Trevini

Personally, I'd ditch the power commander (temporarily) and revert back to factory settings for CO, TPS, valve clearance etc and balance throttle bodies. That should make allowances for any difference caused by the change in elevation and if nothing else, give you a known baseline to start a proper diagnosis. Chances are it's something silly and power commanders have been known to cause problems if not set up correctly. Once you've got it running sweet, refit the PC and git it set on a dyno. Trust me, it makes all the difference. Good lucj with it.

You answered your own question - it's about the legislation restricting emissions. The manufacturers could easily tune the engines for optimum power throughout their rev range, but their hands are tied, hence a market for power commanders and remapping ecu units. Not a lot has changed from when you were tuning your old Nortons etc. It's just the technology is a little different. Back in the day, if you fitted a free flow exhaust or high lift cam, you'd have to adjust the mixture by rejetting the carb(s) to provide optimum power (and most likely, prevent engine damage due to excessively weak mixture). The only thing that is different now is the way you adjust the mixture. Rather than change a mechanical object (jet), it's simply a case of altering the injector duration to provide a richer or weaker mixture as required. Much easier when you can do it via the electronics. A lot of the tuning that is now needed is because of legislation controlling emissions and noise. As a result, many bikes (and cars) have less than optimal mixtures for power and torque at certain points in their rev range. Throw into the equation changing exhausts, air filters, cams and modifying heads and you'll certainly need to do something to correct it all. Build tolerances are much improved compared to older machines, hence one R1 being close to identical to another in terms of power and torque. Take my V11 as an example. It has Mistral cans and crossover, a modified airbox, modified engine internals and a remapped ecu. Apart from the crossover, all this was done before my purchase, but changing from a std crossover to a Mistral made a huge difference to the engine power characteristics. It does run a little richer at the bottom end, has probably lost a couple of hp right at the top, but boy is it strong in the middle by comparison. It also needs to be remapped again to get the best from it, so a trip to the dyno is on the cards at some point. The last dyno print out showed 89bhp at the wheel with excellent power/torque throughout the rev range, particularly in the 3-6500 rpm range. I don't think you'd be able to make massive gains on the engine to the top end power without major mods, but it's clearly possible to vastly improve the mid range without too much of a sacrifice at the top and extend the power over a wider band. Hope this helps. Sorry for the lengthy post! Trev

I had one fail on mine due to a tight angle at the union on the oil cooler thanks to having crash bars fitted (previous owner) and hoses not being extended to suit. Old age may not have helped either. Local hydraulic shop made up some new hoses for a bargain £40 (compared to over double that for genuine MG parts). If you go down the hydraulic shop route, make sure they get the correct bore fittings as they are an odd size for their O/D apparently. Trev

Nice trip and pics. Nice to see a TDM with knobblies fitted. Point your mate in the direction of www.carpe-tdm.net he'd be welcome over there (I have a TDM 900 as well as the V11 Le Mans). How does the Quota compare to the TDM, just out of curiosity. Fairly similar, I would think? Trev

Never had a sneeze, but I have Mistral cans and x over and it runs sweet.

I've just added a Mistral crossover to mine and it's quite a bit louder now (without db killers/baffles). So much so that I've put the baffles back in and it's about the same as standard crossover/Mistral cans/no baffles! Hell of a boost in the midrange with the new crossover - so much nicer to ride with even more grunt. FYI the baffles I have are made by Mistral.

This is what I have on mine...I've added a fused ignition switched relay under the seat purely as a power supply for running accessories. Connected to the "out" side of the relay is a double aux socket on a fly lead that is long enough to run to either a tank bag or panniers. Something similar with maybe a permanent waterproof socket in the dash area may suffice for you? The main advantage is that is doesn't add any extra strain to the somewhat unusual electrics already on the bike. I have the same setup on my TDM, with an extra power source up front for sat nav etc and it works fine for me. I know what you mean about the crows nest that starts to appear on the battery terminals, though. If you've added a relay for your horn already, could you not use that? as your horn is only used rarely. Assuming the relay is ign switched, you'd only have to run one extra wire up front as the supply and you wouldn't have to add anything else to the battery. Trev

That's a very valid point Raz. It does seem a little back to front. To be fair, mine's not too noisy when compared to my TDM running Remus Revolutions and both bikes actually sound surprisingly similar, probably due to the 270 firing order on the TDM.

Already have. Just didn't know if I was alone in that.

Just curious really. I have Mistrals on mine, but do you guys that run them go with DB killers in or out? Any advantage either way (apart from the glorious sound without)?

Why thank you, sir.

Thanks

Slightly off topic, but how do you find the Conti R/As for handling on the V11? I've used them before on my TDM and really like them. Trev

I don't think you're likely to get a plugged repair fail as such, other than just leaking again, at any rate. However, that does depend on a number of variables, like quality of repair, repair kit, positiion of plug in tread etc...You would be the best judge of that. You're obviously concerned (however slightly), or you wouldn't be asking for opinions on here, so on that basis I'd be inclined to replace it sooner rather than later. It's never worth compromising on safety, but maybe it's worth keeping a check on it for a time/mileage and if it's condition deteriorates act on it then. At least it'll give your wallet time to prepare! Ride safe Trev

It wasn't really like that with the tdm. I actually bought it by accident. A young lad at work had just passed his cbt and was looking for a 125. I took him for a run round some of the local dealers and my TDM had just come in that day in px. 6 months old and only 485 miles on the clock. First ride home I thought what have I done. It took a while to gel as I'd just come off an IL4 and the power delivery was very different. I put 18k miles on it in the first 10 months and then changed jobs, so the miles came down a bit. It's now on 42k and so far I've only had to change a battery and the tps which was covered under warranty. Fantastic bike with enough character to keep it interesting. Plenty of grunt and performance similar to the V11. Excellent handling and can keep with the sports bikes in proper twisties.

Hi all, I'm Trev. I've been lurking here for a while and after much searching the right V11 has found me, so I thought I'd better say hello. I've just bought an 2003 registered 2002 Champagne Le Mans. I'm new to the Guzzi brand, but a big fan of twins generally. I hate that buzzy, revvy thing that you get with IL4s and triples seem to have all the bad bits of IL4s with none of the soul and character of a twin. It was a toss up between the V11 and a 1200 sport, but in the end it's always right to go with the heart, hence the v11. I've always wanted one since I started riding way back in the 70's and now I'm like a school kid again and just experienced my first kiss! This is not ownership, it's a romance My other bike currently is a solid and dependable TDM 900 that I've owned for the last 6 years and is an almost perfect compliment to the Guzzi. I've done a bit of touring in Euroland and have had a few trips to the Nurburgring along with regular rideouts/meets/bbqs with the Carpe TDM boys (www.carpe-tdm.net). We're having a big meet up for the TDMs 20th anniversary over in Masserberg, Germany in June, with over 250 expected for the mega treff. They've booked the whole hotel - all 243 rooms! I've been instructed to take the V11 because "there'll be enough 900s to go round" and my Guzzi is different Nearly forgot to mention, I'm over in the east of England not too far from the most easterly point. Trev