The Moto Guzzi I always wanted but never knew I did

Nice herd there, dottore. Never rode a V11 but is the bike that first ever really intrigued me and attracted my attention to Moto Guzzi. Maybe one day I can ride one, even for a short ride.

I'm kind of close to that. Got the Stelvio and an '02 640 Adventure. Gonna sell the KTM though, it will never get ridden. I do get a kick out of people complaining about seat height on the Stelvio. The 640 is stupid tall and I've dropped it just trying to get off more than once. I got used to pulling up beside a curb, stump, rock, dead squirrel, etc.

The Stelvio is not tall. A 1050 tiger is taller at the seat

Listen to Pete! His windage plate is cheap insurance. Don't ask how I know.

I miss having that collection in the shed Realistically , I hardly rode the v11 after buying the stelvio, but it was sooooo nice to ride when I was in the mood. Pitty I couldn't walk afterwards.... The stelvio is just a bit bland by comparison, but very comfy and it's the smart choice...

And that 640 ...selling her was stupid. The last of the 640's, owned from new and VERY well sorted. Stupid.

My brain says the stelvio is perfectly adequate...my heart thinks I need an ajp pr7 and perhaps a highly modified v7 , and, and....who am I kidding - I barely get time to rude the stelvio.

Absolutely. I took the Ballabio out for a blast yesterday and was regularly banging the rev limiter and lifted the front wheel a few times. Without the slop plate, I would have triggered the oil light. In the past, a hard accel from a stop light would make it flicker. It never triggers now, even when beating the snot out of it.

What do you mean? Easily bent, folded, or tear out their engine mounts? Please say more!

Fre frame is very, very easily bent and the downtubes can and will rip the timing chest to shreds. I've seen them written off after falling over in a car park as the gearbox castings are also crack prone in the event of a tip over.

As long as you don't fall over they're fine although push them really hard and they feel what has been accurately described as 'Willowy' in corners.

Somewhere in my pics archive I have some graphic photos of my Mate Johnny's Scura that he was killed on when an asshat towing a caravan decided to perform an illegal U turn over double lines just over the brow of a hill. Jhony locked up the front and slid into the caravan's draw bar and then said asshat decided to finish the job by parking the van on top of him. Hopefully it was quick. The Scura shows typical damage though.

They're way back so it may take me a day of two to find them.

Pete

Here ya go.

That makes my brain hurt... On a more positive note: those are some beefy looking forks, or do they just look that way?

Top of the range Ohlins. Scuras were all Ohlins equipped front and rear. Stock they were dangerously under sprung.

If you're looking for a v11 and have the choice, go the ohlins! The marzochis on the non ohlins bikes were both undersprung and had VERY primitive dampening. The post 03 marzochis were even more of a challenge because they had a weird tapered and progressive spring. Unfortunately the details of what it took to get mine sorted was lost when Greg passed away ( our local wilburs genius) - but he completely transformed my lemans front and back ( eliminating the wobbles when pushed)

On the 'Beefy Forks' front I have a set of Ohlins off a 'Factory' waiting to go on my Griso . Just saving for a lower yoke to bore out.........

I liked my V11, great bike but not enough ground clearance. And lots of Guzzi character (engine paint came of, speedometer cable came apart etc.).

Quote Dr. AT - "Just remember, the scurra had a different technique for changing the pawl spring, from memory there were three different designs between 03 and 04 ( my v11 lm didn't have the boomerang but did have the more complex adjustment mechanism" is there a reference I can refer too regarding the proper method/sequence for adjusting the linkage, assuming it's external.

Also, where can I find info on your "windage plate", cost, shipping, etc.

Just PM me, I'll give you the details.

The v11 lemans forum had info on pawl spring replacement with diversions into adjusting the stopper screw(s on post 03) , but to be honest I found it easier to look at the mechanism and fiddle / try and work out wtf the engineers were thinking with my 03 lemans because the design seemed halfway between the early single external screw adjustment and the later " boomerang" version with both internal and external adjustments. It's really worth joining the forum - lots of great people there

i had a V11... wherever you parked it drew a crowd

Deer whistles anyone? I mention this here because Vic's cumulative epic adventure with Lucifer included clipping a deer at substantial speed. Deer whistles have been around a long time, and the studies are on again, off again as to whether they work (difficult thing to test); statistics in several studies do seem to suggest they have a positive effect, but the science is inconclusive. The last time I recall reading anything credible about them was an actual science article on the physics of whether these things could work -- and it's title was along the lines of the conclusion: 'maybe...'. At or about 40 mph there is sufficient energy/airflow through some passive deer whistle designs for deer to actually hear them 100+ yards out, but whether this induces a consistent and useful reaction from the deer, offers enough time/distance if your going 40+ mph to make a difference was inconclusive. Another article I read showed that two whistle design where they two whistles are slightly de-tuned from each other so they'd beat ultrasonically and create a sound that was more unnatural scared deer...

I have no experience with these things but still continue to see the same anecdotal repudiations of them being snake oil and/or bullshit, to testimonials of the $2 spent on the Hardware Hank's Deer Whistle as best money spent, and the same inconclusive science. All I find on the interweb are the same repudiations, testimonials, advertising claims, and inconclusive science; so I'm posting here just to see if anyone has first-hand experience with anything that worked or clearly did not? Two that I found on the interweb are the cheap passive Save-A-Deer that appears (though I do not know) to be one of the de-tuned designs, and the active XP3 Hornet -- no idea if either, or anything else for that matter is worth a shit. Even if these in some way work, I don't feature them as something you'd count on as a substitute for not over-driving your lights and being attentive, but any additional measure of safety, especially if it costs next to nothing if it actually works...

I'm picturing some type of javelin attachment. Dinner when your arrive at your camp