Skeeve

The big valve 2v Guzzi motors seem to top out around 80 rwh w/o going to extremes and jeopardizing engine longevity/reliability, from what I've gleaned over the years of reading about Guzzis in print & online. The '95 Spot 1100 was claimed w/ 90hp, but that was measured at the piston tops, when the Daytona was claimed 100 and measuring 91 rwh or thereabouts. The '05+ models have a harder time reaching these numbers despite their bumped displacement due to the emissions restrictions being tighter. The reality hasn't changed much in the last 20 years: you'll get more from a Guzzi by saving wt. everywhere you can and cutting down on the things sticking out [ie: decrease drag] than you will chasing horsepower; short of some fairly expensive & esoteric work, there's just not much way to get more out of the mill than it's already providing.

Get the Stucchi x-over and don't look back: lower wt., better sound, and will go w/ that oh-so-sexy undertail ex. you've got very well!

No, you're most definitely not alone! The pork chops on the Daytona & 1100 Spot were glorious, but CNC'd billet is more expensive to make than the machined castings found on the spineys from the Sporti forward. It has been a dream of mine to repop the Spot-style pork chops in the correct offsets to fit on the '01+ Sport & its derivatives [like my '03 LM], with threads & screw on caps so that the hollow center can be used for packing a lunch or tools or something. Extra fuel? Anything to lower the c.g! Idle vanity, I know, but wonderful to dream about, esp. after seeing Paul's efforts...

Hey, your graphic misspelled "Tao!"...

Yes, it is, and so is mounting the tire free with purchase, but I don't know of any motorcycle shops who do this! Glaringly faulty valve stems don't even elicit a courtesy "Hey, you really should replace that thing while we're doing the tire, it'll only cost you another $5*..." There are angled valve stems (45deg & 90deg) out there, and these should come stock on motorcycles but (mostly) don't, so you as the owner should be prepared to automatically replace the stockers the 1st time you change the tires: either type will radically improve the user experience when checking air pressure [which as conscientious motorcyclists, we should be doing at least once a month, right? ] BTW, Slime should only be used with innertubes, not with tubeless tires on alloy rims! That stuff will corrode your rim over time, plus it doesn't work as well as a tire plug: any shop who told you that a plug was inappropriate for your tire but proceeded to use Slime as a solution needs to be avoided... Ride on! * Highway robbery for a cheap rubber stem, about right for a proper metal valve stem that likely won't ever need replacing again...

Because they all do that. Two of the points are where the respective high points on the sprockets are, respectively. [The mounting holes are always off a smidge from truly centered.] The rest of the spots where the free play is at a minimum are where the "tight" links are, caused by lackluster chain maintenance. Doesn't take much; when my SV650 was in the shop 4 years ago after an accident, they stored her outside for 2 months, put close to 500 miles on her, and never lubed the chain, which had been new about 2 months before the accident. It was rusted and tight in a dozen places when I got the bike back [delivered completely unsafe to ride, fwiw. Needless to say, I don't give that shop any good reviews! ] Best o' luck w/ your Viffer; like most Hondas made since Soichiro-san went to join his ancestors, the technology is there but the soul is missing...

Looking at the chart of values, it appears to me that the sensor is essentially transitioning from "OFF" to "some value of ON" in the -40C to -30C range. This makes lots of sense, since -40C = -40F, and -30C = -22F, which are temperature ranges all out of keeping with the concept of motorcycle riding: time to bunker up & wait out the winter, you know? Yes, if the Nazis reinvade the Soviet Union, there would be need for someone-who-is-not-me to ride his motorcycle in such temps, and hence, for a motorcycle to run in such temps. But how are you going to start it, when your battery is frozen solid & there's no kickstarter on these things? So, the giant gap in values from -40C to -30C is just that: a transition from "frozen solid" to "someone's actually crazy enough to attempt this?!?" and can safely be ignored in further discussion... Here's what what's been empirically determined so far: The sensor reacts more quickly to the engine coming to temp when it has some sort of thermal conductor btw the nose of the sensor and the port into which the sensor screws into the head. [This is a good thing] The sensor body tends to get heat soaked in warm weather & run too lean if the original brass sensor receptacle is used instead of the prone-to-failure plastic receptacle. [This is a bad thing] The sensor functions better at high engine temps when an additional heat sink is interposed btw it and the receptacle. [A good thing, but starting to get crowded under the tank] The plastic receptacle will always degrade from heat and fail if the sensor is removed, vs. the longevity of a metal holder. [a bad thing] The sensor rarely, if ever, requires removal. [a good thing] Stainless steel has roughly 1/4 the thermal conductivity of brass [a so-so thing, depending upon requirements] Stainless steel reacts with aluminum, leading to galling & seizure of components when in close-fit physical proximity. [a bad thing] Anti-seize compound alleviates the problems with using stainless bolts in aluminum threads, and makes a good thermal paste for connecting the sensor nose to the head. [a good thing] Aluminum heat sinks are widely available at computer parts shops. [a thing of insignificance in most motorcycle discussions, but somewhat pertinent here] I am of perhaps less-than-average mechanical ability, call it "cave man like" on a range where "utterly inept" equals "unable to run a pencil sharpener" and "godlike" equals my brother's ability to start & drive away a car by laying on of the hands when I'd charged the battery, checked the fuses, etc. etc. and not had any luck w/ getting so much as a click out of the solenoid. [A thing of no particular consequence.] Installing a Ratchethack-like setup for the head temp sensor now that it has been done by someone else and seen to function falls into the "so easy a cave man could do it" category of life-experiences. [a good thing] I'm still tempted to run up a sensor receptacle in stainless, slather the thing in anti-seize and call it a day [a bad thing; I really don't have time for swapping over the mini-lathe to cut metric threads, etc.] Did I miss anything? Yes? Too bad, this post is too long by half...

I'm just curious: why is Piaggio pursuing a policy of fractionating existing markets instead of opening up new ones? Dallas is as large a metropolis as Houston: does it have a Guzzi dealership already? What about Austin or San Antonio? Shreveport, LA? How stupid do you have to be to piss off one of your halo dealerships while you've been losing dealerships left & right for the past couple years? Someone needs to go back to B-school, or better yet, just fired outright so they can go to the best school of all, that of Hard Knocks!

I'm not so sure you should use this metaphor, Ratch': AFAIK, the Philistines were somewhat successful militarily...

From reports, the stock x-over has a shell-within-a-shell construction, so the internal shell [which is constructed of perf'd. sheet metal] may have broken loose from one of its supports, or otherwise cracked & is rattling. That's about the only scenario I can imagine...

Oh, I forgot to mention: Clearing the fence & sticking the landing are two wildly different things! With enough ramp, he certainly could have cleared the fence...

The real irony being that the Nazis were (in)famous for? dedicated to? utilizing captured equipment [being that there was no way for their industrial capacity to satisfy the needs of their war machine] and probably did have a slew of captured Brit bikes used in the rear echelons where Hilts would have been likely as not to get one. Of course, only the U.S. used twins win WWII; all the Brit bikes were singles [which, being lighter, probably would have made the jump easier, forgetting for a moment that it's all made-up Hollywood B.S. anyway...] Anyone else a fan of the movie The Tao of Steve besides me? Here it is, more than 30 years after his death, & we still haven't come up w/ a movie star who's as cool as Steve McQueen... Oops! Look at the time! I think I'm overdue for watching On Any Sunday again!

Saw it at a preview Wed. night: it's good! Definitely earns its R rating tho'; I was surprised at the # of folks bringing their single-digit aged kids to see the preview: just 'cause its free doesn't mean they should be watching it! Not for the truly squeamish [in retrospect, I was glad my gf couldn't make it; she would have hated it, & ruined it for me], but a fabulous flick: the director was supposedly a huge fan, & tried to really stick to the feel of the graphic novel. Go, you won't be disappointed...

[to paraphrase the line from a soon to be hit movie, The Watchmen:] Who watches the watchcams? (or speed cams, as the case may be...) I cannot believe that w/ the pervasiveness these things seem to have that you lot in the UK haven't gotten fed up and vandalized the darn things to death. They're still pretty uncommon Stateside, but I suspect that if things keep going the way they are, those things will soon be the target of choice for disgruntled motorists everywhere. I'm just sayin'...

My bad: "steering stem" is the phrase I'm used to for that part, from hanging out w/ those sweaty bicyclists no doubt...

By "fall together" you mean "by the gravitational attraction found at the surface of a neutron star" right? Heating the headstock makes the hole bigger; chilling the bearing makes the circumference smaller. Doing it your way is a recipe for disappointment.

Forward, into the past! It'll be just like turning the clock back 75 years or so and having one twistgrip be the throttle and the other being the spark advance! Boo-ya! Heck, if we're really smart, we can get it right & swap the throttle to the left hand grip like the old Indians had it, to leave our right hand free for shooting [which was a BIG point the Indian reps made when pursuing police fleet sales... ] Wheee! Ride on!

From reports, the 750 Breva only needs the small block sump spacer available from the Guzzi aftermarket to make it the finest small block to ever escape Mandello del Lario: owners are that pleased. The only reason it requires the spacer is because of the inadequate oil volume Guzzi seems content to bless the small blocks with ex-factory. It's because of the great reviews of the 750 Breva that the Brevona even came to market. Despite the less-than-helpful tweaking of the original 750's styling, the big block Breva has still managed to be something of a sales success. That's why the new "V7 Classic" is expected to do so well; it's basically a tarted up 750 Breva, and that had finally started to make a bit of a name as a perfect all-rounder. Now that Suzuki has severely bludgeoned the naked SV650 with the ugly stick, the small block Guzzi might have some legs despite its higher price point & lower equipment level [single front disc, lower performance.] If you can find a NOS 750 Breva cluttering the sales floor and swing a good deal on it, you'd be hard put to find a better "town bike" w/ the ability for an occasional all-day tour, or so I'm told. Steve Natt used to do the occasional ride report on this on-demand cable show when I lived in Long Beach & had Charter cable. Loved the show, but the usual "reporter" was this little blond bimbo w/ the most grating voice ever: she must have been boinking one of the producers, there's no other way to explain her continued dominance of the episodes available. She was pleasant to look at, but since they didn't close caption the shows, there was simply no way to watch the ones she hosted [poor MTV-style shaky cam techniques didn't help either.] Anyway, one of the very few episodes Steve Natt hosted, was one where he rode & reviewed the Breva 750. The short story is, he admitted even he didn't expect to like the bike as much as he wound up doing, and by the end of the show gave it an enthusiastic thumbs up, while acknowledging its shortcomings.

More topless women bikers! That's adaptation to global warming!

Crazy glue it together & then use it as a master to make your own out of fiberglas...

The head temp sensor has been shown on certain bikes [production variability rears its ugly head here] to take an abnormally long time to come up to temp and take the bike out of "cold start" mode. For some owners riding short commutes in cold climates, it may stay in the overly rich cold start mode all the way to work (& home again at the end of the day) with negative impacts on mileage and driveability. Moreover, if the rich condition prevents the engine from coming up to full temp, the water vapor buildup internally to the engine never gets the chance to convert to steam & blow off, turning one's oil to mayonnaise over the course of a winter... The Bard of Bungendore some time in the past suggested short-circuiting the air gap between the end of the sensor and its place in the head as a means of curing these cold-weather/short ride ills, as having performed same experiment upon one of his customers' Guzzis (with their FK&C, of course!) had resolved the issue. All further disputation about the merits of doing so or not has taken place pretty much without any contribution by him to maintaining an even simmer, if not outright boil, of the conversation. So, to sum up: If you ride your V11 long enough at a stretch to get the heads up to full temp for a good 10 minutes before shutting off, and you're satisfied with your mileage, then you can safely ignore this thread & be on your merry way. If you habitually use your Guzzi solely for short hops [definition of "short" being temp dependent, ie: longer in colder local conditions] or have chronic poor mileage, then following along may not be such a bad idea. I'm just a who can't resist the temptation of keeping track of all the tricks to my beloved Guzzi!

Daaaaaammmnnnn... PiaggioUSA better get their heads out their collective backsides, or they'll lose the ability to sell motorcycles at all. The scooter boutiques will still be able to move the scooters, which are appliances, but the support network for the bikes is fading fast... All part of a grand plan to pitch the sale of the marque to H-D?

Y not 2K? Actually, I remember it well: the potential downfall of local order convinced my roommate to buy his first rifle! Good man... We celebrated the fact the whole thing never materialized by going out to the desert & blowing off about half the ammo we'd bought to hold off the ravening hordes. What can I say? Any excuse to go out blasting the crap out of utter desolation & freeze your backside off huddling round a roaring fire at night with the company of drunken friends is a good one!

Always loved that champagne color, myself. Be forewarned tho': cagers don't seem to see it AT ALL [not like they see motorcyclist anyway, but...] An ex-gf had a Toyota Celica back in the 80s that color, and that car got more dings & bent fenders from people flat out not seeing it than any car I've ever had 1st hand experience with! So be extra careful out there, O.K? Welcome to v11lemans.com! We're like a big, fractious family in here: don't let us scare you away!

Since your heads already have the big valves & mild porting done... why wouldn't you move those to the new engine & sell on the stock v11 heads w/ the rest of your part out? Just seems you'd be losing the money you already put into them for no good reason... Definitely switch to the new engine: it has the sportier V11 cam vs. your old B10. The trade off you make w/ going carb vs. EFI is in mileage; the EFI fuels better at idle/low rpms than carbs can [altho' they also tend to have the "herky jerky" at small throttle openings moreso than carbs.] If you ride your bike hard & fast, then the mileage isn't likely to be significantly different carb vs. EFI, and of course, Bernoulli never sleeps! Great writeup, thanks for sharing your experiences!