Kane

Thank you! I just checked that out and yes it makes a difference, definitely reduces the Longhorn effect! Why didn’t I think of that, sitting in front of me all this time! Out for the country and in for the city? And no restrictions on the brake lever like when turning the stems up. Cheers!

Your Greenie is a real beauty, and such a deal, too! If I didn’t already have mine I’d be quite tempting to fly-and-ride to the Maritimes and ride that beauty back. A Green V11 with a matching Magni fairing? Try to get Magni to even answer the phone! C’mon. Hard to believe that you still have it.

Thanks very much for posting that pic. That looks like a pretty good design: almost flush with the end of bar end weights, and what looks like a ball-and-socket fitment between the mirror and the clamp. Sweet! The Napoleon bar end mirrors on my bike provide a really good view, just road and no elbow, but they do stick out, albeit a cool cafe look. In California it’s been legal for a few years now to “lane share” with the cages, and the cages pile up quicker than shipping containers at the L.A. Harbor. So mirror slapping is an issue when The Green Goddess is wearing a Texas Longhorn headdress. But the view from the longer reach of the Napoleon mirrors is quite good.....maybe I need to work more on my front end shimmy traffic dance. I’ve never been totally comfortable blowing down the road between the lanes of cars and trucks, it’s one of the few anxieties that I have when riding around here. I commute a few times a week on the 60 to the 10 in my truck going to farmers markets in the Santa Monica area. The traffic sucks! If I don’t leave by 5am I am screwed. Yet I am passed all morning by “lane sharing” CHP bikes and Harley dressers and Goldwing types of bikes slicing through traffic like a shaky knife through butter, and those things are cruise ship wide.

Btw, I see that you’re in middle Tennessee, You OK? Hope so!

Thanks for more good advice, docc. I have the original stalk mirror but have never had them on the bike. Your bar end mirrors look a bit more tucked in than the Napoleons that are on my bike. Interesting that you’ve taken off the Stucci fly screen and are running around nekkid again. Why go nekkid when you had a perfectly fine bikini on? I actually recently covered my front end with a matching green Stucci flyscreen that I found N.O.S. I couldn’t friggin’ believe that I found one. I like the look, for sure. Not sure how much of a difference it’s making, but it’s cool to have on the bike. Here’s little Miss Kane on the Green Goddess just after fitting the Stucci:

Very cool! So corks go with wine, and wine goes with pasta.......how about a west coast Guzzi run, we can call it “The Spaghetti Western Run”!

Docc, that’s an intertesing and cool pic. What’s going on there? I really envy you guys with nice shop areas to work on your bikes. Corks are so handy! They are also useful for stopping low end gurgles in saxophones!

Docc, thanks for that advice, I don’t have the originals, just the bar end mirrors. Not much luck finding them on the net. Harpers shows only the weight retaining rod. Gio, thank you! I will look at your ad and PM you. What a great resource this place is!

Gio, that’s a great looking V11. Did you paint or have the valve covers and the alternator cover painted? If so, and regarding paint codes, was it hard to match the red of the frame and pork chops? I often stare at my bike and think how cool it would be to match the red to the the rims and various covers.

Hi folks, I am considering removing the Napoleon bar end mirrors on my ‘01 V11 to narrow the bike’s profile for L.A. traffic. The Napoleons work and look great, but they stick out pretty good and when folded up interfere with using the brake lever. They’ve been on the bike since I got it, and I assume that they are adding the desired mass to reduce the bar vibration that I have heard about. I did a search here to see what people are using on their V11’s, and Manic Salamander bar end weights keep coming up, but they seem to be unavailable. What is the bar end weight that works well on these bikes? and/or does anyone have a source for the Manic Salamanders? Harpers sells some for $12.95 for 7/8” bars. My bars are the stock clip-ons. I assume that they are 7/8” but I have yet to remove the mirrors to measure the inside diameter of the bars. Any recommendations? I guess I could just stick a couple of wine corks in the ends (Chianti, of course!) and be done with it. Thank you!

Thanks very much, docc. I see it clearly from your pic and description. From what I have gathered from reading numerous posts here, it seems that people feel that the red frame triangular brace reduces the chance of the gearbox case cracking (I have been told that the cracking occurs at a spot where the case is milled thin). Does the bracing on either the red or black frames help with handling? I read knumbnutz as qualifying his well behaved red frame bike to the great box brace. Is that the purpose for the braces on the black frames? Do the black frame tubular braces serve the same function in terms of protecting the case and/or handling as the red frame triangular bracket brace, the one often missing from our early V11 bikes? I wonder why Guzzi would omit it on so many of the red frames, and then reintroduce something similar on the black frames.

Wow, very interesting. A couple of questions, please: “gearbox bracing”, does this refer to the triangular bracket that is shown in the parts catalog diagrams yet is missing from so many red frame V11s? Something else...a mod? How are you able to shave off 35kg? That seems like a lot! I would really love and appreciate to see or hear/read how this is done and results on these fun but a bit portly rides. Thanks!

My V11 that I bought with low miles and in pretty clean condition was missing the odometer stem. These are obviously shoddy items. Why replace It with the same crappy piece? I ignore the trip meter and just count up from the odometer.

Wow. What a beauty! Were the square fin barrels original to the 1000S? Great job!

Thank you very much, Doc! I was going to remove it as it’s doing nothing there. Wow! I sure am glad that I asked! I almost didn’t because I don’t want to eat up time and bandwidth with more dumb questions. Why on Earth would they tap the screw hole all the way through the gear case? That seems like it’s introducing another potential leak source.

So, I am guessing that these are there to either hold breather hoses or the gremlins’ drinks?:

Thank you. Sounds like she needs a top-up and a watchful eye. I was going to use Belray 80w90 unless there’s something better.

This is a pretty basic question: on a V11, how much oil should show (how high up the window) in the gearbox level indicator window? I’ve just noticed some seepage dripping from the drain plug on to the exhaust pipe cross-over after the bike’s been sitting for a few days. It also looks a little grimy around the housing gasket. With the bike on its side stand the indicator window shows no oil, but with the bike upright oil shows at the bottom of the window. I’m just trying to get a sense of how badly she’s leaking. I guess the thing to do is top it off and watch it for a while. When you fill the gearbox, how high up the level indicator window do you fill to, and would the bike be on the side stand or placed upright for that? Thanks!

On the L.A. CL, a good looking ‘86 LeMans 1000: https://losangeles.craigslist.org/ant/mcy/d/tehachapi-1986-moto-guzzi-lemans-1000/7072341862.html Are those forks, the black legs and rubber boots, correct? I don’t recall seeing a LeMans with a front end like that.

Do you know if these will bolt up to and work on an ‘01 V11? Thanks

Scud, it looks like your bike is also for sale on the Los Angeles CL: https://losangeles.craigslist.org/lac/mpo/d/los-angeles-moto-guzzi-v11-sport-scura/7063226027.html

Thank you for making these distinctions. I had thought it was a simple idea of enabling more air flow to boost power. I’m learning again from this place! Thanks for all of the great info and breaking these things down. Cheers!

Dang. That’s doesn’t sound so good. I guess looks aren’t everything. I actually like the stock look, but sometimes I wish the bike’s profile was a bit stealthier. Thanks, guys, for cueing me in. The bike’s running pretty good with the stock systems, so I’ll leave it be for now. Cheers!

Hello all, I’ve been tempted to remove the side panels on my V11 and replace the stock air intake with two small K&N type of filters. I’m thinking it looks kinda cool, more of a stripped-down cafe racer thing, it might afford bettter access to adjust the rear shock, and might save a little weight. Is there better airflow with two small filters? Any change in performance either way? Hope everyone’s 20/20 has been grand so far! Thank you

Good to know. Thank you