Baldini

Dunno what you mean by true Moto Guzzi. Have you ridden the new bikes? They work well & are well thought out. They simply address some of the faults & inadequacies of the spine bikes. But like the V11, style takes precedence over function. If design integrity & the importance of function over style are the criteria then the last bikes to have a claim to be true would be the 850 Tontis.... But - THEY'RE ALL MOTO GUZZIS - it says so on the tank...it's like the prices for genuine LM1's when the 111 is probably a better bike....just bollocks. KB

V11's arf-arsed cos.....it was not thoroughly developed, components are mismatched, & it was designed with style taking precedence over function. With the 6speed box, MG should have redesigned the frame to inc longer s/a & better r suspension. Cos of money or whatever, they didn't - so no advantage was taken of the shorter eng/box. It's a mismatch of the old Sport frame & the new box. There have been & continue to be problems with the V11 which would not have been had the bike been thoroughly developed before sale. Much of V11's style is superficial add-on, independent of function. The Tonti roundheads are not arf-arsed cos.....Their style is a product of function, an integrity of design not found in the V11. Tonti frame still performs well, virtually as originally designed, in today's Calis. That's nearly 35 years. The spine frame is gone (as is the first 6 speed box) already. To give a V11 the structural integrity of an early Tonti would require major re-engineering (all areas back from gearbox). In it's early years the Tonti was dynamically as good as anything else available, winning UK production championship against best the Japs (& anyone else) had. Look at what Dr John was still doing with them in the 80's. Whatever you think of the V11 - performance wise, it was/is nowhere near it's best contempories. I like my Scura & intend to keep it, but there's no question - it's arf-arsed. KB

unsubtle maybe...but fairly accurate.

I was put off Corsas last year cos I was told they wear very fast. I already get too low miles. Mike, could you say roughly in % terms how much less miles you'd get out of Corsa over (std) Diablos, ridden . Do they take longer to warm up? I noticed on track days people seem to be very steady first lap or so, Diablos seem to be good straight off. Thanks, KB

Dunno, but I've heard more than once that they're different units. Didn't someone suggest here that R Mandello has genuine RAM (aftermarket manuf) clutch & Scura etc has MG copy of RAM? KB

Ohlins literature gives 85mm as std air gap. I made mine 100 to soften up the damping a bit. Interesting - is the 105mm figure spec for Guzzi application? Oil quantity depends what air gap you want but you can put over 500cc into forks still have good gap, - think you may still have some air trapped in there? Did you pump them to purge the air? takes a little while. KB

I stuck w/std Ohlins oil. Replaced seals at 7k & 12k miles, cos they were leaking. Last set I put in had extended scraper lip & shop reckoned it should help. Shop suggested that Ohlins design for v low stiction & run loose seals Guess most Ohlins kitted bikes are either on the track or run v low miles. Yeh I put Mille R guard on too - figured it would protect the stanchions better. We'll see. Plan to fix strip of CF to edges to cover whole front profile of legs, as std they don't. Back end is real short. How many miles now JohnK? KB

Nearly 16K miles on 02 Scura. Going strong. Problems in common with other 02 V11's: Pawl arm spring/boss changed, short r wheel brng spacer. Nothin else much gone wrong. Engin/trans paint still good. There have been incidents reported here with flywheel breakages. Cause unknown, could be bad design, manufacture, materials or assembly (factory/dealer/owner?). Mine still works well. Haven't ridden one of the twin plate V11's, but compared to the old Tontis it revs well & drive is very direct. Noisy, but always was. I've seen evidence on this site of I think 4 broken single plates - out of something like 1,500? Ohlins work well, & are very nicely made. Take some setting up & for anyone of average wt come w/too soft springs. Cost just over £100 for new springs & huge improvement. Also think the shock is too stiff on high speed damping needs a rebuild to sort. Vast range of meaningful adjustment means you can tune it to exactly what you want but also that it can be way off right too. Also I'm on 3rd set of fork seals tho this is apparently not common. Shock is slightly longer than std v11 raises rear end a little (good thing). Ohlins steering damper works great. Again each notch on the adjuster you can feel the difference. Nose fairing works well in knocking off some of the blast up to about a ton. Good enough for what I need. If you do a lot of 100+ cruising you might want something more. Guess I'm lucky - paint on mine is still excellent. Prices here for v11's are low. For me the Scura was the best looking of the bunch & the Ohlins sealed it. But the new generation bikes (Griso/Breva) are a step beyond (esp gearbox & rear end - s/a & suspension). Good luck, KB

Yeh. He follows Rossi watches & learns, not afraid to admit as much. He's getting fast consistently. Great attitude (Gibernau could learn a bit off him). Good luck to him. But Rossi is a one off. KB

I did some work for her late on - that sleeve "Hoodoo" that dlaing posted. She could sing. KB

I had springs break at 3.5 & 7k miles. Put in 15mm boss. Now 15.5K miles - still works. KB

Did MGUK have any comment re discrepency between MG service bulletin & their advice to your dealer re 16mm boss? KB

Had great mild autumn here so far. Out last week for a spin pulled up at a cafe next to a bike couldn't figure, unbadged...looked vaguely like MV/Aprilia styled R6...Very good looking bike. Turns out - new Triumph middleweight sportster. Bloke said he rode it full time, testing. Had put in 2kmiles so far that week (now there's a job). Bike had done 40k & there was another 5 doing same thing. It was on well scrubbed Pirelli Corsas & rider said it went very well: fast, powerful & torquey. Was hoping he'd want my riding impressions but the offer didn't materialise. It's a hell of a good looker & looks very strong & well figured. Sounds good too. KB

but...if later bikes did have 16mm boss & larger spring, why not just fit newer, bigger spring to the failed bikes? Why retro-fit 15mm boss & spring? KB

Windchill - I emailed you the bulletin. If it doesn't come thu let me know - not sure if I got your email details right. KB

Windchill - Sure, I'll do it this evening. Does your frame # fall outside the #'s specified in the bulletin. I would imagine those #'s just cover a production period? KB

Someone's taking the piss. This is a copy of Moto Guzzi service bulletin relating to pawl spring.

I think the pin is a stop for pawl arm. Guess that w/o it, even against spring pressure, the pawl arm may come away too far from shift wheel pins & allow uncontrolled movement of wheel. All springs were OK? KB

Factory workshop stands works well for me.

Could you define "freedom"? KB

Like Belfast says. Removing the side plate isn't a big deal. Once off you can see the whole box, check selector mech, selector forks, sliding dogs & gears. Also see any swarf or bits in there. Did you drain the oil? Any debris? As DLaing suggests you could try changing to Redline Shockproof Heavy as a first step. It seems to work well in improving the change for most. KB

!!!

BigJ - do you what caused bearings to fail - they haven't got many miles? KB

Good luck with it all TX. KB

Some of my dearest friends have BMW's.....& ...oh! good grief! - I have one myself....Oh dear... KB