GuzziMoto

I like what you are doing. I did something similar a long time ago. It was on an early red frame sport. I don't remember all the details, but what I do remember was that stock it had zero compression dampening until the piston had traveled past the bleed holes in the tube. That was because until it went past the bleed holes none of the fork oil was actually forced to go through the valving in the piston. Once past the bleed holes it went from zero dampening to a lot of dampening. Basically stock it wasn't really adjustable compression dampening but rather an adjustable hydraulic bump stop. You may find that with the mod you need slightly thinner fork oil, but at least the adjuster will have some effect, and different weight oils will let you fine tune it even further. I spent considerable time with the forks partially assembled without the spring working it back and forth to test the dampening and how the changes I made impacted it. Then, once put back together with the spring in place it was all good. I should probably open it back up to see how it is doing, Fresh fork oil would not be a bad idea, but too many bikes and not enough time conspire against me. We just got back from a two week trip to Moab in the Jeep........It was awesome. First time I have ever taken two weeks off at one time.

Perhaps it is my reading comprehension that needs work. Detonation is not likely at idle, it is more common under load. My bad.

How can I find out if it is? One way would be to have someone else ride it who is familiar with detonation and what it sounds / feels like. Another way is to run higher octane fuel and see if the issue goes away or is reduced. A third option is to look at the spark plugs for signs of detonation, but that can be tricky if you don't know what you're looking for. Is there an rpm range where it does this? Is it in the 3,000 to 4,000 range?

Apologies seems I'm missing a lot of details these days. Ciao I think you confused the OP's post with Footgoose. The OP's post stated it made this noise under load, not at idle. I would still look into it being detonation.

Is it detonation? If it does it under load only, and it sounds like a metallic rattle, that could be detonation. If you back off the throttle a little does the rattle go away?Are you sure your premium gas is good?

No, by and large Guzzi's are not that bad. And when properly cared for they can out last a Honda or the like. Plus, they are more fun to ride. Every now and then Guzzi gets one wrong. It seems (although there is mixed opinions on this) that they got the newer 8 valve motor (which has 4 valves per cylinder but is referred to as an 8 valve motor to distinguish it from the earlier attempts at a 4 valve head) wrong. Perhaps they used valve springs that were too stiff, or the geometry of the valve train was wrong. Whatever the cause, the early 8 valve motors had issues eating the valve train until they switch to a roller set up. That switch seems to have occurred mid 2012, some 2012's got the new valve train and some did not. Many that did not get the new valve train have since been converted to roller tappets, they have kits for that. Aside from that issue, I have very good experiences with Guzzi reliability, I have taken many long trips with the wife, both of us on Guzzi's. We have never been stuck, stranded, or otherwise SOL, in many tens of thousands of miles. I do own a Honda, but I am trying to sell it. It is boring, it has no soul.

Setting sag is not V11 specific, or even Guzzi specific. It has been discussed on this board a fair bit. here is a link to one discussion. http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=18010&hl=%2Bsetting+%2Bsag&do=findComment&comment=191357 and another http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=15502&hl=%2Bsetting+%2Bsag There is also plenty of info on setting sag elsewhere out on the interweb. Note; all I did to get those two was to type "setting sag" in the search bar in the top right of the page.

The hard wheel to replace is (obviously) the rear wheel. There have been a few people who have customized rear wheels to work on a Guzzi, and there have been a limited number of off the shelf options. But usually the off the shelf options go away almost as fast as the show up as there ain't much money to be made selling expensive bits for Guzzi's. If you find some and they are what you want, buy them as you never know how long before they are no longer available.

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.