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I had Mistral reverse cone megaphones on my bike for a while. Loved the look but hated the whistling sound on the over run. On the throttle they sounded fine but on the over run they sounded like some old Norton fitted with pee shooters. And I definitely dont want my Italian V twin sounding like an old pommie 360 deg parallel twin. Ciao

If you want to return them to the original brushed finish after a long time then its a lot of work with a Scotchbrite wheel of fine sanding flap wheel with the headers off. I started it once and although the finish I was getting was nice the time factor made me give up. Personally If if it was really important to me i'd pull them and take them to a metal finisher and they'd clean them up in ten minutes. They'll just end up the same way in a short time though. Be interested to know any easy solutions as well. Ciao

I run M4 carbon on one V11 and Mistral aluminum on the other. Sometimes I hate to admit it after dumping money on my M4s and then modding them but the Mistrals just sound better. And even with putting the sound aside Mistral's build quality is just superior. I have another set that came on my Lemans when I bought it which are probably as old as the bike. Besides some surface scratches they are still super solid after 18 years and 20k+ miles. For any Guzzi it's Mistrals all the way.

Plenty of other life tasks to do docc. I've been chipping away at stuff working out orientation of the injectors so they clear the airbox and the other stuff crammed into the under tank area. For some reason I thought i could orientate them any direction to suit the wiring for the connector plug......wrong. So after much trial and error taking into consideration wiring length, connector plug clearance, airbox clearance, ability to remove the airbox without interference from the injectors and their plugs I settled on positioning that requires extending the cabling for the l/h injector. What a PITA, I hate doing this as it ends up with wiring with ridged points and its tricky with the loom on the bike space wise. I've had the airbox on and off about a Gagillion times checking clearances for the above plus the lay of the wiring loom which has been disturbed and the fuel line from the tank to the pump. I hate this stupid line with its lack of flexibility, It makes tank removal a pain and messy but I cant think of a cure. I bought an inline check valve for it but its too short to use as the CV takes up about 50mm in the line. Pulling the tank on the V11 is such a PITA Id love the later tank but its no go for mine. As I've mentioned before its a whole nother ball game putting together a "special" as compared to a stocker, nothing seems to go together easy:) Fitted up the rear end so progress is happening. Ciao

Looking at some old images I keep thinking how worth the effort it was painting those side plates. I've also been spending time addressing a lot of cosmetic stuff thats accessible with everything apart. Here's what the side plates used to look like. Ciao

As long as thats the only thing that gets blown when I hit the start button for the first time Ciao

Here's an image from MG cycles. My Mistrals were these ones and my bike was then and still is running the Stucchi cross over. As I said I liked everything about them except the over run sound. Might be ok with the std cross over, didn't think of that, but I'd rather change mufflers than sacrifice the Stucchi cross over. Ciao

Tried Heidenau K60's, didn't like them. Very slippery in the wet, even though it doesn't happen often here. Haven't tried the Mitas, but they do look good. BTW, TKC70 and TKC80 are totally different tires. 70 for more street, 80 is a knobby. Were that my Stelvio, I'd go with TKC70's.

OooHH yeah.... scroll up to member Scud, and send a pm

Every great once in awhile I have fantasized owning an ideal special. Just buy the damn thing and be done with it. What would it be? Long ago I once thought a Kenny Dreer Commando, then it fell to a Duc Paul Smart. Now me thinks it's this bike. I'm preparing myself for a blown mind when this is machine is finished.

Rather, I like to think that Ducs sound like slightly tinny Guzzis. Here's vote for Staintunes, as they came with the bike but have a really low and mellow sound, even if a bit on the loud side when you wick it. The dB killers kill more than just decibels though, so they are in the box. Staintunes are spendy and the company is on the block, but all else being equal, I should never have to replace them.

Could it of been from them being cones? You running the stock crossover? Mine literally sounds like a beefier Duc.

Not sure about cones Phil (thought that's what ice-cream came in ..? ) but +1 what Rox said about build quality of the Mistrals - mine have held up really well over the years.

Hi swooshdave ... just had an interesting (off-forum) discussion with a prospective buyer for my bike - which included questions regarding stock (alu LaFranconi's) vs the round ss Mistrals like yours (as currently fitted) amongst other things. I fitted the Mistrals a few years ago now (2002?) and so memory always factors in - but recall noticeable differences vs stock nevertheless. Stock cans certainly heavier - and with a much lower / deeper bass sound (which I actually liked) as I recall. I also think they suit the bike better visually than the smaller diameter Mistrals. Mistrals certainly elevated the dB factor / pitch - and in conjunction with an appropriate map in the PC3 resulted in (what felt like) better performance. I have no dyno evidence myself - but seem to recall reading somewhere of a few hp increase, but slight decrease in torque ..? Anyway - the main reason for adding to your thread (since I have all this stuff out) is with regard to the maps (not sure if you got an answer to that question?) : My current config then is drilled air-box / K&N filter with snorkels removed (music from the intake side also!) stock crossover and Mistral cans with a mapped PC3 ... Stock map was "706.001" which was then changed to "706.002" followed by "V11-TomH.map" installed in 2003 ... was using an (already) old lap-top at the time - so still have that on, yes - a floppy disc! Hope this helps, or at least adds to the discussion (not the floppy disc part) ..? Gio Edit - that would be one of the newer-fangled 3.5" (non-floppy) floppies btw ... as no, I'm not that old, yet ...

A two week gap in posting progress either means L'Phil is on holiday in Tahiti or we about to see a quantum leap of the "V11 Daytona Project" . . .

welcome bobby2vr.... on the bright side we are quite unique.

That's sadly for true.

And loud wives shatter lives!!