GuzziMoto

It means the BMW GS series is the ugly bike standard, the yard stick by which all other bikes are measured.... "bike "X" is 70% as ugly as a GS". There is no bike that reaches 100% on the scale. Even other SUV bikes are in the 80-90% range. Yes, I am a fan of Buells, as well as Guzzi's and most other motorcycles that are outside the box so to speak. I even like some BMWs. I have owned Buells before and likely will again. In fact, part of me wishes I kept my tube frame X-1 that I sold to buy my Griso. That bike was good looking and an absolute blast to ride. I wish Guzzi would make something that much fun to ride. The Sportster based engine was not the horsepower king, but it had more torque then any other streetbike I've owned. And it delivered it in a raw unpolished way that gave you an old school thrill and inspired you to do things the law says you shouldn't.

Good price in my opinion. You would have to look at the bike and confirm its shape. 18,000 miles on a Guzzi is nothing, as long as it has been maintained reasonably. Look thru the threads on model differences and things to watch for.

I do not have current numbers but based on numbers from a few years ago Guzzi was selling 6,000 bikes a year globally (less then 1,000 sold in the US) and Buell was up to 13,000 a year globally range (about 1/2 of those were sold in the US) in 2008. I believe Buell sold 136,923 bikes total since inception, with the vast majority of those in the last ten years. BMW sold about 13,000 bikes in the US in 2006. All these numbers are scrounged up off the internet and none should be considered absolute fact.

Sales figures indicate that they were selling way more Buells then they sell Guzzi's. And in this country I think they weren't that far off of what BMW's numbers were, if not better then, although with the massive profit margin on the BMW's they certainly made more money selling BMW's. The fact that Buell is gone as a maker of street bikes is not cause for celebration but concern. Guzzi makes far less bikes (and money) then Buell. It is not that hard to see Guzzi going the same way. And the Buells were much more of a "function dictates form" motorcycle then BMW, everything on a Buell was designed with function in mind first. Form clearly came second, whether it was the underslung exhaust (that has now been copied by many) or the sideways mounted radiators with those ugly scoops to push air through them. And if you bought a BMW GS and are not blind then I'm pretty sure by law you are not allowed to call any other motorcycles "ugly".

I don't care if there is life on other planets, we're just looking for ATM's.

Sounds great, but it would take me 4 or 5 days just to ride over there. I don't have that kind of time off available.

One bike, the Daytona, has a chip. The V11 has a PClll. And the Griso has a PCV with AutoTune. And yes, Gregs point about having a sensor that is capable of reacting faster then the head can change is of little value. As long as the sensor can measure as fast as the head changes temp then accuracy of temp reading is more important then speed.

Sorry, my mechanical skills are better then my grammatical skills. I didn't know I would be graded on grammer. You never understood after pages of posts in the old thread, so I don't expect you to suddenly understand now. My OE sensors have a tiny gap between them and the head that is filled with heat transfer paste. That way I have no insulation between the sensor and the head. That will give me the most accurate temp reading possible using the stock sensor. If you have an air gap between your sensor, what ever type it is short of infra-red, and your head then you have insulation between the sensor and the head that will give you a lower reading then if you had no gap. A direct contact reading with most sensors is going to be more accurate then a reading of the air next to the head. So if you have a gap larger then stock, as Hatchet Wacker does, you have a lower reading then stock. That I consider to be a "modified sensor reading". Any decent dyno operator can show you how where you put the air temp sensor can effect the results of the dyno run. It is the same thing here. Closer to the head will produce a higher number and further from the head will produce a lower number. As far as your statement about the sensor you are using having the same range, it is in fact close to the same range. But it is not the same range. But there is no point in going on about this. You brought it up with a post poking fun at BMW people for having a similar arguement with similar ranting and insults. Or maybe you weren't poking fun at them but instead were impressed with their mad skills. Whatever. I see no point in carrying on again about this. The fact that you feel your bike runs better now is a good thing, whether it is because of one thing or another is not important to me. Enjoy your ride....

I know you don't understand... and I am sorry I even tried. You have provided data that shows that your air temp sensor senses the output of a hair dryer better and faster then the OE sensor. But since I do not use my engine temp sensor to measure air temp I don't see how that is helpful. But if it makes you happy then great. I do think it is funny that you posted a link to a thread where BMW people argue back and forth about modifying a temp sensor signal to richen up the mixture and maybe adjust the timing and compared it to our thread on temp sensors, yet you do not see the connection between the two. Both threads were about modifying the stock sensor output to a value that caused the engine to run better. Only you and a few others on this board seem to think that this new value that causes the engine to run better is the more accurate value and the original value was inaccurate. Yet you are laughing at them.... Glad your bike runs better now. All three of my Guzzi's are running great with the OE temp sensor.

I would have to agree with Murray, I don't recall the dash lights being on their own relay, so unless you are having other issues as well and just didn't say, I would think you have a bad connection or ground. Relays can definetely be an issue, they failed on my wifes bike enough that we carry spares when we travel. But they effect whole sections when they fail. Unless you can isolate one relay that controls all the things you are having issues with AND nothing else, it is likely not a relay problem. Just follow standard electrical troubleshooting practice.

I like the approach, but I would suggest that you add a means for measuring the altered signal as well. Then the changes you made could be quantified and you would know what numbers mean what. I am not suprised Hatchet Wacker did not suggest this... He is not so much concerned with details like that.

Nope... See ... "more accurate readings " Of course there is one minor flaw in the testing Dan M did later, You used them to Measure AIR TEMP. Since that is not what they are measuring in use it does not mean much. But atleast it is an effort and I applaude it. But a more useful test might be to mount the sensors on the motor as intended and then see what the difference is between the actual temp of the head, easily checked with a infra-red temp gun, and the signal being interpreted by the ECU, which would require interface software. I doubt these kinds of things will ever be done, I certainly don't care enough to put the effort in. Nothing in what was done indicates that it would be worth while. If your bike runs better then you should be happy about that. The fact that certain peoples bikes ran worse when they added paste to improve heat transfer but then when they experimented with heat sinks, air gaps, and air temp sensors, their bike ran better so they concluded that they must be improving the accuracy of the sensor since their bike ran better, tells me that the is no testing required as non would likely ever both give them the results they want and satisfy the other side who thinks that what they accomplished is about the same as what all these BMW people have done. That is, trick their bikes ECU into adding more fuel so that their bike runs better. It is a low buck and simple way of adjusting the bikes fueling, which tends to be too lean in the bottom and middle ranges stock. I personally prefer better methods to achieve this as it lets me richen up the parts that need it and lean out the parts that don't.

If you have the stock Guzzi turn signals on your bike, they really are about identical to the signals used on Buell Lightnings including the lense and bulb. In fact, on my Griso right now one of my turn signals is from a Buell, one is from a V11, and the other two are stock. The only differences are the Griso signals have shiny bits and the Buell and V11 ones don't. I plan on ordering a full set of Buell signals for the bike.

They had a huge debate over ALTERING the air temp sensor reading to be INACCURATE, thus fooling the ECU into adding more fuel and hopefully making the engine run better. We had a huge debate over making the engine temp sensor MORE ACCURATE by adding a resistor, heat sink, or an air gap to somehow improve accuracy. While both threads are equally amusing, they are diametrically opposed. I'm just sayin'.

I saw the ad, sweet bike. I loved the line about not wanting to trade for your piece of sh!t camaro or stupid snowmobile. That may be why the ad has been pulled, though.

Don't know about NZ, but in the USA the bulbs are common and cheap. An option if you can't find a Guzzi lense or signal assembly is Buell turn signals. They are visually the same but better designed with a flexable stalk. The lenses even swap between Guzzi's and Buell's as I recall.

Are your plugs oil-fouling? If so rings are not the only source of that. V11's do not use valve seals and if your guides/valve stems get worn then you can have oil fouling issues. Happened to me. Have you done a compression test and what did it blow? But to answer the question, yes there are a number of sources of aftermarket rings. The stock ones aren't bad but there are better ones. Not sure who would be your best bet down there. Pete would be the man to talk to as mentioned before.

Uh... no. The 916 was a different design by a talented designer (Tamburini) who also has designed other beautiful bikes like the MV F4. Aside from maybe a similar look to the gas tank they are very different looking designs.

That is funny. They take the 2 valve Ducati heads off the Ducati's and put Honda heads on (4 valve RFVC heads). They then apparently take the Ducati heads they replaced with Honda heads and install them on Harleys. Do they put Harley heads on Hondas? Seriously,though. That Guzzi(?) is sweet. I would love to own it but that ain't gonna happen anytime soon with a starting bid of $18,000.

This is way more appealing then the Terreblanche designs Guzzi brought. Re-paint it (any color but red) and I would happily buy one.

It is good to see Guzzi with new stuff to show off, but these are not what I would hope for. They are typical Terreblanche designs. Ducati must be laughing their butts off.

The funny part of it is that Buell was building exhausts that made power and were quiet. But Harley just seems to build the stock pipes to meet noise reg's knowing the customer will swap them out for open pipes, often before taking delivery of the bike.

I laughed my a$$ of when I saw that episode. It was funny, and true.

Oh, and to add comment about the supertrapp mufflers, I have no experience with those specific ones but I did use a supertrapp internal disc slip-on on a Buell Lightning and it worked great. One of the few mufflers that made more power then the stock muffler and it sounded great. I don't know how relevant that is as it was a Buell with a proper two into one pipe. But it did work great. I had to add some discs to it for those results and it was a little loud (but not too loud).

The crossover on a V11 is much better then the old colostomy bag. But it is far from perfect. It does not manage exhaust flow as well as it could. It has a perforated baffle to help direct flow and reduce sound (I suspect the reduce sound part is the part they spent the majority of development money on). Switching to a better designed (I have not seen one yet I would call perfect) crossover can help fill in the hole in the mid range. I want to someday build or have built a better crossover, one that merges the two flows together properly and then splits them back apart. But until then...