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callison

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Posts posted by callison

  1. I think it says something that the front brakes use a microswitch and the rear brake uses a pressure sensor. The sensor might be something that affects the feel of the front brakes and would therefore be undesirable or it might be that the rear brake master cylinders are not available with the much less expensive microswitch. It makes you wonder if the rear brake actuation wouldn't be improved some with the mechanical switch versus the pressure activated type.

  2. I removed the tank of my V7 Café this afternoon to add wiring for a set of Fiamm horns. When I finally got the tank off (what a pita!) I was presented with the following views (first and third images). The bike has 5000+ miles on it. There is an appreciable amount of chafing going on where the wiring harness is flat up against the underside of the fuel tank.

     

    Note the green tank material deposited on the wiring harness below the coil. That is material rubbed off of the underside of the fuel tank. The harness is hard up against the coil with insufficient space to clear the underside of the fuel tank. (The yellow/brown and white wires are wiring that I've added for a horn relay under the left side cover.)

    001.jpg

     

    Here I've moved the bend in the harness a tad further aft and tie-wrapped the lower bend further inboard of the frame rail.

    005.jpg

     

     

    Note the green tank material deposited on the folded over part of the harness lead going to the connector tie-wrapped to the bottom fram rail.

    002.jpg

     

    Here I've snugged wiring lead up against the top frame tube and tie-wrapped it in place.

    006.jpg

     

    Here, the tank fuel vent line was crimped so badly beneath the tank that it became brittle and broke. All I could do here at the moment, was cut out the bad section, re-route and stretch the tube and finagle it back into place when I put the tank back on.

    003.jpg

     

    As a side note, the tank fits so snugly on the front mount that to engage the rear tank bolt requires a monumental amount of pressure be exerted on the tank to push it forward enough to allow the bolt to be threaded. In the near future, I will remove some material from the very rear portion of the tank rubber snubbers at the front tank mount so that less pressure is required. Somehow, I don't think that the amount of stress being applied to the bottom of the tank from the mounts is a positive thing.

  3. Hello everyone from Brisbane, Australia.

     

    I’ve been away from motorcycling for many many years (well 20 or so anyway) but have recently had that craving that never quite goes away, belt me around the head.

     

    This coincided with my mate’s new Triumph Thruxton arriving….

     

    Anyway I have always had a hankering for a Guzzi and always thought I’d end up with a Cali, but the more I look at it the more I think a V11 might be the go.

     

    Naturally I am putting the cart before the horse as I’ve not yet had the chance to sit on one, let alone ride one. If there happens to be anyone local to me who has one… shout out.

     

    First things first I’m going to go back to a riding school and do some ‘refresher” training just to get back “up to speed” so to speak. Even though that’ll be on a UJM you’ve no idea how much I’m looking forward to it..

     

    No doubt I’ll be haunting this forum from time to time.

     

    Cheers everyone !

     

    I sold my BMW R65 in 1985 and quit riding. Then, in 1997, I saw a Moto Guzzi Sport 1100i in a buyers guide. In 1998, I bought the "Bright Red Italian Bugswatter" and my life has never been the same! All better! Go Guzzi!

  4. The Öhlins fork has different mount points from a V11 Sport. I have in my garage, a brand spanking new, never been used silver front fender for my long gone 2001 V11 Sport TT. The damn thing was $323 brand new. Make a reasonable offer, I want to invest in parts for my V7 Café.

  5. You can turn it into a Daytona RS if you want. Body parts are at airtech-streamlining.com and you'll need a rear sub-frame from a Sport 1100i or Daytona. Oddly enough, I have one of those out in my shed. Heh, heh, heh. :rolleyes: Oops! I think my ulterior motive is showing through. The Centauro is just a Daytona RS in a monkey suit. A couple of guys in Germany managed to "clone" the bodywork off of an MGS-01 and fit that to a Centauro. I don't know if it became available as a kit though.

  6. Thanks, Carl.

    How do you like the Classic?

    While I spent last year in Boston, I met a kid who owned a brand-spankin' new one. It was a nice bike! I helped him learn to set the valves and change the oil- hopefully set him on the path to righteousness in the Guzzi world. We'll probably hear from him when he's about to retire- complaining that the tires are wore out or some such nonsense. Anyhow, I will forward this on to him and Thanks for the heads-up.

    J

     

    I've got the Café and it's way more fun than the Norge.

     

    V7_Cafe_1.sm.jpg

     

    V7_Cafe_2.sm.jpg

     

    V7_Cafe_shot.jpg

    I've just got to pull those weeds...

     

    V7_Cafe_tekno_1.jpg

     

    V7_Cafe_tekno_2.jpg

     

    Someday, I hope to have it cafe'd out sort of like this artists concept

     

    V7_Cafe_Classic_Classic.jpg

  7. Own one of these? Look under the left side of the swingarm and see if the speed sensor wire is rubbing against the shift linkage. If it is, tie wrap it to the bracket nearby. Mine is rubbing and there is a slight bit of wear. Fixable. Don't fix it and if the wire wears through you could lose the speedometer function or possibly damage the electronics in the instrument panel.

     

    I'll do mine tomorrow, thought I'd get the word out to you guys today.

  8. As usual Roy, a first class diagram. I sort of had to laugh at where is says the diagram doesn't show the magnitude of the current passing. You'd have to printit vertically on a 44" banner if it did. :whistle: I only spotted one error and that's that it is a Valeo, not Veleo starter. Minor typo.

     

    I actually took a Valeo starter for a Saturn once (they rotate the wrong direction) and re-did the endcap to swap the polarities so the starter would work on my 97 California. I had to use the old engagement gear from the previous Valeo for the Guzzi so the gear chamfer was on the correct side of the gear teeth but overall, it worked fine and never gave a lick of problems for the next four years I had the bike before selling it. The Saturn starter was about half the price of the Guzzi version and I was looking for a cheap out. I wouldn't call it the best route though, just that it can be done. If you're desparate and too onery to take no for an answer.

     

    For the life of me though, I can't figure out why Valeo chooses to build a separate style of case with the magnets reversed to change the direction when making a different endcap would be a whole bunch simpler production-wise.

  9. One of mine, on the pork chop is lost

    Is it possible to get a replacement? And where?

    Thanks

     

    That last time that I bought one, it was $25.10 or thereabouts. You would do better to contact someone like guzzi reboot spares and check with them.

  10. Does anyone have the paint code for the "Legnano Green" on the V7 Cafe (the color known as "Solaris Yellow" in the USA. Yellow? Oh well...). I don't think it's the same as the green on the 1999 green V11 Sports but it might be close to that so if someone has that color code, I wouldn't mind it either.

  11. I forgot to mention that the V11 Sport has 1cm less trail in the triple tree too. Däs Mototec sells a kit to reduce the rake (expensive). They also sell a triple tree with less rake as well (also expensive). You can put a V11 Sport tripe tree on the Sport 1100i frame though and it will fit just find although the ignition lock stub has to be ground down to clear the V11 Sport triple tree. The fairing is most of the weight difference along with the steel tank. The V11 Sport transmission is actually heavier than the that of the Sport 1100i (extra gear and third shaft). I think the weight of the two bikes is actually not that much different but I no longer have the specifications in front of me. I guess I'll look them up later just out of curiosity.

  12. I've owned an 1100 Sport Corsa, and a V11- I think the main difference is that the 1100 Sport has the 5 speed gearbox and is longer.

     

    You can raise the ride height if you would like her to steer faster- when Gyles was racing his Daytona RS which has basically the same chassis he relocated the upper rear shock mounting to lift the back end of the bike and sharpen her up.

     

    Cheers

     

    Guy

     

    Hi Guzzirider

     

    I know I can raise the rear and have done that for some of my bikes but why does it feel so heavy compared to the v11. I thought they are the almost the same weight?

     

    The Sport 1100i has 1˚ more rake than the V11 Sport chassis. It also has a brace from the spine to the transmission so it's just a tad more stiff overall. I don't recall that when I had a V11 Sport in addition to my Sport 1100i that they handled all that much different but the V11 Sport engine was noticeably stronger feeling.

  13. Tony, on my now sadly defunct Griso Pinko I found that once they were warm, (I removed the stickers in LA in June, it was pretty warm if you left the bike in the sun.) and soaked in some sort of lizard piss of the WD-40 variety you could attack tem with a credit/charge card type thingy and they came off with no damage to the paint underneath. I think it took me about 40 minutes all up but I did them one at a time with breaks in between to avoid frustration and the risk of damage. Why, since they insist on this 'Information for Idiots' be available with the bike they can't just put it on a label that can be shown to the customer on purhase and then cut off I don't know?? Stupid nanny-statism at its worst!!!

     

    Pete

     

    For a while there, some motorcycle manufacturers cast the gear lever positions into the side of transmission housing. Yep, just look down to see what to do next. Crunch...

  14. Very nice but why all the text on the tank ? Is that required in the States ? Are you expected to revise at traffic lights ? More importantly can you pull it all off and leave the paint in place ? :D

     

    USA smog requirements. It took me a long time to peel the stickers off of my V7 Café. If I ever move back to California (which I won't), I'll have to order and install of those stickers prior to the smog check for registration. What a PITA.

  15. Anybody know if these are any good? I asked if they come with raincover, and seller claim that they are waterproof.

     

    http://www.motogiovane.it/skart.php3?art_cod=BB093

     

    The original V11 Sport bags were made by Tekno and these look the same. Mine were waterproof via an inside lining. After a number of years, that lining has worn out and I do not consider the bags waterproof (plastic garbage bags are now the norm). The website with these bags doesn't seem to mention any kind of mounting hardware though so I would think it would be wise to check if they have the actual mounts intended for a V11 Sport type frame. If they don't, you might find the hardware on eBay or somewhere but they're getting scarce. They could be re-created by any competent welder though if you have some to use as a pattern.

     

    You can also download the catalog of the entire line at Bags & Bike but I don't see any mention of mounting hardware there either.

  16. I think I'll have to try the Krylon bit. These bags are off of "FrankenSport" because my son didn't use them. The brackets have been modified to fit a V7 Café but the bags are showing their age. The tank bag is also from my former V11 Sport TT with a new hole cut in the bottom part to line up with the gas cap on this bike. It's a bit wide but it's a good bag. I don't think spraying the tank bag with Krylon is an option so perhaps I'll try leather shoe dye on that.

     

    M4hRS-435.jpg

     

    M4km0-435.jpg

  17. I have a 1997 Sport 1100i which is not all together at the moment (a perpetual case as it were), a 2006 Norge (also apart for fairing modifications) and a V7 Café. I no longer have my V11 Sport and I believe that it was the best bike out of all of the Guzzis I've had.

  18. I stopped by GP Cycles today in San Diego to check out their current offerings, and ended up taking a V7 out for a short test ride. What a cool little bike! The fueling was spot-on, power was adequate (despite the low horsepower ratings) and delivered nicely across the RPM range, and the handling was nice and stable. The riding position is as comfortable as a standard bike should be, and much less rackish than the Ducati's Sport Classic series, despite the low bars. Suspension seemed a little soft on spring rate, but the damping wasn't too far off and the chassis didn't seem to mind the rougher sections of road I traveled over. Combined with a relative low weight carried nice and low in the frame, the handling was good, if not a little slow from all the rake in the front end. Aftermarket pipes with a little more bark would be nice, but the engine wasn't overly quiet and you could certainly hear enough of that v-twin sound over the road and wind noise. Fit and finish was much higher than I expected as well, and was far from cheap looking. The mirrors even stayed where I put them while providing a clear, vibe-free picture behind me. Overall, I really liked the thing right off the bat, and am seriously considering selling the Cali Aluminum and my DR650 dually to make room for one in the garage. Any takers? :mg:

     

    I've got just under 3000 miles on mine. I agree with most of your observations. It does quite well in the twisties although I have to ride about 200 miles to get to any. I put 460 miles on mine yesterday and I would say that the seat was murder for me after about 150 miles necessitating frequent stops to relieve the pain. The footpegs are a bit too far forward which cramps the body on long rides as well. Personally, I feel the ride can be a bit harsh but that may be a settings issue. I haven't touched mine. The stock mirrors have a tendency to break since the metal is machined too thin at the clamping area, I've changed to 1200 Sport mirrors. It is a pretty sweet bike other than that but I would not get rid of the Cali to make room for one. A V7 Café and a Cali would be very complimentary but neither bike by itself covers all of the abilities of the other.

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