O2 V11

Antonio, the MGCN tour of N.Z. looks interesting but the only English language on the site is the Home page. I will e-mail the club for some more information. Rob

What a great weekend it was for all. The venue at Otematata was excellent, plenty of good roads and lots and lots of Guzzi's. It is true, you really do meet the nicest people riding Guzzi's. Here is a link to pics from the weekend, mostly bikes. http://o2v11.zoto.com/[/url] Rob

Although this Korean made tyre is regarded as being a budget type, I am finding it to be better for me than the original Bridgestone BT020. The original fitment gave me a couple of worrying moments, both caused by unseen loose pebbles on the road surface. The movement in the back end was that bad I actually stopped both times expecting to find a flat rear tyre. The Continental is much better in this respect, I feel the new Continental also provides me with more confidence in the wet. Rob

I work a 4 x 4 roster, 4 days on 6am-6pm, then 4 days off. If my days off fall through the week I ride between 9am and 3pm, kids at school and the wife is at work. Days off at the weekend I take either the wife or one of the kids with me. I pick my days and ride purely for pleasure, I have covered a mere 4350 miles in 15 months. I have ridden the 80 km return to work once which I didn't find enjoyable at all. Rob

When I imported my bike I also bought in some Continental Contiforce tyres. Yes, they were cheap and surprisingly made in Korea. I was contemplating selling these and fitting Dialo Stradas as replacements for the OE Bridgestones. But I didn't as the Pirellis are pricey in my part of the world. I was dropping my rear wheel off to the guy who was fitting them for me when I saw he had the same tyre as mine in 170/60. I asked him if he would swap my 180/55 for his and he agreed. What a difference, I have only had a quick 70 mile ride but I find the difference remarkable. The bike is easier to "turn in", it definitely needs less steering input and doesn't feel as top heavy as it did before. On to the real question, has anyone with the early, shorter framed models ever fitted a 120/60 front tyre. Why I ask is while looking through the Continental catalogue I noticed they made one. The overall diameter is 24mm less than the traditional 120/70. If fitted this would have the same effect as raising the fork legs 12mm in the triple trees. Rob

http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=4181&hl= Lee, see what Brian Robson did to his LeMans. It could be the answer for you. As you don't have the larger Sport and Naked headlight, the Ballabio and LeMans might share the same headlight. Can anyone confirm this? Rob

Hi Frank, good to hear from you as we haven't heard much from you recently. Did you get your bike back in one piece after your accident? You are going to have to tell us, what fried your ECU. If I don't ask someone else will. Could you give us a figure of what your My15 plus the Optimiser is worth delivered? Rob

Lee, ask your BMW dealer about a replacement lens for a R100/7. Hopefully the part number is 63 12 1 358 147. Should cost about $30. Rob

Thanks Rocky, I must admit I didn't know this was on. My roster's looking good, I only to take the Monday off. Can you PM me with some more info or contacts. Thanks, Rob P.S. What sort of person wouldn't know where Otematata is?

Below is an extract from Agip's website. It describes the oil that is recommended for our V11's gearbox and bevel box. AGIP ROTRA MP SAE 80W-90/85W-140 AGIP ROTRA MP is an EP (Extreme Pressure) gear oil recommended for hypoid gears operating under severe conditions and for very highly loaded gears in general, especially those subject to dynamic loads. It can also be used in conventional gear-boxes and steering-boxes on cars and trucks, and in gear-boxes, final drives and power take-offs on farm and earth-moving machinery. It can thus be used for lubricating all gears, whatever they are made of, for which the manufacturer recommend an EP lubricant. Does this choice of oil confirm an agricultural background to our machines? Rob

I don't find this unusual at all. When I imported my V11 I had only seen what was posted about them on the internet. To this day I have not seen another V11 on the road. I must admit I was nervous when I picked the bike up because it was one of those first impression situations. You know the type, you'll either love it or hate it. But like I have said before mine is a keeper. Pete, if you're quick enough you might still be able to get the personalised plate AWANKA before it's gone. Seriously good on ya, the Griso is not my cup of tea... Rob

ephman, find a dealer and take on for a ride, I would be surprised if you couldn't manage it. Rob

Good sh!t, I'm pleased it works so well for you. Rob

I have never found this to be an issue with my 2002 tank. The manual states the fuel capacity as about 20.7 litres. The most I have put in my tank is 21.67 litres then another big fill of 21.2 litres. My fuel light has not worked since new. I rely entirely on my trip-meter. 186 miles is the furthest I have travelled on one tank. You know when it is time to refuel once it starts sucking air and misses and coughs..... Always had just enough left to make it to a gas station though. Rob

Bruce, looking from the front of the bike, purple is on the left and red/white stripe is on the right. Rob

Mark, why do you run your bike Optimax? When we holidayed in Surfers we put regular in our BA rent a wreck and it worked OK. The gas we run them on here is our regular 91, my bike also runs faultlessly on the same stuff. Our 98 octane equivalent would be similarly priced to yours. Rob

Rick, it wouldn't hurt to try Redline. Some posters hold it in very high regard, who knows, it may contain the mystical and magical properties necessary to solve your problem. A lot of us are already using synthetic oil in both the gearbox and bevel box. Rob

Lee, welcome to the weird and wonderful world of Moto Guzzi. There is an easy fix for what you are experiencing. You simply swap the spring on the cold start lever with that on the seat release catch. You should be able to do this in ten minutes. There are quite a few posts on this topic already. Rob

Types of grease to be used To lubricate the cardan transmissions, use only saponifying greasers with a lithium of grade 2 consistency, 265/295 penetration and a dropping point of about 180 deg C. The lubricants must not contain additives with MOStwo. This is from the owners manual. Rob

jamesmachine, does your bike consistently run to redline in 6th? If it does what mods have you done to it and what model is it? I would like very much for mine to be able to do this. I feel lowering the final drive ratio would not give a higher top speed if it can't redline in top already. Rob

Pete, my plate cost me $500. This is less than a set of new tyres, as much as I would have to fork out for a Stucchi crossover, a set of shiny mufflers would cost me nearly twice as much as my plate did. It is an accessory that I wanted for my bike, nothing more, nothing less. No offence intended with the above editing, if we can't laugh at ourselves there must be something wrong... Rob

Lee Enfield would be a good place to start. Rob

22 posts later, no mention of a Moto Guzzi or a V11 of any sort. The whole topic is irrelevant to a lot of us out here. Let's finish it now. Rob

Wow, using high octane fuel can cause carbon buildup which then results in pinking. I'm really struggling with that concept. When my bike arrived from the U.S. it had a tankful of a foul smelling liquid that would have been sold as petrol. I don't know what it is made of but it is definitely different to what we buy. The first time I removed my tank I did not know the tap had not closed off completely and subsequently when I removed the fuel line I ended up flicking some of this fuel into my eyes. Nothing happened at all, I couldn't believe it as when I accidentally did this with our petrol it was a very, painful experience. Kids don't try this at home... I have always run my bike on our 91 octane without a hint of any pre-ignition or pinking even before I fitted the PC. Now for a silly question, has anyone checked the timing of any stock bike prone to pinking? If high octane fuel is being used what else apart from timing can cause this pinking? Rob

Brian, pretty sure you have answered your own question. It is stainless but I have no idea what grade it is. What are you planning to link an O2 sensor to ? Rob