Splicer

I've been taking it easy seeing as how I'm still within the first 72 hours of riding the Nero Corsa, but I've already felt that front wheel go light. I've a feeling that it wouldn't take much to wheelie. Front wheel left the ground on the Stone three times in the six years I owned it. It wasn't easy, but if that bike will wheelie, any shaftie will.

Well, it depends what you mean by "failed." AFAIK the 2003-2005 Californias were the only models to get hydraulic lifters. My understanding is that it is the nature of the beast for hydraulic lifters to be heavier than pushrods, and that's the explanation I've heard as to why the Stone had fewer horses. There was a recall on models with hydraulic lifters but it didn't involve replacing them with non-hydraulic pushrods. My Stone had the recall service done before I got the bike. It was a beautifully smooth motor, and the valves never needed adjustment. While it lost 17 or 18 horses, the torque rating only dropped by four foot pounds. Note too that our shaft drives eat up a chunk of our motors' power but we usually don't hear Guzzi riders complaining about the shaft drive. The public became afraid to buy hydro Guzzis and they were discontinued (note that the next model of California—the Vintage—had solid pushrods.) So in that sense, the hydraulic valve experiment failed, but the Stone's motor was IMO far from a failure.

Hydraulic lifters.

I'm the second owner and the first owner is four inches taller and 35 pounds lighter than me, so I think those Ohlins are going to have to be set up for me before I really get to appreciate them. The bike has 9000 miles on it and... modifications? Well, it's got a Rich Maund seat (that I think I might want to get re-modified due to the dissimilar ergos of the previous owner). The stock airbox has been replaced with a pair of pod filters and the bike has a USB PC-III. Munroe Motors here in SF did the pre-sale inspection for me and along with the list of minor issues they wrote, "K + N air filters with evap plumbing properly installed! Very nice." Very comforting to hear that. The Nero Corsa is about 50 pounds lighter than my Stone was and has what, 20 more horses? It's funny how a heavier bike can feel like it's more powerful because during acceleration more weight transfers to the rear. Instead of that grunting powerful feel that I got when I twisted the throttle of the Stone, the Nero Corsa just goes faster. I'm still getting used to the controls. I've hit the horn a couple times when reaching for the turn signals and I still have to look to find the sidestand when I stop the bike. The Stone has the signals above the horn and the Nero Corsa's horn is above the turn signal switch. I find that odd considering that they were the same model year. I've definitely been singing a happy tune in my helmet! I'm tempted to take it out today for more than a quick spin, but it's Sunday so the roads will be pretty crowded. Might take it out tomorrow instead since I make my own hours and if I get work done today I can take tomorrow off. It's supposed to be sunnier tomorrow as well. Although I'm seeing the sun peek out from between the clouds now... I'll probably at least take a ride up Twin Peaks or out to the ocean today.

As of today (well, Saturday. My clock says it's after midnight) I have graduated from a Cal Stone to my very own Nero Corsa. It's really hard to believe that two bikes with such similar motors could be so completely different! So far all I have are lousy cellphone pix. Eventually I'll get better pictures. It feels funny writing this because I've owned a Guzzi for almost 6 years now, but I am amazed at the sound of the Nero Corsa. Wow. Today I rode it from SF over to Alameda, caught a movie at the Alameda Theater, and came back. I might get to do more riding tomorrow depending on the weather. What an amazing creature this is. For the moment, I am the newest Nero Corsa owner on the planet. I'm just going to bask in it for a moment... (Edit 16 July 2012: not sure why the image broke. I *think* this is the same image that was missing.)

If it was my shop that might make sense, but they don't. In the case of the OP's shop, that's not how a minimum charge works. I bill hourly and I have a minimum charge of 15 minutes. If a client calls me up on the phone and asks me a question and the whole conversation is 90 seconds, my client gets charged for 15 minutes. But if I do something that takes 19 minutes, I charge for 19 minutes. (Actually 20 minutes because I round to the nearest five minutes, but that's another topic). If the OP's shop had a 1 hour minimum and the oil change took 15 minutes, he would have been charged for one hour, not for one hour fifteen minutes.

Resurrecting an old thread, but: Granted, I live in San Francisco where everything is more expensive than everywhere else, but my oil changes on the Stone come to almost $185. Itemized: Silkolene PRO4 SVC GAL $44 Oil Filter $24 Washer $1.50 (OK, this is truly absurd but whatever) Sump Gasket $14.64 Labor: 1 hour $98 Two things enter in to this: first is the syth oil rather than dino oil, which the owners manual recommends. Second is that the Stone needs the oil pan removed, which is not the same with your V11 Sport. An hour and a quarter spent changing the oil where you don't have to drop the sump out and replace the gasket is definitely outrageous. I don't recall and no longer have the records from my old Speed Triple but I think that the shop charges a half hour's labor for changing the oil. Which is still excessive, but there you go.