Janusz

So how would you comment, in view of these revelations, on the fact that Moto Guzzi factory themselves, along with many other makes including Porshe, Mercedes etc, fill the crancase in the new bikes with a synthetic oil? The oil recommended by the factory, Agip 4T Super Racing is a synthetic oil of course. My comment is this: Do you remember all these guys some years ago who were clinging to vinyl records preaching that they sound better then CD's? That was also pathetic. Also; I am of the opinion that modern methods of engine production (yes, including Moto Guzzi) make the whole "breaking in" process more and more meaningless.

The best gasoline is always the lowest octane one; it is purest and with highest BTU. Only in case of your engine knocking you have to downgrade to higher octane gasoline contaminated with anti-knocking additives and, just to add insult to injury, more expensive.

You have to remember that US/Canadian pump octane of 91 equals approximately 96 in Europe. Using different yardsticks leads to false conclusions. We use as a pump octane an average of research and motor method (R+M/2).

My 2001 Sport has 30,000 km and it shifts perfect,like the best Jap bike. Just to confirm that it is possible and therefore an engineering is sound.

Thats right, Ferraci are made by M4 and are somewhat smaller. Which for me is a definite advantage since M4's as well as stock pipes are both too big for our bikes, especially in V11Sport Naked variety. On LeMans they do not look so grossly oversized IMO.

Before you spend your money do yourself a favour and find somebody with Ferraci pipes just to listen... I am sure that you will have no doubt anymore which pipes to get. The last timeI checked Ferraci had a sale and you could get these for 575. In any case this is what I paid.

I am just curious how did you come to this conclusion. If it is true in your bike's case there must be something wrong with it. V11S loves to rev and is the happiest over 4000 RPMs for sure. You can cruise all day at 6,000 RPM (that would be 170 km/hr on my speedo) and it surely will be much healthier for the engine then puttering at 3000 - 4000 like some old woman.

It only confirms the truth discovered a long time ago that the best tire is Bridgestone either 010 (014) or 020 for our bikes. On the 4.5 rim you have to run 160/60 for best results. The wider rim and 180 tire introduces some imbalance for the sake of fad and marketing. With 160/60 rear on 4.5 rim you will not experience front cupping.

Just to show how everybody is different let me say that I ride my V11S as fast and hard as it goes on everyday basis. I want as much power and speed as I can get! When I was in late 40-ies like you guys I also thought I've mellowed then. But it was just a hiccup and now, at 57 I want to enjoy life as much as possible, especially now when I can afford it and skills and abilities are still there. For even more speed I just bought a new '04 Yamaha R1 which is a machine difficult to describe in any words I have an access to. And my first cruiser bought 2 months ago is also fun although you cannot call it a motorcycle really. My map was kidnapped from Todd's website and after few twitches the fuelling is also perfect. This Powercommander is really something. I just picked up my bike from the dealer after a recall work was done. On brand new tires, after a few first klicks going easy, I just rode over 125 klilometers home. Half of the distance on sideroads, the rest being a freeway ride I squeezed from my Italian favourite all its got and enjoyed every second of it. When I want to go below my andrenaline level then i take a car or the cruiser. And yes, with open Ferraci box, FBF pipes and Stucchi x-over when compared to stock the bike lost a tiny bit of torque at a very low revs, say below 2500 RPM. Can be detected only during lazy take-offs. In exchange the mid range and the top are way stronger. It is not ferocious like a Jap sportsbike but definitely serves the Goose very well and adds considerably to its character. And the sound, that Wagnerian sound is unreal!

Please, do not use screwdrivers or any metal rods for this purpose; that's what God created chopstics for. If (or when rather) you jam it by some momentary lapse of care you might damage your piston ot cylinder wall. I had a chopstick jammed last year it just cracked. All I had to do is reverse the engine slightly and pull a broken chopstick. If it was a screwdriver I would have a major problem to deal with, I am sure. And yes, there are markings "D" and "S" on my flywheel. You just not always see them through a tiny inspection hole if you are even a liiitle off perfect TDC or/and they might be not 100% precisely on the spot.

Yeah, I did try gutting stock pipes and it helps, helps a lot indeed. But still, you end up with stock pipes which are heavy, too big and do not sound perfect. After spending so many thousands on the significant and beautiful motorcycle why economize to save a few hundred and give up on almost perfection? It reminds me some guys who want to save $7.28 and buy some atermarket oil filters or skimp on synthetic oils to save more pennies...or fabricate their own parts which maybe do the job but look like shit.

I bought a set of replacement gaskets when the bike was new almost 3 years ago and never had to replace any. Took valve covers off at least 6 times already. But, if I was a mechanic at the dealer working on somebody's bike I would also replace gaskets every time for sure.

Stucchi comes with the clamps ... In my case it also fit perfectly with stock pipes AND Ferraci pipes as well. As a stand alone improvement Stucchi made wonders in getting rid of 4000 RPM dip,was way lighter and more elegant looking then stock.

I am not usually impressed with all kinds of theoretical divagations but rather prefer to follow my own senses. Nobody really needs dyno graphs, horsepower tables or computerized projections to tell if one bike handles better then the other, sounds more exciting or can be ridden faster with less difficulty. I rode my Guzzi for over two years stock and tried at least four different intake/exhaust configurations. None of these satisfied me as much as FBF cans with open airbox and proper map plus Stucchi X-over. I don't even want to know why, I am just glad that this bike performs now exactly how I always expected it to perform. Here i am, a happy man .

@#@#?>~+_*&($%^@#$xX#@!`~`+8+;,*&.* now now, Antonio..play nice I had a Honda Pacific Coast as my first bike for 7 years. I wanted a change, and wasn't mentally ready for a 'sport bike". I fell in love with a 2000 Harley Fat Boy, but refused to pay the outragous cost. The Yamaha dealer was right next door. Took the Roadie for a spin, and paid cash for it (for LESS THAN HALF of what the harley was). It was GREAT bike for three years. Never an problem. Fun to ride, although heavy. I truly did enjoy it. Then, I decided I wanted a BMW 1150 RT. Traded Ruby in, and it was a disaster. Total POS. After 7 months, they bought it back from me.. Then I saw my LeMans These Yamaha cruisers are great. I just bought one just over a month ago - a V-Star Silverado. Now I have two bikes and one cruiser and I love it. Nothing beats one day on Guzzi, another on Ducati and one more on a cruiser, maybe with The Wife on the back seat, just relaxing and rumbling around. I never had as good as that before.

Also Josh, from esthetics point of view, look at the perfect size of Ferraci cans. The only out of balance parts of a stock bike, oversized pipes which could not be any smaller and conform to all the governmental regulations at the same time, do not offend anymore. The bike finally looks, sounds and performs how it should.

FBF topless airbox, Stucchi X-over, FBF pipes plus PC and you have doubts? Man, this is the best setup possible, the mother of all mods!! Seriously, you could not do better then that IMO. Of course you need a good map and you can get one from Todd website custom made to these specs for one of our forum members. It is a good basis for further refining to perfectly fit your own bike and preferences. I found myself adding quite some fuel at the bottom to overcome stumbling at take off and also you might need to get rid of excessive leaning out at 2500 RPM at 20% to 80% throttle. I suspect the dyno operator must've had a sneezing fit at these settings. To reduce noise levels? Are you kidding? This combination sounds the best in all bikedom, plese do not ruin it. Who is "that guy" anyway? And "excessive noise" is normally heard in the vicinity of Sturgis or wherever pot belly guys concentrate. Your Guzzi makes music.

I did ask Redline directly and they recommended Shockproof Heavy (red color) for the box and rear end for Guzzi. No changes needed for life. Light was an improvement, Heavy made it perfect.

I also ride a classic V11S 2001 (before they messed the frame) and can definitely confirm that Bridgestones 010 are just about ideal for it with the rear downsized to 160/60 of course. I wonder how the new 014's (replacement for 010's) will do. Got to try them...

My dealer ordered from Ferraci for me. 831 + tax.

So after I installed my Ferraci pipes and the remap (thanks Callitrix) it was just today I had a chance to finally ride. First of all these pipes are TOTALLY empty (hollow) inside! You can see a daylight while looking through. No wonder these are the loudest I've ever saw. And the sound is unreal; very low frequency. They look really nicely on black'n'red bike especially since they are so much smaller and less obtrusive. The original pipes overpower the bike with their huge size. The quality of finish at least two grades higher then Mistrals. Excellent fit - no trouble to install and additional nice surprise; the original cans' asymetry gone completely. In a word they look more factory then OME. I weighted both. OME 9 1/4 lbs (one can) Ferraci 4 5/8 lbs. Exactly half weight.

Antonio; could you also instruct us how to pronounce that "Stucchi" word?

Yes, this being my first Guzzi never stops to surprise me how dramatically it improves with mileage; it goes on and on. At 10,000 km I was really impressed how it improved since new and assumed that breaking in process ended. But no, at 20,000 km it was so much better still! And now at 30,000 km that thing really flies! It simply is entirely different bike now comparing to what it was when new. I think that it is like with best wines, classy women and all the things of quality: only improve with age and/or use. Back to engine braking. When riding my favorite twisty canyon run sometimes I play the game of going as fast as possible BUT not using the brakes at all. I'd stay in the fourth almost all the time and the compression braking is quite good. This exercise teaches you smooth riding quite well, I think.

Glad you asked, Brian. Yes, I do! My box shifts not worse then any Japanese I've had before. I can go through it in a flash. I do clutchless upshifts a lot also. It was not like that from new, mind you. I used to have some false neutrals and clunky shifts before. I do not pretend that I know for sure why it improved so much in time and just report the fact. If I had to guess I'd say the combination of not babying it plus Redline Shockproof Heavy (red color) did the trick.

Same here... At one extreme would be just grabbing the clutch and coasting while shifting to neutral or not and using your brakes only. The other extreme is, while braking or not, shifting down one gear at the time and letting the clutch out, aka typical engine braking. I do not think any of these technics is proper or useful on the street. When I have to slow down on the street, either leisurely or more forcefully or in an emergency even, I leave the clutch and gear lever alone and JUST BRAKE. Then shift quickly to a proper gear and just keep going into turn or whatever. Or just grab the clutch and stop completely and then shift into first or neutral.