Mike Stewart

Matthieu, I haven't noticed any difference in the rain with out the rear hugger. I did 100 miles in the pouring rain last month going down south and only my gloves got soaked from the water going down my arms. Thats when I found out that Gortex gloves are hard to dry out when they are soaked on the inside. With lower clipons, the downward position of the arms make a nice gutter to channel water into the gloves. Next time when I am in the rain, I will put my jacket over the gloves to prevent this. By the way, did you buy the Magni fairing from Moto Italiano? Mike

Yep, the 00 green V11 Sport is mine, I guess you thought it was johns because it is so dirty. There is 2000 miles worth of bug splat covering the bike from the ride to the Arizona rally. Never had a chance to clean it since I dropped it off the following day to pick up the Rosso. If you think the Futura is fun, go ride a Falco. I did and now it is in my garage! Mike

The only other item that is different is the carbon fiber front fender. The Ohlins suspension is a plus in the tuning department. The new 2003 Lemans uses a new Marzocchi front fork that has rebound and compression dampening in both fork legs. Last year models had compression on one side and rebound on the other. I agree with you on the solid red color, but the Rosso will grow on you. One other thing I noticed was some of the early 2003 Leman's still came with the wrinkle finish engines. That is another big plus on buying the Rosso. Mike

Al, I know of someone who purchased the Ohlins shock from them for his 02 Lemans and it came with the preload adjuster and remote reservoir. Their site info may be wrong. But double check before ordering. Mike

Al, I went with the Penske because it is valved and sprung for my weight. Even with an Ohlins, there is no guarrentee that the valving will match your weight or riding style. I figured I would be money ahead by going with the Penske, the Ohlins may need the Le treatment for revalving to make it right, which could be another 2 to 3 hundred dollars depending if a spring is needed. So I ordered the Penske for my 00 V11 Sport, but who knows, if it is going to be in the shop for a while, the Penske may find its way on the 03 Rosso. Mike

Al, I have a Penske on order from EMA (European Motocycle Accessories) in Livermore California, and like everything else it was only going to take 2 to 3 weeks to get and it looks more like 4 weeks. Talk to the guys at EMA they sell the Ohlins with the remote damper unit and remote spring preload adjuster for $775. and sprun to your weight and the Penske for $775 that is sprung and valved for your weight. Check out their web site, they have the cheapest prices on tires in town. Only $120. for a Sportec M1 180/70ZR/17, I should stock up now. No I don't make anything off the people I send their way, but I wonder if we can work on a group discount? Mike

Hey Bob, I agree with you on the Ohlins forks springs being a tad soft. I know the stock spring Ohlins puts in their forks are .85 kg. Whether or not Guzzi had them up the spring weight is anyones guess. I also weigh in at 200 lbs. and on a 500 lb. bike I would think the spring rate would have to be around 1.0 kg. My Aprilia has 1.0 springs stock and feels perfect for my weight. The rear shock is harsh over large bumps, while not as harsh as my 00 V11Sport, you would think there is still room for improvement. I have read test reports on the Scura and after having the rear Ohlin shock revalved, it was better but some harshness was still present. That may be just as good as it gets with the Guzzi rear suspension. Mike

Mike, The address for MG Cycles is: http://mgcycle.com/main.html I also use the moly additive in the gearbox, it did wonders for my BMW! The other Mike

Hey Bob, Do you live in the Berkeley/Oakland hills? Thats my backyard! Mike

David, I believe all that you have listed will be ok in Sunny California. I am not sure you should use the 85w/140, leave that on the shelf for the Harley crowd. The 75w/90 is a multi viscosity and is what i use. The reason for using a 75w/90 over the straight 90wt is that when the temperture is cold (freezing), there will be better lubrication than with a straight 90wt and the shifting will also be easier when in the winter months. Mike

Mike, I usually order through MG Cycles, really fast and super nice. They carry the moly additive and also factory oil filters and anything else you need for your Guzzi. You can pick up Redline Synthetic 90 wt. or even Mobil One 90wt. at most auto parts stores. That is what I use with the moly additive in both my transmission and bevel box. The other Mike

Al, Sorry to hear that you are still having problems with your bike. If your bike didn't have these problems before, then your problem must be related to the work that was just preformed. I would start from scratch and start with rechecking the valve adjustment. I know you had the heads off for the porting and the valves were adjusted at the same time, but the valves could of seated in and closed the clearance. My V11Sport is very sensitive to valve adjustment and I have to run the clearence larger than european specs. (I am currently using .006 intake, .008 exhaust) to avoid the high speed, coming to the stop, engine dying syndrome. Are you also using a Powercommander to compensate for the porting and exhaust system? Keep us posted, Mike

I know I can't be the only one thinking about installing simi flush mounted turn signals on the front of the Lemans. Any ideas or pictures? Thanks, Mike

Teros1, So was it your 03 Rosso at Moto Italiano getting the crossover and Ti pipes? Inquiring minds want to know! If so did you check out Al's 02 Lemans with the tricked out heads and my 00 Green V11Sport with the red Dymag wheels and the oil leak on the Stucchi crossover? Mike

Humm, I will have to check Carl's 2001 TT the next time I see him. I wonder what his head angle is. I talked to Todd (Racerx) at the Prescott rally and he agreed with me about the head angle being too slack on the 2000 V11Sports and causing the twitcheyness of the bike when pushed into a turn. Depending on tire combinations and skill level (nerve of steel), one must start out with a clean pair of shorts! I feel really good on my 00 V11Sport, but know it could be better. The 03 Lemans is really stable through the turns, rock solid. Is it the added 25mm. in wheelbase that makes the difference or the true 25 degree head angle? Inquireing minds want to know. Mike

So if it is 1200. bucks to change the head angle one degree, wouldn't it be cheaper to get the front frame off a wrecked 02 Lemans (25 degree head angle) and install it on the V11? Or am I missing something here. Mike

Al, I plan to rotate stock at Moto Italiano tomorrow. I will drop off my V11Sport to have a few things repaired ( transmission leak, neutral light, jumping speedo needle) before the warrantee runs out this month. Of course I will be picking up the new Lemans for the ride home. I will check out your bike while I am there. Mike

Docc, The forks are sticking out of the clamps 10mm. to steepen the head angle. I have a angle gauge that that can read 360 degrees of a circle. The fork angle of my Falco and the wife's Monster read right on the money. The 26.5 degrees are with the forks up in the triple clamps. There is a company that makes a steering bearing set that steepens the head angle by one degree and they also offer the triple clamps with a different offset to change the trail. Now if I can only figure out where these guys are. Mike

Doc, The specs. for my 2000 V11Sport is 25 degrees of castor, for some reason, I measure 26.5 degrees with the forks showing 10mm. ontop of the triple clamps. I have talked to Guzzi suspension guru's and have been told that the measurement I have taken were right and making the head angle steeper to 25 degrees would correct the nervousness of the bike. Humm. another project comming up! Mike

Docc, The marks look like paint and are lines about an inch. long (25mm.). Just turn the driveshaft and you will see them toward the rear third of the shaft where the slip yoke is. It is quite easy to reindex them, just pull the rear wheel off and remove the rear strut bolt and the final drive unit will slide off at the slip yoke. Eye ball the lines and slide the shaft back together. My marks do not align perfect but are close. It took me about 30 min. to do the job. Mike

Jim, Driveline phasing is very important! I am a auto tech. and when at a driveline school many years ago they showed us a driveline with just one working u joint. When at high working angles the yoke turns at a constant speed but the driveline will speed up and slow down when going through the u joint. It is very hard to picture this. The same thing happens when using a universal joint with a socket wrench and extension. With two u joints the speed up and slow down action is cancel out. This is why phasing is so important. The marks on the driveline should line up. Mine did and when I was cleaning my bike and checking the air pressure, I noticed that now they don't. Go figure, when the bike was at the shop having the transmission repaired, the driveline got out of phase. Now I need to rephase the driveline before leaving for Prescott. Mike back in the garage

Hi all, I won't be picking the Lemans Rosso Corsa up till I get back from Arizona. It was suggested to me not want to break it in on interstate 5. I did not notice any 02 sensor either and I have not read or heard of any of the Lemans coming to the US with the catalyst other than the new 750, I could be wrong. I do have the stock crossover off the V11sport that may find its way on the 03 if it is a catalyst. Anyway, I guess I will find out next Tuesday when I pick the bike up. The main reason I was asking about the Powercommander working on the 03 Lemans was I did not want to experiment and plug one in to find out that I fried the ECU. Maybe I should have Jason at Moto Italiano plug one in for me. BMW has been using 02 sensors and cats for years, they have been in the clean air act for a long time now. That is why they always had the surge problem at cruise (steady speed). As the 02 went rich to lean or lean to rich as all 02 sensors do, the bike would do this surge thing. The fix was to bypass the 02 sensor and install a reostat to adjust the C0 mixture. If the Corsa has an 02, I will give you an guess what is going to happen to it. My thoughts were to buy the standard 03 Lemans in red, but Jason offered the Corsa for $2500. more and all of you know that I really have a soft spot in my heart for the Ohlins suspension. I just could not turn it down. Just think , a bike I won't have to tinker with. Untill next Tuesday, Mike

The main reason for buying the 2003 Lemans was to make it into a sport touring machine. I need to lower the exhaust to make room for the Givi bags and lower the rear pegs two inches. With the nice size of the fairing and huge waterproof bags this bike will be the ultimate machine. The factory ti pipes and ecu are expensive and have more upswing of the mufflers. That is why they also give you new rear passenger peg brackets. The ecu is mapped for the pipes only, what if you do other mods? I will stick to the PCIII for adjustability. The lemans I rode last weekend had the factory ti mufflers and I assume ecu. The fit looked off cause the oval cans were not straight when looking from the rear. The performance of the 03 with ti mufflers felt less than my 00 V11S with Stucchi crossover , Mistrals and PCIII. This is by the seat of my pants dynometer. Anyway, ahh, I. ehh, traded in my California Special Sport today for a 2003 Lemans Rosso Corsa. I am now on the Dark Side! By the way, the color fits me! Mike

Does anyone out there know if the PC III will work on the 2003 Lemans? I know the mapping will be different, but will the connectors be the same? Thanks, Mike

A friend of mine put a Stucchi crossover on his 2002 Lemans with stock pipes and no Power Commander, he claims that he does not feel any difference. So I guess he needs to add aftermarket cans and add a Powercommander to gain what he is missing. Mike