Kane

This may be overthinking it, but is there any heat or load problem with running 4w bulbs in the V11’s Veglia speedometer and tachometer? I don’t find a wattage spec in the manual for these bulbs, but the parts catalog shows 12v3w bulbs. The closest to that at my local auto parts store is 12v4w. I know it’s not much of a difference, but I have heard that speedo parts are pretty sensitive to bulb heat. The previous bulbs that were in there and failed were LED’s with no markings. Are there better LED alternatives that you have had success with? Amazon has a bunch of dome light / dash light 1.5w LED bulbs for cheap, like 10 bulbs for $10. Any luck using these? I’m guessing that 1.5w LED may be gentler with heat if that is an issue with the Veglia gauges.

I’m holding three aces and I’ll lead with a V11

Thanks, I’ll take it. C.C. Rider.

I recently did a suspension upgrade by adding Racetech fork springs and an Ohlins rear shock that came off of a Scura. Big improvement in the ride of the ‘01 Greenie with these on it. The Ohlins feels great. Also did a tire change before this, going from a 170 rear to a Road 5 160, and I really like the overall set-up of the bike. One thing to mention in case people would like to do the shock swap for a Scura Ohlins, is the Ohlins remote reservoir is a bit longer than the OEM unit, and will mount butt-up to the pork chop to allow sufficient clearance for the throttle body linkage. At least that was how it went for me. I am very happy with the swap, and I even like the color clash of the gold shock reservoir and the red and green of the bike.

While I sort out the details for the Speedhut set up I went ahead and ordered a replacement angle drive from this eBay vendor. It was inexpensive compared to the few others that I had seen, fast shipping between San Jose and L.A., and it’s the only one that I saw that had the screw down collar and flange built into it. The Ducati drive that I found that supposedly works is just the plastic elbow and interior plastic worm gear, and the one on MG Cycle looks like it has a screw down plate. This one with the flange and collar is like the one that was originally on my bike. Anyway, I epoxy coated the disk bit, installed, and the speedo is back, albeit still sans the trip meter. Thanks very much for the link to this part. He looks like a good parts source. Cheers

My V11, she's my Green Goddess. And when I'm with her I feel like a god! Goddamn these are great bikes!

Yeah, the "Desmo service" will put a hurt on the pocketbook!

Here she is, Chuck:

My first bike was a Guzzi and I have a feeling that my last bike will be a Guzzi. I bought a second-hand ‘75 850-T when I was a senior in high school. I knew about Guzzis from seeing pictures of them in the motorcycle books that I used to drool over in the library. I had some money, I wanted a bike, and the 850-T was local and cheap. It had Dunstall mufflers and was very loud. As I was taking it away at the sellers apartment building his neighbors were on their balcony applauding to see it leave. I had the bike for about three years while I lived between Palo Alto and San Francisco. It was my first bike and I was pretty rough with it. I low-sided that bike more than once, and it spent much of its time with me parked on the streets of San Francisco, rain or shine. In spite of my terrible stewardship, that bike always started and never failed. A friend and myself pulled the heads and barrels to change the rings as the compression tested low, and we were blown away to see chrome lined barrels. They looked pristine! Eventually I got into Triumphs and sold the bike to a friend’s dad who was going to use it for a Morgan kit car. I went from various Triumphs to Japanese sport bikes to Harleys, then to a wife and kids and stopped riding for ridiculously long time. I don’t know what happened to my old 850-T, but it left such a great impression on me and I had such great times bombing around on it as a young fool that when I got the bug to start riding again I decided it would be on a Guzzi. I knew a guy who had inherited a V11 that a tenant of his had abandoned. He wanted to sell it but it was pretty rough, but I was intrigued. Seeing that bike was what led me to find THIS PLACE, where you good people educated me on the V11. I began looking and found my own Greenie not too long after. This bike has affirmed everything I knew somewhere down in my bones from long ago about how great Guzzis are. After living with this bike for a few years I can say how great the spine frame bikes are. From The Daytona and Dr. John, to the Ghezzi-Brian Folgore I have been able to look at, the spine frame shines and rules. Recently I had the opportunity to sort of go full-circle when I was able to acquire Guzzi Bob Dickman’s old 850-T3. Bob was the real deal and put close to 180k miles on that bike, plus lots more miles on his other Guzzis! The dude was always riding! Well, Bob’s 180k+ mile Guzzi runs fine and is a blast to ride. A testimony to how well these bikes are made, and how a good owner/rider can keep them going. I had the chance to ride an 8 valve Griso, and I want one of these pretty bad, it’s a very fast bike and really fun to ride. As great as an old Tonti frame is and a more modern Griso, my spine frame V11 is pure motorcycle joy to ride.

docc, thank you very much for this illustrative post. It’s really helpful to see that part out of the gearbox. Things are much clearer now.

Egad! I think I am beginning to understand Rolf’s warning. Thank you!

Yeah, that’s the same diagram I saw, part #5. Didn’t realize that the two washers are included with #5. Hmmm.

Yes, you were very lucky! Kind of crazy how the washer settled onto the drain plug like that! It sounds like a thrust washer falling into the gearbox is a risk involved with removing that piece.

@Rolf Halvorsen, thank you for this, and for the links and info on a simpler and better cable alternative to the problematic angle drive. Why do you say to not remove the male threaded part that comes out of the gearbox? If I am not going to use the speedometer cable drive, why not get the cleanest look for the gearbox by removing the part and plugging the hole with a simple filler plug? What’s the concern?

docc, thank you for that important information! I had looked at that thread but must have missed that post. When I pull the protruding drive component—the threaded male piece—from the gearbox will the two thrust washers come out with it, or will I need to somehow fish them out of the gearbox hole? Are they stacked upon each other or in different places? i don’t know why I can’t find a clear diagram of these pieces in the on-line parts catalogs. The “Dash” page shows the angle drive and the male threaded piece that comes out of the gearbox case, called an “odometer gear”, but no thrust washers. And the “Transmisson cage” page shows the view from the left side and even omits the oil filler plug. What am I missing? I am using the files on the AF1Racing site. Thanks, too, for posting the link for the cap to plug the hole. That looks like a clean option to match the oil filler plug.

Yessir! I feel like I am rediscovering the joy of listening to music. After streaming for so long I’d forgotten the experience of the LP as a journey, the sequence of songs and the intermission between sets as one turns the record over. I am excited to build a collection of jazz vinyl, which I have none of but for one Mose Allison record. Really looking forward to listening to some Rudy Van Gelder recordings, finding some vintage Blue Note records, or vinyl reissues if such things exist.

Vinyl! After many years of listening to CDs, and then to streaming, I am finally back to listening to lovely analog vinyl records! Yay! How I went for so long away from this is a shame. I recently scored a second hand system, cleaned it up and got it going. It’s a Technics SL-QD33 turntable through a Nakamichi SR-4A receiver, and a pair of Vienna Acoustics Mozart model loudspeakers. These speakers sound really good. The system is in the lower level of the house yet fills the whole house with sound. Everything sounds so much better. I was also able to acquire a nice collection of classical recordings, and am in the process of finding records. It’s really great to be able to listen again to some of the records that I grew up with:

Hi folks. I would like to ditch the speedo drive and need a little advice on the best way to seal up the transmission case where drive was attached. Soon after getting my ‘01 V11 back on the road my speedo stopped working. When attached to a drill chuck the cable spins the speedo’s needle , so the problem must be the drive at the tranny. Anyway, I know that the plastic angled part is prone to failure, and replacements are expensive and hard to find (I think there is a Ducati part still available that is the same, but it’s like $70 +). Also my trip meter has never worked on my speedo, a stock white face Veglia. It would be really nice to have a trip meter! So, rather than sending the speedo off for repair, and dicking around with repairing/replacing the drive (which seems to be an endangered species), I am thinking of going the Speedhut GPS route. After removing the angled drive and the shaft piece, what I have left in place on the transmission case is the piece with the male thread that the angled drive and shaft attach to. I have not been able to find any parts diagrams that show this piece, and I am not really sure if it’s part of the drive as a whole, or what it is doing with the transmission. So, if I am going to eliminate the speedo drive from the top of the transmission case and go with a GPS speedo, do I simply cap off the top of the male threaded bit, or should I remove this piece from the transmission case? And if so, what can I expect to be taking out, are there any other pieces that need to come out? And lastly, what is the best thing to use to plug up the hole? I have seen many threads here on replacing the speedo, but have yet to find specific info on plugging up the case where the drive once was. Perhaps it’s so obvious that it goes without saying, and I am just a dullard with trepidations when it comes to doing anything that could result in drive bits being left behind and getting mixed up inside of the transmission. Thank you for any guidance and advice on this!

Very weird. I thought the tabs were carried over from the Centauros and we’re there until the later V11 long frame. Every factory parts diagram I have seen for the red frame era bikes shows the frame with the tab and the bracket. An anomaly.

The torque of engine mount bolts has been suspect in cases developing cracks in some Ducatis. I have heard that the area that cracks on V11 transmission cases is thin walled, and the top mounting bracket should help. It’s a bummer this happened, especially on a newly acquired bike. These old bikes are great and worth sorting out. I would definitely pull the gearbox and have it welded. It’s also an opportunity to rebuild the tranny and, as was previously mentioned, have it freshly sealed as after 20 years the old sealant will fail and cause more leaks. Fresh sealant for your gearbox will be good to have!

Better detail:

This sexy beast is currently in the showroom at Pro Italia motorcycles in Glendale, California. If you’re in the area, I encourage you to go see it in person. It’s really lovely. I have never seen an MGS-01, but this may be the closest I get. They are asking $30k. I may start playing the lottery. I’ll need a big win to buy this beauty and to pay for the divorce that will be sure to follow.

Opps. Thought you meant the fork springs. Shift spring works as a direct replacement, at least the one I got.

Racetech springs work pretty good. They have this bike in their data base.