GuzziMoto

It cost me $855 last year. I got it thru Penske in Reading, Pa. Michael Himmelsbach was the Guy I talked to about it. He is a good guy. I knew him (not well) thru racing. He is a straight up guy. He actually got me my shock in less time then he quoted (time was important as we were going to Indy for the MotoGP race). I sent him a link to a thread on this site with the measurements of the stock shock to make sure they knew what size it should be. They should be able to make one for you without that but it wouldn't hurt to do the same. The shock is fully adjustable except it does not have the remote pre-load adjuster. Like the Ohlins it is fully rebuildable and tuneable. They will make the shock for your weight and riding preference. It is not the only good choice, but it was the best choice for me. Here is the link I sent him. It is worth a read if you have not read it already. http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?...88&hl=sachs

Does it have to be Ohlins? I love Ohlins but they are no longer interested in making shocks for a V11 so anything you get will be a shock made from parts for something else. I looked at Ohlins and bought a Penske. No regrets.

Whooaa. Don't be so quick to go re-engineering things when there is something fundamentally wrong with the state of tune of your bike. Fix the back firing issue before you go redesigning things like the engine temp sensor or the exhaust system. There is no reason other then something mis-adjusted (valves could be too tight), leaking (air leak), or otherwise. Deal with that before you go changing things like that. If the bike doesn't run right to start with and you do something that extreme, and it doesn't run right after you are done, you won't know if what you did was an improvement or not. The bike should be able to run fine stock. You need a solid baseline before you go re-engineering the bike. But once it is running right, by all means build your own exhaust. What the hell, if it doesn't work well you can put the stock one back on (and try again knowing more then you knew to start).

I guess for Hack, that's about as "civilized" as it gets.

The 04's and other bikes with a front cross over usually also have a cross over further back. As I don't have a later model bike I don't know the details of yours. But exhaust theory is the same on all. The crossover at the front of the motor is mainly there to reduce noise. It will change the power characteristics but not entirely for the better. You would be better served to eliminate it and have a proper cross over at the normal spot, somewhere just in front of the rear wheel. A stock Guzzi cross over (at the proper spot, just in front of ther rear wheel) is not ideal but it is better then nothing. A Stuchi cross over is better yet, but no one that I have seen makes one that is perfect. Part of the problem is the lack of space down there. Another is the angle of the head pipes as they come around the block. You can buy a proper two into one collector or cross over but making it fit is another story alltogether. There are lots of causes for bad mileage, ranging from bad temp signals to throttle body sync, valve lash, or the crappy stock fuel map. The problem is figuring out which problem (or problems) is yours.

I have had a injector that would stick open. It caused the bike to run poorly, not the same way as you describe but that would be due to the bike having an O2 sensor (on the cylinder that the sticking injector was on no less). I would swap the injectors to see if the issue moves with the injector (meaning you have a bad injector) or if it stays (meaning you have a wiring fault or ECU issu telling that injector to stay open). If the injector is bad I would replace it. Usually if an injector is that bad it is not something that anything in a can will fix. I do not like being stuck on the side of the road.

My apologies, I should have looked at mine first. Fully closed is fully screwed in, which in this case is a plus (+) sign. Don't know where I got the minus sign in my head from. Sorry.

Yes, fully closed is fully screwed in often represented by a minus sign(-) since as you close the oriface it will have more dampening. The side panels have little to do with adjusting the shock preload. Removing them gains you little as they mainly cover the sides of the airbox. You will likely want to at the very least undo the rear mount for the tank and pivot it up. I prefer to remove it entirely. You do not need a "special tool" to adjust the shock but atleast having a generic shock preload adjuster is a good idea. They sell them at any good M/C shop. It is not that easy to adjust the preload due to the lack of access with the airbox in the way. A proper tool will make the job a little easier. For rear sag settings I like about one inch of sag from fully unloaded to fully loaded with rider in full gear and seated on the bike as if riding (static sag). Another measurement is how far the bike sags from fully unloaded to sitting there with only the weight of the bike compressing the suspension (free sag). This number should be small but definetely there, i.e. the bike should not be setup to have zero sag (or lots of sag) with no one one board in order to have the correct sag with rider on board. That would indicate that the spring is to soft (or too hard). 5mm is a good number. A good target to shoot for with static sag is 20-25% of travel. This comes out to about 1-1 1/4" of sag on a bike with 5" of travel. I prefer a slightly stiffer setup so I lean towards the 1" side but you may prefer it "softer". To point out something here, it is often refered to as softer when you lessen the preload and stiffer when you tighten the preload but that is not really correct. Changing the spring can make it softer or harder. Changing the preload changes the ride height and thus the available travel but it does not make the spring "harder" or "softer" .Unless you go beyond the points recommended by most suspension tuners (i.e. no free sag or massive amounts of free sag all you are doing is adjusting the ride height. Edit: Here is a link to an explanation on setting sag. http://www.sportrider.com/tech/146_0308_geek/index.html There are many others if you google.

Guzzi made cams and tappets. They failed. They then designed NEW cams and tappets out of higher spec materials by their own admission and hopefully a better shape. Now hopefully they don't fail. If it was just a parts quality issue then there would not be new parts with new part numbers as there now are. If that is not a description of an engineering failure then nothing is.

The relationship to engine temp could be that as the engine gets hotter the oil pressure goes down. The oil pressure may only hit the point where the sensor falsely turns on the oil light when the motor is really hot. the rest of the time the pressure is above that point. The sensor may be working but not correctly. I would replace it. I like the gauge idea.

I believe you Greg. You are an excellent source of information to me, and while we may differ on matters of opinion I see this as a statement of fact from you, not opinion.

WTF?

Exhausts are very much a personal preference thing beyond the aspect of performance. Pure race pipes aside it really comes down to taste, whether its finish (polished cans or matte black), sound (hard and raw or low and rumbly), or style (oval, round, or under bike Quat-D). Before you can figure out which are the right pipes for you, you must figure out what you want from them. The following is my opinions based on my experiences. If you want a real muscle car sound from a V11 the only pipe I've heard that comes close is the Quat-D. None of the 2 into 2 slip-ons are capable of sounding that way due to the design. A few get close, but none are there. A proper two into one would really do the trick but finding one is another matter. Replacing the stock cross-over is the next best thing. It is suprising how much difference this can make on the sound of the bike. The Ferracci version has had a lot of issues with cracking and their customer support for people with cracked Ferracci cross-overs has been pathetic. Stuchi would be my choice. StainTunes are nicely made but I hate pipes that require that much effort (cleaning). Bead blasting them would help but then you are wasting a good part of what you paid extra for. The Guzzi performace mufflers (latter ones are Ti but there are atleast one set out there that are not) are my favorite slip-on. The set I have (not Ti) used stainless steel wool as a first layer around the baffle under the normal packing. This prevented the packing from blowing out but it does result in a slightly harder edge sound. In todays day and age you can find just about any combination of bike and mufflers posted on the internet to listen to. In the old days you payed your money and took your chances.

The V11's have no such issues. The newer bikes, Griso's and Breva's, have a code that you need to enter in certain situations and other electronic settings that sometimes need to be re-set. And typically on any modern emissions certified O2 equipped vehicle if you disconnect the battery that sets the ECU back to factory baseline settings (i.e. clears any adjustments to the fuel curve that may have been made based on info from the O2 sensor. Sorry but I gotta ask, did you do the throttle stuff while the fuse was out? How did the ECU even know what you were doing if it had no power. Just trying to understand.

I run a hotter bulb (SilverStar) but this is only some help. You end up with more light but it still is not spread out well. A better reflector would be a better solution, but I am happy enough with the new bulb.

With regard to the steering damper, there is NO right or wrong answer to that question, whether it's from Ed or a two time national champion twins racer. It is purely a case of what you prefer. Some prefer the heavier, slower steering the dampers gives the bike. Others prefer the lighter, quicker steering the bike has without one. On that one you should decide for yourself. No stock suspension settings???? What the hell were you thinking.

The griso uses a different estup then the V11. First you have to let the bike do its little gizmo dance with the tach and the digital display and the lights (ooooohh, the pretty lights). On mine (a Griso 11) if you push the button while this is going on nothing will happen, the bike will ignore you. After the light show ends, you can push the the button (you don't have to hold it, it will work even if you just push and release) and the starter motor will run until the bikes catches or 4 or 5 seconds pass, whichever comes first. I assume the Griso 12 does the same thing. If yours is not doing this then the dealer will probably have to replace expensive parts as this is all controlled by the computer I believe. Good luck.

I am not running it and I see no real benefits for road use. Even at the lower end of racing I see no benefits. Other then the cost it has no downsides/drawbacks, but in my opinion it does little more then lighten your wallet. But if you believe there's a benefit and running it makes you feel better then by all means do it. I'll spend my money on something else.

I was thinking "yeah, that's a normal weekend ride", doesn't everybody get to rides roads like that. Then I saw where you're from. Been to chicago, I feel your pain.

My apologies to gstallons. After re-reading what you said I realize I misunderstood what you posted. I believe we are all on the same page. Again, my apologies.

I believe the reference port would work opposite the way you describe. If you connected it to the intake manifold down stream of the throttlebody you would indeed get a drop in manifold vacuum sent to the reference port. But I'm pretty sure this would cause a reduction in fuel pressure not an increase. I don't think it would be a large change in pressure but it should decrease fuel pressure with a decrease in pressure at the port. Where it would help is if you had a turbocharged application and the increase in boost would cause an increase in fuel pressure. Yes you can hook it to the intake manifold (or somewhere else like the evap canister) but I can't imagine anywhere to hook it that would make the bike run better then having it vented to atmosphere (not some sort of micro-atmosphere inside of your home made engine temp sensor but the real atmosphere ).

For crying out loud.... Hack denied having said he had a problem with his V11 relating to the engine temp sensor. Greg then copied and pasted what Hack had posted about having symptoms of " less than accurate sensor operation". To which Hack responded by saying that the problem was with the "operation of the sensor", not "the way my Guzzi was running". So if you can seperate the two in your own mind (how the bike works vs. how the sensor works) then you will lean one way on this but if you would be unable to seperate how the bike works from how any of its parts work then you would likely lean the other. Obviously in Hacks mind Greg has not proved a thing, but the world is a bigger place then Hacks mind.

Who did you talk to at Penske? Michael Himmelsbach is the guy to talk to. He had one built for my wifes '00 V11 sport. I sent him specs from this forum on the shock and they had one built way faster then anyone else said they could. I had a trip coming up so that was important.

It is only going to LOOK like a clarinet, it isn't going to WORK like a clarinet. If you only care about the look, then having a "true" RCM is not important. But when someone like Todd refers to selling a "true" RCM he is refering to one that actually does what a RCM does.

The Giannelli appears to be what I was refering to as a muffler that mimicks the look of a RCM but is in fact NOT a RCM. In order for it to be a "true" RCM the interior volume of the RCM must not have baffles or anything else that would interfer with flow. That is why "true" RCM mufflers put the baffle AFTER the RCM. The Staintunes are probably the same but the links did not open for me. I am not refering to a "true" RCM based on what it looks like but on how it works. You may not like the look of an RCM with a muffler on the end but that has nothing to do with what it is or how it works. The Woods pipes and Cobra pipes are "true" RCMs with mufflers on the ends, the Giannelli (and almost certainly the Staintunes) are not. But I would agree they look better. The Viking pipe is either a true RCM with no baffle or a muffler mimicking the look of an RCM but not the performance. Without being able to see if there is a baffle inside I can not tell. Whichever it is, it is NOT a RCM with a muffler. It is either a RCM OR a muffler (just like the Giannelli and Staintune). Edir: FYI... I ended up yanking my GuzziTech pipe from Todd apart to confirm that yes indeed it is a "true" reverse cone megaphone design. The pipe diameter gets progressivly larger then tapers back down some and then the baffle/muffler is on the outlet of the reverse cone. The reverse cone on the end is for looks. The cone that makes it a "true" RCM is inside the pipe and cannot be seen from the outside.