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Finally, an update. It has been about 3 hours since I got to actually ride the V11, and I haven't come down yet. Oh my word, what a machine. She's a bit unrefined, but still...dignified and graceful. I confirmed before setting off all the lights, horn, brakes, etc. all were functional. No smoke on startup again, no terrifying and expensive noises within the sump telling me to replace bottom end bearings...just the normal V11 noises I'm told to expect. Again, hold the clutch in...rattle, rattle, rattle...Love it. There were a few idle surges while things warmed up for 5 mins or so before I set off. While riding, I confirmed the speedo and odo BOTH work...simultaneously...on the same V11...and the ODO reset knob is still present and works. One less thing, right? I arrived on a 900SS, a stark contrast to the V11. I don't have to address the elephant in the room, the style of the V11. She is sexy and elegant. Enough said. The ergos on the V11 are more standard than sport, in spite of the clip-ons. Lots of vibration through the grips at nearly all RPM (hands got numb after 20 mins. I have to address this), I got zero vibration through the stock footpegs, which is exactly opposite of what I was told to expect. Strange. The saddle was very wide but firm and comfy. I expected to be punished with the stock saddle, but I was pleasantly surprised! AF1 Racing in Austin, Tx. got me a NOS black seat cowl and all the fasteners and washers (still waiting to be shipped to me when the fasteners arrive). I am waiting on the cowl "moon" pad from a gent in Italy. No rush, as I won't ride her again until Spring of 2022. The gearbox was BUTTER! Click-click-click...effortless shifting, just effortless. I was beside myself in the refinement of the gearbox. Better than even my 900SS...blasphemy! No false neutrals, no matter how many times I tried---and I tried to upset the gearbox. But, firm, deliberate shifts are what worked best as many wise members of this forum informed me. I stopped, clicked up, never popped out of gear under any scenario. Just a sweet gearbox. Great work, Guzzi! I wasn't on bad roads, but the suspension felt firm and slightly bouncy over undulating pavement. About what I expected, but it wasn't bad. Steering was pretty average, or more, of the wide turning radius type. One thing I will need to get used to, is that super forward kickstand. Wow! I know it is for clearance issues, but it is going to take me a LONG time to get used to the kickstand location when I want to park the bike or set off at first. Guzzi does everything differently. The brakes were adequate. They just did the job, but a lot of lever input was required to get the machine stopped effectively. The tires were hardly used but old Dunlop SportMaxes, and I wasn't going to dump my baby and grind the side of a cylinder head pretending I was qualifying for the Isle of Mann TT, so I kept the leans to a casual tempo. Turn in was still excellent and composed. Tracing a line and cliping apexes was so smooth and effortless, belying the weight of this bigger lady. As many told me about the torque-effect of the shaft drive, and the V11 didn't disappoint. At a stop, a few blips of the throttle leaned the bike slightly to the right repeatedly giving me a chuckle. The stock cans as I understand are a bit muted, so thankfully the previous owner had great taste and donated a set of Mistral conical upswept cans for my listening pleasure. They are boomy, baritone, but perhaps 7/10ths the sound put out by my 900SS's carbon Termis. It's not fair for me to say which I prefer, they are just both their own personality. That said, the Mistrals are NOT quiet. They just boom along as the engine hums underneath you. They fit the more laid back/standard ergos and personality of the V11. What a machine! You hit the wall of torque at 2k and it just keeps pulling and pulling. You have to rev this engine to get the most out of it, but it spins up pretty fast. The engine is eager to deliver a smooth helping of carmel-like torque. She really is industrial in her own way. Rear weight bias is evident once underway...wow. Truly, more of the weight is on that back wheel, and you feel it when you go WOT, the front suspension lets up, and you feel the front end starting to rise two or more inches. It is a very different balance than I am used to. On the plus side, the weight feels so much lower than I would have thought! You just have these two giant aluminum cylinders sticking out in front of your knees in the airstream. I feel like I am riding a wingless WWI biplane. Ha ha!!! I stopped by a gas station after legally touching an indicated 80mph on the highway, impressed. I topped the plastic/nylon acerbis tank with sta-bil to at least minimize the damage of the ethanol while it is stored until I get her back in April '22...and I was sad to end the ride. I wanted to keep on going, and the big Guzzi certainly felt obliged to please me. FINAL THOUGHT: These machines are like flying a WWI wingless biplane. The V11 is still an underappreciated jewel in the motorcycle world, and I am fortunate to have gotten (a NICE one, lots of junker V11s out there!!!) before too many people discover them and make them cost new bike money. Physically small, yet feeling big and agricultural in some ways, nevertheless, this sultry Italian lady has class, curves, style and is full of brio. Bellissima! What a damned fine motorcycle. I only regret not getting one a LOT sooner! I finally got to officially drink the kool-aid and join the cult! Now, where are the cookies?

Remember the first time I ducked down behind the fairing while going fast. It was all so quiet and strangely dreamlike, not real. Then I imagined the broken leg would feel very real if I did not concentrate.

Wow. Yes, modern charging technology could be applied here. But remember that the generator on the Guzzi's produces AC current, which the poor low cost reg/rec then tries to keep with in limits after rectifying for for a PB/acid battery. Which are pretty resilient to abuse overall. You could use your DC-DC solution down stream of the current reg/rec but it probably wont get you much net positive results due to the poor AC-DC component in the system. Can a better AC-DC reg/ref be designed that could incorporate functions like you DC-DC converter? Of course. Just time and money.

Sorry, no Guzzi on my sardines, my daily breakfast 90% of the time. Cheers Tom Sent fra min SM-A525F via Tapatalk

This bike, the V11 Sport, is milled out of a solid chunk of motorcycle dreams. It ticks so many boxes the Japan Inc. machines still don't even know exist. It is the stuff of which dreams are made. I took a gamble, a leap of faith (not even riding a V11, buying a bike 1900 miles away without seeing it in person first), and I was handsomely rewarded. I am also relieved and grateful. Spring can't get here fast enough, Docc!!!

Sweeeeet, buddy! It actually had occurred to me how distraught I would be with so much enthusiasm for a bike, then dropping it at a shop not to be experienced until after a looooooong winter. I was feeling for you, there. So, glad you got a good ride in! A really insightful report. The actual weight bias is 45/55, so not as extreme as you would think. Most of the weight transfer is down to getting your springs and sags set for your weight and preferences. That can be dialed in. and I paraphrase: " . . . smooth . . . eager . . . carmel-like . . . . wingless bi-plane . . ."

1929-30 Sport 14 (the second series of Moto Guzzi Sport)

Bet it was raining,, . Cheers Tom.

To me, this is the only way to actually increase the amount of flow into the airbox while still using snorkels of some kind. The inlets without the rubbers are 40mm and appears to stay relatively the same into the lid tho it does oval out some. The next step up would be scud's holes in the sides or top, which is what the dirt bike tuners do sometimes. If that isn't enough take off the lid and clamp the filter down as suggested. I have ridden in rain hard enough to spray the intake with water if I'd had the lid off. I run it with the lid on and no goofy rubber tips. The stock filter is replaced with a BMC (more or less a K&N) and free flowing exhaust. She's really happy.

To me, it still seems like the worst possible approach is to attach a couple restricted, down-turned rubber snorkels to pick up the hottest air coming off the exhaust manifolds when sitting at a stop. I still have mine. In a bag somewhere . . .

I'm 6 feet tall. You can tuck behind the LeMans fairing and get into calm air, but sitting upright it gives you a little more wind at the helmet than the fly-screen (as on a Scura). Adding a lip would be nice for sitting up at distances, but the extra wind is not extreme or annoying - if you ride with earplugs it's barely noticeable.

I like your idea, but first, think about this: a. the snorkels exist mainly to draw cool air from forward of the hot air rising from the engine. Cool air = dense air so better performance. Shortening the air path may hurt more than it helps if it draws in hot air. b. The step in the intake snorkels is designed to catch and drain any water droplets from road spray & heavy rain. A coalescence trap. Cutting will remove that function. Maybe not a problem if you don't ride in rain. c. Since you already modified the bell mouths on the two snorkels, I expect the combined airflow available will already exceed the alternating flow demands from each throttle body, so opening the snorkels up further may not help. If you have a spare airbox cover, it would be a good experiment to try.

Somewhere between the Cherokee NF, the Nantahala, and the "Cherohala" (Qualla Indian Boundary), the F'karewe tribe gathers to ponder their position; "Where the F'k-are-we?"

A recurring theme: The Last Chance Texaco . . .

Hey Docc You hit the nail on the head. I pulled the relays dried with hair drier, Sprayed them for now with Ams oil metal protector. Lights came on and bike started up. The #2 relay is the 2nd from the rear of the bike. Thanks for the help.

This is classic Relay#2 failure ("headlight" relay) on a V11. You have four relays on your 1997 1100 Sport-i (the V11 has one more to accommodate the sidestand safety /Neutral Switch function). One of your relays is equivalent to the V11 Relay#2: headlight, brake light, tachometer, dash warning lights for battery and oil pressure, and likely also the "charging reference" (which is why your battery went dead). Score some of those High Current G8HE OMRON micro-ISO relays and inspect the bases the relays plug into (inspect, clean, treat with Caig DeOxit®).

I had a good experience with Jet Hot if that's the route you decide on. Good customer service and quality of work, fair price and turnaround time. They even sent a handful of small coated sample pipes for me to review before making a final decision. Hopefully the photos still show up in my old post with the end results. https://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?/topic/19301-cafe-sport-arrives-in-socal/page/3/ A few things I would note: I didn't mask anything off so I had to grind a bit off of the coating at the connecting points to get a good fit when reassembling. The coating focuses on being heat resistant not scratch resistant. You can get scratches on the finish. I have a few from the multiple times I had to remove the exaust system during maintenance. Nothing too bad, it's not like the coating is delicate. You just can't easily paint over or polish out scratches yourself. Because of the rough matte finish it's a bid harder to clean. Especially if you get oil or tar on it. Not as easy as wiping down a smooth surface. The looks have really held up. Been about 5 years now. No fading, corrosion or any discoloration at all. I've noticed no negative effects on heat retention or performance of the exhaust. Overall I am happy with the results.

Our time at the SSR is pretty much in these pix: The Ride to the XVII SSR and Back If you care, hover cursor over pix for captions. Of course, there are too many; that’s how you know that they are genuine and from me, not some imposter. In defense of what may seem a complete lack of discipline, I started with 500+, so it could have been worse. Ciao! Bill

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