GuzziMoto

There are two different things you can be doing, one is adding preload, which doesn't make the spring stiffer and is what you referred to. But what you describe doing is cutting the springs to make them stiffer and then replacing the length of spring you cut out to keep the preload the same. That does make the spring stiffer. That is something we would do in the old days when we could not afford to buy the correct springs, or in some cases where the correct springs were not available. I really don't recommend doing that, but technically it can work. If you are going to do that I would probably do it 1 inch or less at a time. If you measure the length of the spring and then cut out, say, 5% of the total length of the spring and replace it with a spacer the length of the spring you cut out that should make the spring roughly 5% stiffer. The big drawback to cutting springs to make them stiffer is you loose the proper end to the spring that allows the end to rotate smoothly on the surface it rides on. That can be even more of an issue if the surface it is riding on is a PVC spacer. It may not slide well on that. I always thought the best way to do that would be to leave the ends and cut out a section of the spring in the middle of the spring and replace it with the matching spacer. But I never actually tried that. Doing it that way would preserve the proper ends on the spring. But it means cutting the spring twice instead of once. Before I ever got to try it I started making enough money for a living that I could buy the proper springs so I never needed to try the middle cut idea. But springs should be available for the V11 at a reasonable cost. I would go that route over cutting your springs to make them stiffer. Also, have you properly measured your sag and determined how much you have? That would be step 1. Just making your springs stiffer by cutting them without first knowing how much sag you have would be a shot in the dark. Springs are a lot cheaper then a full replacement cartridge. But knowing that you need new springs and whether they need to be softer or stiffer then what you have now would be a matter of measuring your current sag first. Instructions on how to measure sag are on here if you need. Also, it sounds like you have the one version of forks that Andreani actually makes replacement cartridge's for. Black 40mm forks with compression on one leg and rebound on the other, if I understood you correctly.

Are the upper tubes black? Or silver? The silver ones are the ones that have the two bleed holes. Others may have two bleed holes, I don't know. But the first gen silver Marzocchis have two bleed holes that prevent the piston in the cartridge from doing anything until the piston is past them. If they are black, and the lowers 40mm, they may be the version that the Andreani cartridges fit. If they are black but the lowers are 43mm, I don't think the Andreani cartridges will fit.

As has been mentioned, there are at least two different versions of Marzocchi forks on V11 Sports. I think there are 3 versions. They don't seem to understand this, and while they do make a cartridge kit that fits one of the versions they advertise it as fitting all versions. If you have the version of Marzocchi forks that their kit fits, I think it is the black forks with 40mm tubes (but don't quote me on that), you are good to go. But if you don't have that version of Marzocchi forks you will end up like Lucky Phil. SOL. Also, do you have the early forks that have the two bypass holes in the cartridge tube? If so, you need to block at least one of those two holes off to get any meaningful dampening from the forks for compression.

Yeah, I think it was four guys (all Ducati's) under the lap record. I think AP on the Ape was fifth, but I could be mis-remembering. Testing often doesn't mean too much, that is the point of testing. Teams with more ground to make up tend to spend more time during testing actually testing different things, so their times can be misleading. But I do expect with the massive concessions given to Honda and Yamaha they will be there by the end of this season. Marc Marquez showed he was certainly close enough to the front on the Ducati. But he also showed that he is not likely to be the dominant force he has been in the past on the Honda. Even if he is winning, it will likely be a closer race as he will be on basically the same machine as half the other front runners where as in the past he was on a different bike with different characteristics. Also, times have changed, and the competition is super tight in lap times. Be 4 or 5 tenths off and you may not be in Q2.

That seems like a better technical video, with a better explanation of secondary forces with regard to engine balance. But he still missed one factor in secondary balance forces, the counterbalance weight on the crank. It is easier to think about this if you start by using a single cylinder engine as a baseline. Even a single cylinder engine has primary and secondary balance forces.

To my knowledge, yes. The TRX Yamaha made, back in the mid 90's was the first mainstream offset crank parallel twin. Other brands like Honda had made offset cranks work for V twins, allowing them to get less vibration from narrow angle V twins. But the TRX was the first mainstream offset crank parallel twin as far as I know. The same engine also went into the TDM 850, which was already on sale with a 360 crank parallel twin. The 270 parallel twin was pretty much the 360 engine with a 270 crank and matching cams. I seem to recall there was a more cafe version of the TRX that never came here, but I could be wrong. I just seem to recall seeing a picture of one in white with a red trellis frame that was beautiful but never came to the USA. I wanted it. So, the offset crank parallel twin has been around for near 3 decades. But it is surging in popularity right now. After Yamaha did it, there was really no one else for a long time. Yamaha took the same basic tech and made the Cross Plane R1 motor, but there wasn't much going on with Parallel twins for years. Everyone wanted a V twin despite the parallel twins better engine packaging. The sideways V twin on a Guzzi works well, but a proper 90 degree V twin that isn't sideways is very hard to properly fit in a compact motorcycle chassis. It clearly can be done, but it isn't always done right (see the TLR).

Very nice bike. It makes my naked Daytona look pedestrian. Very nice.

The last few seasons have been pretty exciting in MotoGP. Ever since the fall of Marc Marquez it has been good exciting racing in MotoGP. The only downside is here in the US we have reduced TV coverage of MotoGP. I would like to see aero restrictions and the adjustable ride height devices banned. They have hurt the racing a little. I suspect with the concessions made for Yamaha and Honda they will be back in the mix before this season is over. They really bent over backwards for Yamaha and Honda.

Toprak is taking to the BMW real well. That is true. At this point the only concern left for BMW is can they manage tire life. That has historically been a weak point for them. I am fine with the weight rule they implemented this year. I think it is the least they could do, and think that partially taking away Bautista's weight advantage only puts him closer to where his talent would have put him without his weight advantage. And I would like to see a similar rule in MotoGP. They already have combined minimum weight for Moto3 and Moto2, so it already is in the series. In my opinion a combined minimum weight only makes things even, it takes away the advantage a lighter rider has with just a minimum weight for the bike. With out the combined minimum rule a lighter rider has several advantages, including a better power to weight ratio and better fuel economy (which is actually really important when they limit how much fuel you can use). It also means better tire life, and less load on the brakes. If a lighter racer can't run as fast as a heavier racer with a combined minimum weight he just isn't as good as the heavier racer and was only relying on his advantages from being lighter.

While there were a number of MotoGP racers at the WSBK test, they were all on basically streetbikes. So comparing times between them and the WSBK regulars is meaningless. But it is interesting to me that they were there. On another forum one of the members went to the test, found that admission was free, and for a nominal fee he was able to procure paddock admission. It sounds like it was a good time. The paddock was more of a typical WSBK paddock, with much more access to the racers then you get in a MotoGP paddock. I think MotoGP could learn something from WSBK. On that note, I hear the guys that run MotoGP were in LA for the A2 round of Supercross. It seems they may also have something to learn from Supercross. While it is not that close to me, my favorite option for a second round in the US for MotoGP is still Road America. That would be epic. Yes, I know it would take a lot of work to bring that track up to FIM standards. Currently the only tracks that meet FIM standards or are close aside from COTA are Laguna Seca and Indy. The Flatrock track might get there, but it doesn't look like the layout is anywhere close to being as cool as Road America.

Interesting video. He does make a few mistakes, the worst I noticed was his poor explanation of secondary forces. But it was still interesting. Also, Yamaha brought out a 270 degree parallel twin some two decades ago, the TRX 850 in the mid 90's. So the 270 degree engine is not really that new. On a side note, even before Yamaha came out with the TRX 850 Honda was using offset cranks in narrow angle V twins. The Honda Hawk GT650 used a 52 degree V angle along with a 76 degree offset in the crank. The numbers don't add up to a 90 degree V twin firing order, perhaps along the same lines as the 285 degree firing order KTM uses. The end result was no balance shaft was required, but if you rev's it too hard you would break the crank.

Yeah, I love our Lario but finding tires for it is hard. There used to be more options, but 16" sportbike tires have gone the way of the dodo bird.

Yes, times have changed. And so we end up with this going on. There is a good chance someone will get hurt eventually. It is an issue not just because some riders don't want to be followed but also because there are safety concerns with racers cruising around off the pace looking for the tow. There have already been incidents because of that. Personally, I don't have a dog in the fight. But I do find it funny that such highly rated racers do such a novice thing. Makes me think they are not as talented as people think they are.

One thing that they could do to help reduce the traffic from people cruising around waiting for someone to get a tow off of would be to change where timing and scoring starts timing a lap in qualifying. If the timing line for qualifying was perhaps somewhere like between turns one and two the lap would start quicker without the rider being in the way. It could also reduce the issue of the riders not wanting to abuse the tires too much on the warmup lap. If that spot doesn't work right, the timing line could be moved to just about anywhere that it needs to be. It is not uncommon for the timing line in qualifying to be other then at the start / finish line for cars. Moving it reduces the amount of time racers spend either getting up to speed or coming back down.

What docc said... As I recall the 170 came stock on V11 Sports that had the 4.5" wheel, and a 160 fits better. The 170 is a little wide for a 4.5" wheel. The bikes that came with a 5.5" rear wheel came with a 180 rear tire I thought. While going to a 170 is an option, as you mentioned a 170 is not a common size tire and may be hard to find. That is the nature of going for an odd size tire. Also, it looks like it is mainly the Pirelli option that is out of stock. Other brands are in stock.

One of the aspects of riders looking for a tow off other guys is they are cruising around off the pace and often in the way, making themselves a hazard to the other guys who are not engaging in such foolishness. This issue is bad in MotoGP, but even worse in the smaller classes. It is not just the following of another rider, it is the waiting for another rider to come by for them to follow that presents a hazard to others.

V11 Sports come with either a 4.5" wide rear wheel or a 5.5" wide rear wheel. If you have the 4.5" wide rear wheel (that is the typical size on the earlier V11 Sports) a 160 rear tire works well. If you have the 5.5" wide rear wheel of the later V11 Sports a 180 will fit that wheel size fine. I prefer the narrower 160, but only if you have a 4.5" wide rear wheel. Putting a 160 on a 5.5" wide wheel isn't a good fit. Confirming which size rear wheel would be step 1 to me. From there, it is pretty hard to pick a bad tire choice with what is out there now. I like Michelins, but Pirelli, Dunlop, Metzler, they are all fine choices. I like the multi-compound tires available now. But that is not that important unless you rack up a lot of miles a year. I usually end up replacing tires because of age before mileage (except on my 401, which seems to have worn out the OEM tire in less then 5,000 miles).

Yeah, it has gotten out of hand. It is not just him doing it, but he is one of the worst offenders. It actually makes me want them switch to a different qualifying format, like one at a time single lap runs. Send them out a half lap apart one at a time. To me someone needing a carrot in front of them to get their best lap time was always a sign of a novice. Makes it funny that one of the highest regarded motorcycle racers in the world falls into that category, funny that he needs someone in front of him to use as a reference. It isn't just the draft aspect of it, at least with Marc it is about having that reference in front of him. Sad.

While he is certainly in it with a chance, I would not put him as the favorite. There are a few riders with a higher chance of winning the title then him in my opinion. Either way, it will be fun to watch. Whether he wins the title or not I doubt he will dominate the way he has in the past on the Honda.

Those sound like (without actually looking) they are the cartridge inserts for the front forks. They should be the springs and the cartridge that does the valving. A very nice upgrade. Other vendors also offer them.

Yeah, same here. The cold temps meant that much of the snow was the light fluffy variety around us. But others to our east and south may not be so lucky. It is pretty cold, a high of 26 today with a low of 13. We have had colder, but for me that is cold enough. As to power, we don't have the power issues Texas has. Or California. Power might go out, but we don't get rolling brownouts or blackouts. We don't make all our power, but we are part of a larger grid so that shortfalls in power production can come in from elsewhere.

Yes, the air cooled cylinders do have their acoustic properties. And they have their simplicity, which greatly appeals to me. But they also have trouble with the newest emissions regs. I suspect the days of air cooled motorcycles are numbered. Luckily, the ones MG makes tend to be around for a long time, so I don't think I will still be alive at a time when there are no Moto Guzzi's to be had.

Fair enough. I get that. In the end, a motorcycle should speak to you. If it doesn't, it probably isn't one you should buy. I do like the new V100 engine. But I imagine other people don't, as it is water cooled.

Sure, Piaggio has the money to develop a bespoke small engine for MG, but they are going to look at the numbers and how many they think they can sell. Triumph clearly expects to sell a lot more small Triumphs then MG ever would. No doubt Piaggio looked at the numbers, realized they would never sell enough of them to make their investment back, so they declined to invest in a new bespoke Guzzi engine.. They already have a small displacement engine ready to go from Aprilia, and simply opted to start with that. At least it does look like the frame is not lifted from the little Aprilia. Sharing engines makes sense. But sharing too much makes it a classic badge engineering exercise, and I start loosing interest.

Heck, Triumph is developing two new motocross platforms, a 250 single and a 450 single, plus that new 400 single. They are a much larger brand then MG is. Personally, as long as a new MG is really an MG and not a rebadged Aprilia I don't care if the engine layout is not a sideways V twin. As long as they keep thinking outside the box and doing things their own was I don't care if they share engine designs with Aprilia.