2011/2012 Stelvio

[motrhead]

Ok, so she's heavy when you get her bogged! But a lot less scary than the v11 when you crest a rise and the road is covered in greasy clay.

 

I'm really not excited about a trip computer that records max speed for the day -I must remember to clear that when the cops pull me over!

 

 I like the tell tale.  I make sure it isn't showing though, just in case I do get pulled over. It is surprising how fast I get going while passing, as I believe in using WOT to minimize exposure time. I do try to crack the ton every morning on the way to work...lol

[PDoz]

Interesting ride yesterday. A gentle 950 km of corners , mostly on bituimin but with about 30 km of loose gravel. I was on the stelvio, there was a super ten, a versys with the works ( long story) , a couple of big ktms and a deviant on a gsxr1000 or whatever they are nowadays. The guy on the gsxr is a seriously good rider ( been there, done that, absolutely nothing to prove ) . Lessons learnt:

 

1 scurra riders ignore stelvio riders. OK, he was coming the other way, dogding a truck turning across his lane , AND a collection of motorbikes stopped waiting for the truck to complete the turn...but the scurra sounded great and I would have loved to find out what pipes he had.

 

2 w@nkers in full leathers are hard to get past so you can keep cruising with your mate on his gsxr. I guess it's not really that much of a hardship to follow a ducati for a while.....

 

3 the top speed thingy lies. There is no way I got that combination of numbers in that order....although there was a really nice uphill sweeper where I was thinking about passing that ducati ....

 

4 I really need to stay away from boy racer country

 

5 a gsxr makes a surprisingly good dirt bike. In the dry. With the right rider aboard. Pete is crazy. This is the guy who snaps bmw K frames riding through the dessert 2 up , so it's entirely possible that gsxr's don't make good dirt bikes, but I'm not about to climb aboard one in the dirt to find out.

 

6 after 950 km my neck is a bit sore, I might try working out a lower screen or something. Or I might just do some more riding. I'll have a think about that next week.

 

7 apparently it was raining a bit yesterday afternoon. I guess you get that when there are thunderstorms . I was a bit distracted because we were right on top of the ski range and those lightning strikes looked a bit scary....but the road was wet so it must have been raining. I don't remember needing to put on my rain pants until we next stopped for fuel, but apparently it was raining. That stelvio fairing et al REALY works for weather protection!

 

8 something is wrong with the fuel economy readings on the computer thingy - it seem stuck at 4.3 l / 100 km no matter how much fun I'm having. That's 740 km to a tank, in theory. Pitty the ktms had to stop every 200 k. The gsxr and ktms must have fuel leaks - they kept putting twice as much fuel in their tanks?

 

9 I think I like this bike.

[Morris Sod]

I have been a proud owner of a MY12 Stelvio bronze for the past year. Having sold the Griso SE and crashed the V Strom I decided I liked the Stelvio now with 22k on the clock I have recently replaced the standard pipe for a fully homologated MIVV pipe from Italy. This dropped 5kg from the weight and sounds even crisper than the standard pipe. Better with the Dc killer left in as it seems to allow the mapping to work better, specially a low speeds.

 

This is a most comfortable and effortless bike to ride considering the weight which literally disappears on the move. However, I am yet to embark on a more serious off road trip to the out back, having only done it on the V Strom. 

 

I still have my 2000 V11 Rosso Mandello for those Sunday fun runs up the Oxley highway for a bit of adrenalin stimulation, although the Stelvio is none too shabby on the twisties also.  I try to be very careful where I pull up on the Stelvio due to the height factor and watch for loose gravel under boot.  Although not too tall '176cm I have become used to and comfortable on the bike with the lower seat setting.

 

My only concern is the cam follower issue and have to be very vigilant about the change of sound from the engine. So far so good.

[pete roper]

PM sent.

 

Pete

[PDoz]

I have recently replaced the standard pipe for a fully homologated MIVV pipe from Italy. This dropped 5kg from the weight and sounds even crisper than the standard pipe. Better with the Dc killer left in as it seems to allow the mapping to work better, specially a low speeds.

 

This is a most comfortable and effortless bike to ride considering the weight which literally disappears on the move. However, I am yet to embark on a more serious off road trip to the out back, having only done it on the V Strom. 

 

Any chance of a bit of feedback re the MIVV pipe? In particular - has it changed the economy / performance / vibrations? I read all about the US guys remapping their stelvios and wonder if our OZ fuel suits the stelvio better ( or I'm not very fussy ?)

 

Also, I suspect you'll be very happy with the stelvio compared with the v strom off road. Once the suspension is dialed in it seems remarkably capable - MUCH more cobfidence inspiring IMHO.

[Morris Sod]

Hi PDoz,

Just returned from a 1100/1200km trip to Sydney and back just before Christmas. 36degree temps down the slab and massive traffic on Pennant Hills Rd.

Bike was hot, I was hot and the pipe was fine, seemed to help with the slow speed hunting from previously, although I'm told this can be dialled out on a ECU reset. Speedo kept recording 4.3L/100 so I don't believe it really. Always seem to get 430km to a tank with 8 litres left at fill up.

 

Went the long way home, some popping, (not bad) on overrun into corners also a nice addictive crisp delivery from the pipe with power on. Need to keep a check on pipe clamp as can slightly loosen on a trip. Maybe the cause of popping. No vibrations I noticed, still with good midrange and the 5500 rush is still there. I really love the 5kg weight reduction.

 

I hope this helps

[Morris Sod]

US fuel is generally less octane than ours, 87RON being their standard, premium flat out to be 95ron. there fore probably we are getting better performance than the Yanks as long as you stay away from Ethanol.

[PDoz]

Thanks, that helps a lot. Mine doesn't seem to hunt down low unless the throttle bodies get out of synch . Is it still tractible down low? Ie can you wander up a gravel hill in 2/3 gear , lugging the motor and wind it on without too much snap / wheelspin ?

 

I love the way mine can lug along through the trails , then wake up in the twisties. Not quite as charismatic as the v11 , but a LOT more versatile.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Morris Sod]

I don't think I'd like to do log hopping with it but gravel hills 2nd/3rd are fine depending on grade. I'm afraid I am bit of a woose in getting the feel of the big girl on dirt, so traction control has stayed on totally minimising wheel spin. My DR Suzuki has a higher first gear than the Stelvio, was built for high speed dirt roads by previous owner. I must change sprockets.

 

A mate (a Griso rider) and myself did a back to back run on my Rosso Mandello and the Stelvio through the valley the other day and his comment was........"its a bit like riding an old Manx Norton really, ya gotta really muscle it" referring to the ride on the V11 compared to the ease of handling of the Stelvio.  However, on a smooth road I really do like the manners of the V11 as you feel like you've got the front wheel between your wrists and feel heaps more confident into the corners than the upright Stelvio. She doesn't like bumpy corners though.

[GuzziMoto]

US fuel is generally less octane than ours, 87RON being their standard, premium flat out to be 95ron. there fore probably we are getting better performance than the Yanks as long as you stay away from Ethanol.

Our fuels are pretty much the same octane. The difference is in how we measure/label it. Our averaging method between RON and MON gives us a lower number on the label. But the fuel has pretty much the same actual octane.

[PDoz]

Guzzi Moto - I'm no chemist, but I thought the octane rating isn't the only indicator of the quality of fuel ? eg we had a dodgy " high octane" fuel sold here by one of the cheaper companies that achieved the higher octane by having more ethanol. My bikes didn't knock, but they got dreadful economy / performance on it ( at least my ktm 640 did- and you notice poor economy when it's 700 km between refills and you're getting topped up by a bmw !) . Then there was another big company with a very ( " max") high octane but it got a reputation for frying motorbike valves - I doubt we'll ever find out exactly what happened but the crustations took it off the market.

 

I don't know about the US , but over here we take a huge leap of faith every time we fill up - hoping that the stuff coming out of the bowser is some sort of bang juice that isn't going to leave us stranded. I've had a jerry can filled with this yellow solvent that stopped 2 chainsaws, an outboard, and my kids mini bike..... I'm presuming that some of the solvents in the mix had precipitated out and got sucked up by that pump, but who knows?

 

I guess what I'm wondering is - on average, do our fuels allow our bikes to run different to the us fuels , or am I just not fussy enough ? I guess I could try running one of the " better" maps, but I'd never inow how much was placebo ( it's a very long way to the nearest dyno)

[GuzziMoto]

I don't know about the quality of your fuel. Here quality is pretty well regulated, but I tend to stick to name brand stations and avoid stations that see little traffic. If I am filling up with premium I would rather I was at a station that had others doing the same on a regular basis. That way the fuel I get is not stale and old. This is extra important (in my opinion) if the fuel has ethanol in it.

Here we are required to have a certain percentage of ethanol in it, but they can't just add extra ethanol. It is a regulated amount percentage wise. There is considerable debate here as they are talking about raising that percentage. I don't want to get into a debate about ethanol, though. I just wanted to point out that your premium fuel and our premium fuel tends to be the same octane, we just label ours with a lower number as it is measure using an average of RON and MON. Most other places just post the (higher) RON number.

 

There are other factors here that play into fuel mileage and performance. Around here now they have switched to the winter blend, and the result is probably about a 10% (or more) drop in mileage. It has to do with the things they put in the fuel to help it burn in colder temps. Come spring mileage will go back up.

[docc]

I routinely fill the Sport with non-ethanol fuel and today noticed that the "premium" is now 90 AKI (RON+MON divided by 2), down a bit from what it was (91?).

 

Sorry to see the "octane rating" (AKI) go down, but I can immediately tell the difference when I have to run ethanol laced fuel (pop-burp-hiccup).

[GuzziMoto]

Around here maximum octane varies depending on location. In one area / neighborhood premium might be 91 octane. A couple miles away premium might be 92 or 93 octane. We used to have some Sunoco stations that had 94 octane, but they seem to have phased that out.

 

On a side note, I know altitude has an effect on octane requirements (at higher altitudes octane requirements go down) but I wonder if temp has an effect on octane requirements.

[gstallons]

Octane is an additive to prevent pre ignition of the fuel . As long as you are not experiencing spark knock you will be good.