al_roethlisberger

...geez, you guys must corner a lot "deeper" than I do. Scary stuff al

....hrmm, I would suspect that 95hp means more "significant modifications" than just a x-over Although Victor can chime-in if he's watching, I would bet that if they are getting 95hp at the rear wheel, we are talking about pistons, rods, head-work, cam, etc.... major work. 15-ish HP is a big gain. Just a guess though. al

As far as frequency goes, it really depends on how often, how hard, and in what climate you ride. IMHO, the recommendations from the manufacturer are very generalized. If you ride very hard, or for a very long sustained distance... you may want to change more frequently. But I'd just stick with whatever you are comfortable with. And in regard to oil, I never was too picky about oil, except when it affected shifting, since I changed mine pretty frequently on the FJ. And in fact, I often used Castrol Synth Blend, and that seemed fine. I suspect that any quality oil, petrol or synth, will work well as long as it is serviced regularly and fresh filters are maintained. Since the LeMans has been in the shop so often, I've had the oil changed by them. But I would guess that once it is more often in my garage, and under my wrench, I'll probably use Mobil1, Castrol, Spectra, etc... al

Wow Jim, that's the first I've heard of this problem on a silver-engined bike. I wonder if this will still happen on the new "smooth" black paint? The truth is, over time it's almost inevitable that the paint will slough off on an air-cooled motor. It happened on my FJ, but it took 10 years to really get bad .... not 6 months That's the difference. And of course with the black paint, it's much more noticeable. Maybe that's why, if some silver bikes have been losing paint, we haven't heard much about it. It might not be that obvious. So Jaap, your idea for a survey form sounds excellent. Questions? How about: - Name - Location(Country, City) - Bike Model - Where bike purchased(dealer) - When bike purchased - Current mileage - Where paint failing > Engine case > Transmission case > Bevel box - Degree of paint failure > Bubbling > Falling off in chunks/sheets ...others?? al

BTW, I've finally got them to create a "Guzzi" section under their "Manufacturers" -> "Bikes" forum. ...now, let's not disappoint al

Really!? ....that's a real shock. I'm very surprised to hear that MG went to all the trouble to "upgrade" the diameter of the front forks by 3mm, to then not allow for Compression adjustment. Well, in that case, maybe the "old" 40mm units aren't so bad after all Of course, one could always get the '03 forks sprung and valved for one's correct weight and riding style, but it is too bad to hear that you can't adjust Compression Damping in the field. When it's all said and done, I wonder how much better the new 43mm forks perform than the pre-2003 40mm Marz? Has anyone had a chance to compare? Just curious. al

True.... well, if anyone including yourself does end up with some empiracle evidence of performance gains(or not) by applying the '03 crossover-headers to an '02 or earlier bike, please let us know. I am sure more than a couple people are curious. It would be nice to settle that quandry eventually al

...and there is the perfect segue into a: "Comparisons between the Rosso LeMans and Falco" Thread ...well Mr. Stewart, whatcha think? Opinions comparing the LeMans and Falco if you please al

Hrmmm, I think that was Mike Stewart's Sport with the red Dymags. So they gave you a loaner bike? I think I'll have to ask Jason about that Maybe they can loan me a Rosso or another '03 for a comparison. Might be a good idea actually. al

I was thinking about that the other day as well. I wonder what, if any, benefits retrofitting the '03 headers to a 2002 or earlier V11 Sport/LeMans would have?? Maybe none, maybe more low/mid-range? al

Ah hah... Mike took the bait Just kidding I've still yet to see one of the black '03s in person. I bet it would look sharp with the gold Ohlin's suspension al

...you know, a thought........ If we setup an online petition that let owners that are experiencing this problem "sign", identify the type of bike, and location... it might be a useful tool to send the results to MG North America, MG Italia, and Aprilia with an enclosed letter. I think it might make more of an impression if a few hundred disappointed owners had one voice, instead of only piece-meal through the dealers. A list of hundreds of "signatures" might get their attention?? We'd have to publicize the petition/online-letter in various forums/lists to get a good sample as well. Just a thought if it comes to that. al

It's odd though, on the EMA website, they specify the Ohlins 46PRCS, where in the past I had cross-referenced and been told that the "H" series was the correct one. Note that on the "P" Seried, the reservoir is piggy-back, not remote like the OEM installation. So I would want to double-check on this if I were to order the Ohlins. hmmmm

So Mike, why did you choose the Penske over the Ohlins? ...which bike of yours is this shock for? Thanks for the source, and yes I would be very interested in a "group buy" al

...I wonder how the Penske "equivalent" shock compares? Does anyone have one fitted, and perhaps had the chance to ride both an Ohlins and Penske on a V11 Sport/LeMans? I've been considering either the aftermarket Ohlins or Penske unit. The Penske is significantly less expensive, but folks like Lindeman think they are basically equivalent. The only thing I know one loses out on is the option to get a remote preload adjuster with the Penske. They don't fit their shocks with this feature. al

......hrmm, sounds eerily familiar Guzzi obviously has a systemic problem here with many 2002 and earlier bikes. Maybe it's just a batch of one flakey component/sensor, or a combination of things such as the stock map. But this needs to be addressed. It obviously doen't hit all bikes, but it sure is a common problem for several owners. al

Indeed you'll have to keep us appraised, inquiring minds want to know BTW, I think you would win any "dirtiest" or "most honestly ridden" V11 Sport award, if we had one. That was one well ridden, and road grime coated Scura When I was chatting with John about the engine paint issue he says, "...ah that's just cosmetic, and that's the last thing on my mind!" You gotta admire that

BTW, if anyone has any other tips or suggestions that I should pass on to the shop, please post by today as I'll be dropping them a condensed email of all the tips later this afternoon. thx! al

Looks great Bob. I am in San Jose, down by the Arena(Park/Race St) and work up at Cisco Systems in Santa Clara. We shoud get together for a ride some weekend and you can show me some of those "East Bay Roads"... although I am no canyon scratcher. I take a slightly more leisurely, yet sporting, pace ...that is, when I have a bike again al P.S. Hey Bob, can you email me some of your photos? I want to look closer at the work you've had done, especially the K&N mods. al_roethlisberger@yahoo.com

Yeah, the bike looked great Bob... but I agree that I too noticed that the straps for the cans looked a bit light-weight considering. I was wondering if the rubber under the strapping would stay in place because they were so thin. You'll have to keep us appraised on how they work out. The pods looked good as well. I wonder if there's some way for you to reroute some of the wiring that had been hidden by the side panel, especially on the right. I think that would clean up a lot of the issues you mentioned with it looking less integrated with the panels removed. ... can't wait to see some photos, as I'm sure many folks want to see how the Ti cans look from the side, as well as your K&Ns installed. But don't waste time taking pics today, get out and ride! At least you've got a bike that runs ...take advantage of this beautiful weather and get out there! al

We should get someone to scan those instructions into a .pdf and Jaap can put it into the "Files" section. al

Hey Mike, Thanks for tips, but this problem was unfortunately extant prior to the work. It is true however that it's possible that the modifications exacerbated the problem. But the Moto Italiano guys are very aware of the modifications, and haven't even suggested that this could be related. So I take that as a good sign. I'll pass your thoughts on valve-clearances on to them as well as any other thoughts others have. Oh, and no, I don't have the PCIII hooked up. I'm trying to get the bike to run as well was possible before any other tweaking. While the PCIII may smooth some things out, there is obviously something inherently wrong with the FI on the bike as stock, and I don't want to band-aid over that problem. I assume they simply adjusted the ECU with their software to accomodate for the Leo's, Stucci, and porting. I'll keep ya posted al

Who knows? But I'll collect a bunch of your suggestions and put them in one email for them to check into. thx! al

Interesting, however we did lubricate the piston, and I don't believe that the rebound(nitrogen cannister) doesn't adjust the preload or position of the shock's travel, just it's rebound characteristics. What you describe could certainly be true as well though. al

OK, well as I mentioned in a couple other threads, I went to pick up my bike today at Moto Italiano after about 4 months being off the road. You may remember that this trip to the shop was a combination of things. First and foremost, the bike wasn't running. It hardly started, then kicked and bucked and coughed back out of the right throttle body. I also had an oil leak in the rear, and there were a number of body panel pieces that had been warranteed. And finally, as this thread suggests, I had my heads off to Mike Rich for porting and dual-plugging. ...so I figured I'd drop the bike off "over the Winter" to get all this done at one time. Well, here's the status: 1) All the body panels that showed up were replaced without trouble. This was the right front fairing, right red side-plate, and some other nits that I had been picking 2) The oil leak was the rear shaft seal, also done under warrantee. Hopefully it will hold. 3) The heads came back with no drama. Stage II porting, quarter point in compression increase, and dual-plugs installed, but not "operational" yet. I still have to get new coils, and a new ignition map for that. 4) Install Leo Vince Ti Exhausts. BTW, after fiddling, we've got them to go on perfectly straight. They look fine. We didn't have to trim the metal bushing after we bent the Stucci x-over correctly. It came from the Stucci folks a bit.... "off" They look and sound great BTW 5) Not running..... still not running So here's the deal. While it was in the shop, and after they got the bike back together, Moto Italiano couldn't get the bike to run. After much back-and-forth between Guzzi and the shop, they finally just swapped out an ECU from another bike and they got it to run. Prior to that, it wouldn't idle and would cough and blow the right TB boots off. However when I picked it up today, it seemed fine. But once I rode it a couple miles on the freeway and got it all warmed up, as soon as I let off the throttle it would die. This is the typical issue many of us have had where after running the bike at high RPM, and then coming to a stop... the bike would stumble and die. I have had this problem with the bike from day one, however it was now very pronounced. Then as I limped the bike home, as if I ever let the bike go below 2k, it would die... it started coughing at around 3k, and eventually blew the right TB off. Hooray.. ...back to the shop. So, the guys were of course more than excited to see me ride back up ...and I understand. This has been frustrating for them as well. Anyway, they tinkered a bit with the air bypass, etc... and got it run and idle a bit higher. After some test-rides around the block, they thought they had the problem licked. However, as soon as I did my longer ride test, same problem albeit not at prounounced. I ran it a couple miles down the freeway at about 65mph, took an offramp, came to a redlight.... dead. I fired it right back up, and had to nurse the throttle to keep it running, which again led to stumbling and coughing. So back to the shop... At this point it's now 3pm, and I've been there 3+ hours, and they are at a loss. To their credit, the guys at Moto Italiano have been very helpful and have been trying to get this running. But it's being very tempermental. So, Jason(the owner of the shop) comes out and talks to me a bit. He says he's really sorry and embarassed that this it happening with this bike. He says they've sold 5 or 6 of these LeMans and only my bike and the demo they've got has exhibited this same recurring problem that he knows of. He then offered to immediately send a letter to Guzzi to see if they can't take some special effort to resolve this ASAP as I've been very patient and have been trying to get this fixed for nearly a year. He's going to ask them if they can't just authorize replacing the whole fueling/injection/sensor system, as this piece-meal changing of parts just isn't working. It hasn't worked for their demo '02 LeMans either. So, after waiting several months, I had to leave the bike at the shop again. It just wasn't reliable They are going to let me know what they hear next week, and see what the next steps are. I told Jason that this was very frustrating for me, as I'd like to take the bike on some long trips this Summer, but right now I don't have any confidence in it. Hopefully Guzzi has some insight into what may be causing the bike to run so poorly. Starting Tuesday, they are zeroing out all the sensors and resetting the TPS, etc... all over again. Poor guys, I know they are pulling their hair out over this one al