Mike Stewart

I guess I am just lucky about my wife liking bikes I had a 1989 BMW K75S when my now wife and I started to date. We went for a ride and I knew right off that I needed more cc's in the hills. Well time went on and she seemed to like riding on the back so I purchased the BMW R1100 RSL in 1994. In 1995 we did a 10 day vacation through Northern California, Oregon, Washington, B.C., Whistler Canada and it rained just about every day. The guys at my work were making bets that she would not make the whole trip (almost didn't) but she survived. Anyway, back to your question, I guess she enjoys the Guzzi folks. Can't really explain it but as she says, the Guzzi folks are different and you will find all types that own them, from lawyers to gear heads/rednecks The Guzzi she did not like was a 2002 Special Sport which I had purchased used. I did not test ride it and for some strange reason my back hated the bar position. 30 min. in the saddle and my back was gone. She did not like the seating position either because the foot pegs are too far forward and she could not adjust herself as we rode. Sold that bike and bought a Jackal and we had no problems . So what kind of virus are you going to come down with? Mike

Stobie, The major difference between the two bikes in comfort would be the legs being slightly more cramped on the V11. The bars if I can remember correctly are slightly lower. My wife preferred the BMW mainly because her legs were less cramped and she could bring along more stuff with the BMW suit cases (now remedied with the Hepco Becker 40 liter bags ). How ever, I only had 20,000 miles on my 94 R1100RSL when I sold it in 2002 and I put 30,000 on the Guzzi in less than 3 years. They are just that much fun to ride . I can do the same amount of mileage even while riding two up and fully loaded on my V11 Sport (600 mile days) compared to the BMW. Best thing to do is try to find one to test drive. Best, Mike

I hate companies that take your money and expect you to wait forever for their product. Just bad press. I had a simular problem with Dymag when I orderd a set of wheels for my V11. They should at least been up front with you on the amount of time it was going to take. I would demand your money back unless you really want the swingarm or at least demand a HUGE discount for bending over backwards putting up with their s*%t. Just my thoughts after one Martini, perhaps more to come after the second one, Mike

That is checking static sag, next we need to check it with the rider in place Mike

The switch is located just under the starter, you need to get on your knees to see it. It just screws into the transmission and there is just one wire going to it. Really easy to replace. Mike

I still use the moly with the GL-5 gear lube. I am a firm believer in the stuff. It goes back a few years ago when I had a BMW R1100RSL, I had the first service preformed at the BMW dealer in which the trans fluid was changed to a full synthetic. The bike now had a problem getting stuck in fifth gear after riding 100 plus miles in hot weather. Took it back to the dealer a few times, even let them ride it home a few times and they could not find anything. I was very unhappy with BMW and when it came time for the 2nd service I took the bike to a different dealer. Now get this, the new dealer I had the bike at was also a Moto Guzzi dealer, they changed the trans fluid and replaced with good old dino 90 wt with the added moly additive. Guess what, the bike no longer would get stuck in 5th gear. So while the synthetic oils do have better shear qualities, I wonder about how the stuff sticks to the internal parts for lubrication. Mike

What ever works for you Mike

David, I guess you could just put one of these inline to the #17 terminal of the ECU http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.js...rentPage=search It's the $3.99 fix Mike

The spec. for GM cars is 25 ma, many cars come close to zero now with the new technology (after the 30 to 45 min computer time out). I have let my Guzzi's sit for months with no problems starting so I know they don't have anything draining the battery. Now the BMW I had was a different story, it needed a battery every year. Another good way to check to see if you battery is bad, is to disconnect it from the vehicle and let it sit for the amount of time you usually have the problem. In this case I guess it would be two days? If the vehicle starts up with it after that amount of time, then it is the draw causing the issue. Once in a while I will get a battery that passes the load test but has an internal short that will take a day or two to bring it down and cause a no or slow crank issue. Mike

What happened to the days of taking off the fuel cap and sloshing the fuel in the tank to see how much you had left Carl, you take the fun out of trying to figure out the Guzzi fuel injection system Mike

The fuel tank I am going to use on my Jackal project only has two fittings. So, no room for a fuel tank sensor. Could have a fitting welded on but, I will just use the older style petcock setup. The Jackal fuel system is quite different than the V11 Sport. Where as the V11 Sport has two fuel hose fittings per injector, the Jackal only has one. The V11 Sport also puts the regulator after the injectors and on the Jackal the regulator is teed into the fuel filter exit. You would think the Jackal would be the one with the fuel vapor lock problem, not the V11 Sport This is an experiment, but I think it should work out fine. Air in the fuel system should bleed out fairly quick so I don't think it will be a problem. Mike

Yeah, Yeah, Carl If I remember correctly, it was vice grips and mechanics wire to hold my Guzzi soft bag bracket together long enough to make it to Prescott Well after that episode I do carry my factory tool bag, I guess I should include some nylon ties and some mechanics wire and a higher limit credit card. Mike

I have been thinking of this mainly for my Jackal project. Same concerns about not having a low fuel light but I only have to fuel tank fittings available. I would use a mechanical petcock on each side of the tank (this way you will have a petcock that could operate a reserve side), you tee the two petcocks together to form your fuel feed to the fuel pump. Ok, now you modifie your pressure regulator so that a hose will work on the return side. This hose would also go to the tee that was used to connect the two sides of the tank together. Sound crazy, yes, but I have talked to many who add electronic fuel injection to cars and it is common to use the fuel feed as a return too. By having one petcock closed, you will have a reserve on one side of the tank (as long as you run the fuel return as above). You can just keep both petcocks open and use the fuel level sensor in the stock position and everythink should be fine. Now you just need room for all the plumbing Mike

I tend to use the Powercommander on many of my bikes, stock or modified. Why, because most bikes do not come with the perfect map from the factory. I have played with the PC with the different bikes I own and if the map for the stock bike read all 0 (xero's) across the board, than I would say the bike did not need one. But, I have yet to see this. Most bike maps are rich in some parts while being lean in other. So, if you want the most out of your bike (power and economy), the only easy way is with the Powercommander. Most maps avalible, most dyno centers to do the custom mapping. Will you damage your bike if you don't use a PC with the Mistrals, most likely not, but you will not gain the most you could with out it. Have I been the only one that has experenced power loss after changing the stock exhaust to one that breaths better? Mike

I believe Carl just copies the wire diagrams from the owners manuel. I do not put alot of trust in the pin locations of the Guzzi diagrams. The one for my 2000 Jackal has just about every pin location off, so beware. Back probing can be a pain in the arse , but it will do no harm to the connector if done properly. Should only take a few minutes to do the check and at least the ecu is out in the open. You should try this on some GM products A 75 ma drain is like a small light bulb being powered (aprox. the size of a tail lamp bulb) but yet enough to kill the battery over night. These drains also tend to end the life of the battery early. Mike

Well, I just reread your post and noticed that you could kill the drain by removing the #1 fuse So, The ECU is powered all the time at terminal 17 (which is powered by fuse #1), I would still back probe the remaining wires to the ecu to see is it is an internal ecu problem or something outside. I pulled out my old V11 sport harness and looked at the relay block, I found what I believe is the safety diode (#48 in the wiring diagram). Good luck, Mike

Good one David, Does not make any sense to me, I would think the ign switch would kill the power to the ECU via the ECU relay. One thing you could try is with the ign switch off, take your volt meter and back probe (from the back where the wires go into the connector) each wire at the ECU connector (use a thin needle or pin to backprobe, do NOT use the meter ends) to locate which wire is causing the draw. Once you know which wire it is, it will hopefully lead you to the cause. I don't know where the safety diode is, I would think it would be in the ECU but it could be wrapped up in the harness somewhere. One of the weirdest parisitic drains I had was on a vehicle where the alternator B+ cable had rubbed through on a rubber coolant hose. There was just enough resistance through the rubber hose to allow a 75ma to drain the battery. Same problem as you, all fuses pulled, still had a draw. Let us know your findings, Mike

rrbasso, Usually it is a faulty neutral safty switch. It is really easy to check, when the light fails to work, just ground the neutral switch spade (located under the starter on the transmission) to ground (ign on) and if the light comes on, you need a neutral switch. Mike

I agree with ratchet, many preservatives will make the rubber look good now but will actually aid in the decomposition of the rubber. This even includes silicone. I work as a GM car tech and they have been telling us for years not to use silicone on the rubber parts for squeaks etc. They came out with a special lube in a one ounce bottle that cost a wopping $80.00 for use on rubber weather strips Also, at least in automobiles there is a green house emission test which the car is placed in a room and then measured for emissions of the car parts. I have heard the cars are cleaner than a pine tree Anyway, they had to take out a few chemicals in rubber which makes them not last as long. Or it could be because of the Ozone Mike

I used to own a 94 R1100RSL and I thought that was going to be my last bike. It did everything well, even put on an expensive staintune exhaust system and while it did make the bike louder, it still was missing something. Then I made a mistake and purchased my first Guzzi, a V11 Sport. I never had any Italian bike before and I was wondering how it would hold up. Turned out to be just as reliable as my BMW and it had ten times the amount of soul. The Beemer sat in the garage for a year while I rode the Guzzi and I ended up selling it, I have never looked back. So if you buy one be prepared because soon you will have a garage full of them. Mike

Maybe Al is moon lighting Mike

Looks like Al's bike Mike

Yep, it is the same size (27mm). Just found this on ebay, another special tool: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Hex-27mm-Mo...1QQcmdZViewItem Mike

Well it is suppost to be raining in the Bay area this morning and it's not Tomorrow the forcast is chance of light sprinkles in the morning and clearing in the afternoon. But, I am no whether man So, if it is not pouring rain tomorrow morning, I am still game. Tim, shoot me your telephone number so I can reach you just incase something comes up out of my control. Tim, What time do you want to meet at Starbucks in San Ramone? 7.15 -7.30am ? My home number is 510-531-0362, cell 510-418-7243 Hal, Thanks for the offer, since we don't know if the ride will be rained out or if we will be soaked, perhaps meeting at a resturant would be better. We can do breakfast at your place when the weather is more predictable Either way, just need some directions and meet times. Mike

I think you can use an LED for the fuel light if you wire it in after the fuel lamp bulb. Meaning, you leave the fuel lamp bulb/socket in place (stuffed inside the IP cluster) and the LED is placed in series after the socket. The resistance from the bulb is still there so the LED sould work properly. I know, so why go through the trouble of fitting a LED then I am just saying, it can be done. And, agreed, LED can fail too Mike