GuzziMoto

I think some people may need to relax a bit. I don't think anyone is suggesting that you should not rev your Guzzi over 3k rpms. But for cruising down the road at a steady state there is nothing wrong with spinning the motor at 2-3k rpm. To imply that you should always keep the motor above 4k or that it gets better fuel mileage between 4500 and 5k is a bit misleading to say the least. And all things are relative. A guzzi is a revver compared to a Harley but not compared to most other bikes. And power falls off on the 2 valve motors by 7k. The meat of the power is not at redline but in the midrange. Being able to walk from an R-1 in roll on acceleration without downshifting is fun.

Overdrive ratio means greater then 1 to 1 ratio. For every 1 revolution of the trans input shaft, the out put shaft would spin more then 1 revolution(i.e. 1.1 revolutions or something like that. Had never noticed 5th and 6th both being overdrives. But my wife and I constantly ride our Guzzis at or below 3k rpm in 6th gear. It is not abuse in the least. It doesn't lug until you get down to around 2k rpm and it depends on how much throttle you give it at low revs as to whether it lugs or not. One of the beautiful aspects of riding a Guzzi is how much torque it makes at 3k rpm. You don't need to row the box like you do on many bikes to go fast, just twist the throttle and grin. To each their own. Edit. I. just checked the manual for my wifes 2000 V11 and only 6th gear is an overdrive ratio. Woops, the manual has a typo. Ratchet is correct. What that has to do with riding the bike at 3k rpms I'm not sure. Since trans ratio is only half the story and Guzzis have prettty short final drive ratios. Being an overdrive box has more to do with reduced friction loss then what rpms the motor is happy at.

Can be done for sure. I think RacerX sells replacement head pipe that don't have the balance pipe and are higher quality then the stock Guzzi stuff. Fuel mapping may be slightly off but if you have a power commander that's easy enough to fix. May not be enough to worry about though. Could even be better.

I have a Garmin Zumo that I like a lot. It is made for bikes, so it is water resistent and easy to operate with gloves on. It also came with a car set up that pops right in to my truck. I believe only the 550 comes with the car set up, the 450 doesn't. Have only had the one and my brothers to compare. My brother just upgraded his to a Zumo as well. I guess he didn't like his youger brother "out teching" him.

I would try a different dealer. Or get the equipment to work on it yourself. Idle is affected by throttle body sync, as well as valve clearance and CO trim. How many miles on the bike? Why the new clutch?

Or swap the injectors from side to side to see if the miss moves with the injectors.

That would explain why one company might charge up to 33% more then another company to insure your Guzzi, but not 300% more. There is a lot ofvariability and profit in the insurance field. They take in more money the they pay out. It's how the business works. I can except that. But you gotta shop around 'cause some companies will charge you alot more then others for reasons only known to them.

Check for spark, then check for fuel, then check for compression.

My wife and I removed the damper on her V11 and she (and I) much prefer the lighter steering the bike has without it. If you have raised the rear end (or dropped the front) to speed up the steering you may want to put it back where it was, particularly if you hve a earlier red framed V11 (as my wife does). Part of it is what roads you ride on and how well do you have your suspension set up. Do it. You might like it.

No, there is a small dab of non hardening goo between the petcock and the tank, and between the regulator and the tank. Not sure exactly what it is but it does not harden like silicone does.

Not sure how much actual good that pan would do but it should satisfy the letter of the law, so to speak. The belly pan rul has nothing to do with which way your cases split. It is to catch any oil that might leak out of your motor, say from a lose oil line or from a hole in the block made by a broken rod, to keep it of the race track so that others are not in as much danger from your problem.

You may be able to adapt one from a Buell Lightning. I have also seen people make their own(or have made for them) out of sheet aluminum. Looks trick, especially anodized.

Look for something like that first. If the bike was running well then it wasn't, did you refuel the bike at that time. I have known of people accidently filling their bikes with diesel. Another thing to check is did anything get unplugged?, like the cylinder head temp sensor? Or did the bike get wet? Relays are also a common issue on these bikes, but normally they stop it from running altogether. Check the common obvious things that could go suddenly, first. TPS setting or TB sync usually go slowly over time, not "It ran great yesterday and now it runs badly".

These are sweet. http://trailtech.net/vapor.html

YES.

My wife has a MG tank bag for her V11 that uses a harness that straps over the tank, tying to the front motor mounts at the front and to the bolt that the tank is held on with at the back. The actual bag the attaches to that with a zipper and a clip.

There is a company that makes silicone valve cover gaskets. They do not crack and are reusable http://www.realgaskets.com/

The heat gun would likely be used to heat the outter tubes so the seals come out and go in easier. Putting the new seals in the freezer also helps.

Was the choke on when it happened? That's for Ratchet.

That is a sweet bike. I am not mature enough to ride a bike that fast and powerful on the street yet. Not sure when I'll grow up.

If you changed the fork oil and the forks worked "perfect" afterwards and then over time went down hill, I would venture a guess that it is/was not an oil level issue. It would sound to me like a mechanical issue. The forks may be binding due to the tubes being twisted in the clamps(easy to fix) or the bushings may be worn out(harder to fix). If the bushing have too much clearence, the forks will not work right. Don't confuse the bushings with the seals. When the seals go the fork leaks oil. When the bushings go the fork will have play in the fit between the tubes( which will typically cause the seals to go and then the fork will leak oil).Adding or subtracting oil is unlikely to make a difference if the forks worked well and then did not without a change in the oil level to begin with. If the bushings are worn out, I would pull the forks and have a pro re-build them. Replacing bushings in a fork is one of the few jobs on a bike I will not do. If the seals are leaking, they are not to hard to do but many would still take it to a pro. I would change them myself but I hate paying people for something I could have done myself.

The stock marzochi forks on a Guzzi are pretty poorly setup from the factory. The design of the forks is also a little weak. The compression adjuster does next to nothing as the compression dampning is only at the bottom of the stroke. Most of the stroke allows oil to blow out of the damper tube freely. This leads to a fork that easily blows thru the stroke and slams at the bottom into the one part of the stroke that actually has dampning. This can make you think your forks are too stiff when in fact they are too soft. One way to check to see if this is indeed what is going on is to tighten a tie-wrap around one of the tubes(skinnier inner tubes, aka the shiney ones) right under where the larger outter tube is. This tie-wrap will be push down the tube as the fork travels thru its stroke. Take a ride, and if when your done the tie wrap is at the bottom of the stroke you know the fork is blowing thru its stroke. If the tie-wrap did not move very far down the tube then you may have issues like too high an oil level in the forks or binding, etc. Setting up these forks can be done in a few ways. A good place to start would be to get springs made for your weight and set the sag.

New Guzzis have chips. V11s do not as far as I know.

Goverment cheese?

I'll buy one. How's your bike running with your "blended" map, Dimitris?