Drug home a Scura Today

[urdrvideo]

Some of you might remember my original post to the forum a couple of years ago titled "Rusty Rescue" after I drug home a weathered and damaged 96 California.
My failed first attempt at a Guzzi.

I found a V11 Scura in Wilmington and pulled the trigger. Did the trip today, and now the bike sits in my storage unit.

It's number 270 and I acquired it from the estate of a gent that passed recently. He was the original owner and I have lots of documents. The forks were even reworked.


I'm looking forward to finally getting to rock out the big twin.

[rocker59]

 

[fotoguzzi]

good - but does it have the exploding clutch? what year and mileage?

[LowRyter]

congrats

[flip]

Nice! 

[Scud]

The Scura owns you now. Ask me how I know. She's lovely. How many miles?

I spy aftermarket footpegs, gear-shift, and turn signal lenses.

Don't wax that matte finish. Get yourself some special matte finish products. Keep her dark and mysterious...

Pop over to V11LeMans.com and say hi; add yourself to the Scura Registry.

[Travlr]

The best of the V11 Sports.  The last of the hot rod Guzzi's.   

Mike

[Vasco DG]

Forks seriously needed reworking, they were lethally under sprung stock.

If the clutch is still the single plater I suggest pissing it off quick smart and adding a twin plater. You can ask Chuck what it needs to become a fire breathing monster. He owns what must be the hottest Scura on the planet.

Pete

[Scud]

The best of the V11 Sports.  The last of the hot rod Guzzi's.   

Mike

Best motorcycle of all time (unless you ask a V11 Greenie-owner). Everything "pales" by comparison to "the darkness."

You must soon, however, ponder your risk-tolerance and options with regards to the "exploding" aluminum flywheel and the conflated single-plate clutch. 

And if you're lucky, all your engine paint will bubble and peel off, giving you the opportunity to "bond" with your block.

She says: "I am dark and mysterious and I will make you pay for privilege of riding me..." Yes, most definitely the best motorcycle ever. You're going to love/hate/love her, mostly love.

[Chuck in Indiana]

love/hate/love her, mostly love.

No hate here.. my favorite motorcycle of all time. Even with the engine mods, it's been ridiculously reliable under conditions that would kill many machines. It sits most of the time. Last year and this year we've only been able to get out to California twice. Every time, it's put air in the tires, wipe the dust off, check the oil, (just a formality) punch the button, and it's running. I change the oil and filter once a year, whether it needs it or not.  Adjust the valves (titanium pushrods) to .002 and .003 every 3K miles. Put new plugs in it every 6K miles. (They're cheap, why not?)
So, after all this sitting, I take it out in the mountains and run it all day at 5-6K rpm. Repeat for 2-3 weeks. Put Stabil in a full tank, put it on the work stand, put a prop under the oil pan to keep the front wheel off the floor, and leave it. Not many machines would put up with that kind of abuse.. the sitting is the hardest part.. without complaint.
I *hate* doing that to it. Fasteners are getting rusty, aluminum parts are corroding. Next year, the Skorpion goes to California, and the Mighty Scura comes home for some much needed love.
It's a keeper.
Oh, comfortable enough to take on the road, too. I was born in Bakersfield, and made a pilgrimage on the way to Visalia to ride in some different mountains. Top floor of this building.

[Vasco DG]

Get it home Chuck. It needs to be with you! It is a spectacular motorbike, as I've said many times I'm not a fan of Spineys but that one really is very, very special.

Pete

[Chuck in Indiana]

Get it home Chuck. It needs to be with you! It is a spectacular motorbike, as I've said many times I'm not a fan of Spineys but that one really is very, very special.

Pete

Absolutely.. Rosie paled in comparison. 

[urdrvideo]

The bike has 17,700 on the odometer. I have documentation that the forks were revalved, and resprung. Cant find any info in the paperwork about the clutch being touched. The gent was diagnosed with cancer in 2005 and the mileage pretty much stopped around then. he did put 13k between 2002 and 2003.

Bike was originally delivered in December of 2002 by Uncommon Motorcycles in Erie Pennsylvania.

its number 270... does anyone remember a board member named Robert Burch? He was the original owner.

Im going to give her a full service. Maybe my buddy ( a BMW mechanic) and I will pull the trans and take a look at the clutch...

[Chuck in Indiana]

It's a beauty all right.  Leafman says he never had an issue with his single plate clutch, but I know a guy that had two fail at about the mileage yours shows. If it were me, I'd plan on changing it to a 2 plater if I was looking at it. It's about $1100 in new parts to do that, IIRC.
That said, I don't know if there has been an upgrade to the single plate clutch over the last few years, so YMMV. Here's a replacement..
 http://www.mgcycle.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=193&products_id=2986

[Scud]

Here's a replacement..
 http://www.mgcycle.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=193&products_id=2986

The only "hate" I've had with my Scura is the anxiety about the flywheel and clutch (and the engine paint has gone to hell). I like the feel of the single-plate clutch and am on MGCycle's wait list for the RAM replacement unit. I also recently bought a wrecked low-mile 2002 V11LeMans to salvage those twin-plate parts from - as it can be somewhat tedious or expensive to source everything. So... if I do get the RAM, and decide you want a dual-plate, we should talk.

My bike sat for 12 years - I got it less than a year ago with less than 200 total miles on it. Over 8,000 miles on it now and not a single leak or mechanical problem. Mostly LOVE.

[urdrvideo]

the paint on the lower block of the motor is starting to blister... I was going to ask about that but have already read its a common issue.
I may pull the motor at some point and mask it all up real good and go to town on it... time will tell. I plan on keeping the bike long term so...

The clutch scares me , mainly because it supposed to take the transmission out if it goes. I'm curious how many failed in relation to how many were delivered.
I sort of like the rattle it makes (the clutch),and it feels good.

I just want to ride....

[Chuck in Indiana]

The clutch scares me , mainly because it supposed to take the transmission out if it goes.

When I got the Mighty Scura from Pete, he said he had some dangly bits that were entirely too close to the flywheel if it let go..  so he had it changed out to the dual plate before picking it up.
I understand that the single plate makes the engine more lively, but have never ridden one.

[urdrvideo]

Just took the Scura on a 30 mile run today to see how she felt... fresh and tight like a new bike... Everything did what it was supposed to do. All the controls had a weight and quality feel to them. the motor make good power and torque everywhere.
The clutch appears to hold nice and tight.

Only oddity I noticed was a bit of rattle in top gear under heavy throttle, not sure if its a little detonation, or something else.

I like it.

[Scud]

So those 30 miles were your very first ride on it? Well, now you're hooked, right? I predict fewer miles for other fine stable-mates listed in your signature. 

Some basic maintenance - valves clearances, fuel system cleaner, etc. may help with your rattle. I find that I get a little rattle if I hit the throttle hard from about 4,000 rpm. I don't get it if I downshift to get the revs up. Your rattle may not indicate a problem, maybe you just need to time to find out how she likes to be ridden.

I find that mine likes to be ridden at least assertively, potentially aggressively.

I also found that getting the suspension sag set was transformational for the handling. New tires might be in order. Yours could be too old - you might check the date codes on those.

I started a thread about my Scura here:  http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=18805  I got a lot of great advice along the way that might be helpful to you, as you are also bringing one out of hibernation.

[Travlr]

The aluminum flywheel gives the Scura it's rev happy nature and the single plate clutch it's snick, snick shifting.

I couldn't bear to give either of those up. So I opted for a Ram single plate clutch.  Side by side with the original it is better built.
Do as you wish, but it ain't a Scura with the any other setup.  It's just a V11 with dark paint.

Mike 

[leafman60]

The single plate clutch/ aluminum flywheel of the Scura was the best shifting, nicest clutch action of any motorcycle of the many that I've owned, even the late-model 8V bikes.

The internet, some dramatic pictures and some juiced-up egos tended to blow that issue out of proportion.

I put about 25-30k miles on mine with no problem.

I test-rode one of the twin-plate conversions at the time I owned my bike and it felt like a dog by comparison.

If anyone is panicky about the set-up to the point of pulling the engine, rather than replacing everything, I'd check the flywheel bolts and maybe insert some washers under their heads. My understanding is that the "problem" was a few cases of the flywheel fracturing from the bolt holes, possibly caused by loose bolts that wormed around in the bores.

I miss the ride quality and shifting smoothness of my Scura.



.

[Paradiso]

http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=19010&page=2

I really liked the gear change/clutch feel on my Tenni.  It was a world away from a Le Mans III I had some time ago. 
At less than 14 000 the single plate clutch was worn.  I wanted a Ram clutch, but couldn't find one.  I've just installed a twin plate clutch. 
I had a close look at the flywheel I removed and, as you can see on the photo, there were some tiny cracks-two of three around the central mounting point.
Your Scura looks like it's in great condition.
Simon

[Baldini]

I have a Scura.

OME clutch works great, change is very light, slick & quick. It was still working sweetly & was showing no symptoms of failure when I replaced it with a RAM single plate at 19k miles. To me, the chance of it failing in use, & the potentially catastrophic effect of same was too great to leave it alone. I've seen maybe 15-20 flywheel failures documented on forums, some of which I know personally. Really depends how lucky you feel!

Paradiso's shows typical damage caught at an early stage. Those cracks extend & multiply, the flywheel centre becomes detached &/or the whole flywheel breaks up, on a couple of occasions exiting through the cases in use. Try a search on www.v11lemans.com
My flywheel on removal showed no cracking at 19k miles. Others have broken apart at much lower mileages. I'm sure some might achieve much higher mileages. Cause of failure is unknown, but I tend to agree with Leafman that the problem relates to the centre bolts/washers either in their design, their construction or their assembly.
There may be a problem with the flywheel itself, again either in design, material, manufacture or assembly. The RAM flywheel is subtly different in design. I believe the OME flywheel was not sourced from RAM, tho some OME clutch parts are.

There are other issues - none of which are too onerous - you might want to be aware of, v11lemans forum has details on all these.

Scura is a lovely, involving ride.

KB
 

[leafman60]

By the way, when I replaced my shifter springs (the original were fine), I adjusted the shifter mechanism and then filled the gearbox with synthetic oil dosed with a little moly. As I said, the Scura was the best-shifting motorcycle I've ever ridden- Japanese, European, all of them.

If you want a good pair of shifter springs, PM me your address and I will ship a pair to you.

[Chuck in Indiana]

Scura is a lovely, involving ride.

Absolutely. The last of the *real* Guzzis..

[Guzzistajohn]

I have a rear mudguard for one if you need it.

[arveno]

sorry to "jack" the thread but is the scura's frame shorter than the la mans ?
I recall the 2000/2001 naked "red" frame spine are shorter then the le mans and all the other v11 spine family like bellagio, rosso mandello etc.
i wonder if the scura is a short or long frame ?

to the op , congratulation that a gorgeous bike .

Marco

[Triple Jim]

You keep sucking me in with the "Drug" in the title of the thread, and then I realize...

[Scud]

...is the scura's frame shorter than the la mans ?
I recall the 2000/2001 naked "red" frame spine are shorter then the le mans and all the other v11 spine family like bellagio, rosso mandello etc.

The '02 Scura frame is the same as the LeMans and other later V11s. The "early" red-frame V11 Sports were a bit shorter. Here's a link to some of the model year changes in the line:  http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5691

[Scud]

You keep sucking me in with the "Drug" in the title of the thread, and then I realize...

...that a Scura is the most addictive drug of all.