Leaderboard

I'm reintroducing myself to this forum. I was on it around 2004 or so when I owned a V11 Ballabio. I sold that bike to help with the down payment on a house. Since then I've had several bikes mostly Ducatis including a black 2005 999S. At 69 y.o. that bike, although I loved it dearly, was just not working for me at this time of my life. I sold the 999S and had always wanted a V11 Le Mans. I searched around for a really nice example and located this stunning 14,000 mile 2002. Rode it home from Sonora via hwy 49, one of my favorites. Looking forward to re-joining the group.

I saw the new factory under construction when I was in Mandello last September. It looks interesting BUT it's obviously going to be a another "tourist attraction" thing. Don't know about others but the interest for me these days is to discover things and places that aren't popular or "attractions" for the masses. Things like the back alleys and little side lanes in Venice away from the main attractions where the real Venice life is or the hills of Tuscany and the Villas and small villages away from the hustle and bustle of the cities. Bit like going to an old world bike shop with an owner and staff that have been running the place for 50 years. Much more interesting than the modern glitzy places of today inhabited by people that seem to think you are privileged to be in their showroom. Phil

@Jaide, Where did you get the rack from? It took me ages to find one and had to make the brackets myself. It works good though, enjoy your trip to Luxembourg. Nice roads over there .

I visited Mandello in 2013 during Xmas time, unfortunately it was closed at the time, but still a very nice visit to Mandello and surrounding areas. It's time for a return trip hopefully next year. Nice that they have modernized and kept a connection to history as well. Some of the design looks like the back end of the Griso exhaust pipe. Now...if I could arrange a ride on the original Norge....I would be happy! Taking Guzzi out of Mandello would be like taking BMW out of Munich or Porsche out of Stuttgart (aside from its temporary home in Gmund, Austria during the war)...besides this area of Italy is just beautiful...why move it anywhere else?

I'll remind you again that the V11 is now more than 25 years old, the threshold for vintage status with some clubs. Now do you feel old? Good. Alas only one V11 showed up but it's a stunner. Hopefully you'll enjoy some of the other bikes too. It was the Norton's turn to go for me. Next year I'll probably take the V11 because... it'll still be vintage too.

Absolutely agree. I'd personally much rather tour the crumbly prewar edifice, myself. However, in the big Corporate picture, the vast majority of persons want Disneyworld. So there has to be some poop to attract the flies. I'd rather see them build a tourist destination and with it a solid customer base than to see them struggle with viability.

Can't see the forest for the trees!

as long as you're in there, here's how I verify spacer fit- Set both bearings tight to the hub shoulders, with no center spacer Measure bearing depths from hub flange, both inner and outer races Remove one side bearing, place spacer. Re-install bearing until it bottoms Re-measure bearings; if you have *zero* change from no spacer measures, it's too short. If driving the second bearing home changes the depth of the first bearing, note by how much. These small bearings have very little clearance, so I would say if your center (spacer) race moved by .001" to .003" you're in good shape. If you get more protrusion than a couple thousandths, your spacer is long- which can overload the bearings if the outer races are too tight to float in the hub, which they should be. I would rather shim up a short spacer than try to work with a long one, as it's important to have the ends perfectly square to the centerline of the bearings, hard to achieve with a file or stone. If your spacer is long, you *can* drive the bearings against the spacer with an appropriate driver that touches only the inner race- then when the driven bearing finds home, the direction of forces on both bearings will load the races equally and center themselves up. That does leave you with a couple or few thousandths between the hub and the outer race of one of the bearings; a few thousandths is ok, but if they aren't tight in the hub they can shift and chafe during use. Have I overclarified that to mud now?

Docc -opens Sept 2026 at Guzzi Days-maybe we should plan a Spine Raid that rides to Mandello del Lario to see the new factory/museum….🤔😜

I completely agree to that. There is much more charm in authenticity. We are not alone in this preference. It is becoming a bit of a problem in Europe, a writer overhere wrote a book, "Grand Hotel Europe", where he explains the controversy of tourism to authentic places. Interesting for me to read that in fact I am also part of the problem.

Well, after sleeping on this for a few months, it looks like I'm back in the game. I've found a beautiful V11 Le Mans Nero that I'm going to have a look at this week. If it was just an ornament, I'd buy it on the spot but having never ridden a v11 before and having given up sports bikes over 10 years ago, I need to check whether it is comfortable enough to take round Europe for a 9 day tour next month. Are there any things that I should pay particular attention to? The bike has done 17K miles. TIA

I am with @Pressureangle where it comes to filling the gap, "black hole", of support for older models to actually facilitate the living history of the brand. The popularity of 68-72 V7 models is quite high overhere. And the older Nuovo Falcones are also preserved as good as possible by enthousiasts. At the other hand, I still have no trouble keeping the '82 LM3 and C2 rolling (The california 2 going at least 10.000km/year).

I saw this video on YouTube a few days ago, so excited to visit! It's now on my Retirement Travel list. Our family has a vaction home on the island of Brac, Croatia. From there, I'll try to plan a moto adventure up and over the Adriatic Sea , into Italy. That will be epic. We have a few more years, though, until the mrs retires.

Well, all together I would really enjoy being in mandello when this new factory opens up. Specifically, when all of you will be there as well.

I don't know about that. Not likely unless your Kwacker's are built. The Aprilia 457 motor is pretty stout. That said, I am not a huge fan of selling Aprilia's as Moto Guzzi's. Sharing some tech I can understand. But if they just rebadge the Aprilia as a Guzzi that I hope not to see. On the other side of the coin, I don't see Guzzi as married to the transverse V twin. They have a long history of singles and parallel twins. I am fine with other engine configurations. I just don't want an Aprilia Tuono 457 sold as a Moto Guzzi. If I want that I will buy the Ape (I have already seriously considered it)

The formal method is to use an axle through the support bearing in the swingarm that has a ring to centre on the outgoing axle of the gearbox. Horizontal adjustment is with the swingarm bearing bolts and vertical is by fixing the bolts of the underframe and the battery plate. In practice centering the swingarm axle bolts (on the side) is the way to go. With many thanks to JCK from NL

mine too.

Well, if I had the air conditioned, ridiculously comfortable pole barn and another 6 zeros to burn I'd just buy every one I see. Which is probably precisely where this one lives, given it's address. To be continued

I finally have the luggage rack on the bike! It took a while to arrive, and even worse, it was a bit crooked and didn't want to fit! Thankfully we were able to bend it back and now it's on there perfectly straight. Unfortunately I also noticed a new scratch on the right side of the fairing today... The bike already has plenty of them, but this one is white and extra noticeable, so I'll have to sort that out.. But now that I can easily carry some luggage, I'm already planning a trip to Luxembourg with my brother later this month!

Not that I know of docc. He may have bought some stuff but TLM bought a large amount. He's more of a remanufacturer of parts but Audiomick would know more than me. I won't deal with HMB anymore. Phil

https://www.mgcycle.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=37_156&products_id=83

The 457 is more modern in every way, but actually makes 4-5 HP less - probably due to EU regs. Its chassis is light years ahead, but Kawi did a heck of a job way back when, with EX500s running 50-52 HP. One of mine has WebCo 245 cams, Cobra slipons, Dynojet kit, a K&N and an airbox mod. The chassis though, well, late 80s. The 660 on the other hand is up near 90HP and no doubt a serious weapon.

2010 V7 Cafe Classic

I like what they are doing from a technology and legacy perspective. When you've got a 100-year old manufacturer the roots would run deep into the community. Business loyalty (or at least perceived loyalty) to a community is getting pretty rare these days. And can you imagine the hostility they would generate by moving to another city, or worse yet to another country? I don't know how the government works in Italy, but I would imagine that like most countries, there is a desire to keep domestic manufacturers going. So maybe there were also various incentives to remain in the location - or maybe the location has a lot of "grandfathered" types of permissions that would be hard to get elsewhere. As for the location... I think they are smart to capitalize on the vacation destination. When tourists show up, they maybe start thinking about buying a motorcycle and associate it with their vacation experience. And for the "faithful" it seems to have become sort of bucket-list item. Personally, I intend to go there at least once. Probably after all the the new stuff is open.

I found it via this forum via a want to buy thread I made! And yes, I am looking forwards to the trip a lot!

I have a Magni Sfida 1100, essentially a Sporti running the legacy version of MyECU. The installation and map was made by the previous owner of the bike and I haven't messed with it, I've never felt the need. About the only thing I've did is reset the TPS a few times. I'm not fussed on the finer points of how the engine runs, it accelerates pretty well and has more than enough power for my needs Probably a bit on the rich side, it has K&N pods, again it came to me this way. Mine can on ocassion, be a little reluctant to fire up cold, but not to the point I feel the need to mess with it. Just saying you're not alone with this setup

Welcome Back Kotter !

I have close to the same bike. Mine has 4 inch risers on the handlebars and I picked up a Puig windshield which gives great protection. The bike handles speed very easily and the suspension handles dips etc. very well. Parts were scratched up so I did a spray can paint job on everything but the tank. Mine shows the month of manufacture in the top left of the label on the neck of the frame. 2002 registered as 2003. Long frame with the gap at the front of the tank but it still gets the soft pad on the top of the gas tank. Speedo is in MPH so it was a U.S. bike originally I expect.

I just returned from my Saturday Saddleback Church group ride. We didn't make it to Hamburger Hut, as I hoped. One person had to be somewhere by 2, and a newbie had a 250 Rebal and didn't want any freeways. We still had a great ride, nearly 50 miles round trip to Dana Point for lunch. This time I took the V7, unlike the V11, a cable clutch. Wow, the beach stop and go traffic really taxed my hand. The clutch is so heavy, regardless of any adjustments I've ever tried. However, just like the V11, it ran flawlessly. Always fun! …and no pictures.

. Good afternoon from the Moto Grappa at the top of Virginia. I finally decided I would survive my (sixth! ) hernia surgery of a few days ago, so I gathered up my 500 (!) or so pix of last week's trip south for Moto Grappa Tech Days (South) and the Guzzis in the Blue Ridge 2025 rally.. Culled those down to a bunch — of course, still too many — and added captions. I had held the last (at least by me for awhile) MGTD last year — MGTD 2024 — so fellow Guzzista Steve decided to host a similar successor at his second home near Lexington, Virginia. That serendipitously coincided with an “official” U.S. Moto Guzzi event, the “Guzzis in the Blue Ridge 2025,” held near Wilkesboro, N.C. So, Steve suggested that we meet at his place for a few days, eat and drink inappropriately without spousal supervision , and then ride down to the rally. Perfect. In theory, anyway. The usual Guzzi suspects attended, plus two newbies — Steve’s b-i-l and a beemer riding buddy, both “Miataists.” After MGTD-S, several of us rode on to the N.C. rally. This is the photo version of the story. ============== As usual with my smugmug sets, the link opens in “landscape collage,” so you don’t have to go to the larger pix of the slideshow. Hovering your cursor over individual photos will reveal the underlying captions. If you use the slideshow version, the pix are obviously bigger and all captions appear. But, inexplicably (to me), unless you manually move the slideshow along instead of letting it roll automatically, the captions disappear unless you leave cursor in place in lower left corner. I’m a Luddite. ============== Yes, at last, here are the pix: MGTD-S and Guzzis in the Blue Ridge 2025 Bill

All-y'all need to expedite @HRC_V4's progress here. The XXI South'n Spine Raid is just four weeks out . . .

Nah... history and sentimentality sell... and well, China. I think it's a brilliant start, they've made it a tourist destination second only to it's purpose as a factory. So someone with access to the checkbook understands their brand-loyal customers. The blindingly obvious black hole of vision is support for older models; look to John Deere and to a lesser extent H-D and Union Pacific for frothing fans. I can go to John Deere and expect to find deep support for my '53 AO. H-D still carries parts for Iron engines. U-P has spent a frightening amount of money returning Steam to the rails, for nothing more than PR and it pays off exponentially. If Mother Goose can fill that hole, they'll become a major brand again. I think. I hope.

I think we’re talking about the Cali 2 here Chuck in which case it’s yer basic Tonti ‘Crab’ project. The airbox is a trifle more involved than the earlier ones but really the ‘Nuts and Bolts’ are essentially the same. Many years ago when I was racing with Rob we used to be able to swap a clutch between practice and the race! The bike was a lot more stripped down though than a road bike.

I should mention that it's critical to have the spacer perfectly aligned with the bearings when taking measurements. If it's tipped it will measure long. You can finger it out, or if it's a decent fit on the axle you can use the axle and a soft mallet as the bearing driver. If the outer races are tight in the hub you can fit a piece of pipe to the outer race whilst the axle stays in place.

Three weeks out - warding off the Waddington Effect while seeing to necessary matters . . . --> Decent Tune-up --> Motor oil/ gearbox oil/ neutral switch & shift linkage adjustments --> Fresh Pirelli tires/ brake inspection/ another new rear wheel bearing (again!) --> GPS routes laid in. Looking to roll some "ten flight hours " before embarking on this XXI SSR .

i used to drive a mid sixties Ford F600 with a 292 engine,it had a crossover right up front of the motor from manifold to manifold,scaffolding truck.Purred like a kitten

Thanks for posting the video, very well done.

190 east out Springville is my favorite asphalt on the planet.

I'm in Springville, so the 190, Western Divide, Parker Pass and Greenhorn Pass/155 are home turf. I've also done Sherman, Tioga,Sonora etc but not for a while since the 999S wasn't much of a distance bike. There are some fantastic under the radar rides around here!

Doc, yes your picture is of the plate that is missing on mine. I’ve read that Moto Guzzi actually missed installing these numbered plates on some bikes but have no confirmation of this. Of the 18 or 19 bikes Moto Guzzi imported into the UK originally only 8 are not accounted for on the registry. The question is could one of those 8 be mine?

I had come to a realization a few years ago that I pretty much only liked bikes with fairings. Funny how quick this bike grew on me, I have to say I totally dig the look and the colour is sweet. And I was surprised just how comfortable it was long distance and even 90 mph on the Interstate was fine. My uncle put bar backs on so it's a little more upright than stock which is comfortable. I find it interesting that the OEM ergonomics are very close to my R1100 S.

It is an 02 model sold as an 03. Mine is the same way.

Ha! I found my tribe! My uncle kindly gifted me this bike and I have to say I like it a lot. Sadly on my fly and ride from Maryland some guy in Maine decided to drive out of a parking lot right in front of me. Thankfully no paint or plastics were damaged. Just waiting on the last of the replacement parts to make it all good again. It was registered as an '03 but I think the frame showed it as '02 construction.

I have to expedite my own self too... waiting for transmission seals and lock washers. Then discovery of what else is missing. Guess I'll go order tires now

The crabbing has begun.... What needs to be removed from the front, wheel, fender, anything else? I really need more room.....

Counting on our Man-on-the-Scene @v11_meticcio for live reports!

If you’re going into the gearbox it’s really worth shimming the selector drum properly.