Rossa Mandello Good Buy?

[Guest Michael Derby]

A good friend of mine fell in love with Moto Guzzi after seeing and spending some saddle time on my '04 Nero Corsa. He is very interested in a 2001 V-11 Rossa Mandello that is being auctioned off on E-Bay. Curious if anyone has any comments on '01 vs. '04 LeMans?

 

Do '01's have the "crinkle engine case paint" issue?

 

I had heard that build quality in '00 - '02 was some of the worse from Guzzi before Aprilla took over? Any truth to that?

 

Does the lack of a front crossover pipe and slightly less piston compression make that much of a power difference from '04's?

 

Any other general comments on '01's or the Rossa Mandello model?

 

Thanks so much in advance guys!

[TX REDNECK (R.I.P.)]

Al will fill you in when he sees this A few things that I can think of, crappy engine paint, single plate clutch, possible trans recall & at least one that I know of had the rod bolts recall too. The paint you can tell , but for the trans & rod bolts recall you'll need the VIN # to see if this is one of the affected bikes & if so documentation for the recall work.

[helicopterjim R.I.P.]

My Rosso Mandello rocks!!!!

[rossoct]

Definitely have to agree with Jim, outside the usual little annoyances once their delt with, youv'e got a kickass ride, and unique to boot .In a crowd you'll get lots of complements.If the price is right go for it!

[al_roethlisberger]

Al will fill you in when he sees this    

 

 

 

 

 

 

......aaaaaaaaaaaaaaanyway

 

 

Yeah, I wouldn't turn your friend off from a RM, as fundamentally it is a good bike, and other than "accessories", all the V11 Sport variants are primarily made of the same "bones"

 

 

Now, as Tex points out, there however are some differences. Of course, the most obvious are cosmetic, which I'm sure your friend has noticed already with the special "fire orange" paint on the tank, red painted valve covers, and some Carbon Fiber bits.

 

The RM was also a "limited edition" of 300(if I recall), but the factory went ahead and made another couple hundred after the numbered editions were sold out since they were so popular a model, so there are actually more out there without number plates.

 

But other than cosmetics, and the single-plate clutch, there is no performance difference between a RM and other V11 Sport models.

 

 

Now, the "issues".... as mentioned, there are some potential issues with the RM one should be aware of:

 

1) The RM was the first MG model with the "fuzzy" textured black engine paint. Although not all owners have had this paint fail, most 01RM through 02 model(and some early 03 V11 Naked) bikes with this paint have had it blister severely. It is quite unsightly, but does not affect performance, so for some, it's inconsequential... for others, it's quite disappointing. So one just has to make a personal choice here based on one's sensitivity to this issue.

 

I would guess that since this is an '01, and used, that it is unlikely that the new owner could take advantage of the warantee case replacement offered by MGNA to address this issue, although one could ask your local dealer what their policy might be on this bike

 

2) The RM has the now "infamous" single-plate clutch, that ironically for most people seems to have given little trouble, but for a few.... well, it's catestophically failed... although the causes are still unclear. But even after several debates, I think the general consensus in the community is finally that something is amiss with these clutches, and eventual failure is probably more likely than not

 

 

And of course, as Tex mentions, being an '01, the bike may be subject to the transmission and rod recalls, but if so, it's not a big deal, as this would still be covered by MG if the previous owner did not take care of it already.

 

Bikes under this recall are identified by VIN, and your local dealer can look up the range and let the prospective owner know this status.

 

 

 

So, with all that in mind.... if you are interested, here's my opinion....

 

 

 

Like most things in life, it all "depends" and is probably driven by $$

 

If the bike is reaaaallllly a good deal, your friend has a limited budget, and doesn't mind the issues noted above.... then the RM is a great bike, and all the issues noted can be eventually addressed with time and $$.

 

 

However, if your friend can afford to spend a bit more, and doesn't have his heart set on a RM.... I would personally suggest looking for a good used, or NOS, '03 model.

 

Now that the '05 models are coming in a few months, '03 bikes should be getting quite reasonable, and Winter is a great time to cut a deal. Heck, he may even find a few used Rosso Corsas out there for a good deal, and get all the Ohlins goodies as a bonus

 

 

Bottom line, as you seem to already suspect, 03+ bikes seem to have sorted out a lot of issues the ~02 bikes exhibited(one of which I own), so I'm not being prejudiced.... just pointing out that if possible, the best option for a more reliable bike probably is an 00-01 Sport(not RM), or 03+ bike, as MG seems to have sorted out their QA issues after 02.

 

Oh, and although I am not certain about the RM, as of '02+, the frame was lengthened a bit, and as such the earlier bikes have a quicker turn-in that some prefer, while others find to be "squirrely"... just a matter of preference.

 

 

Also, with regard to performance differences due to compression, etc. between an '01 and '03+ bike ..... I wouldn't worry about that too much. I personally believe that most of the "increased compression", etc... claims by MG are mostly marketing hooey.... because if they CR was indeed raised in '03, it wasn't by much as far as anyone can tell.

 

More than anything else, I think that by '03, the combination of a better tuned EFI system and the front crossover have helped smooth the bike out and give a little more midrange grunt. But both of these can be achieved on the earlier bikes as well with just a little tweaking, and some accessories. So, performance differences should be a non-issue.

 

Good luck!

al

[antonio carroccio]

...bla...V-11 Rossa Mandello ...bla... '01's or the Rossa Mandello model?

ROSSO MANDELLO

Well, I must say that Michael have had a little bit a good spelling, 'cos in Italian a bike is female and ROSSO becomes automatically ROSSA

 

But NOT the name of a bike, in this case is it ROSSO MANDELLO.

 

Thank you

[helicopterjim R.I.P.]

So my bike is a Rossa Rosso Mandello? I must learn to speak Italian. It is such an exciting language.

[Skeeve]

Also, with regard to performance differences due to compression, etc.  between an '01 and '03+ bike ..... I wouldn't worry about that too much.  I personally believe that most of the "increased compression", etc... claims by MG are mostly marketing hooey.... because if they CR was indeed raised in '03, it wasn't by much as far as anyone can tell.

37758[/snapback]

 

The respective cr's are listed as 9.3->1 vs. 9.5->1; I think it amounts to accumulated rounding errors when some copy boy at the ad agency was given a cheap calculator w/ one of those defective PentiumII chips... Or maybe it's Harley-envy! You know: gotta keep up w/ the Joneses! [Or Davidsons, in this case...]

[Baldini]

the now "infamous" single-plate clutch, that ironically for most people seems to have given little trouble, but for a few.... well, it's catestophically failed... although the causes are still unclear.  ...I think the general consensus in the community is finally that something is amiss with these clutches, and eventual failure is probably more likely than not ...

 

Al,

 

4 failures, I think, spoken of here. Out of what? 1,500 + ( ) bikes with single plate clutch. The failures we have heard about have not occurred at especially high mileages & I don't think it can be concluded from what we know that all will eventually fail. With the evidence we have, it would be more logical to suggest that a small number of these assemblies have problems either in manufacture/materials or due to incorrect assembly.

As a single plate user, I'm not happy w/situation & keep a close ear on the thing/eye on developments here. But I do not assume that it will inevitably fail.

 

KB

[al_roethlisberger]

.... fair enough

 

However I was simply trying to report how the "tone" of the discussion on the single-plate issue has certainly seemed to tip toward the side of caution over the last few months as we saw a couple more failures, and several more complaints of increasingly odd noises, where before there was a lot more optimism about this being isolated cases

 

For those interested, see this thread: Another Scura Clutch Broken

 

 

IMHO, all other things being equal between one's desire for two similar V11 bikes, the uncertainty around the single plate clutch would be a significant factor in deciding on a used RM/Scura/Tenni if I had a choice of another model/year

 

.... at least until something is finally known about the clutch concerns for certain.

 

 

But that's just my opinion of course

 

 

Again, for those that have a single plate clutch equipped bike and love it, no offense. I don't mean to malign your bike. Believe me, I've had enough '02 specific gremlins to malign my bike several times over, and have quite publically on this forum So it's nothing personal

 

al

[Guest rosso mandello]

Hello. The Rosso Mandello is a great bike, i bought it this spring, and before it joined up along with the other christmas decorations in my living room after 7000 km.s it has done nothing wrong at all. I have spiced it up with an exhaust system from mistral including the crossover, othervise it is standard.

greetings, Mogens.

[st. augustine]

Hey Rosso Mandello, apologize for changing the subject but are your valves cover red anodized metal or are they painted? I am looking for some for my 2001 Scura.

[kenr]

Hey Mogens,

 

Fantastic room decoration - much better than a pot plant !!

 

Ken

[al_roethlisberger]

Hey Rosso Mandello, apologize for changing the subject but are your valves cover red anodized metal or are they painted?  I am looking for some for my 2001 Scura.

38797[/snapback]

 

 

The "red anodized look" valve covers on the Rosso Mandello, Rosso Corsa, and Rosso Nero .... are painted, not anodized.

 

The covers are cast aluminum, which makes them unsuitable for anodizing(they'd turn a mottled black/gray), so Guzzi put a relatively fragile thick "candy" paint job on them that appears anodized. Take a close look around the bolt holes, and over time you will probably notice chipping.

 

Acknowledging the inability to anodize the covers, MG really should have powder coated all the valve covers, as it is quite a bit more durable. That's what I ended up doing with mine.

 

There's a thread or two on this question.

 

al

[helicopterjim R.I.P.]

OOOOOOH! I guess you don't have a Rosso Mandello.