Scud

It does look good - even though I said elsewhere recently that I thought the red cover was too much for the greenie (I'm having a change of heart). Dave - I've had the covers powder coated and they're holding up really well - much tougher than paint. Flat Black on my Red LeMans - and Candy Apple Red on the Champagne one (which I temporarily put the green tank on). Here's another shot:

Now, it becomes clear that, if one has an Albrecht von Goertz designed BMW 507, exactly who gets to park in front . . . Um... are we potentially confusing a British Aston Martin DB4 with an American Ford Thunderbird? ...and while we're at it, Kia is a Korean (not Japanese) company.

Looking good ...and you gotta love highway 18 on a weekday. Monster climb with great visibility.

I think I smell a project... Looking forward to it. I got my first Guzzi just a couple years ago... and it has proven to be the start of a not-insignificant obsession. Welcome to Club Guzzi. Your 2003 model year bike will have a lot in common with the 2002 models so you'll want to get familiar with the transitions. For example, the 2002s have a tank pad and external fuel pump - but the 2003s have a smooth tank and internal fuel pump. Your lovely burgundy sport was probably sold as a 2003, but has the same tank and pump as the 2002s.

You must be having a dream today... but it's a good dream.

The emission system is different on the black-frame bikes (inkblot's is a 2004). There should be just one canister mounted in the exhaust hanger (behind the crossover). As I understand it, the European bikes did not even have hoses attached to the two vents under the tank. I have removed all vent/overflow/recovery hoses from mine - no problems so far.

Does this qualify?

The Speedhut gauges are much shallower than the Veglias. If you're going to use the stock plastic gauge cup, you should have room to conceal all the extra black box and wires inside the gauge cup. You can drill a hole in the back of the cup for the dimmer knob. Then it will be basically invisible, behind the flyscreen.

But you polished your foot levers - or at least the shifter. I remember seeing a picture and thinking that looked quite good.

Yes, I probably should have said instrument lights, that's what I was thinking. I would like to understand relays a little better. Isn't the power required to activate the relay almost insignificant? Doesn't the low current throw the switch - then the high current goes through the connection? So therefore, when you think of fuses, it's only in relation to high current, which in this case powers the heated grips. The power for the grips would not come through the instrument light or the city light.

Don't call it gray... Docc thinks it's silver. Shhhh.... I also like the stock color - and the red lettering is quite a nice touch. I like the polished head-guards that came with this bike, and think some polished foot levers might in her near future (they are crusty-corroded now). While I was testing the champagne tank with the manual petcock, I put the green tank over the candy red covers. It was really fun for a few minutes, but it's a bit too much for my taste and I don't think I would like it long term. The word "lurid" comes to mind: very vivid in color, especially so as to create an unpleasantly harsh or unnatural effect.

Park? Did you get one with an automatic transmission? I think that light is on all the time. I think you could also activate the relay by tapping into the dash lights.

Very happy for you. Now let's see some Swedish landscape photos with a red V11.

I used the existing light wiring without additional fuse - still working. On the brightness, that's going to be a matter of personal preference. When I had the white-faced gauges on at first I thought they were too bright - but I prefer low light on my gauges and I had installed four gauges, not two. I'm happy with the the same light on the black faces - I didn't get the dimmers either.

Alrighty then... time for deep cleaning. I always siphon the gas out of the tank to make it easier to handle. Fuel filter is probably the original. I just replace mine with WIX 33310 - only $11 at auto parts store. How many tools does it take to change a light bulb?

I'm enjoying your enthusiasm. So... why do you need the power to heated grips to be switched? I pulled a set of Oxford grips off a different bike and they were wired to directly to the battery. Why not tap into the charging/accessory cable that you've already run to the front? If you want it switched, you could install a relay at the connection - you'd just need to find a switched source to trigger the relay. While you're wiring, it's a good precaution to add a supplemental ground to your voltage regulator. I split the ground wire of the battery tender cable and grounded it to the frame, then ran a supplemental ground to the regulator. Now the regulator has a direct ground to the battery that is outside the main wire harness. Some harnesses have melted from the standard ground wire overheating.

Rox - it's a 2000. The early seat pan from the Corbin was too much work to make fit your 2002 bike, right? Bummer. Docc - have you found a good frame touch-up paint? I saw something about a tool-box red available in the UK, but I couldn't find it for sale in the US. http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=17330 The frame just has one chip near the steering bearing and the tabs are rusty where they connected to the rotted-out battery tray. Otherwise, the frame looks near new... all naked in the California sun and not afraid to flaunt it...

I have four Roper Plates remaining from the recent batch I got from Pete. They are $115 including USPS flat-rate shipping in the US. Gaskets not included - just the plate. Member Mike Haven also has some available. Details in this thread: http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=19423&p=219398 Send me a message if you want one. I prefer check or PayPal as a friend to avoid incurring extra fees.

Um... do you have some kind of Moderator Super Prescience? And FYI - I think I have removed four of these from 2002/03 bikes. They all had the same brown stuff on them - so perhaps assembly methods were not consistent at the factory over the red-frame and black-frame years.

I kind of like that one - mostly because of the raw, home-made feel and the exposed frame. However, I do not see it as improvement over the original design. And for the same money and less time he could have bought a world-class suspension had a better bike. Can't believe somebody would do that much work and leave the stock shock on...

I've removed a few recently and they all had some hardened brown crap on them. I reassembled only with the (new and round) O-ring, no sealant.

Yes... but the suspense will keep building because today was for riding (Scura) and housework. Tomorrow is a BMW-blast up the freeway to Los Angeles for work on Tuesday.

This, by the way, is "normal" for the rare single-plate clutch. If the noise stops when you pull the clutch in, you have the original, single-plate clutch. A "normal" Guzzi twin-plate clutch makes a ching-ching noise when the lever is pulled in, but is quiet with the lever out.

Try twisting the sensor to free it up. There could be a little adhesive in there, making it difficult to remove. You will not disturb the timing and nothing will fly across the room. Once you get it out, clean the passage, and try putting it back in again, lubed with a little engine oil. If it goes back in easily, it's not swollen - and if that's the case, just replace the O-ring.

Yeah, the stuff is hard to come by. I originally bought a wrecked bike to be sure I would have a complete twin-plate clutch while waiting to see if the RAM 6-speed would become available for my Scura. I think I waited over a year for that while I rode on the original Scura clutch/flywheel. Took a quick 1 mile (elevation) ride today on the Scura before breakfast. Love that light RAM clutch pull in the mountains... Anyway, I offered Dangerous Dave (via PM) what I believe to be a fair or below market price for the kit. And Dave - I found 5 lighter clutch springs. So you just need flywheel bolts/washers. You can re-use the input hub's star-washer if you don't bend the same retaining tab that was previously bent (but I would use a new one).