I love that photo - it is so evocative..you can smell the rain and the damped down dust...and the bike? Well what can one say - perfect! Thanks for sharing it.
If you miss it can I ask what happened to it?
It's a long story, maybe get a brew and a biscuit, maybe three biscuits.
Ready?
After my tuned Firestorm sold for a good amount I had set my heart on a V11. I really wanted a Le Mans Nero Corsa, but they weren't in my budget. I spotted the Scura on ebay and it hadn't sold, so I fired a few emails of and headed down to Brighton with a wad of notes. After some haggling the 4,500 mile old bike was mine. Problem was it obviously hadn't gone much further than the seafront in the 5 years it had existed so far. The tyres were hard and square and the steering damper was wound fully on leaving the bike feeling terrible. Still, despite getting lost on the way home in the dark, in late January, in jeans and jacket, I loved the bike.
After doing the (apparently) unthinkable and removing the steering damper, coupled with changing the tyres, the bike felt good. Actually it felt great. It felt so very good, the handling was sublime, the brakes fantastic, and the sound was nice.
After I swiss cheesed the airbox with a holesaw, fitted and mapped a Power Commander, added an FBF crossover and a pair of Mistral ally race silencers the bike was very much improved.
I think the first thing to start playing up was the battery fuse/main fuse. The plastic of the fuse would melt, and then the relay would trip. So I removed the fuse box and fitted a new one, with a heftier in line fuse. I then changed the relays.
Then the neutral switch went.
Then the clutch switch went.
Then the speedo cable snapped.
Then the inlet manifolds began leaking after cracking.
After I serviced it at 6,000 miles I noticed the cardan bar bushings had gone. I checked to see if I could buy a new set, but could only get the complete bar from MG, or an aftermarket from Rosspuro. Both were a lot of money.
So I measured up and made one, with greasable rose joints either end, cost me about £20. The bike was improved.
Then the bike would refuse to start in the morning. I checked the (Odyssey) battery, and cleaned all the terminals, as well as applying sliver dielectric grease to all of them. After needing a jump start leaving Trac Mon I decided to strip the starter motor and see what was what. I'd bought Guzziology, but very little of it seemed to apply to the V11, so I was on my own. With no real idea of what to do I removed the starter motor, striped and cleaned it, before greasing things that looked like they needed greasing and refitting.
Hurrah it worked!
I set off for France and Spain the next weekend with my mate.
Rain in Millau
Encountering the worst rain I've ever ridden in just outside Albi saw the reg/rect pack in and the bike and I being recovered. A friendly garage let me use their tools to work on the bike and check to see what the problem was. With the bike in a few pieces I thought it was the alternator, as no charge was reaching the battery and it wouldn't run on it's own for long. With the nearest MG dealership in Toulouse, and my mate now met with his dad and staying in Carcassonne, I spent two dry days shooting between Carcassonne and Toulouse checking on bike progress. Finally it was done, and I set of solo to meet them the other side of the Pyrenees.
Coming into Spain through the tunnels and into misty rain, the bike coughed and I could've cried. No more came of it, and although the temperature had dropped 10'C we were ok, but boy was it wet.
It was actually the most rain Spain had had for 50 years.
By the time we had met up (I fortuitously followed them into the town we were going to meet in), and then found our place to stay for the evening I'd noticed a clicking coming from the rear end. I checked the bevel box for oil, and it was fine, but I couldn't discern which side the noise was coming from, and the next day on the run to Bilbao it was getting worse. I was really concerned in case it was within the bevel box and the debris was making a mess of the bevel gears.
As we arrived in Bilbao-
the next day-
I got recovered from Portsmouth once we landed.
I ordered a new bearing from MG (£20ca from memory) and fitted it, thankfully it wasn't within the bevel side.
That bearing lasted 300miles, before dying as I was leaving south Lincs with the g/f on the back after we'd gone up to visit friends. Another recovery truck.
I ordered a higher spec SKF bearing for £6 and fitted that, and then ran the bike for another 500 miles with no problem, but the damage was done and I had no faith in the bike. I sold it and bought a Hayabusa.
So I owned the bike for 6 1/2 months, and did 6500 miles on it in that time. I'm convinced that I'd ironed all the bugs out but it was no good, that trust bond had gone. I'm also convinced that it had so many problems as it hadn't been used frequently before I got it.
I'd love another, I really want a Tenni, but next time it will have at least 15,000 miles on the clock, and someone else can have dealt with the issues...
