Tom M

I think you can check the wire diameter to tell the difference between the Cannon Racecraft spring and the Guzzi springs. The Cannon spring that I had was made from thicker wire than either of the Guzzi springs, stock or "improved". From memory I got 15k miles out of the stock spring and 7k out of the Cannon spring. The improved Guzzi spring has about 9k on it now. This should be a pic of the broken Cannon spring and the new Guzzi spring. I posted this pic with a description quite a while back but I can't find the thread with the search function. Maybe it's too old

I am unfamiliar with these. What are they? How do they differentiate from oem cans (other than them being ti)? Unlike the stock cans they're a straight through design like the aftermarket cans, they're very light, and they can be mounted low or high. They're louder than stock but not as loud as some aftermarket offerings. Here are mine in the high mount position: They have the Guzzi logo printed on them too

Buell footpegs will do that for you. http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3391&st=0

Here's the link to the Ti can repair thread. Mine came out very good but it wasn't as badly damaged as yours is. http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=13524

Whether or not you have a custom map done for your bike you should verify that the valves and Throttle Position Sensor (TPS) are adjusted within spec, and the throttle bodies are synchronized. Just doing that might clear up any running issues that you have and get you better gas mileage. If not at least you'll know that everything is adjusted correctly before getting a custom map made. Do you know where the map that's loaded now came from? If it wasn't done for your particular bike do you know if it was created for a '02 or earlier bike with similar modifications to what you have? If not I would suggest that you try loading GH67 map from here. It's a known good map for your vintage bike with similar mods. If you don't like it you can always go back to your map or go the custom route. If you don't want to get into tuning the bike yourself you are lucky to live near one of the best Guzzi shops in the country, Moto International. I'm sure they could do a baseline tune for you and recommend a dyno tuner if you're still not happy with the result. A former forum member posted their mechanic's method for tuning V11s which I and others here have used with good results. The Micha method: Step one - Set your valves to world settings (.15mm/.006" intake, .2mm/.008" exhaust) Step two - Set your air bleed screws to open 1 full turn Step three - Synch throttle bodies at just off idle (around 1800 rpm) Step four - Set idle to 1100 using left idle screw adjuster only Step five - Set TPS to 3.6 degrees (530mV) Step six - Ensure idle trim is set to zero. This requires an AXEONE dealer tool or VDST software. Hope this helps...

MG cycle has them. http://www.mgcycle.com/index.php?cPath=26_105

That makes two of us. 20k miles of leak free RLSPH for me too. Time for a poll?

I have a nice dribble of oil coming out of my angle drive after (over) lubing my speedo cable a couple weeks ago too.

It sounds like all of your issues are caused by fouled up fork caps. Try and find someone who's parting out a crashed V11 and buy the fork caps if the forks themselves got bent. Keep an eye on ebay where Speeds Cycles in Maryland(?) seems to part out crashed V11s quite often. Calls or emails to the major Guzzi dealer like Moto International and MPH might turn up a set too.

Good to hear that you're liking the V11 Rageman. It will get better with more miles as Jason said. Here are my suggestions for your issues: Gearbox: Fresh lube will probably clear up your shifting issues. If the problem was the shifter pawl spring you would be stuck in one gear and not able to upshift until you replaced it. The best lube that I have found is Redline Shockproof Heavy, but it's performance does seem to go downhill beyond 3k miles. Stalling: Your valves are probably tight. Adjust them to .006" intake/.008 exhaust then sync the throttle bodies. That fixed my bike when I started getting "flame outs" before coming to stop. Tires: It seems like all the sport-touring tires available these days are pretty good. If you want a little quicker turning go 1 size narrower on you rear tire. I just mounted a set of Pirelli Angels and they seem good but it remains to be seen how long they last. FYI I got 5k out of a set of Roadsmarts, 4k out of Conti Road Attacks, and 6+k out of Metzler Z6. Guzzitech has progressive rate fork springs. Racetech and Sonic have straight rate springs for your forks. Good luck with your wrenching

Thanks for the tips guys. I know it's not the upper angle drive because the LeMans doesn't have one . I'll take a closer look at the lower angle drive and cable and report back if I find anything. If it's a problem inside the speedo that will have to wait a few months.

My speedo needle is bouncing a lot when I get much over 70mph. I lubed the cable and it's still jumping. Any ideas on how to determine if the problem is the speedo, the cable, or the angle drive? All parts are original with 31xxx miles on them. I was planning on opening the speedo up this winter to paint the needle since it has faded to white and I can't see it at night. A friend with similar mileage on his red frame told me he just installed his 4th angle drive so maybe mine is due too? Any help will be appreciated...

I just want to mention something that I and a few others here have seen when setting fork oil levels. After changing springs, spacers, and oil I rode for a week then went back in to take a little oil out because I wasn't getting full travel after riding some very rough roads fast. When I opened one leg (rebound side I think) I found the oil level was down a good 20mm from the other side. Even though I pumped the forks alot after filling them with oil there must have been some air left in the cartridge that only worked its way out after riding a bit. FWIW I'm running a 110mm air gap with 5wt fork oil in the compression leg and 7.5wt on the rebound side with 1.05 kg/mm springs and 10mm of preload. The change to 5wt oil seemed to make the fork noticeably more supple and the stiffer springs are a huge improvement over stock for my 230lbs.

I'm with Henry on this. I did the rear wheel bearing with a hammer and punch then decided I didn't want to do that again so I bought this: http://pitposse.com/whbereset.html . I used it on the front wheel and replaced both bearings about 10 times quicker than doing the one on the rear.

I don't know what's wrong with your forks but it might be just a bad oring. Here's one of many threads on servicing the forks: http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7960 . They aren't bad forks once you get them set up correctly for your weight and riding style. Racetech has fork springs available for the V11 for around $130 if the stockers aren't right for you, or you could spend $1000 + to have them install their springs and damping cartridge kit. They don't list the V11 in their applications guide but they do have springs available. I'm running a set in mine.

The '02 and later bikes are 25deg rake. I think (could be wrong) that the red frames are .5 degree steeper. Rear ride height is not adjustable from the factory. If you go after that red frame be sure to check the VIN against the transmission recall notice posted in the fileshare section of this site. Good luck with your search!

Welcome Scottie (and welcome back Cantaloop)! The 03/04 Ohlins equipped bikes including the Rosso had the best suspension that Guzzi ever offered on the V11s, but the '99-'01 red frame V11s are the quickest handling of the bunch. The red frames didn't have some of the chassis bracing that the later bikes have or the Ohlins suspension option. The Scura is an '02 only model that has the same frame as the Rosso, but the many feel the 04 bikes had better sorted Ohlins. Dropping the forks a bit and going to a 170 rear tire instead of the stock 180 will speed up the turning on the Rosso a bit. See the FAQ for a breakdown of the model year changes here: http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5691

I mentioned the Road Attacks in my first post. I really liked them but they wore out a little too quickly for me. I want more than 4000 miles out of a pair of tires so I don't have to buy two sets of tires in one riding season. They have a Road Attack 2 on their website now that I might try next time. I don't have too many miles on the new Pirelli Angels yet but they seem OK so far.

The FAQ and the search button will turn up lots of options. Moderator JRT had a great write-up on how to mount standard bars on a V11 but it appears that the link in the FAQ is dead. Maybe Jason will jump in with a new link. Forum sponsor MPH has a kit to raise the clipons that includes new clutch & brake lines. LSL makes a handlebar kit for the V11, and adjustable clipon kits are available from Verlicchi and ConvertiBars. A friend of mine drilled his to clamps and mounted a set of Triumph bars & riser from a junkyard. There are lots of options with the early Sports in particular since the forks are flush with the top clamp and there's no fairing to clear. I used JRT's method to drill the top clamp and I mounted a set of used Ballabio bars & clamps. Works great

Great pics BFG. Interesting luggage on that Dorso too. How are you liking that bike? Is it as much or more fun on the road than your Scura when it was running well?

Since this forum is specific to V11s it doesn't have nearly as many active members as some of the other Guzzi forums out there. You might want to ask on the wildguzzi forum or check with the New York chapter of the Moto Guzzi National Owners Club. http://wildguzzi.com/forum/index.php?board=1.0 http://www.mgnoc.com/staff_and_reps.html Good luck!

That makes two of us Anthro. If Aprilia stuck that Dorsoduro 1200 twin in a Corsaro-like motorcycle and gave it a belt drive I'd be very interested, regardless of whether or not they called it a Guzzi. Of course if they did call it a Guzzi it would need to be built in Mandello. A half-faired version like the V11 LeMans with state of the art suspension would really get me excited as long as they didn't go too far with the Tuono sci-fi styling. I've read that the Tuono is going to get the Aprilia V4 engine next year so giving the twin cylinder road bike market to Guzzi might work for them.

He used Redline Shockproof Heavy. It really sticks to everything.

In the 30k miles that I have on my LeMans it has sort of stranded me once, when the shifter pawl spring broke. I had a voltage regulator quit on me once too but I was able to ride home. Other than that my particular bike has been pretty good. I changed all the relays out when I bought it as recommended here and haven't had any of the relay problems that some have had with the stock relays. Would I recommend it to someone looking for "a bike that I can totally count on and not breaking down"? Nope. That's what Hondas are for. It seems like your ST4 will do everything that you'd want to do with a LeMans and then some. I don't know if a LeMans would be any more or less reliable than the Duc but Ducati dealers are a lot more plentiful than Guzzi dealers which would be a concern for me if I was long distance touring. That said, they are fun bikes and if you want one to replace the beemer go for it! There are some great deals on used V11s out there now.

My Check to see that the shifter isn't contacting the "pork chop" frame plate and verify that the shifter arm is close to vertical on the shifter shaft. Since you are using a non-synthetic lube and the shifting quality is deteriorating as it warms up I'd suggest switching to a high quality synthetic lube. Redline shockproof heavy is popular here, but as Greg F has pointed out some of us see a significant drop in shift quality beyond 3k miles. It is great for the first 3k though. If you can't find it locally you can order it online. I got my last batch from Jegs.