Leaderboard

Just bought this Ballabio back after selling it 2 years ago, CF bellypan, front fender, side panels and Mistral exhaust

KINDOY2 that was in the coliseum during the state fair. I was just outside the building listening.

I've had my Quota a few years and done a few 1,000 mile trips on it. I added Happy Trails hard luggage to it. It is a great touring bike, very comfortable and fun. The least happy part of the bike is the FI system, it was an early FI system, but oddly it is 100% throttle position sensor system, no AFM or MAF or MAP sensor, so doing an initial tps adjustment is a must. The odd part riding is the 4,000 rpm switch, below 4k, not much power/torque and not smooth, above 4k, smooth and power. When I dug into the .bin file, the bike was programmed with very little ignition advancement below 4k, from memory it went from 17 degrees btdc at 3,600 to 30 degrees btdc at 4,000. I looked at a V11 map it it was much more linear. I made some changes and had good results, I've also leaned out the fuel some, to improve fuel mileage and increase plug life. I have purchased a dual channel wide band O2 sensor/ data acquisition setup, my winter project is to get this installed on my Quota and improve my FI map, mainly looking for better mileage, plus I enjoy playing with fuel maps.

Okay, it just hit me that these the images were a week apart . . . Good on ya, @guzziart

That ethanol helps those fossil fuel resources last a little longer … Ya think?

I never liked the look of Guzzi’s when I was a teenager riding Yamaha & Suzuki two stroke twins & triples in the 80’s & 90’s, I used to think the proportions were all wrong on Guzzi’s of that vintage. That was until one day I saw a Daytona parked in a car park, I had to go over & take a closer look, “wow” I thought “ that’s a Moto Guzzi,.. they can get it right.!” I loved the muscular stance of it & walked away pretty impressed. A few years later I was looking for a bike & was intent on a Ducati 1098, although after a test ride I thought, “I’ll lose my licence on this for sure”. A few days later I spied a Coppa Italia in the window of a local Guzzi dealer, I had to go & check it out. I was quite smitten but unable to afford it, the dealer did however have a 2004 Cafe Sport for sale which I could afford, I took it for a test ride & loved it, I thought then & still think now that there is no better sounding motorcycle, particularly with the cat removed & some nice pipes fitted. Mine has a mistral crossover & nice pair of Australian made Staintunes, & imho it sounds like a symphony!. I’ve owned it for the last thirteen years & the more I ride it the more I love it, dropping it deep into a bend scraping my boot off the road & opening it right up on the exit is just the best..

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.

How could any true Motor head NOT want to own an Motorcycle called a "Guzzi"?

I had a bad experience with chain drive. I had a bad experience with radiators. I found inline fours expensive to service. The BT1100 bulldog didn't have the ground clearance. The BMW boxers had moved away from oil based paint and mine was desolving beneath me. I saw a year old low mileage V11 at a good price and decided to give it a try. That was May 2004. I am still testing it.