Problem: no problems!

[Guest John Y]

I have covered 3,000kms on my '02 V11 LeMans and...I've had NO problems at all!

The bike starts every time, idles smoothly, handles brilliantly and performs exceptionally well. Nothing has broken, fallen off or stopped working and it puts a HUGE grin on my face during every ride - what am I doing wrong?!

 

I LOVE THIS BIKE!

 

PS Please excuse me, I'm feeling silly tonight

[Guest Jeff Kelland]

The only thing you seem to be doing wrong is not riding enough, now get out there and ride!!! (BTW, -14F yesterday A.M. in southern New England!! my goose is hibernating)

[twhitaker]

When the shifter spring went south at 6000 miles, I bought an extra spring and attached it to the bike like a voodoo charm to ward off the evil spring spirits. It was only $3 You might want to do the same. Carry a spare relay (Bosch) as well. 24 degrees F here with freezing rain.

[docc]

First problem on the Sport ( leaky front gearbox seal munted the clutch) came at 4000 miles / 6400 km. Your LeMans is ,as yet, young and virginal.

 

 

John, with that beautiful cafe round-fin of yours can you say that the LeMans is that much more fun to ride? How so?

[Guest captain nemo]

When I bought the bike last summer, I thought Guzzi was a well-made solid machine of high value and outstanding reliability and longevity. But then, after following these boards, I see that in reality it is an excessively over-priced turkey that has cheap components hastily thrown on by a company who doesn't give a damn about me or their products. Looks like they'd rather sell sweaters. Boy did I make a mistake. Luckily, other than getting stuck gears at times, I am still alive.

[Mike Stewart]

Fellow Guzzi owners,

 

I have owned many bikes over the years and none of them were perfect!

 

From Japanese bikes to European bikes they all have faults if you look for them.

 

Just go to the different bike web pages and all you will find are complaints about

 

that type of bike. I guess boards just bring out the Negative issues. If one bike

 

has a problem, it does't mean all the bikes have that same issue.

 

My 00 V11 Sport has over 20,000 hard miles on it (has seen many long days at

 

RED line and keeps wanting more) and while I have had a

 

few bitchy problem, I blame the dealer for most of them, not the product. Yes,

 

Guzzi needs to get their act together and take care of the customer. Maybe that

 

is why they are getting rid of some upper management at Guzzi.

 

Just my two cents,

 

Mike (Now just go out and ride)!

[jrt]

My attitude is- and this has served me well for many years-

panic first, then sort things out later

John, have you had a good panic lately? If not, you should start worring.

 

Cheers,

Jason

[al_roethlisberger]

When I bought the bike last summer, I thought Guzzi was a well-made solid machine of high value and outstanding reliability and longevity.  But then, after following these boards, I see that in reality it is an excessively over-priced turkey that has cheap components hastily thrown on by a company who doesn't give a damn about me or their products.  Looks like they'd rather sell sweaters. Boy did I make a mistake.  Luckily, other than getting stuck gears at times, I am still alive. 

 

 

.... I'm confused, why a mistake Jefff?? From what I can tell from your posts, you've been having nothing but a great time tinkering, modifying, and showing off your Sport.

 

And I haven't heard you report any real problems, so ..... ...is this vicarious regret?

 

 

Don't condemn your bike, experience, or even the whole marque just upon the problems others have reported.

 

 

As owners on many lists/forums have mentioned before for years, including our own, and as Mike points out above.... for better or worse, it is far more common for people to complain than praise, and regardless of the make or model one can log into any forum and find a litany of problems.

 

This is true of even the most vaunted of brands such as Honda, "the paragon of reliability." Goldwings overheating, VTX heads being recalled, new VFR seat subframes cracking.... or Yamaha, FJR overheating.... ad nauseum.

 

 

While it's true that it's unfortunate to hear about problems, I'm happy to hear them reported so that I'm prepared. I would have never heard about half of the preventative steps, or even remedies, if others hadn't reported them here.

 

Forewarned is forearmed....

 

Unless one is personally experiencing a "lemon," I wouldn't write off any brand or model if it is serving you well. If we did that, we wouldn't have confidence in hardly anything

 

 

I think MG has come a long way, especially in the last 2 years. The fit and finish, and new R&D seems to be on the upswing

 

al

 

 

P.S.

 

...awesome to hear you've had great results with your bike John

 

(Now go knock on some wood )

[Guest captain nemo]

Al, you present a strong case - as usual. However, here is what bugs me: When you mention Honda or Yamaha or HD, you are talking about a manufacturer that produces a hundred motorcycles for every one Guzzi builds - maybe more. So, you would expect a certain number of people with problems. Also, these companies feature a great deal of yearly innovation - and so it is not surprising when they reinvent themselves every year that they have recalls too.

 

The problem with Guzzi is that they give you hydraulic lifters or a new floor board or paint job or fatter tyre and call that 'innovation!!' (and always with an exclamation mark). They have been building the same basic bike for decades - you'd think they would know what sort of paint to use on the engines. Stuff like that. They seem to have a higher percentage of 'lemons' to great running bikes - compared to other companies. Just look at our board. But, worst of all, is the attitude of the owners/executives. I see a bunch of them were booted for 'unsound' business practices. I can only hope this gets at the problem. With Guzzi you get bad parts service, terrible communication and highly inflated prices. Sure, all parts are high, but compare them to even Ducati and it is clear that Guzzi likes to GOUGE its own customers. Unwise.

 

I do enjoy the 'heads up' because we need it. I also like preventative maintenance hints.

 

This is rather ironic to me because I actually set up a forum on EZboard to wax poetic on the POSITIVE attributes of owning a Guzzi. I conceived of such a board where we could really dive into what separates this experience out. It would also be a place to discuss preventative measures and overall maintenance. But this would all be in keeping with a feeling of positivity. Maybe I should try to get it going again. It is all set up and ready to go. Not that I want to take away from this site either. It definitely is serving a great purpose. Sometimes its interesting to go from here to Wildguzzi to see a real difference in tone, age, etc. I don't know if my site would go over, or if anyone would see the point of it....

 

I still want to love my Guzz. I have always had great LUCK with them. I am always hoping that the company would truly get serious about the American market. If I could get my forum going and fed my mind with my original thoughts about Guzzi, maybe I wouldn't post things like the above!

[Guest Brian Robson]

One minute you are the magical guru of "Guzzisti", the next the bikes are an overpriced pile of shite.

Should I feel glad one minute, or the next try to sell my bike?

I'm putting this down to medication side effects or too low a dose.

[Baldini]

Captain Nemo,

 

Have you had any problems with the bike?

 

KB, Cymru

[Motomonster]

Ouch! Nemo's finally gone mad.

 

I still think these bikes are reliable and well built. The only problem with mine is the engine paint, and honestly, it's not very noticeable. I did buy some Harley wrinkle black that I will try this summer. Plus I will be getting some free hardbags for touring. Nice.

 

I personally don't want a lot of "innovation" on my bike. I specifically chose the Guzz to avoid all the digital whatchamadoohickys and such. I like that my bike is built from tried and true parts and designs rather than gussied up to comply with all the latest fads. And it's still a hellovalotta fun to ride.

[Guest captain nemo]

One minute you are the magical guru of "Guzzisti", the next the bikes are an overpriced pile of shite.

Should I feel glad one minute, or the next try to sell my bike?

 

Let me explain myself better like this: The Guzzi is a wonderful machine mainly due to the nature of its engine design which is very old - and DESPITE the idiots in Italy who produce it. I don't think they get it at all. They just stumbled upon a niche in the market or inherited a factory and all of that. Actually, we are blessed that they are caught in a rut. I don't think they really understand what I like about 'Guzziness' or even what I might mean by that. Who knows if anyone at Aprilia gets it either.

 

But, if the marketing department decides to put a 19 inch wheel on it, or cover even more parts with plastic, or make a chopper out of it, or keeps copying the latest style trends from Japan......will it loose 'Guzziness'? Yes, in my opinion. It will always be essentially guzzi-like due to the engine; and I don't see them really changing it. Yet, what else is it about the bike that we like - that they have created despite themselves? If they go to belt or chain drive, will it lose guzziness? I think so. This is what I am always wanting to talk about...what is the collection of traits that makes this bike unique? I don't think MGNA knows about them or cares. So, it is up to the individual to modify his own bike, if necessary, to obtain 'maximum guzziness.'

 

I complain about the service and corporate presence behind this bike because it is very unguzzi-like.

[Guest John Y]

Just for the record, I do carry a spare relay and my friend the Guzzi 'guru' has a Teo Lamers gearshift return spring sitting on his shelf "just in case"!

I have owned a lot of Guzzis over the years, and whilst none of them was 'perfect' in every way they do all possess that indefinable 'Guzzi-ness' that has been mentioned and which makes them so satisfying.

This 'grin factor' is more important to me than any elusive sense of perfection so I accept that there will be some degree of owner-sponsored refinement or modification to tailor the bike exactly to me, and if something does go wrong with it I will see that as a minor and acceptable event in the context of a long and very fulfilling relationship! (if my wife got rid of me every time I gave her the sh*ts we would have been history 23yrs ago!)

If Guzzis were 'perfect' they'd have Honda badges and I wouldn't want one... (no offence to Honda riders)

Stick with a Guzzi, iron out any bugs and enjoy...and enjoy...and enjoy!

[Guest John Y]

Doc, my cafe-SP is delightful to ride - it goes, stops AND handles and is totally reliable.

What it won't do is go, stop, handle AND transport me in comfort for hundreds of miles, which the V11 will do!