What lean angle can our V11s get to?

[p6x]

This is when the Guzzi transverse cylinders architecture sets the limit....

 

[GuzziMoto]

Trust me, if the Guzzi's transverse cylinders are hitting the pavement it is because you have already crashed. A V11 Sport certainly can't get anywhere close to that sort of lean angle, but it is other more mundane items that will start hitting the pavement first. On a V11 Sport the first thing my wife would drag in left hand corners, aside from the footpegs, was the sidestand. I don't think she ever touched anything down on the right hand side of the bike beyond the footpegs.

[audiomick]

To find out what the ultimate lean angle on a V11 is, or on any bike, you'd have to do some laps on a race track. Or be slightly insane.

 

I found the limits on my 1976 Z900 (about 30 years ago...) on a race track after I had owned it for several years, and thought I was pretty fast on it. I had never touched anything down, and on that day, after about 6 laps, I found out the the first thing down was the headers.

 

After that, I got to ride a TZ 350 for a few laps on the same track, more or less a contemporary of the Z900, but a pure race bike running slicks. Everything was better, frame (yes, I know the Z900 wasn't famous for the quality of the frame...), brakes, suspension, tyres, handling. Everything. The bike was in a completely different frame of reference to my Z900 street "suoerbike".

So, while I find it a very interesting question what the ultimate lean angle of a V11 is (and I also don't think the cylinders are the limiting factor), I don't think comparing with what a Moto GP bike can do is particuarly pertinent. The bikes are just too different.

 

My aim is simply to reduce the unused stripe on the edge of the tyre to a minimum. Since I am rapidly becoming an old fart, I doubt that I will ever get right to the edge of the tyre anymore.

[cash1000]

Rd400 pegs fixed under exhaust. Excellent for depositing you mid corner going round hairpin at Ruapuna NZ

[p6x]

18 hours ago, GuzziMoto said:

Trust me, if the Guzzi's transverse cylinders are hitting the pavement it is because you have already crashed. A V11 Sport certainly can't get anywhere close to that sort of lean angle, but it is other more mundane items that will start hitting the pavement first. On a V11 Sport the first thing my wife would drag in left hand corners, aside from the footpegs, was the sidestand. I don't think she ever touched anything down on the right hand side of the bike beyond the footpegs.

I was not hinting at grinding the cylinder heads protectors, rather the gyroscopic torque that can alter your lean angle if you suddenly increase power in a curve.

[GuzziMoto]

On 11/9/2023 at 9:53 AM, p6x said:

I was not hinting at grinding the cylinder heads protectors, rather the gyroscopic torque that can alter your lean angle if you suddenly increase power in a curve.

Fair point, but the effect is not that bad and is predictable. And with the transverse cylinder layout (longitudinal crank) there is a benefit in that respect. For a normal engine with the crank itself running transverse the higher you rev the engine the more gyroscopic force it develops. That makes it harder to steer. An example of that was my older brother and his Suzuki V Stroms. He had a 650 V Strom and a 1000 V Strom. He would complain the the 1000 V Strom was too hard to steer. I taught him not to rev it as high as he would rev the little 650 V Strom, it did not need to rev high to make power. And by not reving it any higher then you had to it made it much easier to steer. The Guzzi layout doesn't do that, the steering is what it is with almost no impact from how high you are reving the engine. It does turn slightly easier one way when getting on the gas and slightly easier the other way when getting off the gas. But that effect is very small and you really aren't likely to have it make a difference.

[guzzler]

17 hours ago, cash1000 said:

Rd400 pegs fixed under exhaust. Excellent for depositing you mid corner going round hairpin at Ruapuna NZ

Ha ha

We used to watch another mate race his RD400 there back in the day....

I seem to remember the hairpin catching him once.

Cheers Guzzler

[Randy]

 

From this it looks like about 45° is doable.