stubborn 1100 sport

[rocker59]

It does not run well in the 2500 to 3800 RPM range but once above 4k it runs great....but dont want to spend a lot of time int raffic or leisurly riding this bike above 4k....Im sure the Italians intended for it to burn above here but .....

 

 

Just wanted say, "great looking bike!" Love the solo tail. I've always wanted one. They were EXPENSIVE from Pro Italia ten years ago!

 

I just looked at your other bikes and the quote above. I can't emphasize enough how different Italian twins are from American ones.

 

Relative to the HD-based stuff, the Guzzi has a real short stroke and a pretty radical camshaft (made by Crane, btw).

 

These bikes run best in the 4,000 to 6,000 rpm range. Riding this Sport 1100 around in the 2500 to 3800 rpm range is too low for anything but your average 25mph/30mph city streets.

 

It will not hurt your Guzzi to run regularly in the 4,000 to 5,000 rpm range in normal riding. That's the bike's sweet spot.

 

It's a hard adjustment to make, moving from the low-revving HD-based bikes. I had a customer ten years ago who came off a Sportster and never could get used to the Ducati 900SS I sold him because he wanted to run around at 50mph in 6th-gear. He tried to tell me that his 1200S Sportster was "a better performer" than the Ducati !!! Well, he didn't keep the Ducati long because riding over 4,000 rpm was just too foreign for him to try.

 

Just some food for thought...

 

Best of luck getting it sorted...

[raz]

These bikes run best in the 4,000 to 6,000 rpm range. Riding this Sport 1100 around in the 2500 to 3800 rpm range is too low for anything but your average 25mph/30mph city streets.

The above is very true. As I run MyECU in closed loop, and after tweaking the AFR targets and breakpoints a lot, my bike runs clean from below 2000 rpm and up at any throttle. Still, whenever my tacho shows less than 4000 rpm I shift down. That is the "Hard Deck" for this bike. So I often cruise in fourth gear on smaller roads. And it actually produces significantly better mileage, a bit counter intuitive but I guess it just breathes so much better and the efficiency increases a lot.

 

A spin-off is that I don't need to worry about the fifth gear grenade, as long as I go slower than 120 km/h

 

For that matter, while it should run clean at 4000 rpm, you can really feel the engine is in total harmony above 5000 rpm! The Guzzi 1100's really sing once you get there.

[gstallons]

Who are you ? "ghostrider"

Watch this please.........and then leave a comment.

 

 

GHOST RIDER - BUSA TURBO

[callison]

If the bike stalls a lot plus having a lot of trouble in the 2500- 3500 range, I would lean towards replacing the tensioner first and then consider some of the other options. At idle, mine would try to run backwards for a stroke making it stall. If the tensioner is slack, no amount of fiddling with any other part of the ignition system will make any appreciable improvement. My tensioner was so slack that the chain could change the timing a bunch just by bunching up. Above 4000 rpm, the pull is more constant and the chain won't have much opportunity to misbehave but down in the lower rpms, it can play havoc with the timing. There is an after market tensioner available as well as the stock one. The after market one is less expensive and from what I've heard, a better unit. YMMV though. Changing the cam chain tensioner isn't too onerous a job. I changed the chain and tensioner in about 2 hours. I bought a chain from MPH (BMW stuff) with a master link which made the job relatively easy.

[raz]

You can measure chain scatter with a timing light. Here is a longish thread from when I replaced mine:

http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=11660

 

Down at post #50 is my notes from the job

[GuzziMoto]

I talked to the guys at Europa Macchina in PA, its a bit of a drive but they seem to think they can get it running correctly. The mechanic seemed to be extremely knowledgable and has a lot of experience both riding and wrenching on Guzzis, next step, sort out potential budget for one more lap through fixing this bike while I try and buy a house in this current market.....ouch. will keep you guys posted on the experience and result with this shop. Thanks for the recommendation!

I prefer fixing bikes myself, but I had a very good experience with Europa Macchina in Harrisburg. They seem very detail oriented and genuinely care about doing things right.

Tell them Michael Myers sent you.

[rocker59]

Tell them Michael Myers sent you.

 

???

 

[GuzziMoto]

No, that's Mike Myers. Michael Myers is the killer in the Halloween movies.

[antonio carroccio]

I thought it was Jackie Chan...