al_roethlisberger

....license plate light is gone, gone, gone But, actually this isn't such a bad thing for two reasons. First, one really doesn't need the plate light, as the tail-light generally casts enough red light through the bottom of the lens to illuminate the plate. OR, since the tail-light is exactly the same as those on older Ducati Monsters, those have a clear window under the lens just for license plate illumination, so in theory one could just change that out it is's important. Second, you now have a spare set of stock power hookups under your seat What with disconnecting the license-plate light(BTW, that thing is darned HOT when on!).. you end up with a pair of bullets in the harness under the seat that are now available for any accessory. I wish I had known that before building the much more custom harness for my heated-grips, otherwise I would have just used these connectors later. But no big deal, at least the grips are now on their own fused circuit versus running off of the "lights" circuit *sigh*.... So bottom line, yep, you lose the license-plate light... but it's not a big deal at all. Mine is still bolted to the whole old tail assembly... wrapped in bubble-wrap and stored with my old seat In regard to the soft-bags frame... that's a good question... and an important one. However, as I mentioned in the soft-bag thread, it looks from your photos that the stock bolts required are still retained(it's the bottom set on the new tail). Since everything bolts right up to the same stock subframe, strength and placement shouldn't be an issue. However, I am sure that Kelly will be able to give you some thoughts, and he's very good about guaranteeing his work. I would be very interested to hear "for sure" how it all fits together. It looks OK from the photos, but there's only one way to know for sure... and that unfortunately is to try it. Oh, and as an alternative to just cutting off the stock fender.... well with all due respect, there really isn't any comparison... other than that both methods do in fact reduce the length of the fender.... I too had manually trimmed my fender on my old FJ1200, with much success. But that was on a 10 year old bike with 60k miles... so I didn't mind taking a saw to the stock part. I didn't feel that comfortable doing the same to my brand new LeMans. And, after looking at the Guzzi fender, it appeared that my results would be less than satisfactory due to the construction of the assembly(so big, so many curves), the license plate light, and width of the fender. I just wasn't convinced that it would result in an outcome I would be satisfied with.... of course that's not to say that someone else may be perfectly happy with a well-done trim job But there are two substantial things that trimming the fender cannot do in comparison to the unit here, and first that is raising and pulling the indicator lights up and in closer to the tail. They have go to be 6 inches closer together and about an inch higher. Quite a bit different than stock... Perhaps a comparison photo between a stock unit and Kelly's may help illustrate... which I don't have handy... but just compare and you'll see the dramatic difference. It's very striking, and really looks much better in person than the stock solution... well in my opinion anyway! *laugh* Second, Kelly's kit angles both the tail light and the indicator lights up by 20 degrees or so. So when you are behind the bike, standing, in a car, on another bike... the tail light and indicator lights are focused up into your eyes and are now quite bright and twinkly like jewels ... seriously... especially now that I have running-lights with the Kisan signalMinder product! And it just looks really nifty.... So, again... a really cool product. Kelly only makes a handful, so it is fairly exclusive, but it really cleans up the rear of the bike and sets it apart from other V11s. Drop him an email if you are interested. I'll be very interested to hear a review and see photos of the newer composite units.... although I am very very happy with my aluminum one! Take care al

YIKES.... I just did the "math" on the currency conversion. That's about USD$1,000 for the aluminum tail!! I think I'll keep my steel unit al

Thanks! Interesting... other than the battery relocation, does this aluminum subframe bolt right up to all the stock locations and accessories? and BTW, where does the battery end up? Oh, and I wonder if the aluminum frame is as strong as the OEM steel unit?? Since I am no light guy at about 200lb, and I plan to load up my bags for trips... well, I don't want the frame to give out or crack, especially since aluminum will be so much more rigid. ...any thoughts? al

...correction, after inspecting my LeMans tonight, it is apparent that the fuel-pump is technically above the left cylinder as noted in the original post. Although it is mostly under the frame, it is offset to the left side and consequently closer to the left head by a significant amount. However, I believe that most of the previous vapor-lock issues seemed to be reported as related to hoses being too close, especially the left-side. I would inspect that first. All in all, if anyone ever really figures out the problem specifically, it would be great to know the cause. That "heat shield" for the pump is still a good idea though BTW, my old FJ had some heat-shield fabric wrapped around many of it's fuel and vaccum hoses. It too was air-cooled, and many of these hoses rested right on top of the head. So this shielding must have worked. It was almost asbestos-like, with a foil covering and was a narrow sheet, sewn around the hoses. I assume this same material could be had if one looked. It wasn't the most attractive stuff, but it apparently worked! al

Some very interesting parts on a Japanese site: www.guzzisport.com I sent it through http://babelfish.altavista.com/tr to translate. I wonder what the story is on those extra frame braces, and the aluminum seat-frame. How well made, sturdy, etc... ?? dunno, but kinda cool looking stuff. al

I just finished installing my rear fender eliminator kit from Kelly Baker a couple weeks ago. I was going to post the review right before the board was hacked, so after some delay.... First, before I forget... to contact Kelly: Kelly Baker's Performance Unlimited 3219 75th Street West Rosamond, CA 93560 661-256-7246 mgv11sport@yahoo.com The kit I installed is a two-piece affair that replaces the small plastic inner fender, and the large outside mudflap and license bracket on the rear of all V11 Sport/LeMans. Although my kit is made from aluminum, I believe that all subsequent models from Kelly will be made from some sort of composite such as carbon fiber. As I am not a big carbon fan, I was really excited to get the durability of aluminum, and actually, it's feather light. Kelly may be coerced into making another aluminum unit, but apparently bending the pieces is quite a pain. Although I don't know what his carbon fiber units will cost, the aluminum verision I installed was about USD$200, and the quality construction and good fit were worth every penny. Further, Kelly took a lot of time and personal attention to make sure everything was right, even offering to make me a complete new unit when I had some fitment problems at the beginning. You may also note that my unit as installed is powder-coated satin black to match the bike's color-scheme. I had Kelly do that special-order for a few more $$'s, otherwise it would have come in bare metal. I assume future composite units will be black/carbon. But you'll have to contact Kelly to make certain. Because the installation is so simple and straightforward, I'm not going to detail it here. One merely removes the stock fender, inner-fender, tail-light, and indicators. Then you install the tail-piece that holds the lights and license, tidy-up all the wiring, and then install the rear cover. Everything uses stock mounting points, and unless like me you want to add one final fastener up top just because there happened to be a hole available... you shouldn't have to modify or drill anything on the bike. It is a very well designed unit. It's really quite a simple unit to install. The only real modification I made was to add a good deal of black weather-stripping around the tail-light, and as I mentioned above, I ran a screw vertically through the unit into the tail of the bike just for a little more solidity in the mounting. But honestly, this isn't necessary. I have enclosed photos at: http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/al_roethlisb...nder+Eliminator If you like what you see, feel free to contact Kelly. I really like the product and think it cleans up the rear-end of the bike dramatically. But according to him, I have the one and only aluminum non-prototype... and it will be the last... so nyah nyah *wink* al

...well, I'd still have put a modulator on it, and with the same bucket setup, at least on the LeMans, I have somewhere to hide the external unit!! On a Scura/Sport/Naked, I'd have nowhere to put it!! ... hey, didn't I have some post a while back asking if we needed "house jackets" for these non-faired fellas? ...just kidding! Regarding the FJ... well, it's too early to tell I think. I'm going to take a long trip at the end of July, and I think that will "tell the tale". The FJ was definitely more "comfortable" and upright, but not by a whole lot. The position on the LeMans is much more like my friend's VFR(which can be seen in my Corbin pictures, as he keeps it in my garage). The riding position is more aggressive, but I rode the LeMans for about 4 hours a few weeks back and all was fine. I am fairly impressed with the wind protection though. Although the fairing on the LeMans is lower, and I had a touring Targa screen on the FJ, the lack of buffeting and noise on the LeMans is very good for my 5'8" height. I've also put heated grips on the LeMans, and have the factory soft-bags coming, so I think it will make for a good touring mount. But, overall, comfort seems good, and comparable, again with the only issue being more weight on the hands/wrists because of the slightly more aggressive ride. I think I'll report more fully after some more miles rack up. But I can say that I am very satisfied so far with the comfort of the bike. It may not be as relaxed or "cush" as the FJ was, but it's not too far outside the comfort envelope it seems. al

Well this post is related to our thread in the old forum complaining about the difficulty in getting to the headlight on the LeMans. And let me tell ya, I now thoroughly despise the design Guzzi has used! First, let me update everyone on what is necessary just to change the headlight bulb on a V11 LeMans. The headlight is a bucket-type, where the reflector, bulb, harness, etc... are enclosed in an outer plastic shell. To change a bulb, or otherwise access the lighting, the bucket must be disassembled and the reflector assembly removed. In the case of the LeMans, this is no minor task. As Jaap mentioned in the old thread, it took him something on the order of 2-3 hours to carefully disassemble the fairing on at least one side, before he could access the set-screw on the bottom of the bucket and remove the reflector assembly from the front of the bucket. ...just to change the bulb. I had a similar experience, although I did not time it. note: I am sure that with subsequent disassemblies it will take substantially less time once one is familiar with the process. But I sure wish it was like my old Yamaha, where I could change the bulb by just reaching up under the fairing. Alas, although there are some theories that perhaps somehow one could get this done by simply removing the bottom access panel on the front/bottom of the fairing... I really don't see how this could be accomplished. To open the bucket, one must remove a set-screw on the bottom of the bucket. By removing the bottom panel on the fairing, this is certainly accessible. However, at this point, the reflector assembly must be lifted upward to disengage a plastic hook in the top of the bucket before it will come out. Also, there is a rubber gasket surrounding the bucket and reflector "seam", which makes it hard to remove the reflector unless it is moved out of the way. With both of these issues, there simply isn't any way to lift the reflector, and move the gasket, safely, with the rest of the fairing installed. And in reality, to be safe from accidentally damaging something, one really should remove one half, and the upper and lower panel surrounding the headlight. Otherwise, there is a high risk of damage to various pieces. Jaap has some photos of his bike so disassembled for this very quest. If someone else has had any luck doing so in a simpler fashion, I would love to hear about it. But I really can't see any other way. SO..... that said..... After one has figured out how to get into the headlight, you may want to take the time to upgrade your bulb if you are so inclined. I've installed a new "ION" white 55/100W unit, and it's quite bright. I've also changed out the white running-light to an amber bulb, and it's quite striking in my opinion. You may also want to reroute some of the stock wiring and lace it up out of the way from the factory, as they sometimes leave it in a mess. And as an aside, there is a small 'extension' wiring for the left blinker. The wiring from the blinker seems to reach just fine, so this is extraneous on my bike. So I removed it. Now, to the point of this post..... So, if you are interested in installing a headlight modulator(flasher), then here is the post for you. First, give up on using any unit that attaches inline with the bulb/socket, even if a "low profile" unit. I tried two different models from Kisan(www.kisantech.com), and there simply isn't room in the bucket, both in regard to depth and diameter/shape of the plug. In fact, there is barely enough room for the factory harness. After much rewiring, building new harnesses, etc... I settled on an external unit from Kisan. It is their 150GW model, which is made for Honda Goldwing applications: http://www.kisantech.com/path150GW.htm After calling the engineers at Kisan, they were very helpful in identifying which wires did what, and how to install it in our application. So, here's the method: There are 4 wires to the 150GW(later models may vary, I would check with the manufacturer or just use a meter): White - Running Light Brown - Low Beam Green - Ground Blue - High Beam The green and blue wires are the only wires we are interested in. In fact, the white and brown wires are just wires passing through the unit, and can be pulled right out.... which I did. To install the unit, one simply needs to splice into the high-beam wire of the bike's harness, which happens to be a 5 inch long harness with a flat 4-conductor "Amp" weather-tight connector on one end, with the other end connecting to the headlight bucket via a white square/block connector. It's easy to get to right behind the headlight, and in hindsight, with this method, there is no need to get into the headlight bucket nor disassemble anything.... *sigh*... that's what I get for being an "early adopter" I guess... *laugh* So, within the bike's harness are 4 wires, ground, high-beam, running-light, and low-beam. On my bike, the brown wire in the harness was the high-beam. I would suggest using a meter on your connector to verify. Once you have identified which wire is the high-beam, you can simply cut it and splice the headlight modulator via it's blue wires in-between. note: If the version of the 150GW you purchase does not indicate on the package the "orientation" of the wiring, that is... which end the power "goes in" and "goes out"... on the standard 150GW, the end that has the photo-cell sensor connects to the wire going to the bulb. Other newer models have the "in" and "out" labelled, or you can inquire with Kisan. They are very helpful. You won't hurt anything hooking it up backwards, but it won't work, and the high-beam will not light. That will be your clue. So, the only other wire you need to worry about is the green wire on the modulator. Being an electronic doo-hicky... it needs a ground to function. You can either choose to ground it cleanly to the chassis, or do what I did and splice it into the ground(black) wire in the headlight harness. Your choice. You can now lash the little unit somewhere up in the fairing subframe out of the way, and out of sight. I also sealed the seams and wiring openings with marine sealant/adhesive that is designed to stay flexible and watertight, just in case. After all, it is electronic, and on a motorcycle. Now, there's one last 'wire' to work with... the photo-sensor. See, at least here in the USA, while these devices are legal, it is stipulated that they must have the ability to automatically defeat themselves when it is dark. So the unit comes with a remote photo-cell on then end of a 3 foot cord... a bit longish for our application. One also has to figure out where to mount it. Well I've solved both issues for ya First, the wire, while looking very beefy, is just a shielded two-conductor wire. So, it is easily trimmed to a reasonable length and rebuilt. Also, since some older models of Kisan's modulators do not come with a detachable cord(the new ones do, which is important in a minute), cutting the cord gives one the opportuninty to install a two-conductor connector for easy connect/disconnect. For example, I used a 5mm DC-power male/female barrel-connector from Radio Shack. Well, now you have to find a place to mount this, and none of us want to drill a hole in our nice finishes.... so fortunately Moto Guzzi has provided us with the perfect hole already in the fairing... the headlight adjustment hole ! Once you disconnect/cut the photo-sensor lead, you can thread the wire through the hole. And if you put a small o-ring, or plastic washer around the photo-sensor "bullet", it will fit nicely within the hole, look professional, and protect the finish.... while working like a charm. Then you just have to plug it into the modulator(if it came with the new detachable cord) or into your ready-made connector(be sure to choose a connector that will fit through the hole too!). The only caveat here is that although the photo-cell lead comes with a snap-in collar to hold the photo-cell bullet, that won't fit in the headlight-adjustment hole. So, you'll have to come up some ingenious way to secure the bullet from behind the fairing. I used a nylon nut that I drilled and threaded(the bullet has some threads on it), but you might find a better way. I suppose one could "glue it in", but I wouldn't recommend that, as you'll surely want to get to the headlight adjustment one day. So, after it's all said and done, you should have a fully functional headlight modulator, that is reliable, mostly invisible, and what does show looks professional. Note: I also installed Kisan's SM-2 signalMinder product, and utilized their running-light and stop-light delay feature. I dipped it in a vinyl coating to give it all-weather protection, but other than that, it pretty much went in as advertised with no special tricks. I really like the running-lights, and signal-cancellation. I would recommend it highly. al

The suspected vapor-lock issues I have heard of seemed more prevalent on the 2000 V11 Sports, where one of the fuel-lines ran very close, and in some cases rested, upon one of the cylinders. The theory was that when the bike was shut off, without pressure, and no air/fuel-flow to cool the bike/fuel... the fuel would "boil" in that line. Upon trying to start the bike, the fuel-pump would attempt to pump "air"(fuel-vapor) instead of liquid-fuel, and hence the bike would not start. The only on-the-spot fix was to let the bike sit for about 20-30 minutes and cool down. The long-term fix was to reroute and maybe shield the offending fuel-line. On my 2002 LeMans, the fuel pump is not inside the tank, and is not above the left cylinder either. It is more accurately described as suspended below the frame, almost under the huge fuel-filter which is on top of the frame under the tank. The pump is "shielded" by a wrap of rubber, which I can only assume is to protect it from vibrations. It may provide some thermal protection, but who knows. And the only fuel-lines that come near the heads seem far enough away to be OK. In the case of the fuel-supply from the tank, it passes within 2 or so inches of the head, but is covered with silver metal braiding. So, so far, it seems OK. On the pressurized side of things, none of the hoses come close. note: The pressurized fuel-line *did* come within an inch of the right cylinder, but in light of my research into the vapor-lock reports, I thought it would be prudent to cut the length of this hose and shorten the loop, putting it far away from the head. BTW, this particular line was the pressurized fuel-return line to the tank, again on the right. So far, knocking-on-wood, this arrangement hasn't proven to produce any vapor-lock, and yours is the first report I've heard on a new V11 LeMans. But I would agree that building a quality heat-shield, perhaps from sheet aluminum, would be a good idea, if in fact the pump proved to be susceptible. In fact, if you fabricated a good solution, you could probably sell a few But, taking care to check the routing of hoses should help. I'll keep an eye on mine when I ride it through the desert here in a month to Las Vegas. If it doesn't vapor-lock in the high-desert.... it never should! The only other hose/cables that I've moved(other than some electrical re-routing) are the vent hose that used to go to my carbon-cannister(which is long-gone). I have it and the tip-over valve lashed to the frame now, so it always stays vertical. And that hose is a couple inches from the head, so I put a 3/8" 3-inch long heater-hose segment over it just for extra protection from melting. But I think that's overkill, and has no effect on issues like the vapor-lock. I also moved my enricher cable and tied it back from the right cylinder, as it was touching and starting to melt. Just little nits I've found while working on various projects so far. *thinking* I really need to re-route the pressurized fuel-supply that runs from left->right... the factory has it wedged under the air-box and the transmission... kinda tight, and that makes me nervous. al

This is a carry-over from the previous forum, but if anyone has photos of Staintune Exhausts on the V11 LeMans, that would be great. The photo provided from Staintune is only a closeup of the rear half of a V11 Sport with the exhausts installed, and doesn't do much to show how the exhausts look with the whole bike. I would appreciate any photos of the exhausts installed from the side, rear, and various angles especially including full-bike shots so that I can get a good idea of how they look. I am particularly interested in how the polished SS looks in contrast to the mostly brushed/satin finishes on the LeMans.... does it look "right"? I am also curious if the brackets on the Staintunes "de-exaggerate" the uneven placement of the stock LaFranconis when viewed from the rear, where the shaft-side exhaust is significantly further out from the bike. And of course, in addition to comments on aesthetics, any comments on fit/finish, performance, etc... are very much appreciated. Thanks in advance! al

Thanks Jaap, It looks like their US outlet is: Moto International 7701 Aurora Ave North Seattle, WA 98103 (US) 206.297.3822 or 800.949.MOTO I'll try them first and see what they say. thx =) al

...well, this is the post that I was typing a reply to when the board blew-up the last time. So it is with great trepidation that I write this! First of all, let me say that the construction of the bars looks first-rate, and it's obvious that someone has put a lot of time and effort into them. But I have some concerns. First, although I guess this is the point , but because these bars seem to be a good couple inches taller *AND* on the near-side of the fork-tubes instead of the far-side as in stock-form... this is going to really alter the riding position of the rider and make for a very upright and pulled-back riding position. My concern is that with both factors, rise and pull-back, being pretty extreme, that there may not be a middle-ground. For me, it looks like it may be too much. But that's just my opinion. Second, and perhaps most important... from the photos it appears that the forks had to be raised a good 1/2 to 3/4 inch to accomodate the clamp for these new risers. This will no-doubt affect the geometry of the bike and make the steering quicker, and potentially less stable. Perhaps the photos are a bit misleading and the change is not that great, but it is also important to realize that many customers are not going to want to have to move their forks. So the manufacturer may want to look at a way to stick to the stock setup as the original bars used to clamp/attach to the tree and forks. Just a thought. ...just a couple concerns. But again, looks like a really nice product! I'm sure that someone looking for more upright ergos will find these an interesting alternative *finger trembling over the "add reply" button... "please don't crash, please don't crash!" * al

I too am thinking about getting the Ohlins front fork from the Scura. But for right now, the Marzochi seems fine. I had asked my dealer what the cost of the Scura part would be, but they don't have part numbers for the Scura yet, so he doesn't know. He was guessing it would be in the USD$2-3k range though. Another issue and unknown is, do the Scura Ohlins forks have the same 40mm diameter as the stock forks on the V11 LeMans, and will the original triple-clamps, etc... work? Or will those have to be switched-out as well?? The dealer didn't seem to know. I also wonder if the LeMans fender will fit... dunno I was also thinking about getting an Ohlins for the rear, but not the same as the Scura's. I forget the model#, but Ohlins has an aftermarket replacement that has remote preload as well as compression/rebound adjustment. It is about USD$800... very pricey, but would be neat to have. ...maybe next year So yeah, does anyone know if the Scura Ohlins forks will fit the LeMans with no problem? ...or are there some caveats? thx! al

ack! ...so where were you able to get your bags so quickly!? I've had my semi-soft V11 bags on order with my dealer for 2 months, with no idea of status. I have a long-trip planned for early August, and am worried that I won't have bags in time. Any help is appreciated for a source that has them in-stock. thx! al P.S. ...BTW, I almost had a heart-attack when I noticed that the frame attached to the rear of the mud-flap. I have just installed my fender-eliminator kit(which I'll post photos and a review of soon-enough)... and thought "oh no, now how am I going to mount the frame?!"... but then noticed which bolts the frame attaches to. I still have those! No problem... whew!

Sorry to hear about your problems... ...so far(knock on wood) the only transmission problem I am having is related to shifting up from 2nd to 3rd. About half the time I have to give it 2 or 3 tries to get it to go, but it's only intermittent. My dealer says this is not necessarily normal, but to just give it some break-in time as I've only got about 500 miles on the clock so far. So, I'll wait and see I guess. But in regard to waiting for parts, etc... Moto Guzzi definitely needs to get their house in order. I've had some warrantee parts and bags on order for 2 months with no way to get status. Thank goodness none of them are currently keeping me from riding, but it's frustrating. I was, and am still, hoping that Aprilia's purchase will help get Guzzi in order, but we'll see. al