po18guy

Here's a local Washington State example (2004, 4000 miles) that I just noticed. Dunno what his reserve is, but we'll see. Which model came with 1/4 fairing, Marzocchi/Sachs and clipons? The Sport standard? 6 bidders and 49 watchers. https://www.ebay.com/itm/2004-Moto-Guzzi-V11-Sport/184347509167?hash=item2aebf7c1af:g:8fIAAOSwFbFe8jT-

So, what do we call you? Abe ViGuzzi?

I have an aftermarket centerstand on myV11, but it is poorly engineered. The pivot point is 2"-3" too low and one must lift the behemoth about 3" before the stand goes over center. Have thrown my back out once already. Am searching for a different stand to adapt to the aftermarket mount.

Sadly, Piaggio/MG heard the "Italian Harley" reference and took it to heart. Why not hire Erik Buell for some quick chassis R&D? I heard he's available... Would not be the first Yank they have leaned on. Regarding Piaggio, it seems that some of their scooter mindset has crept in. Did Honda dispose of all the tooling for the Honda CX650? That seems to have been a better, more advanced and emissions friendly design (in 1983) than the current small-blocks are. Harley has had to cave on liquid cooling (if the roof has not caved in, that is) and I suppose that a "Water Guzzi" is in the future. Pondering this, the V11 is essentially an air-cooled slice off a 1965 Chrysler hemi. Hard to meet Euro 3,4 or 5 emissions with a somewhat refined 1930s radial aircraft engine combustion chamber. Band Aids on the intake and exhaust (F.I. and Catalyst) are only crutching for the antiquated engine itself. Speaking of which, were they separated at birth? Guzzi V11 Chrysler 426 "Elephant" hemi

If the reflector housing is the standard 7" unit with the three indexing tabs around the perimeter, it "should" drop right in. Knowing MG, they may have used some obscure proprietary unit. I guess one would have to compare the LM unit to a standard 7" automotive sealed beam as to the attaching/indexing points for compatibility. As bright as we oldsters thought H4 halogen units were back in the day, LED is a world apart as well as a blessing for bikes which have marginal charging systems.

Don't know if the headlight buckets are the same, but I have swapped out all lights on my '04 Ballabio for LED units. If it matters, the bucket is plastic and has the QD harness which attaches at the bottom rear of the recess intended for the OEM H4 bulb and harness. The "bulb" is a unit from Infitary (eBay). It has Philips ZES diodes, a cooling fan and the separate driver. I wrapped the driver in some thin closed cell foam to prevent it from rattling. Many LED 9003/H4 units will have provision for rotating the unit to achieve the beam pattern that suits you. The taillight is an LED unit from Clear Alternatives and came with the bike. As to signals, I used "iBrightstar" 7507 (BAU15S) units with projector lenses in front. About $17/pair on Amazon. Much brighter and more focused light than the incandescent bulbs. In the rear I have some generic projector lens LED units that seem roughly equivalent to those in from but cost considerably less. Time will tell on this. To prevent hyper flash, I bought a two-pin adjustable flash rate LED flasher unit on eBay. When I have the gauge cluster apart, I also have some LED T5 units for the warning lights and gauge illumination. Would like to change the signal indicator lights to yellow from the green that MG thought made sense... Headlight: https://smile.amazon.com/INFITARY-Headlight-Headlamp-10000LM-Warranty/dp/B07V36DVLB/ref=sr_1_40?dchild=1&keywords=9003+led&qid=1593627161&sr=8-40 Signals: https://smile.amazon.com/iBrightstar-Newest-Bright-Projector-replacement/dp/B075Q9RGZW/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=ibrightstar+7507&qid=1593626377&sr=8-1

Pee-Ahhhh-Gee-Oh has no idea how many more (yes, us grey hairs) would be in MG showrooms if they had one of these in the window.

The smaller diameter inner pipe at the cylinder head may be for strength, as that is the focal point of vibration and mounting stress. As well, smaller pipes leading to larger pipes provide a sort of "expansion chamber", which technically can help in scavenging the exhaust. IIRC, the expanding gas as it enters the larger pipe, produces a bit of a lower pressure behind it, which helps draw the rest of the exhaust out of the cylinder.

I think we should wait until the MASS Moto system is installed and tuned for. It might be far better than expected. I measured the outside diameter of the V11s OEM head pipes @ 1.77 inches. That is rather large, given the cylinder's displacement and PRM range - but they must know what they were doing? That is big block Chevy size.

Honestly, could not dirt bike radiator scoops have been used for the intakes? Ugly as they might be, I see improvement over this alien insect. Looks more like a Honda 919 Murder Hornet to me. Reminds me of one Brit journalist's coomment on the1985 Honda V65 Magna: "Looks like a magnet dragged through a parts bin." And honestly, the MG small block valve covers look like the heads on Harbor Freight air compressors. We need Edelbrock or Offenhauser to make up some proper covers. I've posted this design exercise elsewhere, but might as well get it in this thread, as it is doable. Send the motor to California and some of the rodders there might get 90--95 reliable HP out of it.

Thanks Chuck! It arrived long ago, but it now has a coat of U-POL clear #1 and is curing in the smaller of my two "garage ovens" @ 140ºF as we speak. It and the spring (and probably Pete's plate) will go in once my Kwaker 500 is reconstituted, as I cannot be without a ride.

Interval should be the word. Firing interval = exhaust pulse interval. 360º parallel twins are perfect examples of one cylinder helping to scavenge the other, but other designs (exception below) cannot achieve that. I have a 180º twin. The left cylinder helps to scavenge the right, which fires 180º later, but the left cylinder does not really benefit from the exhaust pulse of the right cylinder, which arrives 540º later. Guzzi's, Ducs etc. have one cylinder which has help scavenging the exhaust, but the other cylinder has to deal with an exhaust pulse which comes, not 270º later, but 450º later - thus far less scavenging effect. For that reason, the pipe engineers have the headaches and the tangle of snakes pipe designs. Inline 4s can achieve this by pairing the two inner cylinders and the two outer cylinders (2 and 3 firing 360º apart and 1-4 firing that same 360º apart), but factory exhausts are only rarely done that way. Cool, curvy 4 into 1s look far better on the sales floor. Honda Civics, with hidden exhausts, often use the tri-y setup in aftermarket headers, pairing cylinders which fire 360º apart. They have the room to do that, but space (and looks) is at a premium in bikes.

Remember that the exhaust pulses are timed and do not pass through that narrow section simultaneously. The design seems to allow each cylinder to utilize both mufflers to some extent, so may actually boost mid-range and even top-end sightly.

I think that would have been the Voevodsky Cyberlight(?)

How about "Collector"? That MASS Moto system looks good, and seems to be a mid or semi-high mount. Am guessing they are long out of print, as the website only shows the newer Piazzis. Yank V8s had crossovers or equalizers due to the odd firing interval/order. True balanced headers had tubes that crossed from side to side to take advantage of cylinder scavenging. Here is a less-than-exhausting article which explains: https://www.hotrod.com/articles/180-degree-headers-help-v8s-low-midrange-torque/

Back in the 60s, my friends and I made fun of the 16" wheeled Ducati Monza 160. We're not laughing anymore. I think that Fireblade = CBR900RR in the states. 'Cept the Aussies probably got more HP. And, GP riders didn't like the 16s, so they swapped wholesale to 17s and production bikes followed. Trouble is that the 17s slowed the steering response. So, they went with 16.5...

If anything, today's selection in 16" tires is smaller but better, since many of the offerings have all been upgraded with new compounds and some tread modifications. Many 80s-90s bikes with substantial HP use 16s. The Yamaha FJ1100 is one, the CBR900 another.

Bella! Stupendo! There's just something about that red V11 that looks familiar... Oh! That's why!

The 1992-1999 Honda CBR900RR had a 16" front with a 17" rear. I ride 16s on my EX500/GPz500R. As to tires, Bridgestone just upgraded their classic bias BT45 to make the BT46. As you can see, they had a certain brand of motorcycle in mind.

Exact;y! And this "could" be the bike, but we know how well Piaggio Group listens to consumers... Posted this elsewhere and just could not resist re-posting it here.

Not a V11, but is certainly preferable to the tepid V85s on sale. OK, so it's a design exercise. Let's call it "Homage a LeMans...???" Oberdan Bezzi is a stylistic genius, and his site is chock full of eye candy.

Get a glass-topped digital food scale from Amazon. Less than $15. I use one to weigh out green coffee beans before I roast them. We have two of these. Zero problems. https://smile.amazon.com/AccuWeight-scale-Multifunction-Capacity-Tempered/dp/B013WU0CZW/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=accuweight+scale&qid=1592254359&sr=8-2

I decided to keep it simple so as to avoid exceeding my abilities. For those ever important Odyssey voltage checks, it finally struck me that I am a fumble-fingered fool and do not like fiddling around or dropping things. So, a couple of banana plugs, an SAE charging connector, a touch of solder and heat-shrink insulation and I can now plug-n-play to check the voltage.

Indeed. Having used hammer and vise to replace the U-joints in my '61 and '63 Chevys, their beauty is their simplicity - but also their weakness. Can't help but suspect that there is a front axle from a Fiat Uno or similar that could be made to work. But, I am not Allen Millyard and no lathe lives in my garage.

'Spose it's a little too much to ask for a fabbed up CV joint drive shaft... but actually, the V11 shaft changes angularity far less than the front CV joints on cars.