guzzi323

I wish I could say there was. Riding in that morning I dared to think about how nicely everything was working. It's had Redline Heavy Duty shockproof oil for the last 30k'ish miles and was last changed ~6k miles ago. The bike has about 65K on it.

I tried searching but I haven't found anything on this. Yesterday I was riding home from work on city streets (~20 MPH) and I heard/felt an odd sensation (like big hunks of metal whacking into each other). As I was 25 feet from the freeway on ramp I was going to use I quickly moved out of that lane and pulled in the clutch. Then the rear wheel locked up. It definitely feels like something let go in the transmission. Nothing I did would let the rear wheel spin freely and though I could shift through the entire gear range it was very difficult and felt not at all normal. Anybody care to guess which tortured pieces of metal I'm going to find when I pull my transmission? If this happened 30 seconds later it's quite likely I'd be dead now as I would have been on the freeway accelerating to 70, moving across 4 lanes of commute traffic, in the rain. I've been riding 29 years and motorcycles have always been my daily transportation. My V11 is great to ride but it's by far the most troublesome thing I've ever owned. I can't wait to find out what surprises await me in my giant Italian Cracker Jack box. johnk

I used to have my seals go quite regularly at 5-8K mile intervals. I always used Ohlins seals, oil and seal grease. After my sixth or seventh set in far too few miles, I asked a mechanic friend who works at an Aprillia shop about it an he recommended I use Motorex Fork oil. I don't recall offhand what weight but it was a 'light' viscosity. Yes, it did change my damping (but that's why these things are adjustable, right?)but it was the last time I've had to change the seals. I believe I'm approaching ~20K miles on this set. I'll live with theoretically lees supple suspension that my compromise may have introduced. It still rides fine for me. johnk p.s. I did use Ohlins seals.

I just came across this new product from Euro MotoElectric (the people who make the higher output alternator conversions for Guzzi's and BMW's) http://www.euromotoelectrics.com/Articles.asp?ID=146 It's a crank mounted ignition system similar to a couple of others out there. It's new so their site doesn't have a lot of information yet but it's nice to have another option. johnk

I'm not of fan of Terblanche. This looks like more of his over-designed, hugely impractical, masturbatory concept work. Guzzi has a phenomenal track record at cranking out interesting looking concepts that never go anywhere. I'm glad their showing something but real, running motorcycles would be much better than this. Even if they were to make them they'd have to have tiny airboxes and fuel tanks to get everything fitted into that space. Bah... johnk

I should have stated my (minor) disagreement more clearly. I was objecting to the lines "If there is no light,start going backwards on the circuit until you get a "light on" condition with the test light. I assume you have a wiring diagram and are competent enough to use it? If so,you will find your problem." In my case, working with a test light would have told me nothing as it would have indicated all was well everywhere. that's all. The starter I purchased from these people http://www.motoelekt.com/guzzistarter.htm johnk

Actually I disagree. I've had many ongoing starter problems on my V11 and after my second Valeo died I bought the expensive Mitsubishi truck starter modified to fit Guzzi's (I thought it was Euro Motoelectrics that sold it but it's not them. I was some similar BMW/Guzzi aftermarket electrical component company.) That starter lasted about 18 months before I started getting the 'click no start but all relays and the solenoid were firing' symptom. What was happening was the solenoid was able to slide the plunger down to engage the gear but it wasn't able to consistently press the button and the bottm of it's travel to actually run the starter. If I ran a jumper from the big, fat lead on the starter to the trigger terminal on the solenoid it would start every time. I pulled the starter and everything looked good and always worked on the bench. I believe the very long path the trigger signal has to follow (from the starter button through a bunch of switches and relays) was causing enough voltage drop that the solenoid couldn't function properly. I ended up putting a 30 amp relay right at the starter. I trigger it with the trigger wire off the harness and get my nice fat voltage right off the starter terminal. It's only been a few weeks but it's been perfect since then. That's my experience, I hope others find it helpful. johnk

I was going to stay out of this until this last comment. I know I'm just one more 'internet crazy guy' to all of you but I'm certain it's not the cam profile that's the problem. I did the unthinkable and put carbs on my Scura (HSR 42 Mikuni's) and the biggest improvement for me has been the low end running. It's completely clean and useable down low like a big twin should be. I don't beat up the motor by trying to accelerate quickly in 5th or 6th at low RPM's but I can cruise happily at 2800-3000. My guess is the carbs atomise fuel better than the injectors at these slower speeds. Since putting the carbs on I get 39 MPG in my commute when I was lucky to get 33 before. And that's regardless of where I keep the RPM's. I'm not saying all fuel injection is bad, but I think the fuel injection they put on the V11's is barely competent. If I wanted to keep the injection I would have gotten Cliff's setup and looked into better injectors with more, smaller holes for better atomization. Crazy guy out. johnk

The stock ignition/fuel injection box will continue to work with the TPS and injection bodies unplugged. I've been running Mikuni HSR42's on my bike for about a year with this. You can't easily change the ignition timing (mine still has some detonation) with this set up but if all you want is the stock timing it will work. johnk

I tore my bike down this past weekend to replace clutch. I seem to get a very consistent 25k miles or so out of the Scura clutch before it wears enough to start slipping. Between the fear of exploding flywheels (My bolts were a little loose the first time I went in there) and the short life, I've decided to put in a twin plate assembly this time around. For what it's worth, my flywheel at 54K miles doesn't show signs of catastrophic failure. Baldini, both of my clutches started slipping when the thickness got down to about 4.5 mm. johnk

Looking for a steel clutch/flywheel assembly for a V11. I need to replace the clutch on my Scura and want to get rid of the grenade-with-a-loose-pin that is my current clutch. thx, johnk

I did a search on ebay for it. I believe they cost about $5.00 more. I'm guessing they're a bit more vibration resistant than the standard car one. I've driven on a bunch of bumpy roads since installing them and they seem to be holding up alright (so far)... johnk

Are you running the motorcycle version of the SilverStars? I've got about 10K on mine and it's still going. johnk

You forgot the obvious solution. Carbs. I put HSR 42 Mikuni's on my Scura and have never been happier with the bike. The low end running is much smoother than it ever has been and the hardest part was the silly extra bits. Finding a cable/throttle set up I liked and getting the petcock set up. It certainly isn't for everybody but I'm very happy with it. The only sensor I need now is the ignition pick up. All the rest are in a box. The stock ECU keeps sending the ignition pulse just fine without all that extra stuff. The only thing I would do differently if I were to do it again is to try 45MM carbs. I went with the conservative option and even with the accelerator pumps completely turned off I can whack the throttle open whenever I want. To me this suggests the motor could probably handle the 45's though at that point it might need the accelerator pumps to work well. I know many people out there might not agree with what I've done, but look at all of the threads about the different sensors in the tech topics forum. Now I'm doing fine with just one of them. My Luddite 2 cents. johnk

With it mounted below the stay arm is under extension (only getting pulled on) when braking. If they mount it up hi it's getting compressed and might bend under the load. This way it can be lighter. Lighter is good. johnk

I could find nothing to show my ECU has what they sometimes call a 3d ignition map (where the advance curve is modified by the throttle position). I know you bike has a different ECU than mine but where did you see this? I still get a proper ignition advance though I'll have to admit I didn't measure it but I have seen it advance. The stock ECU for the V11 Sports isn't all that clever and I feel it's barely adequate for the task. If I wasn't such a Luddite I would have bought Cliff's MyEcu which seems like a very capable set up. I like my motorcycles simple. Carbs can work really well when properly set up. johnk

That's the same throttle I'm using. You still end up with a 1/4 turn throttle and a very hard pull. I used Harley cables which have a thicker housing at the throttle and had to drill the Tomaselli case a little to get the cable to fit in it. For the ignition I've just unplugged everything from the computer. It keeps making a spark just fine, your box may be different. Here's the jetting I'm running. NeedleJ8-8DDY1-98 5th clip from top - Richest position Pilot Jet VM28/486 25 Air Screw 1 1/4 turns out Main Jet 155 Accelerator pumps set to 0 This runs quite nicely. I only have one choke operable but it still gets it going with little cranking. It is very sensitive to throttle synch which is a little tricky to get with the cables. I had to raise the back of my tank a bit to clear the carbs. I was thinking of trying a Magura Duo throttle assembly because it would be easier to modify to change the throttle ratio but then I have to come up with a 2 into 1 cable setup for it. Best of luck to you. johnk

Have you considered HSR 45's? I've got 42's running on my V11 and with the accelerator pumps completely disabled you have to really try to get the motor to stumble (basically whacking it open at idle is the only way to upset it). If I were to do it again I probably would use 45's and that's on a 2 valve motor with stock heads. I don't know, but I would think even though your heads are older they'd flow more. I haven't talked about my conversion yet because I knew the sh*tstorm that would start because I dared to think a pile of computers and sensors might not be the right answer. I rebuilt the top end when I was doing the conversion and I'm waiting to break it all in before I put it on a dyno. It runs great and has never run so cleanly down low. I'm very, very happy with the change though there are some things still to work out, none of them having to do with the actual running, just trying to figure out the best throttle and cable setup. Currently the throttle effort is too high and I've already swapped out the return springs for much more reasonable ones. I'll happily share my jetting info with you. It ought to at least be a decent ball park for you to start with. johnk

I recently replaced my Veglia with a white faced, red needled Auto Meter speedo. Though it's not a full 'how to' write up, the basic details are in this thread on Wildguzzi http://wildguzzi.com/forum/index.php?topic=18111.0 Though I've only got a few hundred miles on it I'm very happy with it. johnk

There was no visible cracking on the inside, even when flexing the boots. Though there may have been an air leak I'm sure it wasn't possible for anything beyond air to get through. I'm doubtful I'll ever know for sure what happened. johnk

I agree about the accident being an unlikely cause of this. It's just all I could think of. I had the pan off at the beginning of all of this and there was no sign of problems. I also took a compression reading after adjusting the valves and it was 170-175. I don't know how accurate my gauge is but things were at least even.

Yes I'm one of the lucky folks who got to freshen up my bottom end a year or so ago. I thought about the oil filter incident when looking at this current round of damage but the rob bearings were really minimally damaged at that time so I can't see how this would have been related to that. If anybody's got a good left cylinder looking for a home it appears I'm shopping for one. johnk

A week ago I was tuning up my Scura and decided to replace my somewhat cracked intake boots with new ones. I pulled the injectors and was shining a flashlight down the intake ports and was pleasantly surprised that Guzzi did a decent job of cleaning them up at the factory. Then I noticed the little puddles of oil sitting in the bottom of the manifold. The bike has 50K miles on it and though I think it shouldn't need new guides at that tender age it's not completely unreasonable. I pulled the heads and took them to the machine shop last Monday. They think they'll have them disassembled this week and give me a call. Today I decided to tear back into the motor and start cleaning gasket surfaces and such and make a parts list for ordering. One cylinder came off and everything looked great. The other one came out and there was significant damage to one side of the piston and a good bit of scoring in the cylinder As I examined the cylinder further I find on the opposite side from the scoring there is a large crack about two inches long. It's a little hard to see so I highlighted the area in photoshop. It goes completely through the cylinder wall. I've never seen anything quite like this before. I did have a low speed incident 6 months ago where I dropped the bike at about 10 MPH and it fell on that side. It really only damaged the head guard and scuffed the ignition wire so I have a hard time believing that caused this cylinder damage. I guess this is an 'opportunity' to put Mich Rich pistons in (once I find a cylinder) but this is ending up being a very expensive tuneup. johnk

Well I had an oil light flickering problem a few days ago. I've already replaced the rod bearings from the filter spinning off and have a windage plate installed. I pulled the pan last night and found nothing wrong. The filter was still tight and the oil level was good. I believe it's just my sender going out but seeing as I've been bitten once before I ordered up a pressure gauge because I'm tried of crappy oil pressure senders I can't trust. At least now I'll have redundant systems. Peace of mind is a good thing. johnk

I recently had a very similar problem on my Scura's starter (what is it about Scura's? They seem to be the most cursed of recent Guzzi's). My battery was somewhat questionable anyway so I replaced it at the start. No difference so I pulled the starter to bench test it. Sometimes the solenoid would actuate and sometimes not so I figured it was he solenoid. After replacing that it was the same. The problem ended up being a broken brush spring was only able to hold the brush against the rotor on occasion. After replacing that all's been well. I hope this helps. johnk