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Bellagio is probably the best 2 valve engine built but the 8V is without a doubt superior in every way apart from fuel economy and perhaps smoothness. Having said that the 1400 motors are ridiculously smooth! While it has been done putting the 8V into the quasi Tonti frame of the Bellagio would be a foolish move. In the same way that some people insist on bolting an old five speed onto the 8V and sticking it in a Tonti frame the simple fact is the frame isn't designed to handle the output of the motor. A decent Bellagio makes about 70RWHP, a V11 makes about 76. An 8V 1200, even with the stock factory mapping which is far too rich at the top end, makes 96 and with a decent map will make 'About 100' with a big boost in torque all the way through the rev range. Once rollerised all the 1200's are effectively the same motor and despite their differences in intake and exhaust designs can all be made to make the same figures or close to. Whether one prefers the Griso, Sport, Norge or Stelvio they are all much of a muchness in terms of performance. In my opinion the 1200 8V was the pinnacle of the engine's development. What machine it's in isn't really an issue. Others will probably choose to differ. I'm not going to argue. Oh, and Chris? Next time you're up take the Green Horror out for a flog. Gearing it down, even a tiny bit, has improved it even more IMO. Even with my gargantuan carcass on it I keep lofting the front wheel unintentionally pulling away from the lights! Not bad for something with the wheelbase of a supertanker with what resembles a hippopotamus riding it!

I installed my "starter relay" into the starter solenoid signal wire . The solenoid wire to terminal 86 . Ground wire to terminal 85 . B + from the starter solenoid battery terminal (battery cable) to 30 and then attach the start solenoid wire to the remaining wire on the starter solenoid and to terminal 87 . This takes ALL the current required to operate the solenoid and run it through the relay . Yes , this is a good cure and a good preventive measure . P.S. this has cured a lot of "no-start" conditions . If you want to test this to see if it is the problem , try to start your bike , if it does nothing , pull the wire off the solenoid and use a test light to see if the light comes on when you try the start button . If it lights up , get busy .

Hi Kiwi Roy, Thank-you for your reply. After a false start, I had the problem that you say. I then decided that your post dated Sept 8, 2019 was the one to go with (same as your option 2 above) as it was simpler and didn't require another relay. (We were under a high level of Covid lockdown at the time.) I had to cut open the wiring loom to retrieve enough of the wire that I had cut off start relay 30 - everything is placed very tightly with absolutely no slack! Anyway, I just successfully finished it yesterday. I haven't yet got to the issue of the headlight staying on during cranking. I think that will have to wait until I next have the rear shock reservoir and starter cover off. But now that I have your instructions I will know what to do. I removed the electrical half of the ignition switch as you say. As far as I can see, the only place you can take it apart any further is at the joint 1 cm up from the bottom, which requires pressing in a couple of tiny black tabs. I was not able to move these at all. It looks like, if I could do that, I could then remove the white plate that you mention by pressing in a couple of white tabs further up the barrel. You can't remove the white plate from the top of the barrel - the top and the sides are all one moulding. Are there variations in the switch, or am I missing something? In any case I am at least mobile again now, thanks to your and others' help on the forum. I have been putting this off for literally years, until it reached the stage that it wouldn't start at all, so I am very grateful for all your electrical know-how on this forum. My nearest Guzzi dealer is over 300 km away, and I wouldn't be at all confident handing it over to them anyway! Cheers. -Jim.

P/N GU01202830 #15 in the diagram.

The small triangular piece hanging down mid spine. I doubt stripping a complete bike to this level is the easiest way to install one myself. Ciao

Nope. It is a completely new design. Gone is any semblance of a familial construction with generational change. The only thing it has in common with the old powerplant is the fact it is a V twin, it's not even a 90* twin I don't think? It'll be running balance shafts or weights of some sort I'm pretty sure. The clutch no longer resides behind the crank and in front of the gearbox, the cylinders are cast into the upper crankcase so it no longer has barrels per se. It utilises double overhead cams and downdraft induction. The list of dis-similarities is almost endless, it bears no resemblance to any previous Guzzi twin. At the end of the day the fact that muppets and dingbats insisted, probably still do, on sticking Cali 1400 motors into Tonti frames with all of the inadequate transmission componentry right through to the back wheel and then throw carburettors on these pieces of munt and can get away with it clearly indicates a familial timeline. With the V100 that lineage is irrevocably severed. if you look at the Hi Cams, both 'Old' and 'New' you will see that the two to one reduction for the cam drive is achieved by simply repurposing what was the camshaft in early motors before running a 1 to 1 drive from the dummy shaft to the camshafts. Even the MGS-01 utilises a truncated version of this drive to allow for stroking of the crank, (And one assumes a minor weight saving?). What the V100 uses I'm not sure but it will either be a single chain to double tooth sprockets on the cams or a 1 to 1 chain to idler shaft with 1/2 speed gearing to the cams. Both systems completely different to anything previously used. Nope. The 'Big Block' as we knew it is gone. Get out your handkerchiefs and wave it off into the sunset of its well earned retirement. The V100 starts a brand new, but much shorter, chapter for Guzzi under the stewardship of Piaggio. I just hope the wait was worth it and the direction they are heading is worth going in.

Hi Jim, Unfortunately if you run a direct feed to the start relay of this bike it results in the lights coming On with the key off as you describe because 87A is alive with the key Off. Most other Guzzi models use a 4 pin start relay or leave the 5th pin un-used. There are a couple of ways around this 1) Restoring the original 30 feed from the ignition switch and adding an extra relay triggered by the existing trigger wire to the solenoid, this seems to be the way you are leaning at the moment. I would put that relay down by the starter and feed it's 30 contact with a 20 Amp fuse from the large solenoid hot terminal. The nice thing about this method is you don't really need to alter the original loom, the wimpy feed and tiny wires are perfectly adequate to supply the new relay coil. 2) Supply a direct feed to 30 (as you did) but clip the wire off the Start relay 87A contact and re-direct it to the wire you clipped off the Start relay 30 so now the ignition switch turns on the headlight relay directly (but now the headlight doesn't switch off while cranking). To get around this cut the ground off the Headlight relay coil and extend it down to the large terminal of the starter solenoid, not the live one but the one that goes to the starter motor. Now while the motor is cranking both coil terminals of the headlight relay are at 12 Volts so the relay drops out, when not cranking the relay coil is grounded through the starter motor. I'm not sure why you cannot get the ignition switch apart, First of all you only remove the two Phillips screws underneath the steering head to let just the contact block drop off leaving the lock in place. Tilt out the white contact plate by releasing the odd clip of the switch barrel. Drop off the battery Negative to make it safe or unplug it at the headstock. Putting it back, fasten the switch wires to the rear cover so the wires don't bend and snap where they are soldered to the switch plate. BTW A dirty ignition switch is often the prime reason for "Startus Interuptus", the Starter solenoid can draw up to 50 Amps for the split second while the gear is engaging, there are two coils in the solenoid not just the one the factory show, the Guzzi wiring and weak ignition switch chokes the solenoid through wimpy wiring to less than 30 Amps so it performs badly. With a direct feed the starter will engage 2-3 x faster.

I did do all the suggested adjustments given in https://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?/topic/21701-ecu-bin-maps/&do=findComment&comment=233775 The first thing I noticed was the engine would start and idle without needing to touch the throttle. No more waking the neighbors with a fistful of noise before the oil pressure got up. No sorry Docc, I meant to say the basic tuneup is excellent advice, but I used the Meinolf settings if different. Closed screws, 0.3mm clearances, 0.157TPS volts, idle stops used on both sides to balance & set idle speed.

Yes, I'm running Meinolf's v93, and I'm very happy with it. https://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?/topic/22024-meinolfs-v11-bin/&tab=comments#comment-253138 @dbarb3if you use the search function on this site you can find lots of information to help you.

Where I am coming from, we are partial on butter.... but I am not going to go further than that; Marlon Brando demonstrated it in the "Last Tango in Paris"....

There is a tendency for the transmission to crack at the mounting tabs on the early red frames.

Re-reading docc’s aria! post the side view pic presents another option which if it proved too fiddly & is aborted (patience is limited!) - would be easily rectified by proceeding with said easy option elbow hack. Maybe hacksaw a dozen parallel cuts around opening then splay out the intake ‘tags’ before remoulding with duct tape, fibreglass etc. The Guareschi’s et al., favour CAI extensions - so these parallel cuts would also allow for insertion of literally any size width of tubing or pipe extension one wishes to suitably shove up there before clamping or duct moulding in - suggest diameter bigger than Italians... Interestingly (scratching head), Guareschi’s ribbed intake openings really do appear smaller in internal total area than what Phil A ‘s post discussed the throttle bodies require. Where is their RR relocated making space for ribbed hoses? Side chutes - still small.

Opening my intake tubes up a bit held some interesting outcomes. I only got them about 1/2 as opened as PhilA. Yet, again, the sound they make now is so much more harmonious with the exhaust. I also found the tracts pinched down surprisingly, and unevenly from side-to-side, a couple inches inside where they go into that water trap area. Seemed to contribute to a better balance between the cylinders.

Just saying the V11 isn't going fast enough to benefit from more air. I do like the extra space with removing the snorkels. But when going she will get enough air from front. Wondering how fast or slow you have to go, before hot air from the engine will interfere ( ZX12R has proven a few extra ponnies after,, was it 250km or, with ram air. Test 304km ) Cheers Tom

You are a lucky guy, sunshine in Bergen AND a V11. When I picked up the bike in Bergen,, the gent told me they woud have another festival if they coud pass the old record with 110days of pissing rain. West coast a bit up, no thank you. Riding in that area involves 42 tunnels, H traffic and rain. About the kissing,,,, no kissing in the morning, and we all know olive oil makes things smoth Cheers Tom

Even if the narrative is in french, the models presented never really got old, even today!

probably because I can't have it ... but.. I want it

" What does the gearbox act like? The engine? The delivery of power? The braking, suspension? Any quirky/eccentric qualities of the machine? " > Yes. All of the above. < " Also, what compares to a V11, so I have a baseline? " One can only compare to his own baseline. Long ago, I learned to ask riders, "What was your last bike?" That will be your baseline. If you are lucky, and have really found what you are looking for in a motorcycle, the V11 SpineFrame is incomparable.

OK, cheers, thanks Tom. I have been lucky so far with no electrical troubles. I've had the bike since new for 98,000km (61,000miles), so can't complain! It lives in a dry garage, and I haven't ridden it in the rain very much, so I'm sure that has helped its reliability. I still love the bike (and this forum).

Phil: Yes, makes sense. While I was interviewing Dr. John one day, he talked about chasing harmonics in the airbox while they were developing it, but they ran out of time and money to solve the problem. Can you proveide measurements for proper placement of the holes? I've got a few airboxes laying about. I'll give it a try. And good luck on the 150-mph single.

Greg, can see there is a few here interested in this so I dug out some data gathered while developing the V10 inlets. Dont shoot me please the box is the same as the V11 The facts as I have them are these: All of these steps are independent of each other. If your remove the origional mufflers(snorkels) off the inlet and bell mouth the inlets to approx 35mm id you get approx 2hp between 4500 and8000rpm. If you remove the filter but leave the lid in place, you get approx 1.7hp. If you drill 3 one inch holes in the top rear of the air box lid (one in each corner an one 2'' forward in the center) and retain the air cleaner element you get approx 1.5 hp. If you remove the lid and leave the filter in place you get approx 3.5hp from 4300-5500rpm it increases steadily to approx 7hp at 6300 then tapers of to approx2 at 8000 or so. Once you totally remove the air box but retain the std bell mouths on the injector bodies the gains above 6300 do not taper off as above with the gain being approx 5hp at 8000 or so. Probably the most noticeable gain with this last set up is 4 or 5hp in the middle of the dip at 4000- 4800rpm. If you increase the bell-mouth id to approx 50mm and retain the holes in the rear you get 4.5hp all up. Once I had remapped the MY16M to match I have exactly the same power with the airbox (with origional filter) as with no airbox what so ever! A total gain of approx 7hp while running the stock filter. Probably the best gain was 9ft/lb at 2700rpm! with a 5ft/lb gain at 4300rpm. Hope this is of interest. Phil A. V10 sport. "All is not always as it seems"

To answer the thread title: yes! I have owned the V11 Le Mans Rosso Corsa before and already test rode the 1100 Griso in 2005 and was very impressed. But the 8V 1200 model is a completely different animal. It has so much torque and pulls so strong - something you will never experience with a 2 valve Guzzi.