richard100t

Check the relays under the seat too. Hopefully you just fried a relay.

It sounds like the brakes to me. I would get the front wheel off the ground and spin it by hand so you can here where the noise is coming from. If you cant do it yourself you really need to get it to someone that can. The front wheel is probably the worst place for a mechanical problem at speed. If the front brakes let go at speed the rear brakes wont stop the bike very fast or without locking the rear wheel. If its a bearing in the wheel that seizes up at speed well...I dont want to think about that.

I was going to ask if you liked riding the Duck but I guess the jury is still out. I would like to have that exact bike myself..if if was reasonably comfortable. We all know what the service costs are on the things if you hire it done, they should give you a bottle of wine and some ky jelly before they hand you the bill! lol

I'm at 38k right now. I expect to be well over 40 when I get back on the road next month. Oh no real problems with mine yet either.

Its a good question to ask. The later models have the fuel pump in the tank right? I know you can get a replacement filter for an early model v11 at pretty much any auto parts store as it is also used for some cars.

I have gotten mine to 140 in the past. I have even gotten it a good bit faster than that going downhill . I'm not sure if I'm just getting older or wiser or I care less about the top end, but I rarely break the ton anymore.

I would imagine that by the time the customer actually takes the time to find a dealer and sit on the bike he knows what it costs and wether or not he can afford it. Would I invest my 401k money in the Motus company? No. I would like to think they did some kind of research that says there is some small market for that bike but it was probably done before the economy collapsed. My point is if they build a good quality bike and market it as something exlusive and special that will appeal to a small amount of people with more money than sense, and they are out there. Harley Davidson hasnt been doing any better than the rest of the bunch in the showrooms lately either, but that is no doubt because of the economy. I wish them luck at Motus, but after going to the Cycle World bike show the last 2 years and seeing that even Bmw didnt spend the money to put up a display I know what the deal is. I actually lost my job in November after 20 years with the same company they closed the doors and I joined the ranks of the screwed american factory workers. I'm not ever going to lay down 40k for a bike or 300k for a Ferrari, but I like to look at the videos of them like everyone else.

People buy motorcycles because they prrovoke an emotional response. They arent typewriters or minivans where everything has to make sense. I mean Harley keeps putting out that same old dog every year and people still buy them. Just because it doesnt look good or efficient on paper doesnt meant anything. Once you're in the showroom sitting on one and turn the key, thats when you really decide if you buy a motorcycle and at that time you probably arent thinking about DTUPC at all.

what parts of what models is this red beauty? Anyone know? Looks like Oz wheels to me. Ohlins forks. Is that Pauls bike? Looks like custom exhaust and custom tailpiece too.

If you are a new rider, get a used jap bike for $1000 or so and then you wont lose anything if you drop it a time or 3. Once you get your riding skills honed then get the bike you really want and ride with confidence. I would suggest a bike of around 600 to 800cc engine thats not a racebike, other than that just make sure its mechanically sound.

Yeah I think you'll have to remove the pork chop side plates, the swingarm, driveshaft, etc. Just make sure you mark the threads on the side plates for when you put it back together. Theres another recent thread on pork chop removal and you should check that out, it will help you alot.

The easy way to do it is to take off one pork chop, paint it and put it back on then remove the other side and repeat. If you do go ahead and remove both sides at the same time, its a good time to grease the front u joint on the shaft drive. Also inspect all bearings and grease them while you're there. It sounds like lining up the bike after reassembly is kinda tricky...I would suggest to snap a chalkline for reference instead of the light bulbs. As for Ginger..well I've always been a MaryAnne guy myself

I think I'll start my own forum too. Lets see about the rules and restrictions for joining my special forum 1) You must live in Northeast oHIo 2) You must ride a v11 Sport 3) The v11 Sport must be equipped with only the aftermarket accesories that I deem are " cool and necessary" 4) I would prefer that your bike be red, BUT I may grant a waiver if I feel that you're still worthy 5) You will have to swear a blood oath of loyalty to the v11 Sport northeast oHIo riders club and swear to never ride anything else under penalty of having your membership cancelled. 6)You may not wave to other riders of different brands of motorcycles! {ok I'm stealing that from the "other" bike club, but so what 7) There will need to be fees and dues paid to me on a monthly basis to cover all necessary costs...( I'm the arbiter of what is necessary) I'll get back to you guys in a few months to show you how my new forum will be taking over the motorcycle world! I'll probably get so many new recruits that I'll have to turn some away, but hey... they can always move to N.I.

If you weigh less than 180 pounds like I do and think the suspension is too stiff and you're looking for a remedy for that the cheapest, easiest remedy is fork oil. Your bike probably needs a fork oil change anyway. If you switch to a 5wt high quality fork oil you'll be very surprised at the difference it makes in the way your bike handles the bumps. You'll also notice that the compression and rebound clickers actually work on the forks too. I'm not saying that respringing and revalving the suspension isnt worth the money BUT try the cheap simple stuff first.

A few years ago I swapped out the fork springs in my rosso mandello for some progressive springs from hyperpro. I got them from Todd E at GuzziTech. HyperPro makes, or used to make everything you would ever want as far as suspension goes for the v11. Check on the GuzziTech website and have a look around, if you need help email Todd Egan from the link on their site and he can probably get you exactly what you want. He hooked me up with my springs, and if I could afford it I would buy the hyperpro rear shock too.

For some reason, Dlaing disappeared along with Ratchethack. I try hard to put that up as pure coincidence... Do you think? I guess I hadn't thought of that possibility... What are the odds that Dlaing and Ratchethack both sold their v11's and bought some other new obscure bikes at the same time? Like maybe the new Norton. It would just be too rich if they both ended up with the same bike and are bickering on some other Norton based v11lemans.com type site!

I have 38,500 miles on my Rosso and its been very reliable so far. I dont think anything other than a sheared torque arm bolt has left me by the road. I got bored with the winter weather yesterday and even fixed the cold weather idle lever so it works perfectly. The trick is to get the right spring for the job. I can actually set it at different rpm's and it will stay where I put it and not walk back down to idle. I've owned mine for 6 years now and I'm still pretty happy with it. I would probably sell it if the price was right, but I know that once its gone I'd want it back.

Well lets hope that all it needed was a better bleed job and all is well. If thats what was wrong with mine it could be the same with yours. I can tell you that the lever felt like it was working and had good feel when the bike was pulling with the lever in. But when I re bled it and made extra sure there was no air in the line I could tell the difference in the lever. It wasnt a huge difference, but then the problem wasnt really that severe either. One of the things that I really like about this forum is that we can share our experiences with the bikes and troubleshoot problems. A while back I had a problem with a leaking seal in the rear drive and replaced all the seals and it would STILL leak. After I cleaned out all the redline gear oil and put in regular gear oil it stopped leaking. Then another forum member had the same problem and was considering an expensive teardown and I recomended he try the cheap gear oil trick. Saved him some money I think. I know that if I keep the bike long enough I'll have to replace the clutch, but I'm in no hurry go through that operation.

I re bled the system completely and put in all fresh synthetic fluid today in hopes that it would cure the problem. I've ridden the thing around town quite a bit and so far the problem hasnt recurred. The lever feels perfectly taut and the clutch works as it should. It shifts well and the whole thing. BUT....it is only about 32 degrees outside today so theres no chance of getting it really warmed up to be completely sure yet. Would just a tiny amount of air in the line have caused the symptoms I was having? The lever wasnt soft or spongy before, but I'm thinking that it wasnt as good as it is now either. I hope I dont get the mechanical paranoia or GuzziChondria! So I'm going to cross my fingers and hope it was a simple problem with a simple cure and leave it at that unless and or until it starts acting up again.

I like the looks of it. Its as fine looking a sport bike as any of them. Now wether or not it can make it around the track as fast... thats another story. I hope the man hits it big time, he's worked his ass off.

I'm having a little trouble with my clutch. Sometimes when I go down into first and have the clutch lever in the bike still wants to move forward. I've bled the system thoroughly and the slave and master are both in good shape. I did a little research and one of the things that it "could" be is the splines need greased. Has anyone done this without a complete teardown? Any other advice on this problem is of course very much welcome and appreciated!

I think Guzzi isnt trying to get the old corn cob pipe smokers to buy the new California. I remember the Vintage doing very well in a comparison a year or two ago with a Harley and a few other big cruisers. They are probably hoping the new one is just bigger and better enough to get good reviews in the motorcycle magazines to attract a new audience. All they really need to do is just get some of the weekend warrior accountant "honey can a take the bike around the block after dinner?" crowd. The larger displacement will generate more sales here in America, I guarantee it. The new California will be lighter and faster than the Harley for sure, and I bet it will give the Vulcan/VStar crowd of bikes a run too.

I mentioned it in a different thread but I got to see the Diavel at a bike show. I didnt like it in the magazines, thought it was ugly and silly looking. But when I saw it up close and sat on it I really did like it. The thing just oozes quality when you sit on it and touch the switches and grips. Even the license plate frame is a really cool piece of work. There werent a lot of bikes at the show but that one was probably my favorite new model. I can say that you should wait until you actually sit on one before you say things like "I'd never own one" or goof on its appearance. You might have a hard time explaining why you bought one later! lol

You just have to get them clear coated. I tried using spray can clear and it works nice...for awhile. I think Guzzi didnt want to weigh the c/f parts down with too much clear coat!