beauchemin

I just received the FJO dual-channel wideband kit. I'm just trying to figure out the best location for the controller. Where's the best wiring spot to get switched 12V power?

A lot of V11 buyers were sucked in by the gorgeous looks. They clearly were not ready for Italian motorcycle ownership. Once past the first date, they found the following warts: - the suspension needs tweaking for the bike to be rideable at pace on bumpy roads (OEM spring and damping rates are NOT matched, so the roadholding is awful on anything but smooth roads) - some owners have had various minor, but annoying, electrical glitches (relays, sidestand cutout switches, etc.) - flaky crankcase paint - generally poor dealer support (with some notabale exceptions, like Moto International, MG Cycle, and others) - sub-standard parts supply - HOWEVER, if you are a true believer, all of these problems are easily overcome. If you are no stranger to wrenches and Italian motorcycles, and have some mechanical aptitude, then a V11 will make you very happy. If this is your first foray into the world of Italian motorcycles, then you will find that this forum is very helpful. If you have owned 70's or 80's Guzzis, then the V11 is simply the same basic machine with fuel injection and better brakes.

Hey Ratchet - have you had time for your "mountain test" yet? I assume that you will have a nice selection of bumpy roads in there? (including some bumpy corners, I hope)

Nothing wrong with it - I switched to Wilbers. $200 USD + shipping

Mike - this is enough to test the mettle of any Guzzi fan. I tip my hat.

I think @ $3 USD. Once I figure out the size of the production run, I'll give more details (probably next week).

Brian - I don't understand what you are up to... didn't you send your forks to Traxxion to get their AK20 cartridge internals installed? I assume that they would have installed the appropriate springs at the same time. What am I missing? Is the Traxxion solution not Nirvana? Chris

I'm going to have a machinist friend make me an oil cooler block as per Paul's drawing in this thread http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=6384 Is anyone else interested? My machinist says he could easily set up his CNC machine to make a batch and they would be fairly cheap - maybe as little as $10 USD each for a batch of 25. I'm not interested in making money on this, so I would just pass them at cost. I can ship them airmail worldwide for about $3 US each. Please PM me with your interest.

What is your riding weight? Did the $150 include the cost of springs & fluid or is that the labour cost?

OK gas-boy - let's hear your audio.

I haven't tried this yet, but I plan to do it soon. Apparently the fix is to remove the tach and place it in an oven upside-down, heat it up (not too much) for a short while - this will allow the moisture to escape via the bottom of the tach. The top (face) must be well-sealed (which is a good thing as no more moisture should be able to get back in). Maybe the tachs are assembled in a jungle somewhere...?

I really only need the handle portion, but I'll buy the whole left clip-on if that's what you have available. I need the type that mounts above the triple clamp.

Yes.

Yes, I know. I was unclear with that reference - what I was actually referring to was www.wb02.com (aka Tech Edge).

Paul - I phoned JFO - apparently they are soon going to release a small datalogger that plugs into their AFR system. Not sure about the cost, but they said it would be under $200 USD. Did you consider one of the Australian www.wb02.com systems? Apparently they are coming out with a new "3B1" which will have 1Mbyte of internal logging memory and new improved sensor circuitry.

Check it out http://www.fjoracing.com/products/WBAFR/ A big plus for us Canadians is that they are based in Winnipeg! Their roots are in the aerospace/military and performance auto electronics market. It's an interesting alternative to WB02, Dynojet, Innovate, etc. The cost for a kit to monitor 2 cylinders, using Bosch LSU sensors, is $650 USD.

Let's see some pictures of your bikes with K&Ns or Unis - let those of us in the peanut gallery be the judges as to what looks better. This Uni setup looks cool. I thought that eliminating the airbox kills the midrange. Is that not true?

UPDATE: 1. I received two (low res) photos from Wilbers showing the recommended installation. They show the remote preload adjuster bracket (which I did not receive, but it's on the way). 2. I have turned around my remote reservoir to mount as shown in these photos, but for the time being I am sticking with my original location for the preload adjuster (since I don't have the factory bracket yet). 3. A few more rides (and some minor compression adjustments) have made me very happy. As noted in my previous reply, the travel is 58mm (not 46mm like I incorrectly reported). The rear is now almost plush, but still firm. Feels like a different bike. The best thing is that I almost never think about the rear suspension anymore. 4. The improved rear suspension has now turned my attention to figuring out how to improve the forks without spending a small fortune.

OK, I really goofed when I measured the stroke -- the bike was on the sidestand! (I must have been half asleep) Tonight I put it on the shop-stand and re-measured... the stroke is 58mm. What a relief.

Check out the "commercial" section in the "classified" forum.

Ouch - get well soon. Hopefully you have managed to avoid soft tissue damage. My get-off last December is mostly forgotten, except for the knee-end of my Vastus Medialis (one of the quadricep muscles) which is still not 100% (even after lots of therapy). It's good enough to play rugby again, but the doc says it may never get past 95%.

Jaap - if you have some spare time, would you mind having a look at some of the Wilbers posts on the German forum (if there are any)? I would be interested to hear their general comments.

spring rate = 9.5Kg/mm rider weight (with gear) = 205 lbs. static sag = 16mm (bike only) dynamic sag = 25 mm (with rider) total sag = 41mm Total sag of 41mm is just about perfect given a wheel travel of 125mm. BUT... I have made the grisly discovery that the Wilbers shock stroke is only 46mm (which I assume translates into a rear wheel travel of only 92mm). I measured from the top of the exposed shaft to the bottom of the bumper. Even if my measurement is off by a few mm, the stroke is nowhere near the 58mm that I was told it would be. To say the least, I'm very very disappointed. Maybe the shock was built with the wrong body length, so we'll see. I have contacted the importer to see how the problem can be fixed. The Wilbers is still a huge improvement over the Sachs, but I can't see how less travel is a good thing for very bumpy roads.

I went for a ride last weekend - it won't surprise anyone to hear that the rear suspension is much improved. The 9.5 kg/mm spring feels a little stiff, but I'll check my sag this weekend to be sure. The adjustments need some fiddling. My only complaint is that it was very difficult to mount the remote hydraulic preload adjustor. I think I've found a good spot, but it took me hours to design my own bracket (Wilbers does not include one). Mounting the compression adjustment cylinder was easy - I just had to make a simple aluminum bracket to move the clamp.

I removed the Sachs last night. I did a quick length measurement and it appears to be 280mm. I checked it twice because I was expecting 276mm. It was really late so my accuracy might be suspect, but I'll check it again tonight and do some more measuring. Note that this is a long-frame bike, so maybe they changed the shock length when they altered the frame.