GuzziMoto

I would love to see Guzzi back in racing. I still remember when they were running private efforts here in the USA, winning in Pro Twins and Endurance series. But I am not holding my breath. I don't mind if they use technology from Aprilia, but if they just re-badge an Aprilia as a Guzzi with only cosmetic differences I want nothing to do with that. Now, a sideways V4 from Aprilia in a Guzzi sportbike / racer, I would buy one in a heart beat. I am not a stick in the mud that feels Guzzi should only make what it is currently making. A V4, a 3 cylinder, a parallel twin, even a single, whatever. As long as it is really a Guzzi and it works reasonably well. No badge engineering. But they don't listen to me...... If they did they the MGS01 would not have gone away....

The V twin firing pulse tend to be easier on tires in my experience, not harder on them. I think it is more down to the way you ride, all else being equal (same roads, proper tire pressures, etc.). It does not surprise me that 'busa guys get better mileage, they are a bunch of sissy's ;-)

Keep in mind that while switching to bars from clip-ons will move your weight a little to the rear it also changes your leverage with the wider bars giving you more leverage for steering. We used OEM Billy-Bob bars when we converted the wifes V11, The Billy-Bob bars have a nice bend, a silver finish, and where pretty much an easy swap. Not the cheapest, but probably the easiest.

That is probably my favorite V11, I even like that one better than the Greenie (but it is close). But I would not pay $11k for it, not a chance. Even with the extras and mods, that is a massive chunk of change. I hope whomever buys it loves it and that they feel they got their monies worth. But that is silly money for a V11. It looks like it is a variety of people bidding on it. And it started at $3,500.....

That is just a locator pin. But I recommend keeping it if you can. It is not that hard to drill an indent in the new bars to fit that pin.

The one aspect of the timing chain that merits replacing before it fails rather then waiting until it fails is that timing chain failure typically results in severe engine damage. I would rather replace the chain before I needed to rather than have the chain fail. But if I ever can get around to it I will be replacing the chain with gears.

I like the idea of an aluminum tank for the V11. It fits with the nature of the bike. But has anyone considered a carbon fiber tank? That could be easier to fabricate, especially by the DIY types out there. I have a couple carbon fiber Ducati tanks for my old racebikes, and one nice aluminum tank. I prefer the look/feel of the aluminum tank but the carbon fiber tanks are really light and look cool.

On the subject of the original question.... I am probably the wrong guy to listen to, but I would put a Centaro motor in it. That would be fun. The new CARC motors, both 2 valve and 8 valve, don't fit as easy. Or I would build up a Big Bore motor. As to the actual issue, take your time and tear it down. Don't jump to conclusions.

Also, before you dig into the internals make sure there is no binding in the external linkage. It seems simple and silly, but as it is easy to check and it could be that simple I would check it before digging in.

Normally if there is only one spacer it goes on the threaded side of the axle. The other side of the axle is stepped resulting in the spacer for that side being built in to the axle.

That does sound like a lot of difference from published specs from just fudging the geometry, but I would expect some difference. Also, aside from affecting the geometry, messing with the preloads / sags/ fork heights does not really change weight distribution much. This was noted once or twice way back when in one or two of the argument threads on the subject of front ends and stability. Cars are different in this regard, you can adjust how much weight is on each wheel by adjusting the spring preload for that wheel. It is something very different from the way motorcycles work. Did you measure weight distribution both with the rider and without? I assume the "rider" is of "average" weight? What about measuring the rake? Both with a rider and without....

The wife's V11 runs a Penske adjustable (I forget the version, has compression and rebound) because the OEM Sachs failed. The Sachs suffered the classic crack in the lower eye mount. Of course that simply provided an excuse to replace it with a way better shock. The price ain't cheap, but Michael Himmelsbach @ Penske was easy to deal with and built us a custome shock in a very short amount of time. That was nice as we were getting ready to go on the yearly trip to Indy for racing. It works much better now, zero complaints or regrets.

There was a recall for some V11's for a gearbox issue as I recall. Something about sudden catastrophic failure. Was yours in the recall range? Did it have the recall done? Am I completely wrong?

I have seen where if I have a battery charger hooked up to a battery but the battery charger is not plugged in it can drain the battery. If that is what you said (I think it was) it sounds normal. Hopefully the battery will still hold a charge once charged up.

Check to make sure the brake calipers and discs are not preventing the wheel from tightening down. Think about what you are doing. You are tightening the wheel against the fork leg on the side that has the threads, whether they are a threaded nut or the fork leg itself is threaded does not matter. If you tighten against that side of the fork, what could prevent you from being able to tighten the wheel against the fork leg? Tightening the axle is no different then tightening a bolt. There should be no looseness once tight.

First off, 12.48 volts is pretty much a dead battery. It should show up around 12.8 volts, I know that seems like a small difference but it is not. You either need to fully charge the battery (if it will take it) or replace the battery. That could explain the blown fuse.

Interesting look, kinda like the Quat-D I used to have on my Griso (now it is on a different bike of mine). Seems a little rough on finish quality, and the welds are not where I would expect them to be,but with a better finish it could be very nice.

What fuel are you using? I had to pay $12 per gallon for Sunoco alcohol free race fuel, ouch. In some areas of the USA you can still buy non-ethanol gasoline at the normal pump, at a normal price. Other areas, including where I live (and likely where you live) that is not possible and race gas or high dollar small engine fuel is the only way you can buy fuel without 10% ethanol. Other than sealing the tank on the V11, and that was not so much done because I had to but rather done because I had he tank apart and dried out, I have not had any issues running 10% ethanol fuel in my motorcycles. In my area we have had 10% ethanol for so long I can't remember not having it. I stopped worrying about it a long time ago. I have had issues with some small engines, including the poor excuse for fuel line on my snow blower turning to taffy. But by and large we have not had much in the way of issues. I wish Guzzi made their gas tanks from a better plastic, one that was fully compatible with ethanol as was required at the time the V11 was sold. But that is milk under the bridge, or is that spilled water......

Having the bare minimum of slack in the throttle cables goes a long way towards making it work smoothly. Those G2 Throttle Tamers really work better on a bike with a light crank and instant throttle response. Guzzi's have neither of those. People do use them on bikes like my Aprilia RXV 550, but that bike is a beast compared to a V11.

I have used Caswells epoxy tank sealer with good results, including on the wifes V11. As with any paint or coating, good preparation is key.

I think there is more than one possible cause of the dreaded V11 sneeze. I remember it being suggested that one possible cause was the weak stock cam chain tensioner. Perhaps at certain rpms the tensioner is not able to keep the timing in check. Some people upgraded to a better tensioner or even gears and reported the sneeze went away. But, as I said, there is likely more than one cause and as such there is likely more than one solution. I recall having also heard people say that they set their valve clearances to a given value and the issue was reduced or went away. Often that value is higher than the standard US clearance numbers in the manual, sometimes what is referred to as the "world" clearance specs. I have bought a set of gears for the wifes V11. It has a minor case of the sneeze, so I will see what, if any, effect that has on it. That is, of course, when I finally get around to installing the gears. It turns out keeping them in a box near the bike has no effect.

Correction: I can't find any specific restrictions about discussion topics on this site. This forum seems self-regulating for the most part (though older posts do suggest that there were some more tumultuous times in past). I must have been thinking of the rule #2 from WildGuzzi: 1. No un-justified personal or dealer attacks. 2. Keep the content Guzzi related. No room for Politics or Religion debates here. 3. There is no room for "raunchy" posts with adult or mature content. This includes strategically covered nudity, sheer or see-through clothing, lewd or provocative poses, close-ups of breasts, buttocks, or crotches. 4. Posting of for sale items allowed only in the classified section. Failure to adhere to these simple, common courtesy, common sense rules will result in your being banned to ever post on the Moto Guzzi Discussion site again. That being said, Enjoy the Guzzi talk. #3 is well-written. For examples of all offenses, see: Gratuitous pics of girls + Guzzis Agreed. And now some who called for the exit don't want to be responsible for leading the country after the vote. Personally, I think most of the people leading the "Brexit" campaign were not really expecting to win. I think most of them were just doing it to try to gain more political power, they expected to lose. I think they were just using it as a soapbox to stand on in an attempt to make a name for themselves, as well as letting them blame their the other side and remaining in the EU for all of the countries ills. As someone said, the EU has become the whipping post in the UK for everyone who doesn't like the new global world. The EU didn't cause the new global world, and leaving the EU won't undo the new global world. Times change, but some people hate that.

Stew, I have old time friends (friends from years gone by) that are in the UK. They are native born, classic traditional British people. They are well educated, smart, and down right nice people. I have not talked to them in a while, and thought that maybe I should reach out to them at this time. Then I thought "What if they are on the side of the racists?" and decided to let it go. It is odd how someone who can seem so normal can suddenly turn into a giant ass when they suddenly start spewing racist garbage. Put me in the "I hate racists" camp. I was also disgusted by the people who are saying they have been tricked into voting to leave with false promises. Those pie in the sky promises were so clearly never going to happen, you really had to want to believe in them to believe them. The only thing worse then people making really bad decisions is when they won't then own up on their bad decision. I hope this does not go as badly for the UK as it looks like it will. Good luck. And wish us luck while you are at it.

I was not really directing my comments at you, except for the answer to your "question" about why it's the front brake they leave off on choppers. Your Eldo is a different can of worms then the V11, and has a different braking set up. Comparing the two is not really apples to apples. Yes, there are times when the rear brake is a good thing. But those times are the exception, not the rule. The OP has made comments suggesting that "just about anyone who does pretty heavy sport riding will agree that the tiny little rotor with that twin piston caliper on a heavier bike like a v11 is just too small.". It is comments like that I take exception to. When people infer that there is a common design issue, and if you don't experience the same issue they "resolved" you just don't ride hard enough, I take exception to that. It was not directed at you. No offence is meant to anyone here, certainly not to you, Roy.

I would not say the rear brake is "un-required" and I would not leave either brake off. Choppers do so because they are more concerned with looks then function. But if I had to pick one or the other it is the rear brake I would ditch. Try riding your bike with only the rear brake for a day and see how well that works. A cruiser might work ok like that but a V11 or other sport(y) bike will not stop for shit. Where as using only the front brake I can stop a V11 just as fast as if I was using both the front and rear brakes. There are times when the rear brake is advantageous to use, but those times are more of the occasional nature and not a constant. Can you use the rear brake more, sure. But you quickly get to a point of diminishing returns. And if you are using it so much that it is over heating the rear brake perhaps you want to re-consider the way you are using the rear brake. Or you can put a massive rear caliper and matching m/c on your bike to compensate for the way you are using the rear brake. Personally, not only do I not understand the caliper and m/c upgrade vs adjusting your riding style, I don't understand why you didn't upgrade the disk itself if you want more rear brake. For example, when you convert a dirt bike to a supermoto bike a standard upgrade to stop the smaller front brake of the dirt bike from not having enough power and fading quickly is to upgrade to a larger diameter disk. For most people that alone is enough to make the brakes work as desired. It is only after that, if you need more brakes, that people start replacing calipers and/or m/c's. I do agree with docc that the stock rear set up requires careful cleaning and maint. to keep it working right. And you need to make sure it is not a maintenance issue with the stock system that is causing the problem. But again, people are free to mod their bikes anyway they want. I don't have a problem with that. I do object to when they make statements to the effect of projecting their personal issue that triggered their mod to everyone else. There are lots of people who ride motorcycles like the V11 that have small rear brakes. The V11 is not unusually fast nor is the rear brake unusually small. The vast majority don't have the OP's issue. And please don't say that those who don't have the OP's issue just don't ride hard enough. That is arrogant and wrong. As to linked brakes, the more common linking method is to apply the front brake when the rider applies only the rear brake. That is because the rear brake lacks the stopping ability of the front brake so to aid riders who don't know how to apply the front brake so they can still stop in a reasonable distance. Use your brakes the way you want. Mod your brakes the way you want. Feel free to discuss proper braking technique. But please don't assume that you are better at braking / riding then others on the internet. That would be a false assumption. And you know what happens when you assume....