My New V11 Greenie!

[Kane]

A major kudos to you guys for helping me on the way to buying my new ‘01 V11. Your generosity in sharing knowledge was way more than I expected as a newcomer to a forum, and I learned more about Guzzis in two days from your responses and reading this forum than I had known for years. As for the bike, she’s a stunning green goddess and she runs like a lion. The history of this bike is vague, no service records or other documents other than the Arizona title. The seller was a very nice gentleman with a few BMW dressers who had acquired this bike as a partial trade from someone in Arizona. As much as he appreciated the V11 it just wasn’t his thing and it was not being ridden. He preferred to move it on to a rider who will use it......like me! Mileage is a hair over 10k. I’ve been doing local rides with it for a few days now, and it’s great. It pulls great, it feels and sounds like a real motorcycle and has spots of nice vibrations at some speeds/revs. She sounds awesome with the stock pipes. The 850T I had years ago was fitted with Dunstalls, and while the Dunstalls were louder, it’s the same deep rich rumble.....thunder rolling out from Lake Como. The shifting is positive and comfortable, handling feels natural and nimble for a bike this size, front brakes are very grippy and rear break is smooth. I am very happy and I look forward to bonding with the bike.

The few things that I wondering about are: the ignition switch lock seems a bit tricky. Sometimes it turns easy, sometimes I have to play with it.

There is a little three-way toggle switch tucked under the instruments panel, mounted on the headlight bracket, next to the fork tube.....what is this for?

The battery light stays on for awhile after the bike is running. Is this common?

The rear differential/u-joint where the drive shaft meets the rear wheel is open/exposed.....I’m kind of surprised it doesn’t have boot covering it. What’s the best way to maintain this? The drive shaft is black....I thought these bikes has silver drive shafts.

I like Mikko’s suggestion of adding a fairing. I’m considering adding a small to medium bullet style sport faring in the near future as I plan on doing runs from L.A. to S.F. to visit family and get out of town, probably a few runs further than that, 

That’s all I have for now. Thanks so much! Cheers!

Kane

 

 

[Kane]

[Kane]

[Kane]

[Kane]

[footgoose]

ha ha.... nice

[Kane]

[Kane]

The shaft drive / rear wheel connection I mentioned:

[Kane]

The toggle switch on headlight bracket that I mentioned:

 

[Kane]

[Kane]

14 minutes ago, footgoose said:

ha ha.... nice

Thank you!

 

What do you guys think of Shinko tires?

[po18guy]

I think that Guzzis are somewhat like Colt pistols and revolvers: more the exception than the rule, with each being one-of-a-kind. It seems as though the assembly workers simply grabbed whatever was nearest and bolted it on. Mine has a different ign switch, but it's still somewhat puzzling how to get to lack/park positions without some monkey motion. The toggle? Flip it and see if the charge light remains on as long. Someone with greenie experience will chime in. Back in the 1960s, Ducati singles had a mystery toggle switch on the tailight mount. No one could ever determine what on earth it did, so we assumed that it was Italian law that each motorcycle had to have a toggle switch somewhere. 

ShinKo tires are probably very good for a "sports-touring" app. I think they would go away on a track day - but that is not their purpose. The universal joint? Virtually every American and most European cars with U-joints left them open. Better to shed any heat buildup, easier to clean and to maintain. A leather cover would be really cool - covering only the fixed (silver) part. Underseat looks very good - not messed with. Funny that my '04 Ballabio has no chin pad on the tank, so they painted a faux chin pad on. Now that's Italian!  

[Lucky Phil]

Yes the exposed shaft is standard, the alternator light should go out as soon as the engine starts, no idea what the three way toggle is as its not standard, the left front indicator mount looks damaged, the seat cowling needs some large headed chrome attachment screws and the canisters under the seat need to go.

A few little items to keep you amused. I'd look into the alternator light and the three way switch first. Check the battery and alternator connections as a start to basic troubleshooting.

To lock the steering on my bike you need to push on the key, release and then it will turn to the locked position while you hold the steering a little off the steering stop. If you push and hold the key down it wont turn to the lock position or if the steering is all the way on the stop it wont lock either. all my other bikes you pushed the key down and held it down to go to the locked position but not the Guzzi it appears. 

Also check the toggle switch isnt wired into the regulator sensing system Some people replace the std reg with a unit that bypasses the ignition switch which works fine except it drains the battery after sitting for long periods. Maybe they wired a switch in the system or an anti theft device?    

There's plenty of help here if you need it.

Ciao 

[po18guy]

All great ideas. Perhaps attach a voltmeter/multimeter to the battery and note the voltage when the light is on and see if it changes when the light goes off. It "may" point to a rectifier problem. The toggle? The bike may have had aux fog lights or??? added and the toggle would control them.

Oh, and the rattle with clutch in? That helped me figure out why I like Ducatis: with their 90º exhaust cadence and rattly dry clutch, they remind me of a Guzzi!

[Kane]

Since i’ve been riding it I like the clutch rattle, too! It sounds like a serious performance machine. The whole sonic package is great! Shake , rattle and roll!