pete roper

The seat isn't flat like say a 1970's Tonti. It is after all a *Modern* ish motorbike. Because of the petrol tank being under the seat I suppose they may of raised the arse end a bit more than they would of otherwise of done but another thing we did was get MJM to build us a seat and squab which are much more comfortable than the stocker but the squab is even higher. Luckily Jude being a shortarse this is actually beneficial! If I was married to a Naiomi Campbell type skyscraper model I could see it being an issue but for two ageing fatties it's fine. As for the Stelvio? I asked $13.5k and got it. An awful lot of work went into it as the 1200 and 1400 motors are very, very different despite their seeming similarities. There was an awful lot went into the build and tune of that bike but little of the work was mine. Most of it was the labour of Michael and Mark. Pete PS. That's equivalent to about seven dunny rolls at the current exchange rate I reckon!😂🙄

I've always been a fan of automatic bikes and scooters. My first big trip around the USA was on a 1980 Convert in 2004 and I've always liked 'Twist and Go' machines because for some reason they seem to enrage dimwits and shitgibbons who think they are 'Real' motorcyclists and only some sort of inferior people would want to ride autos and scooters. I fart on their heads! In any sort of 'Urban' situation an auto wins hands down but they are also awesome for touring with a pillion as there is none of the lurching when you change gear. I originally bought the Mana simply because I like Autos but I was also fascinated by the E-CVT, the three ride modes and the faux 'Gear' system. I swiftly realised that as a touring machine it is second to none. I have the full boat of 'Touring' gear on mine which is an NA but I also owned a GT in the US and that was even better, the frame mounted fairing is much superior to the screen on my NA. With the Givi bags and top-box plus the storage compartment where the petrol tank would be on a conventional bike it has enormous carrying capacity and even with a full load of gear and Jude and I on it it will happily sit way above the speed limit for as long as you want it to. Unlike the other 'Tri-Map' Aprilias the different ride modes are controlled by the TCU and the engine mapping doesn't seem to change appreciably in the different ride modes. In reality I rarely take mine out of 'Touring' mode. The ability to change 'Down' ratios with the 'Gear lever' or paddles is a great boon on steep descents but I rarely use 'Sport Gear', the faux 'Manual' system as I have 'Manual' bikes for that. The one thing that does let it down in stock trim is the suspension which is poverty pack, bargain basement rubbish. One of my first mods was ro stick Gen 2 Tuono forks and a Hyperpro shock on it and it can now be great fun for giving blokes who reckon they are a bit 'Gun' a hard time in the twisties. With the fork swap came 100mm radial calipers and HH pads so it stops as well as it handles. Its not light or powerful, (Although it is both lighter and more energetic than a V85!) but it is very easy to ride, it's different in a good way and it's fun! Why do I prefer it over the Stelvio? Personal choice, lack of weight and suitability to purpose, it's that simple. It's funny, in 2013 I bought a California 1400 'Touring' in the USA. At that time I still owned my Mana GT there. We did a three month tour on that huge black pig and not a day went by when Jude and I didn't say, "Damn! I wish we were on the Mana!" Live and learn eh?

Go and ask on the Stelvio thread on ADV. it'll take you at least three lifetimes to reach any conclusions and you will probably take your own life after about a day as it will seem like a blessed relief compared to weighing up the options held forth as if pearls before swine by the mighty.

On my recently departed 1400 I had TKC 70's, loved 'em, but they aren't the longest lived tyres. I'm on a bit of a Conti binge at the moment. I've got Sport Attacks on my Griso,they stick like shit to a blanket but they also evaporate. If I get 6K km out of a set I'm doing well!

I seem to remember there being some talk about these getting scarce? I've got one from a stash I inherited. Grey/Silver. Not new but VGC if anyone is interested. PM me. Pete

If it's a LeMans I thought they all had Marzocchis?

Are you sure it's the bevelbox and not the UJ support bearing or gearbox output shaft bearing?

40x52x9.5

What do you need to do? Replace a seal? A bearing? Or the whole CW&P assembly?

Yup, rather uninteresting, low powered, under-suspended, boring-bikes sell well.

No. They have built a well promoted and therefore popular machine.

Heavens to Betsy! Don't any of you ever think about stuff like this?? For crying out loud. It's a splash fed gearbox. There are no pressure fed bushes as there are on most 'Conventional' motorbike gearboxes, the whole thing depends on oil being picked up and flung about by the gears that will be whirring around in the mass of aerated oil at the bottom of the gearbox as you are playing Mr. Fur-Chest on a Sunday morning. Obviously if there is too little then when it's being flung about there won't be enough and keep everything cool and protected. If there is too much it will foam up, (Some oils are worse for this than others.) and will get blurted out of the gearbox breather making a horrid, smelly, mess. BUT the 100-150 ml that makes the difference between the sight glass being 'Full' and it being 'Empty' is really of near zero importance. If you can see some oil in the sight glass when the bike is upright and level it's good to bloody go! If there isn't enough oil it will squeak! If there's too much you'll get a slippery back tyre. Simples! Youse need to stop worrying. Think a bit more and ride a bigly much more. Next thing you know we'll have a thread about high hysteresis handlebar grips or something equally mental!

Sorry to see it go but it was getting too heavy and Jude wanted the Mana back in service before we get too old to ride together. Please don't anyone suggest I should look at a V85 🤮 I'd rather stick red hot pins in my penis than ride one of those miserable little shitters.

I find that odd. I use TLM a lot for later stuff, in fact all of my 8V stuff comes from them pretty much. Yup I get a pretty good discount but even so I generally find their prices are within a few € of most of the other suppliers and their site is easily navigable and ordering is simple. It may be different for older stuff of course but I have limited involvement with that now and try to limit my work to bikes made in this millennium! I order five figures worth of stuff a year off them though so, as I said, I get a reasonable discount.

There is a very active Stelvio thread on ADV https://advrider.com/f/threads/moto-guzzi-stelvio-merged-threadfest.113158/page-2121#post-39387981 While a trip back across Canada shouldn't be a big deal, (Weather permitting.) there are a couple of things I would suggest you check before you set off. Firstly the air filter installation and the airbox itself. There were a few 2012/13 models that had air boxes with holes in them, just poor QC, but it's worth checking. Take the filter out and shine a torch into the box and look carefully underneath especially below the inlet trumpets. I'd also recommend doing the valve clearances as they usually are far too wide ex-factory. Set 'em to 4 & 6 thou. Do not try and pull the plug caps off from the top when doing this. Flick them off by inserting a long, thin, screwdriver through the cooling tunnel in the head just above the exhaust port and levering them up from underneath. Do not try and lower, or raise, the idle speed by messing with the throttle stop screw. In fact don't touch the TB's at all until you have read up on how the W5AM system works on Guzzis! When you get home your first task will be to pull the swingarm and grease the swingarm and shock linkage bearings as they are never adequately greased at the factory. Don't run the oil any higher than two thirds of the way up the stick. Being a Guzzi owner already you should know this. Don't break it in gently. Ride it like you stole it.

Before you go any further I'd check the frame carefully to make sure it's still true. Spineys crash badly and if it's bad enough to smash the timing chest it may well of banana'd the frame.

Quite! The Quat D always looked like some sort of tween-wars biscuit tin with a couple of holes punched in it! I could never work out how it was supposed to work either!? As for pipe wrap? Just don't get me started.......

Sounds like the spring on the detente roller either has, or is about to, shit the bed.

How old are you, what is your physique and how good is your medical insurance cover for physiotherapy and spinal treatments!

Just get a pair of the Valpollini type. They work for any squarefin 2Valver.

I could tell you a tale about something similar. There was a mouth breather involved. His bike ran like a pile of damp fecal matter but he reckoned it was great because the 'Expert' responsible for both the mod and the tune said within earshot of me that "You set up fuel injection just like carbs. Just use the rod to balance the throttlebodies at idle and turn the air bleeds out 1&1/2 turns and it'll be sweet!" He'd also installed some sort of pool hose to the airbox spigots to "Get the cold air in." This isn't just my world. Sadly it's yours as well unless you actually know how to tune your own bike.

I’ve spent a lifetime mending motorbikes. I have no desire to spend my retirement doing the same shit when it can easily be avoided. (Shrug.)

Same huge pile of boiling, supturating, leaky arse! As much use as an ejector seat in a helicopter!

Look, people are welcome to do exactly as they please but the two things I did when I first bought the Scura RC now owned by Chuck was to replace the single plate clutch with a twin plater and dump the shitty pod filters and reinstall the airbox. If people want to run a K & N filter that's fine but if it comes into my workshop expect a torrent of spluttering, incandescent fury and for it to be returned to you in a bag when the service is complete!

It can't be that hard or expensive to get air filters surely? The V11 uses the same air filter as the Cali 1100 so beloved by the Corn Cob Pipe brigade. They'd fly into an apoplectic frenzy if air filters weren't available! GU30113600 Bash that into AF1's site and they're thirteen dollars but because they don't do a lot for older stuff they'd have to order them in. Lets try MG Cycles? OK, $11.48 from the Cheesers. Harpers? $13.10 but their website makes it harder to find. Order from Europe? Well just as an example from TLM they're €9.05 Air filters aren't exactly *Emergency Breakdown* items, sure it is good to keep an extra one hanging around but as a service item they can usually be bought by planning ahead a bit. Like oil filters, gaskets, sealing washers and all the other service dross we need just buy three and keep them on the shelf. Unless you're one of these folks who changes motorbikes like most people change underpants they'll all get used. It's not like they are going to go off like a bag of old prawn heads! Pete