Kane

Since i’ve been riding it I like the clutch rattle, too! It sounds like a serious performance machine. The whole sonic package is great! Shake , rattle and roll!

Thank you! What do you guys think of Shinko tires?

Pictures added on a new thread: https://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?/topic/21425-my-new-v11-geenie/

The toggle switch on headlight bracket that I mentioned:

The shaft drive / rear wheel connection I mentioned:

A major kudos to you guys for helping me on the way to buying my new ‘01 V11. Your generosity in sharing knowledge was way more than I expected as a newcomer to a forum, and I learned more about Guzzis in two days from your responses and reading this forum than I had known for years. As for the bike, she’s a stunning green goddess and she runs like a lion. The history of this bike is vague, no service records or other documents other than the Arizona title. The seller was a very nice gentleman with a few BMW dressers who had acquired this bike as a partial trade from someone in Arizona. As much as he appreciated the V11 it just wasn’t his thing and it was not being ridden. He preferred to move it on to a rider who will use it......like me! Mileage is a hair over 10k. I’ve been doing local rides with it for a few days now, and it’s great. It pulls great, it feels and sounds like a real motorcycle and has spots of nice vibrations at some speeds/revs. She sounds awesome with the stock pipes. The 850T I had years ago was fitted with Dunstalls, and while the Dunstalls were louder, it’s the same deep rich rumble.....thunder rolling out from Lake Como. The shifting is positive and comfortable, handling feels natural and nimble for a bike this size, front brakes are very grippy and rear break is smooth. I am very happy and I look forward to bonding with the bike. The few things that I wondering about are: the ignition switch lock seems a bit tricky. Sometimes it turns easy, sometimes I have to play with it. There is a little three-way toggle switch tucked under the instruments panel, mounted on the headlight bracket, next to the fork tube.....what is this for? The battery light stays on for awhile after the bike is running. Is this common? The rear differential/u-joint where the drive shaft meets the rear wheel is open/exposed.....I’m kind of surprised it doesn’t have boot covering it. What’s the best way to maintain this? The drive shaft is black....I thought these bikes has silver drive shafts. I like Mikko’s suggestion of adding a fairing. I’m considering adding a small to medium bullet style sport faring in the near future as I plan on doing runs from L.A. to S.F. to visit family and get out of town, probably a few runs further than that, That’s all I have for now. Thanks so much! Cheers! Kane

Awesome. Thanks!

Hello, as a proud new owner of a 2001 V11 Sport I am wondering whom you recommend as a solid service shop in the Los Angeles/Orange County area? From what I see there are three in this general area: Moto Guzzi Classics in Long Beach, OC Motorcycle in Costa Mesa, and Pro Italia in Glendale. The distance to any of these three is about the same from where I am in La Habra. The bike seems to run fine, and I plan on taking care of the bike myself, but I would like to have a Guzzi mechanic give it a look and go through it initially. I appreciate any recommendations! Hope everyone is well! Thanks!

Well boys, it looks like I’ve started a relationship with a beautiful Italian green goddess beasty. Right now I’m heading into the kitchen to make a nice dinner for Mrs. Kane so she’s not too jealous when she comes home after working all day. More pics, impressions, and head scratching is sure to follow. For now, Thar She Blows!:

Wow. Good eye! Thanks for breaking it down into specifics. Much appreciated. Do you reckon this is how the bike came from the factory/dealership? The bike looks very mint, 10k miles, I am assuming unmodded or worked on beyond routine maintenance. But I really don’t know.

What looks off to you?

That’s awesome. There’s an ‘02 Scura V11 for sale here, as well as the ‘01 Greenie V11 and my friend’s hand-me-down ‘01 black V11. The Scura that’s here is #600 of 600 made, some limited edition thing. Is it true that the Scura’s gas tank is plastic? Do you like that? Did you change out the single plate clutch on your Scura, or are you cool with that? Do you take it to the track?

I am! And I’m ready for seconds! Seriously, you guys have really helped me out. Thanks to your generosity in indulging my queries I feel pretty good about all of this.

Thank you, docc. Man, I have learned more from you guys in a few days than I ever knew during the years of riding my old 850T back in the day. It’s like the Oracle of Lake Como!

That race track looks awesome!

Wow, what a drag. Not having to deal with all of that crap is one the perks of riding motorcycles. So, now that we know that this is a ‘01 Guzzi sold in Arizona with what I assume are factory installed emissions canisters (they look very tidy and tightly tucked in, like from the factory), this raises some questions for me. Were the bikes built and sold for the Arizona market any different in any other way beside having those canisters on them? Were they tuned or setup differently, like cars built to meet the emissions standards of the California market might be made differently or have mods for that particular state? Where do the hoses attach? Once removed, will the bike be like every other ‘01 V11, or are the parts that the hoses attach to different? Thanks!

Dang, I’d like to get my hands on some of that! Your Goose must soar like an eagle! Do you work for NASA?

That makes sense. The person selling the bike here in California bought the bike around four months ago from a police officer in Arizona, who told him that he bought the bike from a dealership. Whether he bought it new or used from the dealership I don’t know, but it’s an AZ bike, still has the AZ plate. Kind of funny that AZ would require them and not CA. Thank for all of the great info!

Bingo! Yep, that’s what they are. A google image search revealed that these are Denso carbon evaporation canisters. I had no idea that motorcycles had these things on them. But the newest bike I ever owned prior to the V11 that will soon be mine was an ‘86 HD FXRSP, a California bike, and no carbon canisters on that bike. They are filling up a lot of space under the seat......I guess there’s a tool kit buried under them? So, do these things bring down the bike’s performance? Do you guys remove them or leave them on Iike a good steward of the earth?