COMPARISON: Guzzi V11 and Ducati GT100

[Motomonster]

Moto,

 

How does it compare to your V11? What is better and or worse in your opinion. One of the considerations for me choosing a Guzzi was my "impression" that I could do more wrenching on it myself whereas I heard from many that Duc's need more "professional" servicing. handling etc.....I really like the looks of the GT although I am very satisfied with my V11. Have owned it a year, adjusted valves, fluids and although I have only put a few thousand miles, has been very reliable.

 

I agree with you and the info on this site has been invaluable to me as a new Guzzi owner and riding in general (it was 20 somethig years for me in between rides)

 

Bob

 

Bob, I'll start off by saying that your impression is correct, in my experience. I have done a lot of fiddling with the V11 and it is running a lot better than when I got it. The GT runs perfectly, and I've had the shop do all the work. From reading the Ducati sites, most of the guys who try to tweak the bikes themselves are having a horrible time trying to get everything to work well together. As for the bikes themselves, I am a big fan of air-cooled twins and have owned nothing else for the past 15 years or so. The Guzzi and the Ducati are both fantastic, but they are very different.

 

To start, my GT is not stock. In stock form, the bike is rather annoying. The gearing is wrong, the suspension is way too soft, and the ECU is under recall. So, a new owner must be prepared to sort the bike out for his needs. This pisses some folks off, but I didn't mind because I like to personalize my bikes anyway. I've switched the gearing from 15/39 to 14/41, re-sprung the forks and installed YSS shocks, and the previous owner installed Termignoni pipes and accompanying ECU. Greg Field helped me do some other minor stuff like swap out the clutch slave, etc. My bike is now perfectly suited for me and runs flawlessly. My only problem has been a dead battery.

 

The bike is light and nimble and revs hard and smooth all the way to 9K. I had a dyno done and it gets about 89hp and 65 torque. The powerband for cruising is from 3K to 5K; from 6K to redline the bike positively rips. Fantastic acceleration. The brakes are decent, not amazing, but they work well for the weight of the bike and so won't throw you over the bars like the 1098 brakes. I can comfortably trail brake. The bars are wide and you have to steer lightly. Coming from a Guzzi Stone, I had a tendency to muscle the bike too much and I had to really practice toning down my technique so I wouldn't have to correct my line halfway through the corner.

 

The ergos are very comfortable for a sporty bike. You are a bit forward for a cruiser -- and a normal standard -- but nothing too drastic. I just clamp the tank when braking and am fine. I took the GT (fully loaded for camping) down to the Malibu rally and back, about 3500 miles, and was comfortable the whole time. The bike was subjected to all sorts of conditions: straights, sweepers, twisties, super tight twistes, super tight twisties on horribly potted roads, gravel roads. The bike handled them all effortlessly at all rates of speed. I was grinning the whole time.

 

The Guzzi isn't like that -- yet. To be fair, I am still sorting this thing out, but I've done quite a bit. I took both bikes over three local mtn. passes back to back one weekend and so feel I can make a reasonable comparison. As always, Greg Field has been very helpful in getting the bike sorted.

 

The Guzzi was stock except for Mistral cans when I bought it and the filter was horribly filthy, so you can imagine how the bike ran. I've experimented with a number of set ups and here is where I'm at right now: dropped the forks .5 inch, CRG levers & mirrors, Phil's airbox mod, new filter, Powercommander, Raceco valve specs. I've done about 10 valve adjustments in the past week trying out different maps and valve spec combos. The bike is now running very well. The low RPM's are solid -- gut-punches of torque. I barely notice the 4.5K dip, and the bike has nice acceleration from 5-7K. This winter I'll get a crossover and a custom map.

 

The Guzzi is obviously a heavier bike and I've had a few pucker moments trying to ride it like the Ducati, so I've been totally re-evaluating my approach to it. I have tried to emphasize low end torque and riding it in a way that utilizes momentum rather than raw acceleration. It goes fast, but it takes a little more time getting there and I try to keep the rpm's down. For some reason, I think because I need to improve the suspension (yes, I've adjusted it), the bike is more comfortable at lower rpm's, even at higher speeds. Riding it at 6-8K it feels like the bike can get away from me. Like there is too much momentum. Of course, I really need to bleed my brakes and clutch fluids, so I'm sure this has a lot to do with it. Also, like I said, the suspension doesn't handle well in those conditions. So, I have had to work on smoothness again, but a different kind.

 

The bike responds well to "body steering" and since it's a heavy bike it feels great to slide over and ride the momentum through the corners. I don't have a feel for tight twisties yet and resort to a sort of low-speed counter-lean approach, which works alright, but I don't want to use it all the time. I think the front tire is the original (8 yrs old), so I don't trust the grip much and don't like the profile. I will swap it soon for a Pilot power and I expect this will really help.

 

The more I practice on the Guzzi, the more I love it. I love the low torque and using it to pull me through the corners. I am getting the feel of how to coordinate the clutch, throttle and brakes to operate the bike smoothly and the more it becomes second nature, the more confident I become.

 

So, in the end, the Guzzi is more fun at lower speeds while the Ducati likes to be ridden a bit faster. At times, daily traffic feels unbearably annoying on the Duc, while on the Guzzi, it's fun to just cruise along on this massive cloud of torque. The Guzzi is fun to ride fast, but mostly if there isn't a lot of traffic to pass or cut through. Of course, as I said, my assessment will likely change as I continue to improve the bike and the bike continues to improve me.

[ponti_33609]

Awesome write-up! Very informative. At least from what you wrote, I am even more happy with the decision I made a year ago. I live in downtown Tampa, and although it is a very small city, I am mostly in very slow moving traffic and I hadn't heard the point you made regarding slow vs fast speeds in comparing the two bikes before.

 

Bob

[Motomonster]

Awesome write-up! Very informative. At least from what you wrote, I am even more happy with the decision I made a year ago. I live in downtown Tampa, and although it is a very small city, I am mostly in very slow moving traffic and I hadn't heard the point you made regarding slow vs fast speeds in comparing the two bikes before.

 

Bob

 

 

Yeah, don't worry. You made a great choice. In the words of Stefano, the Italian gentleman who accompanied us to the Malibu rally:

 

"Ducati is a nice, but a Guzzi, ahhh, Guzzi is a special. "

[BRENTTODD]

"Ducati is a nice, but a Guzzi, ahhh, Guzzi is a special. "

 

 

Very well put

[Dan M]

Excellent comapro Moto. Thanks.

[steffen]

"Ducati is a nice, but a Guzzi, ahhh, Guzzi is a special. "

I just passed the quote on to my ducati-riding friends

 

/Steffen

[DeBenGuzzi]

I have the same sentiments about my Guzzi and Aprilia RSV, the RSV demands you ride too fast, it almost makes you go over 70mph at all times, while the guzzi is fine at ANY speed under 100. I like my two completely different rides.

[Steve G.]

At elevated speeds, the Guzzi does show it's shortcomings, mainly due to it's rear weight bias, and the frame, which is simply no match against the Verlichi frame that Ducati uses. Improvements to suspension components will improve things, but you will never get ride of that "willowy" feeling over 100mph. The Guzzi engine shows it's shortcomings in all out performance, it's simply got too many things against it. But it's an easy brute to live with. A hammer and a screw driver is all that's needed to maintain the thing.

The biggest positive, and negative with any Ducati, is it's engine. It's maintenance costs are stupid, it's slow speed running is a pain in the ass, but it's long legged lope at speed makes 'speed' seem natural, easy. And Ducati handling, well, is there any better??

Steve

[DeBenGuzzi]

I see a Ducati like a Trophy Wife

Looks hot, will empty your bank account, all-around tempremental but damn is it a fun ride once you hop on and make it all worth it, if you can afford it

[Janusz]

I see a Ducati like a Trophy Wife

Looks hot, will empty your bank account, all-around tempremental but damn is it a fun ride once you hop on and make it all worth it, if you can afford it

 

You forgot to add: "for a short time".

[gavo]

I see a Ducati like a Trophy Wife

Looks hot, will empty your bank account, all-around tempremental but damn is it a fun ride once you hop on and make it all worth it, if you can afford it

 

you're trying to tell me a guzzi is not tempramental ,for god's sake it's an italian motorcycle they can all try our patience just look at the questions asked here

[Bbennett]

Good god man, please change the front tire! And prob the rear one whilst you are at it. Tires are the most important part of the machine

Bob

[DeBenGuzzi]

you're trying to tell me a guzzi is not tempramental ,for god's sake it's an italian motorcycle they can all try our patience just look at the questions asked here

true, but go look what is said over at the Ducati board, you think WE have a love hate relationship? and my Guzzi has been a dream to own only a few small niggles that were not even hard to fix, not everyone has the same story there I know and the same can happen on a duc the biggest thing is the belts, those damn valve belts would keep me up at night wonderin when, if, just maybe, they'll snap and cause catastrophic failure of the unimaginable kind

[jihem]

(...)not everyone has the same story there I know and the same can happen on a duc the biggest thing is the belts, those damn valve belts would keep me up at night wonderin when, if, just maybe, they'll snap and cause catastrophic failure of the unimaginable kind

 

 

I had two Ducatis prior to the Ghezzi and both bikes ( a 1989 750 Sport and a 93 Superlight) where exhilirating bikes to ride and not too temperamental - altho the Superlight is very much like the V11 in the sense that you have an arm long list of things that WILL go wrong (and they do).

 

Personally, my main reason to switch to Guzzi has more to do with wanting to keep the valves down to 2 per cylinder and having a less nervous ride frame wise (I thought the two ducati were too nervous and frenzy in the frame departement when ridden fast while the Ghezzi -or a V11- is more planted)