of the shift parts (per Lucky Phil's instructions) I neglected this part. Polished part with rounded edge and new spring in place.... And what we really care about... does it work? Yup. The good news is that I can't tell any difference in the shifting - and it was shifting great before. I am optimistic that we have solved this problem. My test ride was just 6 miles to do an errand. I will attempt to get in a few more miles ASAP.

My Scura is weeping a bit at the RH valve cover. I'm hoping to address that tomorrow, along with installing a very special shift spring, which I received from Chuck a couple weeks ago. Then the spring will need some "real world" testing.

The 2002 models (and the 2003 Sports) have external fuel pump and manual petcock. I think all the earlier had electric petcocks. Starting with the 2003 LeMans (and special editions) they had internal fuel pumps (no petcock).

I'm 6' 0" and put the lowered pegs back to stock position on one of mine. It was a home-made lowering kit - comfortable, but not attractive. I find the stock position comfortable, but not sure how I'd feel if I was 4 inches taller. Maybe you are chasing a ghost if you want it to feel like a Multistrada or Cagiva Gran Canyon (your other bikes). Your profile says an 03 LeMans is coming soon - have you had a long ride on one yet?

I think the ruby-red (and the silver) porkchops on the 2002s used a two-stage paint with a satin clear-coat. I got pretty close with a candy-apple red powdercoat job. Of course, that means taking both off at the same time, which is a lot more work than touching up chips. Here are pics of the candy apple parts: http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=19680&p=216665

Some of the original Sachs shocks break at the lower eye, so it's a good preventative measure to replace that. The Ohlins is far superior. That seems a fair price, assuming it doesn't need an rebuild soon. You could have bought an equivalent, or possibly better, new shock by Penske, Wilburs, Hyperpro (to name a few) for $1,000 or more. But the Ohlins has the name recognition and the cool yellow spring.

It is a fun bike to take apart and reassemble... having done so on more than one occasion myself. While you're up front, consider lubing the steering bearings. It seems they didn't always get enough grease at the factory.

Yeah, and it's not really new. A while back, I was wondering where the advice to not talk about religion and politics originated. This is the earliest quote I could find in English (did not attempt to search for similar ideas in other languages). “Do not discuss politics or religion in general company. You probably would not convert your opponent, and he will not convert you. To discuss those topics is to arouse feeling without any good result.” Thomas E Hill, 1883. Hill's Manual of Social and Business Forms: A guide to correct writing. Chicago, IL: Hill Standard Book Co.

No worries. Lots of political rocks around these days. Hard to avoid them all. Back to Rich... wish I could help. I don't have experience with anything but stock ignition parts. Gosh, last time I installed a non-stock ignition part was an electronic distributor to replace one with points. I think that was in the 1980s. Hot shit, that electronic ignition was...

Parts - looks like a good company to keep in mind. Wasn't somebody looking for an alternator recently? It seems they have one for Guzzi and BMW. Politics - Germany in the 1930s is the country the world studies to try to prevent extreme nationalism from taking hold. I can understand why some German businesses feel compelled to take sides today. I have some opinions and enjoy talking politics in person, but on this forum, I'd rather talk parts than politics.

I wouldn't do anything to the axle. The later bikes had that flat-cast aluminum look - and took the larger hex wrench.

Can't you find a used one on e-bay or a bike salvage place?

Five hoses "on backorder" between this thread and PMs. I'll order some stuff and make another batch - sending out the three remaining hoses tomorrow. The hoses are 230mm long (that's partly for my own reference for the next batch). @ Bruce - shame that I didn't know you wanted two hoses. I could have brought them over last week and dropped them in the Australian post. They don't weigh much, so shipping from USA will still be reasonable.

What is winter?

Good fun. Let me know if you don't have room to display it all. I think I could find some wall space near a matching motorcycle.

Hoses are sold out. I got 4 requests for the 3 remaining. I suppose I could make another batch if there is enough interest - but they are easy to make once you source the parts, so anybody could do it.

It was $300 for 50 springs, and $400 for 100 springs. This was to duplicate the original spring. I assume the price would go up a little for thinner wire with an extra loop (coil) - but maybe not. I think the expense is mostly in the labor. Chuck - maybe you and I could talk about it next week after I get home from my trip. I wonder if that place could make us a batch of sidestand wire loop thingies at the same time?

I dropped in for a visit. Thanks, Neil, for collecting me at the airport and showing me around. Of course, your garage was the highlight. The V11 is stunning - pics can't do it justice. Great attention to detail and so much cool custom work. And it rides great... bars slammed down low and tuned perfectly... and that exhaust note... love it. And the Ducati... also wow, just wow. Cafe racing... through the rain forest up Tamborine Mountain. Two guys... trying to "conserve the wild life." ...and another cafe for a coffee along a suitably twisty road with amazing views and lush forest. But I gotta say... riding on the left side of the road takes some concentration. Every time I saw a car come around the corner on the right side of the road I thought I was gonna die. So glad to be able to follow Neil. I don't think I could trust my instincts riding alone. It made me realize how much is on "auto-pilot" when I ride. And I was anxious about what I would do if a kangaroo jumped out of the woods. We scored, because a "major rain event" is on the way to Brisbane. Roo & Brew:

Please tell me the polo was not pink - or any pastel hue. And please no tassles on the loafers... and please, please no pictures... However, glad you enjoyed the show.

Again... this is just so interesting. Again... thank-you. It is almost impossible to resist the Scura's call. But unlike the false promises in the sirens' songs, the Scura delivers.

The boy surfs though, so we can give him 3 out of 4. @Chuck - keep slacking (which I hope means riding) during the good weather. I will gladly install a prototype spring in my Scura and go give it a real-world test. It might take me a while to get to 200,000 shifts... But, I think I could temporarily mount a mechanical counter on the sub-frame so it counts the upshifts in real-world riding. I assume there would be different shifts per mile in twisty mountain roads vs. commuting vs. touring.

I'm tracking and learning. So the .071" wire with 10 degrees less than 2.5 coils (890 degrees of coil). While this configuration gives less torsion on downshifts, it gives more on upshifts... so the torsion is more uniform across the range. That's what we get with a little more "preload" on a thinner wire. Is that right? My oldest daughter's boyfriend is studying mechanical engineering. He is entertained by this topic... too bad he is not a motorcyclist.

Didn't stop at Pea Soup Anderson's, but did surf Pismo pier and Morro Rock with my daughter. Plexi - maybe we can ride together next time I'm up there. I enjoyed our last ride out 166, which was so amazingly green - compared to the winter golden hills now. Have you ridden Tepusquet road in that area? It's only 30 miles from you. I think the Scura would be the best bike from your stable for that road.