Greg Field

You are assuming the rear wheel does not break traction. If you know how to do it, you can do multiple donuts pivoting around your front tire. A really good rider could do it until the engine seized.

OK, then, pretend you're a squid accelerating hard from low speed with the bars at full lock. You could be turning accelerating hard to the left, with the bike upright or even leaned slightly to the right, and all that erl slopping to the outside.

At zero speed or low radial acceleration, it sure as hell does. Toss you bike on its side and start it up. See that I speak the truth.

Pete actually has two venal solutions. First, always fill the sump with Roper Ranches ® Genuine Yak Fat ™. Second, fit a Roper Slopper.

Most car engines do not have "flat" (parens indicate that the tappets are not really flat) tappets like a Guzzi. For these car engines, the newer oils are better in every way. They are not better in every way for your Guzzi. Which engines do you think these car-oil companies are formulating their oils for: your Guzzi or some Toyota or Honda? We (Moto I) are seeing a lot of very worn camshafts and tappets lately . . .

I would not worry about it running too cool. The oil temp on mine hits 90C on a 40-degree F day with spitting rain in the 15 miles between my house and Moto Intl.

Tain't so, tonto.

You can replace the stock headlight mount with those from a V11 Sport. Then, the headlight will swing with the bars. Also, you can move the fairing back to swing with the bars, too. You'll also need an instrument plate. If your local Guzzi dealer doesn't have the stuff, I think we do at Moto INtl. Here's mine done that way:

What model do you have?

I don't buy in barrels because the local ordinances require oil-containment measures that are prohibitively expensive, and then the fire department looks at you in a whole new way. I'll ask Spectro and see what they say. I used to use it in the late '80s and thought it was excellent oil.

I spent part of my day bugging oil companies for hard data so I can choose the best oils for Moto I's customers. Clearly, some companies are afraid to really let you know what's in there. Instead, they give the blather about exceeding blah, blah, blah marketing speech. Others come through like Maxima, with full analysis. Let me tell you, they do it for a reason. There's more of the good stuff in their 5w-40 than I've ever seen in any oil, a VI that's off the chart, and all that's on top of an ester synthetic base. It's what we'll be using in all the hydro Guzzis and probably in my Eldo and V11, too.

Remember to bring a fill of your Roper Farms ™ Synthetic Yak Fat ®, as you'll be running through some very hot weather . . .

What PT said.

Megacycle is out of the x9s. About a month ago, they told me they'd be available in 6 weeks. I have an x10 cam on the shelf at Moto Intl. but no x9s.

The later V11s built with the changes instituted on the LeMans are, in my opinion, better bikes overall. Suspension is better. Frames stiffer. Engine smoother. Build quality is generally higher. The later the better. The best of the lot are the 2003 "catalyzed" (outside North America) and from mid-2003 in North America (with smooth black engine paint) and later bikes. Some prefer the handling of the earlier bikes because of their smaller rear tire and slightly sportier geometry. I think the listed advantages of the later bikes outweigh the perceived handling disadvantages for a road bike.

8mm on all the 2VPC big blocks.

Personally, I think this bike shows how clueless the Piaggio clowns are. First, they do not even know Guzzi history. It mimics a V7 sport, not a V7. Does that really matter to the market? Probably not. Maybe they even knew this but avoided the name V7 Sport Classic because then the comparison with the Duc SPort Classics would be unavoidable. CLue up, Piaggio: The comparison is unavoidable in any case, and your bike doesn't compare very well. Here's what does matter to the market: It's way underpowered and overpriced compared to its competition. I'll be stunned if it actually gets to the US at an MSRP of under $11,000. It's dead at that price. It's dead at any price over $9k. It's only chance is as a replacement for the Breva 750, brought in in numbers that allow a sub-$9k price.

You probably have no concept of how expensive that bodywork is. A local guy has one of the MGSs (crab-boat captain) and he ordered extra bodywork "just in case." Of course, the clowns at Aprilia packed it in a box that was too short for the long upper seat/tank/fairing and it got damaged in shipping. It took nearly a year and huge money in unreimbursed shipping costs to get another that wasn't already damaged. I doubt you could get one now. They probably all got damaged in shipping.

I was there. People were absolutely dumbstruck. They need to build it, even if it's 7 years too late.

I put a ding in my corn-cpb pipe the other day. do they have touchup paint to match?

Guzzi cams have the taper on the lobes, and the tappets have a convex face, even though they are non-hydraulic.

Here's the deal. 2005 was the last year that Guzzi entered its models on the list of bikes approved for importation into0 Canada. The result of this is that all 2006 and later Guzzis can only be registered in Canada if bought through the Canadian Guzzi network.

The new cam Guzzi will supply now is the Breva 1100 cam. It has oiling holes on the side of each base circle. INSIST on new tappets for all positions. If Guzzi isn't paying for it, consider getting a Megacycle x9 cam. Finally, what oil are you using? Find one that is SG rated.

I can't remember the specifics, but I think model year 2005 is the cut-off year after which we could no longer send a bike to Canada. I know for a fact that we sent a bunch of '04 Cafe Sports and Ballabios to the Great White North.

Some consider the stock late tensioner inadequate. It sure is quiet, though. I greatly prefer it to the, IMO, incredibly noisy copies of the V50 tensioner sold under the "Valtek" and other names. To each his own, though.