WitchCityBallabio

I definitely want to go. I've only seen pictures of the old Guzzi singles and would love to see one up close. Sturbridge is an easy ride for us too.

kanoa We're heading up next Thursday morning. Aug. 2-9. I'm really looking forward to driving the Cabot Trail on Cape Breton. waspp Count us in! orangeokie Correct, the originals are part of the cans. The Guzzi Ti pipes can be either mounted high or low. The exhaust cans are true slip-ons. You just position the pipe from the can to the crossover the way you want it. If you use the high mount, you change that bracket that the passenger peg sits on. It comes with kit. If you want it low, you simply bolt it up. Tom M Thanks. It's the same setup we used on our previous bike for our 3 week cross country moto-camping extravanganza. I really can't say enough about the Givi's. I'll take lots of pictures and attempt a nice ride report, but I'm sure compared to Orson's ride reports, it will pale in comparison.

Bought the BillyBob with 7500 in March. Currently has 14,000. So far, more fun than any bike has any right to be. We are also heading North (East?) to Nova Scotia. We've been there by our sailboat, but never driven and truly explored it. Can't wait. Leaving next Wednesday.

Well, my wife rides quite a bit with me, and we are going to Nova Scotia for a one week bike/camp (or as someone on Sport-Touring.net called it...Motocamping ) and will probably end up doing a couple of thousand miles, and after trying it out, find that it not only is more comfortable for her, but for me as well, as it makes for more seat space, as she can lean back instead of hunching forward. Because of that, it also relaxes the angle her legs have on those pegs as well. We'll see how it all works out for the trip though.

Well... Here is the final product. I already owned my Givi cases from a previous bike, and liked them so much I decided to keep them. I ordered the Hepco & Becker rack in the hopes that I would be able to retrofit my bags to the rack. As you can see, it was successful and actually quite an easy retrofit. On the upside, I didn't even have to relocate the directionals, as the Givi's don't mount inside the rack, but rather against it. I ordered the mounting hardware from Givi (about 100 bucks, including the assembly for the trunk) and they bolted directly to the H&B rack with just a very minor plate for the top latch. If anyone has Givi bags, or is thinking of trying to mount Givi's, I would say (from my experience anyway) that it was a relatively easy retrofit, accomplished in about 2-3 hours.

I'd also be interested in the Skowhegan run. Sept. can be such a great month to ride.

I think the Griso is an interesting looking machine. I've seen them a couple of times at the dealership. The single gigantic pipe on the left side IMHO is an abomination however. The Griso looks like it would be a really fun bike to thrash for an afternoon, but I like the styling of the V11 sport more. The only Guzzi I would consider trading or getting rid of mine for would be possibly the new 1200 Sport, or most definitely the MGS-01 Serie. Speaking of the MGS-01 Serie...has MG decided to make a real production run of that bike yet? I'm thinking I might need to look for one in the Spring.

Gorgeous bike Klaus ! Welcome!

Count me/us in too! August 11, 12 would work better for me, as we're heading to Nova Scotia for a one week tour leaving on Aug. 2 and returning Aug 9. The weekends from now 'til then, will be taken up getting the BillyBob ready, specifically adding the Hepco & Becker rack and fitting my Givi bags to it, installing and setting up the intercom setup, etc...

I've done the Marion-Bermuda race many times (I'm assuming that's the race Ouiji is talking about). The best way to describe that race, other than the shear joy of being offshore in a sailboat for 5 days, is it's like standing in a cold shower tearing up 100 dollar bills. It can be a great trip, or it can be a complete torment. It just depends on how the weather gods feel that week.

I think mine sounds better.

I got a call from my mom today. She was going through an old box of receipts that she was getting rid of, and lo and behold she found the sales receipt for my first street bike. It was purchased on 7/7/77. The bike was the ubiquitous Honda CB360T. When I think back on it, I put some ridiculous miles on that little bike. It's hard to believe that I've been on the road on bikes for 30 years. Where did the time go? A lot of miles under the wheels since this little friend...

I want to thank Greg for his recommendation. I mounted the pipe today and the sound the Mistral makes with the Guzzi Ti pipes is pure music. Nice pull in the middle of the rpm range too. Thanks Greg!

Glad to hear it's coming around. Wait until you see the difference with new tires!!! I changed the tires that came on mine from Metz Road Techs, to Pirelli Diablo Corsa III's and it was a radical change in the way the bike cornered. Good luck.

I just replaced my crossover pipe and that rubber bushed bolt that you're talking about is a bit of a pain. I removed the bottom bolt, then removed the U bracket that held the charcoal canister, and then swung the whole thing back towards the rear tire to clear the stock crossover out. I found that is is a split kind of deal, with the black plastic/nylon bushing between the large rubber cylinder and the bottom of the tab on the crossover. I just held the black rubber cylinder near the top (there is a brass washer at the very top) with a pair of what I call water pump pliers and used te socket to remove the top bolt. After that, the whole thing came apart easily. If you grab the hard plastic part above the rubber cylinder, the rubber below will just spin. So Ratchet, you would recommend removing that charcoal cannister? I was thinking the same thing as I was shoving it out of the way while putting the crossover on. There's no adverse performance effects? If that's the case, I'll be removing mine shortly.

If anyone is interested, this is what the Mistral looks like. Nice welds, quality pipe. I however also have the Lambda bung hole that required a 3/8 pipe thread plug.

FWIW, I've never experienced the "nervousness" that they described in that review and I push my Ballabio pretty hard, often with two up.

Last weekend, the Ballabio was running great. Great acceleration, smooth etc. Monday morning I noticed the bike had less acceleration, seemed to stumble in the the 1000-2000 rpm range if being held steady, and appears to have a bit of power loss. It smooths out a bit after 3000 rpm, but there is still a noticeable difference in feel. Letting off the throttle now brings a more abrupt lurch now as well. To be honest, the bike feels like it's running on 1 1/2 cylinders if you know what I mean. I would guess it's power to be about 85% of what it had this weekend. The bike idles pretty well, although I notice it is idling a bit higher than usual by 1-200 rpm. This all started to happen it seems after being caught in a fairly hard rain storm on Saturday night. I'm not sure if that is just a coincidence or not, but I wonder if anyone has had any issues with any plugs or wiring connections getting wet. I would have thought that if there was something wet, it would have dried after the ride to and from work. I have pulled the spark plugs to check the gap and to see what if any deposits are on it. They looked pretty clean with just a hint of of buildup around the electrode. I cleaned it off, checked gap and reinstalled. I'm pretty sure that these are original plugs and the bike now has 13,000 miles on it. What is the lifespan of plugs on the V11? Is there any chance the timing chain could have jumped a tooth? I have not noticed any new noises or odd rattles, so I would assume the timing chain is fine. I have not checked the valve adjustment as of yet, but it's only been about 6000 since they were done, and I also don't notice any unusual valve train noise, or an increase in tappet noise. Any ideas as to what could have changed, or things that I should look for to figure this out? Also, I just received my Mistral crossover (which is a beautiful piece), however there is a gaping threaded hole on one side that I assume is for an oxygen sensor or the like. I don't have a corresponding threaded bolt/cap to put on it from my stock crossover. Does anyone know what size that hole is so that I can source a short bolt/cap for it? As always, thanks for any input. Doug

I would take a long hard look at both your tires and your suspension set up. I like Ouiji find my V11 Sport Ballabio an absolute ball to drive and routinely drag my pegs in tight fast sweepers. I even find riding hard in the corners with a passenger fun. To me the bike corners like it is on rails. Set up the corner, dip into it smoothly, and let that delightful engine just smoothly accelerate through it. I've owned GSXR's, VFR's, etc, and I find the Ballabio more fun to corner than all of them.

LOL. Labelling us Brigada Rosso will get us all a visit from the illustrious Dept. of Homeland Security. But I like it anyway.

Stopping to discuss routes.... More... .. .. .. .. And finally, a nice lunch before hitting another fun section of road and all of us parting ways to head home....

Here's some pics of a great day and great ride. Much fun was had by all. Obviously...it was red motorcycle day! Here we all are at the meeting spot at Jake's.

In case you didn't catch this over at Sport-Touring.net, this is very much worth listening too... Turn it up loud and enjoy! Mmmm...good And for those of you that have never heard the creamy goodness of Guzzi V8, see and listen here...

Hopefully we can roust a few more of the Mass folks to join.

Pictures to follow....