GuzziMoto

Uhhhh....No. That is not something that everyone who "does pretty heavy sport riding" would agree with. And there are bikes out there that are faster and/or heavier then a V11 with a similar sized rear brake. The issue is not the brake but the way it is being used. If you insist on using your rear brake that way, fine, replace it with an oversized caliper. But please keep in mind that their are guys on V11's that are faster than you who don't have an issue with the rear brake on the V11 (or the Daytona). And please don't bust out the chalk board, I am sure you are happy with the way you ride, but I am also doing just fine without a giant rear brake caliper.

Thank you Scud for putting in the effort to make this happen. Of course, I am on my own when it comes time to install, oh well.....

I have seen where someone adjusted the height of their rear brake pedal and, without realizing it, prevented the master cylinder from returning fully to where the port was open to allow fluid in and out of the master. This caused the system to apply the brakes on its own, getting hotter and as it got hotter it applied more brakes because the pressure could not escape even though they were not knowingly applying the brakes . Eventually the brakes would fade, because they got so hot. It is easy to do the same thing just by laying your foot on top of the rear brake lever. There are many things that can cause a brake system to fade. I have never had one fade because the caliper was not big enough. I have had brake fade because the disc was not big enough. Racing supermoto I had issue with fade twice. One was when I was racing a two stroke with a 270mm front disc (small by street standards but that is an oversize dirt bike disc), if I used only the front brake it would fade in four laps. If I used the back brake as well it would go 8 or 10 laps no issues, but I had to use the rear brake to take some of the load off the front. I think that was not only was the front brake on the small side but being a two stroke it lacked engine braking. The other issue was with a newer supermoto specific bike that had a bigger front brake and was a 4 stroke. The front brake lacked bite and would fade over a longer race. I switched to a better pad and the fade was gone, while the new pads offered amazing bite. Neither of these stories has anything to do with the rear brake of a V11, but that is because we don't have any issues with the rear brake on the V11. And my Daytona has a very similar rear brake, goes even faster, and also has zero issues with the rear brake.

Same here, but neither the wife or I use the rear brake for much other than a parking brake. The front brakes have more than enough power to stand the bike on its nose. It really comes down to rider preference. They did not design the V11 for heavy rear brake use. It is much like every other sport bike out there, the rear brake is not overly robust. For most people that is not a problem. But the design of the rear brake can lead to issues for some as it does require more involved maintenance due to the mounting orientation. I would not put a rear caliper that big on ANY of my bikes, but if you brake so much with the rear brake that you over heat the stock rear brake it may be a good idea for you. Or you could adjust the way you use your brakes.

It is not a mod that I would do, but it ain't my bike. I don't agree with Todd on everything, including when he proposed that set up. But if it works for you, congrats. It is always nice to address an issue you have with your motorcycle.

I seem to recall knowing Fred @ Yoyodyne years ago when we were racing as Gotham Racing. We bought more than a little titanium bits from him as I recall. Seemed like a good guy.

That sounds like a fun trip. For us, we have had great experiences with trips on Guzzi's. The wife rides her V11 and I have had a couple different Guzzi's, like a Griso and a Daytona. I also used to ride a Buel X1 on these trips, but the wife has done them all on her V11 (she finally bought a second bike, a Ducati Monster). It has worked near flawlessly. I had an issue or two with the Buell, but the only issues she has had were relays acting up and a flat tire. Neither was a trip stopper. One of our favorite trips was from the DC/Baltimore area to Indy for races. First it was F1, then it was for MotoGP. We would do most of the trip on two lane roads, WV and Southern Ohio have some great two lane roads. We also have done the Blue Ridge Parkway a couple times, and a trip up to Cape Cod (mainly on backroads, of course). I hope to one day make it to the Pacific Ocean, but I think that will require two trips, one to go out (maybe in the fall) and another to come back.

It's a uniquely styled bike for sure. Some love it, others hate it (I've read some very witty scathing comments about it's appearance). When I bought my Scura, the dealer also had a Centauro available, a dark green one. He suggested I ride it, but I just couldn't get past the low seat and the overall look of it. I guess it is a muscle-bike, or power-cruiser - but that genre has never been appealing to me. I now wish I had at least taken it for a spin so I would know how that motor performs. But something to consider for the project: The Centauro is a rare and unusual motorcycle. It might be worth ensuring that all mods are reversible - and keeping the stock parts so it could be restored in future if you (or someone else) wants it to be a Centauro again. That is what I did with my Daytona. I swapped the rear end to a V11 tail / rear subframe. I removed the front fairing and swapped to GSXR front forks with handle bars instead of clip ons. I did a few other changes as well, but all of them are bolt off / bolt on. I have all the original parts and could put it back to stock if I wanted to.

If it is a V11 it should have a hydraulic clutch. That requires the hydraulic system to be free of air the same as the hydraulic brake system. If you squeeze the clutch lever and the clutch does not fully disengage I would first check the fluid in the clutch reservoir, then bleed the clutch. If still no good, work from there. I hope you didn't throw a lot of money having people change out the clutch when what you really had was a bad clutch master cylinder. A worn clutch will not make the clutch fail to disengage, it would fail to engage. Your issue is with the hydraulic system that disengages the clutch. The issue is not likely inside the gearbox. The one part of the system is the clutch slave cylinder which is on the back of the gearbox. Good luck, it sounds like the bike is pissed off at sitting for two years.

"Some aren't so big", that's for sure. I was driving one of my work trucks (a Ford F150 4x4) down the highway yesterday and saw a nice example of a car I used to own years ago, a Triumph Spitfire. To this day it is one of my favorite old cars. But I was stunned at how small it seemed, looking down on it from my F150 4x4. I know my Smart car is small, but I did not remember how small the Triumph was.

Setting sag should always be step one. Steering dampers are a mixed bag. Some prefer the feel with the steering damper, some don't. I fall into the "some don't" category. But whether you like the steering damper or you don't, if it is not working right it can have a serious negative impact on the handling of the bike. Also, tire pressure can have a noticeable affect on handling. More pressure tends to make the bike lighter and quicker steering, less pressure slows the steering down. You might find that a little less air pressure brings the handling to where you want it if it is too light and quick steering for you. Work in small one or two pound steps.

I love the Centauro. If I did not already have a Daytona I would have bought one. Nice bike.

The older injected bikes had the fuel pump external to the tank, so there should not be much difference between a carb bike tank and an injected bike tank. There is an external pressure regulator on one side of the tank that you would have to replace with a fitting of some sort. Then there is the question of if you want to add a reserve valve or not. If you are adding a reserve you will need to know that before replacing the pressure regulator, as that will determine what you replace it with. Someone else might have better detail on the exact differences, but I doubt there is anything that cannot be overcome. Try looking at parts diagrams between the two models. That should give you an idea what the differences are.

In the USA the gas tank "vent" has a one way valve that only allows air to enter the tank, so that as fuel is used air can replace it so there is not a vacuum. Common practice, at least to me, is to remove that one way valve. If you follow the line you should be able to see the valve. I believe euro bikes vent directly through the cap, but as I am not there I am not sure.

Good luck with the Yuasa. I have not had good luck with them in a while. Check to see where it is made, if possible do that before you buy it.

Pretty sure they ship via slow boat and they go around the Cape of No Hope. It doesn't matter where they are going, they go around the Cape of No Hope.

The thing I go back to, though, is that the Odyssey appears to be the same as the OEM stock battery in the V11. That battery had no issues with the V11 charging system. In fact, it lasted a really long time for most people, just as the Odyssey battery does. I even have an Odyssey battery now in our Lario. If it can last there it can last everywhere.

I use Odyssey batteries whenever possible. I do not do any special charging or "conditioning". I get better life out of the Odyssey batteries than any other brand I have tried, and they seem to have more power than any other battery I have tried. I can't fault them. I have tried many of the standard lead acid batteries, including Yuasa. And I have tried Shorai and Ballistic Lithium batteries. I had better results with Odyssey. I am pretty sure stock OEM battery on a V11 is an Odyssey with a different badge on it. It had a Sparker badge but it was identical to an Odyssey in every way discernible.

My experience is that in order to flash properly you need both sets of signals. Even electronic flashers seem to act that way. I assume it is so that you will notice when you have a signal out.

I think you are looking at this wrong. The slave piston was not fully extended out of the bore, it was fully pushed in to where it could not push into the bore any further. As the clutch wears on a Guzzi with a hydro clutch the slave piston retracts to allow the clutch to engage. As the clutch wears the slave piston goes further into the slave cylinder. His sounds like the slave piston had retracted as far as it could but when the clutch wore further and the piston could not retract any further the clutch started slipping. Buy spacing the slave out away from the clutch it allows more travel in the required direction and thus the clutch has stopped slipping (for now). The only real fear is that if the clutch is allowed to wear down to far it could cause damage to the rest of the parts, but my guess is that the clutch is OK and it is really just an issue with the pushrod being slightly too long. It could be an issue with fluid not being able to move back up into the master cylinder, but it does not quite sound like it to me. Perhaps I am wrong,

Unless something is seriously wrong, a hydro clutch is self adjusting and will compensate for clutch wear automatically. The same feature should compensate for a slightly shorter or slightly longer push rod the same way. That is one of the advantages of a hydro clutch. It would have to be near the point of not working for the engagement point to change.

We pulled four of our bikes out for a ride yesterday, actually we did two separate rides two bikes at a time, and had a great time. But I mention this because I had forgotten how worn out the Michelin PR3's are on the wifes V11. I am not sure how many miles it took to wear out, I stopped tracking tire mileage a while ago. I found it interesting how the dual compound PR3 wore. The very bottom has a noticeable flat section in the center but there is still rubber left, then the middle area of the two side is worn down to where the grooves of the tread are near flush. And it is clear that the wife likes left handers better than rights. It seems funny to have a tire wear out on the sides before the middle is toast, but that seems like a better way for a tire to wear. I reckon the wifes V11 will need new tires shortly. I expect I will go with the new version of the PR's, the PR4. Hers has a 4.5" rim on the back, as it is an early red framer, so it will be a 160.... again.

Check for voltage at the relay.

Uh, no, not my experience. Modern BMW flat twins are notorious for running hot in traffic, in spite of the engine layout that says they should run cool. My brother had a Rockster and that was the main reason he sold it. And our Guzzi's, including the V11, run hot whenever they are caught in traffic. Plus, some of us have modified our Guzz's to make more power, which means more heat. Upgrading the ability of the engine to get rid of heat can't be a bad thing. Is it required for everybody to do? Clearly not. But if you ride in traffic alot or have some extensive engine mods making more power and thus more heat you may want to look into it. I Doubt most Guzz's need to worry about it. But I can see where some may want to. Funny thing. The newest Guzzi 8 valve motors seem to be over cooled, and this is a bad thing. If your oil does not get above the temp required to boil off water you can and will have problems. The newest 8 valve Guzzi's do not have a thermostat and with their large oil cooler and the finning on the cylinders they seem to run to cool in colder, wetter, climates. That leads to "mayonnaise" in the oil which is a very bad thing. Not surprisingly, these same motors also have a habit of eating their flat tappets and it has forced Guzzi to switch to a roller tappet design. Are the two things related? I don't know for sure. But I do know that water in your oil will lead to oil related failures, and wiping your tappets is likely an oil related failure.

I am not sure "axial" is exactly the right word, but I think it should have no free play in ANY direction. The most important directions would be up and down, fore and aft. It should be solidly mounted at both ends, once at the frame and once at the bevel box. If you were to grab the reaction rod while it is installed it should not move. Reality says it may have a tiny amount of play, but more than that I would be worried.