Lurker about to Plunge

[pete roper]

Paul, Paul, Paul. Relax.

 

That is a Breva 1100, not a Ballabio.

 

Bill

404.808.8486

 

Bill is quite correct. The very early Brevas and Grisos, (These being the currently available *New* Guzzis) were cursed by having some cheapskate in supply-purchase buying an inferior bearing that was used in the new final drive on these models. Some of these failed in service early in the piece and a recall was done and all the final drives replaced. Apart from this the new models seem to have had very few teething problems and as the owner of a Griso I can tell you that it's *owner friendliness* has opened a whole new chapter in my book of Guzzi ownership which stretches back almost 30 years, many of those spent working on them professionally.

 

All bikes have some teething problems. Because Guzzi are a small outfit and have for many years been chronically underfunded they sometimes have had more than other firms but certainly not always. If you want to see the likely issues with V11 variants then simply scroll back through a few posts here or do a search on things like 'Gearchange return spring' or 'Peeling paint'. If you want to have a squizz at the *new* models there is a forum for them at;

 

http://www.phpbbforfree.com/forums/mggriso.html

 

All forums tend to be dominated by stories of people who have had problems. It's only natural that folks who have problems want to vent. Don't read too much into it. For every person who writes about their awful experience there are probaly many, many more who have never had a single problem!

 

Incidentally I had a customer in last week dropping off his Centauro for a 10,000 Km service, it was jsut coming up to 75,000Km and he was saying that one of the reasons he liked it was because it was so reliable. He lives in the far-north of Queensland, (Here in Australia.) and doesn't have a dealer within 500Km. He reckons all he ever does is put fuel and oil in it and very occasionally he takes it to someone to swap the timing belts, (Centauro is a Hi-Cam design. more complex than the V11 series.). His very pertinent observation about all the internet boards was

 

"Y'know? All the people who seem to have lots of trouble with their Guzzis are the ones who spend a lot of time messing about with them and changing stuff!"

 

Funny that

 

Pete

[Daniel Kalal]

I would advise you AGAINST a Guzzi unless you are nearby twisty, hilly roads

 

Cripes! If those of us living in the middle followed that advice, none of us would be riding!

 

[Greg Field]

I work at Moto Intl. in Seattle. We have 3 Ballabios left, plus one Cafe Sport. I have a mutant Ballabio and recommend the model without reservation. It is a nice motorcycle, with loads of character, and you can ride it long and hard and fast without too much pain.

 

If you want a really nice LeMans, Rocketman, a poster here, has one for sale in Oregon. It's a beauty, and you could not go wrong buying it.

 

As for problems, the '04 and later models are a whole different animal compared to the early V11 Sports. They are back to being what Guzzis traditionally were: Bikes you can just ride the hell out of, needing only regular changes of fluids and filters.

[Guest Paul F.]

Wow. You guys are driving me nuts! Your really firming up my desire to get a Guzzi. You guys are very similiar to COG and Connie owners. Helpful, passionate, and silly. Okay, my hope is maybe if I can snag this bike for around $7500-8500, I can keep the Connie for a while(Don't tell the wife!) at least untill I find out all I need is the MG. One of the reasons I have been pulled to Guzzi is the simplicity of the ideal riding experiance and the oportunity to maintain a mechanical beast myself. Besides the fact that their so damm beatiful! I'm no mechanic, but I've done all my wrenching myself on my Concours. This world has gone way too complicated IMHO. Thank God(PC?-whatever) for motorcycles and fellow riders. Dito Goldmember, flat & striaght, sureal. Could be Il. Pete from downunder, I agree totally. Any machine has faults. Websites amplify them. Fourums like this one offer solutions.

[Greg Field]

Our website is probably the most lacking of all. I think it is www.motointernational.com.

 

Rocketman is likely at the Oregon Guzzi rally, so you probably won't hear back from him until tomorrow. He has a classified on this site. If it's a LeMans you want, his is really nice.

[todd haven]

Paul,

We have a customer who rode a Concours for years.

He bought an 02 Lemans in 2002.

In 2004, he bought a used California Special Sport.

In 2005, his wife bought a Nevada.

 

He always thought the Concours did

all he wanted.

He still has the Connie.

It seems to have stopped wearing tires as quickly as it used to.

 

Dive in, the water is fine.

[DeBenGuzzi]

I've had no problems with my 00' sport but I can't recommend the 02-03's get a late sorted lemans the one in oregon sounds nice, I keep thinking I might just end up with a reasonably priced lemans in my garage in a few years. I used to think the fairing on them was akward but seeing them in person and wanting a little more wind protection on the longer rides I like to make, a Lemans might be in order 04-05 of coarse Pref the nero but I aint too picky

[Guest Paul F.]

One reason I was leaning toward the Bellibio besides the looks, was the handlebar set. I'm fearful clip-ons would be too ruff on this old guy. A young 52. I do like the addional fairing provided on the Le Mans now that it has been brought to my attention. Is the Le Manns basically the same as Bellabio, but differant ergos and cosmetics? Can handlebars be swapped? Is that a stupid question? I gotta find a dealer here somewhere I can ride to. Next weekend will be moving daughter into college, so I lose that chance.

What I meant by websites lacking, I was refering to MG USA page. When I tried to find nearest dealer, quite a few of them that I went to did not have ANY mention of Moto Guzzi.

[Greg Field]

Ballabio bars can be added to a LeMans. Then add the Motobits foot controls, and you have a machine that's comfortable for 600 miles and beyond.

[Guest SantaFeRider]

Greg,

 

do you know roughly how much is a set of Motobits and the gain they provide?

[Greg Field]

They move the pegs forward about 1-3/4 inches and down 1-1/4 inches.

 

They cost $300 and replace all the pegs, levers and linkages. Very nice and very adjustable. My knees give me fits, even on the footboard-equipped Eldo, after about 400 miles. I did over 600 in a day and 1,688 in four days on the Motobits-equipped Billy Bob without any leg pain a few weeks ago.