Mike Stewart

OK, The Doc Wong dinner at Alice's is at 7:15 PM on Monday the 10th. Since the weather has been cold and wet and windy the last few days, lets wait to make plans a couple of days away from the 10th. We would have to meet around 5:30 to 6:00 and I am not sure how much traffic we will hit going across the San Mateo Bridge. At least we can use the commuter lane and get free passage over the bridge. It would be fun to get a group together on this side of the bay for the ride over. Mike

Yo Woodburn, I am just over the hill from you! I live in the Oakland Hills below Montclair off of Highway 13. We need to meet. ! Where in Walnut Creek do you live? Mike

If you bought the pair of Mistral aluminum mufflers off ebay a few days ago, I think you out bid me! I was the one that had the bid at $305. You can try the Mistrals with out the PCIII but if it may run poorly (surge, cough, stall). Both of my bikes ran bad with just the Mistrals (very lean, major loss of power) and the PCIII was the cure. Carls bike may of had a remap from the dealer when the Mistrals were installed. They can richen up the mixture to some degree. Hope this helps, Mike

Luggage rack meaning the rack that mounts to the two side racks? Yes, it does come with the side racks. Humm, maybe thats why the rack setup cost $300.00 dollars. It is a very sturdy setup, I leave the rear rack off for the more sport touring look and when I do go for the long hauls, I just bolt it on. Mike

Even some early 2003 have the older style fairing. I guess it is only bad if your knees hit the fairing. Mike

Marcial, I will email Doc Wong to see what time he wants to meet for dinner. I will let you know on a place to meet up at. Hey Al, get your bike together so we can cruise up to Alice's for dinner. Believe me, I take it easy in the dark! 40 something eyes are a pain in the a*&$^&%! Mike

I am still thinking about adding a G-B to my bike collection. I live in California so it is a pain to get the bike registered. I think it would be wiser to buy an GB than the MGS01, just because it would be faster to get parts from G-B in Italy than Guzzi. There was one at the San Diego rally earlier this month that was entered in the bike show, it won 1st place while my 03 Rosso came in 2nd. in the sport class. Mike

Humm, Time to adjust my headlight and get brighter bulbs. It is very dark up on highway 35 at night! It might be time to add some auxiliary lighting. Anyone else game? Mike

I have talked to Evo yesterday and they wanted me to unplug the wires that went to the rear turn signals (now goes to the module) and then to check if the front blinkers still blink with the module disconnected. If it does blink then they say it is a wiring problem on our end. I checked it out and my front blinkers still blink without the module hooked up. But I dont think their checkout is correct. If it works at idle and stops working while riding, it has to be a problem in the module. Please give them a call also so they will know there is a problem with the kit. Thanks, Mike

Tight enough that the bolts wont come loose and loose enough that the bolts wont snap. The best way for tightning bolts is by bolt stretch not by torque. But the easiest way is by torque. Humm, maybe a light torque with loctite! I thought I would throw in anothe wrench! Mike

Humm, I installed one of these evo. kits a few weeks ago and while it works in the garage at idle, on the way down to San Diego for the rally, my wife said " your blinkers do not work at freeway speeds" Well, I can't see behind me at freeway speeds and they do work at idle so what is the scoop? Must be voltage sensitive? Mike

I'll trade you my Quat-D Muffler with cracked welding for it. Or give you about half of what you paid. Put it up for sale, and if you don't get what you want I'll give you $400. It can't be too terrible as you were excited and liked it at first. My Corbin saddle moves my weight pretty far aft, so it may be fine for me. The advantage of shorter travel is less drive shaft wear!!! But more wear on the old bones. And maybe if I hang the battery where the license plate is it will put more weight over the spring. David, I am going to send the penske shock back to penske to have them loosen up on the compression dampening. On a positive note I can now change the rear shock in about 1.5 hours. which includes putting the bike on the bike stand, fuel tank removal, airbox removal (now I know why everyone went to K&N pods), shock removal and new shock installation with sag adjustment via broken knuckles and blood everywhere. I wonder what factory flat rate pays. Sorry, the mechanic side of me is speaking. I still plan to purchase the Ohlins with the remote spring preload adjuster for the Rosso. That is my sport touring machine and I need to be able to adjust spring preload with out taking a shit load of tools along for the ride. I will then try out the Rosso Ohlins shock on my 00 V11Sport, so who knows which shocks I will have up for sell. By the way, the LE Sach unit feels better with the stock spring but, I think I am also going to sent it back to LE to have the compression dampening relaxed too. Might as well since it is their screw up! Mike

David Now my head really hurts, wheres the Advil . I think it will be easiest if I went with the Ohlins shock. Do you want to buy the Penske cheap? Mike

Humm, what is the conversion from the kitchen sink to number of wifes shoes she can take along? Really, on our ride last week, we had to mail stuff home that would not fit anylonger. Amazing how stuff expands along the way. We also came home with some awards at the San Diego rally which was nice but geez, trying to fit it all can be a engineering nightmare. And yes, she did buy 4 pairs of shoes in Palm Springs that we had to ship home also. I think the Ohlins shock is best with the remote adjustable preload for the V11 Series. Cranking her up for two up riding or for a kitchen sink is a breez. Mike

Bill, The ItI speedo is right on the money, um, of corse I told the officer that I was doing 75mph. instead of the 85mph. he said I was doing. It also depends on what brand of tire you are using and tire size. Mike

But wait till the orange needle turns white and you will have a different opinion. Then your speedo is replaced and now you have one orange needle and one faded out white one. Mike

Al has an eye for detail! I have the Hepco-Becker setup on my Rosso as well. The construction of the bags and mounts are on par with BMW. I have the 30 liter bags and I think I will also buy the 40 liter bags for the extended tours. Mike

David, sorry for the delay, gosh, you sound like my 3rd grade teacher, The sag numbers for the Rosso for the rear are 8mm. static, 35mm. with rider. The sag for the V11Sport with the LE Sach are 5mm. static, 30mm. with rider. On the Penske I have tried their recommended sag which is between 7/8 of an inch. to 1 1/16 sag with rider. I have also tried up to 1 1/2 inch. sag with rider and all settings are too stiff. The Ohlins shock works the best, I can feel the shock working over bumps and humps in the road. With the other shocks I get the kick from the seat and harsh ride. I have read that Ohlins sets up the shocks for the bike and then do track and road time to get it dialed in for dampening and spring weight. I do not think Penske does the same thing and may just go off suspension design to get thier figures. What they may not see is it being a shaft drive with a heavy rear wheel/final drive unit attached. Mike

I put 130 miles on today and the LE modified Sach shock was liveable, still has some harshness from the high speed dampening. It is less harsh and more rideable than the Penske shock. I talked to a 02 Lemans owner that had installed the Ohlins rear shock and he is really happy with the results. No harshness at all. Give me a break! Mike

Al, I would stay away from heat if possible, the powder coating on the wheels would most likely start to bubble and cause another headache. I made up my front axle spacer today and added a collar on one side to help keep the spacer centered between the bearings for easier wheel installation. The old spacer went through one bearing which kept it centered. The old spacer in my wheel measured 104.5mm. so thats what length I made the new spacer to. I guess .5mm. is pretty tight tolerences for Guzzi's! I will be done with your spacer in a few days. Mike

Lex, That is exactly what the bike feels like, a empty one ton truck! I have installed the LE modified shock with the stock spring and will be going for a ride this morning. This will tell me if the spring rate was causing the problem or if it is an internal dampening problem. Time to ride! Mike

Al, The Ohlins on the Rosso is great but the aftermarket Ohlins is different. How different, I don't really know. We will have to compare them when you get yours. Mike

I should of spent the extra money for the fully adjustable Penske shock, but it was $400. dollars more. Everyone said the two way adjustable shock would be fine. I think it is just a tuneing thing... Mike

Al, There are only 6 compression settings on the Penske shock. I do not really feel that much difference between them. They use a rotating drum with six different sized orifices to control low speed compression. I think the high speed dampening is shimmed to stiff thus not allowing fluid to blow by on larger bumps. Mike

Baldini, I also think the compression dampening is too stiff, I wanted to go to a lighter spring to make sure that was the cause before sending the shock back to have it revalved. The first 2 inches of travel feel fine but after that it is way too stiff. The freeway expansion joints in California will jar the fillings loose from your teeth, and bump you cheeks off the saddle with any slight bump. Mike