Mike Stewart

I was going to buy an SV650 for track use but after checking into it, you would have to do suspension mods to make the bike really fun for the track. I ended up buying a 2005 Kawasaki ZX6R which is a pure blast at the track (plug and play, no mods needed for track use). You can find them pretty cheap at the dealers, I paid $8300. out the door. This bike rails and wants to be pushed hard. 140 mph down the straights each and every lap On my second lap on this bike, my knee was dragging on the ground. Just replace the stock tires with either a race compound or very, very good street/track tires. Keep the rubber side down, Mike

The 014's did work very well until they did let go, never a slip. To be fair, it could of been something on the track or I could of overheated the tires (air temp was 90 degrees F.) But, I do not think I would use them on the track again. My friend was using the Pirelli Diablo Corsa's (which I usually use) and he had no problems with slip (RC51) and he is a few seconds faster than I per lap. All my bones are healed and now I am working on getting the strength back in my body/muscles. The wrist, elbow and thumb pain is slowly being worked out as well, I still have some numbness in my left leg, which is not to bad considering. I have learned that the older you get, the longer it takes the body to recover. Mike

I have used the Bridgestone 014's once and my bike went from looking like this to looking like this The tires did work great till...... I know if I had been using the my favorite tire of choice (Pirelli Diablo Corsa), I would of never seen the tarmac. I should of never listened to my buddy who swore on the 014's Mike

Sorry for the delay, It was finally a sunny day in Nothern California and I just had to go out for a ride Yes Ratchet, you do have it correct! Mike

Hello, I am looking for a Veglia white faced speedo that is in good condition. Needs to read in MPH. I want to replace the kph one in my Ghezzi-Brian so I have some idea how fast I am going. Just to hard to do the kph to mph conversion at race track speeds I talked to http://www.paspeedo.com/ and I was going to have them convert my white faced Veglia speedo to read in mph. They emailed me back and said that they have the Moto Guzzi 1100 Sport speedo's in stock (new old stock) and they are $198.50, so I have one on the way. Thanks, Mike

On the V11 Series bikes (solid axle design) the spacer slides over the inner bearing spacer (which is stepped) that protrudes out of the left side. The difference between the spacer and the inner bearing spacer is about 1 -2 mm. This could be enough for the rotors to rub on the brake calipers. The other problem that could happen is the wheel sliding side to side, causing the brake pads to open up and cause excessive play in the brake lever. My California Special sport front wheel had a lot of slop in it and I could never tell while riding it that the front wheel was not locked into place Some things I just can't explain. Mike

Cool write up Greg Someday I will have a Eldo as well, I am working backwards. From the V11 Series, I added a tonti frame to my garage and when that project is done perhaps a loop frame. Ahh, the Enzo years.... You did not say if you hit that high mph with the Cobra exhaust Mike

I just think it is the sign of the times, meaning with all the strict emission laws, the only way to make a air cooled engine pass is to dual plug it. I guess you could always go bigger engine size wise Mike

Well, to each their own The engine was cool back in the 60's, All aluminum and 200 hp out of 200 cubic inches. Mike

jihem, If the upper fork is 54mm, 54mm where it clamps in the triples, they should work on the V11 Sport. Also measure from the center of axle hole to the top of fork to get the fork length. A different fender (Aprilia RSV) will also be needed for the Ohlins fork and depending on what front axle it takes, you may need to replace the axle (Ducati 999), front wheel bearings and inner spacer. I can help out with any other questions if needed. Mike

Had a wonderful time meeting up with Bill Hagan last night Patrick Hayes brought his photo albums of his motorcycle tours in Italy, Oh by the way, Patrick has probably the only other Hotdog colored EV in the US The time went by way too fast and I wish Bill was in town longer than just the weekend. Hopefully next time he visits the weather will be nice and we could go out for a ride Mike

You have the newer hollow front axle on your 04. I don't remember which side the axle nut is on the hollow axle, is it on the right or the left side of the bike? Perhaps a picture from the side would be helpful. Either way there should be no play in the spacer and the spacer goes on the nut side of the wheel. Just as a note, I purchased a used 2002 California Special Sport and when I was cleaning it, I noticed that the front axle spacer was placed on the wrong side of the wheel . The front wheel had never been off before so either the factory screwed up or the dealer did . The bike also had 6000 miles on it Kind of scary. Mike

I would suggest not using any leaded fuel with the 02 sensor. The lead will coat the 02 sensor in a very short time which will lead to $$$$ for replacement. Just buy the highest octane unleaded fuel for the track, thats all I use here in the States. Mike

This is a last second posting for getting Guzzi folks together in the San Francisco Bay area to meet the famous Bill Hagan. We are meeting at the Portofino Grill at 6pm tonight (Sat March 11) and dinner reservations are at 7pm. The address is: 929 Edgewater Blvd. Foster City, 94404 Email or call me if you can make it, I will need to update the reservations. My email is jnmstewart@msn.com Cell phone 510-418-7243 Thanks, Mike

Ben, How about some about 1100cc size? Mike

When new, the Marzochhi forks seemed ok and with mileage the forks started getting soft. So at about the 20,000 mile mark I had a very well known suspension Guru go through my forks and correct them with the right spring rate and valving to match. After plunking down $800. US dollars for the fork and shock respring and revalve my nightmare started. With the sag set, the bike felt way too stiff, mind you everyone at this time did not know much about the Sachs rear shock let alone the Marzochhi front fork. The bike felt terrible on every road, unstable, more nervous handling, I just could not figure out which end of the bike was at fault. I meet another Guzzi owner when out on a ride and he had just received his revalved and resprung forks from the same shop. I asked him how he liked his forks and he replied Not sure. This was the same think I was feeling. So, we both removed our forks and sent them back to have the valving redone. Again, I installed the forks and while they were better, they still did not feel compliant at all. (later talked to the same bike owner and he was still fighting the stiffness in his forks) The bike was so stiff, you could feel the date stamp on a dime if you ran over it. To cut the story short, I had purchased an 03 Rosso Corsa that came with the Ohlins suspension and after one ride, I was sold on the Ohlins. Japp at that time had a pair of like new Ohlins, so I leaped at them and installed them on the Sport. World of difference between my reworked Marzochhi's and the Ohlins. Most of the difference I would say is in the low stiction of the fork tubes and the pistons/shim pack in the Ohlins. If you really need to talk to someone with loads of suspension knowledge, talk to Todd Eagan. He has had his V11 forks (On his Jackal) worked on a few times and he knows the in's and outs of them better than I do. He talked to Marzochhi a few years back and was trying to get them to produce a fully adjustable fork for the Guzzi. He also said that Marzocchi made the forks to Guzzi's specs and thats why they are what they are. Marzocchi does make good forks as I have been using them on my mountain bike for years I know you wanted more but my yard is waiting for me. Mike

I have to disagree with you. Having a Ducati Sport 1000, the stock Marzochhi forks are cheap. They are the same forks that the lower end Monsters use. If you ever went on the DML board, everyone on there is looking to up grade to at least the fully adjustable Showa. Now how can I afford the Ohlins Mike This sums it up for me: I would rather buy the Ducati Sport1000 over the PaulSmartLE on suspension alone, the "cheaper" Sport's suspension simply worked better on the road... with the riding I did (on the road). I just realised I crapped on verbatim....but sometimes I do these things... in the name of bling get whatever you like... in the name of science see how well you can sort out the standard suspension. 79749[/snapback]

Ok, back to the original question The main problem you are going to have with a fork replacement is finding the correct fork length. The 2000 and 2001 forks are long (can't remember the length off hand) and the 02 and newer forks are at least 1.5" longer to compensate for the above the tripleclamp clip-ons. The good news is with the stock tripleclamp setup 54mm., you can shim the clamps to take just about any dimeter fork out there. Since your lower tripleclamp is tweaked, I think it would still be easier to find a used one rather than finding another brand. Reason for this is the way the steering stops are and triple clamp off set. The length of the Guzzi steerer is quite long also. I have played with the stock 2000 fork quite abit (Ok alot) and have wasted much money trying to improve their feel with out any luck. I then tried a set of Aprilia Showa forks and machined shims to fit the triple clamps. While the damping and spring rate were correct, the forks were just a tad too short for the already nervous handling bike so I scrapped the idea and went with the Ohlins fork setup. I wish I would of gone this way first and saved hundreds of dollars wasted on the Marzochhi. Now David has the Ohlins forks on his bike and I can still see his grin on his face as he rides. I feel the Ohlins are just way more compliant over any type of road surface and this make a fun bike even funner to ride . Mike

My neighbor has one that say's " Dumb As Iraq" Mike

The beam type torque wrench I was referring to is just that a beam with a rod that measures torque (as pictured). To calibrate the Craftsman torque wrench, you have to send it out to a shop that has the machinery to do the calibration and adjustments. With the Snap-on torque wrench, you just give it to the dealer that comes around every week and he sends it to a Snap-On facility to have the calibration preformed (which runs about $70.00). Mike

I have 5 different Snap-On torque wrenches in my tool box at work , one for just doing bearing preload for diff work and all the others for engine, trans and suspension work. Do you need an expensive torque wrench, most likely not. Even with having a Snap-On torque wrench, they are suppost to be calibrated something like every 6 months (even sooner if you drop it). A beam type torque wrench should be just as accurate. Mike

And once in Seattle, you must do the Olympic Coast, and heck, Canada is not too far from there either. Humm, how about taking a ferry accross to horseshoe ??? (can't remember which port) and then a drive/ride up to Whistler! Looks like you better take off a few weeks! Mike

jihem, I would at least plan on taking two to three days for the drive, depending on if you would like to stop take in some nice views and check out the small towns along the way. Highway 1 is very slow going up the California coast but is beautiful. Oregon is beautiful as well (guess I just love the ocean) and I think you will enjoy Seattle as well. Would be much funner on a two wheel vehicle. Keep us posted if you do decide to fly into San Fran, perhaps we could meet up. Mike

Bill, It would be great to meet up with you, are you going to be here alone or with your wife? I have the stock crossover bracket that you can have or I can take the Stucchi bracket off my bike and make a drawing, or perhaps even make one up for you. Feel free to PM me with the infomation on your stay. Mike Seriously, Mike, I'm going to be in San Francisco next month (c.10-12 March). Any chance we could hook up? I'm good for at least a beer or two to borrow or measure or take pics or whatever of your stock u-bracket. Thanks to all as always for help in sorting out these little warts. Bill 78346[/snapback]

Docc is spot on as usual I started going to a Chiropractor many years ago for back problems. Many Doctors at the time would just give you muscle relaxers at that time and hopefully the problem would cure it self (usually not). After my crash last Sept, I was suprised to find out what the Doctors and pelvic specialist thought my recovery rate should be. They seem to be pretty clueless on how long it takes the body to heal. Yes, it only takes 6 weeks for bones to heal but what about all the other injuries. Anyway, my Chiropractor kept telling me how long it was going to take time wise to heal and gave me many lectures what I should not be doing during recovery. Working with her and going to Physical Theropy is the best thing for a speedy recovery. From working on my tight muscles in my back which causes slight numbness in my leg to stretching out my muscles from my three broken ribs, working on my thumb and wrist pain, the Chiropractor is the only place to go. Oh yeah, it was my Chiropractor that found my broken ribs, not the Doctor . Stay in good health, Mike