GuzziMoto

Not an MGS sighting, but a shop over in Kenosha Wisc., Moto Rider, has several very cool Guzzi's on display amongst their collection. As I recall they had two Magni's and a bacon slicer on display. They also have more Bimoto's than I have seen outside of Barbers. However none are for sale as far as I know.

I normally agree with statements like "for $10 they were worth a shot". But not when it comes to brakes. Certain things, like brakes and tires, it does not pay to skimp on. Out of curiosity, do you know where they were made? The market is currently flooded with cheap Chinese made brake pads, often several brands are really the same Chinese pads. They change the labeling but not the pads. I can't see trying something like that, even if they were free. Bike parts and body parts are always expensive, no matter how cheap the brake pads were.

I do not run a steering damper on any of our four Guzzi's. The Daytona and V11 came from the factory with steering dampers. The one on the Daytona was removed by the original owner (a friend of mine) to make the bike handle better. The one on the V11 (the wifes bike) was removed because it took a dump and started to seriously mess up the way it handled. We took it off meaning to put a replacement on but my wife liked the way it handled better without the damper so we have left it that way. The bike was much lighter steering and felt much more sporting and responsive. Now, many years later, things are still fine with no steering damper. With the moderate geometry of a Guzzi I can't see why you would need one, other then you like the artificially heavy feel it can give the bike. If a Guzzi has actual stability issues there is something wrong with the bike. I have never rode a Guzzi that actually NEEDED a steering damper. I am not saying there isn't one, nor am I saying that anyone else should follow my lead. Everyone needs to decide for themselves. If you prefer the heavier steering that a steering damper provides then by all means work to mount one on the GSXR forks. The stock GSXR forks have a tab for the damper (at least the ones I used did but I cut it off) and I would think you could work something out with that. It may require a new mount for the damper to the frame. Or you could use the same damper and frame mount and get a bolt on fork tube mount (they sell them from racer supply houses) to move the damper mount on the forks to the correct location. I am sure you could work something up, but as I had no need to do that I am not really sure exactly what it will take. But I have faith that if you need to do it there is a way. The only question is do you need to do it.

Yes, except for the part about intake vacuum. The vent at the top of the frame connects to the airbox, not to the intake manifolds where there would be vacuum (that is how some cars have done it). The intent is merely to use the air filter to prevent dirt from getting into the system and for any oil mist that might make it through to either collect in the airbox or possibly get burned by the motor. But there should be no noticeable vacuum in your airbox or something is wrong. Your airbox will have low and high pressure pulses rippling through it, but unless something is wrong you should not have vacuum. And any vacuum you could create, like from putting in a one way valve, would pull not only on the crank case vent but also on the oil return line. I know that because I tried it and it suck oil from the case up the return line.

I thought I explained it here. I guess I was not adamant enough. Some Guzzi's had a check valve. The nature of a V11 breather system precludes it. Cali's and earlier Guzzi's are where you would be likely to find the check valve.

The V11 uses a crank case vent up to the frame behind the steering head. From there the oil separates out and drains back down into the bottom of the crank cases. The air vents out the top of the frame and runs to the airbox as I recall. If you put a one way valve on the crank case breather with that set up it would prevent air from being sucked in to the crank cases through the breather when the pistons rise. This could/would suck air through the vent at the bottom of the cases where the excess oil drains back to the cases from the frame. While I don't think that would be a really bad thing, it would prevent a one way valve at the crank case vent from really working as it should. It might also cause some foaming of the oil when said air bubbles up. But probably not enough to matter. But unless you had a one way valve in each of the two lines you could not generate real negative pressure in the crank cases (which is the purpose of the PCV valve) and if you did oil would not be able to drain back in. I have played with one way valves on my Daytona, which has a similar set up to the V11. I have not yet found the method I like best. But I think the older Guzzi's that have the one way valve don't share the return line where the oil that separates out from the breather drains back below the oil line in the cases. I am pretty sure that the V11 does not have a one way valve in its breather and positive my Daytona does not. I think that valve is for the older and touring style Guzzi's. I believe the Cali's of the same vintage as the V11 may have had the valve. But that last part is a guess.

I think at this point age is a bigger factor in the seals leaking. And lower mileage may actually be worse as without some use the seals just sit there and dry out. But to have to replace the fork seals on any 10 year old bike regardless of the brand forks is perfectly normal. Just use quality seals and oil when you replace them. Some people have used a Suzuki seal instead of the OEM Ohlins seal. Reportedly the Suzuki seal last longer and is less prone to leakage, but you would loose a little of the ride quality of the Ohlins as part of the equation is the low stiction of an Ohlins fork seal.

I'll throw my take on the filter loosening thing. The V11 has a spin-on filter inside the sump. If you improperly install it, either miss removing the old gasket or don;t sufficiently tighten it, or use a cheap filter with substandard o-ring, the filter may come loose. Because the filter is inside the sump you likely wouldn't notice it is loose and leaking oil which allows oil to not go where it is needed. Thus you may end up riding around with a lack of oil pressure resulting in obvious problems in a plain bearing motor. The CARC motors do not have the oil filter in the sump, at least my 2v Griso does not. If the filter started coming loose you would see oil dripping on the ground and would know something is wrong before things got out of hand. The sump spacer issue, well the sump on the CARC motor appears a bit deeper, and they may have moved the oil pick up to a more suitable place. I am not sure about that one.

While the stock airbox is a bit small, the volume between the filter and the throttle bodies is substantially more than the volume between the pod filters and the throttle bodies. The filter area of the pods combined is likely close to the same amount as the area of the K&N that fits the stock airbox. You are free to do as you please. But the stock airbox, while not as good on the V11 as on later Guzzi's, is not bad. It will SOUND faster with pods.

Joe Kenny makes really nice head guards out of aluminum. I assume that is what you mean by spark plug guards. I have not seen stainless steel ones. http://www.swva.net/jkenny/ Not sure if that is what you want, but they are nice. Other than that in the USA MG Cycle and Harpers are two of the biggest. I have used Moto International in Seattle for parts and been very happy.

The Buell turnsignals also used to be very inexpensive. I hope they still are.

There is nothing a two valve head can do better than a 4 valve head. I would happily trade my 2 valve Griso for a 4/8 valve one. Sorry you and the Griso did not work out. I can totally understand, valve counts aside. My Griso is not as endearing as any of the other three Guzzi's we own. The V11 sport is my wife's pride and joy. My Daytona is a truely cool motorcycle to ride. The Lario is a unique blast from the past. The Griso is..... a couch. A truely competent couch that mostly just works great. But it does not have the character of the other three to me. I keep it and ride it. But if I had to sell one it would be the one.

I like Power Commanders, but they should not be used as a replacement for proper set up. Unless your bike is substantially modified from stock it should run correctly or damn near it. You may have an issue with the bike, a bad temp sensor or mis-adjustment of the TPS/TB's/valves. I would get the bike running right first and then install the PC and have it mapped.

I have used UFI filters, and I have cut one apart to see how it was made. It seemed to be made pretty well but that was a while ago. If you want to know how good a filter is simply cut a new one apart and look at it. I do not normally use UFI filters, I use WIX filters. But they are harder to get. Please, I am not telling anyone else what filters to use, I only mention it because it seems to be part of the question. Use whichever filter you think is the best. But a well made filter properly installed will not come loose.

Another, cheaper, option may be to switch to a more common (read less $$$) fork like that of a GSXR. You can get a used late model GSXR fork, complete with brakes and wheel, for well under $1000. The forks are a little shorter, which you can leave as is or a few of the GSXR forks have extenders available to lengthen them. All you need to adapt to the GSXR fork stem is a different set of steering bearings. The same ones as for a DRZ 400 will work. I have done the same to a Daytona, and one day will do it to the wifes V11. If you can get the stock style parts, great. But this is a cheaper option.

The oil filter topic has been covered at great length. A quality filter will have plenty of thread where it screws on. It will also have a good gasket that compresses but is elastic and pushes back. If such a filter is properly tightened the threads will hold it steady and the gasket will keep it tensioned (almost like a lock washer) and it will not come loose. If a filter comes loose either it lacked sufficient threads, the gasket hardened, it was not properly tightened, or some combination of the three. There was a classic case quite a few years ago where a filter maker has reduced the thickness of the base plate and thus the number of threads that held the filter on. Those filters had a bad habit of coming off under hard use (high rpm, thus high oil pressure). It was a bit of a fiasco, but I was stunned at the time that so many people where using such a cheap filter on their pride and joy. Why would someone worry about saving a couple dollars on such a crucial part is beyond me, but as evidenced by the threads on this site on the very subject there are many amoung us who would do the same.

I have only once dropped the pan on the wifes V11. Wanted to look at her bottom end. I understand the logic to dropping the pan but It is so much easier to me to just use the manhole. I don't have an issue with putting it back on and I use quality filters which don't come loose. Feel free to drop the pan, nothing wrong with it except extra work. If I don't need to actually SEE the bottom end I will keep doing it the manhole way.

That Motul oil is a common choice for the new CARC motors, especially the new 8 valve motors. They are actually spec'd to use a 10w60. As far as I know the V11 never was, but I could be wrong. I know my wifes '01 was not spec'd to use a 10w60. Perhaps later they changed their minds. Anyway, that oil is not overly high in its zinc/zddp levels. I did not see the actual values in their "tech data" sheet, it merely said "Low Phosphorus and Sulphur content for better operating conditions of catalytic converters required to meet last emission regulation" and it was SL rated which has a lower max level then say SG rated. If you see an oil that meets multiple ratings the reality is the newer rating is really the one that matters as for the most part the levels allowed go down so an oil that meets newer ratings tends to also meet the older ratings. But that does not mean the oil provides the same protection as one that only meets the older rating. That oil is common for the newer CARC Guzzi's. Funny thing, though. While that motor had some failures all over the world most of the failures have stopped except in certain areas/countries, like the UK. I don't know why, it has been speculated that it could be related to the climate. Perhaps there is another reason, I don't know. Either way, oil choice is something that leads to much banter. As mentioned, I think the choice should be based more on the quality of the oil and its additive package. After you have chosen the quality of oil you are going to use you pick the viscosity rating appropriate for your riding environment.

The newer CARC motor (850-1100-1200) is not the V11 motor. While they have much in common they are not the same motor. That said their oils requirements are not all that different. But a 10w/60 oil, while being the recommended oil for the newer CARC motors (I don't think it was the recommended oil until after it first came out), was not the recommended oil in 2001 when my wife's V11 was made. The recommended oil viscosity at that time was based on the temp range it was likely to be operated in. The recommended oil was either a 10w/30, 10w/40, 15w/40, 15w/50, 20w40, or 20w50. The 20w oils were suitable as long as you did not operate it below freezing. What gets lost in a thread like this is that the 20w/50 or 10w/60 rating of the oil is merely a rating of the oils viscosity. It does not reflect the oils lubrication properties, its ability to resist breakdown from heat or mechanical shearing, or the oils quality. One other aspect of a multi-weight oil is that the first number is the weight of the base oil. An oil with a thinner base oil would be more prone to breakdown and have further to breakdown than an oil with a heavier base oil. So often people seem to think that the weight of the oil is the criteria that matters most. The weight is something that should be chosen based on the temps and intended usage of the motor oil (a motor oil used in below freezing temps or in heavy traffic would need to be different then one not used below freezing and not often ridden in heavy traffic). A more important measure of the oil chosen would be the API rating, zinc levels, and overall quality of the oil chosen. I personally use an oil that is SG rated and has excellent zinc levels. Beyond that, oil discussions can quickly move beyond actual facts to myths, preferences, and hype.

Yea, I don't follow the logic there but it is not an uncommon opinion. Just not my opinion. However, as I use a 20w/50 oil in mine that is not an issue. I do not ride in the cold anymore. Those days are gone.

I find that, now that I am older, actually stretching (doing some deep knee bends, etc) before I get on goes a long way towards keeping my bad knees happy. And it doesn't cost me ground clearance and safety.

I believe there is a snap ring that holds that together from the bottom. Then there is an o-ring to seal where the two parts join. There have been cases of that joint leaking (it leaked on the wife's V11) and taking it apart and cleaning it resolved it (at least for me). But, I would strees this, you should confirm that the leak is not something simple like the hose clamp (that hose clamp does not look like it is on quite right) before you start taking apart the fuel pressure regulator. Remember, this is a high pressure fuel system and something that would not cause a leak in a gravity feed (or even pump feed) carb system can cause a leak here.

I seem to recall they were 17mm. But as mentioned the GSXR steering stem is a bit longer than the Guzzi steering head so the 17mm ones would be the way to go. 1mm is not really going to make or break the deal anyway.... But as I recall the bearings I used were 30/52/17. They were DRZ 400 SM tapered steering head bearings. If you can wait I will double check when I get home. I think you will still need a small spacer to get the stem protrusion right above the top triple clamp. As mentioned put the spacer under the lower bearing.

The thrust bearing is not like a normal bearing. It is more like a cross between a washer and a bearing.

My take on it. The gearbox has gear sets that link together with dogs (little protrusions) and slots. The slot is much bigger than the dog so that at speed the dog can find its way into the slot. That means the dog can move back and forth in the slot. Some gearboxes have more dogs and slots, others have less. The arrangement of the dogs and slots determines a number of things, like how easily the bike shifts and how much power it can take with out breaking. It is a trade off, gains in one area mean less in another. That, plus the combined gear teeth slack through the driveline adds up to a fair bit of slack. But Guzzi is not by itself here, other bikes also have slack, some more some less.