Are we really brave?

[luhbo]

It's most likeky the CAN bus that brings most bikes down nowadays. The new Guzzis will then have the same problems as Ducati, BMW and others have already.

 

Hubert

[savagehenry]

It's most likeky the CAN bus...

 

Hubert

I do not know what a "CAN bus" is, could you enlighten me, please? And should I smack my forehead NOW cause it's so obvious , or AGAIN bow to the fact that there is ALWAYS more in life to be learned? Either way, Thanks. S.H.

[fotoguzzi]

I was brave to ride my Guzzi's of the past including taking my Bassa on a 5,000 mile solo trip... I always had this shadow of fear of breakdown in nowheresville Montana..

so far I have full confidence in my 02 LM and feel its the best touring Guzzi I ever had, for solo anyway.

 

I don't need a back up from Japan but just last week I couldn't resist this garage sale find for $650. I'm awaiting a throttle cable before I can ride it.

[fotoguzzi]

I do not know what a "CAN bus" is, could you enlighten me, please? And should I smack my forehead NOW cause it's so obvious , or AGAIN bow to the fact that there is ALWAYS more in life to be learned? Either way, Thanks. S.H.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controller_Area_Network

it uses less wiring than conventional wiring harness i think.

[Richard Z]

It's most likeky the CAN bus that brings most bikes down nowadays. The new Guzzis will then have the same problems as Ducati, BMW and others have already.

 

Hubert

 

Nevermind... I thought I read that as CANibus.... That would bring me down... Bud.......

If bikes were made of it, they'd be Smokin'..........

 

Richard Z.

[Chet in MI]

A friend of mine was at a BMW dealer one day, out in front, looking at bikes and chatting with the sales guy. When a Guzzi rode past the shop the BMW guy said to my friend, "Now there goes a REAL bike".

 

Some people get all caught up in the technology, which of course is good and all to an extent. But the Guzzi engine is an elegantly simple design that has been around a long time and well tested. These engines are gonna outlive all of us. Now the electrics, on the other hand....

 

 

A few weeks ago, without any plans, I hopped on the bike and decided to ride to Craters of the Moon. I hadn't been there before; it's about 200 miles from where I live, so really not that far. With all the detours, the whole trip was about 450 mi that day. Mostly two lane highways. Anyway, I got there. It's kind of like a national park in a huge area of dried lava, with paved roads and some parking areas from which you can explore the paths on foot.

 

Well, in one of the parking areas, a couple of older/retired guys who'd arrived in a van or SUV walked over to look at my bike. One of them told me that his buddy had owned an Ambassador many years before, and he wanted to show him a newer Guzzi. He asked me a lot of questions and he seemed to like the bike, at least judging from his comments. Then he told me he'd had some bikes, all Beemers--some Ks, some airheads, and an oilhead. So as they were about to leave, he said, 'You're really brave to have ridden here'. So I asked him why? 'Well, you know, Guzzis don't have a good reputation of reliability'. Of course I told him that some took this bike to Alaska, for example. In the end, he told me that he was thinking of getting a Ducati.

 

WTF? Are we brave or nuts? Are Guzzis that much less reliable than the Beems or Ducks? It's true that BMW people have those big mileage contests (Paralever failures notwithstanding), long-way-round, Iron Butt blah, blah, but really is riding a Guzzi these days such a risky proposition? Maybe somebody needs to do a RTW tour on a V11

[luhbo]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Controller_Area_Network

it uses less wiring than conventional wiring harness i think.

 

Yeah, less cable, but all those ECUs are talking to each other on this bus and as soon as one starts to talk rubish he rest of them gets nervous at least.

On the other hand, it works perfectly in cars since quite some years now.

 

Hubert

[gstallons]

You use one cable or wire with all component input and outputs operating on exclusive frequencys . All is well as long as these frequencys stay within their parameters or nothing else intrudes on their "communication".

[Bbennett]

This is a good thread. Bottom line for me: I have never been stranded on my 2001 V11

 

Oddly, I have more niggly problems just riding around town. When I get on the open road, the bike is rock solid reliable - although I am ready for a "stretch" by the time the gas tank is (semi empty.

 

Sometimes I come back from a ride and a few days later wonder "what if she had broken down" but too much thinking is bad for soul.

 

Bob

[BRENTTODD]

I do think it is all in what you like if you are the kinda person who just wants to hit the starter button and go then your best bet is a jap bike. If you enjoy mantaining on your bike then a guzzi or maybe a duc. I dont know anything about bemers if there anything like the vw cars ill stay away from them. It was kinda funny last sunday me fuelcooler and a few freinds were at a local breakfast joint(a lot of bikes show up there on sunday for a bite to eat) we were the first bikes there,we here a bike pulls up holy shit another guzzi a very nice 1000s. After a long bs session we walk in to sit down, a guy sitting at a table yells to me hey did see all those guzzis outside thats half the years production. Then laughs and says I had a guzzi and never sould have got rid of it. I do think those who know have a lot of respect for the GOOSE

[gavo]

buy yourself a goood manual study it research the web and fix it YOURSELF. This is why we buy the less high tech bikes like guzzi's, 2valve ducati's. you work through the little annoying problems and u end up with a 100% reliable bike. My core group of ride friends ride bikes from 1974 to 2006 models,guzzi's with 150000 kms a ducati monster with 120000kms, I've had a ducati pantah with over a 100000kms. If you have to run to the dealership every time the tires need checking you should probably by a japanese gtxyz 1000 because the work staight out the factory.I loooove to tinker with my bikes, you get to know it and can fix it by the road if need be. but to say one is more reliable than the next is bias B.S.

[Richard Z]

I had to jump start a 2006 Triumph Speed triple today... The S3 only had 1450 miles on it... I finally got to use my mini cables that I keep on my V11 Sport....

 

I win!

 

Richard Z.

[rocker59]

2200 miles over the past few days on my Nero Corsa.... I really should stop tempting fate, I suppose.

 

775 mile ride to Santa Fe on Wednesday:

 

600 miles of this while in New Mexico:

 

With my friend on his ST3:

 

Then 775 miles back home Sunday (with not a little bit of this... to make it happen in 12 hours):

 

Maybe stopping here en route was a good idea:

[tmcafe]

2200 miles over the past few days on my Nero Corsa.... I really should stop tempting fate, I suppose.

 

 

"Hello sir, can I please see your driver's license, proof on insurance, and registration? (keeping a hand over the 45mm on the belt).

 

Seriously, great replies. I too must have been "brave" to ride my V11 from Seattle back to Boise in non-stop rain for almost 700 mi. Sure, by the time I got home my speedo/odo/trip meter had quit, and was later replaced under warranty. But the bike ran like a dream, and I loved the ride in spite of getting soaked. I guess it's not bravery we need, but just a little patience and willingness to tinker. The bike deserves that attention.

 

As far as other brands' famed reliability, this image (extreme as it is):

 

 

has probably toured as much as the bikes themselves. Apparently, the manufacturer has been consistently denying a problem, though the failed final drives have all been fixed under warranty. Otoh, I have one of their bikes too--though the purists would deny it's a "real" one (what? single, liquid cooled, Austrian engine--bulletproof, for that matter, Italian design and parts?) in the same fashion that the other famous brand devotees don't consider anything under 1200cc the "real" deal.

 

When Greg gets a chance to do a run, maybe we should all get that mADV sticker.

[Foxy]

I couldn't possibly comment.

 

Oh, all right then. I'm hoping I'm through the gremlin stage with my Le Mans. I really do hope so, because having not long ago spunked out on a new engine it'd better be fine. But so far, admittedly with only a couple of thousand miles on the new engine, it's been fine bar a minor oil leak in France and a fairing bolt vibrating lose today. It might even make up for leaving me stranded at the side of the road with just one cigarette and big end soup in the sump.

 

My little BMW copes with most of my miles. It currently has 162,000 miles on it and gets used for 55 miles a day, despite being 26 years old. In the past year it's not been free of trouble, and is at the moment off the road with a leaky gearbox seal. But then you expect problems on a bike on this age, and even with ragging it up and down the motorway everyday it still refuses to use any oil between services. And unlike my Le Mans nothing has taken more than a day to fix. Shame it's a soulless old heap really.

 

I will also admit that many people thought I was mad to take the freshly rebuilt Le Mans and thrash it round the south of France for 5 days last month and expected me to come home on the back of a truck.