Lamedog

I just fit the Mistral crossover to my Nero Corsa. I'd already put the MG Ti cans on the bike and left the stock ECU (the Guzzi pipes come with a different map that presumably has greater advance.). Adding the crossover gave splendid improvment, and I'm still using the stock ecu. I will try swapping the ecu and PCIII this week.

Thanks. Dad always said "Plan your work, work your plan". I am not the man he is/was, and continue second guessing - even when it is a good plan and on track. Will go ahead and complete the project of building my perfect classic sports tourer. Photos soon on Nero Corsa Register.

1,400 miles, perfect condition. MG Ti pipes, Roper Plate, Odyssey Battery, Buell Pegs, Throttlemeister bar ends and custom bar risers. Fits me perfectly at 6' 2". Currently fit with headers from '02 but can restore to stock '04 exhaust with front crossover. Stock crossover at the moment. Pics would just show a perfect condition Nero Corsa with Ti pipes. San Francisco Bay. All parts to return bike to stock. Daniel Craig, Sean Connery or Bradd Pitt would ride this bike. Tom cruise - not so much. The next stage of fettle involves selling the stock exhaust with my '02 LeMans, adding an aftermarket crossover and reflashing the ecu. This is another $1,200 and won't be recovered, although I will have the perfect Nero Corsa and continued admittance to the great Bay Area Guzzisti club. The worst part of selling the Nero would be that I cannot envision a more perfect replacement for anything like the money it may bring.

Al, you're adventure with this bike - as well as the many other "old dude's" was what got me into Guzzi's. It does seem a shame to sell - even in the midst of a Guzzi revival this "best example", won't dent school fees. Maybe the best logic to sell is that the project is complete and perfect. What is left to do? Anyone smart enough to be on this forum will appreciate the refinement of you bike and its attendant value. Best Wishes

Thanks Skeeve. It is easy enough to experiment.

Searching past tech topics for this, but thought I'd post here. Picking up a '04 Nero Corsa with 1200 miles tomorrow. A bit to new to be a barn find, but the owner's priorities changed soon after buying it and he has a bigger garage than mine. I cUrrently own an '02 Lemans that is well sorted at 31 k miles. Idea is to move the better bits from the '02 to the corsa and sell the '02 since this makes things easier at home. Question is how much to migrate? The '02 has "guzzi" Ti pipes and ecu, a PC III with map recommended for this setup from Moto Intl, Roper Slop plate, centerstand, and some ergonomic aids (HD lower pegs and custom bar risers). Runs much better than stock, though the dominant benefit was the exhaust and ecu. Power commander seemed to help with the power dip in mid RPM, but I never did put it on a dyno I'm thinking, the Ti map would have incorrect map for the '04 because of the front crossover (at least). Is it worth swapping this for the ignition advance and correcting the map with the Power Commander? Or, is there an '04 ecu available separately? Or reflash the '02 TI ecu? Is there consensus on value of the front exhaust crossover? This one is still tight because of low mileage. Any sense in switching to headers and using the '02 PC map, or is this a losing propisition? Also between '02 and '04 they changed from caps on the throttle body port to an interonnecting hose. Does this complexity help performance, or is it just a gradual accumulation of clutter?

Picking mine up tomorrow, an '04 with 1,300 miles in beautiful shape. Will post pics. Interesting that it's about 30 miles away from Splicer's. expect we'll run into each other at the next Alameda Italian car/bike show.

Thanks guys, been awhile since I have been here. I don't have an Axone or ability to test exhaust. I did have the bike running great awhile back with the Ti Ecu, and a PCIII map I made by combining maps from Moto Intl web site when I got the new exhaust. But things slipped toward the end of last summer with more uneveness at low throttle and a bit of popping on decelleration. I replaced TB rubber manifolds which were cracked (but not thru as it turned out), plugs and HT leads. New fuel filter, set valves and adjusted TB's with the above procedure. Things got considerably better, but not all the way back. I'll set up the fans and give it another pass. Will try a few settings at 1100 RPM indicated and take notes on what seems best. I love the bike and with 30k miles there is no reason to let such a lovely thing go.

Adjusting TPS and balancing TB's this weekend on my '02 lemans. Bike has the Ti exhaust and ECU. I don't see reference in the procedure where this affects the target 521 mv. Any thoughts on this? Also, do I disconnect my PCIII while doing this? Wouldn't see why, but its easy enough to do. Thanks for helping me beat an old horse....

Second docc's advice. My '02 developed serious hiccup and power loss this spring. Finally did a real TPS adjust instead of just sync TB's, do valves, filters and fluids. Solved the problem. I replaced Rubbers between TB's and head because Of the many evident small cracks around outside. Couldn't see them on inside, but wanted to be sure there were no air leaks. Not too expensive in any case. However, subsequent destructive testing confirmed they were superficial only. I hear this is a common dead end for folks. Do TB synch and TPS adjust first. Enjoy, this is part of why you bought a Guzzi, though you may not have realized or desired this....

Thanks Docc, thanks Soren. I am of the mind and attention span that an '81 Guzzi is probably the most complex thing I can envision putting precisely as I want it. No such success with wife, kids, dog, house, etc. This is close though. This weekend I begin the added support for the seat pan back. Will post if it turns out nice and deny if it doesn't. Dennis

I wire brushed the corrosion and painted them with a matte black automotive paint.........turned out perfect ! Me too. Use fancy rattle can for brake calipers. Just noticed I need to do this again.

Link to my project before I futz further. '81 G5

This silly bike is for sale too. Will keep this or the 'O2 Lemans whichever doesn't move. Start point was an '81 G5, but not much remains. Engine was done by Ace Mallot. I talked with Ace and previous owner. Can't confirm, but understand it has been flow balanced, new cam, steel timing gears, (somewhat) lightened flywheel, higher compression pistons and Carrillo rods. Recent clutch. Rear drive and transmission rebuilt by Charlie Cole. Virtually everything else on the bike is new. This bike generates comments and smiles for sure. It rides and sounds great. I have put in 300 mile days on the bike on NorCal coastal roads. Not sure you'd want to do this on a regular basis - but it can be done. Project Entertaining reasonable offers over $15K. Which is a silly price until you look at Kaffee Machine's Roundhead and realize they are 15 to 18 k euro, and this one has some nicer features imo. Oh well, maybe Billy Joel or Jay Leno will accept my Facebook request.

Selling my '02. Am trying to avoid taking the best bits off and selling separately and figure there is a good chance someone on this forum has seller's remorse - as I expect I will. $5,500. Photos Bike is set up for 6'2" 200# rider to go all day. I'm keeping the '81 Cafe project, which is totally silly - and I need garage space for another project this winter. Goes on local Craigslist in a week. 2002 Lemans, gold - excellent condition 31.5K miles Guzzi people will understand MG Ti pipes (high mount) and ECU with map Custom bar risers previous owner was a serious machinist - these are adjustable and anodized. Wilbers Progressive fork springs (&stock) MG Centerstand standard crossover MG tank bag Throttlemeister Buell lower pegs MRA Touring and stock windscreen Roper slop plate Fresh fluids, valve and throttle body/TPS adjust CF and new stock front fender Dennis

And they look great!

By all means, buy fuel that makes your bike smile. Interesting that Major Oil companies are no longer major refiners. They remain major marketing franchisor's, but - at least in the US - they don't impose any special specifications relating to octane due to the predominant use of pipelines for transmission and the fact that refineries undergo turnarounds and backfill marketing needs from other suppliers. Within the UK it is possible pipelines are less used and the fuel system less fungible, so perhaps it is more likely to find a reliable supplier of fuel that is a higher quality than other suppliers. However, even more than in the US, in the UK major oil companies have sold refineries to investors or govenrnments. Within the US the old "majors" have sold to "new majors" like Valero and Tesoro, where these operate with greater independence than the "old" model. Ultimately for most of the US it is all about meeting pipeline specs in the distribution system - at least in major markets. There shouldn't be cases of gas leaving a station below the advertised octane rating, though statistical quality control and on line octane certification have cut into the historical normal ocatne "giveaway". This historical octane "giveaway" was added to assure downstream compliance testing never found a "low" test. My understanding is that compliance testing must now show the fuel is below the testing error before it is considered noncompliant - this may vary by state. Octane giveaway today is due to the increased variety of fuels that pass through the system. Ethanol and butane give great octane, theoretically lower mileage. In the US the greatest variations occur during transition from "winter" gas (lots of butane and potential octane giveaway) to "summer" gas (essentially no butane, but better mileage depending upon ethanol content). For California we transition from "Winter" to "Summer" in late March/early April to get the distribution system RVP's into compliance with summer specs. In this period its easy to find significant differences in fuel quality from one station to the next. Just some thoughts.

Good work, and I doubt reheating it would hurt so long as you stay below 875 F. It will be softer than it was when cast I would think, so I wouldn't be surprised if it deforms under hard braking or another wreck. But heck - its a rear break - so its largely decorative. Just keep from touching it and things will be fine. I think you did great! (But would stop while you'e ahead - it is my experience that most of the damage I've done is moving from "pretty good" to "perfect").

Jam. After 20 years in Exeter and Visalia, pictures of te fog bring back powerful and mixed memories. Had lunch with JJ and Guido today, looks like we'll be joining you in early April. Reacquaint myself with the County roads (aka goat trails) of my youth. J21 (Dry Creek), J37, Drum Valley and etc. Looking forward to it. Dennis

How about starting with this and trimming the bottom a bit for an endurance racer look? Can'taise the clip ons much I suppose.

I think it is accurate to say that wbo didn't produce tanks, but distribted tanks made from other sources. One major supplier has had to leave the business for health reasons, and it is sad to see the senior torch-weld fabricators age out. Soon after the last batches was produced, wbo put up their note. I expect I got one of the last from this builder for my '81 cafe project. I sourced the seat pan for my bike from Friedhelm. His work is good and improving, but he is using TIG, not torch welding. Friedhelm is responsive and professional. His quote for my tank was reasonable. It is nice to see the enxt generation come along, but a little sad to see torch welding displaced by TIG. In my opinion, torch welding produces a superior product from a workability and leak-resistance standpoint. For a tank it is likely adequate and I'm sure Friedhelm would stand behind his product.

I'd be interested in the caps you fabricate (or source) for the speedo and tach since I'll need the same for my project. Just not that far yet. Also, haven't looked at what happens mechnically if you remove the drives for these (vs just removing cable and capping the cable take off). The opportunity for a greatlyt cleaned up dash is great. Good luck to you.

Good on you! I'm about to do the same, but this would be for an '81 V1000 that I'm screwing up (another cafe project). I'm interested in how you handle the current tach and speedo cable take-offs. Have you sourced a cap? Do you plan to remove the3 drive gears or just leave them in there spinning? It is a beautiful device - please update us....

Try an anluminum file and (at least for me) avoid pulling the file back along the work - dulls the file. Learned this at a metal-forming class by an aluminum craftsman. Search on Tinmantech, his tools are well researched and fairly priced.