jimbemotumbo

Buy Carl's V65. Great bikes. This one seems well - loved!

Now I know what to do with the extra 16" apes I took off my Road King. I'll have one smoooooth V11s

Bingo! This is exactly what I was thinking about! Nearly bought a 78 900SS. Too bad I was a poor college student. Best I had was a 500 Kaw tripple. I've been dreaming of that duc ever since ... recently discovered it was just the fairing I wanted! Okay, y'all got me excited. I'll look up a few machinists around here. Plan B will be the Beemer fairing, which is also very nice. I can sell my CF MG screen to help finance this little projekt. Thanks all!

Yup, that's what I had in mind. The real question is how this mounts up. ??? I'm less than poor with fabrication, unless it involves adding many washers to bolts or dreaming up new ways to get more 15-50 into the beast than I get on the floor or on my pants. I don't mind being first to try, but I am sure I can't figure out this mounting thing by myself. If I don't get any more info, I'll just buy the 70's duc fairing and give it a go. It's only money.

I want to avoid the Japanese sport bike styling. That's one thing the Japanese have never been able to do very well - style / character (exceptions exist, I know). I know the BMW r fairing will work, but I am hoping to find something that will afford some protection AND be fairly easy to install. I happen to favor the look of the 70's Duc 900ss., but there may be other options as well. Just hoping someone has some installation experience that they would like to pass on. Anyone?

I am certain others here are more qualified to tell which kind of ass I am.

New enforcement initiative here in Colorado:

I'm still young enough to ride in Birkenstocks, thank you very much!

I have read bits and pieces about fitting Ducati 900ss fairings to the V11, but haven't found info on the necessary bracketry / supports. Any info on this? Is it a total fabrication or are there some ready made options? If it is too hard to do (I'm the anti- fabricator) I may just look for a LM fairing .... just want more protection for longer rides later this year. Thx!

Yes. I found a spare Sony 615c for a whopping $3.99 so I plan to hide it in the tail section. Just for fun. I'm sure nobody really needs to do this, but I am mentally ill and must be humored.

Just made a discovery that might be helpful to others: No need to buy the palm adapter from Dynojet, and you you can use a Sony PDA, and possibly others. Read on. I noticed that my Sony 665c (same as any 600 or 700 series Sony PDA) has a power/data adapter that is basically a mini USB "B" plug. This is the same USB cable used by most digital cameras. Just buy a $3 mini USB to mini USB (male to male) cable and you can plug your PDA into the PCIII mini usb port. If you have a digital camera, you may already have this cable. Sony doesn't support PDAs anymore, so they are remarkably cheap on ebay (I found several for around $5 USD). Other PDAs may work too. Just look for the data cable they use and if it works with a mini "B" plug, you are in business. Apologies if this is old news. I just get excited when I find stuff I already have can be used in a new way! Guzzi on

Not one to be out-cheaped (is that a word) ... I made a stand out of a 2x12" oak board (3-4 feet long). Drill a hole near one end of the board, centered, and just large enough to fit a 1" galvanized pipe through. Get one that's about 4 feet long. Put a galvanized pipe collar on the other side of the board and countersink it in. Then fit the pipe into the hole on the board and screw it into the collar. Pretty it up with a nice pipe end fitting or a rubber plug in the handle end. Just slide the board under the bike with the handle up, then push the pipe handle down to roll the board up under the crankcase and lever the bike into position. I use oak so it will hold up my Road King. Careful placement will balance the bike, or lift front or rear off the ground. Total cost: $15 Time to make: 30 minutes Okay, so it's $5 more, but I don't have autocad, I can't weld, and don't have a scissor jack. Be careful not to trip over the pipe when in use, or fall over the board when it's not in use. Ask me how I know.

Hey- I didn't get the feather! Hey Rich, I've had the pleasure of sitting on one of your seats about a year ago. There is NO WAY my ass could confuse that seat with the Sargeant I am sitting on now. I would like to find the hardware I need and just send everything to you for a complete re-do. I think I am going to spend alot of time on the goose instead of the Road King (at least around town and into the canyons), so a seat upgrade will pay divends! Thanks all.

I'll be .... Small world eh? Any idea how to get a cowl on this puppy?

Hell, Tx That's MY BIKE! Seat looks just like that. Honestly ... almost the same bike except I have red wheels and M4s. So, is this one of Rich's jobs or what?

My V11 didn't have a cowl when I bought it. I plan to add one, but for some reason there are no mounting holes in the seat. Maybe the first owner swapped seats from another model, or had the stock one recovered? The seat pan has the MG logo and part numbers, so looks stock. The seat is black basketweave over the whole surface and has a narrow red piping on the trim and between front and rear portions. Anyone know what I'm describing? Am I SOL on getting a cowl to fit without swapping seats? I like my seat AND I'd like a cowl. Any advice or rude comments are welcome.

Jaap, (or anyone else that finds themselves in my hood) I'll take you up the road for the best pilsner this side of Plzen. Built by our local New Belgium Brewery, and worth a tour just for the amazing facility they have. I think they export some, but not all, of their wares ... the pilsner being one that they don't because it spoils easily. These are some of the best brews I have ever tasted and very popular with my corporate brothers/sisters from our Euro and UK offices. In fact, when I travel across the pond they request as many bottles as I can carry and consider it better than most of their local brands ... Belgians included! Though I agree, it's tough to find better than the domestic Belgian brews. When in Oxford I always visit a certain pub so I can have Old Peculier fresh from the tap. A real treat. Visit: www.newbelgium.com

Just found this thread and have to chime in ... Al isn't the only one fretting over fuel. We have lower octane Oxy fuel here in Colorado too. Add to that the altitude and you end up with all sorts of fun trying to hop up your V-twin. High comp just doesn't work here without going to stockpiling race fuel. After 2 years, I finally got my carby Road King sussed and found max power vs gas / reliability to be best with mufflers, air filter, and a mild cam. The comp pistons gave me headaches and never could get rid of the pinging. Went back to stock pistons and threw in the cam and I have been quite happy. My buddy's all have big inch motors and high comp and their motors are always in the shop getting upper end rebuilds. Those with mostly stock motors find them very reliable. The goose might be able to stand some head/valve work, but I would be afraid of doing too much and killing the torque. Maybe just a good valve job and light polish to go with my exhaust/intake and PCIII?

I took a few photos of my stand and the bike .... hopefully this will help you all figure out what you have. I am no expert since this was inherited, but it fits perfectly with little fuss. The hardest bit is lining up the little bracket extensions to the doo-whangy that supports the crossover bumper. The stand itself fits above the crossover and bolts to the inside of the frame "dog-ear", on the right you use the brake pedal bolt and on the left there is a hole that matches up as well. Measurement of the long edge tab to tab is 14.5 inches. The bracket for the x-over is 3 1/8 inches. If you have any more questions I'll run out and look. Jim

Excellent retort, Jens! Welcome, from one noob to another. Great forum. Great folks.

Validation is a wonderful thing! Thanks Gents

New guy here. My V11 came with K&N pods and a PCIII in the box (not installed) ... all else was stock. Ran pretty well, but had the usual stumbling idle and a vast dead zone at mid rpms. I wanted a bit more power & bought the bike cheaply enough to warrant immediate mods. The goal was getting the best power delivery possible and secondarily a little more HP/TQ. Was not interested in fancy valve jobs, hi-comp pistons and the like. There are many threads on mufflers, X-overs, filters, etc., but I installed one at a time and tried various combos. No dyno, but I had the SOP meter plugged in. I thought forum members might want to know the results of such a scientific approach ;-) K&Ns alone: No difference in performance. More honk. PCIII and K&Ns: No change in performance. Less stumbling. Stucchi X alone and with PCIII: Good linear pull. Nothing else. M4 cans: Sounds great!!!! Seemed like it had just a little more power. Probably just the sound! K&Ns w/ X over: Noticable increase in TQ, probably little to no HP improvement. PCIII added to these make for a nice smooth ride. All the above: Wow! Great power delivery & fabulous sound. Runs a little rough here and there but huge improvement overall. New map: Found a map on Guzzi Tech that matches my mods almost exactly (Thanks Todd). WOO HOO!!! Amazing difference. Did I mention the sound? I am very happy. Wish I had a dyno to document all this. Obviously, each mod offers little improvement by themselves, but together the performance and driveability really gel. Hope this helps any of you who are considering any of these mods. Now to sort out the suspenders ...

I used a pair of Mirracycle mountain bike bar end mirrors on my V11s. I used rubber faucet washers instead of the hard plastic ones. A little buzzing at speed, but not any worse than alot of stock mirrors. Price was right and they look good. If you have to buy them new I think they run about $9 USD each. Besides, I need to see only "what" is behind me, not "who". I'm such a cheapskate.

My Y2K V11S came with the center stand installed. I took it off when I put the Stucchi X on. Seems to come off and go back on very easily. About a 15 minute job (I'm a bit slow). I took it off because I don't like center stands unless they are well balanced for quick deployment. This one takes a few spirited pulls and some finesse. Hope it's happy on my garage floor. If anyone wants it speak up. At least we know it fits the V11s perfectly.

New guy here. New to Guzzi but been riding for 30+ years. Mostly Harley's with a few japanese and brit bikes thrown in. Motocrossed and road raced in the early 70's through 80 or so. Started on a late 60's Husky then 125 Suz mx'er, then 250. Rode for local Yamaha a bit and they switched me to a TZ. Got a real job and well you know the rest. Been on HDs for 15 years & missed the corners, especially living here in Colorado. Many nice canyon roads calling my name. Soooo, after years of lusting after Italian twins, I bought a low mileage 2000 V11S. Now I just have to find a few spare hours to ride the Road King. I think I'm going to be riding this goose alot! Adjusted the valves today and went through all the fasteners just to be sure. I love how this V11 is put together! So easy to work on. Thanks for all the tips I've seen so far. I look forward to learning alot about these wonderful motorcycles.