docc

W/z; your Sport looks like an early model. Is it in the gearbox recall range and has the gearbox recall ever been done on it? Recall Notices in FileShare Go to Camn's post in "HowTo" and click the link to Piaggio to see pending recalls for your VIN.

Dang, man! Just looked at your Daytona in the Gallery. No one's EVER brought a DAYTONA to a Spine Raid. The original Guzzi Spine Frame! You could trailer that in and we wouldn't use the "collector" word. As long as we got to see it (hear it!) in action on the Saturday loop!

The rear brake pedal goes all the way down. A few full strokes and it's back solid. Fluid is full, no visible leaks, new pads and brake bleed less than a year ago (3,300 miles). Any chance of bringing this back with a flush/bleed or am I in for a master cylinder rebuild? Are there rebuild kits available for this Brembo? TIA!! (Trying to get ready to ride the 500 mile round trip, backroads, to the Barber Vintage Festival in 10 days!)

+1 on that. A loose battery connection also recently blew my 30 amp "main" fuse (have look at that, too).

Apparently, the Spine Frame Guzzi has become somewhat of a collector's item (the kind of bike's people have, but don't ride). Of the eleven bikes at the Tenth Sputter'n Spine Raid, there were six Guzzi, counting Nic's V7 Café, Hagan's luscious Griso, and motowfo's Stelvio Valdeez - only three Spines: Josh's very fine Sport 1100, jakester's very fun Rosso Corsa, and docc's very leaky V11 Sport. We did get to spend some time at European Motorsports with buellish1 and his buettiful Ballabio, but didn't get to ride with him this year. After all the other riders had split off for home, The Three Spinateers cut through the foothills of middle Tennessee scattering the chickens and making the sheep nervous. It's an honor and a joy to have ridden and clicked glass with each and every one!

Like Beaver Lake/Springdale etc? Great riding all across N. AR and S. MO. It always surprises me how much less congestion there is west of the Mississippi. Hope you enjoy your LeMans!!

It's the valve adjustment>TPS>idle setting>synchronization cycle. Agreed with luhbo that the synch is suspect, but all of these parameters affect the others, so every tune-up gets the parameters closer and closer. Be sure you are tuning to a correct idle speed ( many of these tachs read as much as 300-500 rpm high). Also, setting your synch (throttle body balance) "off idle" is helpful (probably in that mid-2000 rpm range). My experience is that pulling the air screws out a full turn gives me better results, but "YMMV!"

Well it's a safe bet then, that it has a nice seat at least! I contacted the LeMans owner about the Quat-D but he didn't want to sell it separately. For sure, you can see the custom seat in the photos. The give-away is the red wheels and, especially, the custom medallions on the exhaust. I remember it being a nice bike - tuned it up once for the guy in Clarksville. (Maybe he still owns it but moved to NC).

The silver Sport in Raleigh was Rich Maund's bike before going to Clarksville, TN, for a time.

+1 : not leaking? leave the seals alone. Choose (lighter) oil that might reduce the harshness a wee bit . Above all make sure your springs are giving you proper sag. Of the front drops more than an inch and a half, pop for correct rate springs for you weight. (That's an extremely general number - lots of info and advice and opinions on fork set-up).

I admit it was not a particularly elegant solution, but more effective that the Dos Equis bottle caps we tried last year. And the situation was more dire since the thing actually did drop off. Like a Honda-seeking depth charge.

The only known treatment: SSR/ Next . . . A genuine nugget of the mild to moderate madness that is the South'n Spine Raid. George should really come back again next year, but bring his Kubota so he can keep up and we don't have to work on that silly Honda of his . . .

This is going to be one good test of JBWeld. Sucky thing is that it could hold for a time, then you find your bike on its side. Pretty challenging TIG job, I would think though, too.

Yes. I'll split Airfare with you, shelter, food, spirits, and a bike to ride! I may even have 3 bikes to choose from soon! Haha! That's a sweet deal! Is it good for ten years to life? It could take me a few months to get there since I'll be darned busy digging up every track and burning every bridge between here and Albuquerque. Seriously, I'm thinking we can walk you through a valve adjustment and tune-up. You will be absolutely jazzed how much better you can make her run!

Yes.

At least on the early V11, that circuit through Fuse 6 lights the low watt bulb in the headlamp (sometimes called "city lamp"), the tail lamp, tag light, and the instrument illumination, but not the "warning" lights (aka "idiot lights" or system indicators) which light through Fuse 5 and the Headlamp Relay.

Motowfo brought this interesting libation to the Spine Raid: a blend of (up to) 23 year old Guatamalan rums aged at altitude in the Guatamalan highlands. It has (had ) a delightful smoothness and complexity that reminded me of the finest single malts I've been lucky to taste. Although with no peat or smoke - more sweet like bourbon. I figgered with the highland connection, I might post it anyway . . . Otherwise, I suppose I should get after a real and proper single malt tomorrow in the spirit of things:

This is the photo I cut out so many years ago, but I'm not sure where it came from. Maybe Motorcyclist magazine. I am only now seeing the small fairing that I do not think is the Stucchi I ended up with from Moto Guzzi.

Whew! That took some scrolling! Found this in the December issue:

You know you're on a Spine Raid when everyone knows which guy has what tools . . .

That is a very nice review I have never seen. I suppose Moto Guzzi may have been too poor to hire pretty Italian models in 1997 and the rest of us were too poor to go to EICMA or perhaps even buy film then. Times change and I need another Pirelli . . .

This year's tech session: How To Replace a Wayward Crossover Pipe

Well, no one who made breakfast at MarcyJo's and rode clear to Fall Creek Falls and back through the Dry Fork Gulf (best motorcycle road in Tennessee) can say they "missed the trip" entirely! The *other* Honda rider really needed you there for moral support. He didn't understand when we pulled up a bucket to sit on and adjust his valves . . .

Sometimes "things Guzzi" are to be very serious: ATTENTION ON DECK! Then the true spirit breaks through:

Haha, yes, I remember liking the Ippogrifo - I guess it went on to become the various V7 we now enjoy. I suppose 1997 was too early for an internet archive. Although, chamberlin, sometimes bike show girls may show some portion of the bikes . . . so that would be ok, too! As for being 15 in 1997, well, that just pisses me off!