Gmc28

well then that settles it.... i'm painting my Lemans frame red, so it'll go faster! can i just use touch up paint, or maybe some nice, hot, red lipstick? :->

Putting this into the category of “i don’t really care”, because i like the way the bike rides regardless, but the talk of the quicker handling of the red vs black frame..... seems like just the wheel size would more than explain all of that. The 3/4” of extra frame length of course should be a factor too technically, but i’m Assuming wheel size much more so. its been alluded to here, but seems like the frame length element rises to the top of the handling differences discussion still?. Even with the same wheel, and the same tire size, just changing brands/styles of tires can yield a big change. I went from a worn pirelli diablo to a new Shinko 705 on a Ducati, both same advertised size, but the Shinko was much more rounded in shape, and the change was freakishly apparent. In that case i assume it was the front tire causing most of the change, but not sure because i changed front and back. On another bike i just changed the rear tire to a slightly smaller size (i think i went with a 160 instead of a 170, cuz I happened to have it on the shelf), and with only that rear tire change the bike handled very different. But a change in tire size, and then also a change wheel size, like with the 4.5 to the 5.5, and you’re going to realize some real handling (turn-in, etc) changes. The “hot rod” larger rear wheel/tire is just going to give that bit more ponderous handling (which is what i have with the Lemans). I’ve got bikes with longer wheelbases but which handler quicker/lighter. Not a bad thing, just a thing.

Umm, I bought another one. The good friend who sold me his champagne lemans, dropped a few hints that he thought he may want it back. That was sort of our deal, where he got my beloved cagiva Gran Canyon and I got his beloved V11. But swapping back someday was a protected option. I’m always looking at what’s out there for sale, being a typical Motörhead, and found a nice looking V11 in OK (from David, who I think is on this forum). Has the dropped foot pegs, which intrigues me, and some of the other common-good mods, but I’ll likely pick up a mistral crossover, and a couple other odds and ends this winter for it. First, a long ride back from OK to OR to be figured... My buddy who’s getting his champagne lemans back from me has volunteered for some or all of the ride. I love a good buy-and-ride, but the V11 is slightly tortuous for my 6’3”+ frame (and a messed up shoulder, etc), so am spooked by the thought of 30+ hrs of riding it. We’ll see how it plays out. I’ve done that ride, more or less, a few times over the years, and have always had a great time, just barely beating the jaws of mother nature’s season change in October (week before was 70’s, in the 50-60’s for me, then rain and cold the week after I went through). Will see how this goes.

I think i’ll need to keep that quote... “assimilate the heathens..”. Love it! but I also don’t use a horn. I inherited a Denali (?) aftermarket unit on another bike, and it’s loud. About pissed myself when I tried it. I find that when I alarm a cager (like with a horn) they get unpredictable, and that’s one of the things that I fear most on the road.... unpredictability. Like the “fast and furious” fanboys who change lanes like they’re riding with Vin Diesel. That’s where I would use a rocket launcher, and skip the horn.

I ride the V11 way too fast. The HP number means little to me. It has not much more than half the HP as my latest generation multi, but I ride the v11 like a punk kid.... it just loves that “power band” where it goes like a scalded monkey, so I end up racing around like Vale. Bad behavior, but delicious.

Hey, it’s been entertaining! does sound preposterous to me to convert to carbs, but I love the curiosity of it all.... just on someone else’s bike. and the desire for improved wiring is a natural one, and shared by most of us with Italian bikes of all kinds.

Must be some kind of speed mod.... mini vortex generators.[emoji41]

Drop 25 lbs by converting to carbs? Sounds all kinds of whacky.

Correct... holes in the fairing.

Those of you who have bar end mirrors on your Lemans (if there are any of you), what is done with the existing mirror mounts? Am assuming bar end mirrors are only really for sports and bikes without the fairing?

Now we’re talkin’.... also looking for some kryptonite, but having a tough time sourcing it.

Bar end weights are the throttlemeister units on mine. No bar end mirrors at this point. Certainly open to that, but would have to look at how to cover up where the stock mirrors mount.... i’ll Look closer at pics and see what others have done. My grips are good, but very thin. Bought the bike from my good friend, and he liked these, but I’m used to a thicker grip, and could also use some vibe cancelling wherever I can get it.

I’ll take any well-deserved abuse for not working hard enough to find an answer within existing threads, but my initial search for “vibration reducing grips” yielded me nothing so far, and I don’t want to crawl through a million threads. So... you have a favorite grip you use to mitigate some of the vibes that come through the handlebars on the v11 (‘02 lemans in my case)? For the short distance I usually ride the v11, I’m fine, but maybe it’s age or maybe it’s in my head, but my hands buzz for a while after riding, and it’s not a pleasant buzz.... And also, I have larger hands, so something thicker would be good, so probably worth killing both birds with one stone. Just looking for recommendations.

But a neat one to have in the garage...

Hmm. FWIW, I would strongly differ with your friend who had the GC and said it was Challenging for maintenance, of course with all my requisite caveats of “with all due respect” and all that.... i’ve had 2 Gran Canyons, one was/is meticulously maintained both before I got it and when I had it (my close friend now owns it after I had it for a number of years and many miles), and the other one I bought in rough shape with a lot of miles. The 1st now has about 30k miles (~50k kilometers), and the second one passed 100k kilometers a couple years ago. Both run excellent with little effort or headaches, and other than the one time I tore them down for a good going-through early on, both have proven very reliable and easy to work on. we’re on a v11 forum here, so i’ll Refrain from an overly long post here regarding the GC (or did I already cross that line 😳) but all I can think is that maybe your friend was referring to tank removal with the swollen tanks they mostly all have from ethanol, and access to the rear cylinder for valve check/adjust. Both of those things are quite reasonably mitigated imho. And then there’s the typical Italian “gift” of the crappy charging system, which is also easily mitigated with a one time fix (remove the lousy and multiple connectors and replace with a clean run of quality wire to the VR). And, I have yet to need to adjust a 904 or 916 duc Desmo valve more than once. Some owners have had to, but after that initial adjustment mine have all always stayed within spec up through about the 50k mile interval. I’m just a true fan of that whole setup, from 15+yrs of putting miles on 2 different GC’s, both of which are still near to me and in my garage now and then (my son has one, and my good friend has the other). I am guilty of evangelizing too much regarding the Gran Canyon. I laugh at myself for that, but I am fond of them! What else can you buy that does so much, so nicely, at that price, while holding value, and having just enough of a dose of unique-ness. Ok, i need to get off my stump :->. Just stay Italian!

Well, I can’t help but put in a plug for your original plan.... gran canyon and ST2 options can’t be beat. Obviously 100% subjective, but in the spirit of this thread I’ll chip that in. My favorite motor of all time is that 2v duc. Well, ok, it’s tied with the 4v 916.... slightly prefer the 4v in some ways, but ultimately when hair splitting I gotta take the simpler and reliable 2v over all others. Sounds like u think similarly. Sounds great with right exhaust, torquey with the smaller valves on the gran canyon (more powerful feeling than it’s specs would imply), and for the most part simple to work on. But don’t pigeon hole the GC into the adv category.... most owners I know use them as long distance touring machines, including LT in Florida (one of the duc gurus), and they don’t bother with the adv tires and all that. At 6’3” it’s just a smidge small for me to be an ideal fit for long haul, but not bad. As a fellow Northwest’r, it’s great to hit the super slab (26, 84, I-5) in decent comfort, then hit the twisties in the cascades or coast range, then peel off the tarmac onto some of the great forest service roads, and enjoy all those riding types without wishing for a different bike. It’s truly a street bike in my opinion, but handles the non technical off-tarmac with great ease and comfort. Just add the engine guards and bark busters as insurance to protect the un-obtanium body parts. I’ve had my GC down once on its side (in the Yukon) and it was unscathed. Like any bike, it has a few gotchas, but they are easily addressed proactively without great cost or effort. And it does give up a bit on pure Adrenalin throttle use as compared to a properly tuned Lemans, but it’s more flick-able and handles beautifully to where I’d say it ultimately holds its own against most machines in the twisties. Part of that is the contrarian part of the brain.... I came off an ST4 assuming the GC would be a big step down in handling, so that was my mindset, but I very much changed my mind after riding the GC for a bit and getting comfortable with it. But of course no one has suggested the best option: buy both! [emoji41]

Agreed in need to use the correct charger for the lithium batts.... I used the one that came from PO that says it’s for the lithium batt. But maybe it was junk. Don’t recall the brand at the moment. Still have the battery, and may try it in another bike at some point.

+1 on docc’s comments on odyssey and the need to maintain it. Current odyssey on the V11 was installed by my friend from whom I bought the bike and has been on for about 4-5 yrs now, and all’s well. I’m one with several agm batts that have gone 6+ yrs, and in one case 10 yrs. None of them failed.... in most cases I change them before a planned big trip once they got 6+yrs on them, just in case. But they live on battery tenders (deltran) all winter when not being ridden, and even in summer for the bikes that get ridden less often. I’m an Odyssey fan, but have had similar success with a couple others, such as Westco. But there may be a deeper rabbit hole there, such as who makes which batteries for which brands based on all sorts of variables that I don’t track. I “inherited” a shorai battery from a PO on a ktm 990 adv. super light, and small, but couldn’t figure it out.... held charge great, then without warning would drop voltage like crazy while sitting. Troubleshot it for a while, looking for electrical “leaks”, desiring to keep that expensive shorai battery, but after some failed fixes, and some advice from a ktm mech who said he didn’t trust the shorai’s, I replaced it with a good old odyssey (also not cheap.... sigh), and bike has been trouble free ever since.

I missed all the local guzzi gatherings, though I did get to the annual deal in north seattle, which was fun. Dave did my bike when he was out here on that last visit you mention.

Thanks all- I got PM’d with Daves contact info. Sounds as though he’s doing well and doing some interesting guzzi work in Ohio....

Dave got my V11 running sweet, though it had the usual "flat spot" around 4k... smooth after daves work, but not really fully awake until beyond that rpm range. That runs consistent with most bikes i've had from that era (and beyond, meaning bikes that have ECU's and were built to conform to certain emissions standards). I've not asked to this point, though I assume its commonly known by everyone except me, but are our ECU's "tune-able"? Meaning, not using a Power commander, but somehthing like TuneECU, or maybe just an line device to trick our ECU's into a slightly different behavior? All my bikes from that time period had similar issues, and they were all solved by what I'll call simple ECU tuning, meaning I didn't do any of the heavy lifting myself, but just mooched a tune (or bought a trick gizmo) from someone who had created a nice map for a bike equipped similar to mine, I bought the harness stuff to plug into the ECU, uploaded the tune, and voila, the bad behaviors of the bike were gone, and was like a new machine. In each case it was someone in the bike community that created the tune (well, in most cases...), and that was for my Ducati's, and then my '03 BMW 1150RT (pretty bad low rpm behavior, different but actually similar to our V11's, until the ECU change), and then even my '09 KTM was very nicely changed with the tune (ran better, and fuel economy went from horrific to just sort-of bad). In some cases, its just been a "tricky device" that was used rather than actually tuning the ECU, like the FatDuc gizmo i put on the 1200 multistrada, or the similar gizmo I put on the RT, both of which just tricked the ECU into running richer (or maybe leaner in some cases), or something along those lines. We have any magic bullets like that for the V11's?

I'll reach out to a fellow I know who tried to get a hold of Micha recently, and see if he had any luck.

Just a question to lob out there... I bought my V11 from a good friend who had it for years, and we ended up actually doing a trade, each of us trading a bike we didn't want to part with but didn't use much any more (he got a Gran Canyon, I got the V11). My friend said he could never quite get the goose to run right. Not bad, just not fully dialed-in. He had it at Moto Intl in seattle a number of times, messed with the PC-V settings, and so on, but never quite right. When I got the bike, another friend of mine who had worked off and on at a Guzzi shop recommended I ping Dave Blue, an old time Guzzi rep (tech rep?) from way back, who had moved away but who happend to be back in Portland for the summer, and who's name was apparently spoken in reverent tones around the local Guzzi community. I rang him, he answered, affably agreed to go through my new-to-me V11, and when I picked up, she ran beautiful. But he headed back to his home in the midwest somewhere, and I've not been able to figure out where he went. Super nice guy, and super knowledgeable. Love to see where he ran off to. I know he had a close call on a personal health issue, so am hoping he's still all good. Anyway, long story to just ask if anyone knows him and how to reach him to say hi. Cheers all, and happy new year

I’ve got an old no-mar. But have an approach that’s a mix of what others have written... Dirt bike tires and other soft carcassed tires I change myself with the no mar (cycle hill?), and it’s literally as easy as I can see on their promo videos. But for stiff carcass tires, especially in winter, I just pay a shop to un-mount/mount my tires (I bring them in off the bike to avoid the majority of the fee). The no mar is brutal with a stiff, cold tire, and while i used to power through, I’m getting too lazy and prefer to not damage something. I also have the theory that no amount of leaving a tire by a heater in winter can replace hot summer sun when it comes to softening them up to be easy to work with. So my usual winter mx is done each year except tire changes, which I do in summer.

New toys like this keep us all entertained, so thats good. For myself, if it has anywhere near 80hp and can be kept semi-light and is comfortable to ride, its a winner. Scud mentioned the KTM ADV... I’ve also got a 990 version, and its sweet, but very underwhelming to me for a bike that’s advertised at 105hp. My little Cagiva Gran Canyons, which they say have about 68HP, feel far quicker, even though on paper they are similar weight as the KTM 990 ADV. Sort of along the lines of the “big horses”... doesnt make sense, but there’s something going on there. I love my 990, but it does not impress me in the power department (compounded by the fact that it also gets crap fuel economy/range). Drawback to the Gran Canyon for me, and its a bit nit picky (like most things we carry-on about), is that if I keep it in stock gearing its quite comfortable at low speed off road, but its really screaming on the RPM when at 70+mph on the freeway. I assume the extra horses on other bikes, like the KTM, are what make it able to have a nice low speed gear but also a top gear that pulls well and doesn’t have the rpm wrapped up near red line. As far as a “real ADV bike” goes, I wouldn’t expect anything “KTM-like” from guzzi on this V85, but thats more or less right on for what i’d Expect and want from Guzzi... a bike that can do some great touring and then get off the tarmac and not feel out of place, which is the great compromise that works for most folks just out to have a good time. A more competent off road bike (scuds 701... sweet) would be the ticket off road, but a drag to sit on all day on the slab. And then, as the old ADV story goes, A more competent slab bike (GS, or Stelvio) will then be a truck off-road, too heavy to comfortably lift back upright when she spills (no hate mail please from GS or stelvio owners... you know what i mean... they’re awesome, but lets just be honest and admit they’re huge.). I for one welcome the latest wave of smaller, mid-size ADV themed bikes. About damn time. Although yes, its a “deja-vu” thing, as we’re just going back to semi normal sizes, after the HP and cc wars of the this later generation of bikes. Though I still have my big HP beast in the garage too....