Kane

Don't know if this has been previously posted, but here is nice article on Dr. John: https://www.motorcycleclassics.com/classic-italian-motorcycles/moto-guzzi-1000r-zmcz18jazhur/ Cheers!

Thanks for that, St. Augustine! Btw, the original 1971 “Vanishing Point” (not the remake) is a hard to movie to find. However, it is available to stream from The Internet Archive, https://archive.org/ .Unlike some movies that I loved as a kid that I watch now and leave me scratching my head and saying, “what was I thinking?”, “Vasihing Point” holds up well and is really fun, the ultimate chase movie.

So, after having the regulator/rectifier replaced, and now seeing a sub 14v charge going to the new battery with the new RR —as opposed to the erratic over charging from the old RR — and after last night cleaning up the headlight assembly to replace the lamp that I assumed was fried from the hot old RR, only to find that new bulb will not light (will light when connected directly to the battery) and the hi-beam indicator lamp stays on regardless of the switch, I am getting ready to take a meter and investigate a low output stator for low charging, and grounding issues for the lighting, and likely the low charging as well. All of the electrical work is a very gray area for me, but after just paying a shop for new tires and the RR install when they installed the tires, I will take the plunge and do this myself. I know you all got my back! Cheers! Sorry for ranting! I am wondering, has anyone changed out the wiring system to a leaner meaner system, something like an improved harness? From my limited experience of problems, I have the potential for needing to rebuild the charging system and the lighting system and any attending problematic grounds and connectors. I know that some of the earlier bikes are plagued by problems with Molex connector, relays, old fashioned fuses. If one were to redo the V11’s wiring system or harness (not that I am brave enough to do something like that) with an improved version, by eliminating problematic and unnecessary elements and adding better elements, what would this thing look like? Just curious as this could be quite illuminating and give an overview of a poor and a better design.

ElectroSport show their model ESR515 for the 2001 V11 Sport, same one for a lot of early Ducatis. That’s the one I have.

So what is the parasitic drain?

Thanks, Phil. I appreciate your pragmatic boots-on-the=ground / boots-on-the-pegs advice. I am rebuilding the headlight this weekend after the bulbs getting beat-up from the harsh over charging environment of the old bad regulator/rectifier. I really don’t want to go down a rabbit hole of multimeter variability in tenths of volts. I am trusting that both ElectroSport and Klein are putting out decent enough stuff and that all will work out. So far I am ahead of where I was three days ago.

Thanks for the advice. Yes, the 13v reading is with the bike just off of a ride. I rechecked this morning after the bike sitting overnight and I get a reading of 12.8v, which sounds correct. However, the 13.8v reading with the bike running and charging is with the bike reved to 4K rpm for about a minute to let the meter settle. This is a brand new ElectroSport regulator/rectifier. When I check the old T3 (Guzzi Bob’s workhorse, the bike that will not die!) it reads at 14.14v with the same meter. However, the moment that the V11 fires up the battery dash light goes off and stays off, and after three days and 160 miles of riding the battery seems to be charging. Another variable I wonder about is the accuracy of the meter, as this meter, a Klein MM400 (a $40 meter), gives a lower readings than what I was using before, a $20 meter that I bought at Lowe’s. The Lowe’s $20 meter shows the bike charging at 14.04v at 4K rpm. Just from using these two meters it seems that meters vary in their readings. I would be curious to use a better meter, or is there a way to check the accuracy of my meter? If it is reading low, maybe my bike is charging higher and closer that what we want to see. How much faith do you have in a $40 Klein, and is there an acceptable margin of error with these things?

The bikes is charging around 13.8v. I’ll read the thread that you mention, thanks.

Just a quick question to see if this is normal. I just installed a new voltage regulator/rectifier (ElectrSport) and a new Odyssey PC545 battery as the old R/R was over changing. The new battery measures 13 volts static, i.e., in the bike with the bike and key off, 12.8 volts static with the key on for lights but not running. Is this 13 volts ok? I am wondering if it’s too high, I thought it was supposed to be more like 12.5. If it is too high, what does that mean? Thanks!

Put on a set of Michelin Road 5 tires yesterday. Only 100 miles on them so far, moderate riding, but they feel great. Lively and stable, more so than the Shinko Verge tires that were on before. The Shinkos were on the bike when I got it about three years ago, looked pretty fresh, and they are not bad, certainly pretty good mileage with them. I found a piece of metal, like an oblong nail head, stuck into the rear Shinko, and while it was not leaking air (it turned out that what ever the metal was it did not go all the way through the tire), I figured that was a good sign to do what I’ve been wanting to do for a while and try a higher grade of performance tire. I was also interested in the Metzler Sportec M9 RR, but I couldn’t find the front tire. I have been intertested in the Road 5’s for a while, and am pretty happy. The front is a 120/70 and the rear is a 160/60. The bike had a 170/60 rear on before, and the 160/60 profile no doubt is part of the lively feel. The bike feels lighter! I guess I am changing the overall geometry, too, but I’m not sure exactly how. And fwiw, these tires are made in Spain. I will post periodic updates on how these tires perform for the V11. I also installed a new Odyssey PC545 battery (Hiya, docc!) and a new voltage regulator/rectifier from ElectroSport here in Southern California (made in China, but whatcha gonna do!). The old battery had a wobbly looking case from getting overheated, the bike was eating the 30A battery fuses like they were Lays potato chips, and my battery light would come on around 5k rpm. Now she’s running all of that cool as a cucumber, but I think the headligh bulb is toast. That will be next, this weekend, I just need to get home before dark until then! I love this bike! Cheers!

Looks good! It’s a Hornet screen! Sounds better than a flyscreen.

Hello Wee Robbie, your Greenie will no doubt thrive in the green of BC! I have the same, ‘01 Greenie, and she’s a rough and rowdy beauty. Always puts a smile on my face. She’ll need some TLC, but not too much, and will pay you back in spades. This be the place, your new home-away-from-home as a V11 rider. Great folks and a wealth of knowledge generously given. Cheers!

Thanks for posting Buddy Emmons, docc! He is to the pedal steel guitar what Les Paul and Leo Fender combined are to the six-string guitar. He is not only the gold standard for style and tone, but he designed and created the push-pull steel guitar, hence the Emmons pedal steel guitar. The tone, sustain, and feed-back to the player of these guitars is unmatched. The changer on most all pedal steel guitars is an all-pull design—where the raises and lowers changes are all pulled against a stop by the changer mechanism. On an Emmons Push-Pull the raises and lowers are both pulled and pushed by the changer. In the right hands these guitars can be set-up to do much more than an all-pull, but they are a bit trickier to tune. Tuning an all-pull guitar is like doing the valves on a Guzzi, but tuning a push-pull guitar is like doing the valves on a desmodromic engine. About twice as much stuff going on, but, like a Ducati, they settle in and once you do it a few times it’s no big deal. God bless Buddy Emmons! *after enlarging the clip, I can see that, ironically, Buddy is not playing an Emmons guitar. He is playing an EMCI, an all-pull. His tone and feel are there, but after he sold the Emmons Steel Guitar company he played other people’s guitars. I believe he was involved with the EMCI guitar company (MCI before he came aboard). This was later in his career. The EMCIs are nice, but they ain’t no push-pull.

That’s a hell of a nice bike, Bob, and a great deal. I think it will sell fast the way the used bike market is right now. I hate to hear this, but bad stuff happens out there and so glad that you’re still here.

Don’t know if it’s been said yet, but happy Father’s Day to all you good and bad daddies out there! I had some nice quality time with one of the kids today. Cheers, Daddies!

Hey X! Welcome and well done. Really nice bikes. Congrats on your sweet Rosso Corsa! Very cool that SUB has an MGS-01. I’ve never seen one for sale. Alas, It’s one of those collector’s things where if you ride it you depreciate pristine value of the bike. Hell, that bike should be ridden! Cheers!

Well, as far as bums on a bike go, this is a Honda, not a Guzzi, but do you all remember the movie, “Vanishing Point”? It may not be “Citizen Kane”, but that movie, along with “Easy Rider”, and “Electra Glide in Blue”, had as much to do with anything to put me in the saddle. As a very wee lad, me and my pals would jump the chain link fence at the local drive-in and appropriate a speaker where we would sit at the very back of the lot watching these motoplotation movies. It wasn’t long after seeing “Easy Rider” and wearing out the soundtrack LP, that I was able to get my hands on a Briggs and Stratton powered mini bike.....and here I am, still looking at bums on a bike.

At least she has the good sense to wear a helmet.

Hmmm....looks like Paris.

After a little time and work, Bobby D’s 850T3 is cleaned-up and running. I flushed everything out and got new gas and oil into her, cleaned up the plugs, charged the battery, and fired her up. I had Mark give her a good look over and dial in the carbs, and she runs pretty good. What a different animal from the V11. What a difference 23 years makes! (1978-2001) Nonetheless, this bike is very fun to ride, although we’re still getting to know each other. The clutch is real grabby, but the 5 speed tranny shifts crisply, but neutral is a little elusive, and the faint dash light doesn’t help. I wonder if Bob had Sean F do any work on the tranny, cause it sure feels tight. This bike is a testimony to the the rider and the bike. Bob put 178,000 miles on this bike, but he was constantly advancing it and keeping up on its needs.....up grades to the carbs, the ignition, the brakes,....he took good care of this Guzzi and at close to 200k this bike still performs and is a great ride. *Glenn Morgan has taken the money raised from the sales of Bob Dickman’s bikes and has created the GuzziBob Rally Fund to help fund rallies. I believe more info on this can be found through MGNOC. I thought it would be fun to ride this to the upcoming Susanville rally as people there no doubt knew Bob and this bike. It’s kind of a long shot for me, but we’ll see.

And did you see those lovely centenarians testifying before Congress? I am humbled!

I’m reading that more tires are now made in China. From what I’ve been told, when there is someone from the client company overlooking production things are good, but when there is a lack of supervision corners and expenses may be cut and quality can suffer. If that’s the case then it could make a difference, and why have that factor with something as important as tires. I have read that Dunlops are U.S. made. I wish this information was more disclosed and transparent, other than actually having the product in hand.

Those M9RR’s look pretty great. Thanks for sharing that. Any idea where these are made? I will most likely go with a 160 rear. I guess with the M9’s I’ll have a 70 aspect ratio in the front and a 60 in the rear as that’s a what available. One thing that I’ve noticed is a lack of 170 rear tires being offered by some tire makers. I had thought that 170 was a pretty standard size. Maybe 180 is the new 170?

Hi Tomchri, thanks for your input. I don’t see the Sport Smart....is this a sport tire? Too many choices to easily wrap my old head around. I figure any of these premium tires will be a step up from the Shinkos that have been on the bike, not that I’ve has any issues with them. Cheers!

I am looking to change my tires soon from the wearing out Shinkos that are on it now. From what I’ve seen, people seem to be really happy with Pirelli Angel GT’s. One other tire that may be in the same class as the Pirelli but I don’t see mention of here is the Michelin Road 5. Can anyone compare the Angel GT and the Road 5? While there are many past tire threads here, most are pretty old so perhaps the Road 5 is a more recent model. Another thing that I am wondering about is if a 60 or a 70 aspect ratio is preferred for a 2001 red / short frame V11? Also on the front rim would it be a 55w or 58w tire (I’m not really sure what that means). I am thinking a 120 tire in front and a 160 tire in the back. The Road 5 160 May only be available in a 60 aspect ratio. Looking for a decent lasting sport tire, good for aggressive canyon riding but also as a daily street and commuting tire. Cheers!