GuzziMoto

In the US, that kind of thing is usually reserved for Harleys, beginner classes, and exhibition/promotional type stuff like the BMW series was. It may be good fun, but from a manufacturer stand point it not much of a race. It gets your name out there in front of people but it doesn't really say much about your product. That may be why Bridgestone is looking to pull out of F1 (and can MotoGP be far behind?). Winning doesn't mean much when you're the only one competing. Race Guzzi's, but race them against the rest and kick their a$$es.

[sorry. Post deleted as I determined it lacked a positive contribution to this thread. We now resume out regularly scheduled programing.

Yes, exactly. If you want to race, RACE. Don't put on some sort of parade where the only bikes allowed to run are yours so that you can be sure one of yours wins. That is not racing. Racing is where you have to COMPETE against everybody else who makes a bike in your displacement/class. I am all for racing Guzzi's, and I applaud the people who race them. But when you can only be competitive by restricting the race to people on your brand/model bike, that is not racing. That is sad. Guzzi should be above that. That is a Harley move.

I don't know about the later versions of the Daytona (and the Sports that followed), but my '93 Daytona had a completely different airbox layout then the wifes V11. Unlike the V11 where the box wraps up and under the tank my Daytona airbox goes up and under the seat. It is an awkward layout and my friend who owned it before me removed part of it and installed velocity stacks with foam filter pods. I removed the rest of it to clean up the bike for service and to make room for a larger battery. Guzzi airboxes seem to be more of a compromise then most other airboxes maybe due to the layout of the motor and the distance between the intake tracts. The frame and the airbox are fighting for the same space at the back of the motor. That is why I think the ideal solution may be to combine the two and use a large hollow section of frame as the airbox. I believe Ghezzi and Brian have already done something along those lines, it just needs to be taken further.

I have three Guzzi's that have Redline Shockproof in them and have had no issues nor do I know anyone who has had issues.

God, I hate one make race series. If Guzzi wants to race then they should build a bike capable of it. If your bikes are so slow that you need to race them against themselves then you should not be racing them. A V11 is not a bad track bike. I can't imagine racing my 2V Griso. A 8V'er would have more power, but the handling would still be soft. Bring back the spine frame with a 8V motor or the MGS01 with the 8V motor. Or build a new frame with a large cross section aluminum spine and the airbox built into the frame. But don't go the route of Harley and their lame 883 or new 1200 series.

Raising the oil level increases the pressure on the seals. Done in moderation it may not shorten the life of the seals too much. I prefer using springs to do the work of springs. And just about every telescopic front end on a motorcycle has the issue with air space above the fluid. Dirt bikes often have air bleeds to get ride of excess air pressure. That is why it is important that you set the fluid height correctly. 10mm more fluid is more then I would add above factory recommendations and may prevent the forks from using full travel, but to each their own. One problem with using air as a spring is that is is not just progressive but increases exponentially(wrong word, but I hope you get the point). The rate increases rapidly and with such a small volume as you have in a fork tube it can be difficult to control. As for the rear spring, a ride that feels stiff does not always mean the spring is stiff. It can also be that the spring is too soft and the suspension keeps bottoming, or the compression dampening is too much. Adjusting your free sag (unladen sag) and your race sag (laden sag) is the best way to determine if the spring is too soft or too hard or just right. How the bike "feels" can be misleading. If you are in the 150lb range the stock springs may be fine for you. Above 175 lbs you should consider stiffer springs in my opinion.

Night and day difference between the Breva/1200 Sport and a red frame V11 for sure. Have not rode a LeMans, but I assume it is much the same. To me the new one is a marshmallow in comparison. Even the Griso is dull in comparison to the V11. Everybody has different tastes I realize, but the V11 is a sweet handling bike that gives the rider plenty of feed back and is quick to respond to rider input. The newer Guzzi's feel softer (not counting the over the top compression dampening the Griso has stock), slower, and not as sharp to me. I love the look of my Griso but prefer the ride of my Daytona or the wifes V11. Find a dealer to let you take one out for a extended test ride, only you can decide for yourself.

There are people who say that removing the top of the airbox will gain you power. I have not tried it on a V11 so I don't know. But I have a bit of experience modding and racing motorcycles and my experience tells me that if the air box is reasonably well designed, as the V11 box seems to be, that removing the top of the box is not needed and that simply improving airflow into the box should suffice. Unless you have made such extreme changes to the motor that you absolutely need way more airflow, I would read some of the info available on modding the airbox top and go that route. My wifes V11 has a few mods including ported heads but is still has the stock airbox modded to allow more air in. Airboxes are a good thing. Removing them sometimes gains you power at one area of the rpm range but usually at the expense of power somewhere else.

Yeah, I assume that he is no longer a member here so he comes up as "guest". Haven't you noticed how quiet it has been? No bickering or soapbox preaching?

Todd at GuzziTech in the USA had some hubs made up for the Griso. I don't know the details as it is more money then I can justify but once you have the hubs it is just a matter of deciding what size rims and lacing them up.

Of the top of my head, out west two dealerships come to mind. Moto Internationl and Sport Cycle Pacific. There are others in other parts of the country but those are the two that come to mind out west. MPH is also well known but I have no experience with them personally. Then there is Todd at GuzziTech. Not a dealer but definitely a guy who caters to Guzzi's. There is certainly not the amount of stuff available for Guzzi's as there is for Ducati's.

Burning oil is usually the result of one of three things. Either the rings are toast, the valves and guides are toast, or the sump was over filled. Oil in the airbox is usually from the rings or overfilling. A leak down test or compression test should let you know the state of your rings. A leakdown test is better but a compression test is easier. You may have valve/guide issues but what your describing is not symptomatic of valves/guides. It is worth pointing out that oil in the airbox is unusual, in my opinion, for a spine frame bike because the frame acts as an oil separator and should remove most of the oil from the air coming out the vent before it reaches the airbox. I have never had that happen to me but I only have two spine frames, hardly a cross section. But the mechanics of the vent system should work well as long as you don't mess with it. I say that but I did "mess" with mine recently on one of my bikes. But I did that for two reasons and if I can come up with a way to make it work as designed again I will. I wanted a one way valve in the vent and I had an oil leak and was not sure where it was coming from so I wanted to remove all suspects. One last thing, the puffs of smoke your buddies report. Is it possible that is was fuel smoke from being too rich and not oil smoke? It is not uncommon for a Guzzi to smoke a little from being to rich at full throttle. The factory fuel settings are lean at lower revs/part throttle and rich at higher revs/full throttle. The smoke is black, not blue. But it would be an easy mistake to make.

I use Goodyear R9 fuel injection hose. It is rated for higher pressures and is safe with ethanol and others things you find in modern fuels (it actually has an inner liner). You can get it off of fleabay for $4.60/ft.

There are five relays under the seat of a V11. Atleast two of them must work in order for the fuel pump to run. They are prone to not working all the time. Many people have upgraded their stock relays to higher quality ones. I believe the back two are the ignition and ECU and are the main ones for running the fuel pump, but I could be wrong.

It could be that the battery does not recover fast enough after starting the bike to allow for proper running. After 10 miles or so it has charged the battery back up and the bike runs fine. Your symptoms sound like voltage issues. I would check the battery before, during, and after starting to see what is going on electrically.

It is amazing, and stupid. That is talk by people who don't understand.... The reason a 3 stop strategy might work over a one or two stop is because you can run lighter and thus FASTER. If everybody has to carry all their fuel required to make the whole race then that no longer works. Adding more stops if mandated will make no difference and will just leave a bad taste in everyones mouth. I don't think all the races will be as bad as the Bahrain race (every series has boring races sometimes), but I am confident that mandating more stops is stupid and will not make a difference. But since I am not as rich as the guys running F1 I clearly don't know what I am talking about.

Bahrain is a crappy track that they have managed to make even worse, and it tends to be a boring race any way. Then they screwed with the rules and took away the advantages to doing two or more stops. So while I was glad to see the F1 season start I was not expecting an exciting race from a place that only has an F1 race because they have a boatload of money. It is sad to see the trend of deciding who gets a race based on how much they can pay rather then how good the race will be. Thank god for Spa.

Pretty much...

Are you sure it is the peg that is bent and not the mount? I would expect that it is just a matter of dimensions. Any peg that is the same or close enough that it can be modified to fit should work. Buell pegs are pretty good for that.

There is a bit of opinion on which brand of relays are best suited to use on the V11. Many have decided that the stock ones are not up to the task. Omron seems to be the most preferred. Some use all five the same so that they can swap them if need be (there are two different types stock). Do a search and you should find plenty of info/opinion. As mentioned, I carry spares with the bike because it is a $5 part that if it fails (and it has on a few occasions) it can stop the bike dead. Ride on.

They are probably what I call "weather welded" on. They are a slip fit joint and clamp between the cross over and the headers. It should just be a matter of wiggling it back and forth to loosen up the slip fit but you can also try a torch on the outer pipe of the joint to help. Another approach is to remove the headers from the heads and that allows you to twist the headers in the joint in a manor that you could not with them attached to the heads. As for fueling mods, the Power Commander is fine (it is what I use) but while it is affordable and easier to use it does not allow ignition changes and lacks the adjust-ability of MyECU. But there are many V11's using either one succesfully, so clearly they both work. Do some checking on the two and see which one suits you better. Todd at GuzziTech is a good source for the Power Commander in the US. He is out west so it is not too far from you.

Did you mean if you DO hear the fuel pump it is the phase sensor? Because if you DO NOT hear the fuel pump then I would bet it is the relays. In the States the stock Siemens relays fail alot (so do some of the cheap replacements)and while it might not be the relays it is the first place I check if mine does not start and I carry spares when we travel so that I don't end up stuck AGAIN. The last two towards the back of the bike are both required to run the fuel pump. I think the last one is for the ignition and the next to last one is the ecu, but I could have it backwards.

There are five relays under the seat and one of them (I forget which one) controls power to the ignition I believe. They are prone to failure and some have had issues with the terminal block they connect to getting corroded or an otherwise bad connection. My wifes V11 came to a halt much the same way because of them.

7 DB1 SR's. Woops, wrong site.