BMEPdoc

I don't know Chuck, I don't know who "Rocket" is...Could be, I reckon. Out of respect for his privacy I'll leave it up to him to chime in if he wishes. I CAN tell you the bike has been owned by engineers exclusively though. - Joe

***SOLD!*** and going back to its original U.S. based home in Ohio. I could not be happier knowing it will be cherished by a very knowledgeable multiple Guzzi owner/enthusiast!

Sale Pending

Ahhhh hahahahahaha @ "fainted in her presence and needed her ECU re-booted" HILARIOUS! Thanks again for the Halford's frame paint Tim. The Green touch-up: https://www.ebay.com/itm/3-STAGE-MOTO-GUZZI-TOUCH-UP-PAINT-KIT-V11-SPORT-INJECTION-1997-2003-LIME-GREEN/261274617752?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649 Here's a shot of the inside portion of the carbon rear fender and its mounting points, I'll snap some photos of the outer, forward area later today and post them. -doc

Reluctant but necessary sale of my impeccably kept low miles example of this stunning machine as shown in the photos. This fine motorbike can be enjoyed from minute one by its fortunate next owner. My 35 month quest in finding a premiere version of this motorcycle finally ended with the purchase of this one. Owned by its previous caretaker since new I am only the second to worship not only its stunning beauty but its magnificent heart and soul. Once in a great while a benchmark example of a machine so breathtaking to behold, not only visually, but in its ability to seduce with its thoroughbred dynamics and performance comes along. This is one of those examples. Starting with the original purchase order - look at all of the photos as everything shown is included in the sale. Please do not bother to inquire on the purchase of any individual item. I believe examples of such collector worthy magnitude are to be respected in their entirety. Being offered at $6200 which I believe is a bargain and considerably less than my investment. You are collectively wonderful connoisseurs of the marque and I can think of no venue more worthy. Full maintenance service including valve adjustment has just been performed. (unpictured valve adjustment tool is also included). 100% synthetic Motul ester, new filter and all hydraulic fluids flushed. New, zero mile Pilot Sport tires. Needs absolutely nothing but the next appreciative caretaker. If there are ANY questions what so ever, feel free to send me a message. I feel it's only proper to offer this exemplary unit to one of you before I post it on the usual, i.e. cycletrader, eBay, and CL venues. -doc

Hello gents. After over 3 years of searching and finally finding one which met my almost unobtainium standards, I've decided to put my greenie up for sale. There's a backstory here. You see, back in 2012 I underwent a triple bypass and though successful, I'm just not the man I used to physically be but it took a while for my head to catch up to where my body is. About 18 months worth of rehab later I had another mishap when I went for a serious tumble on my XR650R which resulted in breaking my right radius, dislocating my shoulder, tearing my rotator cuff, and fracturing my right patella. My right forearm is now fitted with a cool titanium pin and my knee has healed nicely but its my right wrist and shoulder which cause me considerable discomfort on anything longer than short 1 hour rides. Initially I thought I'd be okay but I've been proven wrong over the last several hundred miles of Guzzi romping. It's the consistent thump-thump-thumping frequency which makes distance rides unbearable. Being an ex- 70's era semi pro MX-er and all of the associated body thrashing which took place surely doesn't help matters either, so at 61 I'm just plum worn out. Anyhow, it's been a pleasure reading about your experiences and having the opportunity to meet Tim (Scud). I was hoping to be a part of this community for years to come - unfortunately, physical fate has tossed me a curve ball I'm incapable of hitting. I'll be posting quite a few photos of my most splendid machine along with the considerable assortment of parts, literature, etc. which come with it in the 'classified' section in the next day or two. Here's a teaser pic for those who haven't seen her. warmest regards, -doc

Oh, and changed tires earlier in the week too. Prior owner literally babied this thing riding it once in a great while and even then - very, very, gently as evidenced by the huge chicken strips. Looking at the date codes, these were almost TEN years old! Which also explains the ridiculously low mileage accumulated over the years. -doc

Well, did this about 3 weeks ago. The faded gauge pointers were bugging me to no end, so.....I sent them off to North Hollywood Speedometer and they re-did them to properly iridescent. By the way, this impeccable machine will be posted in the for sale section once I figure out how to post up the veritable plethora of revealing machine and included accessory/replacement part photos. -doc

I found the best way to avoid neandergnarled wheels is doing them myself. Fortunately, I'm blessed with the space AND understanding wife which make it possible -doc

Depending on the severity, i.e. depth of the gouges - and OCD you are: cyanoacrylate (superglue) liberally dusted with sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) to build up (even out) high/low spots then prep it with a succession of sandpaper grit until suitably smooth. Respray with the proper material and you'll never know it was there. This was the method a high end wheel refinisher used on my RUF Porsche some years ago. IIRC cost me $400 but saved me close to $2k I was ready to fork over for a new wheel. -doc

Those of you in the loop with this stuff would know better than I. No idea what going rate is on an injector service these days, I've been out of the industry for more than a decade. He did mine for free and when I asked how much he'd normally charge that was his answer. I don't make a cent - just passing it on along with a guestimate on postage. -doc

As if you don't already know. Well, perhaps someone out there doesn't. Here's the transmission brace/bracket.

Yep, Imgzeit indeed. I believe it was YOU (docc) that turned me onto it and I thank you. The trans brace: Don at http://www.motivcycleworks.com Motiv Cycle Works, 906 N. Ann Arbor Ave, Oklahoma City, OK 73127. I think it was $60 but don't remember as I've been buying all sorts of bike (others aside from the Guzzi) parts and accessories. Don was very pleasant to speak to. He's in the process of (or already has by now) opening a new Aprilia and some other marque, (perhaps Guzzi but I don't think so) dealership. He has these cut via waterjet then powdercoated. It's a very nice piece which fit perfectly. The fasteners are included. The injectors were refurbed for me by a former employee. They're flow tested then alternately to/fro flushed/cleaned with a special solvent under considerable pressure with new inlet screens, O-rings, phenolic spacers, and nozzles (caps) fitted after a walnut bead blasting procedure which give them that 'nicer than new' appearance. He's an older German gent who primarily does German car injectors out of his home garage for long established clientele. He doesn't want to be bothered - but did them for me as a favor. I just called him and he'll do them for $65. Not being computer savvy nor having a PayPal account he'll do them for me if I drop them off. I have no idea if that's a good price, however I DO know he's exceptional at diagnosing, repairing, and servicing Bosch EFI, Kugelfischer and Italian Spica systems. If anyone's interested in doing theirs send me a message. I'll add $5 postage and you can paypal me. According to him its (at most) a 2 day turn around time not including weekends or holidays of course. As for me, I'm retired and unless I'm out riding or spending my kids inheritance, I'll get `em in the mail back to you the same day I get 'em back from Walter. -doc

Not one to challenge Murphy even on a low mileage unit such as this - I opted to fit the transmission brace.

Here's the left bank injector as found. Bear in mind this is a less than 10k mile machine purchased from the original owner.I've seen similar assembly mishaps on NEW Porsche's! They'd get up to temp and pop a code. We'd reset the ECU and everything was kosher until it came up to temp then it'd toss the same code. Some of these cars have injectors literally buried in a city of plastic shrouding etc. Needless to say, a SERIOUS pain and hours of labor to address. Fortunately, Guzzi's are about as simple as a Duncan yo-yo and an R&R is a 30 minute ordeal Here are the injectors after a full-on refurb.

Reinstalled airbox. Absolutely superior to the pods - not only in appearance IMO, but performance as well. Prior to reinstallation and subsequent to my meeting with Scud and the opportunity to objectively compare the smoothness of his Scura vs mine, I knew something was amiss. It had too much of a Harley 'chug' to it. See pics and findings below.

Hello folks, I've been temporarily indisposed but all is much better now. First off, I'd like to openly thank Tim (Scud) for his contribution of time, experience, and knowledge of these machines which went a long way in placating my questions and concerns. He also generously gifted me with a small touch-up paint tube matching the red frame on my machine as well as an interesting book on leadership he co-authored. For those who have not had the pleasure of meeting Tim, he's not only knowledgeable but also quite the conversationalist - and rather swift on two wheels as well, this - which he revealed on the various roads in and around his home turf. Thank you again Tim. Hopefully, we'll do it again in the not too distant future. Not only did he ride my machine to assess but allowed me a short but telling ride on his Scura which pretty much re-affirmed what I thought it would feel like. We also briefly exchanged bikes so I could sample his Ducati ST3. A familiar issue was revisited for me as his ST3 exhibited the very same electrical glitch my '07 Multistrada had been possessed with. One moment it wouldn't crank and the next it was as if nothing was amiss. Weird. I snapped a pic of `em smiling just after it roared back to life. For those following, I'll also be adding information on my findings in reference to filter pods on the other post I started.

Quoted from a popular motorcycle magazine. "When friends and new motorcyclists complain about stratospheric seat height, I gently point them to the incredible story of Gaston Rahier's 1985 Dakar win. Rahier was so tiny that he mounted his rally prepped BMW R80G/S by walking alongside it, and then dropping the clutch. He'd step aboard with one foot, then casually arc the other over the seat and ride away. It was, and still is, impossibly cool." The seat height on these machines was stratospheric. I know, I once owned a replica. I recall keeping a close eye on these events way back then and always cheered on Mr. Rahier. He was an amazing man with an enormous heart and an unstoppable will to succeed...... He did. As Rahier so clearly demonstrated, once you're moving its all superfluous. My younger brother is his height at 162 cm's. I'm about 177 and we often switch machines. My XR650R is quite the desert beast and it's pretty tall as well. His height has never been an impediment to enjoying machines you'd think he was incapable of mounting. He wears riding boots which allow him that little extra height required for stabilization when at rest. -doc

I couldn't agree more docc. We used to refer to this as verifying the machine was at Zero. It was our wordplay abbreviation of a Level II or complete maintenance service. It pertained to all consumables (i.e, air/oil/fuel fiters, spark plugs, crankcase oil) being replaced. All adjustables (i.e. valve clearance, Ignition timing, RPM, CO) checked and adjusted to manufacturer specification as required. If, after these procedures engine performance did not meet acceptable standards a series of diagnostic steps was warranted which inevitably led to the discovery of the root cause of the problem and addressed. As an aside and somewhat related, which some of you may find interesting are a couple of puzzlers from days of yore which emphasize the importance of routine maintenance. Many years ago within months of opening our automotive engineering and german auto service firm, my partner and I were called upon by one of our competitors to help with an unsolvable-for-them boggle. They were having a heckuva time diagnosing a hard/no start problem with an euro spec MBZ 500SL. The problem had progressively worsened until the cars owner had run out of free AAA tows. Anyhow, their techs had already burned through many diagnostic labor hours and no dice, the thing just wouldn't fire when up to operating temp after sitting for a while. Let it cool down overnight and it would light up perfectly or squirt some fuel past the metering plate in the CIS plenum and it would fire right up when at operating temp. Control pressures were checked. Everything was systematically gauged and tested and it ALL checked out within spec. Still...No Joy. We took on the challenge. After about an hour our service manager came into my office exasperated by the ordeal so I went out and took a look. I knew everything had been redundantly checked now. We had spark, fuel, compression, but no fire. While in the car cranking I happened to look at the odometer and noticed this pup had almost 500k/kms. No big wow for the big benz. Pretty common for them to run forever, or close to - particularly the dual row timing chain units. All 8 holes had decent compression numbers, not great but decent. I was poking around under the bonnet and happened to pull the dipstick discovering the oil was stinky, diesel black, and thin as vinegar. I had a hunch and immediately instructed our tech do an oil service, both my tech and service manager were puzzled. An oil service? they both asked in stereo. Just do it I repeated. 20 minutes later I smiled as the big benz lit up within seconds. What I had surmised was proven to be the case. We subsequently learned the cars owner had taken delivery of the car years prior when living in Germany. After relocating to the states and having his car schlepped over, it hadn't had an oil service in who knows how many miles, and since the absurdly negligent owner lived only a few miles from his place of business it never really got up to operating temp long enough to burn off accumulated condensation and sump acids inevitably thinning the oil to negligible film strength, this resulted in inadequate vacuum due to poor ring seal which then manifested in the inability to draw open the metering plate on the CIS plenum. When cold, the cold start injector was active hence it fired. When warm it wasn't in the start loop and no-go. Just a simple oil service was the dogs knob re-establishing ring seal ergo intake tract vacuum. Not a Guzzi tale, true - but it DOES trumpet the importance of something as simple as an oil service. I have a couple more which could be delivered by Rod Serling and his accompanying theme. "The 1956 Lincoln Continental MkII one could drive for miles with no fuel" "The Jeep Wrangler that would mysteriously quit running only to discover a shattered distributor cap.....FIVE times" -doc

Hello to you as well Camn! Yes, the Aprilia, Ducati, MV, and BMW forums are hangouts - particularly when I'm involved with one of them at that moment. I am now, finally - a Guzzi owner as well and just as with my other machines, I'll be frequenting this as well as other Guzzi venues absorbing all I can, as well as contributing if I feel it may benefit others. I've only been a member here a short while and already feel at home as the others here have been wonderful in helping me with whatever it is I need help with. Matter of fact just yesterday I rang 'Scud'. We'll be meeting this upcoming weekend. His valued expert and objective assessment of my machines overall performance and state of being is something I very much look forward to. Thank you also for the link, Camn. I did briefly skim through Meinolf's posts - clearly, he's invested a lot of time and effort in extracting and sharing vital empirical data as well as valuable practical experience.. All I need now is an derriere friendly perch. I have a considerable amount of research to do in order to satiate my desire to know. -doc

I don't doubt the additional circulation afforded by the airbox removal and relocation of the fuel pump is helpful in minimizing, or even alleviating any vapor lock issues. It's the ability to tune out any consequential running maladies, particularly those resulting from replacing a tuned length runner/pressure wave optimized area airbox ('system') with an open element filter pod. I do not particularly care for signal input spoofers or gizmos (i.e. power commander, variable NCT resistors, thermistors, etc) which fool an ECU. Much preferring ignition/fuel maps tailored to a specific application. A logical choice obviously, though also can be cost prohibitive. I understand the price point factor and can't argue with fudging F/A ratios to stave off destructive detonation when breathing (air pump) characteristics have been altered. A cost effective solution is often a spoofer of some kind. Not optimal by any means but rather somewhat acceptable, if cringeworthy. Better than hole-ing a piston or whacking rings into the crankcase. Ignition tables are just as important which those piggyback devices do not address. In essence they're analagous to a band aid on ones elbow for a sore on their knee. The Alpha-N FI systems on our machines really are rather simple and I suppose I could have Marc Salvisberg (Factory Pro) break into and remap my machine on his low inertia eddy current dyno. Something to ponder if I choose to remain 'podded'. Another option would be to source a map for my machine's counterpart which has undergone sufficient dyno time. Personal experience here though. I've been involved and exposed to situations where three identical vehicles with identical modifications on three identically refreshed at the same time powerplants showed a need for different maps for proper optimization. These are machines and they all have their own personalities, even when built/assembled to strictly adhered to blueprinted specifications. Would one map suit all three?...of course and they'd perform within a certain given +/- envelope. Our envelope was narrow enough that subsequent powerplants were supported by a map averaged off of the three mules. I digress: This being my personal experience, if a spoofer is required to bend the fuel curve to suit my machine without addressing ignition tables - I'll opt to shell out the cash in my quest to get it right every time. Not only will my machine perform better - I'll sleep better too! BTW. Being OCD sucks. Just saying. -doc

PERFECT! Thanks docc! I'm envious of your huge photos. My attempts in posting photos are quashed by an "file too large" prompt which then require my photo editor hence my puny pic. Is there some clandestine setting I'm not aware of somewhere? By the way, it appears we share a similar taste in music. Just finished hearing her and Knopfler "If this is goodbye" before logging in. Now hearing Etta, 'At last'....good stuff this. r3datum9, I'm hoping to get an opinion on how well my bike is currently running. My curiosity got the better part of me so I just started pulling things apart just to take a look at how the Italians crafted this thing but am now in the process of reassembly. I've contacted Scud to arrange a meeting so he can take mine for a spin and assess if it's up to par or not. Mine has no aftermarket crossover but does have the Mistral cans. I'm a pretty quick study, so this kind of interaction with like minded enthusiasts is wonderful, but thanks for the offer - as more unfolds I'll be in an more informed position to know if your program is suitable. -doc

Hi folks, As some of you know, I've recently acquired an '01 V11 Sport on which the PO fitted K&N pods - I'm no fan of these things as I've rarely, actually never, found any gain. On the contrary, all manner of ride-ability issues from throttle response to flat spots in the RPM curve are usually the case based on my experience. Unless armed with the required resources and skills it's pretty tough to out-do the mothership. Fortunately everything removed in the retrofit process was saved and boxed. In preparation of reverting to OE, I removed the tank and set out all of the parts (which were conveniently labeled) to get started. I quickly discovered the airbox would not set down properly onto the frame, pump/filter area . Upon further exam I noticed the PO appeared to have done something with fuel hose length and/or fuel pump/filter bracket as it just isn't located properly. The current configuration just isn't correct and this is turning out to be more than a take-off-put-back-on issue. Do any of you have a detailed photo or series of photos showing that portion of the frame spine/fuel system? Many thanks in advance. regards