WitchCityBallabio

70,000 miles and still going strong...

Sorry about resurrecting a dead thread. Did you end up buying it? I picked one up and restored it and it's a fun little bike. FWIW, I hit 62 mph with mine on a recent Moto Giro which I don't think is unreasonable for a 125. I wouldn't want to run it up there all day, but it will do it if pushed. Here is the restored end result at the Giro..

Looking for a Quat D ExBox exhaust. I'm going to be putting the Ghezzi Brian Monza kit on my Ballabio and would like use that exhaust to keep the tail super clean. I have a set of Mistral Carbon mufflers with less than 200 miles on them along with a Mistral X over that I would be willing to trade or make a partial trade if interested. Also looking for a LeMans top for clamp. Thanks, Doug

A couple of recent shots of the Ballabio. Still purring like a kitten at 50,000 miles.

If you haven't yet installed the Sylvania White Star super white bulb, you should try that. I find with that bulb, the lighting is really pretty good.

FWIW, the HyperPro unit is spectacular....

If they made that second version, I'd buy it tomorrow!

I don't know. It's not that much different than the seat on the Bellagio. It's possible that they used a variation for the V7 I suppose. If they didn't, they sure should.

I love the seat. Looks sharp. I might have to have one of these things.

Ouij, I'm happy for you for your new adventure. I really was hoping to get to ride with you once, but maybe down the road. Best of luck! Aloha!

Yeah, I did move those up above the intakes and tightened them up. The guy that wired the bike put them there. Looked bad that way.

It's an LM1 rear fender slightly bobbed. The tail light is a Lucas reproduction.

As it turned out, I did not paint it a "candy" color. In fact, it's a metallic Chevrolet color.

Yep. The Wirth's are progressive. They were actually pretty reasonably priced. The FAC dampers on the other hand.....

As far as I know, it's still the stock cam. Unless the previous owner changed it. I'm thinking of putting a B10 in it over the winter though.

Nice report Orson, I picked up a V50III this year, and if the V7 Classic is a tenth as fun as that bike, it should be a winner. I'm dying to put on a set of sticky Avon's on the V50III and give it a proper thrashing in the twisties.

I would describe the handling like that of a somewhat heavier V50III. The steering is a little slower than the V11, but it tracks well. I used YSS shocks on the back and the FAC dampers and Wirth springs on the front and the bike rides and soaks up the bumps like a dream. So far, I really like the RAM clutch and if they make a version of it for the V11 Ballabio, I would definitely think hard about it when it's time to replace the clutch. One thing for certain, you definitely get more torque reaction from the shaft than you do with the V11. I can almost never feel the shaft effect on the V11, but definitely notice it on the V1000. The brakes with those 300mm full floater discs, 4 pot Brembo's, and the new Brembo 16mm MC and stainless/teflon lines are nothing short of spectacular. I think it brakes better than the Ballabio. I found one finger was pretty much all it ever took to haul the thing down. I suspect that also has a lot to do with the weight. Even though the V1000 motor is a small valve motor, the thing pulls hard. I suspect because a fair amount of weight has been eliminated from it and that the power to weight ratio is up a bit. The bike is definitely smaller and tighter than the Ballabio. When I got back on the V11 after riding it for a bit, I felt like I was on a Norge in comparison. I did 100mph on it on the way home with it and there seemed to be plenty more. I guess I would attribute that to the PHF36's and K&N filters. The Lafranconi Comps have a nice bark to them too! Overall, it doesn't feel that much slower than the Ballabio.

Well after a year, here it is. Overall, it was a pretty fun project and the '79 seemed to me to be a very nice machine to work on. After this has sunk in a bit, it might be time to start looking for a nice clapped out Eldo to resurrect.

I got my tank through MG Cycle, but they get it from HT Moto in Germany I think. A little less money than the Tank Shop and you can actually get one. I've seen a Tank Shop tank in person and it was beautiful. The welds on the Tank Shop tank are definitely better/neater. It wasn't an issue to me as I'm painting the tank and it was body worked to make it smooth, but if you are going to leave it polished, it's worth knowing about it. For what it's worth though, the welds are pretty far under the tank and it's very hard to see them.

I used the HyperPro progressive spring on my Sachs shock and it transformed it. If you're looking for a nice upgrade while the 3D is in R&D, I highly recommend the spring. Todd probably has those too.

If he doesn't have the emulsion based shock in stock, then good luck. I have a friend who has been waiting nearly 8 months for the original shock (not 3D) for his Triumph which is basically the same part number as the Guzzi's. He was told by HyperPro, that they retooled for the 3D shock and there was no specific time that the standard shock would be available as they would have to retool back to the standard shock. The 3D shock looks to be very good and it will be great when/if it's available for the V11. Just hope that Todd has some still in stock.

Hey John! Did you finally get all the bugs worked out of the Ballabio? I know you were trying to sell it, did you have a change of heart? Will you be at the IMOC again this year? Doug

I have the Guzzi Ti cans, a Mistral x-over and the race ECU. I also have a PCIII and it does a nice job of fine tuning the mapping. It definitely runs better with the PCIII than without it. I mounted my cans at the stock height rather than using the higher hangers.

Here it is in the light of day outside of the shop that will be doing the wiring and painting.