mdude

First ride last night with healed wrist and complete bike. I did the Buell-thing while at it, and I really cant see the point now. Ergonomics goes AWOL. Gear lever is way too high, and brake pedal is more or less unreachable. My right knee (I got long legs) came to rest at the valve cover instead of by the tank. Things got unpleasantly hot. Yes the angle at the knees became a wee bit less sharp, but I still got a cramp going through traffic... Of course things can be adjusted, but not as far as I can see, to the extent that this really works without making new levers/pedals. I'm off to buy Ducati footpegs, ST2 ones. Has anyone really become comfy with the Buell conversion or do you have to live in compromise-world regarding ergonomics ever after? Right now I think it feels like a bodge...... (It didnt help that the bike felt like sh.... Rough running, snatchy, bumpy and lacking in power. arrrrgh...... one of these days) m u s t g e t m o r e c o f f e e

usually its: "its a gootsi" "wot!?" "motoh gootsi!" "ummhmmmm??" "its italjan, handmade n'stuff" "oh, yeah?" "almost like, ju now...dukkatti?" "right, and the wifes well??"

last night after assembling the last bits from my little shunt earlier I discovered a little note glued to the cables behind the headlamp. It was the checkout note from the tech at Guzzi, confirming that he had taken a superficial glance at the bike, from a distance, between espressos, counting the wheels and the cylinders, confirming the mandatory lack of grease at all important areas and finding it OK enough to ship it to Norway. My V11 Sport, listed as a 2001 in all registers that matters, was checked out of Mandello at 12:13 the 11th Novembre 1999.... but I had already somehow guessed. By the way: The brake pedal is now ok, the resistant frame bolt came out using the BSA technique; dont force it, use a bigger hammer...(you like that dont you Ratchet ) It helped loosening the other bolts on the porkchop. By the way; I found the lower bolt that goes through the engine casing was beginning to work its way loose.... Buell footpegs are converted and assembled together with Rossopuro holed headguards. I have to live with a dented Ti can till later, at least its not holed. Scratched valve cover will either be polished or painted red later. The brake handle microswitch played up at the last minute but was put right simply by taking it off, talking to it smoothly, filling it with Phillips Contact Spray and putting it back on. Carbon bikini fairing is painted (on my roof terrace, using spraypaint) and looking very good... Last thing to do is adjusting headlights tonight. Damn that little off has taken me some time.....

this is straight from the horses a.... Its "Nor-geh" not Norgay or Norjay or anything like that..... Its pronounced with an open e like the one you find in the middle of "event". So there. Y'all owe me a beer.

Congrats with a great bike! DONT pull the bodywork yet, let it grow on you. I think it looks fab!

A brilliant rant, Pete! One of the best this year. Death to false Guzzi-gurus! (that is a nice Tshirt motif, innit??) And what you say makes perfectly sense. To me the issue with the temp sensor explains why the Goose engine often behaves differently on different runs the same day, for instance. Often it gets better when it has been run hard and then left standing for a ten minute pee break. Perhaps then the heat has been allowed to transfer to the sensor without any cooling by wind/air? It also runs better the hotter it gets outside. For my feeble mind it seems that this little tweak is as important as the relay fiddling.

darn, you hit a bigger animal than me, I have to go looking for a moose....

heyheyhey, dont forget the easy checks: like unscrewing the sparkplug covers, cutting 1/1 inch off the spark wire and screwing them back on. Bad connections here give the same symptoms. I've had this happen twice...

I've got one more option, and that is to loosen all other bolts a tad, just to release the deathgrip on the brake pedal bolt. Seems I've got to open my wallet and buy a bike lift.....

dlaing is abs right, start a suspension project. I had the same problems in the beginning with a bike running wide on corners with no bite at all on the front wheel. First thing I did was to tighten the preload on teh rear spring nearly all the way home (under seat, the studded wheel on the spring). That made a world of difference. Then I backed off on Comp settings rear and both Comp and Rebound setting front after advice on these pages (do Suspension Setup search). They were set rock hard from the factory. Then I changed the fork springs to stiffer Wilbers progressive. It really is a different bike now. Shame I crashed it......

replying to my own edited post here, just o get it on top.... read the above posting guys

I think someone mentioned that a carbon hugger from a Honda 600 supersports (later model) fits with just small mods.

Hmmmm.... since I got my plaster off yesterday I decided to really give the bolt holding the brake pedal a go. Soaked it in penetrating oil, let it rest, screwed it back and forth a couple of times and really tried to get it out. I got it perhaps 2 mm further out this time and then it stuck. Seriously stuck, cant get it in cant get it out. I dont dare to really lean on it. Can someone who has frequently removed his pork chop share some of his experiences? It seems to me that the mounting hole on the subframe (after getting the bolt halfway out) is not perfectly lined up to the mounting hole on the porkchop (by feeling my way behind the pork chop and comparing with the mounting on the left side). It might have slid apart slightly and got the bolt trapped between the parts in a death grip.... Is this usual, that you have to use brutal bending force to get the pork chop on and off the subframe? I fear a serious problem here.... I still do not have a centre stand or bike lift, so the bike is on its sidestand. I'm still guessing this can be the problem, loading up the subframe. Or?

Repairing my bike after the shunt I got to try to remove the rear brake pedal yesterday (ordered new one from TLM: 130 euros!), by loosening the big hex it pivots around. After using almighty force on it and getting it perhaps 5-7mm out it kinda stuck. I chickened out and instead of getting all Hulk on it I screwed it back in. Any secrets about getting this out? It seems that it also connects the porkchop to the subframe. Will dramatic events occur if I really lean on it and supermanforce it out of its hole? The bike is on it sidestand by the way, does this load up the subframe in any way? Swift suggestions, please. I'll have a go at it again tonight... otherwise: in the process of repainting the carbon fairing which was badly scuffed. Mighty fun job, and its looking good. New front brake lever in place (Ducati part, and reasonably priced too). Rossopuro cylinder protectors on their way. Valve covers are made out of unobtainium, so I'll strip them and polish them both since the right cover was scuffed. I think shiny covers will look great too. Spark plug caps are a bit of a problem, NGK seems to have discontinued the stock item. Any suggestions? Buell footpeg mod are next, my wife made me a happy man by securing me a Dremel minidrill kit which will make things easier. New micro indicators will be done when the plaster on my arm is removed, cant do small precision work with that on. Muffler: I'll manhandle the smashed right one into place and fork out for a new set of Mistrals later this summer. And then theres the smashed helmet and holed pants... expensive start of season....

I'd like to put in a world for the CTEK chargers. I've owned one for a couple of years. Smart bugger, it handled the advanced (and horribly expensive) gel battery on my former BMW 1150, the huge oldstyle car battery in my Audi 4WD roadracer and both batteries in our bikes this winter. No fuzz, full charge, and it takes care of itself after hooked up. Its also quite cheap AND very compact. Best of all worlds, innit?! With the charger comes a fast connect plug which, when attached to the batt. poles, allows you to connect the charger without fumbling around on the battery itself. Even my wife can deal with that.

for 2001 V11 Sport Greenie Anyone got standard (or Greg Field-customized for CRG mirrors) barend weights lying around? and perhaps a stock alu-coloured rocker cover? (or maybe two red ones?) And maybe the right hand side MotoGuzzi Titanium muffler and downpipe? Since it seems to be damn near impossible to have anything sent from the US (Amazon does it, guys. Cant be that difficult...) its best if these items can be found in Europe. Thanks

thanks ratchet, that was what I was looking for. It will be awhile till I actually can perform these tests since I've got a small fracture in my wrist... I get it that that the cylinders are able to withstand a small sized shunt like this? And no, it went more like "Martin, you have pooped!"...... I really dont know if weasel is the right word, I actually thinkthis was the weasels bigger sibling (up her its called MÅR) about 60-100cms long. Just to excuse myself the positive thing about this that I have the perfect excuse for loading up with Rossopuro goodies now.

Well, so I got my first shunt. Fantastic day, driving slowly (60 kmh) in brilliant weather on dry B-roads with my wife in tow on the Laverda. On this nice strech through the woods I suddenly see a brown shadow in the ditch. Its a weasel who first races across the road right in front of me, then suddenly decides otherwise and comes back under my front wheel. I brake hard, hit the weasel, slides on it for about a meter and gets the mother of all tankslappers that nearly tears my thumb off. At that time a quote by the amazing Stirling Moss goes through my head; "drawing on my years of experience as a racing driver, I froze at the controls..." And down we go..... Luckily i managed to get the speed down to about 30 kmh (I guess). So the old girl slammed down on the right, broke the indicator, scraped the carbon flyscreen, grinded down the barend weight, scraped the mirror, cracked the brakelever in front, smashed and grinded the cylinder guard, scraped the valve cover, smashed the sparkplug cover AND spark plug (luckily only the top of it), broke the rear brake lever, bent the foot peg and worst of all: reduced the right side titan can to a heap of grinded and bent metal. Its hanging there and probably works but its f....ed. I have several holes in my pants and jacket and I have grinded the front and side of my helmet righ down to the weave. Had I worn a classic retro helmet I'd been looking at extensive facial surgery.... Just think about that for a minute... My right hand is the size of New Foundland and my left knee hurts otherwise Im fine; no doubt thanks to riding in full protective gear. So.... The bike looks straight to me. It tracks straight and nothing is visually out of order except what I mentioned above. The front wheel might be out of alignment, otherwise dont see much damage. What should I check before I try to start it with a new plug and spark plug cover? Didnt someone try to sell a right Ti-can some time ago? I'll pay the UPS charge if someone has got one. I'll check TLM and Rebootguzzi on the other items. Now off to Xray... I just luuuurve springtime.....

What you say! Griso is a bike choosed by heart rather than head.One should buy it openeyed, ride past the quirks and foibles, enjoy lowdown torque rather than top-end power. Make it breathe and roar through an open pipe. My previous "perfect" bike (bought with the head), Beem R1150R, bored the water out of me. Not so with the thumping bigblock!

I bought the Wilbers springs last year and had them installed for me by my garage. Not certain that they put in the correct spacers, cause the unladen sag is way too big (guesstimate: about 40-50mm). Anyway they made a real difference on the road. Let me know which kind of spacer length you decide on.

my 2001/-02 greenie vibrated like a steam hammer when I got it. especially round 2800-3000 rpms. when I got the Titanium pipes and ECU 80% of all vibes disappeared as by magic. its now run 11000 kms and is getting smoother by each ride. I guess its wise to get a full synch and tuneup after the initial miles. I still can get buzzy hands when riding when I forget myself and fall back to the "deathgrip". The goose will NEVER be japanese-smooth (god forbid), so a good tip is to hold on to the bars a bit lighter - with your fingers - and not lean on to them with the palm. Many hold on to the bars real hard like they would do with a hammer (example) and that will stop the blood circ and increase the feeling of vibration. Better with a lighter touch and instead use the legs to the side of the tank and the back muscles to keep upright. This will also give a better balance on the bike and a more active riding position.

My left barend weight is stuck. I'm not ready to use all of my 100 kgs of brute force and beergut to just manhandle it loose from the clipon because the clipon itself seems to give a little bit when I force it. How do I do it? (must take them off in order to either put on heavier items OR modify them in order to put on the CRG mirrors that languish in the drawer). Since it is stuck now it seems like a good idea to take them off anyway, grease'em up and put them back on.

Thanks Richard. I'll be going to "da London" in April and will try to find Corsaitaliana then.

can anyone tell me if the straighthrough crossover sold by TLM actually IS a Stucchi? It certainly looks similar and the price isnt THAT bad.... It looks like Corsaitaliana has the same one but they dont say which make it is.

Motrax in the UK have these: http://www.motrax.co.uk/index.php?page_nam...;product_id=943 I bought two sets last year (black and alu-finish) which awaits assembly on both our bikes. They're REALLY tiny (appx 70 mms from stem to end), lights up very brightly and have a great finish and tastefully retroinspired design which suits our bikes. Japanese bikeshops tend to stock'm (at least over here)