JoeV11

Not Red! They'd be wondering on TV why some Ducati's have the motor in sideways. LOL I like the tri-color scheme. Joe

Yes, very happy. The bike has the reliability of a new machine with the character of a vintage cafe racer. It handles much better than I do. It looks like a MOTOR cycle not a plastic blob with wheels. And it sounds great with aftermarket exhaust. What's not to like? I just wish it wasn't 40 degrees out or I'd go for a ride right now! Joe

These guys' website seems to have the most diverse selection of mufflers for Guzzi's, maybe you can find something to adapt? I like your idea, it goes with the cafe racer look of the V11, especially if you add bar end mirrors. http://www.mgcycle.com/muffler.html http://www.motointernational.com/main.htm they also sell a lot of guzzi stuff but don't have an online catalog If you are after loudness, I put a set of Two Brothers CF mufflers on my bike and they are loud! I bought a pair from a Honda RC51 and cut the Honda pipes in half to mate with my stucci crossover. I had to get the restrictors for the ends to quiet it down some. Still has a good rasp though. Darn cold and windy out today, going to have to stop riding soon. Joe

Gavin What you could do is install a Stucchi crossover with the stock mufflers. Others and I have done this with great success in solving the 4000 rpm flat spot. Make sure you get the throttle bodies balanced and TPS set up to specs as well. Worked wonders for me! Joe

I installed a stucci crossover with stock mufflers and noticed a deeper sound and smoother running. The smoother running may also have been from a quality first tune-up by the guys at Marsh Motors. They really liked the way the bike ran, too. I eventually added aftermarket mufflers. Joe

Ah yes! But you had torque of 1100 cc's - that had to help on the tighter parts of the courses, and a little more HP would make you unstoppable! I wonder why the class settled on around 700cc? Ducati 1000cc twins would be another relative torque monster. Again an excellent season! Joe

Excellent ! But were you on a weight penalty for 1100 cc or did you go down to 700cc or whatever? Excellent again! Joe

FWIW, Marsh Motors in CT is for sale. One of the oldest Moto Guzzi dealers in the country, and hardly a boutique. So you wouldn't have to get a fresh franchise, or sell/service anything but Guzzi's. Joe

Well 40-30mpg isn;t as bad a drop as raz's volvo. I suppose the high performance mods increased the motor's efficiency, probably through higher compression, that a flex fuel car can't do. Cool beans! Joe

welcome! and your english is so good, you shouldn't worry. you have a good looking bike, and as smaller riders say about heavy bikes, "you ride it, you don't carry it". LOL Joe

this one? it was pretty cool, but I had the impression the owner (and his girlfriend) were a little out of their element, looking for other harley owners. Joe

Hi John I think we met at the IMOC. I live about 45 min from Worcester, and also would be interested in finding someone that could show me how to do the big tuning improvements some people talk about on this forum. Maybe a group of us could get together for a tune-up day? When I had my old Corvette, there was a guy from out west that would do performance tuneups for any group that would fly him out, buy beer and put him up. Maybe there is a Guzzi expert like that? Joe

So, Greg, what were the significant mods? It must be more than injectors, mapping and new rubber parts to be "considerable money". Raised compression would yield the biggest benefit from alky. Did he have to get into the lower end? Thanks, Joe

Actually the truck won people's choice, and Steve even mentioned that the chopper didn't win. LOL Joe

That was a great day! Funny though, you took pictures of a few bikes that I didn't see, and I was there all day! Joe

I'm not sure where the idea that there is an "Italian Racing Green" came from. Those of us old enough to remember know where the colors came from: The Grand Prix auto racing series was truly an international competion, country pitted against country. Before race cars became moving sponsor bilboards, each car was painted a color associated with their country: Britain was Green Italy was Red France was Blue Germany was white, but then Mercedes was able to save a few pounds by not painting their aluminum bodied cars, so Germany was then Silver. When the US went international racing in the 50's, all the solid colors were taken, so we got White with Blue stripes. I don't have all the colors memorized, but Wikipedia has this table: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_inter...o_racing_colors Alphabetic list Code Country Body Bonnet Other Colors Numbers A Austria Blue Black on white ARG Argentina Blue Yellow Chassis: Black Red on white AUS Australia Green Gold Blue B Belgium Yellow Black BR Brazil Pale yellow Chassis/Wheels: Green Black BUL Bulgaria Green White Red on white C Cuba Yellow Black Black on white CDN Canada Traditional colors are white and green parallel stripes After the Canadian flag was changed in 1965 Red with wide lengthwise white stripes became popular Black CH Switzerland Red White Black CS Czechoslovakia White Blue/white Underframe: Red Blue D Germany White bare metal (aluminium, "Silver Arrows") Red DK Denmark Silver-grey National flag as a lengthwise stripe on bonnet Red on white E Spain Red Yellow Chassis/Springs: Red Black on yellow or white on red ET Egypt Pale violet Red on white F France Blue White FIN Finland White Two blue stripes on bonnet shaping a Latin cross Black on white GB United Kingdom Green Scottish entrant Rob Walker used dark blue with a white noseband and Ecurie Ecosse also used dark blue; the Arrol Johnston team pre-World War 1 used navy tartan White GR Greece Pale Blue Two white lengthwise stripes on bonnet Black on white H Hungary Front: White Rear: Green Red Black HJK Jordan Brown Black on white IND India Sky blue[1] I Italy Red White IRL Ireland Green Horizontal band of orange all around White J Japan Ivory White Red disk on bonnet White on black L Luxembourg Tricolor lengthwise stripe (red/white/blue) from front to rear Black on white MAS Malaysia Yellow White Black on white/Black MC Monaco White Red lateral stripe around car Black on white MEX Mexico Gold Blue cross-stripe on bonnet Red on white NL Netherlands Orange White NZ New Zealand Green and silver Black and silver[2] P Portugal Red Underframe: White White PL Poland White Underframe: Red Red on white RCH Chile Red Blue Underframe: White Blue/red or red on white S Sweden Blue bottom, yellow top, three cross bands of blue on top of bonnet White T Thailand Pale blue with yellow horizontal band around body and bonnet Wheels: Pale yellow White on blue U Uruguay Pale blue with large red band around the lower part of bonnet White on black USA United States White with blue lengthwise stripes Underframe: Blue Blue on white ZA South Africa Gold Green Black on yellow

I rode 600+ miles up to northern Vermont and back last weekend. 9 hours on the way up without a single highway , 4½ hours back on the interstate as the rain cleared . I just have two complaints, and forward pegs wouldn't solve them. First my butt was sore when I got home, need a better seat. Secondly on the trip home the back of my neck was sore from holding my head up without moving it around. Not sure how to solve that one, other than higher bars that would spoil the excellent riding position for fast turns. I guess I just have to stay off the highway. Joe

welcome! enjoy your new ride - I just took a 600 mile trip up route 100 to northern VT because winter is coming way too fast! Joe

You'll find that Guzzi didn't import any '05's to the US. Lots of leftover '04's back then. Joe

Hi John It was good meeting you at the IMOC rally. You seem to have a bike that got all the factory problems. But once they are fixed under warantee you will have one great bike! As I told you I also had the leaky fork problem. I also had the tank suck problem. Both were fixed by Marsh motors under warantee, even though I bought the bike from Missouri, and I haven't had any other problems since, and have had almost 5000 miles of fun. Guzzi's are unique and interesting and worth the rough start. Unfortunately they leave some of the initial QC to the dealers, not unlike HD did in the 70's. Enjoy your bike, and I hope to see you around. Joe

Nothing to add about different models, but my experience with a V11 Sport Naked may help you decide. I too have been riding for over 35 years, having many different bikes from 2-strokes to Harleys. I bought my V11 sight unseen, and never even sat on one. I had ridden one of my brothers Ducati Monster and loved the handling, and the naked look, but wanted a little bigger bike. When the bike showed up, my first thought was OMG what have I done? The riding position was a lot more radical than I was used to. But I felt completely in control of the bike. After a short time, I found I could support myself with my torso, not my wrists, especially above 40mph. Now I wouldn't change a thing. So if you can find a test ride, you may like it. The Ohlins suspension may be worth getting, but I haven't even finished dialing in the Marzocci suspension on mine. As far as motor/clutch/tranny/electrical upgrades, any 04 has them all, probably 03 too. Here is some model/year info you may already have found in your search: http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=5691 Good Luck Joe PS, I don't care for the new models, too overstyled for my tastes. But variety is the spice of life, isn't it?

OK, OK I'll get a half dozen blanks cut out and then I can finish a batch and start selling them. Keeping in the best Moto Guzzi tradition, it'll probably be a few months before they are ready. The IMOC was a lot of fun, and it was great meeting the guys from the forum. We'll have to do this more often. The bikes are even better in person than in avatars. Waspp even won a trophy! Congrats... Joe

That is nuts, and if it were over here, they would be making track changes very soon. History shows that as race vehicles get faster, new challenges sometimes arise that weren't in the original track design. My personal experience is at the Lime Rock, CT track. About 10 years ago the IMSA prototype cars started getting airborne over a particular blind hill. So now they added a chicane at that turn to get the faster classes off the gas and on the brakes. Other examples are the chicanes that were added at LeMans, Watkins Glen and Daytona to slow the cars down. Joe

Hopefully the weather will cooperate - I'll be heading up rt 169 from CT in the am. Plan on meeting at the lodge at 1 for a beer! Joe PS should we all wear a carnation in our lapel? LOL

Being air cooled and using pushrods are somewhat limiting, besides being an old fashioned head design. In the similar 2000 cc class the record was just set by a highly modified panhead harley at 162 mph using nitrous. I think there isn't a lot of interest in those classes so the records don't get set often. Special Construction, fuel, pushrod, 2000cc, partial streamline. I'd like to see what a Guzzi motor could do in a frame like that.