Guzzi Curious Seeks Opinion on Used V11 Sport

[Skip]

11 hours ago, Lucky Phil said:

Unless you ignore Ducati V twins.

Phil

Hey Phil  I also have a Ducati Super Sport, so it's tough to decide which one to ride. Both the Super Sport and Le Mans beckon me like alluring sirens.

[Skip]

9 hours ago, Grant said:

Back in the day I had a '71 Duke 450 Desmo single (297 lbs. dry weight - glitter silver).  My buddy had a '72 Duke Sport.  On the 750 the suspension was overly hard for the bumps to the point that a fiberglass fender split in half after hitting a pot hole.  The Conti exhausts could have a rake handle shoved down them and hit nothing.  The 900ss's(Desmo) that were glitter silver around that era were pieces of art to look at (from a distance).  The sound was deep BOOMPH, BOOMPH,BOOMPH.  Where I worked in the '80's there was a 900 I listened to most mornings.  I have to say it was impressive.  The main guy to get Duke parts from was in Grimsby, Ontario but he also had MV Augusta which was his personal favorite.  Keith Hart used to talk about doing the ton by the end of the short street he lived on with his MV.

I don't ignore Dukes.  I don't want to own and support one though.

Grant. 

Say Grant, isn't that the coolest thing about motorcycles, that they all have their own personalities no matter what it might be.

[emry]

On 3/31/2025 at 6:14 PM, Grant said:

The exhaust sounds good.  The dry clutch sound not so much. 

I love the dry clutch sound. There's nothing better than pulling up next to a rider on an HD at a stop light, and they immediately start looking down at their bike in a panic. It's always epic.

[Grant]

On 4/3/2025 at 2:31 PM, Skip said:

Say Grant, isn't that the coolest thing about motorcycles, that they all have their own personalities no matter what it might be.

Bikes I've owned so far:

'66 Suzuki 250 Hustler 2 stroke

'71 Ducati 450 Desmo single - Dunstall exhaust

'74 Honda 550 4 cylinder with Kerker exhaust, TT100's

'77 Yamaha 750 triple

'84 Kawi 1100

'89 Honda Pacific Coast

'98 Triumph Trophy 900

2005 Yami FZ1

2009 Yami FZ6

2003 Guzzi V11 Sport.

There is a very big difference between bikes for sure.  Favorite would be the Honda Pacific Coast.  47 h.p., 630 lbs.  It never needed any work and had things like self cancelling turn signals, hydraulically adjusted valves, and a big trunk to carry things.

If the Guzzi is even close to as enjoyable I'll like it a lot.

Grant

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Pressureangle]

 "It never needed any work and had things like self cancelling turn signals, hydraulically adjusted valves, and a big trunk to carry things.

If the Guzzi is even close to as enjoyable I'll like it a lot."

Ruht Roh, Rhaggy

[docc]

Having owned a Pacific Coast, I would venture that rode and handled well, made decent power, and hid its V-twin like a drug habit.

The trunk made it a great grocery-getter. One of the biggest differences with the V11 Sport is getting groceries on it takes me four hours.

[Lucky Phil]

20 hours ago, emry said:

I love the dry clutch sound. There's nothing better than pulling up next to a rider on an HD at a stop light, and they immediately start looking down at their bike in a panic. It's always epic.

Ducati dry clutches were always their weakest link.

Phil

[Grant]

57 minutes ago, Pressureangle said:

 "It never needed any work and had things like self cancelling turn signals, hydraulically adjusted valves, and a big trunk to carry things.

If the Guzzi is even close to as enjoyable I'll like it a lot."

Ruht Roh, Rhaggy

I had to look that one up ;-).

There was this one time at Americade I went into the demo lot for Harley.  With a muffler on it it was a quiet bike.  As I was rolling through I could hear on the the people I passed say "It's one of them f***ing electric ones."  

[Pressureangle]

20 minutes ago, Grant said:

I had to look that one up ;-).

There was this one time at Americade I went into the demo lot for Harley.  With a muffler on it it was a quiet bike.  As I was rolling through I could hear on the the people I passed say "It's one of them f***ing electric ones."  

[Grant]

1 hour ago, docc said:

Having owned a Pacific Coast, I would venture that rode and handled well, made decent power, and hid its V-twin like a drug habit.

The trunk made it a great grocery-getter. One of the biggest differences with the V11 Sport is getting groceries on it takes me four hours.

Not many PC800 riders around.  It is a very different bikenality (not personality) than the V11.  That's for sure.

[audiomick]

3 hours ago, Grant said:

... It never needed any work and had things like self cancelling turn signals, hydraulically adjusted valves...

That's actually why I don't like Honda much. I've had two, they both worked very well, and were both a bit sterile.

For the big luggage factor, I had a GTR 1000 Kawasaki for quite a while, and liked it rather a lot. It also worked well, was very reliable, and wasn't nearly as sterile as a Honda.

My Guzzis arguably don't work as well as any Japanese bike, but they are anything other than sterile. I like that about them.

Edited 14 hours ago by audiomick