taminatorv

For sale is a 2001 Moto Guzzi V11 Sport, silver with red frame, 10k miles, one owner. It's been well cared for by a motorcycle enthusiast. The fork springs have been upgraded and a Power Commander III as been added along with Mistral aluminum oval exhausts. I've also added bar end mirrors because I got tired of looking at my elbows. The picture shows the original mufflers, but the Mistrals look almost identical. The transmission recall has also been performed. Tires are in good shape, Dunlop D220s from a couple of years ago. The battery is in good shape and is always on a Battery Tender. The sale will include the original exhaust, a service stand, the original mirrors, spare oil filters, a new set of front brake pads, and the owner's and shop manual. I really don't want to sell it, but I have another baby on the way. It doesn't make sense to keep it and not ride it much. I'm asking $5500. Please call Tam at 408-592-9360. I live near San Jose, CA.

I've only used world specs in the past. I probably just waited too long between adjustments, the last one about 4k miles ago. Thanks for everyones advise.

The last time I set the valve lash was around 6k miles and it's now nearing 10k miles. I've also balanced the TBs twice since 6k miles and it continues to idle and run smoothly, just has the dropping problem when hot. I didn't think it was either of those since the problem started right after I installed the Mistral and the new map on the PCIII. I'll definitely set my valve lash and TB again soon. That's one thing I love about our bikes is the ease of maintenance.

I haven't tried removing it since the problem occurred after the Mistral installation. I might be worth a shot.

I've got a 2001 V11 Sport that is basically stock except for PCIII and Mistral ovals. Before installing the Mistrals, my idle was good, typically stable at around 1100rpm. After running it for a while and thoroughly warmed up, the idle increased a little bit. After installing the Mistrals and the appropriate PCIII map, the idle slows down as the engine warms. It's especially bad after riding for a while and coming to a stop. The idle will drop to as low as 700rpm and stumble. If I let it idle for a little bit, the idle will slowly creep back up to around 900rpm, but never back to 1100rpm or so that I set it at. If I stop the engine and start it back up after no more than a minute, the idle returns back to 1100rpm. I've tried richening and leaning out the idle with the PCIII, but it didn't make a difference. The TBs are balanced and the valves are set to world spec. It runs great other than the idling problem. Any ideas? Thanks, Tam

Here it is: http://www.guzzitech.com/V11SportWobble-Todd_E.html. First, loosen the steering stabilizer, then raise the forks in the triple trees 3/8" to 1/2". I also set my rear sag for my weight and later changed out the fork springs. Tam

My 01 Sport was a little twitchy on quick transitions and sweepers for my taste. I slowed down the steering down and added more stability by raising the forks in the triple clamps. I think I raised it 1/2". Also, I back the steering damper completely out. If you want more details, go to Guzzitech.com. Tam 2001 V11 Sport

Taminatorv, How did you bend your sidestand? Mike I have no idea how my sidestand got bent. I never sit on the bike while on it's side stand. I just walked out one day and it was really leaned over. I'm guessing there was some porosity in the casting and it just bent one day.

I put the sidestand onto a two inch block of wood that gets the bike closer to straight up before I put prop it up on the shop stand. It's much easier for me to get an alignment on the bolts.

Munroe Motors has all of the parts in for the recall and I'm pretty high on their list for the work (I called in December). I've been riding it as often as I can, but my V11S sees limited riding because of a bent sidestand. I'm afraid to park it anywhere but home on the shop stand for fear that it will fall over. My tranny still shifts smoothly so I'm not too concerned about any failures. As for the sidestand, I have a new one on order. Graham in NZ from the WildGuzzi board bent his back with good results, so I might try that while I'm waiting.

I've been waiting close to two months for the recall parts and my dealer still doesn't know when he'll get them. I'm also on the fourth week of waiting on the decision of whether or not they will warranty my bent sidestand.

I've got a 98 VFR800 as my primary motorcycle because the quality issues of Italian motorcycles concern me. I like the VFR800, but it doesn't provide the feel and doesn't have the character that draws me to my V11 Sport. Rides on the VFR are uneventful and it's become just transportation for me. Rides on the V11 are experiences to remember. If Guzzi can build a V11 as reliable as the Japanese, I'd also have a Lemans with hard bags as my primary bke. I've also received the recall notification and have contacted Munroe Motors in San Francisco to order the parts. The person I talked had never heard of a V11 gearbox failure, so that's nice to know. Tam

Gio, Yeah, the rear fender is the main problem. It let's too much water and crud past. Water is thrown right onto the breather. On another posting, Lex made an extension for the inner fender than covers all the way back down to the swingarm, solving this problem. As far as I know, there's isn't an aftermarket fender yet that addresses this problem.

Now here's something I thought was interesting. A couple of weeks ago, I turned up the shock spring preload to reduce the sag I was experiencing. I wanted to keep more weight on the front wheel to get more stability. The result was a more stable handling V11S that tracks better without that nervous feeling (you probably don't have this problem with your Lemans). The interesting thing was that my ride felt noticably more compliant with the exact same compression and rebound damping settings. My kidneys feel happier after a bumpy road The only thing I could think of is that preloading the spring helps it retain more travel and thus compliance instead of losing it to sag. I'm sure I was sagging close to 2 inches before I adjusted the spring, leaving about 2.7 inches or so of travel from it's total of 4.7 inches. Now, the suspension sags about .5 inches when I sit on it leaving 4.2 inches of travel. Does this make sense or am I just crazy? Hopefully, Carl has a ride soon and we can all meet each other.

My friend Lex has two BMWs and a V11S. I'll ask him to take a look at it.

Al, I haven't had a chance to do anything about the breather yet, since I'm trying to fix the rectifier problem on my VFR . I think it is a breather and not a one way valve as I think it needs to allow air to expand and contract in the gearbox. I was also thinking this breather looks pretty similar to the ones fitted on BMWs which after owning six of them, I know doesn't allow water to get in. I wonder if the ones on BMWs would fit on our V11s? If not, can we use the cap off of the BMWs? I don't recall the design exactly, but I think they might be two caps in one.

I'm still adjusting the stock suspension of my V11S. Right now, I'm getting a decent setup compromising a decent freeway ride with good stability in the corners. But, it does bother me that it doesn't come close to the compliance and almost spot on tuning of my VFR800's stock Showa suspension. My VFR is rock steady in corners, absorbs bumps very well, and has an excellent freeway ride. I've read in Cycle World that the Ohlins shock is way too stiff even on it's softest settings. If I find I can't live with the stock suspension, I'll give Lindeman Engineering a call first (http://www.le-suspension.com/index.html#) to see what they can do. I hear nothing but good results from their work with forks and shocks.

I've away on vacation and finally got around to doing something with the breather. As a temporary fix, I got an old piece of bicycle inner tube to cover the breather. I kept the tube as a tube, stapled one side leaving two small holes, and then slide the other side over the hex of the breather. I secured it with a zip tie. When I get some more time, I'll probably just pry off the cap on the breather, and run a hose off of it to a place that stays dry or just downwards.

My Aerostich Roadcrafter leaks in the crotch area after 15 minutes of heavy rain. My BMW rain suit that I paid way too much for is better, but does leak after about an hour in heavy rain. When I'm not lazy and really want to be dry, I wear the rain suit over the Aerostich. That, my Gortex boots, and an electric vest keeps me comfortable in bad weather. I'm still looking for absolutely waterproof gloves though.

Hi Al. I'll definitely shoot for making some of Carl's rides. I gotta get this breather thing figured out before his next ride. I wouldn't be right to show up with a Honda if it's raining.

I drained my gearbox and rear drive oil last night. The gearbox oil definitely had a good amount of water in it. It was a yellowish milky color and flowed a bit easier than it should. What surprised me was the rear drive oil looked fine, not a trace of water in it. I filled both back up with decent gear oil and added a bit of engine assembly lube with moly and graphite this time. It might be my imagination, but it seems to shift even better and runs quieter than before, even with temperatures in the 40s last night. It looks like water is being thrown onto the gearbox breather by the rear tire. Water doesn't get flung onto the rear drive breather from anything so the cap on the breather is doing it's job of. On my V11 Sport, the fender doesn't cover all the way back to the swingarm. I'll find something to cover up the gearbox breather. Meanwhile, I'm riding the VFR in the rain.

Carl, I would definitely enjoy going on a ride with you and the other guys sometime. I typically go karting every other weekend so I'll have to arrange it to make your ride. Rich, you're scaring me. I guess I'd rather have piece of mind of getting the water out. It won't be hard to drain it and refill it again, but I really hate the smell of gear oil. I'll have to figure something out to prevent water from getting in again.

Thanks Carl. I rode to Pleasanton for work and will probably ride back to my primary location in Mt. View later today. Hopefully the 40 miles or so will warm up the gearbox enough to get rid of some of the water. In this temperature, it will probably take a much longer ride. I won't worry about it too much since it sounds like these gearboxes are pretty tough.

I rode my V11S in heavy rain for the past week. I remember reading something about water getting into the gearbox and rear drive through the breather, before buying my V11 Sport but couldn't remember where. I check my gearbox oil today and it looks like the oil level rose a couple of millimeters in the sight glass. It also looks a little milky. Is this something that will dissapate with heat while I ride or should I change it out and not ride it in the rain again? Will the gearbox and rear drive handle a bit of water in the oil? Is there a fix for this? Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the advice Carl. It's good hear that you didn't really find much on that mesh. What bothers me most is that there's not a real definitive answer from the dealer or from the manuals and I was hoping someone know for sure. I'll go 3k miles on the oil before dropping the sump and cleaning the mesh. Tam