BLIGHT

Good point...man, so sorry that happened to her! Crap! I have noticed a lot of wear on the tread center with the V11 than my other bikes... even some with way more hp! Probably some too due to deceleration on the center going into the corner, and then acceleration out on the straights. I hardly use the rear brake except for lightly trailing it into a corner to set the rear end on decel. I bet with all the engine compression braking on decel, there is a lotta raggity wear on the tire from the lumpy engine 'tugs'. BLIGHT

You may have already done this, but standard Guzzi set up is to run the absolute minimum of throttle cable slack. It helps control the throttle better and that removes some of the herky jerky behavior. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll take a look at it. One thing I read somewhere was that the V11 injection is shut down 100% on closed throttle for max engine braking and to virtually eliminate backfire/popping on decel. Once the revs reach about 1200 rpm or so, the idle speed injection rate kicks in about when you pull in the clutch to come to a stop. You can actually feel it if you try. Other bikes give you a little gas on decel.... like my VFR, it burbles and pops sometimes...where the Guzzi feels like you hit the kill switch. Like a Jake-Brake on a semi truck! It makes as much noise on decel (I used to hear it called 'back-rapp') as it does under half-throttle...cool. I had to put my db killers back into my canisters... a bit too loud! Anyway, this shut-down on closed throttle makes SMOOOTH slow-speed riding in and around that rpm range (i.e. stop & go) a little harder than on some of my other bikes. Just have to be deliberate with smooth clutch slip or disengagement, throttle application and chop, etc. I am in California, in a tourist area so traffic on 2 lane double-yellow stripe roads mean a fair amount of this type of riding. Passing on double yellow is necessary sometimes (like when you're behind a tractor) but I try to avoid it due to heavy fines if caught. They have been slowly getting rid of 'passing' lanes around here... they are all pretty much gone. Cheers, BLIGHT

Upon inspection, no discernible play or visible wear in the final spline drive to the rear wheel hub. Even the rubber cush-drives looked fine, no signs of visible deterioration in 16 yrs! So, it seems the combined driveline lash is between: 1) Lash between pinion and ring gear 2) Driveshaft u-joints and splined section in shaft 3) Three shafts in the (excellent) 6 speed transmission 4) Flex in the torque-rod rubbers between frame and final drive under accel & decel 5) Final splined drive to rear wheel Cush Drives IMO, the transmission shafts & gears account for majority of the play... not much can be done about that! You can carefully adjust your application of clutch, throttle, and shift timing to reduce the jerky-lunging effect if you are mindful of the overall slack, and it's a lot more enjoyable ride! I tried riding it that way last time out, and I could reduce the sensation considerably. Cheers, BLIGHT

Hey guys, well I drained the rear-drive oil today. Wasn't much of it from what I was expecting, but it looked clean and free of particulates, but it had under 2000 miles on it. Not sure what the previous owner used, but he was an older guy and was meticulous with this motorcycle maintenance. Anyway, I replaced the old gear oil with Lucas (my favorite) 75W-90 rear end oil, synthetic. I use it in all of my other shaft drive bikes and transmissions, and they all seem happy with no leaks, noises or poor shifting. Drained and refilled up to the level port where it started to dribble, and stopped fill, and screwed the side plug back in. Here are the specs on the gear oil I use in my Harley primary and trans, and other shaft drive rear ends: Cheers, BLIGHT

Thank God! The whole mechanical Guzzi system is designed to fail, from one end to the other! The electronic GPS Speedhut gauges are wonderful, and BTW, look especially cool at night! It's all digital, no whirring gears, cables or plastic speedo/odo gears to shear (in my case) and cost you $$ for eternity. There is a time to fix it once and for all, and you made the right decision with the SpeedHuts! BLIGHT

Speedhut GPS speedo... Simply the best. Get a matching tach too!

Hello Blight,My bike is exactly the same as your video. It is bad enough that riding slowly in first gear is uncomfortably jerky. All the backlash is between the output splines of the bevel box and the rear wheel. I thought the same as you, that the bevel box was failing, but no. You could check that backlash again with the rear wheel off to see if yours is the same.. See also https://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=20324 I tried installing the rear wheel after applying mould release spray and aluminised epoxy to the spline. After the epoxy cured, I greased the spline, refitted the wheel, and rode the bike. Much better, but a very temporary solution. It proved to me that the only fix is to replace the cush drive spline plate, and the crown wheel & pinion set. Expensive. Actually I bought a spline plate from Moto International (before they closed) and a 2nd hand low km bevel box from eBay Italy. How will I slow the spline from wearing again? Use a good layer of spline grease like Staburags NBU 30 PTM on it. I have already drilled the cush drive rubbers, and removed half the rubber pucks, to make the drive cushier. That is an idea from the Guzzi expert Greg Field, and I think it will prolong the life of all the splines from the clutch all the way back. Thanks for the input Marty! Much appreciated.... I just went out and checked the rotational 'slop' with the bike in 1st gear, and the rear wheel jacked clear of the ground. At the sidewall edge to the tread, It's about 2" of curvalinear rotation stop to stop. I have a feeling most of that play is in the transmission, especially with the third shaft in the V11. Only seems a fraction of that is in the actual driveshaft and ring-gear/pinion play. I have another short video of the slack measurement and turning the wheel, but it's pretty boring.... didn't post it. I also held the rear yoke stationary and moved the rear wheel to see if there was any slop in the hub drive spline, and could feel none, just the same play between pinion and ring gear as measured in my little video from yesterday. Still, this weekend I'm gonna remove the rear wheel and poke around, and inspect & lube the spline, check rubber cushions, and check wheel bearings. Also, drain the final-drive gear oil and replace, checking for larger pieces of metal on the magnetic drain-plug. While I'm at it I'm going to grease up the drive shaft zerks and call it done. Just go and ride it and try to be smoother with throttle transitions....one idea someone had in one of the threads was a 1/3 turn throttle. Standard (or mine is anyway) a 1/4 turn, which could make for jerky low-speed riding without a steady hand. Mine almost 'bounces' like when you roll on/off the gas, which makes me think it's rubber related, i.e. cush drives?? Or torque rod rubbers? It's all a mystery at this point... I'll know more hopefully on Saturday. Cheer, and thanks for your help. BLIGHT

Will do....Thanks!

Whew! I feel better now. I actually first thought it might be the rubber wheel inserts-cushions possibly disintegrating... I'll check 'em. I looked through the various online 'fiche' I could find, and see the 1100 Sport used spherical rod-ends and tubing for the torque rod.... no rubber? That would really tighten it up I bet! I raised the rear wheel off the ground, put the bike in gear and rotated the wheel back and forth by hand, stop to stop. Looked to be about 1" (at the tire edge) of total slop in the final drive, driveshaft splines, three transmission shafts, etc. That didn't seem any worse than other bikes I've had, shaft or chain or belt. That's static slop, and would be amplified by partial or full power on, and full closed throttle in lower gears (where you feel it particularly) That torque-reaction rod with the rubber bushings would be amplifying it too for sure under power or decel. I can manage it with the way I ride, but I just wanted to try and tighten it up a little. Glad to hear it's probably not gonna blow or seize! Any way to peek inside to see the ring gear wear pattern without removing and disassembly? I can get a little borescope at Harbor Freight! Final drive gear oil change will be first, and then driveshaft lube... and then just just ride it! Thanks for your opinion and experience! BLIGHT

Hi guys, Since were on the topic of ring and pinion gears, I've been riding the 2003 V11 Sport, running perfectly, with now "approximately" 12,000 miles on it. I say 'approximately', because the Veglia ODO was working intermittently when I bought it, so who knows? It indicated ~11,000 miles when I replaced it with the SpeedHut GPS unit, now showing 680 miles, so... about 12K miles total (minimum) I would say. Lately I have noticed a lot of driveline lash that seems to be getting more pronounced...on-off throttle just seems really sloppy in that feeling of transition. I have other shaft drive bikes, and they aren't anything like this. I've been reading all the threads here of driveline maintenance, docc's yoke failure, and rear end adjustments, etc...a lot to read! On one of the threads, a poster said there should be 'zero' lash between the ring gear and the pinion. Fearing my rear drive was failing with this sloppy feeling (it's drip-free, silent and does not run hot) I did a quick test to check for bevel gear lash, and posted a short video: https://1drv.ms/v/s!AmTfuaAAK3HM7Rin1mBhG1H0o2Vk In the video I am rotating the yoke back and forth by hand and the clicks are the pinion hitting the ring gear in each direction. The rear yoke is tight on the splined shaft, and is rotating the input shaft to the final drive pinion, although it doesn't look like it in the video. Is this thing about to blow? I plan on parking it until I get some recommendations from you guys!! Also, I'm gonna drain the final drive oil into a clean pan and drag a powerful magnet through it to see what I get. Alarming too is the recommendation in the shop manual to 'replace the driveshaft' every 9000 miles under 'racing or high speed use'... well I do ride it pretty hard when I can... while other times it loafs along in traffic. That replacement recommendation seems ridiculous to me if the universals and splines are lubed regularly (next on my to-do list while she's grounded) I would think a well-maintained drive-shaft and universals should last the life of the bike, no matter how you ride.... short of constantly trying to wheely it or doing burnouts (I do neither!) At this point, the belt-drive on my XR1200 is looking pretty good (they can break too, but it's rare) Any help is most appreciated, and hey, I'll even drink a beer in your honor! Cheers, BLIGHT

After looking at it, I am going to add a protective screen over the oil-cooler. It measures about 8.50" x 4.25", so I'll take a look at the local hardware store for a stainless steel perforated screen to fit over the dainty little cooler. I'm in a cool and stable year-round climate, so a little loss in cooling efficiency with the screen in place shouldn't affect the max oil temp much. On the other side, a large rock or other road shrapnel thrown up off of the back of the front wheel into the delicate oil cooler... it could ruin your day! The shorter rear of the new CF front fender got me to thinking about it, but this could apply to bikes with the stock fender as well, as shrapnel can bounce off of the pavement at high speed. I'll post a pic of my solution in the next few days, eh? (I'll also look for a thread here too on oil-cooler protection) Cheers! BLIGHT PS: I've seen the Harper-Moto screens and some others, but I can do this for a LOT less than $300 USD.

HI, I repainted my V11 rims a few months ago. They were the original dark gray color, and I didn't like it much, and it was all scratched up by P.O. tire changes. I bought some Rust-Oleum 7250830 metallic black wheel paint at Amazon, masked the tires and painted the wheels to get it purtier for the Quail Gathering.... I think they look super! Fine sand or use 3M Scotchbrite pads on the old paint to give it some 'tooth', and apply 2-3 coats, letting them dry several minutes between coats. I've used this same paint on other project bike wheels, and it's quite durable and looks excellent... sort of a satin, semi-gloss finish. If you want shiny, get some gloss clear-coat! Here's the pic on the grass:

Hey guys, I have also been looking for a V11 Sport CF rear seat (pillion) cowl for months.... they are 'unobtanium' I guess. I thought one of the V11 models had it? Or none? I have an ebay spare V11 painted pillion cowl, so I might get a CF 'skinning kit' and try it myself. There are ebay kits for about 70 USD. It's a pretty easy DIY project compared to other stuff I've done in my shop. Here's how it's done: BLIGHT

HI, thanks.... the rear section is really just unbolting unnecessary parts, and then I fabbed up a plate-mount and a separate but simple bracket for smaller turn-signals... easy-peasy. There was no cutting involved, so it could be returned to stock....although I don't know why anyone would. Cheers! Thanks! The CF flyscreen is a Ducati part (Monster?) and I searched the entire internet to find some 3D 'gel' Moto Guzzi stickers the right size and color. I put the silver V11 screen on my Triumph Thruxton, and made a 'Thruxton' vinyl sticker to cover the silver flying Eagle. Thanks very much... it is a shorty... the CF one I bought for my VFR1200 was a bit short at the back too, but there is a company 'Extenda-Fender' that makes little extensions in plastic or CF. Looks like it was part of the fender after installation. By the way, the VFR1200 has the same front fender and mirrors as the 2006 Honda CBR1000RR. Nice looking bike and cool front fender!