Greg Field

My wife's out of town, and we had both the Stucchi and Mistral crossovers in stock, so I took the set home to try for the weekend and gather some impressions. Previously, I had had an FBF crossover on my bike and had liked the top-end rush it facitlitated. Then, because the FBF crackes, I switched back to the stock crossover for 6 monthes. First, I tried the Stucchi. It's a really nice piece. Heavy construction, much of it double-wall. The design is the same as that of the FBF I had mounted previously, but the Stucchi is built like a tank in comparison. The FBF lasted me about 2 months and then cracked along the weld. Despite the signifiacant fact that I am a seller of those things, FBF has yet to warranty it, though I have been trying since last fall/ Screw 'em; six months of trying is too much. About half of them I have sold have cracked, as well. Avoid FBF crossovers like the plague. Sound: The Stucchi sounded really deep and mellow, like the FBF. Performance: Like the FBF, it was a top-end crossover, not really adding much on my '04 until 6,000 rpm and up. It may have reduced the torque hole from 3,000-4,0000 rpm on my bike, but not by much. There's no way to use it with a centerstand without ballpeaning big divots in the crossover. This would not be easy in such a stoutly constructed piece. Overall impression was nice construction but not suited to my needs. Then, I tried the Mistral crossover. Like the Stucchi, it is built very stoutly. The stainless is thick, and the welds are nice. It has less "crossover' (shared piping) than the FBF or Stucchi. This might make a big differeence on the earlier bikes without a crossover in front of the engine. Who knows? On the '04 Billy Bob it fit nicely. Best of all, I only had to knock a little divet into the right leg of the centerstand to make it work with the centerstand. Then, it fit like the stock crossover, but what a difference in performance and sound compare d to the stock crossover. Soundwise, it snaaaaarrllss, by comparison. In fact, it's right on the cusp of being too loud when you really get on it. This crossover is all about low- to mid-repm throttle response. From 1,500 rpm to 3,000 rpm, it jets forward, by comprison. I f you ride in trafffic, this is the one you need. From 5,500 or maybe 5,000 rpm on, the Stucchi feel stronger; below that, the Mistral stomps it. By feel, thoroughly. I'm keeping the Mistral because it just suits my riding style better, plus, then I can keep my lovely centerstand.

Sean: Call me. These centerstands are not for everyone because they do force a few compromises. You'll ned the centerstand for the LeMans, whi accomodates the wider rear tire of your bike. I sold my last one Saturday but should have more by Friday. See also a piece I'm currently writing about crossovers because it may affect your decision . . . And I'll look in regards the V50 stand.

Oh, Sean: Here's how to tune your Ohlins: 1) Set for laden (you on it) sag, using the external preload adjusters. 2) Set compression damping (the one in the middle of each top cap) on setting 1 (all the way counterclockwise, and then back clockwise 1 click). 3) Set compression damping (at the bottom of you forks at the back) on setting 1. 4) Ride it over some bumps and work to get the rebound setting right. It is right when you get no pogoing. It is best to find a remote location on which you can ride the same bumps again and again at the same speed, so you get a good sense of what each click does. Fewer clicks is almost always better than more clicks. I think I run mine at 4-5, depending on how aggressively I will be riding. I weigh 240 lb. (This is about half as many clicks as Guzzi recommends.) What Ohlins are really good at is giving a comfortable, compliant ride, while still being able to control the big stuff. Too many clicks, and you will only take away compliance and make it feel like a lumber truck. 5) Then try to tune out as much brake dive as you can by increasing the compression damping one click at a time until the ride starts to get harsh; then, back off one click, and that's the best you can do against dive without re-springing the forks. Again, fewer clicks is better. I run mine at 3.

Stock springs from the Cafe Sport Ohlins I put on the Billy Bob measure 240mm in length, have an o.d. of 36.7mm, wire thickness of 0.452mm, and are most definitely straight-rate. Stock springs from the '04 Billy Bob 43mm Marzes measure 282mm in length, are most definitely progressive in rate, have an o.d. of 38.39mm at the heavy end and 32.52 at the soft end, and a wire diameter of 4.76mm. If anybody wants to change spring rates, I can get both good straight-rate springs for the marzocchis or for the Ohlins (I have changed both out on my Billy Bob) through Moto International.

Probably different supplier. You will get better value from aftermarket rotors than through Guzzi. I've had in hand, tried, and sold most of the aftermarket options, and here are my opinions: 1) Lightest and most old-school cool: Braketech axis rotors. As I said, light, plus, the carrier is a unique design that takes the braking load off the buttons, which allows them to float better. 2) Best working and most new-school cool: Braking Wave Rotors. These are OEM on the Aprilia SVX motard and what I put on my own Billy Bob when its rotors warped. 3) Best for racing: Brembo top of the line with cast-iron friciton surface. If your usual supplier can't get them for you, I can at Moto Intl.

I'm pretty sure we have the Guzzi tank bag at Moto Intl. They are nice, but I'm not sure they'll hold a 14-inch laptop, laying flat. Bring i the laptop and try one out, though.

I am the poster child for ATGATT. Do it. Or not. But even the best gear is cheap, on a surface-area basis, compared to human skin. . .

Joe: As others have said, changing out the pump is easy. I know where there are three used '04 tanks in the Seattle area. How perfect and what color must the paint be?

The starter may be bad; they do fail. We had one last week that did like you describe. The battery tested bad, so we replaced it. That didn't work. We replaced the starter. That didn't work. Then, we started futzing with grounds and got it suddenly working with the original starter. Electrons can be tough to tame . . .

It should. If it doesn't, I hve one from a Ballabio you can have.

Jim: I'll be working on bikes in the gay-raj this weekend. Pop by, and I'll have a look at it. Have you considered a shock leak? Call first: 206 371-9623.

Sorry, TX. I have no experience with this issue of lubing caliper seals. If were lucky, one of the others will.

The Solstice is coming up, and like any good pagan injun, I'm making plans for the celebration. I plan to celebrate this year by taking a Longest Day Ride. I'm hoping to find at least one other hard rider who is eager to do such a thing. Here's the basics of the plan, so far: We ride from sunup to sundown and see how far we get. At Seattle's lattitude, that means from about 0400 to about 2200 hrs. That's about 18 hours of riding. At a 50-mph average, we could be either far away from Seattle, say Missoula, Montana, or far forth and back. It's not going to be just a marathon for miles, though. We'll be taking some top-quality roads. Among them will be the best road I know of: The Spiral Highway, which is 10 miles of hairpins down the side of a hill outside Lewiston Idaho. We'll take a couple laps each way. I wish I knew how to generate those maps, but I don't, so I'll just have to describe the route. To get there, we'll take about 90 miles of freeway to Vantage, Washington, and then take WA 26 eastward into the wheat country and a bunch of tiny, twisties down into the Snake River Canyon country. Then, US 12 east to Lewiston. After The Spiral Highway, we re-assess. Do e want to continue up US 12 and over Lolo Pass? If so, do we want to overnight in Missoula and do it again the next day? Do we want to go over Lolo and come back down it that day and try to get back to Seattle? Do we want to go to Bovil, Idaho, to visit the Hartmans and kick back in their bar? Lots of possibilities. Anybody want to go?

Here's an intermediate option between Rylands and the Buell pegs: These are the Motobits set from Moto International in Seattle (my employer). I use them on my Ballabio and love them. They move the pegs forward by 45 mm and down by 30 mm, which is pretty much the limit without making them the first thing to touch down. I'm 6'3" with a 35-inch inseam. My longest day (so far) was 684 miles, and I enjoyed the ride that much more because I experienced no knee pain. In that one respect, the Ballab is more comfortable than my Eldo. They are vernier adjustable for footlever pitch, which also allows you to adjust the angles beween the footlevers and the linkage levers. For best leverage the two should be at 90 degrees to one another. My brake was too lock-prone, so I adjusted it for less leverage. You can adjust shifting action in a similar way. Effective lever length is adjustable by moving the toe-piece.

Burn me as a heretice, but even though the Corsa is one of the handful of bikes whose looks rates them in the Pantheon of Guzzi, the newer bikes out-handle them by a bunch. The telling difference is in the rear suspension. Does tghis matte to you??? The newer bikes are better, by miles, not yards, let alone kilometers or miles. After that, it comes down to visual appeal. Does the looks of the Corsa give you a bigger "woodie" than the looks of the Griso/Breva/Norge? That tells the tale . .Personally, and who could care less but me, the Griso is the best new Guzzi in 10 years . . .

I love original thinking. I have never seen that solution before. Salute!

I can reccomend from personal experience CRGs with goo bar-end weights, such as these, on my own fake-Coppa Billy Bob: If your local dealer cannot help you, the shop at which I toil, Moto International, can.

The differences can be subtle, but a PC III always makes a difference. Usual caveats; I sell PC IIIs, as does RacerX. I wish I could get one for the Eldorado . . .

You otter see my ELdo. I got cut off by a semitruck the othe day and had to pop up over a curb and through a moonscape of huge potholes to escape the squeeze of my life under the truck's wheels. I didn't crash and kept going but oil was leaking out after I got to work. The timing chest hit the curb and is broken wide open, the fork tubes are bent, and all the internals of the fork are blown. I'm blue.

Consider that you might have won because you trailered them there . . .

The Guzzi Ti pipes are the best overall. They are also $1500 list price. Their best feature is that you can mount them low or high. I can order you a set through the shop I work at (Moto International) for a bit less. Other good ones are the M4s. THese are only low-mount, though.

On the CRGs I sell at Moto Intl., it works really well to use a 12mm nut inside the clamp part of the CRG. This acts as something for the mirror to clamp onto. Then, we use them in conjunction with a heavier set of bar-ends we sell, which use brash wedges as a means to grip the inside of the bar. Perhaps a 12mm nut would work on thse knockoffs, too?

I'll do some sort of deal to get the Coppa tank. I have a near-perfect red tank to throw in as part of the deal.

What brand of bar ends?

Yes, you can do this. The inlet pipe is not welded to the muffler, so you can rotate the relative positions of the two to mount them with the lower stock brackets.