BMEPdoc

@ "Harley dix" Very near my home is The Lake Hughes 'Rock Inn'. It's an old bar, B&B affair dating back to the 20's. In any case - it's become increasingly popular with the biker scene with every marque pretty well represented on any given weekend, much like, though not yet at the level of popularity of say it's Mulholland drive (The Rock Store) namesake or Newcombs on the Crest highway, but I see it happening, after all - there are some fabulous roads around here so it's just inevitable. Anyway, rarely does a month pass where I don't hear sirens or an alert to local LEO's and EMT's on my scanner of a 'bike down' on some local road. Over the decades the tally of bikes and fatalities is considerable and in no small measure due to DUI's which got their start either en route to or departing from - The Rock Inn. I surmise the latter probably out ratios the former by a considerable margin. Now, just as is the case in most of these types of venues, at least the one's I've patronized is just the sheer number of different bikes (and yes cars too) which show up. In this case and here in my neck of the woods, what IS disproportionate though is with all of the hypersport 200HP+/200MPH bikes being piloted by kids and grumps alike, it's the Harley's that go down. Not to stereotype but do Harley riders just have more of a propensity to overconsume? Is it their land barge dynamic qualities? It makes one wonder if there's more to that famous Hollister, Ca. photo than meets the eye. Just openly musing.

Tim...Sherman Pass is great I agree!. Coming in from the east off of the 14 over Walker Pass into Isabella, OR - from the south out of Tehachapi through Caliente/Bodfish - OR, if feeling real adventurous - there's the scenic Breckenridge road out of Oildale/Bakersfield over Breckenridge mountain which dumps you off on Caliente/ Bodfish road . Another excellent alternative is from the Bakersfield side up 65 to Woody then onto the fun, circuitous 155 into Wofford Heights - north up the Kern river road towards Sherman Pass where one absolutely must stop at McNallys hamburger stand and grab a burger! - This is the small burger stand up the road from their steak house. Highly recommended burgers and fries. Lets make it happen... In the meantime: I'm sending you a P.M. to organize a time to meet that works for you. No rush at all. Being retired my schedule is......wait...what schedule? -doc

Of course! - Should've thought of him. I just purchased one of his unbreakable pawl springs too!

Okay. True to this threads title. Folks, I have absolutely NO idea how these bikes are supposed to run being that I've never owned or even swung a leg over one until purchasing this one which leads me to this: Is there anyone relatively near me familiar with these whom I could impose upon to take mine for a spin for an unabashed, objective, analysis? I'm often down in the Santa Monica, Manhattan Beach, Palos Verdes area so riding to wherever you might be (within reason) is very doable. If I could coerce one of you experts for a few minutes of your time for your valued ride and performance assessment - Lunch, anywhere you'd like - on me - would be a pleasure. Some of you have been riding these for quite some time and have become mechanically intimate as well as very much in tune with these machines dynamics and peculiarities that allow you more than a modicum of objectivity. -doc

It appears to be a factory carbon item:

Outstanding! - Thank you fellas!

A little bit of all of the above. Carlin would've referred to it as 'stuff'. I'll post some pics when I get a chance. In the meantime, anyone know if the windscreen for this flyscreen sportfairing (?) - is still available?

Thank you sir. That photo does it no justice. I'll post a couple more showing the overall cleanliness. A one owner machine from new owned by an ex Honda and Raytheon ME who kept extremely detailed records/notes from day one. A considerable amount of additional ephemera came with it. -doc

Found it and now mine. A low mileage exceptionally well kept example. Very pleased - Additional photos coming.

Speaking of Dr. John's 4V motor. A long time associate ended up with this just after these pics were taken upon parting with upwards of $30K if memory serves me correctly. I was given the opportunity to take as many laps as I wanted at buttonwillow. At the time I had an HP2 sport boxer - much to my surprise and his chagrin, I was running lap times almost a half second faster, this with him being the more capable pilot. I ended up passing on the opportunity as I was physically beat but did give him my bike to take out for a few laps. He conceded: "I see why you were quicker - this thing flat hauls butt". He did however complain of poor mapping and lurching on his machine. It sure was beautiful though and between our 2 bikes parked side by side in the paddock - a lot of oohs and ahhs ensued. -doc

I did. It was one, if not THE dumbest moves I ever made eclipsed only by the trading in of my Lotus Cortina Mk 2 + $3k for a then new Chevy Cosworth Twin Cam Vega. Hindsight is not always 20/20 as evidenced by this bonehead move. Hard to justify BUT - this follows what I alluded to in my post above. I had read in a couple of respected publications as well as (I believe it was pashnit) that when fitted with soft panniers, they made for a powerful and rewarding long distance tourer! I know I know I know. -doc

Thank you for the welcome and illuminating responses. As is the case with countless intrepid motorcycle enthusiasts, akin to an mechanical smorgasboard, I've sampled a fair number of machines to be left empirically satiated by their attributes and weaknesses. As you all know, we can read specifications and the application of them as they define the dynamics of a particular machine to our hearts content but only we, ourselves, can ultimately define whether that certain je ne sais quoi is present. My current stable of machines exist because they talk to a part of me which truly enjoys what they have to offer every time I swing a leg over them. I settled on keeping them not because of some wordsmiths overembellished hyperbole, no, but that feeling of just being right for me for the journey I'm about to embark upon. In relatively recent years I've had both, the pleasure and displeasure of owning several, what - for me - were overhyped machines. I suppose just as is the case with others too - I bought the koolaid so to speak. A couple of recent examples would be my Ducati Multi-Strada with the highy touted skyhook suspenders. When it works it's as if it were raided from an area 51 hangar - almost too good for humans to be privvy to. When not, which was the case with mine - I was left so bitter I told my wife I should've bought two - one to park with the other to ram into it. Simply inexcusable to bring a 25k+ machine to market only to have so many issues - though I must admit it was the perfect blend of sophistication and bling. The next would be the '15 Suzuki Hayabusa I had for a short while. An apropos personal summation analogous to the well known 'No Hat No Cattle' rebuke would be 'All Motor Nothing Else'. So disenchanted was I with this behemoth of an barely guideable, tortuous, plasticky, overpowered gizmo - I actually turned the barge around, headed back home from being en route on a ride with friends to the coast - and exchanged it for my Aprilia which resulted in immediate gratification as well as a salvaged uberfun ride. To this day I still don't know what possessed me to make that purchase. One of my rare 'momentary lapses of reason' I suppose. Anyhow, I couldn't rid myself of that mechanical cartoon of a bike too soon. To each their own echoes within the hallowed walls of motocycledom with caveat emptor its cornerstone. Not meaning to offend any of you who might own one of the examples cited. I sincerely wish upon you nothing but good times with yours. In the final analysis - we share a common bond, a thread which links us and that's our passion for motorcycles. Ah, but I digress: Being so personally involved in so many things mechanica - I, myself am puzzled as to why I've yet to experience what a Guzzi has to offer. It's certainly not due to its lack of allure. Be it what it may, I'm puling the trigger on one when satisfied it at least ticks all of the right precursory boxes. I'm an according to my wife - and others who know me, certifiable nut. Things which may be acceptable to others are just inconceivable for me to understand but that's my OCD illness and IT IS an illness. A new scratch or blemish or noise as benign as it may very well be is a source of consternation for me. Its not unusual at all for me to go out to the barn in the middle of the night to either re-assess any malady or overthink a mechanical boggle. I'm currently looking at an '01 V11 flyscreened sport which appears to be very well kept. I'm keenly aware that some of you are Ohlins advocates. Based on my personal experience, in some applications - I wholeheartedly concur. In others, not so much. One example is my Aprilia's. The '03 'R' and Tuono racing are fitted with Ohlins forks and shock, (another feature being radial vs axial mounted brembo's which I'll get to as well). My other RSV, the standard Mille is equipped with a Showa fork and properly valved and springed Wilber shock . I can unequivocally say my standard Mille's suspension is superior in just about every way except one: It doesn't have the polished titanium nitride (TiN) gold finish forks or signature yellow shock spring to ogle - however, from a functional performance perspective proven by lap time upon lap time, the standard fare Showa forks are superior. I must qualify the above by disclosing BOTH versions were heavily reworked. The Ohlins units by famed Swedish guru Stig Petterson with the Showa rework performed by Race Tech. There's simply no comparison. The Showa's are far more supple yet offer equal if not better high speed control than their pricey ($2k reworked) Ohlins counterparts. In relaying this information to Stig, his response was a TTX 25 pressurized spring upgrade for the paltry additional sum of $2500. No thanks Stig. I'm good enough a rider to notice the difference between what it was pre-and post rework, but admittedly not so good (or willing to part with the additional $$$) as to possibly benefit in bringing the Ohlins up to the standard of a much less pricey reworked Showa. Next, and in reference to the axial gold line Brembo vs radial calipers. All of the machines are fitted with genuine brembo sintered pads so there's no difference there. I suppose one would need possess Valentino Rossi-esque skills to truly notice any marked difference. I do not, nor do the admittedly superior to me rider pals who I watched lap both willow springs and buttonwillow on my bikes. So, to wrap it up. When I do find the one. The ancillaries are not as important as the obvious attention to detail and care exercised by its current owner. Thank you all again in being so gracious and forthcoming. I very much look forward to being involved in future discussions - contributing, whenever I feel my input may be useful. -doc

Hello folks, After many years of having my motorcycling interests piqued, I'm teetering on the threshold of Guzzi ownership once locating one which suits my debilitating OCD'idness, however - I do have some concerns which I'm certain your collective experiences shall easily quell. Firstly, I've read through thread after thread until my eyes bled and my head throbbed in my quest to research several points of interest. Information fatigue sets in and I may be reading precisely what I was seeking yet somehow the resulting potpourri of cumulative data numbs my ability to ascertain anything useful. Perhaps, I'm just getting older and its more difficult to pick out the lyrics from the noise, I don't know, but here goes: Currently, my stable of street mounts includes 2 Aprilia RSV's which I enjoy immensely on those days where a brisk sortie on one of the wonderful local (and oft times not so local) mountain roads here provides more therapy than any shrink could, and 2 BMW boxers - one, the 12S is an decidedly spicier albeit not as comfortable contraption as my BCR prep 11S. I suppose comfort, as anything else - is subjective, but also know one's physical core strength, overall health and general conditioning are major denominators in that assessment. I've clicked off several 500 mile plus days through the years on - ALL of my machines - so recruiting even a dedicated sport bike as a long distance machine is nothing new to me. Just as I've read with many of you - I'm passionate about my machines and exercise them as often as time allows which lately... is pretty often. Anyhow, the Guzzi's I'm currently mulling over are the various V11 iterations from the naked and flyscreened sport to the faired LeMans and all of the colorfully nomenclatured models in between. I'm now leaning towards a flyscreened sport though at this point that may change depending on what shows up. My questions: Which bikes are prone to the transmission shift spring failure and housing cracking issues? This is particularly of interest to me as I was stranded in the middle of nowhere on my 11S when the trans input shaft decided to machine its way through its splined clutch hub to the point of no splines left for engagement. Not fun. It's all sorted now and I don't believe that can ever happen again after an updated fully broached and extended hub disc was installed. Just last week I took the same bike, the BCR prep up through death valley and surrounding areas and marveled at how easily it clicks off mile after 100 -120 mph mile, and would endlessly - until either running out of fuel or the law intervened. I've owned the bike since new and it now has 98k+ miles. In that time, aside from the clutch issue, it's been absolutely stellar in every respect. Oil consumption is negligible between its 3K OCI's, regardless of how its ridden. Even though I check valves every 7500 they've required only 2 adjustments in 15 years of ownership. Interestingly, the same holds true for the Rotax V990 powered Aprilia's as well. Both platforms show obscenely stable valvetrains. What can I expect with an V11 and is it as capable a high speed cruising performer? Looking forward to your replies as well as becoming an active contributor/participant. -doc

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