docc

My understanding is that the Guzzi "off-road" exhaust is Mistral. Although there are perhaps three variations of Guzzi performance exhaust.

Panniers too high and too far back is a familiar problem. Guzzirider , your Teknos look like they are shifted forward and down from the original postion. How'd you do that?

40,000 miles on the y2k Sport and no trouble with the wobble. I run the damper full off until the front tire wear feels a little wiggly in the corners, then up 4 clicks. I'm hoping to prolong the life of the Bitubo this way. ( That HyperPro is a beauty!) There is a distinction between wobble and weave . Wobble is a high amplitude shaking of the front wheel and forks that can lead to the dreaded 'tank-slapper.' I don't recall any reports of this here, even with the awful early red-for-blood framed Sports. Weave is a low amplitude, typically high speed, side to side oscillation of the entire wheel base. This was quite typical in the Red Frames delivered with the angular Pirelli Dragon Corsas. The weave is worsened soft suspension springing, too much sag, too much rear weight bias, low tire pressures, too much damping ( especially steering damping and compression damping both front and rear). So, yes, a proper suspension/tire set-up is great medicine! The little Stucchi fairing and a loose grip on the bars also helped to ease the tendency for high speed weave. It is notable that the weave reports , primarily in the press, along with the vibration complaints, primarily by the press, led new owner Aprilia to give us the frame , wheel/tire and handlebar changes of 2002. As well as firmly continuing the legend of the "Tellaio Rosso" Sports. The earliest Tellaio Rosso V7 Sport was also distinct from later versions ( for different reasons, but yet distinct).

nah, you can't get off that easy. Looks like you found the definitive fix for dubious Guzzi speedometers.

Carefully resetting the relays under the seat is good advice ( as is ditching the Siemens for the upgraded relays from Dan Pruneske [Dansguzzi]). The clutch switch,which may be affected by turning the bars, may prevent the starter from turning. The clutch switch will not keep the motor from running but only lock out the starter. Try fiddling with the gear shift a bit and be sure the neutral light comes on. Other wise, you might straddle the bike, pull in the clutch and see if will start in gear. Remember, it may be in gear so don't launch it through your neighbor's lorrie or run over his wife Lory. The current to run has a more direct path with the stand up, bypassing both the side stand switch and the middle relay.

Backing the steering dmper all the way off is probably good medicine. Compared toyour Hawk the Guzzi will take some time to tweak, adjust tune and otherwise meld with. Enjoy and welcome!

Pete, Are you finding the 'soft valve' phenomenon which there was so much buzz about a couple years ago?

Just saw one of these at the Guggenheim exhibit in Memphis. The eight exhausts are individually routed. The thing must sound like an orchestra!

The Guzzi rod looks like a cast piece. Doesn't look like anyplace to screw in a Heim joint. So, John, do you think the suspension is more compliant with the Heim joints? As in, do you think the stock rubber bushings impede movement in the travel?

I was thinking that describes all of Australia. . . . America , too, for that matter.

Certainly sounds like switches or a bad connection. The tail section conceals some bullet connectors for the tail/brake/winkers. This is a good time to carefully pull them one at a time with good needle nose, dielectric grease and be sur they are tight going back together. The switches are notorious for getting cruddy. Clean them both with a good electrical contact cleaner. Use a test light to check for juice along the circuit. These are cheap and reliable with a probe one one end where the handle cotains a light and alligator clip on the other end. Light: No light:

Thanks for the replys, gentlemen! I think th V11 Tenni is one of the most beautiful bikes ever! My only regret: that I've only been able to admire pictures. Perhaps one day I'll see one for real. I wondered what was 'short' for Omobono. Now I see: "Tom" for short! Van, my birthday was two days after our Thanksgiving holiday. I cleared some new trails in the woods and spent the day challenging myself and my 11 year old son on Honda XR dirt bikes. I'm new to the off road riding , only the last year and a half. Heading to the house at the end of the day I decided the jump a 'practice' log in the yard. It was too large, too short and too loose. When I hit it, the log rolled and the bike twisted, jumping forward of the log on its side. Watching this all go bad in front of me, I let go and landed on my feet, right foot firmly in the spokes of the driven wheel. I t took about 3 seconds to get out while my ankle sprained and the twisting broke my fibula. With any luck I'll be able to take the orthopedic boot off December 30. With a little more luck December 31 will be over 40 degrees here and I'll get to ride one more time this year. Next summer ( or late spring) I hope to see some V11s gather here in the southeast US, probably Tennessee. Are there any Tenni owners close enough to come?

I was hoping Andy would chime in on how his freed up the suspension action and how he can make them available in bulk for medium-cheap. It sure seems to me the travel would be less impeded if the bushing rotated freely. Andy?

Yeah, the 'reaction rod' is firmly mounted. All the movement is torsion in the rubber bushings. Which explains why they eat up after a while. I t would be worse to find the bushings trashed and the rod loose ( Always a good thing to inspect). You've got to think it creates kind of a torsion bar effect on the rear suspension action. Andy fitted a free rotating Delrin (sp?) bushing to his '02 LeMans for a long term test. Maybe he'll let us know how it turned out?

Guzzi started supercharging pretty early on ( 1930 ) which was a four cylinder. Later a supercharged 250 single motor was known as 'Geralomo' after the Hunchback of Notre Dame from the look of the big hump on top of the slender little motor. I like singles. Got a great deal on my GB500 when new since no one would buy them. The dealer had had it two years and was as happy as I when I rode it off. Insurance and tires would have to triple for Americans to give up the liter multis (IMO). Guzzi has made a very wide variety of motors over the years: horizontal singles, upright singles, wide angle V, 90 degree V, twins , triples , fours and the eight. They must be in a terrible quandary where to go from here.

The 90 Honda GB500 Tourist Trophy: And the XR 200 Maneater:

The aviation link is key for me. You don't wrench on your plane? Your last flight is coming . It gives me great joy to wrench and tune and groom on the Guzzi. Out on a cool morning, the ring of the cylinders in perfect synch - an aria of pure mastery. The way the Sport dives and swoops and climbs - showing its thrill for the state of tune. It is the brio which inspires the prep time. It is why I use torque wrenches, measure oils in graduated cylinders and do the 6000 mile service at 4000. Otherwise it would be just like working on the lawnmower. "And what is good and what is not good, Phaedrus? Need we ask ourselves these things?" (R.Pirsig)

That'd be the pair of bullet connectors for the clutch switch. Good idea to clean/ grease and make sure they crimp together well. While the tank is off, groom the clutch switch wires so the fork rotation doesn't affect them and zip-tie in place. Remember, the clutch switch will lock out starter activation but will NOT affect "running."

Looks more like 10-uh-c. Great riding , good place for a campfire, and not that far from Minnesota , either. I should be able to swing even the bum leg over the Sport by May. Any takers? Y'all come!

That is the sano approach! Run a zip-tie through your hand lever pins while you're at it. The stamped nuts underneath have a nasty habit of leaving.

Guzzi started to name bikes after birds in the 30's: Albatross, Condor, Egretta, Airone (Heron), Stornello (Sparrow), Galletto (Cockatiel). Many of the early names, and a practice which continued through the 50s, was to name the bike for some aspect of the valve or cylinder arrangement (C4V, Bicylindrica, Otto Cylindri.) The earliest 'name' : 1925 :Sport. There have also been names from places of notable achievement: LeMans, Norge, Daytona. The Moto Guzzi Eagle, of course , is a tribute to the fallen pilot ( Ravelli ) who would have raced the earliest Guzzis if his Ansaldo biplane had not crashed after the end of WWI. It is the eagle of the early Italian Air Force. To me it is a proud reminder of the brotherhood, of respect for life and the exhiliration of flying. It ties our machines to the thrill and challenge of aviation in its purest, air-cooled, open cockpit era. I offer this food for thought as toast to Dr. Gilberto's perseverence in standing by his Guzzi.

Le'ssee . . . you're in Oklahoma, Al's in North Carolina, what's 1/2 way in between?

That's the ticket! It's purely from the support and insight from the forum members that I was able to take this on successfully. Easy stuff, if a bit tedious.

Comes with a matching brake pedal?

I experimented with braking the rear into corners for quite a while. All this to try and prevent the drive line from unlocking then having to get back on it in the turn to lock it all back up. I managed to eat up the rear brake pads in about 6000 miles versus the more typical 10000-12000. After all it is better to use the front to 'set' the suspension as you feed that force of settling into the turn-in , eeeasing off the brake as you straighten up and power out. It's so hard to get perfect that we can practice every day from now on!