Up, Close and Personal with a Daytona RS, and other Guzzi motorcycles....

[p6x]

The Texas Motorcycle Museum in Johnston City has a Daytona RS and other Guzzi oldies on display!

This was the first time I found the museum open.

Who knew you could actually look at Moto Guzzi Daytona RS in the flesh....

 

 

[pete roper]

A few years back I had three Daytona RS's in the shop at once. Two 'A' kit bikes and one with the full 'C' kit. The 'A' kit bikes were much nicer to ride.

The reality is that a V11, any V11, is a much nicer and better bike than any of the early Hi-Cams.

They are lovely to look at though.

[GuzziMoto]

Nice bikes. Funny to see them in a museum, for me that is more like my garage than a museum. I am a big fan of the Daytona, Centauro, and especially the MGS-01. Looks like you had a good time.

[p6x]

There are plenty of other bikes that brought nice/nostalgia memory; in particular most of the bikes that I grew up with such as the Honda 750 CB, Kawasaki H1, Suzuki T500 and a Honda CBX 1000 among the selection.

Not all of them are in working condition I was told.

 

[al_roethlisberger]

On 6/1/2023 at 7:20 PM, p6x said:

The Texas Motorcycle Museum in Johnston City has a Daytona RS and other Guzzi oldies on display!

This was the first time I found the museum open.

Who knew you could actually look at Moto Guzzi Daytona RS in the flesh....

 

 

 

 

Curious that this black 2003 Lemans appears to have the fuzzy engine/transmission/bevel paint from the 2002 model year. 

... or maybe the engine/trans/bevel paint finish is just REALLY dirty so it looks fuzzy in the photo 

It looks like someone may have painted the stock exhausts as well, as they no longer have an anodized finish that by this time would have turned purple.

 

 

[p6x]

2 hours ago, al_roethlisberger said:

 

Curious that this black 2003 Lemans appears to have the fuzzy engine/transmission/bevel paint from the 2002 model year. 

... or maybe the engine/trans/bevel paint finish is just REALLY dirty so it looks fuzzy in the photo 

It looks like someone may have painted the stock exhausts as well, as they no longer have an anodized finish that by this time would have turned purple.

 

 

This V11 Le Mans is actually the museum's owner personal motorcycle. It has 10k miles. He told me that he rides it from time to time.

I really cannot tell much about it, because I was looking at the Daytona RS the entire time....

I will remember to ask these questions for the next time.

[Twin AH]

On 6/2/2023 at 5:35 AM, pete roper said:

A few years back I had three Daytona RS's in the shop at once. Two 'A' kit bikes and one with the full 'C' kit. The 'A' kit bikes were much nicer to ride.

The reality is that a V11, any V11, is a much nicer and better bike than any of the early Hi-Cams.

They are lovely to look at though.

Come on Pete............... nothing sounds like those high cams am I right people?

Ciao

[pete roper]

44 minutes ago, Twin AH said:

Come on Pete............... nothing sounds like those high cams am I right people?

Ciao

Really? You think? Fair enough, but I wouldn't say they were that special.

If you want to hear something outrageously tasty we currently have a 2 valve 1200 Sport in that has the 'Facory' performance pipes on with the dB killers out, it has a map developed by Tony Mowbray and it is absolutely f*cking awesome! Most of you know I'm not a fan of *Loud* bikes but this one has that truly magnificent 'Basso Profundo' note usually only acquired by V11's and VTR's with a full Staintune system! It's aural heaven on a stick!

[Weegie]

On 6/2/2023 at 1:35 PM, pete roper said:

A few years back I had three Daytona RS's in the shop at once. Two 'A' kit bikes and one with the full 'C' kit. The 'A' kit bikes were much nicer to ride.

I thought all Daytona RS's were C kitted Pete (now I'm going to get my ass kicked)

I agree the A kitted bikes are nicer, I had an A kitted Daytona and now have a C kitted Magni (a Daytona RS lump), the power difference isn't large and the C kitted bikes have more top end at the expense of lower down pull.

I don't know if it's just mine but the non US/Switzerland bikes had different cams AFAIK and mine runs great above 40/50 mph, but sit idling for 15 minutes or get caught in standing/slow moving traffic and it cooks both engine and rider.

My subjective opinion is the Daytona sounds better than my Sporti.

I do find the Sporti easier to ride with more low down pull, generally a more relaxed ride.

With the Hi Cam I'm always at least 1k RPM higher for a given speed and it seems to thrive on being "shown the stick"

John

Edited June 4, 2023 by Weegie
More info

[pete roper]

I may be wrong John, I'm old. But, I seem to remember that the bikes were sold as either 'A' or 'C' kitted bikes. In fact I never actually knew of a 'B' kitted bike or indeed a separate 'B' kit being sold.

Cogitating on it for a couple of minutes I'm certain there were 'A' kitted RS's because the 'C' kit couldn't be made to work in the US with its pollution regs.

One of the RS's I had through was really weird. Even with the help of probably the most experienced Hi-Cam man in Oz we couldn't work out what was wrong. It wasn't *Bad* but it wasn't right. Turned out that a fresh pair of eyes found that one side had an 'A' kit cam and one a 'C' kit. Absolutely typical of the period. Bloody hopeless.

 

 

[Weegie]

I think I'm older than you Pete and I'm probably a great deal more wooly headed.

My understanding and it could well be wrong, was the B kitted bikes were the same as the C kit but without the hotter cam. The A kit was a different air filter, exhaust cross over, end cans (unsure about that) and chip. As for a B kit being offered by Mandello I've no idea, but I do know of 2 Magni Australias that were the first of the 2 runs of these bikes being fitted with B kits.

The C kit sold in the US/Singapore and Switzerland had a milder cam than the rest of the world. The milder cam installed on the US models was also used in the Centauro, so only C kitted bikes outside US/Singapore and Switzerland and the RS had that particular cam.

As you know, my bike drove me round the bend trying to understand why it ran so hot with low oil pressure (partly due to the high temp). What I found out, thanks mainly to @Lucky Phil was the PRV spring was poor and partially lifted, robbing the bike of much needed pressure and that was swapped out for a Griso spring (which has its own problems). Phil also found info on a German forum, apparently common knowledge that the Non US/Singapore and Switzerland cams make the HiCam run hot, up to 140C (when mine reaches 120C I pull over and let it cool) whereas with the US/Singapore and Switzerland cam the temp never rises above 100C.

I now also run either Royal Purple or Penrite full synth 10/60 and that helps quite a bit too. If I could lay my hands on a set of Centauro cams I'd install them just to make the bike a little less of red headed stepchild, but happy enough with the current setup

As for the A and C cams in the same bike, doesn't surprise.............only in Italy 

[p6x]

On 6/2/2023 at 7:56 AM, GuzziMoto said:

Funny to see them in a museum

I am glad there are, because this is possibly the only time I will ever be able to see one from a short distance.