pete roper

Guys, this isn't something where there is a *right* and a *wrong*. It's purely personal taste and choosing which tool is better for your intended task. One of the things I love about all Guzzis is that they are hopelessly asymetric as one cylinder is further forward than the other and I personally find symetry boring but that's just me, it doesn't mean I'm *right* just different. As I said in the other thread I think a well set up V11 is probably more powerful than a Griso but to me that is completely irrelevant as my Griso is more than adequately powerful for ME. If people want more power? that's fine, but to be honest if you want much more power you'll have to leave the Guzzi fold and go to something more modern as there are, unfortunately, limits to the amount of Oomph! you can drag out of an old air cooled, hemi head, 2 valve twin. Pete

John Gorman borrowed my Griso for a couple of weeks while I was in the UK. John is 'Six foot lots' and complained that the stance simply didn't suit him. He also has very long legs which probably caught on the rocker covers. I'm *Lucky* in the fact that I'm a freak. I'm 5 foot 10 inches without boots or hair but I suffer from the classic 'Duck's Disease' I have a long back and tiny little legs which makes the Griso ideal for me . The seat is comparatively low, (I can flat-foot it both sides at a standstill.) but the pegs are high enough that I can only drag the ends of my boots on the entry to sharp bends and/or roundabouts on a trailing throttle,(Note, although there is provision for screw-in 'Hero Knobs' on the footpegs they ain't there ) remember, I ride like Gumby! I hate the 'Dog Shagging a Hockeyball' riding position but also eschew the 'Broomstick up the Arse' BMW look and I find the 'G' is ideal for me in terms of overal back posture at any speed I usually travel at, (Between 110-145KPH, you loose your licence on the spot for over 130.) unless there is a substantial head wind in which case things get tiresome, but they would on anything apart from a fully faired bike. At the same time the wide bars make it really easy to muscle about in bends and the long wheelbase makes it stable and easy to predict in a 'Road Riding' situation trather than the track. It's comparatively heavy rotating bits make it forgiving when the back end breaks away, (I'm glad to say I haven't yet had a front end lose!) and the Showa forks on the front are, (Yes, I know you racial purists will hate it.) superb. The Bogge (Sp?) shock is more than adequate for me but from previous experience with their products I'd guess that within a couple of years I might be looking to upgrade at the back. I love the way the motor delivers it's power and that may well be partly to do with the fact that the 'G' uses 36mm throttle bodies. I now that all the theorists, including some I really respect, will tell you that you should be able to use much bigger TB's wuith such a motor but the smaller ones deliver incredibly smooth, linear performance from nothing until the point where I'm quite happy to not go any faster. The bike ROMPS up to 100MPH after which things become a bit more relaxed, I don't care, it's rare for me to need to go faster than that and I can always knock it down to 5th if I'm in a panic, I've usually got 1,500 in hand at least Having said that a check of the on-board data logger often turns up maximum speeds of the 178-182kph mark so perhaps I'm suffering from advanced altzheimers The *new* six speed box? Sorry guys, while it is undoubtably noisy it is about a zillion light-years ahead of the V11 box in terms of precision. Ratios? Well they work for me but I'd preffer the middle three to be a bit closer together, 4th to 5th sometimes feels a bit tall but it still pulls well in 6th. Whether the higher geared Breva would do the same I dunno? No experience but when I test rode a Breva I was disappointed, short ride though and the only one. The CARC final drive? There is essentially nothing different to the V11. It's an independently isolated shaft drive with a torque arm on the bevelbox, on the Breva/Griso it's just less elegant, harder to service and heavier . It does have a driveshaft shock absorber though and is sheltered from road grime so it's not all bad. I can live with a bit more un-sprung weight. Good God! It's not as if any bike with a GEARBOX on the rear axle is ever going to handle like a GP bike, or even a Honda CT110 . My guess, although I haven't done a direct comparison, is that a well set up V11 will be considerably faster than a Griso and slightly faster than a wrung-out Breva. Style-wise they are all as different a chalk and cheese. I think the Breva, (And it's bastard offspring the 1200 Sport ) are uglier than the biggest ugly thing ever smitten with an ugly stick! I think the Griso is a truly stylish and individual machine that owes nothing to anything apart from the Centauro which was another Guzzi *original*. The V11 series, especially the early 'Short Frame' models were, magnificent but always seemed to me to be trying to *trade* on the fame and splendor of the early '70's models. Don't get me wrong. I like and respect the V11's, I just feel that they could of been done a lot better for not a lot more money. Perhaps the key to my *Valuing* of the various models is that I never bought a V11 but I bought a Griso without ever having ridden, or even seen on, in the *flesh* as it were. NOW! THESE ARE ONLY MY PERSONAL OPINIONS AND OBSERVATIONS. THEY BEAR NO OTHER MERIT THAN THE FACT THAT I BELIVE THEM AND THEY ARE NOT NECCESSARILY RIGHT OR WRONG. SO IF YOU WANT TO FLAME ME? FEEL FREE! BUT MY OBSERVATIONS ARE NOT BASED ON ANYTHING OTHER THAN EXPERIENCE AND PERSONAL BIAS SO I DON'T WANT TO GET INVOLVED IN LONG, SEMANTIC ARGUMENTS OVER WHAT I *MEAN*, JUST GET STUCK IN Pete

Horses for courses I suppose? I personally love my Griso and it's getting better all the time as I get it closer and closer to sorted. No major problems, just suspension tuning. I can understand people not being comfortable with the riding position. It's not *conventional* in any sense of the word, the bars are highish and wide and if you've been used to something with flatt bars and/or clip-ons it will feel really weird. I've never likes clip-ons though and most of my bikes have had real handlebars with a slight rise so apart from the width, (Which I'm now used to.) I have no issues with the 'G' and I find it very comfortable. Out of the crate the suspension was set up far too harsh. I've backed off the fork pre-load and compression and rebound damping front and rear and it's now working very well. Despite it's long wheelbase it's surprisingly easy to muscle around, in part because of those wide bars. I'd have to say I'd take my 'G' over a Breva any day, but that's me. I don't expect others to have the same wants or needs as me but don't write the 'G' off without trying one. Pete

Cable ties? Pfft! I spit on your cable ties! Once you're out in the middle of woop-woop you won't find cable ties! You'll find baling wire and bits of old fence. If you're really lucky you'll find a wrecked HQ Holden that was wrapped around a tree by a young hoon 30 years ago and you'll find that an old Holden, even though it was produced with Imperial bits, has loads of stuff that will enable you to get home. Never mind that the wiring loom is all the wrong colour. There's LOTS of wire in it! That helps when your home made loom decides to let all the blue smoke out west of the Black Stump. Then there's all sorts of intersting steel bits that can be cut off or broken off and beaten into various *neccessary* shapes before being attatched with baling wire. If the worst comes to the worst you cabn set fire to kit. Those 1970's vinly seats produce a plume of smoke visible from space! Sod the fact that polar bears will be weeping when you do it! It's better than dying of thirst or having to listen to two days of talk-back radio while you wait for someone to realise you're stranded. I reckon that any sort of 'Home Made' Hugger is a fine thing. the tackier the better. With V11's with their gearbox vent right in the line of the spray-off from the tyre they are virtually 'De-Riguere' but ugly, cheap, barely adequate and done while drunk will get a big, big bodge point from me every time Now, this Nuovo Falcone I'm working on at the moment? Whoops, I haven't been paid for that yet....... Pete

Yup, for *us* it's a sad thing. For most young people it means nothing. Let the young of tday have their fun without inflicting our past upon them An important part of growing up is feeling you're part of a world changing time. God help us! our current generation need all the help they can get to get away from the idea that shopping is a productive and important activity. Don't try and make the poor little shits tryand look up to our generation! How decadent is that????? I have to say though I find it fun that Martin, a copper, has *respect* for punk! "plus ca change" or whatever Pete (Who once had hair and saw an awful lot of those *good* bands from the '70's while wearing clothes that now make him cringe to think of . And he turned up to a Clash cocert on his hot-rod Triumph. That had class! Have YOU ever fallen in love........... )

OK, I thought that was probably the case, thanks. Pete

That's an interesting pic. The bike has what appears to be the hi-cam motor in? Is that one of the early publicity shots? Or are they the fabled 4V heads for the pushrod donk? Pete

The 'G' doesn't really compare with much else. I'd think probably some 600/750 monster and a Buelly-thing. Any Guzzi is always going to be handicapped in terms of power, wheelbase and weight in comparison to anything even remotely *modern*. I was heading into Canberra yesterday and the local dealers demo's went the other way, a black Griso and a black Breva. Seeing a brace of modern Guzzis on the road was so rare I did a u-turn and gave chase, rounded 'em both up in Bungendore and sat with 'em while they had a coffee and discussed the bikes. One of 'em was BMW rider the other one was coming off a VTR, the BMW bloke thought that the Breva needed a screen and the bloke on the Griso thought, unsurprisingly, that it was underpowered, coming off a VTR you would think that . The problem is that because the Griso is an '1100'cc bike ordnary folks expect it to have the performance of something like an FZ Yam in terms of power and speed. The fact remains that with Guzzis you have to effectively forget about what the cubic capacity is, it simply isn't relevant. I think of my Griso in much the same way as I'd think about a slightly overweight 600cc machine from virtually any other manufacturer. No, it's not overly fast, yes it's heavy, but I personally find a bit of weight very handy on a road bike and it's stability and steering are second to none. I don't want a 'Racer for the Road' if I did I'd definitely NOT be riding a Guzzi from any year! I'll also try to steer people away from them if this *is* what they want, simply because they will be horribly disappointed. That's the reason why something like these 'Comparison' tests, (even if you do believe that the journo's are objective!) can't really tell you a lot. They'll always pit the Guzzi against something unsuitable and then make quantatative value judgements based on irrelevancies. You may not agree, that's fine but it's my Pete PS. The Griso demo is for sale at a substantial discount I believe. It's only got 600Km on it and needs setting up a bit better but if anyone's looking for one it's at Gecko in Canberra. Pete

The problem with the Surflex plates only, in my experience, effects the early, shallow spline, type. In the late eighties the company deepened the splines from 2mm to 4mm. It's only the early ones that chop out thusly. The best option with the early clutches is simply to replace the input hub with the later deep spline type and fit the deep splin friction plates. The deep spline design is also a lot less wear prone. Pete

Sorry, I don't. I don't just have $1,200 parts 'Hanging around' unfortunately. Next time I'm down in Melbourne I'll see if Moto One have one on the shelf and if they do I'll take some pics and post 'em up. Pete

The way the splines of the friction plate have erroded is very reminicent of what happens to shallow spline Surflex plates for the early twin platers. In that case the damage occurs because the splines in the plate centres don't match the splines of the hub, they are about 1mm too long and considerably wider so there is more ability for them to rattle around on the hub. It's not unkown for them to chop out in less than 15,000Km. It's not a hardness issue, I had the centres and the hub checked for hardness at the Australian Mint and they were well within spec, (Can't remember offhand what that was ) so it was purely a size and thrashing problem. With the single plate clutches, especially those with very light flywheels, the damage does seem to occur quicker than with the twin platers. The last Scura clutch I saw had a bit of wear on the plate splines but the hub was really quite badly worn, this was at a comparatively low mileage. Why it should present like this I have no idea but sitting with the clutch pulled in for long periods at idle and a low idle speed will both contribute to premature wear. Pete

Loud knocking noise before it stopped running on one cylinder? If so it's probably run it's big ends due to oil starvation from a loose filter or pick-up exposure. Pete

Plates despatched today to; Ratchet x2 Pierre x1 Rocker x1 Chicago Mark x1 Roger Pritzel x1 Jason Bales x1 Jens Lyck Hansen x2 VA Sean x1 Let me know if there are any problems or they fail to arrive! Pete

That was very, very cruel. I suppose somewhere back in the mists of time there may of been a worse handling, more under-braked motorbike than the CD 175 but I can't actually think of one off hand. I had one as my ONLY form of transport from when I was about 19 till I was about 20. Horrid beyond belief, but unkillable! It tried to kill me a couple of times though! Pete

100% ditto this. If you ride your bike hard I would also recommend one of my sloppage sheets but others find that they don't have a problem. Pete

OK, USA buyers and those who weren't able to get one of the sheets I took to the UK. I'm now back in Oz. Those of you who have paid by paypal, please let me know and I'll get the sheets out pronto. Those who so far haven't and are still interested please send me an email to motomoda@optusnet.com.au and I'll start getting things organized. There is a paypal account linked to the above email address. I did post up the costs for single and multiple sheets to the USA and Europe, I think they are in one of the earlier threads on the subject so check back. If not I'll go and price it up again. Sorry about the delays on this but what with my Mum dying and Jude's Mum developing dementia things have been just a trifle hectic!! Pete PS costs. To USA 1 sheet- $20AU 2 sheets- $36AU 3 sheets-$53AU Europe 1-$25AU 2-$46AU 3- $67AU The sheets themselves cost $155AU. I suggest that you simply Google up a currency converter and do the conversion into the currency of your choice, yes, I'll probably take a small hit as the *true* exchange rate and what is given by banks to the punter is a bit different but I'm not going to die in a ditch over it. Yes, there's an element of trust involved here, I usually find that trust works just fine with most people in the Guzzi community. Anyone who seriously robs anyone else ends up getting 'Outed' pretty quick and finds themselves pretty unpopular so lets just do it this way.

RAM aftermarket is a happy thing, although I'd better qualify that by saying I've heard of no complaints or failures. The twin plater works fine for me in my Griso and in many other V11's. I have heard of problems with it slipping in very highly tuned 4 valvers but I've never experienced it myself. You pays yer money and takes yer pick. If you do g with the twin plater make sure that you get the ten spring version, not the eight spring. Pete

I fly out of England tonight. I'll be back in Oz Thursday morning, I'll have a bit to do and will need sleep but I should be able to start processing payments and shipping the sheets early next week. Pete

Oh, sorry. I wasn't aware that I was expected to take pictures of and post up detailed analysis of them on this site or any other. All I'm doing is expressing my opinion and sharing information I've gleaned from a variety of sources, some of them *official*, some of them *unofficial* and my own personal observations. The two flywheels are different, whether the one used in the Scura was redesigned by Guzzi or RAM matters not one whit. The fact is that the ones in the Scura have a tendency to fly apart. All I said was that if I owned on it would be at the top of the list of parts to change out for something else. Whether other people choose to do so is entirely up to them but the suggestion that I'm saying things for purely scurrilous reasons is, I'm sorry, absurd! Pete

Information from seeing both the original and the Guzzi designed unit. Reason for the change would probably be cost above all, less material or inferior material in the Guzzi designed unit. I have no idea why they would specify a different unit apart from sheer bloody-mindedness or cost, two things Guzzi are famous for . I have never heard of one of RAM's original designs going tits up, I've only installed a few of them though but I've been around Guzzis for 30 years and if something is unreliable I usually hear about it soon enough. I know of at least four, probably as many as half a dozen Scurra clutches going west in Oz though. If I owned a bike with one in it would be coming out as a matter of urgency, but that's me, nobody is forced to take my advice or believe what I say and I have no vested interest in trying to get people to replace parts that are perfectly serviceable. pete

Guzzi got RAM to make the single platers for the Scura etc, the problem was that the silly sods decided to re-design it and then get RAM to make it to their specs. The fact that the RAM unit had been around since Jesus was in nappies and worked just fine was of no consequence, Guzzi went ahead and stuffed about with it and their version breaks. I've seen a couple of 'em let go now. When i was talking to Keith a few days ago I was strongly urging him to bin the Guzzi unit in his, I'd do the same to anyone with a Scura or (?) Tenni that has this unit but the RAM aftermarket unit is a HAPPY thing Pete

It looks like an out-take from a comedy show called 'The Chaser' which airs on ABC. Generally it is quite funny and some of it's political satire is witheringly mercilless. They don't always hit the spot but their strike rate is pretty good. Pete

I think an apology is in order Gary. My mistake, I'm sorry. As you may of read I've been under a fair bit of stress of late and I mis-interpretted your original post. Pete

Yup, or you could perhaps buy a few off me and take into account the time and effort I went to to design the thing? Yup, I have no copyright or patent, you can do it. Perhaps that makes me a sucker, but I have to admit I'll be a bit pissed off if you take my work and plagiarise it. My price is, after all, scarecely exhorbitant. Pete

The plate won't prevent the oil fromsurging backwards completely. The rectangular hole has to be there as the oil pressure relief valve sits proud of the top of the spacer where the plate fits. Also there has to be some space for the oil to return to the sump while the engine is running. Although most of the oil seems to end up in the front left hand corner, (Why I'm not sure, centrifugal/cyclonic forces would seem the obvious answer.) I felt that it was going to be necessary to have other *holes* as well in different parts of the plate, hence the larger than strictly necessay OPRV hole and the fact that the right hand edge of the hole through which the 'Filter Mount and Thermostat Munt' sticks is straight rather than being contoured to fit more closely around the fitting. Remember, the oil starvation only seems to be a problem under really fierce acceleration in the lower gears. The plate doesn't have to completely prevent the rearward slop of the oil, it only has to slow it doen and inhibit it enough to ensure that the pick-up isn't exposed. As I mentioned in the earlier thread the IDEAL solution would be to dry-sump the motor but that would require a scavenge pump and a whole lot more weight and complexity. With the plate I'm not looking for a *perfect* or *Ideal* solution. What I'm hoping I've achieved is a simple solution to the pick-up exposure problem to prevent bearing damage. As I also stated earlier IMHO the CORRECT level for the oil should be just below the plate which coresponds to the bottom of the block. When the plate is installed it is worth marking the dipstick at that point. While by doing this you will be adding a bit more oil and therefore will slightly increase the crankcase pressurisation the plate will help prevent oil expulsion by reducing windage so it is unlikely that the breather system would be over-taxed by the extra oil volume. Since many people have already started running their 'Broad Sump' Engines over-full to combat the loss of pressure problems I can't see this over-pressure causing any sealing problems. Pete