Unkept's V11 LeMans Repair, Maybe Restoration, Thread

[cloudbase]

I remember when Joe bought that from MPH.  I took it for a ride, and if Joe wouldn't have bought it, I would have.

[Hahnda]

Hey Scud,

Bars and risers arrived today. Now I know exactly where they came from!

[Scud]

Hey Scud,

Bars and risers arrived today. Now I know exactly where they came from!

Good to know. Now your bike will have a little piece of a story... and some of Chuck's handiwork. Stuff like that makes it more special. I just like the stock bar position - and all the stock bits were tucked away in the saddlebags.

[Scud]

time for powdercoating...

[PJPR01]

Darth Vader going to get some red highlights now Scud?  This will be the most pristine Scura on the Planet!

[Scud]

No, the Scura is all back together. This is a continuation of Joe's project - his champagne LeMans, which I purchased mid-project when he moved to Germany.

Here is a gratuitous Scura photo: with repainted driveline, lots of powdercoating and other extra darkness:



I'm not going to this extreme with the Champagne... (for example, I will not be splitting and repainting the transmission) but I want to freshen it up and enjoy it for a month or two while I try to sell it.

[Chuck in Indiana]

That's bad to the bone.. 

[twowings]

Mmmmmm...I wouldn't kick THAT outta bed for leaking oil or eating crackers! Very nice...

[Scud]

Mmmmmm...I wouldn't kick THAT outta bed for leaking oil or eating crackers! Very nice...

Thanks. But I did kick her out for leaking oil - and for blowing bubbles in her engine paint. She was flowing oil out the timing cover, the cam sensor, and the transmission. Messy, messy... but she can eat crackers wherever she wants...

[Randown]

How do you find time to surf though?

[nobleswood]

Tim,
That is a gorgeous picture; real V11 porn !

[Scud]

How do you find time to surf though?

I have not been surfing enough lately... just 2-3 feet predicted locally this weekend. Maybe I'll get the longboard out...

[Unkept]

That's a shame.. he went to a lot of trouble doing all that documentation.. and it was good stuff. Sometimes a picture *is* worth a thousand words.

I lost the amount of storage I had on Google Drive... I moved them to OneDrive but the links are of course all broken!

I'll try and do a public service and repair the broken links sometime.

Glad to see you revived my thread Scud! I miss the Guzzi, I'm hoping to go see a V7III in person in Mandello this year.

-Joe

[Scud]

I lost the amount of storage I had on Google Drive... I moved them to OneDrive but the links are of course all broken!

I'll try and do a public service and repair the broken links sometime.

Glad to see you revived my thread Scud! I miss the Guzzi, I'm hoping to go see a V7III in person in Mandello this year.

-Joe

It seemed like the right place to continue the story... although I've been posting more detail at the V11LeMans site. I think there is a pretty active group of V11 owners in Germany. If the V7III doesn't strike your fancy, maybe you can get connected with another V11.

[Scud]

Progress report....

Powdercoated fuel door. Painted final drive and reaction rod. Steering bearings are shot and need replacing.




Transmission was filled with blood-pudding.




And I got the engine ready. This engine is from a crashed parts bike I bought a while back. It only had 12,000 miles on it.

[Scud]

Got the powder coating back yesterday. Chasing threads and overspray today...

[twowings]

LOVE the red! 

[Tom]

 :1:.   :thumb .   What type of paint?

[Scud]

It's powercoated candy-apple red. First they bake on a coat of silver flake, then they do a second coat of translucent red. It's so cool in direct sunlight.

I also got a bunch of stuff done in flat black - in this picture you can see lower subframe, foot levers, pegs, rear brake master cover.

[Scud]

While putting the stock clip-ons back on, I noticed that the LH bar was slightly bent due to a drop. Smushed it back into alignment.

And then got the whole front-end back in order. Felt good to get it off the milk crate and start to stand on her own legs again.

Stripped the bubbling paint off the transmission. This is a known problem with the 2002 V11 bikes, which were subject to a recall and replacement of engine cases due to the bad paint. I'm curious if that was limited to the V11s - or if other 2002 Moto Guzzis had problematic black crinkle paint on the engines.




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[Tom]

IIRC ....Bad paint.  It was covered under warranty.  New owners had the option of a disassemble paint job or a credit for accessories.  The dealer's took the brunt of costs.  MG was slow in reimbursing for warranty expenses.  It wasn't a true reimbursement.  The dealers got a credit on future purchases from the distributorship/importer.  Anyone can correct.  Hard to stay in business when you're financing the manufacturer.

[Scud]

The engine repaint is recurrent theme on V11LeMans.com.  2002 was also the year of other major updates to the V11 series. It's a weird transitional year, but includes two "numbered" special editions, the Tenni and Scura, which are also plagued by a flywheel problem. In this photo, the left block is from Unkept's bike. It was replaced under warranty and did 50,000 miles. On the right, a 2002 block with original paint that only did 12,000 miles (before being crashed). The bubbling gets MUCH worse. The warranty didn't cover the transmission or final drive, which start bubbling and peeling later (assumably due to lower heat).




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Here is the repainted transmission and nasty-paint engine from my Scura (which I posted finished pics of earlier).




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I'm giving this project the same love - getting rid of all the crinkle paint on the whole driveline.

[Scud]

Major milestone. Got the transmission back together and installed - had been waiting for a couple seals. That was quite an ordeal with the gelled oil. Also rebuilt the pre-selector with new springs.




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The Hyperpro shock is near new - it was on my red LeMans, and that's where the Ohlins shock lives now.   

[twowings]

Your craftsmanship and attention to detail are extraordinary! This is going to be a sweet bike...

[smdl]

Great progress, Tim.  Well done!

Shaun

[Scud]

Here's the before and after of the controls. I'll probably end up prying those Veglias open so I can paint the needles...




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...and where the proverbial rubber meets the road...





Note to self... when installing a subframe, do the threaded connections first, then the pass-throughs. I buggered the threads on the brake lever pivot (which goes through the porkchop into the subframe.)  It's a $40 special part... but a quick trip to my neighborhood True Value hardware store and $5.00 die saved the day.

[Turin]

I love the red. The flat black sets it off perfectly. 

[Scud]

I love the red. The flat black sets it off perfectly. 

Thanks. I'm pretty pleased with how it's working with the Champagne bodywork too. I test fit the engine today to test the clutch, and took the opportunity to install one of the rocker covers and the alternator cover.









And thanks to whoever recently posted the link to Stainless Cycle. I bought their stainless bolt kit after seeing that post - it's a great value.

[Scud]

Here's how she looks in the California sun...



Engine stripping and painting are up next.  But now that I see the new covers on the cylinder head paint doesn't look so good - the RH front is flaking.  So I ordered some VHT Nu-Cast Aluminum paint.



A little advice please:

1 - On the cylinder head paint. Does it seem that some scotch-brite pads followed by the aluminum engine paint would be OK - or do these need to be stripped?

2 - From stripping and painting the engine case on my Scura, I know it would be much easier if the cylinders were off. I have not done this before. Can the cylinders be pulled with pistons still attached? And for reinstalling, what's your preferred method of compressing the piston rings?

[Tom]

Large hose clamps.