richard100t

OK I have had my rear tire out for that busted pinion gear. the axle doesnt thread out but you should turn the hex head end with a ratchet. While turning the hex side you need to push/tap/hit the threaded side. Use a wood block of course, dont damage the threads. It will go through the other side this way. Once you get the threaded end through the hole or flush with it use a socket extension & a hammer to tap the threaded end through while turning the hex end with the ratchet. Use some lube while turning if you want to. It just takes some practice is all... It frustrated the hell out of me at first. Now I can do it in 5 minutes. This is probably a recomended yearly maintenance thing front & rear. While the rear wheel is out grease the shaft zerks.

158 kilos, is that dry weight? Or is it wet? That thing should fly if its wet weight. I'm thinking I need a hardcore sportbike in the garage next year too. Aprilia's 04 Mille is a hot looking bike also. I've been leaning toward an 04 R1 though. We'll see what next year brings

Nov 5th is pretty late to be that far north & planning a riding trip south. However between October & November is the most beautiful time of the year for scenery. You should be able to sneak out of Maine right after Halloween but dont fool around! When you get a nice warm sunny day....beat it back south to Florida. I doubt theres much Indian summer that far north. Of course this is just speculation, every year is a little different. Winter will come when its good & ready. It all depends on your tolerance for riding in the cold.

Its too bad you wont live very long to enjoy your new bike. If you ride high very often something bad will happen. Those trees & pink elephants seem to come out from nowhere. Its not my place to tell you you're behaving very foolishly but you are.

I really like the passion some of us in here have for the Guzzi brand. Having said that as fellow motorcyclists I think we should respect other riders tastes & views of other non Guzzi bikes. I believe that this & other riding sites should have dialogue that brings us all together instead of driving a wedge between us & splintering us into smaller & smaller groups. I dont believe any of us would badmouth a guy riding a Honda if we met him on the street for his choice of ride, & I dont believe we should do it here either Personally I think if we could all afford it most of us would have several different brands of bikes, not just Guzzis. Most all of us in here though could have bought any one bike made that we would want, Guzzis arent cheap. I think most of us in here have put our money where our heart is when we bought our bikes & to say someone elses bike sucks or whatever is like telling them they have no heart or passion for their love of riding. It never hurts to hear an honest opinion about a bike, but we should do it with respect.

I thought the v11 was supposed to run on 20w50 oil? Have you tried using the 20w50 to reduce oil consumption? 10w40 is a good oil for most cars but I think it may be a little "light" for a bike engine. I'm sure that there are more knowledgeable Guzzi engine guys here with an educated opinion of this...

I've had my Goose for 6 months & have almost 7000 miles on it now. I musst say its getting smoother & I'm getting used to its quirks. I even love the clutch rattle. Other than my mishap with the pinion gear its been trouble free & appears as though its just getting better. I think leaving it very close to stock may keep the bike running well but thats just a guess. The only thing I've done to mine is put k&n pod filters on the throttle bodies. I think its an awesome bike around town & for short trips its ok.

I'd have to go with having salvage or whatever used parts custom painted. Trying to source a Coppa oem paint job set of body parts wont be easy or cheap. Besides a good paint shop can probably do as good a job or better.

I seen an xb12r for sale for $8000 usd here in Ohio. I dont know if it was new or used though. I think you may want to speak with Nogbad about the xb12r. He's test ridden one & has an opinion of it. Its been awhile since I've heard him talk about it though.

I'm all for having several bikes for different needs. My next bike to aquire is an 04 yamaha r1. After that I'll need a serious touring Goldwing type bike. Thats only three bikes though...hmmm I still need 2 more after that to make 5. Any suggestions? I say we hijack this thread lol & all post our 5 most (needed) bikes.

Yes you can get good oil filters for your v11 at Wal Mart. I dont know the part # off hand but run a search of wal mart oil filter & I bet it will turn up.

I use Valvoline 20w50 full synthetic. I'm thinking I'll change the oil & filter between 3 & 5k miles, depending on motivation lol. I'll probably also change all other fluids every spring need it or not. Has anyone tried synthetic brake fluid yet? Any opinions?

I weigh about 165lbs. Would these improvements/adjustments better my ride? I need to have my forks serviced soon anyway SOooo...while they are off & all apart I would like to get it right, right away.

Ok I've had some time to ride the bike with the new bt014. Its comfortable, I can lean hard through corners & its very stable. Of course I have a supercorsa up front so that makes a difference too. Anyone looking for a new rear tire wouldnt do bad to try that Bridgestone out. It is better than the 020 by quite a bit IMO

Ok first impressions of the new bt 014 are that its smoooth. It seems like I have to push it into a turn a little more right now but then I noticed the guy only had the psi at 32 so I bumped it up to 37. It seems to be like riding on a rail. When I take it into a turn its nice & smooth. I'll need to get used to it & report back later. I wish I could have gotten a Pirelli without having to drive all over Ohio to get it lol.

Thanx John I bought a bridgestone 170/60/zr17 bt014 They said its a little more of a performance tire than the 020 Its being mounted on the rim as I write this. I'll give an update on its performance later.

I really like the supercorsa up front. I'll have to check around today & see wich dealer has a pirelli rear. I went with the supercorsa up front because it was on sale ($85). However I love the way that made my bike handle & now I'd like to try a Pirelli rear. Maybe not a Supercorsa but the next level down... maybe a Diablo or something like that. I have about 2500 miles on the front now so I have a while yet to go with it. I'll replace it with the appropriate tire that goes with my new rear tire.

I'm happy you posted # 329! Thats a good looking Goose! I'd show it off too if it were mine. Now thats a classic motorcycle. Back in its day I bet that was one of the fastest bikes ever. P.S. You could post a few more pics from different angles too

Thats a great deal! My rear is a 170/60/zr17 I dont know if that one would fit my bike or not. I'm sure lots of others here will know though. I need a tire tomorrow as its riding season but I may buy them at a later date if you still have them...& if they'll fit of course. The front tire will definitely fit but I dont know about a 180/70 rear

Hey I knew it was going to happen. I still thought it was an important thing to tell everyone. It was a wake up call to me on the relatively short life of bike tires. Maybe I'm not the only one that doesnt know that 6500 miles is alot for a rear tire. Oh well alls well that ends well as they say. I'm keeping the shiny side up for now. Looking back at it I think the air pressure was starting to leave as I took it home the first time. By the time I put air in the front tire, the rear was flat. I've never experienced a flat rear before & to be honest I thought it was the front up until it must have reached very low pressure. All the same I knew something was amiss & I was riding very carefully & slowly trying to figure out the problem. I'll chalk it up as a learning experience

I would love to see a new model Eldorado! Those old bikes still do well on ebay. I can imagine if they did a good retro model it would sell a lot of bikes. I still think they should up the displacement, especially for a cruiser. But hey thats just my I know they wont do it anytime soon. I dont know why they ever quit building the Eldo's in the first place.

Well if 4500 is alot then I definitely got my $$ worth out of it...Anyone have a favorite brand tire to recomend? I'll be out in the garage first thing in the morning. Oh btw I have a pirelli supercorsa on the front if that matters.

Thats what I was thinking when I looked at it. It has plenty of tread on the sides but I can now see the belts or whatever starting to wear through the center. I doubt that its been that way for very long though. Its definitely something I'll be on the lookout for in the future. I guess I just didnt think it had enough miles on it to wear that much. Plus I must really not be leaning a lot when I ride because theres plenty of tread on the sides.

File this under listen to your bike guys. I was riding mine today when it just wouldnt handle quite right. I got off & inspected the front end & the tire, & nothing unusual. I thought that was disturbing because I knew something wasnt right. I take the bike home & check the air pressure in the front & its a little low at 32 psi. I think well maybe thats it so I run it to the gas station & pump it to 37 psi. Then as I'm leaving the station it gets real squirrelly. Ok now I'm pissed so I pull over & check the back tire & OMFG! The belts are showing through the center & its reading 0 psi. Needless to say I just limped it home. Tomorrow I'll be taking the wheel off & getting a new tire. Should the oem Bridgestone wear that quickly as the bike has 6500 miles on it?

Congratulations! You'll probably have the most rare v11 made. I'll bet it looks better in real life than the pictures. Now for my dont meddle(modify) with it too much. Its a great bike just the way it is. Maybe a new seat/gel grips? I like those factory ti cans