anyone know Dave Blue, guzzi rep from way back?

[Gmc28]

Just a question to lob out there...

 

I bought my V11 from a good friend who had it for years, and we ended up actually doing a trade, each of us trading a bike we didn't want to part with but didn't use much any more (he got a Gran Canyon, I got the V11).

 

My friend said he could never quite get the goose to run right.  Not bad, just not fully dialed-in.  He had it at Moto Intl in seattle a number of times, messed with the PC-V settings, and so on, but never quite right.

 

When I got the bike, another friend of mine who had worked off and on at a Guzzi shop recommended I ping Dave Blue, an old time Guzzi rep (tech rep?) from way back, who had moved away but who happend to be back in Portland for the summer, and who's name was apparently spoken in reverent tones around the local Guzzi community.  I rang him, he answered, affably agreed to go through my new-to-me V11, and when I picked up, she ran beautiful.

 

But he headed back to his home in the midwest somewhere, and I've not been able to figure out where he went.

Super nice guy, and super knowledgeable.  Love to see where he ran off to.

I know he had a close call on a personal health issue, so am hoping he's still all good.

Anyway, long story to just ask if anyone knows him and how to reach him to say hi.

Cheers all, and happy new year

[al_roethlisberger]

I haven't heard of him, but along with hoping he's OK, it would be great to get the "top 10 tips to get it to run right" from these guys.

 

I suspect it isn't anything complicated like dyno runs and CO probes, but instead is simple stuff we just didn't know to do, or to correct factory SNAFUs that were compromises to meet a given nation's emissions or noise standards similar.

[Twin AH]

Another really good man to know when dealing with these machines would be Micha who used to work at MI in Seattle he did all of my work on the spine frames.

Anyone know how to get a hold of him.....I had his # in my phone but of course it welded and lost everything.

 

Ciao

[Gmc28]

Another really good man to know when dealing with these machines would be Micha who used to work at MI in Seattle he did all of my work on the spine frames.

Anyone know how to get a hold of him.....I had his # in my phone but of course it welded and lost everything.

 

Ciao

I'll reach out to a fellow I know who tried to get a hold of Micha recently, and see if he had any luck. 

[Gmc28]

I haven't heard of him, but along with hoping he's OK, it would be great to get the "top 10 tips to get it to run right" from these guys.

 

I suspect it isn't anything complicated like dyno runs and CO probes, but instead is simple stuff we just didn't know to do, or to correct factory SNAFUs that were compromises to meet a given nation's emissions or noise standards similar.

 

Dave got my V11 running sweet, though it had the usual "flat spot" around 4k... smooth after daves work, but not really fully awake until beyond that rpm range.   That runs consistent with most bikes i've had from that era (and beyond, meaning bikes that have ECU's and were built to conform to certain emissions standards).  I've not asked to this point, though I assume its commonly known by everyone except me, but are our ECU's "tune-able"?  Meaning, not using a Power commander, but somehthing like TuneECU, or maybe just an line device to trick our ECU's into a slightly different behavior?

 

All my bikes from that time period had similar issues, and they were all solved by what I'll call simple ECU tuning, meaning I didn't do any of the heavy lifting myself, but just mooched a tune (or bought a trick gizmo) from someone who had created a nice map for a bike equipped similar to mine, I bought the harness stuff to plug into the ECU, uploaded the tune, and voila, the bad behaviors of the bike were gone, and was like a new machine. 

In each case it was someone in the bike community that created the tune (well, in most cases...), and that was for my Ducati's, and then my '03 BMW 1150RT (pretty bad low rpm behavior, different but actually similar to our V11's, until the ECU change), and then even my '09 KTM was very nicely changed with the tune (ran better, and fuel economy went from horrific to just sort-of bad).  In some cases, its just been a "tricky device" that was used rather than actually tuning the ECU, like the FatDuc gizmo i put on the 1200 multistrada, or the similar gizmo I put on the RT, both of which just tricked the ECU into running richer (or maybe leaner in some cases), or something along those lines.

We have any magic bullets like that for the V11's?

[Chuck]

Dave lives in Ohio. I'm in Caifornia right now, and don't have his contact info. .

[Gmc28]

Thanks all- I got PM’d with Daves contact info. Sounds as though he’s doing well and doing some interesting guzzi work in Ohio....

[docc]

Dave Blue is a solid guy. While working for MGNA in Georgia, he saved my bacon when I did something stupid to my Sport during a fill-up in the first few months I had it. Like I said:     Dave is a solid guy!

 

As to the "Ten Best Things" you can do to your V11, and how to interface with the ECU, we have thoroughly documented, pinned threads

in     "How to . . ."

 

Decent Tune-up

 

Basic guzzidiag tutorial for V11

 

Diagnostic Cables

 

Best Relay

 

After that, it comes down to the "small stuff" in  FAQ  . . .

 

Tank Off Maintenance Checklist

 

Wheels off Maintenance Checklist

 

 

[docc's moderator disclaimer: I didn't invent the content of those threads. They are compendia of the vast knowledge and experience we have collected, collectively, over these fifteen+  years. And they keep getting tested, edited and improved with all-y'alls' help.    ]

[swooshdave]

Dave was out here in Oregon for a bit a year or two ago, I guess it sounds like he's back in Ohio?

 

I literally didn't make one Guzzi event last year. How sad is that?

[Gmc28]

Dave was out here in Oregon for a bit a year or two ago, I guess it sounds like he's back in Ohio?

 

I literally didn't make one Guzzi event last year. How sad is that?

I missed all the local guzzi gatherings, though I did get to the annual deal in north seattle, which was fun.

 

Dave did my bike when he was out here on that last visit you mention.