dlaing

You can also just wire into the tail light wire to get the juice to keep the turn signals in the always on mode, then use relays to make the turn signals blink OFF instead of ON. You will need two of the type of relay used to kill the headlight when you press the starter button. 'Hope that makes sense

Never trust a significant other. She put a bobby pin in your ECU relay, just to get a laugh! But seriously, it could be anywhere along that line, coils, spark plugs, fuel injectors, fuel pump, wiring, or relay. The relay is most likely to flake out, but Carl's diagnosis sounds good based on the running on one cylinder evidence. It could be tough to diagnose because if you remove something from the circuit to see if it is the culprit, you may also be lightening the load on the fuse allowing it not to blow. If you can compare the resistance of the left and right coils and the left and right fuel injectors, a gross difference may indicate a short. I imagine the primay resistance of the coils is probably about 3 Ohms. The Ohms don't have to match exactly. But if you get 3 Ohms in the left and 2 Ohms in the right, you'll know something is off. I have no idea what the Ohms for the fuel injector should be. Best of luck,

Keep in mind that you could be too rich at one part of the map and too lean at another. The stock map is less than ideal, because of emission laws and the adherence to the manufacturer's philosophy that one map will work for all bikes of a given model. The PowerCommander and FIM's UltMap http://www.fuelinmoto.com.au/fimprods.html#umflash can adjust the mixture so that it is nearly always optimized. Variations of temperatures, air pressure, humidity, fuel quality, and the positions of the stars can always keep you from getting it absolutely perfect, but 99% perfect is good enough. Getting the bike set to spec is the first step and then using the PCIII or the Ultimap. Either of these products can fix most pinging problems, optimize fuel efficiency, power, and driveability. Of course you may have bad compression, faulty fuel injectors, wacky sensors, insufficient ignition or a neighbor switching your premium for his low octane, but, I kind of doubt it as many of us have fixed the same problem with the PCIII. Of course I could be wrong and something is very wrong with your bike that should be fixed under warranty. Changing spark plugs and testing compression is easy enough. Diagnosing other potential faults may be more difficult. I believe the problem occurs because there is a combination of lean spots in the map and carbon build up from rich spots in the map. My experience has been, no pinging at first, then after a couple thousand miles pinging started, tune up helped, but not enough. Got PCIII, pinging went away, but fuel efficiency dropped. Several thousand miles later, pinging returned, enriched PCIII one notch with the buttons, pinging gone. I attribute the pinging to the map being incorrect. I definitely need to follow my own advice (and others) and have the bike dyno tuned. My goal is to average 40 MPG and never ping. For what it is worth, I say stay away from ARCO and gasohol. I tried ARCO twice in my bike and noticed a drastic change increase in rough riding(popping and missing) at low rpms.

Glad to hear you are getting the bike sorted out. I just wanted to clear up one thing about the gear oil that you said you used. You described it as 80-140. I went to Redlines website looking for it and found what looks closest to it, Redline Heavy Weight Shockproof Gear Oil. They call it heavy weight instead of 80-250 because it defies conventional classification. From what I understand it protects to the extremes that a 75W250 oil would but flows like 75W140. Sounds like good stuff. http://www.redlineoil.com/products.htm

Janusz, from what I can tell from dyno tests at the below listed site, there is no definitive compromise. The Stucchi simply fills the hole in the midrange. http://manleycycle.com/Tech/more_mg.htm Those tests were done with Mistral or Agostini mufflers. The Mistral CROSSOVER apparently boosts the midrange even more, albeit at the expense of high rpm horsepower. The Maxtreme muffler apparently has even more horsepower and fills the hole, while using the stock crossover. see http://www.dawebcity.com/fotoalbums/index/...1256BF300725A32 I suspect other free flowing mufflers will equal the performance. And for comparison, if you want a look at a stock dyno chart checkout http://www.geocities.com/guzzitech_pages/V11LMDyno.jpg and while I am at it, here is a dyno chart from using raceco mufflers, http://www.scripps.edu/~dlaing/v11s/PDQDyno.jpg

Great Job Moto International! Pricey, yes, but ergonomics are soooo important. The Two brother's bars look sweet, and I guess for another $100 you can get even higher! It probably would not take long to switch to higher riser links.

Dittos on what the others said. I have had most of the problems posted here and have not considered the bike to be troublesome. My 2000 V11S is an excellent bike that I would trust to ride coast to coast, but not to Tierra Del Fuego! When I post problems I am usually knit-picking or trying to be a mechano/techno geek. I think Guzzi riders in general are more do-it-yourselfers than riders of other bikes are. Once we get the bugs out of our bikes they are very reliable.

Sorry to confuse you Jimjib. I don't own a Quota, but rather a 2000 v11s. I have only sat on one and loved the ergonomics. If they had a stiffer front end, the 91HP engine, and lower dual pipes to make room for dual saddle bags, I would have bought one over my bike in a heart beat. And speaking of weakly sprung front ends, from what I have heard the front springs on the Quota are grossly under sprung. Way too much sag and high speed wobble issues...But that is easily fixable with new springs. I doubt the Quota has cornering clearance issues!

So JimJib you meant 38 not 49, you said "38 not 48" I think I got it now. And Hyper thinks you should have less sag in the front. That makes sense. Maybe enough preload to lift the bike maybe 6-8mm would help reduce your kickstand dragging problem, and better match the stiff rear end which might need a little less preloading. As for that short rear swing arm; a short rear swing arm is going to limit suspension travel especially on a shaft drive bike. A longer swing arm would do two beneficial things. It would allow for longer travel, ie. more comfort and compliance with bumpy roads. It would allow you to keep your weight back further, which for me would keep me from having to splay my legs outside of the cylinders and also give me better leverage on handlebars. If I could put the rear end of the Quota on my bike, I would give up the paralever suspension for the added swing arm length and suspension travel. I like a long wheelbase, even if it is not as quick in the twisties. I just ground my kickstand for the second time. Kinda scary as I kinda panicked and swung the turn a little wide. Time to shave another quarter inch off the rubber stopper and dial up the compression damping. I am still not hitting the front, but it does not look like it is much further from scraping...

I am soooo confused..... Front with rider 49mm static 21mm Rear with rider 33mm static 8mm That should mean that Jimjib is getting 28mm front sag and 25mm rear sag. (49 - 21 = 28mm and 33 - 8 = 25mm) Or do the 49 and 33 represent the sag that should be in the 30 - 35 range? In which case the 49mm of sag would be tooo much. Gods??? Hyper??? JimJib???

current vote 9 to 1. Not unanimous, but enough to make me move from semi-synthetic every 3000 miles to synthetic every 6000. I should be able to trust it for the life of the oil filter, which is probably about 6000 miles(safe estimate). Perhaps an Amsoil oil filter will last 10000 miles???

Thank you for your criticism of the poll. I was not sure how to construct the poll. I was hoping for more opinions and expected some flack(disagreement). I think we all know that synthetics are better when new and that they last longer. I think any oil will protect well enough when very new. It is when it becomes old that I worry. The breaking point of opinions that I was after, was which oil do you trust more just before an oil change. Engine damage is most likely to occur when the oil is wornout or contaminated, ie. just before an oil change. I am curious what would happen with the stove top experiment when the synthetic is 6000 miles old versus a conventional oil with 3000 miles. Will a six month old synthetic with 6000 miles perform better than a three month old conventional oil with 3000 miles. I have been using a $6/quart semi-synthetic motorcycle oil and changing it every 2000 - 3000 miles. I think I am ready to switch to a full synthetic oil, changed every 6000 miles. What is the cheapest oil I can trust to go 6000 miles with good protection? Pep Boys (no name) synthetic, Valvoline synthetic, Castrol Syntec, Mobile One, Shell, Golden Spectro, Rock Oil, Red Line, Agip, or Amsoil? Your opinions are appreciated.

I think y'all get the idea. I am sure everyone has different ideas about how often to change, and how pricey of oil to buy. You can get conventional oil from about $1-$5/quart and synthetic from about $3-$12/quart. This poll assumes that you will be changing the oil at 6000 Miles if using synthetic, and every 3000 Miles using conventional oil. It sure seems to make sense that synthetic can save time and money if you can really go twice as far between oil changes. So in a sense the question is: Do you think you can go twice as far on a synthetic?

Thanks Guys, Now I know how to measure stiction and get a more accurate sag measurement. I think you guys are pretty much on the same page. The only little disagreement is that Janusz would do step 4 slightly differently. But You should both end up with the same degree of accuracy, give or take a couple millimeters.

How do you measure stiction? Also, I have heard that some bikes ship from the factory with the incorrect amount of fork oil. Too bad it is such a pain to change or check the fork oil.

Maybe a diet? Just kidding. arh! arh! I wish I could go fast enough to scrape. I scraped the stand only once and then shaved the rubber. But it is pretty clear that the front of the kickstand is next to touch and that if it does scrape it may catch on the road easily and cause an accident. Also I imagine that JimJib's kickstand switch does not work anymore, in which case he is probably best to unscrew the actuator as it is likely to catch on the road. But don't go driving off with the stand down!!! Or replace the actuator with a 5mm nylon screw, with the head cut off. The nylon should be safer to grind without catching, than steel.

1300rpm sounds a little high for an idle setting. If my tach is correct, you should idle smoothly at 1000rpm as my bike does. If the valves are too tight or your throttle bodies are out of synch, the idle at 1000rpm will not be smooth and may stall. But that would be regardless of heat. Also, I imagine that since your idle is 1300rpm, the gears must really clunk when you shift from neutral to first gear. If not than your 1300rpm idle may be fine. Cooler plugs would probably help, but that does not tell us why it is running poorly, and for all I know could result in burnt valves as the cooler plugs may allow the combustion chamber to work at a higher temperature. But I am no expert at plug swapping. good luck

ps. Agip appears to be overpriced, but if you want to, try it, many Ducati dealers will carry it. Everyone has an opinion about oil and I think most automotive synthetics are fine for our bikes if changed frequently. (3000 miles) With the Amsoil and Red Line and a few others, your oil should outlast your oil filter, ie. 6000miles. I think motorcycle specific synthetics are often overpriced and are designed to prevent a wet clutch from slipping. Guzzi probably recommends motorcycle oils because our engine revs higher and does not have catalytic convertors, which could be fouled by too much zinc in the oil. Obvious comments: Draining oil and refilling with fresh is GOOD for your bike! The cleaner the oil, the better! Synthetics last longer! Four oil changes per year, times ten years, at $40/ oil change equals $1600.00!!!! So don't go spending too much on oil changes. (but don't be a cheapskate either)

My dealer has been putting in Maxima Maxum4 Blend. I have it changed every two to three thousand miles. I'll bet Maxima, Red Line, Amsoil, or Agip's full synthetics will last longer, so I will ask the dealer to switch, now that the bike is broken in. (almost 15,000 miles) My 2000 V11S has always idled smoothly and consistently. Is it the oil, I don't know. I do know that if you set your valves too tight, you may get idle problems. My dealer has been putting synthetic in the gearbox, and the shifting has been fantastic. When the bike was new, I would find a false neutral maybe every one or two hundred shifts. Now, I find a false neutral every several thousand shifts! Is the bike broken in or am I shifting better? I don't know, probably both, but I am a lot happier now with the shifting, than after the first 5000 miles.

My kit came with a couple open ends, allen keys, a screw driver, spark plug wrench, pliars, and shock spring adjuster (bitubo). The allen keys wear out after one good torquing, so I also recommend better ones. The pliars are useless and rusted shut, so I replaced with vice-grip. I got lucky with the spring adjuster. I threw in a rag, an adjustable wrench, a tail light bulb, feeler gauges, and some zip ties. Carb balancer won't fit. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

I am running Pirelli Dragon GTS. I love'm! Still to early to give mileage rating, but the cupping on the front is much less than the Bridgestone bt57s or the Avon Azarro II. They are very quick turning. Great for the twisties, but possibly prone to speed wobble over 110MPH. The bt57s may have been slightly grippier. But only slightly. I was a little disappointed with the Avons. Next I would like to try the 01 bridgestones or Metzlers.

One theory is based that Guzzi sets it to meet noise emissions while the Raceco, the company that can build 140HP guzzis knows what is best and does not have to answer to petty legal bull like noise emissions. But I kinda side with the devil on this and say that raceco's .20/.25mm setting is toooo much. (atleast for stock street bikes) Yes, if you use raceco's numbers the valves will run cooler and you will get more compression at lower rpms, but you may be losing top end power by reducing valve overlap and duration. Also you may accelerate wear of the valve train. I say go with .15/.20mm. Is this based on science? No, just the common sense of making a compromise. And I could be wrong. What does Guzziollogy say?

before you rush out to buy the LED tail light, you might want to read this review: http://webbikeworld.com/Motorcycle-technic...s/led/index.htm Unfortunately all of the LED bulbs that I have seen are kind of uni-directional and almost none of the light reflects off of the mirrors. Perhaps with a different mirror or some sort of difussion it would work better. I am planning on making my own LED lamp. I tried making an LED bulb but it was too unidirectional even using "wide angle" LEDs. Back to the old drawing board...

Jaap, you lucky dog! I trust there are more out there with no problems. Now that I have fixed most of my problems, I doubt reocurrences are likely. Now I just have to look forward to long term potential problems like worn out shafts, clutches, alternators, starters, etc. I hope the tachometer is not a repeating problem. For some people it was, but that was early on and Veglia may have ehausted their bad batch of tachs and speedos.

$689 per muffler!!! That is outrageous! Do they plate the inside with platinum???? Another possible addition to the list is Termignoni. Someone(Ivan Merighi) apparently from FBF Italy posted powercommander maps for the Termignonis. It is kind of interesting that FBF USA and FBF Italy sell different mufflers on their websites. USA sells the FBF mufflers and Italy sells Kerker/SuperTrapp and WRP.