VR6Dave

I have a front header with crossover from my 2004 Ballabio for sale. I'm asking $50 plus shipping. PM me if interested. Dave

With 8.4 gallons of fuel what kind of range is expected? My Tiger 1050 is capable of 225 to 250 miles of highway at a moderate pace. I would hope the Stelvio would get 42 to 45 mpg under the same conditions. My Ballabio gets 38 to 42 mpg so I would hope the newer enginer architecture was capable of more. I like the wheels and some of the updates, headlights are not my favorite. Anyone here have the new Norge 8V? Just wondering what they think. From the reviews it looks like customer gripes have been addressed. Dave

Up for sale is my '04 red Ballabio. New Michelin Pilot Road with minimal miles, jsut scrubbed in. Cracked headlight lens, a scuff on the tank and a non functioning tank level sensor. I replaced the speedo since the odometer went out. Bike has approximately 15,000 miles. I have a factory servicemanual, Roper plate, maintenance stand, replaced all the relays, made a remote transmission vent, Hyperpro suspension kit, and DariusLab LED taillight conversion. It also has some Racer X headers w/o front crossover. Original springs included. It also has the heavy duty head protectors and Buell pegs for a little more comfort. Original guards and pegs included. $5000 OBO. $4500 OBO Original front crossover also for sale, $150.included. I'll try and upload pictures soon. Dave

I've been in this dealer a couple of times since, usually when my work takes me to the area. Everytime I've been there I did not see any Guzzis on the floor nor did anyone offer assistance. They did have Aprilias mixed in with the Victory bikes and four wheelers. I don't see them listed as a dealer on the Guzzi site anymore. I wonder why? Dave

Due to the gloomy economy I feel I must sell my Ballabio. The announcement by GM to shutdown for 9 weeks will surely impact my job so I regretably offer it up for sale to a community that I know will cherish it. I am the second owner of a red Ballabio that includes: Roper plate Mistral CF Oval Exhaust Mistral Crossover RacerX Header pipes w/o front crossover Mistral exhaust header flanges Power Commmander K&N Filter Heavy duty head guards Cycle Venture luggage rack and small tail pack New Michelin Pilot Road tires 2 oil filters and 2 bottles of factory rear differential oil w/moly Factory Service manual Reflective wheel stripes Buell footpegs Known issues: Odometer quit at 8817 and I estimate 15k miles total(Ihave a Veglia speedo assembly I was going to swap out with the original) Sometimes you have to start the bike with the handlebar all the way to the right Low fuel sesnor is bad, light does not work Scuff on the tank near the fuel pump from garage accident Previous owner gaffed the wiring to the fuel pump when removing the tank, wiring is not the prettiest I am asking $8k out the door with a certified check, I prefer pickup if at all possible. Email me if you have questions. Thanks.

Well they had a drawing for a 4 wheeler and then most everyone left except the Guzzi guys. Most of us spoke with the Piaggio rep. He was upbeat about them selling Moto Guzzi and Aprilia. From what I gathered Moto Guzzi will be cruisers and touring oriented and if you want a sports bike from the Piaggio group them Aprilia is it. The dealer did not seem interested at all in selling Guzzis to Guzzi people. No one approached the Guzzi crowd except the Piaggio rep. It is a shame, I hope they can make a go of it. On a bright note, I test rode a Shiver and liked it. It made all the right noises, was light and quick but had a flat washboard seat.

I heard through the grapevine the new dealer in Rogers, AR will be holding an open house. I stopped in about a month ago and they let me ride a 8V Griso. They had a Stelvio parked outside and one or two more bikes inside. I hope they have more on hand, if the Griso is the right color I may buy one economy be damned.(By then CHANGE will have taken effect) Dave

I popped in after seeing a Stelvio parked outside. I'm glad I did. They let me ride a Griso 8V. I WANT ONE! Power was smooth and linear but didn't feel like what they claim. The instrument cluster is simple and clean: Thank God its not gaudy like the one on the Breva. The position reminds me of my friends S3, forward on the bar a bit with a sporty foot position. The seat was firm but shaped well. It handled better than I thought it would with the longer wheelbase. They all seemed pretty nice and enthusiastic. I hope this works out for the best. Dave

I have a faulty odometer also and found a German Site that offers an electrical speedo/tach setup. They have drawings online that show a magnetic pickup that screws into the transmission where the stock speedo cable does. I have emailed them but have yet to hear a peep. Anyone know who they are? I seemed to have misplaced the link. Dave

I was reading on a Triumph Tiger site about suspension upgrades and someone mentioned these guys: TechnoFlex! I was wondering if anyone, especially the guys in Europe, have heard anything about them? The poster seemed to liken them to Ohlins. Thanks. Dave

I'm gonna need new tires soon and was considering the Diablo Stradas since it got such good reviews. The Roadsmarts were rated as good if I remmeber but the Stradas are a single compound and the Dunlop dual compound. Does that sound correct? I weigh roughly what you do Mike so I'm interested to know your impression and results. I'd like to get at least 8k out of a set. I had 6k on the Z6s when I replaced them for my CO trip. I didn't think I could make it there and back so I got a set of M3s from the dealer you mentioned. BTW, I can't remember his name but one of the parts guy will match internet prices. Dave PS, there is talk of a Triumph get together in the TX Hill Country in October.

I have posted pics here: Colorado Pics! Not all of them are up yet, I've been very busy lately. My friend is of the same opinion as you jrt, he used to fly helicopters in the military and he commented on the number of private jets at the airport. Get rid of all the rich socialites and it would probably be a nice, quaint town. There is quite a bit of beauty in that area. I would like to go back and hit some of the roads and scenery we didn't have time for. Maybe get into Utah a little. Dave

Mike, There should be 3 of us Saturday. One Ballabio, one early LeMans, and A Speed Triple. No luck with the Scura. Dave

I'll be there. Any ideas on routes after lunch? Dave

A friend of mine and I travelled to Colorado the first week in July. Oklahoma was pretty uneventful scenery wise so I won't bore anyone with the few pictures I took there. We met in Clayton, NM and camped at the man made lake there. They uncovered dinosaur tracks trapped in stone when they dug the spillway so this was an extra attraction. We left the following day for Gunnison via a long, scenic route. We saw Capulin Volacno in NM, crossed the Rio Grande and up thorugh Creede and Lake City on our way. I was surprised to get as good as 50 mpg in the mountains. The first day in Coloroado we rode a loop that took us west along the Gunnison River to Gateway, CO. We were 8 miles from Utah at this point before we turned south and headed back. A few hours were spent in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison. The next day we headed north to Marble where they quarried the marble for the Lincoln Memorial and Wshington Monument. From there it was through Aspen and up to the Continenetal Divide. We crossed the Divide twice that day. We broke camp the following day and headed for home, made it back to Arkansas in under 24 hours despite a slow moving storm. The seat on the V11 is not made for comfort or touring. I didn't sit on the bike for 2 weeks after that trip! I'll plan another trip out there for sure but maybe take another bike. An excellent reference we used can be found here: http://www.arkansasrider.com/coloradoguide.html And information about someof the sites: http://www.nps.gov/cavo/ http://www.claytonlakestatepark.com/ http://www.nps.gov/blca/ I'll try and post pictures when I figure out how to compress them to 200kb.

Did you get the light from Dariuslab? I got an LED unit w/o the integrated turn signals from eBay. The guy was located in Italy and was reasonable for price and shipping wasn't too long considering the distance. It was an easy install and the connectors hooked right up. More work to get to the light than to connect it. Dave

I can't recall where I read it but someone had insisted that the SG rating be followed for oils used in our bikes. The supporting argument was that oils such as SH and later do not have vital additives designed for the valvetrain/cam setup of the V11 motor. I came across this today: Oil Additives Is this what everyone was talking about as being vital? If so it looks like you can run any oil available with this as long as it meets the other criteria. Am I wrong? Dave

I recommend Hagon shocks, I have a pair of Nitros on the Bonneville. They are quality pieces and did what the IKON and factory shocks could not. I was looking at getting a shock but decided to refit the bike with the Hyperpro kit. Let us know how it turns out. Dave

pasotibbs, Do I have to pull the fuel pump assembly from the tank? Could you describe the check circuit you made? Thanks. Dave

I jumped the plug on the bike side and the dash light came on. I connected the ohmeter to the plug on the tank side and did not get a signal. I left it attached for about 2 minutes. How long is long enough? Thanks. Dave

My instruction booklet recommended 150mm air gap. Is there some concensus as to what it needs to be based upon rider weight? I ended up with 110mm air gap but I'm on the heavy side. I think that was roughly a little over 400mL per leg. I shold have everything buttoned up and ready to test this week, just wanted to know what people felt with regard to the air gap? I placed a pvc spacer in the groove on the fork cap so it was flush with the lip. I noticed one of the stock spings was worn on one of the coils where it had rubbed with the tube. Is it possible the fork tube is tweaked? Dave

I have checked to make sure its plugged in, going over the bike before a trip to CO. It was plugged in so now I'll check the bulb. If that's not it does anyone have recommendations? How can I check the low fuel sender/sensor? Thanks. Dave

I was pushing the limits of range on my bike and was confident I could make it further until it started to sputter on the highway. I pulled off and it would not fire. Dave

I've ridden the 1200S and noticed the same things Steve G. has, especially the foot pegs. The shifter was very close to the sidestand spur. If the instruments are more reliable than my ITI gages I'll be happy but I don't much care for the way they are styled. The one I rode had a metal muffler that was machined to somewhat resemble carbon fiber, it had a nice tone to it. I did not in town the throttle was either more sensitive than the V11 or the programming for injection was off. It was more herky jerky at low speed creeping in traffic. But the 1200 motor did not seem to have that dip/flat spot the V11 does. The suspension was firm but comfortable and the gearbox was silky smooth. Change the pegs, paint that chrome strip black, put high double pipes like the photos on the website and I'd be happy. I'm just not ready to give up the Ballabio. Dave