GuzziMoto

The original question was is there something that would soften the hit of the rev limiter. That is not the same as moving it. While I prefer to NOT hit the rev limiter, I do understand why you might want to do that. A hard rev limiter as most bikes have is abrupt and not kind on the engine. A soft rev limiter cuts power gradually and is easier on the engine and the rider. As mentioned before, Cliff might have something that could work for that. First thing I would do would be to contact him, not some idiot answering questions sent in to a magazine.

As I understand it Mistral made the Guzzi option mufflers. I have a set on the wife's V11. They are Mistrals in all ways I can tell except they do not have the Mistral logo on them. All they say is Offroad Use Only.

Other then seals and bushings, which tend to be fairly standard items, there is not much to "wear out" in a shock other then the oil. Rebuilding a WP shock should not be that hard. Fresh oil, as well as seals and bushing if required, should bring it back up to snuff. While they are at it they should be able to adjust the valving to suit if there is any area that you feel needs help. It was built to be re-buildable as far as I can tell (my Daytona has one as well) so while it may be old it should be fine. If you want a newer shock because you want a newer shock, then I would get either a custom built Ohlins or a custom built Penske. If you could find an off the shelf shock for your bike it would likely not be valved and sprung for your needs and would need to have that done anyway.

While I do prefer Ohlins to WP, I don't think there is enough of a difference to justify spending the money on a new Ohlins unit. Unless there is something physically wrong with your WP shock I would just have it rebuilt. While they are at it they could adjust the valving and spring rate if required to improve the ride. Another option if there is something wrong with your WP shock would be Penske. They will custom make one for you for fair price.

On what bike? I believe the ECU kits Cliff sells offer the ability to adjust that, but since I have yet to build mine I am not sure.

One of my best friends owns a Mille. It is a work of art. We do not argue the merits of Guzzi vs. Aprilia but if we did I guess I would say Aprilia is the Italian exotic for people who do not think outside the box and Guzzi is for those that do. Guzzi could learn a few things from Aprilia. I hope they do. But Guzzi has something that Aprilia may never have, heritage. Guzzi also has a unique ride and feel whereas Aprilia is more generic in those two areas, lacking the unique feel when riding that you could only be riding an Aprilia. That said, if I could I would own two Aprilia's, a SXV550 (with a set of dirt wheels) and one of those new V4 Tuono's. But I would not sell any of my Guzzi's to buy them.

Wasn't saying your bike does not handle well, just commenting to you that what you observed was someone doing the opposite (in a less permanent way) of what some here are doing/talking of doing. For those that observe handling issues in their bikes I would suggest that they first get everything correctly set up and working.

It sounds like she was doing the opposite to what they are doing to their Guzzi's. She was dropping the front to steepen the rake and slightly increase the weight on the front. Dave cut and welded his frame so that the rake was less steep and the front tire has even less weight on it (probably not a large difference but likely more of a difference then the lady dropping the front of her bike a few mm). Another thing that makes a huge difference with regard to how the bike handles and especially the tendency to drop in to corners or require steady pressure to hold down into a corner is tire air pressure. Higher air pressure will cause a bike to feel like it wants to fall into a corner (it will) and low air pressure will make the bike require pressure on the bars to hold it down into the corner. If you want to cut and weld your V11 to make it steer slower that is up to you. But I would suggest you properly set up you bike first. If a V11 is not handling well then it is not set up correctly or something is wrong. They work well as built. Much like an SV 650.

Well, if that is your approach (it is not mine) then the Caswell stuff could be worse because it seems harder and more rigid then Kreem. My personal approach is that the plastic tank will expand and contract less then a metal tank with temperature changes, not more. If your plastic tank IS swelling I would venture it could be because it is reacting with additives in the gasoline and not because it is normal. Either way, the Caswell stuff is a hard epoxy that may or my not have the same expanding and contracting rates as the plastic tank. I will let you know how it works or me when spring gets here. And in my experience Carbon fiber is a lot more like other composites then you might think. Remember, the carbon cloth is only one aspect of it, the resin has a large effect on how it behaves.

In my experience the most likely contributors to a bad handling V11 are bad/mis-adjusted steering head bearings and a steering dampener that has gone bad. A bad dampener can make the bike wobble or skittish. Next up worn or wrong size tires. In fact the early bikes came from the factory with a tire too big for the rear 4.5" rim. At least a few people have switched to a 160 rear and had good results. There are many other possible options, loose motor/trans mounts, etc., but fixing should not require cutting the frame. Almost all V11's seem to handle just fine, it is in fact one of the positive aspects of the bike. Therefore it stands to reason that if yours does not handle right then something is not right with the way it is set up.

Not sure what you are getting at but it sounds like you are saying Kreem does not work with composite tanks. I can only add that we used to use Kreem to seal carbon fiber composite tanks with no issues, that was with really nasty race fuel as well. I prefer the Caswell epoxy sealer to Kreem but that does not mean I think Kreem would not work, only that I like the idea of an epoxy sealant better.

I have applied the Caswell sealant to the wifes V11 tank over this winter. The tank is still empty, it remains to be seen if it works or not but I expect it will. I also used the Caswell epoxy to seal my Daytona's spine frame, as it was weeping oil from the breather. That was why I had the Caswell sealer and figured while I was at it I might as well do the wife's bike (since so many people say they are having issues).

Well, with a little guidance and that link to the wiring schematics I got a harness from a 97 V11 EV Cal. and also one from a 98 Centauro. The 97 Cal. appears to be fairly close, but the Centauro has a better fuse holder set up. I hope to be able to combine the two into one good one.

The only quota harness on ebay right now is from a 2000 Quota ES. That one does not appear to be correct (thanks for the link). It appears a 96 California 1100 may also work. I wounder what year they dropped the P8 and ignition boxes.

I have removed the fairing on my '93 Daytona and swapped the back end for a V11 seat/subframe. I was able to do that without cutting any wires but I have the bike back apart for some trans work (that is another story) and while apart I would like to clean up the wiring. But I don't want to cut up the stock harness. Everything I have done so far has been done so I could undo it and put it back to stock. So, along those lines, I am wondering which more common Guzzi's would be good donors for a harness that I can cut up to clean up the wiring. I am looking for something that uses the same ECU and has all the same sensors in roughly the same place. I am reasonably competent at such things, but would like something that uses the same connectors as much as possible. There are a few options out there right now but it would be nice to get the right one the first time. Thanks.

It is a well known issue and here is some possible solutions to the problem. http://forum.guzzitech.com/forum/196/4908.html

Power

Screwed in (clockwise) is full dampening (closed).

I think you are missing the obvious solution. Somewhere out there is a Guzzi just like yours but with two Left side caps. You just need to find him and do a swap. I am one of those people that has a GSXR front end on one of my Guzzis. Let me know should you want to go that route.

If you look closely at the TB design, it appears to be a cast twin spar design. I have not seen detailed photos of it but in the photo you posted you can see the webbing on the back of the far side spar. Maybe the two spars connect in the v along the bottom, I can't tell. That design is certainly innovative, but clearly it is not designed by someone who understands structural engineering as much as it is designed by a stylist (TB). I hope they have buried that design but if they evolve it to where it is a well thought out design then great. But as it stands it is more a statement about creative thinking then it is a good design. But improve the structural rigidity of it and get rid of all the Foo Foo crap and it could be a good thing. Or not.

I'm with you. While I know the Griso frame is more rigid then a V11 frame I would love to have seen how much further the spine frame concept could have gone. Buell did the same thing to me, I had a tube frame X-1 and they stopped building those. They switched to an aluminum perimeter frame (with fuel in the frame) that was undoubtably more rigid then the tube frame. But for a street bike I preferred the dynamics of the tube frame bike. An aluminum spine frame with a large cross section is a project I dream of on a regular basis. Incorporate the fuel into the main section and the airbox into the rear cross piece. Just need to figure out how to shorten the package. I definitely would prefer that to a Breva or Stelvio or even Griso.

I am going to resist trying to explain what I know of frame design (which may be more then some but clearly not as much as others) but let me try to shed a little light on it. A motorcycle frames primary loads are not compressive. They are torsional and lateral. A straight line is more resistant to compression, but not to torsional or lateral loads. A diamond would be a good shape for a motorcycle frame, especially if it is a 3D diamond. That is not too far from the shape that a Griso frame has when you factor in the engine/trans as a stressed member. I am not saying that a Griso frame is perfect, state of the art, or that you could not improve on it. But it is a more rigid frame the previous Guzzi's including the Tonti and Spine frame. The shape of it is not dictated by rigidity needs alone but also to fit around the engine and allow for other components like the gas tank and alternator. A spine frame concept is nice but in order to get the rigidity of the Griso frame the cross section of the spine would need to be dramatically increased. With a spine frame that large you would not have room for the fuel tank (maybe you could put the fuel in the frame ala' Buell) and alternator (the alternator would likely not fit even without the increase in spine cross section). The Griso frame works well for what it is. The weak area appears to be the swing arm pivot area which is no where near as stout as the same area on the V11 and everyone seems to think that is the weak area for that frame. It may be but I am not so sure.

No, my post was saying the opposite. I bought it because it looks good (mostly good but not completely great from all viewpoints). That comment was not directed at you (or anyone else in particular), it was directed at the premise of this thread (as I understand it) which was that current Guzzis are not as desirable as the older ones.

Remember too that the original motor in that frame was the old 4 valve motor from the Daytona. So yes, a 2 valve motor might have what seems like extra room between the heads and frame (really there is not a lot) but the 4 valve and the 8 valve motors would have very little. If you don't like it that is your choice, But I think it is a great looking bike. I do like the V11 a lot, but not because of its looks. I think the V11 was a sportier bike (especially the red frame versions) with a raw exciting feel. The Griso is a bit of a couch in comparison. And it is very heavy with too much weight on the rear. But it looks great.

On the Griso (and the other CARC bikes) the motor is a stressed part of the frame. Think of where the frame connects to the front motor mounts and then where the frame connects to the motor at the back. That is one part of the frame. Now you have the actual frame tubes in question. If they ran as close to the motor as possible the sum total of rigidity between the two would not be that high. But running the tubes up high in something of a mirror image of the lower connection between the steering head and swingarm pivot thru the motor/trans acts as a triangulation and creates a more rigid structure. The larger the load bearing cross section is the greater the rigidity. While the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, that is seldom the most rigid route. Is it perfect, no. There are some allowances made to make it fit the Guzzi Layout. If the heads were not in the way the tubes would likely not be so high. But if the choice was to either keep the tubes out wide and run them up over the cylinder heads or keep them in closer and run them more directly down from the steering head to the S/A pivot I think they made the right choice. It is as close as Guzzi has yet made to a modern perimeter frame. It's biggest shortcoming in my opinion (besides the length, not all blamed on the frame design) is the spindly swing arm pivot tie in. As for the V11 frame. It is much better from a sport/rigidity aspect then the Tonti frame. The Tonti frame is like the Featherbed frame, an awesome design for it's time, but compared to modern frames it is less then awesome. The spine frame was an improvement from a sporting perspective but by the time of the V11 it was already being left behind by the perimeter frame. For a street bike any one of them can make for an enjoyable ride, in fact it is often said it is more fun to ride a slow bike fast then a fast bike slow. But don't confuse that with good design. And I was only poking fun at the duality of 68C's post where on the one hand has was condemning Triumph for a dishonest frame (cast to look like a tube frame) but yet the Griso which is an honest tube frame design he also finds fault with, condemning the arc of the tubes be cause it does not look "right" to him. Now he is entitled to his opinion, all I was doing was eluding to the fact that some people you just can't please. Guzzi people seem to be worse then most sometimes. No harm meant.