Baldini

My first thought too - is something causing the starter motor to engage? It makes a horrible sound as you describe, & could be an intermitent fault. KB

Well said! No matter how much you twiddle with settings you won't change the basic nature of V11 without fundamental re-engineering. You can only improve at the edges - like every Guzzi I've ridden, you have to adapt to it, it won't adapt to you. KB

Could be pawl spring broke, if you already checked external, lever, linkage etc, then that's next place to look. I had one break twice & both times I could just about get it to go between lower gears one or two times, & into neutral - can't remember now exactly. I would stick with the cut down allen key. As said already a mini-grinder will do it easy. Just make sure key end's a good fit in the bolt head. Like (I think) Luhbo is saying - you'll probably need to shock bolt to loosen it, don't just use force, if it's very tight you could just force the key out & distort the faces on key & bolt - a sharp tap with a hammer on end of key to initiate turn is better. KB

It's not so much the small additional weight - it's where you put it .... you could ask her to sit on the petrol tank.... KB

The V11 is a bigger softer thing than Mk11 LM & needs suspension to be set up for rider - mainly cos it's actually got some (as you've noticed)...It'll not work well for you until you set sag to suit your wt. Have you done this? It might help to increase rebound damping at forks & rear spring preload. But really, you need to set sag from scratch & take it from there - even if you haven't done this before it's really very simple & doesn't take long. As others have said, dropping the triple clamps down the forks helps weight front. Also helps to get your body wt over the front by sitting right up the seat. V11 runs on big fat tyres, which will never give same feel as skinnies fitted to LM11 but some tyres steer quicker than others, & wear patterns can also affect handling. Most with 4.5" rim find 160 gives better turn than std 170, same for 5.5" - 170 turns better than 180. Check tyre pressures too. As for steering damper - try it backed right off see if it helps (do bars turn easily & freely?), but unless you've got it wound right up or it's knackered I don't think that's your issue. oh...& welcome to the modern ( well sort of ) world.... KB

looking great Guy. Should be a lovely bike to ride. Cadwell would be nice but no idea if I'll be in a position to join you. Keith

180 is not wrong tyre for 5.5" rim. Correct fitment to 5.5" rim is 180 or 170. Refer to manufacturer recommendations. There is less tyre choice in 170 than 180 size. So, though I have used 170's (& prefer steering on narrower tyre) I now run 180 Michelin Pilot Power 2CT & handling is comparable to a 170 from some other brands. I believe this is down to tyre profile. I think that factory change from 18" to 17" rear wheel was driven by fashion & tyre choice rather than any functional advantage. I suspect I would prefer handling on a larger diameter & a narrower rim but I don't know how varying diameter front/back would affect turn in & stability. Some of the feel of a quicker turn in on the early V11's will be down to the narrower rear rim. Given the rear weight bias of the spine frame Guzzis - any reduction in rear ride ht will just exacerbate the potential handling issues. My Tonti, on 100f 110r x 18's has lovely linear progression on turn in - down, I believe, to the very closely matched tyre widths. Obviously there are other considerations, but, in principle, it seems to me that the closer the rear width matches the front, the nicer the steering will be. KB

Like most times here - I don't see what the argument is - anything has limits, any bike will eventually misbehave given the right inputs. Saying a V11 (short or long neck) doesn't wobble/weave just means it hasn't been pushed hard enough in the right places. You can set suspension up good as you like - try hard enough & you'll inevitably come to the limits set by weight, distribution of that weight, & chassis flex. KB

I found these numbers - can't remember what fuel load, I did it at garage during MOT insp couple yrs ago. For V11 SCURA with me in gear & normally seated: Front: 147kgs Rear: 186Kgs Ratio: 44/56% Scura has clip ons & I tend to sit forward - so I guess figures are pretty much in line w Gavo's. KB

Savagehenry, I believe you have a client.

That 2nd photo (w red can) - could be just the pic angle but profile looks odd - triangulated like a front might wear, but one side only - usually rears just flatten out across middle. If it really is that shape, handling must have gone pretty weird? Check http://www.motoguzziclub.co.uk/forum for tyre chat - they're always discussing tyres Sports/Touring tyres for the new bikes - tho tend to favour those with UK names! Like Guzzi Moto, I found Continentals decent tyres & great price. KB PS Why do tyres pick up more punctures when worn ? KB

That is exactly my experience. We have some great roads here but many of them with uneven surfaces. Everything's fine on Scura whilst it's on a slotrack but chuck in a few bumps & look out. I hadn't figured out exactly what was causing it but your explanation sounds very plausible. I also suspect a lack of torsional stiffness between the s/a mounts & the steering head. As has been said, one can only go by one's own experience but, even tho one hasn't experienced something, it may have been experienced by others in circumstances outside of one's own experience . I'm no set up genius, but bike is set up OK. It's just a matter of where & how one rides. I think it is a fallacy that the racetrack brings out the worst in a bike - to find it's limits go push it hard on a climbing, bumpy, twisty backroad - TT course being a supreme example. The sticky tyres on mine (Mich 2CT's) probably add to the stresses that input the frame. It's to it's credit that the V11 will ride through some of the frights it gives, & I've largely got used to it moving about so much. I've never ridden same roads on a Griso or pushed one that hard so I can't directly compare. KB

My take would be: All that wobbling put paid to his steering damper? The IOM is not like any kind of race track - it has lumps & bumps & flat out crests & dips that'd send a V11 into all kinds of shapes. I have ridden there (not raced), & to me it seems obvious that, functioning steering damper or not anyone trying to ride a V11 at racing speeds there, no matter how well set up, would struggle mightily to keep it pointed forward. But, no matter how obvious it seems to me, you don't have to accept that, & though I can't understand why you would want to disagree, you are obviously free to do so. KB

Hi Martin, haven't seen you round these parts for a long while . Welcome back! But, to the ponit... of what was it a cortradiction? Best wishes to you & yours, KB

Guess Ashley Law should've got GuzziMoto to set his Tenni up for him KB

I DIDN'T COME HERE TO BE INSULTED!

Manx Norton is a dedicated racebike, light weight, balanced the whole thing designed to go fast on the bumpy TT circuit. V11 is a road bike, a huge half thought out porky compromise with it's wt all in the wrong places. It's fat sticky tyres just tie it in knots. Featherbed frame makes a really strong chassis. I dunno power to wt ratios for 500 Manx/V11 but I'm sure someone might? First 100 mph laps, TT had GP status & best riders in the world. In modern times, see Bill Swallow or Bob Heath racing in Classic - they are soo fast, so smooth - or try putting your V11 up on track against a 125 GP bike ! I wouldn't bet against a good road going Featherbed with a decent motor, brakes & tyres running rings round a V11 on any road or track. KB

Steering damper would sure have had a workout! Ashley Law - dunno where he came from or where he went - probably never wanted to ride a bike again - can only imagine the horror of trying to hang on to a V11 flat out on closed roads round there, think I read somewhere he was grinding the sump on parts of the course - a real hero! "hinge in the middle" is just how V11 feels hitting a set of bumps cranked over fast - I don't know much about structural engineering but I think that the short, flimsy s/a & the apparent (IMV) lack of torsional stiffness between the s/a pivot plates & headstock would be first places to look to improve. Some folk used to run a tube between areas of headstock tubes & s/a mount on old boxer BMW's (think it was US shop San Jose supplied these as kit?) - which I think is similar issue to V11/spline frame bikes. Suspect that later addition of tubing between porkchops was an half-arsed attempt at addressing this. Orson, you're a lucky man to have seen that. I've watched at Rhencullen - it is real scary place. KB PS: Prompted me to look up TT site: Ashley Law is listed as a finisher in 2002 Production1000 TT at average of 97mph. Was going to start a seperate thread about this did a search & there was one before - dunno how to do link but this pic....

I don't.

I do not wear a watch. KB

5 minutes well, you could have the full half hour

Oh yes they were.

Because no-one would expect it is exactly why someone might expect it. KB

I'm never sure what sort of roads or corner speeds we're talking about but I'm surprised Loop frame can come near a V11 on the brakes & at top end. I have same feeling with my Tonti & Scura. Tonti doesn't scare me as much as Scura, esp when it gets bumpy (I'd love to see on bike footage from the Tenni that raced on IOM ). I have more confidence in Tonti at limit than V11 - frame/motor seems tighter/stronger as a unit... but then it's much less powerful. It's also smaller & more manageable & with f/r tyres similar & skinny, more consistent turning. Best thing with the new bikes is rear end - miles ahead of anything Guzzi had before & always (least since Tontis - never ridden a Loop) their biggest hindrance. Griso felt very taught, like a Tonti does, & I imagine it handles very well...given a decent set of bars... . Anyhow, for me it's academic like any debate about different bikes abilities on road cos the limiting factor is nearly always self preservation: on a twisty road visibility, traffic etc will always slow me down before bike does. Whatever it is, it's usually fast enough . KB