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+1 on the kill switch. It's possible that a marginal relay resets with a very short cool-down, but I would not expect that to be consistent every time, or in how long it takes to cool. But rolling the throttle or hammering the throttle to the pin might hold the clue, that you have a weak kill switch, or possibly a pinched wire grounding to the handlebar. I think it's to be fingered in person, and an inspection with cleaning warranted.

Ha... 17 year old thread has awakened. These things are like cicadas.

First of all, I don't have any direct experience with the California models. Nevertheless.. I'm active in a German Guzzi forum, and read nearly everything that gets posted there. More than once, I've seen the Cali EV described as the best of them all. It is "the pinnacle" of a long line of constant developement over several decades, if you like. The motor got spruced up a bit more for the Sport 1100 and V11 models, and the CARC models were, to an extent, the start of a new chapter. The Tonti frame means that, even though it is a chopper, it has the same genes as all of those legendary sport models like the V7 Sport and the first round of Le Mans models. It is allegedly a chopper that can really go round corners, unlike most other "cruiser" brands. My impression is that it should be a little lighter on the maintenance side of things than the CARC models, but I don't think there is much in it. As far as I can tell, reliability should be good if the maintenance has all been done. You might have a few issues initially with aged rubber bits if it has been sitting around for a while, but then again, you might get lucky. That's the same for any older vehicle that has not been used much for a few years. If you think California Dreaming is the way to go for you, I'd say "go for it". The California riders in the German forum all absolutely love them.

I think that those relays are barely up to the job, and should be regarded as consumables. I fit new ones at the same time as spark plugs, and I make sure to throw the old ones out, not keep them as spares. Then I put a set of new spares in the monkey paw trap behind the seat. For a lazy person like me, it's much quicker to change a set of relays than troubleshoot a fault.

I still think you will need to repair the kill switch . Since you have stated toggling the kill switch has helped you to restart , I think you will need to clean / repair the contacts in the switch . Kiwi_Roy has (somewhere on this site) a simplified diagram of this circuit . He has at least three diagrams on this site showing 1 Test Point Layout , Simplified Wiring Diagram , Starting Circuit and I am sure there are more . After you look at these and study them , you will be stunned at his knowledge and ability to put this in block diagram w/footnotes ! I printed these off a long time ago so you will need to find them here or I can take pics and e-mail . I did not go over audiomick"s diagram fully to make sure it is absolutely correct and in order . I am certain it should be. These relays and circuits all interlock so you need to understand what is going on . Last year my ExMark mower died and I worked on that through the winter looking at a factory wiring diagram to find out it was the PTO switch not allowing it to crank . I do not have many good traits . Tenacious is one of them . IDK if it is a good point or a bad point ? I hate to tell you , you are never gonna appreciate this bike until you FULLY understand this bike !

hi everyone , Just to let you know that the starter i mentioned above works for the v11 le mans . Great price . See you

Let's ask the other inmates on the ward if this really crazy.

Your garage is obviously too big. Can't you cut a bit off it and send it to me?

I do have other V11s, such as this greenie

Mmmm . might as well say , yeah .

I think when the fuel pump went out my Greenie we found a replacement at NAPA for $80. Replacing relays, fusses, filter and pump should be a $100 or so. Don't forget tank suck.

I will have to think about this ......YOU DO NOT WANT TO GIVE UP THIS SOON !

I have seen more Tyco failures in V11 than any other relay. Worth getting a full set (5) of High Current 5-pin relays and see if "problem solved." https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/picker-components/PC782-1C-12S-R-X/12352866

1976 California T3, it had start growing on me, maybe in 10years . A bike looking that way,never caught my eyes before. No, for real must be a comfy bike exept for the cost on new boards some times. Pretty cruiser. Go for it, and let’s here what you think. Cheers Tom.

Thanks for your input. I am a bit intrigued with the idea of owning one, always have been.

Completely off topic, but "bridges": A bridge collapsed in Dresden about 4 weeks ago. Fortunately at about 3:00 in the morning, so no-one was hurt. It was this one https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/264360408 zoom out a bit, and you can see how critical it is to traffic in Dresden. It is (was) more or less the main bridge across the river close to the city centre. Here is what it looks like now The bit that collapsed carried a tram line and a bike path and pedestrian path. Alone the tram line will cause huge problems. And then... They will obviosly have to minutely examine the parallel span that carries the road traffic, and the river is blocked. The river is a major transport route for river-boat cargo. They're going to have problems for at least the next ten years. A new bridge doesn't just happen overnight. Getting back to the weather, same deal. Things that got destroyed in a few short hours can take years and decades to be restored.

What I saw was about 20 miles of disaster at the base of the mountains, so this should be the least impacted areas, they can drive 5-30 miles and be in an area not impacted at all. But the number of bridges that are shut down is scary. There was probably 1/4 mile of fresh asphalt put down just to open a road to a bridge that was still standing so people could cross the river. I saw farm equipment on it's side half buried in mud. Cleaning mud, trees and debris is the biggest cleanup item. I pretty sure up in the mountains roads are still covered in mud and trees, but untill the bridges are repaired/replaced, not going to be able to get equipment in to clear the roads, after roads, then power and water, then you can rebuild/repair homes. Then you can clean up all the trees and debris along the roads and rivers/streams. It is going to take them untill mid to late 2025 to open I-40 and I-26, so I'm thinking 3-5 years before the area is somewhat back to normal.

The trick is to keep the help going long enough. Short term water, food and shelter is really important, of course. Then there is the clean-up, and the re-build. The disaster goes on for months, even years, long after the TV news stop reporting on how tragic it all is.

"What I did" - Brushed the relay blades, coated them with Caig's DeoxIT. Cleaned the female terminals in the relay box with pipe cleaners and solvent, then the same with a pipe cleaner and DeoxIt. It not only neutralizes and removes corrosion, it leaves a thin protective layer.

When I rode home tonight everything worked perfectly. I can only assume that taking the relays out, putting back in a seating them took care of the corrosion that was on them. You can see the green corrosion in the photo above. I was kinda bummed I didn’t get to test @audiomick’s theory, but happyhave have things running properly. Thanks all!

"High Water Everywhere" . . .

Because I saw that someone (a guest) was looking at this thread just now: This gist of it is, a couple of members of this forum put rather a lot of effort into producing an alternative spring that looks like it should last pretty much forever. Jump to the later post to find out whether there are still some available.

I LIKE it! I ordered a couple sets of the relays recommended by Docc. I'll give this a shot tonight.

Without wanting to discount @docc 's reference to relay problems, after reading your update I would - Have a close look at the throttle grip (motor off, good light) and see if anything moves when you wrench open the throttle. - Whether yes or no, open the switch block (and the throttle grip) and have a good look at everything. Your discovery of the apparent connection with the kill switch makes me think that the throttle grip / switch block might be slightly loose, or something along those lines, and the "violent" movement is enough to break the contact, or perhaps cause a short, in the kill switch. Annoying for you, but a very interesting problem.

Took a ride down to Jonesborogh and Greenville today, I should have had a GoPro on, the worst hit area I saw was right around where 107 and 81 spit, there used to be a KOA camp ground right on the river. Half the land is gone and the building has a partial collapse. https://koa.com/campgrounds/jonesborough/site-type/rv-camping-sites/ I was on the far side river, Arnold Rd runs right along the river, 15ft off the river and 15ft above the river, there were root balls stuck 20ft up in a tree where it split. There was debris on both sides of the road, trees, building material, lots of coolers... The other side of the river was worse, land is gone, houses partially collapsed, maybe some houses gone. There is a farm on that side, tomatoes, some were gone, some covered in mud, some being picked today. Lots of churches and Fire Departments had donations for people, saw a few military vehicles out to help, lots of police and volunteers. Further down the road, you could not see the Nolichucky river, but there was what looked like a dry river bed about 10 times wider than the river itself. Once away from the Nolichucky, everything looked normal, very few trees down, people might had lost power for a while, also water, but no physical damage. There are more closed roads due to bridge issues, I had to take 107 all the way until it was closed, then take 350 south to get to Greenville. The pictures are from the Bridge near Greenville, TN. Look are the one picture close and you can see the hay bales in the debris, just for reference of how much is there. On the other side of the bridge was 50 trees right next to the river that had blow/washed over with the root balls still holding them in place.

Wrong place in Florida tonight could get you a Squid Tattoo . . . Such a Leonard Cohen vibe . . . . . . . so dark, mixed with too much real . . .

A little risky, but leaving the tank cap ajar and trying acceleration again (1/4 tank or less) might point to the cap vent being the problem. Some Japanese bikes use a rubber "duck bill" vent in the cap which hardens and becomes a seal, causing the same starvation problem. Might as well try the quick and dirty fix first.

Had a similar problem with my Rosso C. Went thru everything before I decided, fuel pressure need to be checked. Idling perfect, but not to much throttle = dying. Fuel pressure was low. A small plumberjob to check pressure. New pump, all good. Cheers Tom.

Finally, removed rear wheel ready for tyre change and UJ greasing etc. There's a patch of corrosion under the swing-arm forward box section, but it's pretty localised and difficult to see, so will apply some satin paint after treating the rust, rather than a full swing-arm out and powdercoat job. Same with the front subframe, that's just flaked a very small amount on the edges of the fastener bosses. The red paint on my old greenie frame fell off like leaves in Autumn, this seems much better. Wheel and rear diff bearings and splines all look ok, will obviously grease the non-sealed ones along with the UJs.