Kane

Thanks for the advise. I thought emissions stuff, too. This bike is from Arizona with an AZ plate. I don’t now if they have emissions requirements there like here in CA. My impression is that AZ has a lot less rules than CA, but what place doesn’t?

I checked out the ‘01 Green V11 that’s for sale in my area. It’s a title more expensive than the bike I was first looking at, but it is really clean and low miles. Sounds like thunder from heaven! I’m taking a second look at the first bike tomorrow, but this Greenie is pretty sweet. I do have a question: When the clutch lever is pulled while the bike is sitting at idle it makes a noisy rattle. He told me that it’s a dry clutch and that’s normal for these clutches. Is that correct? Also, there are two black cylinders under the seat just behind the battery. I’ve never seen these before, and they were not there on the first V11 I saw. What are these?:

I’m loving all the Guzzi testifying! This place is The Church of Guzzi!

This is a real noobish question as I am in the process of rediscovering the amazing Guzzi, after being away since my 850T. I will be jumping into a V11 Sport very very soon (a few local choices that I need to weed through), and the more I learn about this model the more I dig it. I am curious how the V11 Sport is different from the LeMans of the same era. From what I can see in photos, the LeMans has a fairing that I haven’t seen in photos of the Sport, but are there performance and engine, drive train, suspension differences? I tired the search engine and didn’t come up with much. Can a V11 Sport morph into a LeMans? Cheers, Kane

That’s the one! The Scura’s in Hollywood.

I always thought those late ‘60’s/early ‘70’s Norton were pretty sweet. The 70’s was a great era for bikes: the LeMans, the Commando, those huge Laverdas. Now that I’m on the road to getting this V11, I’ve been looking around and there are two other V11’s available in my area, both minty clean, low miles, and from solid owners who have taken good care of them and seem know what they’re doing: a 2001 GREEN V11 Sport (mint), and a 2002 Scura from the run of 600 Scuras (also very mint). Of course these bikes would cost me another $1,000-$1,500 respectively. I’m wondering if in the long run it will likely be a wash if these are more transparent in their history and better cared for by actual Guzzi enthusiasts, rather than the bargain priced V11 which has an unknown history except for the non-Guzzi shop replacing the main seal, which from what I am reading here was likely not the cause of the oil leak that the main seal was changed to fix. Not that I am overly concerned about that bike as it ran well and I will ride it again tomorrow. The ‘01 green Guzzi and the ‘02 Scura look pretty sweet, though.

Thank you very much for that! I can see that I’ve come to the right place to learn how to do this Guzzi right! Cheers!

Thanks for the offer! Seriously, you guys have been really helpful and forthcoming. I really appreciate it. I know that these are hands-on bikes. I am actually looking forward to having a bike like this that I need to become handy and familiar with. Years ago, wrenching on my 850T and later my Triumphs, a ‘61 pre-unit Bonnie and then a ‘68 Bonnie, was my passion. It’s been a while, but I am really glad to be back in the saddle with a Guzzi. Back then, the two bikes that I lusted over were a Norton Commando and a Guzzi LeMans. My impression is that the V11 Sport is dipping into LeMans territory. I’ll see my friend on Sunday and hopefully wrap everything up next week. Thanks again for your welcome and help with this. This is a quality forum.

Thanks for linking to that. Much appreciated! That is very informative.

That’s the one thing that’s unclear for me. The owner knows nothing about the bike’s history. He sort of inherited it. It had been siting for about a year. It has an Oregon plate (bike is in Los Angeles), so it’s been around. What would cause the main seal to fail? The other thing that is curious and is perhaps just a benign oddity, is there seems to be a very small pinhole leak in the middle of one of the valve covers. After the bike’s been running a patch of oil will appear in the middle of the valve cover, like it’s sweating oil. This spot has been touched up with black Sharpie, and also touched up on the other valve cover. The valve covers are a black powder coat. Because of the Sharpie touch up, and the weird oil sweat, I am assuming that somewhere along the line something hit the valve covers. I don’t see any other signs of the bike being dropped or hit.

Thank you all for your encouraging words. I’m going to take it for another ride, sometime when traffic is light and I can open it up. L.A. traffic is stifling, but I can get to the coast without much trouble from where the bike is located. For what he’s asking I’m going to take it unless I discover something bad with my next test ride. I will send pics. It’s pretty clean, 16K miles, black paint, red frame, black anodized valve covers, missing the round seat cover thing, so it’s a longer flat seat with a little luggage rack on the back, the bars are not cafe style clip-ons but rather have a slight rise. The only thing that has me wondering is that the shop that got the bike up and running for him (again, a non-Guzzi shop. A place called Al’s Cycles, in Glendale, CA, in case any of you are familiar) replaced the main seal. This was the bulk of the expenses he incurred on this bike. I guess there was an oil leak, but it seems unusual that a bike with 16K miles would need a new main seal. Other than that everything seems ok. The time I rode it, even though I couldnn’t get out of third gear because of where I was riding, it pulled like a mo-fo and sounded great. As I mentioned in my first post, my first decent bike years ago was an 850T. After that I got into Brit bikes, and had a nice Harley, but I always missed the 850T and have had a strong attachment to Guzzi’s. This is a fortuitous situation as the owner is a work friend who only wants to recoup his expenses, hence the good price. When I heard it was a Guzzi I couldn’t believe it. It’s like the fates have looked out for me on this as Guzzis are few and far between down here. Will keep you posted! Cheers, Kane

Hello folks! I am new here, this is my first post. I hope this is an active place for Guzzi people, as I am very close to acquiring a new Guzzi and I need a little advice. I have had a Guzzi in the past, a ‘75 850T, my first real motorbike back when I was still a lad, When my friend and I pulled the barrels to change the rings and I saw the chrome lined barrels I fell in love with Guzzi. Went to a Triumph, Yamaha, H-D, and then stopped riding for awhile. Now I have an opportunity to buy a 2001 V11 Sport from a friend who inherited it and has no interested in riding it. He took it to a local non-Guzzi motorcycle shop and got it running with a new main seal and went to the DMV and got a clean title. He wants to be rid of it and will sell it to me for what he’s got into it: $2300. I rode it for a short local ride and the engine felt great, but I have yet to get it on the highway. One thing that concerns me is that I have read that the steering geometry on the 2001 V11’s, I guess a short head angle and fork rake, makes the bike a chore to ride; whereas the later models from later in the 2000’s had a better geometry and are nicer to ride. I think getting a Guzzi V11 in good running condition for a good price is a thing to go for, but I am concerned after reading that after 2001 the ride and handling is much better. Should I hold out for a later Guzzi than the 2001 V11? I have also read that the later 2000’s bikes were more reliable than circa 2001. Although my ‘75 850 was rock solid. I would be using this bike for local excursions, but also longer day cruising from Los Angeles to San Francisco. I look forward to your sage wisdom! Thank you Kane