First Impressions- Nero Corsa

[Guest whart]

What an interesting ride! The bike was delivered to my house late this afternoon (along with a Vespa for my wife- damn that Schedoni saddle is gorgeous) and I couldn't wait to go for a ride. I started working from home this morning at about 6a.m., and was going non-stop, on the phone, email, document changes, etc until 4pm, when- it just so happened that my work came to a logical stopping point as the truck/trailer pulled in the drive.

 

I couldn't resist taking it out- although the rain threatened. (We've had serious electrical storms, and some torrential rain/strong winds interspersed with bright sun for the past 5 or so days, very unpredictable weather here).

 

The bike is suprisingly maneuverable despite its size, slipped into gear smoothly and delivered power on take-off from a standing start without a hiccup. As I was motoring (in the best British sense) down my road -a 20mph speed trap running along the Hudson River, I could feel the pull and tug of the bars and thought- uh-oh, maybe the steering damper is misadjusted, something feels out of alignment. My road is a horrible combination of potholes and poorly patched troughs for gas lines, etc. that was repaved with a "skim" surface a few days ago. What i was feeling was the road! (I guess i got so used to that magic carpet ride on the Harley, or being jostled on the Ducati so much that i couldn't feel what was actually happening with the tires).

Passed thru the little town of Piermont- a town they said they had to "spruce up" to make it look like the Great Depression for a movie some years ago, and opened it up on the two laner heading out of town.

Even with the stock pipes, a gnarly growl, accompanied by the thrum of the engine at my knees. More power, then upshift, since the bike has virtually no miles and i want to ease it in properly. The bike begs to be leaned, the gear spacing will probably be great once i can rev to the line, but since i'm taking it easy, i'm probably shifting more than i need to, to keep the revs in line. Once on smooth tarmac the thing is a joy. What a great combo of comfy cruiser/sportsbike.

Pretty noticeable vibration thru the bars at standstill- i assume once the bike is broken in it will smooth out. It's also absolutely gorgeous! Pics to come. I can't wait to get back on it, but the rain is coming, it will be dark soon, and tomorrow is another day....

[richard100t]

What an interesting ride! The bike was delivered to my house late this afternoon (along with a Vespa for my wife- damn that Schedoni saddle is gorgeous) and I couldn't wait to go for a ride. I started working from home this morning at about 6a.m., and was going non-stop, on the phone, email, document changes, etc until 4pm, when- it just so happened that my work came to a logical stopping point as the truck/trailer pulled in the drive.

 

I couldn't resist taking it out- although the rain threatened. (We've had serious electrical storms, and some torrential rain/strong winds interspersed with bright sun for the past 5 or so days, very unpredictable weather here).

 

The bike is suprisingly maneuverable despite its size, slipped into gear smoothly and delivered power on take-off from a standing start without a hiccup. As I was motoring (in the best British sense) down my road -a 20mph speed trap running along the Hudson River, I could feel the pull and tug of the bars and thought- uh-oh, maybe the steering damper is misadjusted, something feels out of alignment. My road is a horrible combination of potholes and poorly patched troughs for gas lines, etc. that was repaved with a "skim" surface a few days ago. What i was feeling was the road! (I guess i got so used to that magic carpet ride on the Harley, or being jostled on the Ducati so much that i couldn't feel what was actually happening with the tires).

Passed thru the little town of Piermont- a town they said they had to "spruce up" to make it look like the Great Depression for a movie some years ago, and opened it up on the two laner heading out of town.

Even with the stock pipes, a gnarly growl, accompanied by the thrum of the engine at my knees. More power, then upshift, since the bike has virtually no miles and i want to ease it in properly. The bike begs to be leaned, the gear spacing will probably be great once i can rev to the line, but since i'm taking it easy, i'm probably shifting more than i need to, to keep the revs in line. Once on smooth tarmac the thing is a joy. What a great combo of comfy cruiser/sportsbike.

Pretty noticeable vibration thru the bars at standstill- i assume once the bike is broken in it will smooth out. It's also absolutely gorgeous! Pics to come. I can't wait to get back on it, but the rain is coming, it will be dark soon, and tomorrow is another day....

50034[/snapback]

Welcome aboard Whart :!: Yes the bike will get better/smoother everytime you ride it. Just wait until you get the suspension set just to your liking You'll never be without a Guzzi again

[P3GA]

Congratulations and welcome............ride safe.

 

Phil

[Guest whart]

[v50man]

Beautiful. Welcome!!!

[DeBenGuzzi]

Two Words- Bar End Weights , Anyway they take out almost all of those Vibes you can do a search or I know throttlemeiser and a company Called Manic Salamander Make them (I have the manics) and they almost completely eliminate the vibes. From there you will find many more things you want to 'fix' up but I assure you these are Great bikes, And I should know! god I've been riding for 4 years and I'm 24, I know what I'm talking about.

[Guest ratchethack]

Congrat's on your purchase, Whart! A new Guzzi is, and can actually continue to be an uncommon Joy (nearly) forever... however, reading your post, I'm concerned re: your best interests here. It sounds like you've been babying it. The way you break it in will determine the essential character of your engine performance and efficiency. If you do some "break-in" searches on this forum, you'll find a wealth of advice that arrives at a clear consensus: DON'T BABY IT! And whatever you do, DON'T ride it at the same RPM for extended distances. There are (I think) also links here to well worked-out and well-proven independent professional philosophies that go into technical detail backing this up. I can only say from personal experience that, like other vehicles I've owned that I broke in the same way, my Guzzi was driven HARD right from the start with varying RPMs, without ever (repeat - EVER) loading it at low RPMs - in line with this philosophy. As a result, the rings seated perfectly, compression is perfect, it uses zero oil now at 22K miles, and it generally broke in exceptionally well. Guzzis take a LONG time to break in. It took about 15K miles for mine to fully loosen up. Now she runs like a champ. If you break it in poorly, you're essentially looking at a poorly running engine operating far below it's capabilities followed by (at minimum) new rings and freshened up bores so you can start over and take another shot at getting it right the next time. I b'lieve you'd be well advised to read up on this, and THIS be da place!

 

Happy New Guz!

[jihem]

Anyway they take out almost all of those Vibes you can do a search or I know throttlemeiser and a company Called Manic Salamander Make them (I have the manics) and they almost completely eliminate the vibes.

 

my bike vibrates terribly at 5000 rpm on fifth gear, which is about 150 km/hour.

It's kinda strange as it's very bearable below that, and tends to be again quite bearable above 5500 rpm. So, it's just that spot which is plagued by bad vibes. As i usually like to travel on motorways at that specific speed, it can be pretty annoying...Will the Manic Salamender stuff get rids of the bad spot ?

 

 

jihem:)

[jrt]

Many people complain about vibrations and a flat spot around or just below 4K rpm. There's a couple ways around it, but it's still too early to worry about. Really, the bike will feel tight and strained for 5-6000 miles, and THEN it really starts to smooth out. At 10K miles the Guzzi motor is just finding it's feet. It's a long teething process, but makes for an outstanding long-term ride. Sorry to mix anatomy analogies. I agree with comments above- don't baby it. Accelerate fairly hard up to the rpm limits to bed in the rings. It is a real pain to do so, because it doesn't give you the chance to motor along at a pleasant clip...which is what the bike wants to do. And don't idle in gear with the clutch pulled in- put it in neutral. It's much better for the drive spline and clutch.

J

[Guest whart]

Thanks for the break-in advice. Aggressive throttle is not a problem, it's the rev limit (5k RPM for the first 1,000 km, then 6k RPM for another thousand km, according to the booklet) that i seem to reach pretty quickly, necessitating upshifts sooner than i'd like. Where does this motor stop making power/torque curve?

[richard100t]

Thanks for the break-in advice. Aggressive throttle is not a problem, it's the rev limit (5k RPM for the first 1,000 km, then 6k RPM for another thousand km, according to the booklet) that i seem to reach pretty quickly, necessitating upshifts sooner than i'd like. Where does this motor stop making power/torque curve?

50070[/snapback]

I observed the 5000rpm limit my first 1000 miles. Then I changed the oil & let er rip. Oh yeah I adjusted the valves etc too. I'd say it pulls VERY hard up to somewhere in the 7000 range.

[guzziownr]

...it just so happened that my work came to a logical stopping point as the truck/trailer pulled in the drive.

 

Funny how that is

 

I would agree with the aggressive break in theory. In the olden days you had to break in the rings and the cylinder walls simultaneously. If things got too hot you glazed the walls and had poor sealing. With the nickel silicon coating of the Guzzi cylinders you are not going to be making much of an impression. After 25K I could still see the crosshatching in my Jackal cylinders.

 

Higher revs are better for bearings and other things that are breaking in at the same time but you still have to be careful about heat. What really does the job is to back off the throttle on a nice down hill grade. The engine braking will put a smooth finish on those rings as the oil is sucked away from them into the crankcase.

 

On and off the throttle, accelerating and slowing, going to redline for no reason, you will blend right in up at Bear Mt.

 

DW

[DeBenGuzzi]

my bike vibrates terribly at 5000 rpm on fifth gear, which is about 150 km/hour.

It's kinda strange as it's very bearable below that, and tends to be again quite bearable above 5500 rpm. So, it's just that spot which is plagued by bad vibes. As i usually like to travel on motorways at that specific speed, it can be pretty annoying...Will the Manic Salamender stuff get rids of the bad spot ?

jihem:)

50056[/snapback]

 

Two things YES and YES, Let me explain the Bar end weights Do wonders! (which manic makes in Black Powder coat, Chrome, Steel or SS-I got the SS) http://www.manicsalamander.com/bar_end_weight.htm

And YES the bike will smooth out with time but not completely So to really get rid of those 4500-5000 vibes the Barend weights are the Best option otherwise the Bar end Mirrors do a great job also Just depends on the look you want to go with

http://mphcycles.com/CRG_Mirrors_Levers.htm

Once that is out of the way I can't fault anything on my Goose and love it more everyday

[Guest Steve_W]

Where does this motor stop making power/torque curve?

When the valves float.

 

Actually, there's probably a rev limiter in the ignition, but it will happily pull right up to it.

[DeBenGuzzi]

Mine pulls even harder and smoother with the PCIII installed and I haven't made it to the Rev limiter I'm a Puss but I do redline it often enough getting onto the Freeway.

IF you go with Manic take a look at their Reviews he put my comment on there it was Literally Just after I got off of a Ride to test them out and was much to excited to have it make sence and he didn't edit it down to make it look better so I sound like an idiot. But he makes good Sh*t.