audiomick

Yours, I take it?

I'm fairly sure mine shouldn't be. Others here have said so. Mine had a handlebar instead of the clip-ons in the hands of the owner 2 previous to me. The papers I have confirm the number plate as being the owner from Feb. 2017 till May 2022. The mufflers are also different to the ones on it now. I think the previous owner flogged them off seperately when he sold it to me. The photo was passed on to me by someone I know from the Germann forum. No idea how he got the photo. PS: I'd rather like to know why that luggage rack wasn't on it when I got it.

The penny just dropped. You're right of course.

Mine both have compression damping adjustment. My gauges are black (ish. more like grey..) No, it doesn't. What's the next digit after that? The 10th digit is the year of manufacture. Look here: https://www.mgcn.nl/database/mg-framenummers

errrmm, #456, I think.

I had already started a thread about the originality or not of the bike. It is here, but nothing absolutely conclusive came out of it. As you all can see, the topic is leaving me no peace... @docc it occurs to me now, too late, that I could have hung this on the end of that other thread instead of starting a new one. Feel free to merge them if you wish.

I've got some pictures in the gallery. I'll put them in. The fuel pump is in the (long) tank. Yes, I know the later forks are better, and am happy to have them. The papers I have go back to the original owner, in total 4 owners prior to me. The one before me I know personally, but he only had the bike for a year or so. Contacting any of the others would mean sending them a letter to the listed address "out of the blue", which may or may not achieve anything. The VIN is ZGUKTA0102M111456 Here are some pictures. The third one shows the top triple-clamp and the head of one fork. The head of the other fork is identical to that.

It's a Le Mans, so clip-ons are original. The upper triple-clamp has holes for the mounts for a "normal" handlebar, so not original. An aquaintance happened to have a photo of the bike from some time before I bought it showing it with handlebars mounted instead of the clip-ons. In the course of discussions here, I have gained the impression that the 43mm forks with compression damping in both legs are maybe a little unusual for a 2002 Le Mans, so maybe not original. In conjunction with that, the front axle is the larger diameter hollow axle from later models. Knowledgable members here showed some surprise when I mentioned that, so maybe also not original. The last two points point to maybe the whole front end having been swapped for a later version. If that is the case, did it have a bingle at some point? I'm just curious what the bike was fitted with when it was delivered. Maybe it is a parts-bin special from the factory, maybe someone has modified it, maybe not. As I said, I'm curious. Not that I'd be about to change the forks back if it turned out that the 40mm forks were originally fitted. I'd just like to know. PS: the side plates are dark grey. Every photo I have found on the 'net of bikes with a similar colour scheme have shown red side plates.

Hallo. As has been mentioned here once or twice, I'm not convinced that my 2002 V11 Le Mans is completely original. For instance, maybe the front end has been swapped, maybe not. I found this site: https://service.piaggiogroup.com/Vintage/richdetail.asp?L=EN=Guzzi but it is not immediately obvious to me which document would contain the information I am looking for. As far as I know, one of them lists the original equipment. Does anyone happen to know which one? Since the documents aren't exactly cheap, I'd kind of like to get the right one the first time...

@Drew G'day mate. Welcome to the forum, and good luck finding "your" V11. There's at least one other member here in Sydney. I'll see if I can find his name. Can't remember off hand... EDIT: found him. @Tennitragic. He had a thread here with a wiring problem that turned out to be something simple, but produced really weird symptoms.

Scud, your self-sacrifice and altruism never ceases to amaze me.

@docc what Jaap said... https://www.openstreetmap.org/directions?engine=fossgis_osrm_car&route=51.3406321%2C12.3747329%3B51.9438019%2C6.4636436#map=7/51.887/9.421 But conceivable, given that I can get enough time off. In 2016 I worked at the European Soccer Championship in Lille and Lens. If I remember rightly, we stayed in or near Seclin. I rode there on the Kawaski GTR 1000 in one day, in the rain. https://www.openstreetmap.org/directions?engine=fossgis_osrm_car&route=51.3406321%2C12.3747329%3B50.5452102%2C3.0252819#map=7/51.031/7.707 The V11 Le Mans is not the dedicated long-distance tourer that the GTR is, but Varssefeld is about 300 km closer to Leipzig than Seclin.

It's a longish trip, but I could concievably actually ride to that. Should it happen, and time constraints allowing.

Yeah, I've confirmed that too. But they tend to not improve the state of the wiring. Only 5V at the starter is even less than mine had when I bought it.

@docc this is solely and entirely your fault, due to the previous post. I take absolutely no responsibility.

I was going to just say "bingo", but @alannn probably hit the nail right on the head. PS: although I'm not quite sure about the "less practical". I've done rides of more than two hours. I find the riding position very good (I'm about 176 cm), the seat comfortable, the wind protection pretty good, and you can put a luggage rack on it if you want to. PPS: the pillion seat is shithouse, though.

A more serious attempt at that question. I haven't ridden a 4-V big-block (your Griso, for instance) or a V85, but... The 4-valve head is the "modern" iteration of the old big block motor. From what I've heard and read, it is very good. The V85 is the latest generation of the motor in my V35 and my Breva. By all accounts, also very good. The motor in the V11 is more or less the ultimate developement of the 2-valve big block motors. As far as I understand it, the motor in the 2-valve Griso, 1100 Breva and 1100 Norge was not much different, but they were all CARC models and a bit more refined than a "classic" Guzzi. The V11 has the spine frame, so not a classic Tonti frame and therefore not quite a classic Guzzi anymore, but also not that far away from it because of the motor. What you have is a big, classic Guzzi twin tuned to within an inch of it's life wrapped up in a pretty good frame and suspension. In its time, very good. All the character of the old Guzzi V-twin combined with pretty snappy motor response, and very useful handling and brakes. It is a combination I like. The difference to the other two you have? Barely concealed brute force. A bit like a bouncer in a dinner suit.

Of course. I've got three. Everyone should have three. Mine are a V35 Imola, a Breva 750 i.e. , and a V11 Le Mans. All very different, but still all very much Guzzi. My Le Mans is actually a problem case. It obviously had one or more somewhat less finicky previous owners, and I've already fixed a number of things. Right at the moment, it is waiting on at least a new fork seal, maybe a fork re-build, and it doesn't run at all well between 2,000 and 3,000 revs. Might be the timing sensor, I think. Despite all that, I love it. You need one.

Legend.

What, like this? or maybe more like this?

That's this bike. The photo of the front tire, first photo in the thread, turns up in the video about 20 minutes in. @wavey_davey1 great to see the bike on the road, and on the correct side of the road into the bargain.

I was allowed to ride a TZ 350 one time. Proper race bike, with slicks and all. No idle, started working at 6,000 rpm, went mad at 8,000, tailed off above 10,000, and just managed to get to 12,000 without any additional gain. Loads of fun, but that was on a track. On the road, it would have been a pain, if not to say completely useless.