robbiekb

wow, At least Vale was sporting in defeat. I guess in defeat the true class of the sportsman or fans shine through. Sour grapes after one of the most exciting and hard fought championships in recent times just seems a tad sad to me. There is no doubt in my mind that Vale will be back next year contending fiercely from the front row on the 800. When push came to shove, Vale made one too many mistakes this year and couldn't overcome his run of really bad luck. Nicky's greater consistancy and a demonstration of race-smarts is why he ended up winning the title. GO #69 !!!!!!!!!!!

ah Mr Eko, glad you're ok after that run in with the Polar Bear last night.

Yup it's super simple no bending of pipes, just swap the passenger hangers for a set from a Sport 1100i, it bolts right on. I got mine from Moto International. I think they charged me 30 minutes of labour to get it all on. A nice thing is that i don't grind my pipes now whereas Val with her stock position has already torn some chunks out of her right muffler from dragging it in corners.

I tihnk what he's actually asking is how to move the pipes up and away form the ground. Is that the effect you're after ? If so you can get that by using the 1100 Sport rear passenger hangers instead of the V11 Sports. I did that to mine. http://www.socal-guzzi.com/PHPBB/viewtopic.php?t=455 Check the bottom of the page, the last 3 pictures show my green V11. In the 3rd last picture, you can see Val's Stock V11 and pipes so you can contrast that with the raised position that I now have on my own bike.

Well the difference being that unlike Colin Edwards who actually helps his team mate , for Pedrosa its all about him and his napoleon complex. If you're the number 2 rider, and the team leader is leading the world championship, if you dont make it easy for the team leader to get past, then i'd recomend he make himself scarce in the paddock for a while

I'd have a griso to complement my V11, they remind me of an Eldorado, don't ask me why they just do. Now a Griso 1200s with the Guzzi hopup kit and a supercharger from a mini cooper on it. There's a bike i'd have to rob a bank to own:)

WOW That is bad when someone would go as far as to lie about the recall having been completed. The great thing about living in southern california now is all of the subject matter expertise that i can call up when i have a problem. If you've already spoken to Todd Eagan, you can't really go wrong with following his advice with regards to modifications to make your bike work better. The Socal club has a monthly run originating at the Lookout on S Ortega hwy in N San Diego county that Ingrid and I make the trek down for every month. I highly recomend it if you can make the time !

Hi Allan, I've only ever been to OC triumph once and i'm not one to dealer bash but..... i've heard enough unpleasnat stories about service there that them doing this work for you might not be the best introduction to the world of moto guzzi. Cycle Sport Pacific seem to have a good rep for guzzi warranty work. I also know that mph in houston is many socal'er's choice for purchasing a new bike as is Moto international in Seattle. I know its a pain to travel with the bike for a recall but..... it sure beats waiting forever for an unsatisfactory result. Sean Fader at MotoGuzzi Classics is THE f.i. guzzi wrench in socal but i'm not sure if Mark's shop is able to do warranty work on Guzzi's now. You might want to check on that as it'd safe a considerable amount of potential pain to have him do it. I have the same model bike as you. Anytime you want to do a benchtest to see what my mods have done to power/rideability you're welcome to compare them. I have the fbf pistons, mistral titantium ovals & velocity stacks with Pods. I run an older Serial PC3. The bike is loud as hell and when riding the honk from the pods is very unique, on long rides it gets somewhat tiresome. If I had my money back and was starting customising form the beginning , i'd not do the pistons and pods, and spend the money on suspension and upgraded braking system...

Hayden's recent spate of bad luck is as much to do with Honda providing him with a bike that is burning clutches due to poor clutch placement. This year is unusual in that Hayden is essentially the test monkey for a 1000 cc bike that will never require further devleopment after the end of the season. Hayden has show he can be both aggressive and intelligent but i think that it was telling that in the unveiling of the new Honda 800cc motogp bike to the press, it was Dani Padrosa that was on hand to field questions. Hayden was out testing new clutches putting in the work.

As an aside and a wee bit of flames to the fire of "how to use the brakes" discussion. I have recently had the fortune to go group riding with the socal folks. I noted two things from those rides that have really improved my riding past the point where I was at when I first left Europe to move to the States and got lazy. Firstly the guys who are truly fast, do so without expending anywhere near the effort that others do in trying to keep up. It's greater skill, much better vision and a more relaxed posture on the bike. When Eagan pulls away from the group with a passenger on the back, he does so smoothly and without drama, its pretty crazy to watch as you just feel like whatever you do , you're personally just going backwards. The only time you know that youre really moving is when you see the showers of sparks that his Lemans is putting off as he grounds out everything. We get to where we're going and he takes of his helmet and is of course still looking fresh whereas myself and Rich R look a bit the worse for wear. 20 minutes later the rest of the folks show up, each riding at his or her own pace. Secondly both of the quick and smooth guys that i have ridden with trail brake their guzzis like crazy. After one spirited Malibu Canyons ride , Todd's rear brake was glowing blue. I saw the same behaviour from Rich R's riding style when we were blasting through hwy 243. I kept waiting for him to start grinding his saddlebags as they precariously swung to within a 1/2" of the ground consistantly on every corner. He must have a Jedi mindsense for where not to lean the bike so as to damage the bags or something! Using the rear brake up to the Apex really settles the bikes down and helps maintain posture. I was a bit sceptical at first but quickly saw the error of my ways, it feels like so much more planted.

I have the Braketech USA fully floating Rotors which i had put on after my stock Rotors warped with 300 miles on the bike. I now have about 11K on the bike and have no real negative feedback on the rotors other than that when i had them put on, I was under the impression that I wsas going to get real "monster" brakes that would allow me to one finger brake. WRONG !!! I'm actually going to pull these off of my V11 and replace my entire front braking system with the same Brembo System that Todd Eagan has on his V11-powered Jackal. His brakes are true one finger operation with a great deal of "feel", very impressive when you consider that his Jackal is heavier than our stock V11's. I'm going to put the Braketech Rotors onto a GT1100 project that i'm going to start this winter. If I could have done this again from the beginning i'd have bought the brembo system from Todd to begin with and saved the fuss. You can contact him at todd@guzzitech.com

MotoMan, contact Todd Eagan at Guzzitech for your USB PC3. He's actually down at the EuroFest Ralley in San Diego giving a lecture on the Power Commander and he's an official Dynojet Dealer. You can contact him at todd@guzzitech.com Robbie

Hey Huey, looks like this thread stirred up a hornets nest I'd recomend contacting Todd Eagan at Guzzitech.com. He reads this board but as a socal guy his own board that he checks everyday is at socal-guzzi.com. Todd's pretty much the authority on the Fuel Injected Guzzi Motor coupled with a Power Commander or otherwise.

Dave Richardson of Moto International fame has bought a KTM /Triumph dealership down Renton way. Bet it'd be worth giving him a holler

I know it doesnt solve your problem but you might want to see if there are any other dealers remotely close to you. I find lefthanders way easier than right handers wit hmy 2001 shortframe, probably symptomatic of having had an off on a right hander about 15 years ago and having grown up riding on the left side of the road in the UK I guess.

My first ever long bike ride in the UK was picking up my first "big" bike , a Honda XB500 in 1988. I had to drive down to Yorkshire from Dunfermline (north of Edinburgh). On the guys doorstep, it started to snowstorm, go figure !! So i never ever got to experience if the roads were bumpy or not, I have ridden a lot in the Lake District though, I have family there. The corregated sectional stuff we have here is way crap...there's just no time or bandwidth for the local authorities to close roads to fix anything. Usually my hands are numb by the time i get anywhere

I had a pretty crazy tank slapper a few weeks ago while riding with Todd Eagan. Wasn't the Guzzi's fault, the road at that point is pretty whacked. Also in the outside lane in the tunnel where the 10 transitions to PCH in Santa Monica, i've had my Goose shaking its head pretty badly while leaned over due to the humoungous potholes hiden in the tunnel and the damper has done its job every time so far Basically British road surfaces are tremendous compared to the crap we have here in Southern California. Potholes and sectional concrete can add up to lots of hidden surprises.... so anyways maybe thats why youve never needed your steering damper Guy. might just be a better road surface where you're riding.

hahahahahahaha sorry to hear that but yeah its regular. last summer i was remounting mine during pretty much every ride until i replaced the rubber mounting boots. dont sweat it and go ride !

hahaha oh how times change, it wasnae that long ago that folks would be ogling for a wee looksee at yer badge to see if it was blue so they could latch onto a bonifide software gazillionaire

Hey Slug, you don't work at the 'Soft do you ? I was up there in the Seattle area for almsot 10 years with them before i sucumbed to my fiances demands for a warmer climate herre in Southern California.. Get well Soon !

Looks Great !!!! time to do the Header pipes and crossover in black too ?

the dealer always knows what he/she has got the bike is listed on his/her site for $5495.00 You pays yer money and takes yer risk

yup i agree !! I bought one for Ingrid a few years ago. the thing has great build quality, starts every time and gets almost 70mpg..and you get to wring the crap out of the motor and still keep the speeds sensible for the street. suspensions super soggy though

yeah I did try with and withou the PCIII. The PCIII makes the bike rideable and stops it pinging heavily on california gas. The PCIII wouldn't cause the bike to be lean off of idle though regardless. The behavious is that even when youre trying to be smooth, the bike tends to want to fall into corners. I'm goign to get the PCIII dyno mapped but i figured i'd check to see if anyone knew of an ECU change that might have happened when they went to the longer frame. I'll need to find out if Todd E's bike is an 02 or an 03. might be an 03 given that i think it had the smooth black engine paint instead of the crinkle paint of death. Oh I forgot to say , Sean Fader has alerady set the TPS etc. He's really good and I trust his work implicitly.

There's a reason i'm asking. Turns out I have an ECU from an 02 LeMans in my bike , which is a 01 Redframe. Currently the bike is a bit lean off of idle and although much of this can be sorted with a dyno run to tune the PC111, I'm also wondering if i should force the dealer to actually provide me with the correct stock ECU. I recently rode an 03 LeMans side by side with my shortframe and was surprised in how different the bikes really are. The 03 felt like it had a lighter flywheel, the motor was definitely spinning up faster. Anyone know for sure if anythigng other than the frame changed when the 02's were ushered in that might mean that my stock ECU is incorrectly mapped ? the fact i have a bastard ECU is another issue altogether that i won't mention on this forum because dealer bashing isn't cool. ..but then neither is dropping your bike off of the lift and then covering up the accident, oh and then lying about some of the uncoverable cosmetic damage to make it look like these were blemishes caused by poor build quality control at the factory. sheesh no wonder it took forever to get my bike sorted, the dealer had already dropped it before i even picked it up!