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The 90º V is in essence a two-cylinder slice off of a V8 and so has a similar sound. I/ suppose that one could think of a V8 as four V-twins firing 90º apart from each other. The 270º interval between firing impulses is the same: Guzzi, Ducati, Aprilia Shiver/Mana, Suzuki TL-R/SV, Honda RC51, and any paired cylinders of a 90º V8 which share a crankpin. Of note here is that Ferrari and other "flat-crank" V8s sound rather like a four cylinder, as they are essentially two four cylinder engines connected at the crank - i.e. on either bank, they have two up and two down pistons in the traditional inline 4 fashion. The Yamaha TRX850 and now the RE 650, Aprilia 660 and a few others have cross plane 270º cranks, so their exhausts sound just like Guzzi, Ducati, etc. An exception in the inline 4 world is the cross plane YZF-R1 which sounds more V8-like. An interesting development in the Guzzi V8 is that the early version had the normal V8 cross plane crank and at least one of the final versions had a flat crank. Some have opined that our love of the "V" sound comes from the "firing interval" of the two chambers of the human heart. Might be something very primal in that. I do know that one is experiencing a cardiac event if the heart goes potato potato potato...

better picture....

It was missing some parts and the whole vibe was wrong. Guy wanted “restored” money and it was not in running condition. It was a nice ride.... but ultimately a waste of my time and money.

When this lockdown thing ends and life gets back to normal I'm going to see the guy around the corner thats a retired sheet metal craftsman that used to specialise in remaking and repairing bodywork for exotic cars and classic restorations. I'm going to ask him to teach me this art form if he will. I thought a good thing to learn on would be a V11 sport alloy tank. I'd like to actually make all the formers and bucks so I could make quite a few.....dreams,dreams. Ciao

At its genesis, the issue is government forcing the sale of gasoline that is detrimental to the entire fuel system of cars, truck, motorcycles, lawn mowers, weedeaters et al. Cleaner air is one thing. Add up the cost of the millions of cars, trucks etc. whose fuel systems have been damaged (thus emitting excess pollutants) then dismantled for repair, releasing gasoline fumes into the atmosphere. And the required chemicals necessary to clean the components and surrounding framework, etc. Those chemicals contribute to pollution. Then consider the mutiplicity of factories worldwide emitting smog into the air to make replacement parts and the chemicals to clean them. Intent versus impact should direct legislation. But it does not.

Nylon is to plastic what apple is to fruit. So, yeah... it is specific type of plastic. __Jason

A few years ago, I was riding the Mighty Scura through the "snake" on Mulholland in SoCal. I pulled in to the overlook on the top, and a guy came over to me. He said, "I'm pretty good at telling what is coming from the sound. I would have sworn that was a V8." While we were shooting the breeze, he called out the next three correctly..

Well that is just my experience..maybe someone else has had a different one..I got the tanks pretty damn hot in the sunroom and with the hair dryer..you could hardly touch them..and they seemed to hold up fine..another tip I've learned is if you have a few little bubbles in your paint you can carefully heat them up with a hair dryer or a heat gun on low, then take a needle and puncture them a time or two and press the gasses/air out with your thumb and carefully massage them a bit and they will usually lay right down..you can hardly see the needle hole and its sure better than a bubble..I did 2 different Aprilia tanks that were swollen and had mutiple small bubbles and after I dried them out I put a coat of Caswells inside ... that was 7-8 years ago and I see both the bikes around today and the bubbles still haven't returned.

Sounds like a few women I knew in my younger days...:-)

Hey all, remember girls?

Hi guys, I run a store that specializes in a type of motorcycle that uses a plastic Acerbis tank and have the honor of owning other models with plastic tanks as well. After looking at the causes of deformation the only solution to the problem was to avoid gasoline with ethanol like the plague. Specially for storage or if you do not use your motorcycle often. The stuff is really harmful to the shape of plastic and wether it is because of the alcohol content in it or not, it really damages the tanks. I have a Ducati that was the cause of a lawsuit vs. Ducati and led to a recall and the free replacement of a tank. They replace it with a plastic tank by the way - Subsequent models incorporated a metal tank for the US market. By the way, the majority of countries out there do not use Ethanol, its predominant in the US. A Solution? : Metal tanks for the US market?

Its been well recognised for years that the issue with the tanks swelling isn't the Ethanol but the additional water content held in suspension it attracts. This isn't a mystery that needs to be raked over again. If you run non Ethanol fuel you never have an issue. No ethanol, no significant water content in the fuel and no swelling problems. Ciao

Plastic contains chemicals which, by class, are known as plasticizers. They lend the flexibility and resilience to the base material. With heat and time, these plasticizers migrate out, through oxidation, heat cycles, sunlight (UV) or exosure to other chemicals and solvents. Thus old plastic of virtually all types becomes brittle. It usually shrinks, as its component parts leech out. But Guzzi tanks expand. That is from the chemical content of the gasoline which they store. Ever clean rubber parts with alcohol? Some types will blow up like a balloon. Add that alcohol to gasoline and you get the same result.

It's the fuel. Non of my bikes are run on Ethanol fuel and non have tank swelling issues. Ciao

I was going to ictroduce these in the proper forum area but a few folks have asked here in the classified ad for the TT, so..... As I chase down rabbit holes to solve issues with low production number bikes I find that the market simply doesn't meet my "needs", so I started designing some of my own parts to accomplish what I needed or wanted. some simple in though, some more complex, and this is all in my spare time. A very common cmplaint on these V11 variants is the lack of support with bar end mirrors due to the way the bar end weights are designed to thread in, so I worked out a design with a new machinist, which added to the complexity but was a necessary eil since I had recently retired form the USAF and moved back to the midwest. These are designed for a very specific Rizoma mirror that I wanted on my bike, these are big bikes with lots of shape and need a mirror that works with the bike and compliments the lines of the bike and that FUNCTION! I found all of this while riding a buddies Ducati Monster that had these mirrors, and knew I had found my mirror of choice but they wouldn't fit the bike... I have been down this road far too many times with mods to my tube-frame Buells. The bar ends needed to fit and function like the OEM design, and needed to be heavy, but needed to fit the Rizoma ID mirror mount. and for added bonus, I had a channel for an o-ring cut that put a slight pressure bump against the inside of the mirror mount so that they were a slight pressure slip fit, in this manner they would stay put as you got them into perfect position, anyone thats messed with bar end mirrors knows its a bit of "fiddelsome" thing to find the right position holding with one hand, tightening with the other and then holding postion while you actually get into how you sit on the bike to ride.... I did have a few extra sets made to make available here, but with new kids I just havnt gotten around to it. I had two different types made to account for early model and late model (2002 year break) as there were thread pitch differences between the early model and late model year groups... they are made from heavy steel, I do not remember what grade as they needed to function like the OEM to balance out the vibrations, then iridite coated (if memory serves me correctly...) to protect them like the OEM bar end weights. early up to 2001 were single piece weights and bar ends, 2002 and later had like 7 pieces that made up the bar end weight and the bar end. these are one piece (well two if you count the o-ring).... and are correctly thread pitched to match early or late model design thread pitch. I do have sets left........

I did an Ohlins modification to a Griso front end but ended up using Sachs forks off an RSV4 with Matris internals on mine. Also have a Matris shock on the back. The bloke I sold the Ohlins too is very happy I believe. Having said that the stock Showas are a spectacularly good fork. They are just terribly sprung and valved on the Griso! There are a host of decent rear shocks around. Order one 20mm longer eye to eye.

Came across this thing advertised. You all know my views on this type of bike so I wont bore you with my views again. What if find hilarious is the studio shots in the DARK. Exactly what you need when considering a $45,000 purchase, lol. It gives the impression that there's not much to see and what there is we better try and hide. https://gtmotocycles.com/collections/builds Ciao

I'll be the devil's advocate here. I've seen Todd's stuff, and it is first rate. Would I be a buyer? No. Make that Hell no. There are many in SoCal that the price of one of these is pocket change, though. I wish him the best.

Only one left, better get in quick

Fair enough, but Guzzi is the one paying Acerbis to make the tanks, they are spec'ing the tank. They are who we are buying the tank from, not Acerbis. If I buy a Ford and something on it is poorly made I don't blame the vendor who made that part, I blame Ford. Not sure why Ford came to mind in my off the cuff example...

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2003-ghezzi-brian-super-twin-folgore/ I HAD to share this one!!! VT4L

Tank on the 2000 I just picked up had been off the bike for several years. It had stretched by 1/4 of an inch. just trimmed a little of the rear of the rubber tank mounts pushed it forward a little. Jim at hamlin cycles recommended draining the tank totally dry over the winter and refilling with non-ethanol fuel, and said it would shrink back. Fits and works fine at the moment. Will see if there are any other issues that appear.

Whatever the reason the tanks expand, the real issue is (in my opinion) that Guzzi did not make a tank that was suitable for its job. They knew ahead of time what would be put into the tanks, and yet they did not spec a tank made to properly hold said fuel and everything it would likely include. Is it the end of the world? Not to me. I am used to having to finish building Guzzi motorcycles. Having to coat the inside of the fuel tank to make it capable of properly holding fuel is not that big a deal. Not to me. And I suspect many other Guzzi people feel the same way. I can, however, see how this could become a major shitstorm with other brands like Ducati. I can see those guys getting pretty upset that their uber expensive Italian exotic has a fuel tank that has issues if you put fuel in it.

Yeah I'd call it plastic. They're reasoning I'd guess was more about politics maybe. Ethanol in fuel, in the US at least, has been a hot potato for some time. The Italians maybe took the world view. ?

And that isn't plastic? It's just not a consistent material. And the fact they ran with it for years means they didnt give a crap about the gas. It was all about the quality that they didn't care about.

Sorry, it is a *surface* gauge. You can measure height with a height gauge. I have one out in the shop, but I'm too lazy to go out and take a picture. A surface gauge is not obsolete.. it is still as useful as it ever was.

Here's the solution Ciao

I had an expanded Ducati tank that I put out in our all glass " sun room" this summer..especially on those 100 deg plus days...it is unbearable hot.. I washed it with dish soap first then sat it on a stool for about 2 months during July August turning it over every day..I know it was way over 125 most days. On some days I even stuck a small hair dryer on low inside the fill hole and let it blow thru to the fuel pump hole for hours ( remember I thoroughly washed it with hot water and soap first and blew it out with the compressor) It came down nicely..it looks and fits great , like new now..I've done the same with 2 Aprilia tanks in past years. This time I also put a big sock filled with silica beads inside..not sure if it helped. I've done about 6 Ducati and Aprilia tanks over the years..some I left off and hung on the garage wall for 3-5 months after washing with dish soap...all shrunk down fine for me.

When planning for a tank-off on the V11, I run the fuel level as low as possible and prepare a place to set the tank (a saw horse works great to keep the pressure off the bottom of the tank which may spread it more). I have also found keeping the tank the same temperature while it is off has introduced less distortion. I have had consistent results with the ratchet strap, but compress gradually and gently. The various methods to reinstall are detailed here:

Yes the Mani fairing looks quite suit the V11. Personally I couldn't care less who the previous owner was as long as he looked after it. I wouldn't pay a premium for it thats for sure. Ciao

After I dried out my tank (just letting it sit for maybe a couple weeks with the cap open at room temperature) I've had issues with spooge exiting the overflow/tank vent lines. I've suspected that something changed with the internal lines that are "somewhat" coated in the tank's Nylon material. I say "somewhat" because I can see some big bulges along their lengths. Not sure what changed, but it didn't spooge like this before I dried it out.