I think there is a problem Shaun, i fill it very slowly, stopping to let it settle etc, it seemed ok when i got the bike and only started happening after i fitted a scotoiller under the seat, maybe i knocked the valve i really dont know?? The tank should work , laverda used a very similar under seat design on 650/668/750 models, it was filled from under the pillion seat though to avoid the air lock. i still think the round valve or black box is at fault, guess i'll find out friday.

chinese keyboard is weird but most have the qwerty on the keys in between the zhuyin, cangjee and dayi, luckily the office i work in in taiwan has US keyboards as well. I can do about 10 letters and numbers of the Chinese alphabet now but its real hard work learning it.

It was about 10 am I was in company with another 7 bikes mainly R1s but one 749r as well. After getting to the roundabout near your house they decided they wanted to go to windemere so I had to endure Kirkstone pass etc in nose to tail traffic, how I wished to be aboard the Multistrada! The manual is about 400mb so would be a pain to send? I will probably be out on Sunday for a while so could meet up, have to be back fairly early as we are gigging on Sat, Sun and Monday at the blues festival in Colne.

The R was excellent up the Shap road and would keep with an 02 R1 on the very fast parts. The Tuned 04/05 R1s were pulling away though! I am still getting to grips with the handling though as it feels so hard to turn after 18 months on the MS. Am going to raise the rear and fit a 180. The previous owner was a lot lighter than me and the bike feels a lot softer than my previous 996s. I really need to spend a little time setting it up to suit me.

What an engine though! Managed to increase its mileage by 450 this week, find it hard to believe the previous owner only averaged 70 miles a month whilst he had the bike!!

I was away at 9 so it couldn't have been you.

maybe meet sunday if i can, meant to be mountain biking in morning, if not we'll make it Monday. drag the numpty out again and try kirkstone, its more fun than sportsbikes :) not as much fun down Shap though. R1's and GXR1000's leave me on the quick part but you can get them back in the corners or on brakes but it ain't easy.

it looked like it needed a heavier spring with you on, i've got a 75 kg off my 999 bip which you can try, i think 996 monos came as standard with 64 or 70. my abba should fit and its only 4 bolts to swap it over, if you come up stop and we'll try it.

update on breather - tonight I removed the black plastic breather box under the seat , tipped it up to get at rubber pipe and when removing the big rubber pipe noticed water was coming out ( think it was water as it wasn't petrol) don't know if that is meant to be in there but i can't see why it would be. i tried blowing down the box towards big round breather and it seemed to be clear, tried blowing through black rubber hole in filler cap, this gave a gurgling noise near back of bike so i think everything is clear. intend to fuel it tomorrow and see if it works now.

i have been out in the rain a lot in the last 2 weeks and the problem only started the day i got soaked in a torrential downpour. not sure if its relevant or not.

Wasn't when you came to Oulton was it?

was it raining that day ?:) probably was but last Sunday was even worse ( if thats possible)

ok folks an update

After clearing breather and draining water yesterday I fuelled up tonight, if it was really full last time I fuelled it should have taken 2 gals or 9 litres as I did approx 100 miles ( i knew it wasn't full as on the last fill it only took the usual 8 litres when it should have been over 12). Anyway, I decided I wouldnt change speed or way I filled it, after 10 litres went in and fuel wasn't in sight of neck i knew things were looking up, at 15 litres the pump finally clicked off, rode the 1 mile home, opened cap and hey presto, fuel visible at neck of filler.

So, solution seems to be clearing the black plastic box breather and or blowing through cap and hose connected to black box. my thoughts are that the breather is sucking in either water or dust as the tank drains fuel from rear of tank. I'd ridden a lot on motorways in a lot of spray, the breather pipe outlet seems to sit right above rear wheel and must get all the crap thrown up at it.

will keep checking the breather and giving it a regular blow job to see how things go.

Don't forget condensation too, it's a bugger on my BMW, ally tank and all.

that might be why the black plastic box is fitted behind the roll over valve, just checked a workshop manual drawing and it looks like breather rubber hose actually goes back to the filler cap assembly so water shouldnt get in.

You always manage to crack me up!

:D