pete roper

I’m out. I’ve shared the sum total of my knowledge.

I had a customer a couple of decades ago who had imported a CX1000 (?), the American market MkII LeMans with the SP1000 motor. It had the speedo with a light that came on at 55 and amazingly it still worked! So a light was a *Thing* at least on some bikes. Very odd. I would of disabled the irritating thing immediately but he’d grown quite fond of it.

I’m not certain of any of this but I know there was a period in the US when speedometers had to have a light that came on when you exceeded a certain speed, 50 mph or some such nonsense? I would have thought that that predated the early Daytonas but I really have no idea. All I do know is that speedo seems to be equipped with such a light. Whether that means the speedo is non genuine? Whether I’m completely wrong? Or whether when building that run of bikes, (And it was one of Guzzi’s ‘Cash Crisis’ periods.) and they just found a box of speedometers under the bench and said “They’ll do!” I have no idea. Anyway, Mike Haven is both honest and very talented, as is Davey, his offsider. As such you can be sure that any old bike they’ve revived will be as well sorted as it’s sensible to be. Would I own an early Hi-Cam? F*ck off! I’m not that mad! But they are a lovely thing in their own special way………

Also Guzzis don’t make a noise like a parson farting in the bath! They may make a cacophony of other odd noises, (Especially the Hi-Cams.) but no priestly flatulence!

Compared to the Guzzis I was used to riding at the time they were terrifying at speed. Mind you they were also nearly twice as powerful! So it’s hardly surprising I found them a handful! I’ve never been a speed demon or super-skilled rider so I was probably out of my league. If memory serves me it was the same sort of terror I’d feel nowadays getting off my 8V Griso and spooling up an RSV-4!

It’s a shitty sensor fooler. Not sure if it’s one of the ones that goes between the lambda sensor and the ecu or the air temperature sensor and the ecu. The first is dangerous because it can cause monstrous overfuelling in certain situations. The second type is particularly pointless because the ecu will, in short order, trim around it using the lambda input. Both are simply a variable resistor that costs pennies. Why would you use such junk when the 15M, W5AM and 7SM are all accessible and you can simply build or buy a map and upload it? No idea if it would *Work* with the MP11 but my guess is it will throw a CEL at the very least if it does anything at all because it will be interfering with sensor input and will push them out of the ‘Acceptable’ service range. If it’s a lambda fooler you’d need one for each probe so double the money wastage! Run Away!

Looks original to me too but when I worked on them was a long, long time ago and my memory of such things is probably sorely lacking. I never got the idea of the fuel door and spout on the RGS? That always struck me as gimmicky and weird as @#!#$#!

I did some work on them back in the day. The one that’s for sale is an RGS which had the 120 degree crank, they were considerably smoother than the earlier SF1000’s and Jotas which used a 180 degree crank and, as you would expect, to use the words of one journalist of the time, vibrated about one and a half times as much as a Triumph Boneville! The 180’s were a beast at the time though. Fastest production model in the world and the first ‘Genuine’ 130MPH motorcycle you could buy! Terrifying at anywhere near that speed but they made a fantastic noise and if you put noisy moron pipes on them you could set off car alarms by ‘Giving them the berries’ around Clapham Common near the shop I worked at. The main source of spares for them now is, I believe, a bloke whose name eludes me, in Canada of all places. Would I want one? F@#* no! One of my customers in Bungendore has a black Jota he’s selling if anyone is interested.

John,get it back off him and send it to me and Michael. Your $ is strong, ours is weak and postage, if you don’t send it express, shouldn’t be any more than you’ll save on the exchange rate and at least we’ll do it! Whats wrong with it?

Also, if you think it is running lean give it a full tune up before you do anything else. If it has leaky manifold rubbers I’d expect it to be a barely running, spluttering mess. Very often simply ensuring the TPS value is correct and balancing the TB’s will work wonders for *Fixing* issues.

As I said. It may not be the same bloke. Looks very similar though.

I rode a very early V85 and hated it. A truly lacklustre motorbike that didn’t excel at anything with shitty suspension and an uninspiring engine. I haven’t ridden a €5 model yet and they are supposed to be better. Lots of people love them though and they, along with the V7 series, have been the backbone of the company for yonks so I guess I’m an outlier in that regard.

Nothing wrong with the door Bill and as I said it may not be the same bloke. His faith is no concern of mine either, BUT! I am always deeply distrustful though of people who wield their religious beliefs like a cudgel and try to somehow imply they are ‘Better’ or more trustworthy/meritorious than others because of them. I don’t bang on about my beliefs or lack of them because they are of no relevance to anyone but me. I know you are deeply devout and my criticism was not aimed at people of faith, any faith, just those who seek kudos by wearing their proffered belief as a cloak of virtue.

Haven’t watched the vid but isn’t that bloke the same spiv who did some YouTube’s spruiking CARC bikes a few years ago and then posted one last one lachrymosely talking about how his business had gone down the tubes and he was having to sell all his precious treasures, woe was him and it was all horribly unfair? He also banged on endlessly about how he was a wonderful and devout ‘Christian’ which made me want to drag him out the back for a good kicking! If it isn’t the same bloke I apologise but he sure as shit looks like him……

Nah, I’m fully aware that Piaggio/Guzzi aren’t going to be making bikes for me. I pretty much lost interest, apart from a morbid technical interest, after the CARC series. That’s fine. I’m also a heretic because I think they should bulldoze the shitty, rat infested factory and move to a green-field site. Everyone hates me for that as well. Below there is a picture of the precise number of shits I have to give….

It’s fine until it gets to the swingarm pivot. Everything behind that goes to shit! What ‘Serious’, ‘Non Hipster mobile’ has twin shocks in 2025? Get outa here with that crap!

There are other differences. I don’t think the V7-III and onwards have the semi-dry sump arrangement of the V85 although they all have the ‘Built in’ windage plate. From about 2021 the V7 series have a pressed up crank with one piece rods but they also adopted the roller tappets as used on the V85. From 2024/5 the V7 series also have variable cam timing. I have no idea of the details. Presumably some form of centrifugal advance mechanism. V100 is essentially a ‘Generic’ Piaggio big twin turned sideways with the gearbox on the side rather than underneath.

The original V7 from ‘67 made about 38 at the rear wheel on a very good day at sea level on a cool day with a very high pressure cell hanging around. The 750 Herron head smallblock made much the same but was lighter. If a V85 makes much more than 55-60 I’ll eat my hat!

The only real difference tween the V85 motor and the V7 850 motor is the stupid TI valves isn’t it? I think this *New* Sport uses the big throttlebody as well? Personally I think TI valves are more of a negative than a positive and anyway the 80 HP figure is a drug-addled dream, even at the crank.

All I can do is reiterate what others have said. It’s a seemingly low mileage machine that has likely spent a lot of time parked. This is more likely to be a curse than a blessing. If you do go ahead do not expect it to be a simple, ‘Turnkey’ proposition. On any machine like this I’d be taking the back end apart and checking stuff like the driveshaft alignment and the state of the outrigger bearing in the bevelbox which are notorious for getting water in and rusting out. The timing chest weep will need fixing but that is a simple gasket swap and most of the breather hoses will likely need replacement. Then it will need a full service and tune to make sure it runs correctly. That includes brake and particularly clutch fluid as V11’s, (And the CARC bikes.) are absolute murder on clutch fluid. I haven’t owned a V11 in a long while and never owned one here in Oz but I’ve ridden and worked on many and if I wasn’t ageing out of larger bikes would still dearly like to own one. They are comparatively rare here though and command higher prices than in the US/Canada. Put very simply, if you are just looking for a cheap and cheerful ‘Everyday ride’ that you don’t have to put any effort in to? I’d look elsewhere. If you are really drawn to the V11? Fill yer boots!

Are the injectors firing? If not it’s likely the phase sensor. Chuck another one at it. They’re cheap.

So is the engine turning over? Or is it just dead? if it’s not turning over it may well be a grubby or corroded earth connection. The Sports have the battery/ies in the tail. There is an earth strap that goes to the rear sub frame, then that is bolted to the ‘Pork Chop’ mounting bolt. The earth path is awful! From the front subframe it’s even worse! They are notorious for problems with idiot lights, ndicators and headlights, all because of the awful earthing paths.

Having owned a California ‘Touring’ and ridden lots of other 1400’s I’m afraid my opinion is that they are overweight, woeful handling POS! Look, by all means, if you think you’d like to be ‘Cruiser Curious’ try one, and yes, the small port motor is delightfully torquey, but the whole package is fat and ponderous. Since the ‘Fortress’ is laden up with even more shit than most of them I’m sure it would disappoint me more than the other versions but others may feel differently. I had customers who loved them! I’d rather set fire to my scrotum than own another one. YOMV

To be honest I had to look hard to find it! Having said that I find both the V100 and V85 series eye-wateringly ugly so I’m not the right person to ask!

Basically yes.