docc

Suspension set-up is a black art. Largely because we stay up all hours of the night messing with it. And because of what it can do to you if you get it all out of sorts. I've always heard 25% sag (preload) of total travel (bike + rider) for a sporty street bike. This assumes your spring is right for your weight. Now, I was under the impression that the wheel travel was substantaially more than the shock travel. As in 4 inches of wheel travel to 2 inches of shock travel. Such that we are looking for movement of the shck plunger about 1 inch .

Al is right about the disassembly. The lamp will come apart to remove the low beam guard. After receiving my warranty replacement I was immediately impressed with a fuller more focused beam. When mine craps out again I think I'll try to fit a unit from the V-rod. Kind of an MV Brutale look.

True. I must of confused the driver of the BMW when he rolled down his window to look at me lying in the road after the low side bounced the Sport off his air dam. "You OK?" says he. " Nah," says I, " the preload's too high to compensate for the soft springs and the damping's noncompliant."

Some oils are much more susceptible to heat evaporation. Castrol is pretty good and the synthetics are least prone to vaporization. (clandestine oil-thread hi-jack )

I guess i got the idea of venting above the head from the old Brit-bike guys (or the Brit-bike old guys) who'd run a 5/8" tube out under the tail cowl. Works great on my single which, like the big twin, makes a lot of crank case pressure. The positive vacuum of the connction to the airbox probably scavenges the crank case better but makes little difference in the real world.

I'm jazzed! You've had this bike two weeks and you're having this much fun ? What's a Guzzi for? The tube from the frame is your crankcase vent. As long as the tube stays above the heads it can vent to atmosphere. It may mist oil a bit especially if you run high rpm. K&N and others make a neat little element to clamp on the end of the tube. Hey, what did you other "box eliminators" ('pod jockeys') do with your crankcase vent? The electric connection is for the ambient air temperature sensor which can be zip tied in the airstream. It's probably smart to mount it clear of engine heat sources so it can read true ambient air temperature. I think Al or Carl have a thread on this(?).

Search some of the old threads in this forum for gearbox leaks. Lots of discussion on this. Seems like *everywhere* is a common place for the 6-speeds to leak. Seriously, several places have been noted including front seals, rear seals, sealing surfaces and the side cover where the shift plate shafts penetrate. Good luck and let us know how it turns out!

I wish I could say I've seen a Scura. Nor can I find picture of one. I think the fairings may actually differ a bit. The Guzzi accessory screen (made by Stucchi Luigi in Mandello) is fiberglass, body color and flat black on the inside. For a decent picture go to: http://www.dansguzzi.com/fly.htm]dansguzzi.com[/url] Is the Scura shield carbon fiber?

Joe, Thanks for the link to dansguzzi! I thought I would have to scrap my Stucchi and go back to naked after the crash claimed the windshield. Looks like Dan can fix me up! I like the airflow from the Stucchi. Normally I dislike windshields because they direct so much air up at the helmet they actually bother my neck worse than riding nekkid. The Stucchi has smooth flow, doesn't increase wind noise and seems to help stabilize the bike at high speed (80-90mph).

I'm afraid this haunting phenomenon cotributed to my lowside about a month ago. I was running compression 50% and rebound 75% front and rear with increased preload front and rear, forks raised 10mm, hard compound tires (Pilot Road) and too high tire pressure. Just proof that you can get your set up screwed up before getting it right. (I figure the tire-suspension set up contributed 5 or 6% to the crash. Blowing the entry : 94-95%.) But, gosh, I sure could've used that 5% edge!

Ray, Try pulling the seat off and wiggling all the relays on the right rear subframe. While you're there check all the fuses on the left. Next check the tightness of the battery connections as a little looseness there seems to confuse the ECU. Have you changed relays to the more reliable Bosch units? Best of luck!

KB, How many miles? My sport came new with Pirelli dragons stamped "corsa." The rear was gone in 2500 miles and the prices were scary. Also the Dragons had the triangular profile so popular with the guys who live leaned over. They gave the Sport really nervous high speed weave around the trucks on the freeway (90 mph). Is the 'Diablo' much less edgy than the Dragon?

~nemo, don't let me pretend to be an expert here. The great thing about this forum is we all learn from one another. Let me try to summarize some that I've learned from reading the more knowledgable: Both compression and rebound can be damped. In general, compliance is better maintained by increasing rebound damping ( or decreasing compression damping). The adjustments only affect 'low speed' (slow acting) damping. The high speed damping is fixed within the units. Lighter oil eases the overdamping. Guzzis, like many stock set ups, are softly sprung then the fixed, high speed valving is overdamped to compensate (in both compression and rebound). This gives aplush ride until the bike is pushed hard when compliance (traction) degrades and the suspension is prone to bottoming (especially the rear). The Guzzi has a lot of weight on the rear. There are lots of remedies for this to keep from washing out the front end while cornering hard , especially on a rough road: Increased rear preload, raising forks in the clamps, softer font tire, heavier front springs, moderate front tire pressure. The V11 Sport is such a great bike to make changes and ride always moving it closer to how you want it to feel. "Be back in a couple hours, Honey. Gotta check the suspension on the Guzzi"

Apparently only the 2000 an 2001 had the nervous geometry. I find the damper helpful as the tire wears and cups. With a new front tire I go back to the zero setting on the damper. With a new tire and no damping the bike feels 150 pounds lighter!

I ran into this same mystery on 'what shock.' I always thought mine was wp. One day I was lying next to the bike on the floor and, looking up, I could see the 'Sachs-Boge' ( hey, who said,' sux-big?' ) on the bottom of the remote rservoir. Nemo, have a look there. We're all still on a search for any V11 with a WP. Lex has always made a good strong argument for the correct (heavier) springs and easing the high speed damping of the stock units. No question this would help compliance. I used to think 'compliance' meant 'soft.' But I understand now (after a traction failure) that compliance keeps the rubber on the road. Much better than that "insecure feeling" of leather on the road.

I love that! A Guzzi trait if ever I've heard one. From reading Kevin Cameron,Sportbike Performance Handbook, I gather that a well engineered back pressure ( the crossover will provide that ) sends shock waves back up the header and when reflected in the combustion chamber during valve overlap, contributes to evacuating the chamberr generating additional vacuum for increased cylinder filling. ( whew, now I'm dizzy!) Of course this only effective at those particular rpm ranges which are affected dramatically by exhaust changes. Moving the back pressure impulse a few just a centimeter or so can shift the 'power band' . Hence the big differences from different crossovers. I would expect ( wildly guess) that a straight through 2 into 2 exhaust would favor the top end howl but rob the mid range. Hopefully I've made my contribution to our collective quizzical pensiveness.

Hey, I would still like to see that 'better fitting' cf hugger. Since I kinda skwarshed mine.

KB, The turn was a right hander. I didn't feel anything touch before the tires washed out. I would certainly now trade my long lived tires for the grip. Also I am on the 4.5 inch rim with 160/60 tire size. You may be running the 5.5 with a 180(?). I've just picked up "Twist of the Wrist" and notice our Swedish friend recommended "Twist of the Wrist II ". I'll pick it up next. Back to school for me. Reflecting back on Mack's original query (paraphrased heavily), I agree, this is a heavy old bike. Really great for some distance ( it is no Paneuropean), fabulous on the long sweepers, and always attracts the attention of interesting people where ever it goes. As a sport ride it requires a lot of detailed set up and even extensive upgrades ( see the thread Hollow Front Axle which , with 61 posts and counting, is about fitting Ohlins forks. Curious that questions of adding a Guzzi to the stable brings on discussions of riding style, even philosphy. " I am a Cafe Racer myself . . . - and it is one of my finest addictions." Hunter S. Thompson, Song of the Sausage Creature

I thought that bracing went from the lower subframe to the engine case. Is the swingarm really any different?

KB, There's a thread at 24/7 V11 last posted on sept 7 : Good tires but *whack* not great tires In short, I was surprised by a corner which tightened up and went off-camber. The oncoming lane was full of BMW coupe so I was determined to change lines abruptly, which the sport did. For an instant before it broke loose and slid into the Bimmer. The fault was all mine. Now, every corner I enter I'm eagerly looking for the exit before I commit. But there were some contributors from the road and the bike: The turn was marked wrong with no indication it is a dangerous 10 mph hairpin. The pavement surface, decreasing radius and camber conspired against me.(The moral: read the road, not the sign). The Michelin Pilot Road tire is too hard for my taste ( since I don't like the taste of asphalt). I've been running too much air pressure. And the overdamped forks don't keep the tire to the road as well as they could. I'm hoping some tire and suspension changes will give me maybe a 5 or 6% edge against the Asphalt Conspiracy. I've got a lotta work to do on my technique to take care of the rest.

Can anyone confirm that the part number is the same for the swingarm on all the year models?

Gotta put in my vote for the sticky front. With 2000 miles on my pilot Roads the front shows almost no wear. Good, I thought, until the front tucked changing lines in a right hander. Don't get me wrong. I blew the corner. But with 28,000 miles on this bike I've flicked it over hard on other tires before. Sticky front = good idea!

OK, OK! You can't get away with much around you guys! After putting the round Guzzi carbon cans on I never touched anything down on the right (until the day I flicked it over too hard and touched everything down on the right). And getting the preload set up helped with touching the stand down on the left. I started cornering by hanging off more. This allows the bike less lean angle for the same speed in the same turn. Nothing extreme, just pointing the inside knee out, weighting the peg and sliding over on the seat enough to press the tank with the outside thigh ( apparently a "Pridmore" technique)... Less lean, more control, less scrape. Still practicing and wish it was second nature as it would have saved my screwed up cornering low-side. Also, compared lots of rides used for 'sport-touring' the V11 does have good ground clearnce ( OK, probably not 'exceptional') . Yet, there's no comparison to the more dedicated sport bikes. Of course if you're riding that hot you can take the side stand off and just have your crew put it on the paddock stand when you come in.

I suppose there may be no end to the niggly problems we continually fettle on our Guzzis. And we often compare this to what we percieve would be the experience with a BMW or a Honda. While my Sport is down from the crash I looked around. You know, the usual suspects. BMW, Ducati, Triumph. Even rode a BMW R1100S (how can they make a big twin seem buzzy and neutral?). So far, nothing has measured up to the styling and allure of the Sport. For my crutch bike I picked up a '93 VFR. Very nice motorcycle. Does every thing pretty well. I definately like it better then the Beemer I rode ( at 1/5 the cost!). But where's the brio? Why don't I find myself , late at night, sitting in the garage, sipping scotch, staring at the VFR? Instead, I'll pick up a bracket or a side cover from the sport and admire its lines. Looking deeply into the disassembled chassis I recall the crisp days connected to the ride, rewarded by the Sport's gutsy intensity and raw beauty. Sure, there's a price to pay. And not everyone can afford the time and frustration to develop and share solutions. But if there were only 'very nice' motorcycles that do 'every thing pretty well' just think what we would be missing. Thanks to everyone for the care and passon to post and reply as we all support one another in the experience. This board has made the biggest difference for me and my Sport.

Charles, The clip-ons are probably all the way up already. You can rotate them back to allow a more upright postion. To rotate them back you must remove the little locator bolts under each clip-on. Be sure to retorque the pinch bolts properly.