Bike sitting too long

[Goosed Again]

OK, still haven't picked up a bike, should I change my name from Goosed Again to Tire Kicker?

 

Now there a Ballabio in town with super low miles, 461 I believe, on a 2004. Can get it for a respectable price but the concern I have on this one is with the low mileage, what seals have dried and cracked? Is it gonna be worth the hassle to save money on a low mile bike or better off looking for one that's been sorted?

 

Thanks to all who have put up with me!

[GuzziMoto]

Some Ballabio's were sold as leftovers a few years back. It may be one of them.

Anyway, other then the usual stuff, tires may be rock hard, the fork seals may need replacing, etc. .

Not a big deal.

I would not pay a premium for ultra low miles but I would not shy away either.

[mznyc]

OK, still haven't picked up a bike, should I change my name from Goosed Again to

OK, still haven't picked up a bike, should I change my name from Goosed Again to Tire Kicker?

 

Now there a Ballabio in town with super low miles, 461 I believe, on a 2004. Can get it for a respectable price but the concern I have on this one is with the low mileage, what seals have dried and cracked? Is it gonna be worth the hassle to save money on a low mile bike or better off looking for one that's been sorted?

 

Thanks to all who have put up with me!

 

I think a well informed buyer is a smart one.Only way to do that with time and research.Good on you not running out an making an emotional purchase ,as I did with my Scura.Dont regret it,got a great,unique,blast to ride machine,but with a little more time would have found the same with a better value.

I wouldn't be too concerned with low miles but it is a legitimate question about seals.the main question would be what kind of environment was it stored in.I would definitely chuck the tires of a 8 year old bike.Fork,brake,clutch,engine ,tranny,seals could have dried out.Unlikely,but something to consider.If you can get a test ride and get it up to full tempeture and everything is dry,it may be fine.Just no way of knowing till you have a considerable amount of time with it.

[SCole]

Having just bought a 2000 Sport with 2,600 miles I can tell you that there are going to be a few issues.  Mine have been minor but while the old sticking brake caliper has relieved itself so far I am expecting fluid to appear any day.  Old gas is the big one.  I drained out 3 gallons of some real nasty orange stuff and refilled with new and some Techron but the idle has not returned yet without the fast idle lever helping and it spits and burps every once in a while.  So, just be prepared even if it starts that there will be some sorting if the fluids are original.

[Chuck]

I wouldn't be terribly concerned. I've done several "barn finds" that have been sitting for years. Most likely would be fork seals, no big deal. None have had major seal leaks after being put back into service.

[Kiwi_Roy]

If the mileage is really that low the paint should be in great shape.

I have a 2002 that sat for several years in a container and I have had it back on the road for about 3

so far no seal problems, all the issues have been due to high mileage and a fender bender by the PO

BTW I had the forks apart, just added fresh oil as the seals were good.

[Goosed Again]

"I wouldn't be too concerned with low miles but it is a legitimate question about seals.the main question would be what kind of environment was it stored in."

 

Southern California, my guess is a non insulated garage - summer time interior temp 120* +/-?

 

Probably gonna look this weekend and try to get a feel for the condition of things.

[mznyc]

"I wouldn't be too concerned with low miles but it is a legitimate question about seals.the main question would be what kind of environment was it stored in."

 

Southern California, my guess is a non insulated garage - summer time interior temp 120* +/-?

 

Probably gonna look this weekend and try to get a feel for the condition of things.

And dry! That is the condition that will deteriorate rubber seals over time.Maybe factor $500-1K into the deal in case seals need to be replaced in future.Just forks and brakes would cost a few hundred if done by a shop.Internal ones,ah,...more.Not likely,but possible.

[Tom M]

Having just bought a 2000 Sport with 2,600 miles I can tell you that there are going to be a few issues.  Mine have been minor but while the old sticking brake caliper has relieved itself so far I am expecting fluid to appear any day.

 

If it's the rear brake caliper that's sticking believe it or not this is fairly common, even on V11s that are ridden regularly.  The brake pistons tend to stick because they are mounted under the swingarm so they collect a lot of crud.  I have to clean mine about every 3-4k miles.

[SCole]

Having just bought a 2000 Sport with 2,600 miles I can tell you that there are going to be a few issues.  Mine have been minor but while the old sticking brake caliper has relieved itself so far I am expecting fluid to appear any day.

 

If it's the rear brake caliper that's sticking believe it or not this is fairly common, even on V11s that are ridden regularly.  The brake pistons tend to stick because they are mounted under the swingarm so they collect a lot of crud.  I have to clean mine about every 3-4k miles.

Cool, Thanks Tom!

[Chuck]

When I picked up Rosie from an abusive owner, the rear caliper and rotor (blue) were trashed. I installed a new rotor, caliper, line, and rebuilt the master cylinder thinking those problems were over.

After the shake down ride, I noticed the new rotor was hot, and I seldom use the rear brake. Hmmm. I found that there was still a little air in the system, and bleeding it completely cured that problem. I hung a 20 lb. weight from the brake lever for 24 hours, and that let the micro air bubbles percolate to the master cylinder resevoir when pressure is relieved. At least that's my theory..

[guzzijek]

I picked up my 04 Ballabio last year from the original owner. So far its been agreat bike. I'm curious about the comment that these bikes were sold as leftovers at dealerships. Does anyone know if the Ballabio was a good seller at the time?

[GuzziMoto]

I don't know if it is proper english to use the term "good seller" to describe any Guzzi.

The entire V11 series was one of Guzzi's most successful models ever. About the only other model I can think of that may have better sales numbers is the California.

And the BillyBob was one of those. They all sold in the simular numbers, only limited by how many they actually made of some. All Guzzi's could be viewed as limited editions, but some actually have plates to that effect on them.

BillyBobs were not the only version that was available as a leftover. It sounded to me (from my dealer) that Guzzi had been accruing a few leftovers each year over the model life of the V11. After the B11 and Griso came out someone was cleaning up and realized they had a few sitting around at the distributor. So they called up some of their better dealers and offered these leftovers to them at a discount. My local dealer was on of the dealers that was offered the leftovers. They picked up a couple, but the BillyBob they were offered went to another dealer. If it had come to my local dealer I would have bought it.

It did not sound like the leftover Aprilia's that flooded the market recently, there are never that many Guzzi's available. I would put it down more to the lack of organization at Guzzi USA then a sales issue. They probably did not realize they had them. The retirement of the V11 and the introduction of the CARC Guzzi's may have also played a part.

[guzzijek]

Very interesting information. Thanks. My Ballabio was sold by a Canadian dealer but I believe it is an American bike as the gauges are in miles. (Were all Ballabios for the American market?) Anyway, it appears that the fellow who started this thread has passed on the Ballabio and found another V11, congratulations!

[Skeeve]

I picked up my 04 Ballabio last year from the original owner. So far its been agreat bike. I'm curious about the comment that these bikes were sold as leftovers at dealerships. Does anyone know if the Ballabio was a good seller at the time?

 

The problem was that Aprilia was in the midst of going T.U. at the time, having overspent on their MotoGP development right as the EU suddenly changed the rules for scooter licensing, which pretty much stopped scooter sales dead, devastating the bottom line & ultimately leading Aprilia to be sold to Piaggio for pennies on the lire. Since Moto Guzzi was a wholly-owned subsidiary of Aprilia, that Aprilia had never really absorbed, it left Guzzi up in the air as to whether they would continue to exist or not. Between a poor dealer network [not the dealers themselves, per se, but just the spotty nature of where to find one here in the good ol' USofA] and the general lack of awareness on the part of the motorcycle buying public, it led to a fire sale on a bunch of "repo'd" unsold inventory when several marginal dealerships decided to cut & run.

 

Once Piaggio picked up the ball, the deals were pretty much all gone, but it had really done a number on the existing dealer network because not only had a few long-time dealers gone away, but the bulk of the "fire sale" bikes had been moved thru a few newer dealerships that didn't do good warranty work, so not only had the low-priced new bikes undercut the existing dealers ability to sell their own, higher-priced old inventory, but the better old dealers wound up carrying the warranty work on the new bikes that the new, "stack'em deep & sell'em cheap" dealers were unable or unwilling to do. [NB: Guzzi N.A. already had a rep for taking a long time to pay on warranty claims, so a lot of dealers were naturally skeptical of doing work for which they may not have ever been compensated if Guzzi had gone the way of the dodo...]

 

It was all a very bleak time for fans of the marque, and when Piaggio took over & promptly shut down the factory, Guzzisti the world over were justifiably alarmed. Seems like it was all for the best now, barring the fact that there won't be any more new models actually developed by Guzzi, they'll all be engineered in Pontedera as part of Piaggio's operations. But at least they're still being built in Mandello and the factory's been rehabbed so can be expected to stay with us for awhile!

 

But to answer your question, the Ballabio was definitely a good seller at the time, as V11 models went.