BLIGHT

Cheers!

Thanks much! I just had a thought, these caps are pretty thick wall... if you wanted to ditch the threaded rings altogether, you could use the set-screw idea others have used. These ABS caps can easily be drilled and tapped for 3 little Allen set-screws. It would require a bit of relief at the edge near the 'idiot lamp' cluster.... it's pretty tight in there, and the threaded ring is smaller OD, and acts as a spacer for the cap(s). Actually I think white PVC S40 caps are a little thinner wall, and the same 3.5" ID, so a smaller OD.... might allow for better clearance in the center. PVC being white, your paint may scratch if not careful... the ABS is black and scratches won't really show. BLIGHT

Thanks! She is a beauty... pic #2 on page 1 of this thread shows the gauges.

Hey guys....new pics of a cheap gauge cup idea I came up with! I bought some 3" IPS ABS (plastic) end caps at the hardware store. (3.5" ID, 4" OD) I glued these sanded ABS caps to some sanded-down threaded rings that come with the SpeedHut gauges... Here is the standard threaded ring: After sanding for clearance with the center lamp cluster.... I used Super-Glue GEL to bond the pieces together, and painted them black: Oh, I drilled a 1/2" or so hole in the cap for the gauge wires to exit... I had to grind down the center piece (a whole lot!) The back cover of the idiot-light cluster is just attached with some vinyl tape for now... I'm gonna fasten it with some screws in the AM Here's the completed (for now) SpeedHut digital gauge and my improvised ABS cup assy: And a shot of it behind the Ducati headlight fairing... can't see much of my hard work... One more pic of the bike: It was quite a bit of work, and you can't see much of what I did behind the fairing...anyway, it's DONE! BLIGHT

Below is my order summary for the 'plain' face design using selections from their design section.... just FYI: I found a Christmas 20% off promo code but the current list prices are close to this...I just checked and the tach is ~$139 BLIGHT PS: By the way someone suggested I put the GPS antenna inside the seat cowl... I DID in fact! The pic on top of the tail was just a test because it was not working well up near the front of the bike. One of the other pics shows it taped to the clutch reservoir, and that didn't work well either.... my massive body and head blocked the signal.

Where is the issue docc? is moisture ingress likely around the bezel or more the casing? I dont believe totally sealed instruments are any good. I've had 2 bikes that fogged the instruments regularly due to factory sealing and the cure was to drill vent holes in the case where water entry was unlikely. Worked both times with no issues for the instruments, however no sealing around the bezel would be a big problem on a bike. Ciao Whoa, that sky looks ominous!

That looks verrrry nice! I also learned later they can leave the 'Speedhut Made in USA' text off the bottom edge if you wish.... BLIGHT

Right now it's 'cupless' and I will sort that out someday. I never ride in the rain and the gauges are pretty behind the headlight fairing. I have my eye on some universal gauge cups. The OEM gauge plate (CF) has just the right-size holes for these gauges 3 3/8". The gauges come with a threaded back-ring (gauges are threaded as well) You just put them in the holes and snug up the rings on the back-side. The idiot light cluster is a PITA to deal with, since it's covered by the original gauge-cups as one large unit. I ended up using a Dremel to remove the two round gauge cups (because they are too small), and just left the center section to cover the back of the warning light pod. The OEM white plastic used to hold the indicator lamps is crumbling on my bike... all 3 mounting screw-inserts were broken or cracked and unusable. I used some hot glue to reassemble the crumbling idiot light section and it looks OK now from the outside. Both gauges are easy to wire up, and for the tach (programmable for different engines) I set it to 2 pulses per revolution which works perfectly. The GPS is 'plug & play' no sensors, angle-drives or such to deal with.... just mount the remote antenna in the cowl cubby and you're good to go. I tried it in several locations, and this one inside the cowl is superior for reception. I did in fact look for an existing thread on these, but it's not very good IMO and has a lot of weird styles and mountings... I think a clean thread showing my gauge 'design' finished install that resembles the stock gauge setup is worthy for those considering the swap. They will do custom artwork too as well on the faces, but they can't do copyright infringing like printing 'VEGLIA' or the Guzzi Eagle... at least I read that on their site. All of the new gauges from SpeedHut have rubber sealed bezels these days, but I still wouldn't hold a pressure washer to 'em! Oh, and they look really cool at night... the backlight is a soft white led... looks like back-lit white paper....and bright orange needles... beautiful! (I put some silicone around where the wires exit the gauges on the backs to keep dust & moisture out) That is something they need to make 'stock', or just provide screw terminals that go through the back gauge housings... right now, it's just wires coming out of a hole! BLIGHT

Hey guys, Long time no post! Been awful busy riding the 2003 V11.... she's pretty wonderful! I recently had the main ODO on the Veglia speedo quit, so I opened it up to inspect.... the dreaded stripped plastic drive gear. This is crap on a bike with 11,000 miles on it put on by the previous owner in the NW. Here's the busted gear: So after reading as much as I could, I ordered up a pair of new Speedhut gauges out of Orem Utah. It took a few weeks to get 'em, but they are truly sweet pieces. I was able to select the numeric font, face color, needle color, tick style.... you can truly make a custom gauge set. My goal was to make them look as much like the Veglias as possible. I went with a 3 3/8" GPS 120 mph speedometer and 8K tach. Here's a pic of the new gauges: Another shot: I ended up mounting the GPS antenna inside the hollow rear cowl section... here it is stuck on with some tape to test the best placement: They give you plenty of antenna cable to put it wherever you like. For under $330 for the pair it's a true bargain, made in USA and a Lifetime Warranty. Highly recommended! BLIGHT

Hi guys, Disconnected the PCIII last night, and it starts and idles just fine running on the 15M ECU alone. After I had uploaded the 'Mistral' .djm map (shown below) to the PCIII, it had a lot more power everywhere. (the PO had installed the PCIII, but it had no map in it!) Unplugged?? Now it's just a lot softer power in low to midrange, and doesn't pull as hard to redline either. No mid-range (3-4K) stumbling as many complain of either.... The PCIII richer map was prolly why I've been getting ~30mpg (US)... it's been getting more air from the big pods, and more fuel with the Mistral map...that's the recipe for more power.... it was really happy! Very little muffler restriction either... both cans are 2" ID all the way thru! These adjustments above to the stock ECU injection 'pulse widths' are all over the map, eh?! (pun?) Doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to them... some cells have no changes, some have positive, and some have negative. Still, I don't like the idea of a 'band-aid', when we actually have the ability to re-flash our own ECU's! Anyway.... today I will download the ECU stock .bin file and save it to my hard-drive AND a labeled USB drive for safe-keeping! Then, I'll upload the Titanium 2 .bin file that I got off of this forum in another thread. Hopefully that will restore some power, at least back to the PCIII enrichment levels? I'll let you know my 'the seat of the pants' dyno results! Cheers! BLIGHT PS: Just refueled tonight with 98% of the miles while still on the PCIII + ECU.... ~34 mpg. I've been shutting it off at our really long signals (like 4 minutes!) because it's pretty dumb to sit there and idle for so long! Ran outta time to do the map up & down-loads tonight.... stupid work got in the way!

The V11 should have almost as much torque as your VFR 1200. I find the V11 does like to rev, but it is also a midrange motor. I remember ages ago riding with a buddy on an R1 (this was over 10 years ago). The V11 would just gap him out of corners without downshifting. If he downshifted the R1 was clearly faster, but the R1 had to spin up before it made more power, The V11 was so easy to ride, you just twist and go. Sorry, but the V11 Sport makes ~70 ft-lbs max at the crank... the VFR1200 makes 97 ft-lbs (and it's a very flat torque curve to 10,200 redline).... that's a big difference. (160-170 crank hp!) Just have to put it in perspective I'd say though: The VFR is a V4 1237cc liquid-cooled four-valve motor with a 10,200 redline, so it's gonna have more HP power than a 2 valve air-cooled v-twin with a lower compression (9.8 vs. 12.0 to 1) and a lower engine redline. The VFR1200 has more low end, mid-range, and top-end rush than any bike I've ever owned or ridden. BTW, the 97 ft-lbs is for a stock VFR1200 motor.... I've done some EFI tuning and a custom exhaust on mine. It's now way stronger than a stocker. Oh, and because I normally short-shift and lug the VFR around most of the time (still going way fast!) it gets 40 mpg in the same riding cycle. Honestly... I've only taken it to redline a few times (because you don't need to), and then felt like I was a real hoodlum. It can do 62 mph in 1st gear and 94 mph in 2nd gear. You can go to jail in 2nd gear! Hard to keep the front down in 1st. Still 4 more gears to go... it's too much for the street really, but then it's no track bike either. It does handle very well as a sporty tourer (I have the hard bags too) with some definite weight reduction and suspension mods like I've done. But hey, it's really like comparing sushi to linguini... the bikes are just so different! I really love the Guzzi for what it is, how it looks, and how it rides... it's actually a very good handler with great brakes and suspension. The best part is, with 80 hp on tap I can ride the V11 like I stole it and still not get in over my head! BLIGHT

hmm, my old V11 (15 years old now) pulls the hardest at 6000 to 8500... with no power tapering, and increasing harder all the way to the rev limiter. I just hate revving the pee out it! I think of those big old parts flying around in there and I worry it will all fly to pieces! Let's face it.... we all have varying states of tune, varying fuel quality, varying compression, varying ambient temps, varying barometric pressure, varying valve clearances, and varying humidity. And all of these variables change by the minute!!! Clearly there is no "one recipe fits all" when you consider all of these physical and regional variables. And that includes EFI maps.... the maps and hardware do what they can to compensate for the variables, but they are not perfect all of the time. BLIGHT

I've finally gotten the bike to run very well... I reset the valves, it is running pods without an airbox, Power Commander III (now with a proper map), free-flow mufflers, new plugs, clipped NGK wires & caps, tightened all ground connections, new battery, OMRON relays, synched TB, etc. It actually spins the rear tire in 1st when I gas it hard...pulls strongly in the midrange now too (no 3K stumbles) and pulls hard to redline. The PO had the valves adjusted, and yes.... they were too tight. I set them to .006/.008. A little ticking now, but carb farts are gone. To be fair, on the Monterey peninsula where I ride it's a lot of stop and go riding (tourist traffic and long signal lights!) and much of my rides involve going back and forth quickly over a steep, curvy grade (Laureles) to visit other twisty roads. I don't feel it's running rich at all.. the muffler tips are a light grey, and the plugs are clean and what I would call a perfect color. Probably, if I was cruising along a highway at 65-75 (how boring!) it would get another 8 to 10 mpg. Just don't ride that way unless I have to. None of my bikes have the 'flat-center' rear treads... they wear evenly edge to edge! Thanks for all the tips guys. She is running so much better now than when I got it thanks to your inputs... like night and day. Guess I'm just 'spoiled' power-wise with my VFR1200... 97 ft-lbs of torque and ~170 crank hp can quickly spoil you for anything less. BLIGHT

Wow, that's really interesting! So.... if you let the bike idle from a cold start for 5 or 6 minutes at 1000-1200 rpm, that's 6000 total revs before it clears up. If it does this after every start, then it might run pretty crappy (too rich) on a warm or HOT start. By the way... I've been checking MPG, and it runs right about 30 mpg consistently with my particular riding style. Is this normal or am I just pushing it pretty hard? That's the same mpg I get on my 1975 Kawasaki H1 500cc 2 stroke triple. I have to rev the V11 pretty high at large throttle openings to make good power... way more fun, but that uses a lot more fuel. Kind of like riding an older 750 UJM.... you had to wring it's neck compared to a similar-age UJM liter-bike. My old Honda VTR 996 SuperHawk v-twin was a monster... 120 hp at the crank, and I could short-shift all day long and still go way too fast. Not complaining mind you, I do love the Guzzi! Just a little surprised it doesn't really feel like an 1100cc v-twin to me. I've owned about 70 motorcycles in my 62 years (still have 19 of them) so I have a lot of comparisons to draw from. This is my 1st Moto Guzzi, and I'm very glad I bought it! BLIGHT

Hello...true, not nice farting in public places! The previous owner had the valves set at his Guzzi mechanic in Spokane WA. just before it was shipped to me (I have all the work receipts). I have not checked them yet, but I will... mebbe this weekend. Since the plug wire and ground fiddling seems to have fixed the issue, perhaps I found the cause! I'm gonna look into some stronger coils too. I put some ACCEL coils on my XR1200 for more firepower. The HD starts very easily (like 1 revolution) every time hot or cold.... the Guzzi? Has to crank over several times before it wakes up when cold. The V11 is starting much easier when warm now I must say. BLIGHT

I have been experiencing 'carb farts' (I know, TB farts) ever since I picked up the V11. I've done all the usual recommended (the hard stuff, synchro, TP, mapping) fixes, but to no avail...still coughing and even dieing occasionally. Evidently, no matter what you do, farting can still happen at idle speeds around 1000 to 1100 rpm. I finally ran across another thread here that recommended checking the battery and ground connections... today I really tightened em... done! Next was unscrewing the NGK plug caps... then snipping off about 3/8" of the plug wire ends. I screwed them back in snugly into fresh core wires, and popped the caps back onto some recently replaced NGK plugs. It started up much easier then usual, and after the usual rough warm-up settled into a nice even idle at 1100 rpm! Went for a few hard acceleration runs and came to a couple of stops at idle.... nice and smooth, no coughs, farts, no die! So far, after riding some more miles, no more 'farts' or coughing, and I'm very happy. I'm gonna be pulling the tank soon for some 'other work', and will do the same at the coil to wire connections. Has anybody here looked into higher voltage ignition coils? Why not... Like ACCEL or MSD or the like? Even though the 'big-block' Guzzis are weak in low rpm charge voltage, a set of coils with 25% or more firing voltage could help at all rpm!!! BLIGHT

Don't worry... the burgundy-black cherry color has grown on me. Hated it at first, but I love it now!

Hi guys.. Moto Guzzi 2003 V11 Sport Deep Burgundy metallic paint: anybody have an exact match/color code? If not, I'll need to figure this one out at the local auto paint shop. Pretty much went to the end of the internet searching this one, but mebbe I missed a web page or two on the subject. I have found some House of Kolor 'shimrin' colors and some other brands that look very close on a computer screen, but ya' never know. Hopefully, these local guys will have color-chip books (over $100 to buy!) so I can hold it right against the bike for comparison in broad daylight. I have something up my sleeve that you might find very interesting, and that's all I'm sayin' for now! BLIGHT

Harpers' - is that a british design? It may be... looks to be a close match, but it does not surround the headlight rim as much as the OEM bikini, looks like about 1/2 compared to about 2/3 'encirclement'. hmmm, I don't use that word everyday. BLIGHT

True.... and they both run on unleaded gasoline!

Just a few 'Artsy pics' of the V11 beauty in the garage tonight under a vintage Coleman gas lantern light: Cheers, BLIGHT

I got my USB cable and FIAT adapter to upload a BIN file to the stock ECU using GuzziDiag. Definitely want to remove the PCIII and cut out the "middle-man". Haven't connected it yet to my laptop to download and save the stock ECU map, but that will be the first step. Any ideas which .BIN file will suit my bike? '2003' USA model V11 Sport (although I think it's really a 2001, but carried over for sale in 2002-2003) PO and title says 2003. Go figger... it's the model that has the fuel filter above the backbone, external fuel pump below. No real major engine mods, just K&N pod filters and slip-on free-flow pipes with stock crossover. Oh, and where can I download this .BIN file? Thanks to everyone on the forum... this place is great! Cheers BLIGHT

Wow, never have seen one of these... sort of Mad Max! Airtech Streamlining actually offers a 'Mad Max' kit for old KZ900's: http://www.airtech-streamlining.com/kawiz/MadMax_JimGoose_kwaka_replica.htm BLIGHT

If you're 'cosmetically challenged' as you say, just post some pics of your bike and I'm sure we can help to beautify it. After all... there are tons of opinions on this forum, eh?... BLIGHT

Harpers has an aftermarket handlebar fairing kit too for the V11 Sport (about $250): http://www.harpermotoguzzi.com/fairing.htm