Nihontochicken

Good to see your first ride starting off from the sidewalk! Given my steep driveway with no turnaround room leading down to a steep, high crown road with fall line at a right angle, I have to back out my V11 and turn it 90 degrees to put it on the sidewalk to get started. It's rewarding to see someone do similar, if not regularly or for the same reason.

No, though the Schauer charger is stone age tech, it was a premium home charger in it's time (about 1980) and respected for not grenading when used for starting. I also have a Schumacher knock-off from about the same time that I wouldn't care to risk starter smoke testing. Still, I wonder why the Schauer thought the battery was fully charged when it was far from it. I suppose the least frustrating path forward is to buy a new battery as well as an Odessey approved new charger. Any source suggestions?

Thanks, will take some time to do all the disconnects and pull the battery, not terribly service friendly, but, of course, to be expected in an Italian scooter.

The charger can supply up to 15 amps depending on what it senses on the far end, but it is an older, pre-silicon device. It will continuously decrease the amperage as the battery charges, but apparently the battery wasn't fully charged (far from it) when the charger though it was.

Before going out for a putt today on my 2004 V11 Naked, I measured the static battery voltage, 12.66 volts. Turned on the ignition with headlamp on low beam, 12.04 volts. Kinda low, so following some suggestion I think I remember from somewhere, I left the ignition on for maybe five to ten minutes and turned it off and measured the voltage, 12.44 volts. I then charged it with my non-high zoot Schauer battery charger for about half an hour, charge starting at 14.33 volts and 4 amps, ending at near zero amps. At the conclusion, the static voltage (ignition off, charger disconnected) was 13.05 volts, so good to go? Guess not. When I hit the starter button, it turned over, but failed to start, so I turned off the ignition, waited for a bit, and gave it another go. Click. Oops, try again. Click. $#*+!!! So I hooked up the charger again and used it to get the engine started. Is it typical for an Odessey battery (partial pic below) to fake it like this? Dunno how old it is, bought the scooter about a year ago. https://i.imgur.com/KerR9xr.jpg So I'm guessing I need a new battery. Suggestions of where for a good price while avoiding a Chinese fake? TIA!

You are forgiven. There are three most beautiful sport bikes in the universe. In reverse order they are (IMHO) the Moto Guzzi V11, the Norton Commando, and the 70s Ducati 750 Sport in black and Duc yellow with the leading axle forks. I feel lucky to have at least scored a V11. Hope you get the Norton home safely and enjoy many miles on it.

Okay, I finally located some 7mm hex head tools. The first was in a pack of ignition wrenches, but swinging this around the ground bolt looked like it would get perhaps uncomfortably close to the blitzenwerke battery positive electrode. So then I found a 7mm socket in a set of small such tools, and I proceeded to move the ground lead out of harm's way, to the back corner of the box: Of course, the whole box is grounded, and so any contact with the battery positive pole will result in regrettable fireworks, but at least there isn't the realistic possibility of wires rubbing themselves into self-immolation. BTW, last week I went for a putt, and the starter weakly hacked twice and died. Battery was drained, dunno why, either I haven't been riding enough (a few miles once a week), or I haven't been keeping the alternator happy with enough revs while tootling downtown. I have no magic high zoot chip controlled charger, just a 40 year old Schauer car battery charger that never even dreamed of silicon. Putting it to work, it showed a 10 amp draw when initially hooked up, but steadily dropped to well under an amp in a couple of hours. After the charge and a week later, the battery showed 12.74 volts with the ignition key off, 12.14 with it on (headlight on low beam). The engine fired right up, and I put on a few miles about town trying to keep the revs over 3k. Upon shutdown (ignition key off), the VOM registered 12.99 volts. So has my battery safely passed through the valley of the shadow of death? Inquiring minds!

Yeah, I noticed the inner tube idea in an earlier post, but it looked like I had enough free space to not need it, perhaps I'll reconsider. As an alternative, I went to unfasten the ECU ground wire and reattach it to the back corner of the aluminum box to avoid the short possibility entirely. However, an 8mm wrench was too big and a 6mm wrench too small. Did those uniquely artistic Italians really employ a 7mm bolt head??? The mind boggles.

I went for Plan B. Rather than trying to fight to reattach the leads and the adapter flange to the battery in tight space afforded in the bike, I removed the battery, attached the adapters on the bench, reinstalled the battery in the scooter, and then connected all the leads on top, enjoying much more finger room in doing so. See below: I think there is enough clearance, the connection stack exceeds the top plane of the battery only by the thickness of the securing nut, and it doesn't appear to touch the seat pan above. So now I can use alligator clips to charge the battery, rather than the bullet connector set-up I had laboriously installed before, which would do me no good out on the road. Does anyone see any problems with this (I haven't road tested it as of yet). Though I've been called a flaming asshole before, I'd rather not give physical proof to the assertion. BTW, this item is also available on Fleabay for under nine bucks shipped (Odyssey Battery L Terminal Adapter).

A step in the right direction, styling wise, but still short of a V11. The big question is why can't Guzzi do something like this themselves??? Too addicted to the Weird Harold School of Design? https://www.ipothesys.com/

Extraneous comment from the peanut gallery: That is a fine looking scooter even by today's standards. IMO it beats anything Guzzi's made since the V11 (MGS-01 aside, hey, there's one for sale right now for only fifty two kilobucks! ). Good fortune and happy riding with your retro-mount.

PM sent, another fishing cast!

C'mon, Pete, quit holding back, tell us what you really think. A bit more seriously, has there been any better Guzzi since the V11? The newer models may have tech advancements, albeit combined with butt ugly styling. Sorry, the new V85 is a step in the right direction, but still no cigar.

PM sent Wed., 4/10 at 12:27 PM.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2002-Moto-Guzzi-V11-Scura-/253972262179?hash=item3b21ed2d23%3Ag%3AUMgAAOSwanZb5SWT&vxp=mtr&nma=true&si=OonQnDutxFVbRc6qO0B4ryDxjls%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557 Scamramento, shoulda known!