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My wife did manage to fill a suitcase as big as your steamer trunk case, and get it aboard the P&O Britannia on a recent cruise, but that was a 150,000 ton cruise ship, so about the size of a Harley bagger, but probably with a better turning circle

They don't call it 'a spare tire' for nothing lol

Excellent. I won't let V11 know I'm getting grinder out

Lol, brilliant. I should be able to squeeze into a 17 inch tyre despite excessive pie consumption

Not today but yesterday... Took the bike to work at one of our suburban branches again to help out..... Uneventful drone down the freeway on the way in but about 11am the bloody rain starts, then it clears then it's on and off rest of the day and cold and windy too! So the best laid plans of a run thru the fun stretch from Lang Lang to Drouin out of the question at knock off time ( 2.30pm ) and back to the Freeway it is! Wet/ windy/roadworks everywhere/ very heavy traffic/lane splitting to get away and just when I get to clear open road, the heavens decide to really let rip.... Of course being the eternal optimist regarding the weather I only put my wet weather leggings on ( I hate getting togged up in them as takes ages ) and of course I've got dry legs and feet BUT just as the water threatens to get into my leather jacket it stops and I dry out in the cold wind jeez even my glasses have stopped fogging up and I have clear vision again! Ha ha I couldn't care I'm bloody well enjoying it eh... Bike's running great and although the roads are drenched the bikes handling is just planted and secure hell I'm even warm and it's just one of those days where it should be CRAP... but it's not. As I approach my wee town the weather looks like it's got one more surprise for me and the rain gets harder again, you bastard I thought here we go a soaking in the last 2 kays from home. Ha ha whoever the weather god is he/she was on duty in Drouin yesterday arvo and it held till I got home.I would've been home 10 minutes and down she came BIG TIME. After I peel myself outa my riding gear have a nice hot shower and tea ( Dinner ) I retire to the lounge with a cuppa and stand by the fire looking out the floor to ceiling windows at the wild weather and chuckle to myself...ha ha this time I won! There's a certain pleasure in cheating the elements eh.. Cheers Guzzler

Looking good P6x! 400 miles in this heat is killer…I’m using a camelback filled with ice and water or ice tea at each gas stop to stay hydrated…drinking 6-8 liters during the day as I ride. I’ll post another one today as well from Terrell…British Pilot training Museum and another pic also of a fantastic station named Kim’s just north of Palestine with great gas, amazing coffee and sandwiches and a patio area…perfect setup. Today’s average was 44.3 mpg on the Norge over 275 miles. With this I added 8 stops over the last 5 days, up to a total of 11 now…hoping for some cooler weekends to bag the ones near Houston and Galveston. A nice 5 days of riding total of 1400 miles from Texas to Kansas and back. A bientot!

I’ve taken the body work off, I’ve taken the body work off, had it resprayed & clear coated, plus sourced a new Le Mans logo, but that was a gloss finish, a professional paint shop should be able to handle refinishing the matte finish That’s one heck of a steamer trunk, should be good for at least a 2 week Caribbean cruise

I’ve got a Ventura rack on my MT01, but I’ve never attached such a huge bag, I just bungee small soft luggage to the rack

Thanks for that @80CX100! Apparently, I had forgotten about this fitment. Peering in with a bright light, I can see the outside corners of the bracket at the front are radiused. Seems you have your answer, @cash1000 !

My V11 is a 2003, I had to grind off the front and outside corners to keep the bracket from fouling on the frame rails on my bike. I found it a finigly pita job working blind and upside down to lower the battery bracket, but it's so crowded in that area, I'm extremely glad I persevered and got it done Picking up the Odyssey L adapter brackets will be an added bonus for making connections easier to manage as well. fwiw good luck

It's not easy to measure the solenoid current you'll just have to trust me. I discovered that the solenoid has two coils one day when I was playing around with the 2001 VII Sport I had at the time. I put my meter on Ohms and measured the resistance from the solenoid spade to chassis, I was surprised to find less than 1 Ohm. That particular model VII has a direct feed to the start solenoid from the battery so it never suffered from Startus Interuptus, it would always crank. I did some further testing and found that the two coils measure 1.25 Ohms and 0.25 Ohms and will draw up to 60 Amps for a split second (you can calculate the current by simple Ohms Law 12 Volts / 1.25 Ohms = 9.6 Amps 12 Volts / 0.25 Ohms = 48 Amps for a total of 57.6 Amps (substitute a slightly higher Voltage and it 's well over 60) All Guzzis with electric starters have this double coil but if you look at any Guzzi schematic you will only see one, ask yourself could that be the reason the factory has never cured Startus Interuptus? If you look closely at the spade connector on the solenoid you should be able to see the two coil ends soldered to the terminal. I have pulled a solenoid apart and found each coil has around 300 turns of wire the reason there is such a difference in resistance, the lower resistance 0.25 Ohm uses a heavier gauge wire and it's wound on first so the wire is much shorter whereas the 1.25 Ohm coil is lighter gauge and the wire is much longer as its wound over the top. This heavy current only occurs if there is no resistance in series and it drops to just the 1.25 Ohm coil (~10 Amps) as soon as the solenoid contact closes 10 - 20 milliseconds after the start relay closes. On most bikes you will barely get 30 Amps through the ignition switch and spaghetti wiring so of course the solenoid is only pulling at half strength and waiting to fail. My apologies to Tesla, I will revert to something I learnt as an apprentice back in the 1970s The magnetic strength of an electrical coil is the product of the number of wire turns and the current flow expressed in Ampere-turns a unit not used very often these days . The 1.25 Ohm coil which I call the holding coil (because that's what it does) has 300 turns x 9.6 Amps = 2,880 Ampere Turns, that sounds like a lot until you calculate the other coil 300 x 48 = 14,400 Ampere Turns, so it's obviously doing the Lions share of the work, I call it the grunt coil because it does all its work in a split second, funny that the factory don't acknowledge this coil in their schematics. I'm sure some of you have had trouble with the 15 Amp fuse blowing, this happens as the resistance builds up so now the Grunt coil can't quite get the solenoid to move, it sits there drawing about 25 Amps for several seconds until the fuse pops. Why do the factory supply a 15 Amp fuse? my theory is they measure the solenoid current with a meter ~ 10 Amps, so a 15 would be appropriate, they completely miss the heavy current drawn by the Grunt coil because it happens so fast 15 - 30 milliseconds, too fast for the meter to catch. You can actually measure this peak current by disconnecting the main feed to the solenoid contact, then the high current will be there as long as the relay is closed. You probably think its just a simple circuit, the solenoid just pulls the starter in while the button is pressed but there's something interesting going on when you take your finger off the button, you no longer have power on the solenoid spade but the coils are still powered up via the closed main contact, now the coils are connected in series, current feeds back through the Grunt coil from the motor terminal to the spade terminal and so to the Holding coil to chassis. The thing is because its going backward through the Grunt coil and forward through the Holding coil and they both have 300 turns the fields cancel each other out so the solenoid lets go.

I've only owned the bike for a short time but I think the Rosso Mandello is gorgeous version of the V11. Ventura recommends facing the bag forward for weight distribution and aerodynamics. Clearly it looks like I need to order a smaller EVO bag, but I like the fact that the mounting system design lets you see the bike when used. I don't plan on using a tank bag for the same reason. I sport toured back in the day on a brand new silver 2001 V11 Sport with Techno bags and large tank bag, in a new season I guess.

New Pirelli rear arrived to fit to my silver Sport the problem is how do I transport this tyre on the bike to the fitting shop, a journey of around 12 miles. I have no “steamer trunk” sized luggage system ! Don’t really want to bungee the tyre to the pillion seat either. Maybe devise some way of carrying it on my back ? Any ideas?

@PJPR01 I am like a Camel. I don't really suffer from the heat. What gets me the most is the wind buffeting depending on my orientation with regards to its blowing direction. However, I had to make a concession to safety; I am riding without my airbag. Buc-ee's jacked up the ethanol free gasoline 1 buc! the morning was 4.999; when I stopped at Katy on the way back, it was 5.999. I ran out of phone battery during the trip, and found out the hard way it is not easy to find Ethanol free gas randomly. I am planning to do 24, 29, 38 next. I wanted to do 12 and 13, but I have been told CBP officials have been scrubbing, borderline harassing people coming back from Big Bend, because of the proximity with Mexico. There is apparently a check point when you come back from the park.

I had the same weird problem you had.... It was this ^^^^

Yeah, you've gotta love this forum. It is *the* knowledge base for the V11S. Thanks, Jaap, and Docc..

Two stops accomplished today; #7 and #41 Creedmore and Cuero Tx. Temperature around 96 degF! about 400 miles today. I got lost and went to Austin before turning back on I-35. My total is 9/50. @docc For some reason, Ethanol Free gas at Buc-ee's Bastrop is 90 Octanes... The 48.8 mpg is done keeping under 4000 rpm. The 37.7 mpg was strictly 4500/5000 rpm. There is a big difference as soon as you go above 4k rpm.

Sounding like the "bullet" connectors for the clutch safety switch that are on the forward, left side of the spine frame under the tank. Unless someone has disabled that safety switch, there will be no start (no click, no groan, no nothing) unless the clutch is disengaged (lever held in) to start. With the bike in neutral, sidestand down,turn the Run Switch on, hold the clutch lever in and thumb the starter button. If no start, repeat with stand up. If still no start, keep the lever in and button held down while rotating the handlebars lock to lock. If it pulls in the starter, the problem is the nefarious bullet connectors . . .

Bike in gear or neutral? Neutral light lit? Holding the clutch lever in every time? Run switch definitely on?

V nice Mandello, nice CF fender. Racks and moonreaching luggage, sorry not for me. Turbulence can be nasty. Cheers Tom.

"Flashback" . . . .

Hello Van, After 10 years, I just re-purchased my old V11 Tenni number #167. it’s back with me in Guildford Surrey, United Kingdom, after a lucky email to its previous owner. could you please add me to the . thank you Neil

Here is a pic of my 2004 Naked that is bone stock, save the more user friendly battery terminal adapters I added, showing 4 and 4 leads off the terminals, FWIW. Don't ask me what they all are!