Author Topic: LeMans IV... (Read 26074 times)

double.d · « **Reply #30 on:** January 01, 2016, 03:20:48 PM »

Quote from: tonyduc on December 30, 2015, 06:26:59 AM

Hi, how did you do the front end conversion-especially the round headlght? All bolt on or some mods? I see you also changed the speedo?

I recently purchased on 84 LM IV - repairable line crack in front fairing. So I was thinking of alternatively doing the round headlight conversion.

I did the round light conversion many years ago, and i did it the cheap way. I just cut the std brackets drilled two holes in each and mounted my own home made brackets to these. When i bought this latest chrome headlight i looked around for some proper brackets but could find nothing i liked the look of, or were long enough. I wanted the headlight to be well forward of the forks.

The only real bad thing i have to say for this model is the shit electrical system which i put up with for 25 years before it let me down in a big way. With expert advice from Old Jock i rewired the bike using Motogadget components. Motogadget is a digital system that has just two fuses, no relays, no crap. Keyless ignition and auto cancel blinkers are just two of the many features and with the
M-Switches i know that the lights will always light, the blinkers will always blink and the horn will always scare shit out of anyone close.

With the installation of an outsider filter this bike is now virtually maintenance free, just check the tyres and go

Roebling3 · « **Reply #31 on:** January 01, 2016, 06:54:49 PM »

I have an '87 LM 1000. Fewer than 19K miles, in very, very good shape. I'm the 2nd owner. Original owner had all the period Raceco modifications done before he licensed it. He added BUB exhaust and I have the original pipes. If interested PM me I have pictures.
Big bikes have gotten to be too big for me. The heard is getting reduced to 650cc's or less; excepting the Daytona. R3~

Tom · « **Reply #32 on:** January 01, 2016, 08:51:01 PM »

Haven't had problems with the 16" wheel on mine. The major problem which I found totally by chance was the accelerator pumps on the carb were set-up wrong from the factory. Right side shot a stream of gas 20' while the left shot it 5'.

motogman · « **Reply #33 on:** January 02, 2016, 05:17:05 PM »

It started before Christmas when my wife ask me for the tenth time what I wanted for Christmas. I have been working on my 74 MG and I finally told her I wanted a mid 70's Le Mans. She sent me a link of pictures of mid 70's Pontiac LeMans. I sent her a link of 70's 850 LeMans and told her she had the wrong language. We had a laugh.

A few days later I am getting the tires removed from the rims of the bike I am working on and the shop has a LeMans IV sitting in the shop. It was not owned by the shop but was a customers bike and he was looking to sell. After Christmas I went back to look at it in more detail. Oh yes, I stopped by the bank on the way and had an envelop of Franklins in my pocket.

So this is my Christmas present to myself, or more correctly my New Years present. 30,181 miles on the clock bought from the second owner. Good guy. In very good shape but not 100% perfect, but then again it didn't take perfect money to make it mine.

jacksonracingcomau · « **Reply #34 on:** January 03, 2016, 12:04:51 AM »

Quote from: Antietam Classic Cycle on December 30, 2015, 12:37:01 PM

The offset was different, the later triples have less.
Dr. John was running the early smooth ones when I saw the bike in '85.

This

Quote from: LeRoy on December 30, 2015, 08:21:12 PM

Finally, if I were to be looking at a 1985 LM 1000 made anytime in the first half of the calendar year, I'd look very carefully at the forks and try to establish what, exactly, was on the bike. I would also look very critically at any LM 1000 fork yokes being sold as spare parts. It would be unfortunate to unknowingly buy the earlier parts. In a perfect world you'd expect the first generation parts that were superseded to have been destroyed. But an ounce of prevention might be worth a pound of cure in this case.

Why ?
Early offset is perfect with 18" conversion (just like an old Tonti)
For some only with 16" --journos hated it, proper quick steering
Late with 16" or 17" for anyone, this gives good trail for roadbike
Late with 18" , LM5 and 1000S etc not ideal, hence my steer like a bus quote, make a loopy seem like a quick steerer, but journos said "fixed"

If I got one of last with 18" wheel, I'd look for early yokes or fit smaller wheel
Nothing wrong with the early offset, just maybe not with 16"

guzziart · « **Reply #35 on:** January 03, 2016, 08:28:52 AM »

Hey Motogman,

From what I can see, nice SE!

motogman · « **Reply #36 on:** January 03, 2016, 11:28:39 AM »

Thanks.

Yes - it is not a very good picture but I went over the bike in detail and it is very good for a 29 year old bike. It needs a couple of things - a switch cover has gone missing on the right side, the shocks seem weak, some polish and cleaning hear and there but all in all very nice. Also have the original mufflers - Franconis are on it.

When I get it home I will post some better pictures.

Arizona Wayne · « **Reply #37 on:** January 03, 2016, 12:00:10 PM »

Quote from: bigbikerrick on December 31, 2015, 09:42:05 PM

I cant call the IV ugly, but, cosmetically, I do prefer the tail of the III. To my taste, the II is the prettiest of the series, I even like it better than the 1. , but thats just me, I like the brutal look of the square engine.
Rick.

I had a `87 LeMans IV and still have a `81 CX100(II). I see the IV the prettiest but the fairing on the II/CX is the most efficient & you can add a handlebar to it like I did when the clip ons are no longer acceptable.

The CX isn't as fast as the IV but in the real world it's fast enough and gets better gas mileage with it's SP small valve motor.

Back in 1980? in the UK the LM IIs were slow sellers so they were painted black w/gold trim and those are AWESOME looking!!

Tom · « **Reply #38 on:** January 03, 2016, 01:04:21 PM »

Hard to make the distinction between the 16" and 18". For my type of riding out here in the mountains, they both handle well. The SE may be a little quicker but not that noticeable to me. I have the SE '87 and a '89. The Strada fits in there somewhere.

Arizona Wayne · « **Reply #39 on:** January 03, 2016, 05:17:04 PM »

The Strada is the SP III w/o the bodywork. Seems not many sold in the US just like the 1100 Breva.

A nice looking bike, IMHO.

Tom · « **Reply #40 on:** January 08, 2016, 10:49:12 AM »

Yes and I have a Strada.

MedicAndy · « **Reply #41 on:** June 27, 2016, 03:41:51 PM »

Here is my 1985 Lemans IV,

I just bought her from a guy out of St. Louise, MO about three month ago. She is an all original (with the exceptions of the new SS brake lines, new rear brake caliber, and ignition upgrade) 5200 mile bike. Luckily, I got the original exhaust for that bike too. I had a local Italian motorcycle mechanic, Johann, which is the owner of Moto Motivo here out of Raleigh NC, check her out for me. He replaced some seals, all fluids, filters, adjusted the valves, and powder coated the valve covers in black. The original paint / coating looked really bad with most having peeled off already. I'm glad that Johann did the work and gave this bike the thumbs up. I was stunned that the oil filter that Johann removed from my bike was the original, almost 32 year old filter that Moto Guzzi installed when they build the bike! This bike rides great.

Andy

Tom · « **Reply #42 on:** June 27, 2016, 09:02:41 PM »

Try cleaning with a good degreaser first then see if the aluminum looks good enough for you. Otherwise polishing it may work better for you but that's a lot of work.

Guzzistajohn · « **Reply #43 on:** June 27, 2016, 09:08:38 PM »

Old crappy tonti lemans? Hate 'em that's why I have two. One since 1989

Tom · « **Reply #44 on:** June 27, 2016, 09:13:44 PM »

I'm still on my '80 SP 1000 NT. Chugs right down the interstate with no problems except it being 36 years old.

pressureangle · « **Reply #45 on:** June 27, 2016, 09:21:46 PM »

I rode mine for about 35,000 miles. I'm just finishing the rebuild/restoration.

I love the bike. But as stated above, it's neither a beginner bike, nor a city bike.

http://wildguzzi.com/forum/index.php?topic=74056.0

Groover · « **Reply #46 on:** March 05, 2018, 10:40:31 AM »

Quote from: motogman on December 30, 2015, 05:05:46 PM

A few more questions....

.... Does anyone know the serial numbers of the SE models. I think they are pretty self evident by the color scheme etc.

Sorry to wake up an old thread :-) The SE models also have a stamp on the gearbox on the left side of the case. Letters ZDxxxxx

flower_king001 · « **Reply #47 on:** March 05, 2018, 12:58:49 PM »

Took mine out yesterday for a 100 mile ride...most fun I had in a longggggggggg time!

Brian

agmon1000 · « **Reply #48 on:** March 06, 2018, 04:34:21 PM »

I have 1985 LeMans 4 that I bought just over 10 years ago, I upgraded the front suspension and I run 17" wheels with radial tires.
I never had an issue with the 16" wheel I just love to work on bikes and tinker as much as I can.
This bike is by far my favorite and every time I get frustrated with my Kawasaki KZ1300 I take the Guzzi for a ride to clear my head.
Love that bike

Groover · « **Reply #49 on:** March 06, 2018, 05:09:31 PM »

Quote from: agmon1000 on March 06, 2018, 04:34:21 PM

Nice wheels and front end there. Can you elaborate on what you've done?

Turin · « **Reply #50 on:** March 07, 2018, 10:41:00 PM »

GSXR front end?

double.d · « **Reply #51 on:** March 08, 2018, 11:45:52 PM »

Yes i to would like to know the parts involved in this upgrade please. This has been on my to do list for a few years now and with the pending sale of another bike i would like to get this mod done.

wirespokes · « **Reply #52 on:** March 10, 2018, 01:30:07 AM »

I love my 87 1,000 - it seems to work well for me around town, though it is happiest loafing along at 80. I've had it a little over a year and ride it most of the time though I have many other choices - probably time to start clearing out the garage.

The 87 was the last year of the 16" front wheel, but mine was changed to an 18 early on. At first I thought the triple trees were very wrong for the larger wheel because it steered like a truck. That was all fixed, however, once it got converted from the 120x80 18 to a 110x90.

As for the three different versions of triple trees, I'm curious if the first version was reinstated in 1988 with the return of the 18" front wheel? Yes, I know the second version (just an intermediate thing for several months) was steel, but it had the same geometry as the third version which was aluminum. I'd like to know if mine has the first version or the third (which it should have come with) - how can I tell? It's not steel, so definitely not the second version.

JJ · « **Reply #53 on:** March 10, 2018, 04:11:32 PM »

Here is a tasty 850 LM-III on eBay now!! :1:

best online image hosting

Denis · « **Reply #54 on:** March 11, 2018, 07:54:13 PM »

I've had my '85 since 2004 or so and don't ride it nearly as much as it deserves. That said, it ALWAYS starts and ALWAYS makes me laugh out loud. I'm surprised I've never gotten a ticket on it...

The 16" front wheel is a nonissue with me in large part because the '87 SPII I bought new still has it. I think the SP is quicker because the 16" wheel is 1/4" narrower than the one on the LeMans.

Tom · « **Reply #55 on:** March 11, 2018, 08:50:25 PM »

IIRC isn't the rear wheel on your SPII also 16"??

Denis · « **Reply #56 on:** March 12, 2018, 07:09:41 AM »

Quote from: Tom on March 11, 2018, 08:50:25 PM

IIRC isn't the rear wheel on your SPII also 16"??

No, you're probably thinking of the 850-T5, which had 16" front and rear. The SPII had 16 front/18 back.

Groover · « **Reply #57 on:** March 12, 2018, 01:43:17 PM »

Quote from: wirespokes on March 10, 2018, 01:30:07 AM

.... As for the three different versions of triple trees, I'm curious if the first version was reinstated in 1988 with the return of the 18" front wheel? Yes, I know the second version (just an intermediate thing for several months) was steel, but it had the same geometry as the third version which was aluminum. I'd like to know if mine has the first version or the third (which it should have come with) - how can I tell? It's not steel, so definitely not the second version.

If you have an '87, then it should be the 2nd (3rd) generation in aluminum. The steel one as far as I understand it was only available as a kit to "fix" the issue on the 84-86 bikes, but not out of the factory installed already. According to the LM parts manual, the 88-91 (18" wheel) would then use the same as what you have. As far as the visual difference goes between the first generation (and the 2nd (and 3rd) generation goes), from what I can figure out is that the 1st generation triple plates are more rounded when looking at the plate from top, and the later ones like what is on your 87, are more angular.

Though, this is based on online research and my own conclusion on this topic. I hope someone whom has actually worked on these forks (old and new) can confirm.

Top one is the early version, lower image is the later version.

Tom · « **Reply #58 on:** March 12, 2018, 04:31:49 PM »

Quote from: Denis on March 12, 2018, 07:09:41 AM

No, you're probably thinking of the 850-T5, which had 16" front and rear. The SPII had 16 front/18 back.

Okay. Mixed info. The SPII would steer as quick as an LMIV with same set-up. I have had no problems with mine and there are no cracks in the triple trees. Seems that when the bike came out that some American riders like pounding the bikes.

wirespokes · « **Reply #59 on:** March 12, 2018, 08:59:11 PM »

Thanks Groover.

I'd like to know what the difference in geometry is. Guzziology says the 86 and newer trees give more trail which would slow the steering for the 16" wheel. Add an 18" and that slows it even more.

Mine feels pretty normal (since installing tire sizes spec'd for the 88), but it's got a wide turning radius because of the reduced steering movement. It doesn't do tight turns! I'm curious how much of that is due to the triple trees.

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Author Topic: LeMans IV... (Read 26074 times)