My New V11 Greenie!

[gstallons]

That bike looks extremely clean !

[po18guy]

7 hours ago, Mikko said:

I think there are vastly superior tires available for reasonable money. Those two items are the only things that interact with terra firma. 
This is the area in which to splurge. When I bought my bike a couple months back, I bought two new tires just because. Found a great deal on Revzilla for a pair of Avon’s.

Gotta ditto on the Avons. I have ridden Avon bias ply tires on my Kawi and they are especially good in the rain. If the ShinKos on his bike are reasonably fresh and he is riding conservatively until he's accustomed to the bike, I would wear them out and look for a deal on some major brands. Unless they scare him - then all bets are off.

[footgoose]

9 hours ago, po18guy said:

Gotta ditto on the Avons. I have ridden Avon bias ply tires on my Kawi and they are especially good in the rain. If the ShinKos on his bike are reasonably fresh and he is riding conservatively until he's accustomed to the bike, I would wear them out and look for a deal on some major brands. Unless they scare him - then all bets are off.

I agree. Ageing tires won't properly represent the bikes handling capabilities. It's always good to know the baseline in a new relationship. Shinko makes a good tire. Great maybe, for the niche they're in. I have them on 2 bikes, a dual purpose and a 650 vintage "scrambler". Both bikes rarely see 60 mph. I would not put them on my fast-n-fun bikes. Both Guzzi have Avon at he moment, and the FJ09 has Dunlop Roadsmart.

 

[LowRyter]

I've known several riders that ride lots of miles on Shinkos and save their good tires for the twisties.  And some just ride Shinkos all the time.

Me?  I've never ridden them.  I've got Dunlops on my Sport since it ate up Michelins and I have no need to pay that much.  I have Pirelli Rosso Diablo III on my Ducati  and they are really good, more touring sport tires than vice versa.

[Chuck]

Oh boy! A tire thread. Getcha some Conti RA3s. You'll be glad you did.

[docc]

I have my first not-a-Pirelli to mount to the Sport (Bridgestone Battlax T31) since the '03 crash on those Michelins that I thought must have been made of greased glass.

The Sport's fifty-fifth tire . . .

[Kane]

Thanks for the suggestions for tires. I think this is a good idea to get the tires sorted out before I take the bike out to the canyons. I’ll be doing sport riding locally but also moderate touring. 

A few questions: how can I determine the condition or age of the tires that are currently on the bike? They have good tread and I don’t see any signs of cracking or drying out.......but still, I know I should start with fresh rubber, but how can I evaluate what’s on there other than pushing the bike and seeing how they perform......or fail!

Also, what is the best shop manual to get for a 2001 V11 Sport? With my 850T and Triumphs I liked to use a Haynes manual, but I can’t find a Haynes to match this bike. Any recommendations?

And I need a cover........what’s the cover of choice fo a V11?

 

Thanks again for your help! I am taking the bike to AAA this morning to transfer the title and register it to me. Woohoo!

[JBBenson]

There’s a DOT stamp with a 4 digit code on every tire, the first 2 numbers are the week, the second 2 are the year, so 3716 would be 37th week of 2016. 
 

I bought a bike with Shinkos that were delaminating halfway through their life. No more Shinkos for me.

Forget loose covers, get a Bikeshield, the junior size fits the V11. 

[po18guy]

There is a DOT manufacturer's date code molded into the sidewall of the tire. It will usually say "DOT (1743) or similar - the parentheses actually being a wide oval into which the tire's date code is molded. In this example, the first two digits are the last two of the year (2017) the tire was made, and the "43" being the week within that year: October 23-October 29th, 2017.

Examine the sidewalls and tread of the tire. If you see any weather checking (cracking), time for the tires to go. Any sidewall bulging or suspicious cuts/repairs in the tread would mean the same. i have the Guzzi shop manual for my bike, but it is Italian somewhat translated into British - so us Yanks have to scratch our heads until we can determine what some of the terms mean. Never seen a Haynes for the V11, but it might be worth a look.

Dust cover, sun cover or rain cover (in L.A. right?)

[Kane]

 Awesome. Thanks, guys. Yeah, L.A., south-east Los Angeles County. Bike is under an open air car port, so not in direct elements. I have a small carriage house garage / shed  that needs to be cleaned out to become a mechanic workshop.

[Kane]

I agree on the importance of having a top tire. Who are the top tier makers of motorcycle tires?

These are Shinko Verge, 120/70 in front and 170/60 in the rear. I believe I’ve found the date codes: front is (3918), rear is (2318), so I guess these are about a-year-and-a-half old. Is that considered to be in the ballpark of a tire still being usable? They still have what looks to me to be fairly deep thread, the rubber looks good but has glossy areas are the edge of the tires.

If these are not top tier, how would the Shinko Verge be classified?

I’ll be doing sport riding in our Southern California canyons (nothing too insane) and touring/longer rides up to Northern California. So I guess I’m Sport/Touring.

DMV costs me $300 today (bike is now in my name) and I’m bringing it to a Guzzi shop at the end of the week for a thorough inspection. I could do new tires then if they sell good tires, but depending on what the shop charge comes to I may have to wait a bit. I figure the course of action for this bike is: first get all of the bugs and mechanical needs taken care of, then upgrade tires or just ride these out if they suit me for the time being, then look at a small fairing to do some touring, then investigate performance upgrades with pipes, etc.

Here’s a few pics of the tires:

(Btw, sorry for using multiple posts to post pics, but the 0.2MB limit is restricting me to one pic per post or else I have to reduce the size of the pic to the size of a postage stamp. Any tips for posting pics?)

 

Front tire:

 

 

[Kane]

[Kane]

Rear tire:

 

 

[Kane]

I have discovered that when the front fork is turned all the way to the left, as it is when the bike is parked to lock the fork, the fork tube is touching the end of the tank. It is not denting it but it’s enough to have worn off a spot of paint and left a mark on the fork tube. I guess I will put an adhesive pad there to protect the tank, unless there’s a better idea. Is this common? Can it be remedied?

 

 

[docc]

Tank stretch from complications of ethanol in the fuel.