Typical mechanical behavior list for 02 V11

[Gmc28]

Hi all,

been following the threads on various things like ECU’s, electrical issues, etc., which can apply to this topic, but looking for some thoughts on what “normal” should be.

i’ve got this new-to-me v11 now in Dallas, and will head out for 2300 miles home next week.  But she runs very different than my other v11, and since even my 1st one I barely rode (had surgery, broke my arm, etc) during the first year of ownership, so I don’t have a great mechanical baseline to compare/judge this current machine.  She runs sweet, real sweet, but different than Goldie (Goldie is the 1st lemans, currently tucked away at home).  More on that at another time, but in short she has noticeably less punch above 4800rpm (no after market crossover, so I think that makes sense), runs way smoother at low rpm’s (great, but why? And what’s wrong with my other one? Different thread...). But, at low rpm, when going from traffic light to light on a hot, humid day in Dallas, she sputters a bit.  So, to my question, and point of this thread.... are these things normal, or should I have concern before heading northwest for 2300 miles?

1) low rpm sputter when idling or under low throtttle. Goes away if u add throttle.

2) runs rich (see #1?).  I’m told they all do (?), but exhaust is sooty on tailpipe.  

3) little bit of oil seepage, very little, but on right head, just around valve cover area. I assume no big deal, but you all have the experience that I don’t on these machines.

4) suspension is way more supple on this new one (both of my Lemans are 2002’s).  Probably more indicative of things being too stiff on Goldie, but maybe this one has something wrong.  No seepage from suspension, but it’s been sitting a long time with little use.  I just don’t know what’s normal on these, and these two lemans are polar opposite, supple vs super stiff.

4) don’t want to start an oil thread, but where’s the sweet spot on these for “normal”, and where u would add oil?  What’s your favorite oil check technique (upright or on side stand, hot or cold)?  My Goldie only ridden around town at home, so she was always right where I left it from the last ride.

5) related probably to items further up this list, but does this air/oil cooled motor behave different in hot temps?  I assume so, but curious. Last bike where that was obvious for me was 20+ yrs ago on an air cooled, carbureted bike, that behaved very bad in high temps.  This bike seems ok, but are there things I should expect hot vs cool ambient temps around town?

6) anything else that might stand out as odd, unless u know V11’s well enough to say “ya, that’s normal”....?

 

this is all for some knowledge, but specifically to make me feel better about launching on the next part of the journey.  The first day was only 4.5-5hrs here to Dallas,  but the riding days will get longer from here.  Already doing a few little things, like looking for something to wrap around that left foot peg (moto bits or the other version, where the controls are lower and forward), as that peg buzzed enough to make my left foot unhappy.  Just a temporary thing, that I’d take off once home.  And picking up my 30a ATC CB tonight from Napa, and already have other spares and tools in the kit.

[LowRyter]

1.  So far as I know, that "stutter" at low RPM is pretty common.  If you look at dyno chart, you'll  see there is torque hole at about 1800-2200 rpm, I'd guess it drops about 30% until it comes back up.  My bike does it even with a Power Commander.  I've noticed that new plugs will help it for a little while but mostly riders just gas it until they don't notice it.

I can't help you with the lack of top end power, it seems like mine is the sweet spot at 3500-6500.  (Mine has an airbox mod, slip on pipes and crossover as well.)

2.  That seppage on the right side could be the timing chest gasket, you might check for that.  Put some powder on it to check it.

 

I wouldn't think these things would prevent you from having a nice ride home.

[Chuck]

I would imagine that once you do a good tuneup, it'll be fine. Suspension? I don't know what bike you have, but I'd think supple would be a good thing. The footpeg buzzing is no doubt the throttle bodies being out of sync. See tuneup. If I were a betting man, I'd bet it'll make it.

[Rolf Halvorsen]

Remove the cable connector from the right cylinder temperature gauge - and put it back again. (No I am not joking.)

The reason is that the resistance in the gauge is about 3KOhm when cold - reduced till about 0,3KOhm when warm. Corrosion in a bad contact surface (more resistance) can fool the ECU to think that the engine is colder that it really is - leading to feed more petrol than needed.

Rolf

[docc]

4) Keep the oil topped up (above halfway between the marks). It’s one simple thing you can do to keep the pick-up in the soup.

      The oil can be checked in the sidestand. The stick hits the sump in the center either way.

5) Pretty sure it’s never 95F/35C in northern Italy. The V11 do not like high ambient temps. There are lots  of approaches to that, one of which is to ride north. You’ve got that in the works!

A “Decent Tune-up” is in order to baseline TPS and zero the CO, but that can wait.

Happy travels! Ride well!

[Gmc28]

Thanks to all so far!

lowryter, I think the higher rpm kick is as you’ve alluded, result of adding a good crossover. Goldie goes like a 2 stroke past about 4800 rpm, while this one is fine, smooth, but no obvious punch at higher rpm.

chuck- yep, I love the suspension. Goldie is way too stiff, but I wasn’t sure what was considered normal. Foot peg buzz is Tb sync? Interesting.  I find on other bikes that TB sync is a less high frequency buzz, but i’ll Give it a whirl when I tune her at home.

mikko- that’s what I was leaning toward.... small air/vacuum leak.  Easy fix later, and hopefully that’s it.

rolf- i’ll pull that connector tomorrow and give that a try!

docc- thx as always, in this case for my newb question answer!

back to the machine, my ride back to hotel from dinner.  Been dodging thunder showers with pure blind luck so far, and i’ll take luck any day!  In class here till Saturday eve.  Picked up my 30a CB from Napa today, so have that as a spare for now, then will become the primary “fuse” when I get home.  

[docc]

What a great trip! Thanks so much for sharing it and checking in!

I'm not hearing anything untoward. If she fails to ignite the starter at any point, hold the the clutch ever in, keep the starter button down, and rotate the bars lock-to-lock. (Clutch lock-out bullet connectors) . . .

Any hiccups get troublesome, replace Relay#5 with a known good  relay. Them-thar High Current OMRON are the way to go! Otherwise, any fresh micro relay is likely to get you down the road a piece.  Carry extras.

Do you have voltmeter to monitor the battery?

[Gmc28]

Have my multi/voltmeter, part of my Italian travel tool kit.  And once my amazon pkg arrives at hotel Wednesday, i’ll Have my powerlet-to-usb-and-voltmeter as well.  I brought an sae version of that, when the PO said he had a battery tender lead, but what he didn’t note was that he had done a (nice) version where he ran the tender lead to the lower fairing area of “cockpit”, and made it a powerlet lead for power output or for charging.  All good, but had to get the other adaptor for that.

Have some spare Omrons, and PO had some spare Bosch relays stashed under seat.

speaking of no-start, this has the switch for requiring clutch to be pulled for starting, even in neutral, whereas Goldie doesn’t have that.  May mess with that this winter, but only if I get around to it.  Caught me off guard at first.

[Gmc28]

Question: the rubber nipple/caps on the throttle body housings are cracked.  Both of them.  I assume that’s for the vacuum measure/attach (?), and if so wouldn’t that cause some less-than-ideal running if some air can get in?

was thinking of swinging by Napa and grabbing a couple new caps.

[Chuck]

Absolutely. That just *may* be your low rpm running issue. Look for cracks around the throttle body clamps, too. Now that footpeg vibrating thing.. if it is the *right* peg, it's your U joint telling you to replace it.

[Gmc28]

28 minutes ago, Chuck said:

Absolutely. That just *may* be your low rpm running issue. Look for cracks around the throttle body clamps, too. Now that footpeg vibrating thing.. if it is the *right* peg, it's your U joint telling you to replace it.

Very good.  I have a bunch of those nipple covers at home, but hopefully Napa will have some locally here.

footpeg buzz is left side.

[Gmc28]

Nipple covers installed.  Seems to run a little better, but main culprit seems to be heat... it hates those long, un-coordinated traffic lights, in traffic, in the heat.  It’s fine, but she isn’t happy that way and let’s me know it with some hesitation/sputtering in the get-go still, but nothing that bad.  Proper full tune at home, and cooler temps are likely the recipe for happiness.

replaced some missing bolts (sigh), loctite blue on some other suspect connectors, topped up oil a smidge, and parsing out more stuff/baggage I don’t need once work here is done and will FEDEX home to make loading bike easier on Saturday when I get back on the highway.  Will likely wrap left footpeg with some thin foam for the long ride home.

[docc]

Heh, "work in progress", but "On the Road" at the same time!

[Gmc28]

What a sweetheart.... loved the V11 before, and love it more now.  Yes, my left foot is still buzzing, and I have the other aches associated with getting older and being on a machine not as conducive to long distance comfort as my other machines,  but she pushes the right buttons.

finished work stuff today an hour or so early and headed out in the brutal Texas heat (for someone no longer used to it... others can scoff at my whining....there was a time when I didn’t mind it so much when i was more accustomed to spending large parts of each year in hot climates, but not any more).  Up highway 287, beating my way toward Santa Fe, but in middle nowheresville Texas tonight (all due respect to any north Texans who call this home), pulling off the highway when the sun went down.

tomorrow a long but not too painful day to Santa Fe, and looking at some possible alternate routes toward the last part (sena, NM?) to break up the super-slab grind.  Next day will be a fun one, winding my way on a shorter day up to Durango via some fun backroads (chama, and/or Taos, pagosa springs) then to brothers house in Durango.  

Next day million dollar highway, Moab, etc.  Need to get some miles on this underutilized tart, to work on catching up with all u guzzi high-milers.

[Gmc28]

All that travel-log stuff said, i’m Now clear on the fact that something ain’t right with Goldie (the other lemans, at home), as this one is so different.  As noted previously, Goldie has that super sweet top end, above 4800 rpm where it just smooths out and comes alive.  That’s due largely to the crossover I assume.  But the rpm below that on Goldie is just not pleasant, with a very unpleasant buzz and lack of kick, which I associate with the buzz, right or wrong. This “new” lemans proves what I had suspected and what y’all already know, that these things can run sweet, and that something is truly amiss with Goldie, as this new one (what to call her...hmmm) is super smooth through the whole rpm range, pulling beautifully from a very low rpm.  

I’ll have to re-energize my efforts to figure out what’s wrong with Goldie.  She’ll go back to my good friend in 2020 (he’s buying it back from me, as he realizes he can’t live without his mistress), so for his sake and my curiosity i’ll be looking harder for a root cause.

dave Blues tune-up, plus the new cross over, made it good enough where I figured “well, that’s how the v11’s run”, but now I know that ain’t the case, as my new girl sets the proper standard.  Could be crank balance, but that’s a long shot, and I still suspect low end fueling issue for Goldie, as she feels like my old oilhead before I was able to enrichen that machine with the ecu magic.