Mal
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Posts posted by Mal
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Yep, like they all say, ride it a while, be seduced by the fantastic Guzzi feel with a grin factor of 11 out of 10 , I've ridden many Jap bikes, and sure enough, after the initial thrill of mega power for the first half hour I'm bored, there is something missing that a Guzzi gives you.
As Guy says they are also simple in design and easy to work on, a big bonus for the long term owner, ok, I'll admit some do have initial niggles but once sorted they are IMHO fantastic bikes.
If after a while more power is a must then thats always possible with enough money but you may find that some simple mods (K&N, aftermarket pipes etc) will give you a level of riding pleasure unknown among most Jap bike riders.
My V11 Le Mans only has 79 rwhp, nowt compared to R1s etc but boy do I enjoy riding it, I wouldn't change it for any other bike, just got back from a 1000 mile trip to Scotland with almost every type of road and weather imaginable and loved it all (well, maybe the torrential rain bits on the way home were not loved so much but even that was nicer on a Guzzi than it would be on most bikes) there was one particular day on a ride back from Arran that made me grin so much my face ached
.Whatever, Guzzis are great fun, I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
Mal
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Yep, I'll be there (and hi Antonio & Jaap), maar ik heb nog een beetje problemen met deze rare taal maar bier is geen probleem
.I'm still in regular touch with the UK Guzzi crowd and plan to meet Guy & crew en route to Boxmeer, looking forward to it and seeing old faces and then travelling with the ARSE crew down to Germany etc, should be great.
Also looking forward to the Scottish rally next week....cool
as long as my first attempt at TPS/TB balancing this weekend doesn't turn out too disasterous. 
Mal
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Cooool sound, just makes me grin from ear to ear
Mal
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I agree, there is no such thing as a nice insurance company, they all want your money but when I was in the UK Carol Nash were the best of a bad bunch IMHO, some of the other firms took the piss with their quotes and what they offered for the money.
But going to your main question of telling them about mods..if they don't ask don't tell them, they'll certainly never spot a different ECU sitting under the seat (and if they did you can always look shocked and say, "tut tut, now which reckless previous owner fitted that, I had no idea it was there"
).As for exhausts, if they ask specifically if it has different exhaust on then its probably a good idea to tell them but if they ask if the bike has anything fitted to enhance performance, you could in theory deny it in the knowledge that even with exhausts, filters & PC fitted, it still, in the real world, does not produce more power than Guzzi claim.
OK I know there are a few lucky owners out there whos dyno charts go beyond the factories claimed 80 rwhp but the majority of bikes only reach this figure with these essential accesories
and I'd like to see the coutroom fitted with a dyno proving that your mods exceed the factory specs Ok I'm no lawyer so maybe none of this is going to hold up in court but I wonder how many people have had their claims turned down because the exhaust was non standard ?
Mal
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Guy
I know I've said this already elsewhere but say congrats to Helen (and does she realise there is no turning back), glad my old LMV had a helping hand in her seeing the light
, I'm having a bottle of Dutch beer in celebration Can't wait to see it, it'll be V11 heaven this year.. .cool, hope monkey boy doesn't feel left out with his Tonti.
Mal
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As Pete says there should have been gaskets there originally, you definately need them with pretty much any exhaust.
Quite often the old gaskets are very difficult to see as they get crushed and covered in carbon etc and with their metal faces they just look like part of the cylinder head. A careful prying out with a small screwdriver or some such tool is required.
New ones are pretty cheap and easy to fit.
Other than that I hope you are enjoying your new exhaust.
Mal
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cheers Guy
Mal
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Can I just check something with all of you gurus.
I have a 2003 model Le Mans (lovely and black
) with the 43mm Marzocchi front forks as opposed to the earlier 40mm forks, do these take the same amont of oil (i.e. 400cc) ? The manual that came with the bike only refers to the earlier version and its a job I intend to do soon.cheers.
Mal
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As mentioned by Martin, its worth carefully looking at your header pipes just where they go into the cylinder head, my bike was backfiring for over a year (wasn't that bothered by it and secretly quite liked it
) but last week when cleaning it a bit noticed a very fine crack on the left hand pipe.At the time I was on my way to a Guzzi camping weekend so popped (he he) into Teo Lamers who took it off and temporarily welded it until a new one arrives (under warranty...just) . Since then no backfires, it must have been like that for ages.
I hope its something simpler like a loose joint but its worth checking.
Good luck
Mal
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Unless the ferry sinks I'll be there, and as Guzzirider pointed out it is possible to get sunburnt in Scotland in early May (ok, and also possible to get trenchfoot as happened a couple of years ago
).I'm sure it'll be a great do (it always is), whatever the weather.
Mal
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You forgot to mention how well your Diablos coped in the Stelvio snow as well!!
Regards
Guy
ah the snow of Stelvio, sigh, what a good day that was, must do it again this year
Mal
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A little input from my experience of the Diablo.
I put on a set of (standard) Diablo's 6000 miles ago, the rear is now completely shot (with a very flat profile from too many motorway/autobahn miles <_ but the front is still in excellent condition.>
Over that 6000 miles the tyres have travelled around a lot of Europe from very hot (Italy
) conditions to very wet conditions (most other places last summer 
) and coped admirably with Alpine passes (sigh, this is where I sit back and remember those beautiful Stelvio curves with a big grin on my face) and then the not so memorable wet high speed motorway trips but whatever the conditions the tyres coped brilliantly with all of this. All in all a very good tyre, that seems to have lasted well, but unfortunately I've no experience of the Avons so can't make any comparisons, sorry.
Mal
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just looked at Gambalunga, try:
www.creedonsinchigeela.com
Mal
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Before I begin can I just mention this is not meant as a start to a mass paranoia about PC111s
, as far I can gather they are usually very reliable and I'm very happy with it.However, I did have a PC111 usb go arse up last year, but unlike this example the bike did not run at all until it was unplugged (cut out completely, no warning, no spluttering, at 90 mph on a motorway,..or there abouts officer...ahem).
The dealer (Hobbsport in W. Yorkshire...very good), who fitted it and made a custom map, took it back and I got a new one fitted (which has been fine). The whole process took about a month but that was from the UK at the time and the delay was longer than they expected due to some problem or other (sorry can't remember, maybe something to do with staff being away on holiday).
In the mean time I ran it anyway (with a noticable power drop without the PC111! but not too bad and the plugs didn't show it to be running too weak even with mistrals & K&N with open airbox) as I wasn't about to let that halt the begining of the Guzzi rally season.
Anyhow, Hobbsport relayed back to me that there was no explanation from the PC bunch as to why it failed, just that it was not repairable, the company also said it was very rare on a usb model (maybe even the first time they had seen it, I can't remember again...getting old
).From what I read they generally seem like a good bunch to deal with, best thing is to get in touch with them, they may be able to sort you very quick
good luck
Mal
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I've voted to keep my V11 forever.
I've been riding Guzzis for about 20 years and love em to bits (literally sometimes
) and the V11 is everything I love about Guzzis and more, the only thing I'd like to park next to it is another Guzzi (earlier Le Mans maybe) but then I'd be the first to admit I'm not quite all there .Can't wait for all this snow to melt so I can get out there and ride!
Mal
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Antonio
probably your best bet is to take the ferry from IJmuiden (near Amsterdam) to Newcastle, it puts you further north than Hull and closer to Scotland.
It is also an overnight ferry (14 hours..same as Rotterdam to Hull) but usually costs less than the Hull crossing, check out:
http://www.scanbritain.nl/overtochten/dfdstimetable.htm
or http://www.drive-alive.co.uk/dfds.htm
succes
Mal
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interesting poll Guzzirider, because I know you and know how much you ride/do trackdays etc I can guess which area you voted for.
As for me, I'm going to have to opt out of the around the world trip on my V11 this year due to lack of funds but I'll try and do as much riding as I can (lovely trip out yesterday, very sunny but a bit cold at 3 degrees C, didn't stop me grinning like a loon though, he he)
.Get out on your Guzzis, life's too short not to.
enjoy
Mal
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Tom.. I had exactly the same problem about a week ago. All the lights came on but when I hit the starter button I just got a click. The battery and solenoid were ok.. I'd leave it alone for a day or two, and then it would start. Then it wouldn't!! Very weird. I swapped the relays around and it's started every time since... So in my case (and possibly yours) it may be prudent to just swap the relays for the Bosch.
Cheers, Tim
just make sure that if you swap the existing relays around you don't do what I did when my bike suddenly stopped on the way to the Scottish Guzzi rally last year.
The actual problem was a rare PC111 failure (note I said rare, so don't panic everyone)
but to cut a long stroy short at the time I first thougth relays so I swapped relays around, I also wiggled wires, swore at it, looked at it for a while, played Black Sabbath music, etc but eventually unplugged the PC111 and hey presto I was on my way again...until a while later the bike had a very flat battery...bugger...it turns out I'd managed to put a 4 pin relay in the place where a 5 pin was supposed to go (they fit in each others slots nicely) and stopped it charging..
just a cautionary tale for anybody merrily swapping relays on the side of a busy motorway.
good luck
Mal
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Erik
as mentioned above, it could be relay, clutch switch or starter solenoid, the later one happened to me and I only found out by briefly pressing the starter button and hitting the starter motor at the same time (not too hard although by then it was lucky not to get a good thrashing), it then fired instantly. Not entirely foolproof but quick and worth a try.
good luck
Mal
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Cheers Jaap, I'll give the a call soon
Mal
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'Hoi Jaap
where did you get your PC111 tweaked ?, I've recently moved to the Netherlands and am not sure where to go to sort this sort of thing out.
cheers
Mal
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Hi Baldini
as Guzzirider mentioned, I've used Hobbsport near Keighley, not exactly local for you but they are a very competent bunch. They did a good job with my V11 Le Mans when I had a PC111 fitted, they custom made a map, however that PC111 failed and they rushed the new one through the dyno runs (partly my fault, I needed it asap for my holidays) and it now has some hiccups around 3-4000 rpm. I'm sure they would have happily sorted this problem but I then went and moved to Holland (reminds me, must change my details on this forum) and I'm now looking for a Guzzi guru in the Netherlands to sort it out.
You're probably best using a more local dyno shop who has been recommeded (such as Chris's suggestion) in case you also need to go back for tweaks, good luck.
Mal
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OK, final update (I hope), Hobbsport have a new replacement PC111usb from the PC people
, its fitted and the beasty is now going well....just in time for my 2.5 week trip to Alps/Italy on Thursday with a few Guzzi friends....yahoooooo.There was no feedback on what the problem with the PC was, just that it was not repairable.
I'll try and get a few pics of the hols and post them on my return
ciao
Mal
PS...great to meet a few of you at Boxmeer, I'll be back next year, it was brilliant (although I'm not sure I should have done the semi naked table surfing!!)
Dyno results in
in Technical Topics
Posted
Just to throw another chart into the equation, I had my V11 dyno'd at Hobbsport in West Yorkshire (UK) whilst having a custom map made for my (then) new PC111usb, it also had alloy round Mistral cans, stock crossover and open airbox with K&N filter, the RWHP is not bad at just under 80 (78.8) but the torque was very good at just over 70lb-ft (70.8 and producing over 60 from 2,600 revs).
I know figures can vary a lot from dyno to dyno (and even day to day) but a friend also had his dyno'd at the same place and had very similar results although he had a Stucchi crossover.
It seems some people are getting more RWHP but not as much torque which is surprising.
here is the chart for info: