Cobra23

Lost the vision in my right eye, deciding to slow down and buy a cruiser. The bike has 16,000 miles, and a Corbin seat. I just traded a very nice custom built bike for this, now I have this eye problem. New battery Fork just serviced New tires $4600 PM if interested. http://reno.craigslist.org/mcy/5745906059.html

There is a blockage behind my optic nerve opening it has restricted the flow of blood to my eye. Central Retinal Artery Occlusion (CRAO)Central retinal artery occlusion usually occurs with sudden, profound, but painless vision loss in one eye. Most people with CRAO can barely count fingers in front of their face or see light from the affected eye. Do you have vision in your detached retina eye? If not do you still ride?

Its covered, but thanks to higher insurance rates (Obama care) I now have a 5000 deductible. The bills have not started coming in yet. The Co-pays alone are up to about 800.

Hello again. I posted earlier, I have an 04 Cafe Sport. Unfortunately I have lost nearly all of the sight in my right eye. The bills for the treatment will be large. If anyone is interested in purchasing mine I would be willing to talk. It has 19k miles on it and is near perfect.

Well then.... I cant seem to get a reasonable sized photo inserted.

Here is a good photo of it.

And now this one is mine !! I love it ! just traded a very nice custom bike for it. It lives in Northern Nevada. Its almost time to begin wearing out my new Guzzi V11 Cafe Sport. When I got the bike from MAR, he said it was rare. I just really like Guzzi's and kind of nodded ok its rare. This winter I have been reading as much as I can find about the bike, and now I discover it is really really rare. Just how many are in the States?

Bike went in to the shop to get the forks serviced and new tires front and rear. One of the front brake rotors seems to be warped, what other bikes use this same rotor? Seems really hard to find rotors of decent quality for it, and I am certain perhaps Ducati uses same rotor on one of its models.

uuuuuuuuuhhh OH NO !!

That is a bunch of good information. I will need a couple weeks to study all this.

This is the bike I built, then traded for the Guzzi: http://kzrider.com/forum/11-projects/274097-1975-kz-900-zrx-swingarm-89-gsxr-front-end

I have the twinmax. This sounds like a good winter project... still a little spooked by the ECU business, I have done carb sync, and many many vale adjustments, but never got into the weird science of ECU's. Where can i find the Guzzidiag? Guzzi people are so cool, I called an outfit to buy some exhaust gaskets, the cross pipe is loose and rattling. I spent 30 minutes on the phone with the parts guy, he was very knowledgeable. He finally says "have you tried tightening the clamps on the midpipe?" I says Nope. So he says well try that first. Wow a Jap bike parts guy would have been glad to sell me an entire exhaust system to fix the problem. I came home and checked the clamps... yup they were loose. Problem solved !

Got the battery in, and checked the charging system, everything looks good. I also checked the ground wire that is near the seat lock, the previous owner had already moved it to the transmission bolt. When you cold start it what is the best technique. My Ducati is also a giant twin (996) it turns over quite a few times before firing when it has been sitting for a week. The Guzzi seems to take a little longer to fire.When I picked it up the previous owner said to let it crank until it fires as I was hitting the starter two or three times. So ! Do I just hold the starter button in until it fires? Seems like that would heat up the starter motor. he Altitude here is 4500 ft. I can't figure out if it really needs the cold start or not (choke / high idle lever ).

Thank you !! I will be putting the battery in today.

Next question for the Guzzi Phd's: Why are the positive and negative terminals on the V11 battery pointed forward, and down. In other words the battery "top" is lower than the battery bottom, as the battery is titled in its tray. The Ducati has same arrangement, tilted at about 25 degrees from horizontal, but the lid or top of the battery is higher than the bottom. This make me queasy, its a gel battery, but seems like under less than normal situation the battery may oose something out of the lid if its pointed downhill. I have spent two nights just looking for a factory photo, and have been unable to verify if this is the correct position or not. It seems like the positive and negative leads of the battery should be oriented to the rear so they are up. I would really appreciate a photo of the stock orientation. Maybe it is supposed to be upside down, or perhaps a previous owner installed this battery upsidee down.

New Guzzi Owner

Well I am reading and learning as fast as I can. The battery is also weak, so this week it gets a new battery and a set of tires. I am not even going to ask about tires, they are like oil, everybody has there favorite, I have mine. I do believe that 60 weight would make the bike sluggish to turn over when its cooler outside, so I will be switching to a lighter oil. I use Motul in the Ducati..so the Guzzi gets Motul. WHY? ... well it is expensive and its green color is cool. Yup I'm all about the color.... its gotta be a cool color ! Tires, will be Michelin Pilot Power 2ct..why? same tires as my Ducati = same "feel". You guys are entertaining for sure. I got the bike plated Monday. New tires are a thing for me, as I don't like riding on tires I don't have confidence in. Hope to get a ride in soon, and Tioga pass is not far from here. I just don't get tired of looking at the bike, can't wait to log some 600 mile days in on it. The Odyssey PC545 seems to be the popular battery choice. http://www.batterymart.com/p-odyssey-pc545-battery.html?Category_Code=moto-guzzi-v11-lemans-sport-battery

The redline oil makes sense. All of this advice makes sense. I think I am leaving just a snippet of pressure on the lever between down shifts, I get impatient. The 60 weight oil, has one drawback, the motor seems to turn very slow when its cold, and you are cranking it over with the electric starter. 15-40 synthetic it is. Much reading to do. On the Ducati I own, the ECU must be synced to the throttle bodies once you have balanced them. Would it be correct to assume you can mechanically balance the throttle bodies, and move forward without plugging a tablet into the brain?

You guys are AWESOME. I suspected tranny (oops I mean "transmission") needed some spinning between shifts, but have not tried it yet. I will be storing the bike this winter, and riding this spring ALOT! While its in the garage I want to explore everything. The description of the shifting linkage adjustment is priceless. The previous owner says all Guzzi owners that know their stuff use 10w-60 motor oil... wow. This is correct?

Hello, I just traded a very nice hand built KZ 900 for a V-11 Cafe Sport, 2004 model. I used the KZ rider forum for many years and found the other builders to be quite helpful. http://www.kzrider.com/forum/11-projects/274097-1975-kz-900-zrx-swingarm-89-gsxr-front-end I am hoping the same is true here. Since about 1985 I have wanted a Guzzi, this chance came up so I took it. Both the new owner of the KZ and I are very happy. Now.. I came upon this forum during a search for technical info on the V-11. I am fairly mechanical, and own a Ducati Monster S4R as well. There are many questions I have about the Guzzi, For instance I have been reading about the shifter return spring problem for two days, stumbled upon the VIN #'s of the bikes affected, and it looks like mine has the correct spring/boss combination based on its VIN #. I have noticed that I cannot drop two or three gears in a row while entering a corner, and suspect this is due to the transmission design, perhaps all guzzi's do this it still makes me a little nervous. The Ducati will practically go all the way down to first from sixth when braking to enter a turn, as long as you are blipping the throttle. Aside from that, I have have not noticed anything strange about the bike. Rode 350 miles through the Sierras last weekend, following a KTM 1190. The bike handles very well for its size. I love it !! Now help me get mechanically familiar with the bike. Are there good sources for a shop manual? Is the down shifting normal? Can you recommend a good dealer service provider in Nevada? Or perhaps Northern California? I plan on having the bike serviced by a dealer in the spring to make sure its all set for some very long rides next summer.

And now this one is mine !! I love it ! just traded a very nice custom bike for it. It lives in Northern Nevada.