PhillipLarsen

@docc is correct😂 I did suggest that some leather gloves maybe fitting for their social media video shoots, but those model ladies are hard to convince of anything. Luckily they insisted on the Moto Guzzi V11. They passed on the CBX, the Stelvio, the VF1000R, a Ducati & Norton 850 that I had available. Even though they do not know anything about motorcycles, they said it represented the “style” they were looking for. I was thinking to suggest @docc’s idea, but didn’t! The Halloween costume photos they showed me as a Policewomen and Nurse (they are 2 cousins) were great !

The old Anvil from my grandfathers farm shop with the two holes described now in my basement shop (1908 home) and used occasionally, nearby the phones from same place, and the late 1800’s snooker table that I used to have in my hangar (no place large enough to set up).

Replaced the standard size Michelin Pilot Power 2CT’s (Front had 12k Kms. (7200 miles) Rear 10k Kms (6200 miles) with Road 6’s 120/70ZR17 and 180/55ZR17. Have had it for a couple rides from Vancouver to Whistler return on Sea to Sky Hwy (sea level to 2200 ft) 150 miles round trip of nice twisty road. The 2CTs were finished, but I had really liked how sticky they were. The Road 6’s seem very nice handling, but comparing new to old is not really a fair evaluation. The Road 6’s are pricey compared to other option but wanted to try them to see how they do.

Yes, it is from 2004. Not sure but I think MG sold them in that 2003 to 2005 era.

You might also want to check that the master cylinder is working correctly and does not have any small pieces of debris contaminating the very small holes. One time my 04 V11 had a case where it started with no brake one time, like you mention and within a couple miles and uses of the rear brake had the brake on slightly all the time, overheating the pads and disc. If I had not noticed I think the disc would have turned red. The pads had started to break down from heat. The issue was a piece of debris in the small orfice where the 90 degree fitting comes out of the master cylinder. Looked like a tiny piece of black seal material. The brake had worked perfectly since new up to that time. I rebuilt the master cylinder, caliper and new pads and worked like new since.

2004 V11 Ballabio

2004 Ballabio around 18k miles on it, recently replaced the Gianelli exhaust with the original exhaust still new so could take the wife for a ride ( she insisted as wanted a video to show friends, both her and her cousin). The bike has always been serviced regularly with all 3 oil changes, filters (air and oil), drive shaft off for greasing, calipers and master cylinders rebuilt, brake pads, etc. Getting new Michelin Road 6’s this week (has pilot 2 ct2+ that are finished). Found there was a slight hesitation or misfire sometimes when rolling on the throttle between 1800 and 2200 rpm. Seemed more frequent when hotter out, and becoming more frequent over a few hundred miles. Decided I should prepare to do the “Decent Tuneup” and while I assemble the needed items I would proceed with step 1. Spark plugs and tappet clearances. A real surprise. Plug gap was about .040/ .041 with the plugs looking in good shape ( likely about 6 k miles since last look) Tappets .011/.013 Int / Ex ( likely 10 k miles since last checked) Installed new plugs .028 (have a box of them). Set the tappers to .006/.008. Went for a 150 mile ride. No more misfire or cough at low engine rpm throttle roll on. So nice.

Agree with @Lucky Phil I still have and ride the 45 year old CBX that I have had since new with about 71,000 KM (owned a Honda dealership back then). Had it out for a ride a couple days ago. During my ride I was thinking about what attracts people to this bike as it is not very pleasant to ride. I have the Euro bars/ foot pegs option that was available in Canada, better CB900F rear shocks, and much better Pirelli tires than originals, but it rides and handles not well, much like many 1970s motorcycles. My 1975 Norton 850 is a nicer, lighter, better handling bike. But if I make the mistake of stopping by the local motorcycle Starbucks for a coffee, it is swarmed by the other bike riders, and the non riders that recognize it, etc., more so than some of my other old bikes that I think are much nicer. I don’t like to answer all the questions, so avoid doing that. If you like that kind of attention for your bike, the CBX can do that.

Docc, Great idea and am going to do it on my Ballabio next, rather than waiting for it to start showing fluid, same for Ducati 916.

Used the Seal Mate on my 2012 Stelvio today. It has about 32,000 miles on it. It started weeping a slight but visible film on both tubes a few days ago. Surprised how much debris came out. Cleaned them, pumped forks a few times, cleaned again ( a little more came out second cleaning), pumped them, cleaned all up. Took it for about 80 mile ride, with no sign of any seeping. I suggest this is worth trying if the seals are not too old and hard ( like the ones I changed out on my 49 year old Norton). Phillip

email sent

Looking forward to getting it.

Recently needed to rebuild rear master cylinder on my 2004 V11 Sport Ballabio. Found the rebuild kits at Gutsibits in UK. Cost for the two kits was about 38 Euro. The one kit is the piston, seals, spring, o-ring, sleeve, washer, etc. (BRA10241 / LS0418) The other is the 90 degree plastic fitting and seal that attaches to body where brake fluid supply enters master cylinder. (BRA19500 / LP1419) I suggest making sure to remove the 90 degree fitting, as that is where my problem was where the smaller of the two holes was plugged in behind the 90 degree fitting seal. This resulted in the caliper not fully releasing, keeping the rear brake active, heating up the pads/rotor. Lucky I noticed fairly quickly ( the next time I went to apply the brake) as I think if one did not, it would quickly cook the pads/disc. Delivery to Canada by post was relatively fast. I rebuilt the rear caliper, new pads, as well using kits from Powerhouse UK. Could not find Rear Brake Master Cylinder Thread so added here. Picture is of the removed old parts.

Confirmed for 1

Thanks DucatiGuzzIindian. I could also have it shipped to Point Roberts, Wa, just a short ride away. Shipping is much less to there and for lower cost items like this manufactured in the USA I will not need to pay and tax to import in person. Thanks

Confirming I (PhillipLarsen) am still needing one plate. I am in Vancouver BC Canada. Thanks for everyone’s efforts to design and manufacture these.

At about the same time when I was 13 years old in 1967 I bought a used 1964 Honda 50 Sport C110 (the image is from internet, mine looked identical) and a very used 1940 Indian Chief 74 with sidecar (found it on a nearby farm in northern Saskatchewan not being used). I still have the Indian 56 years later (picture is of me riding it a couple years ago) and the 50 Sport was in a moto museum in Alberta last time I saw it about 10 years ago.

Could you please add me to the list for one slosh plate for my 2004 Ballabio. Thanks

I do really like the Stelvio for long multi day, 10 or more hours per day trips, and for some nice gravel back road. It is very comfortable and I am old. I love my V11 for sport riding and shorter day or two trips, even 8 hour one day trips is ok.

I bought a 2012 Stelvio 3 years (8,000 miles ago) from a friend which had about 22k miles on it. I am third owner, previous two are close friends of each other and me, Guzzi enthusiasts and look after their bikes. The bike had been used about 98 % on pavement, but used through rainy weather on longer trips when that occurred. This one was a pre rollerization from factory and had the correct rollerization kit installed by the dealer at about 10k miles. It has the running lights rewired to ensure no shorts. The issues I have had are fairly common I think. I now have about 30K miles on it, and just follow the service recommendations. 1. Rear suspension and swingarm needle bearings I noticed the rear suspension link was due for servicing (24K miles) of bearings and also the swingarm bearings (there are no grease nipples on any of these). When I removed all the rear suspension link needle bearings and seals they all needed replacing (almost no grease in them and rust in many of them). Apparently both the needle bearings and swingarm bearing came from factory with only a smaller amount of light grease at new. I would just take apart and grease it all as a preventative measure, if there is no history of it being done. The swingarm tapered needle bearings had little grease and just a very slight indication of rust around the edges starting. I replaced the link bearings and seals, and cleaned up the swingarm bearings, replaced the seals on these as well. I used marine grease for all of these ( packed full of grease), as it tends to keep the water from getting in at all. Apparently it is fairly common for these to get contaminated with water. With the bike on the double stand removing the linkages and swingarm is quite easy and pressing the needle bearings out of and into the linkages is straight forward with a small hydraulic press. Allows to clean up and lubricate the drive shaft, etc. at the same time. 2. Spoke wheels leaking at nipple O rings Excessive leakage from wheels through the O-rings on the spoke nipples. The rear was loosing 2 to 3 psi per week, and just annoying me. I put the wheel in the water tank and realized that a lot of the spoke nipples were weeping past the o rings ( very small bubbles very slowly). Next time I changed the rear tire I ended up taking them all out one at a time to replace the o rings, clean out and spray each nipple bore in the rim with a engine block enamel to give a smoother finish and then reinstall the spoke/ nipple with proper silicone grease. No leaking in two years since.

I see there is some consideration of using Kevlar. My recommendation would be not to, based on some experience about 25 years ago when i worked as a design engineer for an airline, and we had new Airbus A320 aircraft that had Kevlar in many of the the belly panel. The environment in this location subjects them to hydraulic oil and Skydrol from leaks as well as a lot of water and humidity. The panels absorbed oils into the the panel from the edges where they were trimmed during production, using the Kevlar to wick into the panel saturating the core material and turning the ridged panels to mush. Airbus ended up having to replace all the belly panels with Kevlar with new Carbon fiber or fiberglass panels on the early serial number planes that had them. Cost a fortune. The original design goal of the Kevlar was for durability.

I am looking to buy a set of Front Foot Pegs (the folding pegs themselves, as do not need the mount) part numbers GU30440705 Right Hand, and GU30441805 Left Hand. I think all the V11 Sport, Lemans, Ballabio, Scura, etc. used the same footpegs. I am going to modify them by cutting the Peg off, welding on a aluminum piece than extends them down about 25 mm and welding the peg back on to that extension. They will still fold using original method. Want a spare set to modify while I still ride my V11 Ballabio. Appreciate any information where a set maybe available. Thanks

Much thanks to @paulnaz for the parts to allow me to put original Ballabio bars back on my Ballabio which has Lemans top triple plate with Lemans Clip ons. When done I will be able to switch back and forth between bar setups fairly quickly. Really appreciate the parts. If anyone would have the two top parts that clamp the bars in place I am looking for those to complete the installation. Thanks Phillip

Hello Paul, that is great. My postal code is V6K 1B2 Vancouver BC. Thanks a lot. Usually by post is the most reasonable to Canada for small items.

Hello @paulnaz, sorry I had missed your reply back in December. I am just getting back to trying to change the bars back to original on the 2004 Ballabio. Yes those look like the parts that I need if/when I find an original upper triple plate (GU01493180). I would like to buy them from you if you may be willing to sell them, just for the case that I find an original Ballabio triple plate. The Stein Dense upper triple plate is no longer available. There is a LSL Super bike V11 Lemans kit to convert to one piece handle bars that will work. It is a plate that mounts on top of the existing triple plate that has the handlebars mounts on it, and shown previously I think, but the link shows it in black and they may have changed it slightly from the previous one shown. If I cannot find an original Ballabio triple plate, I may end up going with the LSL plate adapter. Link Superbike-Kit MOTO GUZZI V11 Sport schwarz LSL black Moto Guzzi V11 Le Mans Le M | eBay Thanks Phillip