New member and 1st time Moto Guzzi owner and rider

[MedicAndy]

Number 3 came home today! She had no problems finding her place in the stable!

 

[fireflyr]

You're a sick man. Nice flock of gooses.

 

[Rafael]

WOW! Congrats on the LMs4. What a find. I didn't like these when they came out. But they've grown on me over the years. I thought it was too much plastic, but now it seems the right amount. MG Bug? More like a fever! Antibiotics won't help you!

Not sure the extent of the your mechanic's inspection of the bike was, but I would make sure that the rear drive splines to the rear wheel are greased with spline grease. If the splines rusted during storage, the powder will grind down the splines. The other thing I would check out are the brake caliper pucks. If one is sticking, it will warp the rotor. Can't remember when Brembo switched from chrome steel pucks to anodized alum.ones happened but if Mia has the chrome pucks, rebuild them. In any case make sure those pucks are moving evenly and freely. One can't always tell by riding. The exhaust system look like BUB's, looks great unfortunately they are no longer made.

Well, seems you're having a good time with the guzzis, keep up the good work!

 

[VladTepes]

What are you going to do with some many 1100 Sports ? Start a rental business...? LOL

 

[MedicAndy]

What are you going to do with some many 1100 Sports ? Start a rental business...? LOL

I need that many because my OCD tells me to own at least one of each color, but owning two of each is always better! Besides, I get bored easily! I want enough bikes so I can ride a different one every day of the month. I also like to be different and ride bikes that not everyone already had. And nope, no rental here, I don't share my toys!

 

[fireflyr]

" MG Bug? More like a fever! Antibiotics won't help you!"

LOL. Hey Rafael, you suffer from Mad Goose Disease too! On top of that, you are an 'Enabler' by providing nice, low cost Guzzis to other sufferers. Can't wait to see that Eldorado with the Velorex on it.

In honor of you owning the T3 for 32 years we've named the bike after you. Will engrave your name on your custom seat prop. I have since sanded it and treated it with Watco oil.

 

[abbienormal]

Wow, I thought I had it bad wanting to buy so many!
Yellow? not so sure, when I had Jensen interceptors ( UK sports car with Chrysler magnum 383 or 440' in them), everyone said if it's yellow it's hiding the poor fitting gaps of hoods & doors!

If you liked your Jensen Interceptor check out Jay Leno's Garage on YouTube. He did a video on one. It was interesting.

 

[MedicAndy]

Added a second yellow 97 1100 Sporti to the stable! Who would have thought that I found three 97 Sporti's within 20 miles of each other right here in my backyard? Furthermore, all three guys who sold me their Sporti are big-time toy collectors, and they all know each other!

Either way, I now have two yellow, one blue, one MG red, and one BMW red, which was yellow when she left the factory. I will combine the best parts from both yellow bikes, and make one "close to" perfect yellow bike, and then use the leftover yellow items and repaint them in either silver or a deep black.

This is my newest bike, and she has never seen the rain, from what the owner has told me, and I think it shows!


I bought this yellow 1100 in late December 2016, and it took me four month to get her running again. This was after she was sitting outside unused under a tarp for the past eight years.

 

[scott_m]

MedicAndy! You're killing me here. You've gone obsessive/compulsive for Sports! LOL

 

[Trout]

I like a little variety in my corral:

 

[scott_m]

Oh... Trout you lucky bastard... I love your Mille GT. Always wanted one.

 

[Trout]

Oh... Trout you lucky bastard... I love your Mille GT. Always wanted one.

Wife asked me the other day: "If you could keep only one of your bikes which one would it be"?
Without hesitation I said "The Mille GT".

It is the slowest of all my bikes BUT for some reason it puts the biggest smile on my face, I really can't explain it.

The Griso is my "old guy hooligan bike" very fast, very fun & Itallian Sexy draws crowds.
The Jackal is a great all around bike: in town riding, playing with sport riders & even off road exploring is easy & fun.
The Victory is a great over the road hauler, comfortable, handles very well for a heavy weight dresser, easy & inexpensive to maintain.

 

[Bigbear]

If you liked your Jensen Interceptor check out Jay Leno's Garage on YouTube. He did a video on one. It was interesting.

Hey thanks addienormal,
I have owned most Jensens, 541, CV8, Healey, Interceptor Mk2 & 4.
I'm surprised Jay Leno hasn't got a CV8 - one of the most underrated sports cars - Chrysler magnum 383 in lightweight fibreglass car - English version of the General Lee but a dam sight quicker!
Can't run them to their full potential on the roads anymore so my Guzzi's fill that gap & it's easy on two lane highways to just zip past 18 wheelers & other turtles with nary a blink of the eye

 

[Bigbear]

Added a second yellow 97 1100 Sporti to the stable! Who would have thought that I found three 97 Sporti's within 20 miles of each other right here in my backyard? Furthermore, all three guys who sold me their Sporti are big-time toy collectors, and they all know each other!

Either way, I now have two yellow, one blue, one MG red, and one BMW red, which was yellow when she left the factory. I will combine the best parts from both yellow bikes, and make one "close to" perfect yellow bike, and then use the leftover yellow items and repaint them in either silver or a deep black.

This is my newest bike, and she has never seen the rain, from what the owner has told me, and I think it shows!
View attachment 12555 View attachment 12556

I bought this yellow 1100 in late December 2016, and it took me four month to get her running again. This was after she was sitting outside unused under a tarp for the past eight years.
View attachment 12557 View attachment 12558

 

[Bigbear]

Yup - totally jealous
My friend had a yellow one a few years back & I thought it looked out of place, but over time that changed.
I now think it is one of those unusual colours that suit some bikes & make them stand out.
I bought my Centauro because it was yellow & the black trim & front fork leg shields helped compliment it.
Now I'm about 97% thru converting her to Guzzi 992 Sport, so of course it had to stay yellow & I was lucky enough to find a yellow rear fairing & 1100 tank. ( ps the rope in the pics is to ensure it doesn't fall over - poor rear wheel stand)
It will also have a full fairing & I will have the top screen area painted black & the rest Yellow, with of course the mandatory GUZZI stencilled in black on each side.
Would love to have a "trio" lined up like yours!

 

[Bigbear]

MedicAndy! You're killing me here. You've gone obsessive/compulsive for Sports! LOL

Interested to know how your yellow one compares with the others.
Can't see the exhausts of the others but I notice your yellow one has small outlets & an aftermarket exhaust crossover.
My 96 is ex USA & had a mistral crossover & small exhaust outlets, whereas most European? ( as in NZ ) have the full Dia. exhaust outlet; hence my bike is very quiet compared to any others.
After pulling her apart I found the smog canisters etc had being ditched, & as it ran with a bit of a flat spot I did a bit of research & in Guzziology footnotes read that a K14 needle was recommended by someone in England, so I changed the needle & hey presto with the needle on the 3rd notch no flat spots, ( despite being a bit hard to fire up from cold); & after reading Dr John mentioned they got more hp from the SS exhaust collector than other engine tuning mods on these 1100 hot rods, I ditched the crossover & bought a standard collector... You guessed it!...instant easy starting (yes I had previously changed to titanium plugs) but now I have this silent street killer that honestly pulls harder from 5000rpm than ever before right thru 7500rpm (which I have to be carefull of ), & returns an honest 45mpg at cruise speed in 4th between 4000- 4500rpm.
I am contemplating a dyno run so that I get a benchmark, because I would like it to sound like a V twin - yes us Guzzi nuts are never satisfied.

 

[Bigbear]

Interested to know how your yellow one compares with the others.
Can't see the exhausts of the others but I notice your yellow one has small outlets & an aftermarket exhaust crossover.
My 96 is ex USA & had a mistral crossover & small exhaust outlets, whereas most European? ( as in NZ ) have the full Dia. exhaust outlet; hence my bike is very quiet compared to any others.
After pulling her apart I found the smog canisters etc had being ditched, & as it ran with a bit of a flat spot I did a bit of research & in Guzziology footnotes read that a K14 needle was recommended by someone in England, so I changed the needle & hey presto with the needle on the 3rd notch no flat spots, ( despite being a bit hard to fire up from cold); & after reading Dr John mentioned they got more hp from the SS exhaust collector than other engine tuning mods on these 1100 hot rods, I ditched the crossover & bought a standard collector... You guessed it!...instant easy starting (yes I had previously changed to titanium plugs) but now I have this silent street killer that honestly pulls harder from 5000rpm than ever before right thru 7500rpm (which I have to be carefull of ), & returns an honest 45mpg at cruise speed in 4th between 4000- 4500rpm.
I am contemplating a dyno run so that I get a benchmark, because I would like it to sound like a V twin - yes us Guzzi nuts are never satisfied.

It's official, I got the MG bug! I added three more MG 1100 Sports to my stable during the last couple of month. I'm looking for one more 1100 Sport in yellow, and then I'm good with what I have!


This is my 1997, which was imported from Germany and spend 17 years at the Wisconsin motorcycle museum, until they closed their doors.
View attachment 11338

This is also a 1997, which I purchased out of Ann Arbor from a University of Michigan professor
View attachment 11339

And this is my latest find! She is a 1996, and she is still at the dealer in Vancouver until she is being picked up and shipped to my home in NC around Christmas.
View attachment 11340

Actually a good comparison would be your blue carburettor Sport which has open ended carbon mufflers & mistral crossover vs your yellow injected .... I'm sure you will pick out the differences in performance characteristics of the two

 

[MedicAndy]

Actually a good comparison would be your blue carburettor Sport which has open ended carbon mufflers & mistral crossover vs your yellow injected .... I'm sure you will pick out the differences in performance characteristics of the two

Sadly enough, I currently have so little time, that I'm not really getting any ride-time in. I started the blue 96 up, for the first time in 3 month, and the carbs were huffing and puffing pretty bad. I gave her a little gas, assuming that the carbs would clear themselves up......, and as assuming goes in my life, the carbs spilled gas into the right exhaust pipe and engine, which resulted in the right exhaust pipes carbon wrap to burn through from the metal pipe to the outer wrap.....



I'm not sure yet if this pipe can be repaired / buy a new outer wrap, or if I need to by me a new pipe? I did order new carb rebuild kits for this bike, and my 85 LeMans, since this bike refuses to start up too. I need to stop assuming and resurge some of my actions a little better, since I started to buy 93 octane ethanol free fuel, assumption was that the ethanol has the culprit of fouling out by carbs, but it seems that it is the gas in general now, which clogs up the carbs jets.... I also still need to change the oil and filter again, in order to remove the fuel from the engine, which sucks too, since I just changed everything about ten miles ago.....

But yes, I actually see a big difference between all of my bikes, since all are setup differently. The 96, except of the exhaust, is all stock, and the torque and overall getup and go is not as strong as her 97 stable companions. In comparison to my four 97's, all have different exhaust systems, and only my earlier purchased yellow 97 is still 100% stock, which includes the air filter, exhaust, and ECU chip. This bike was sitting in the woods and under a cover for almost nine years without ever being started up, so it took me a couple of month to bring her back to life, but yes, I got her back running now. I only rode her in my subdivision so far, since her tires were completely rotten out, but she sounded good. I removed her rims, got those powder coated, and new wheel bearings and tires installed, which I now need to install.


I am interested to see if this bike (bike on the lift) has the same issue as some of my others, who have the performance chip, K&N filter, performance exhaust, which coughing, sneezing, engine cutting off at stoplight.

As time goes by, probably later on this year, I will to a comparison and writeup of each of my bikes, where I will post the performance upgrades each one has, what I had to do in order to address all of their individual issues, like the coughing, hiccups, cutting off, catching on fire.... especially since two of my 97's use the newer Will Creedon performance chip, one is the original MG chip, and one chip is of unknown origin. I did get up with Will Creedon a couple of month back, and I was able to buy two of his performance chips, just in case that I will have an issue later on with some of my ECU's.

The second yellow 97, which I just bought last week, has a Staintune exhaust system, K&N filter, and performance chip, which also should sound pretty good after I get her sorted out. The left injector has lost its pulse, which I think is either due to a short in the wiring, or possible a bad ECU? I also have a oil leak somewhere around the gearbox mounting to engine location, so I more then likely will have to remove a lot of stuff to find the leaking seal....... It's never an easy fix in my world!



I love these bikes, but it is a good thing that I also have several other "Non-Moto Guzzi" bikes around, with one being my beloved 3.2k miles 1996 GSXR1100, which also has a performance exhaust, 41mm Keihin flat-Slide racing carbs, and a couple of engine modifications, which makes this bike a true beats to ride. I would do a lot more walking or driving my cars, if it would not be for them!



But, all will be sorted out in good time, which time is on my side!

Andy

 

[Bigbear]

Actually in my previous threads the carb needle is not a K14 but a K19 & the main jet should be a 268 & the idle jet a 57 (which I will be checking in a couple of weeks) as I am going to try some megaphones - bloody stupid I know because a 95 Daytona I owned & my Centauro ( running in with 2000 miles on it), would both have the pants pulled off them by the 1100 which is standard -( apart from my tuning & blocking all air box bleed holes & adding two smooth bore lightweight intake runners) she runs as smooth as any injected with no flat spots.
Your wheels look beaut @ They are the same as my Centauro, but I changed to a 70 sidewall profile instead of 60 which now makes the rear 17" tire Dia. The same as the 1100's 18" rear ( because of the Centauros slightly overall lower ratio).
Bloody incredible all your bikes have most of the "goodies" ,GSXR with keihins, Sports with Staintune & Will Creedon chips - you are one lucky bugga - plus you have time on your side to top it off!
I bet the GSXR emits an awesome howl on open throttle
The Centauro came with a full stain tune exhaust ( the perfect "sound") & the chip most probably was changed as the seal was opened & taped over. She only ever stopped at the lights a few times before I did a big trip & has not done so again - (plus I use a fuel additive), but yes I think a bit of use & not having stale fuel helps.
I did search online b4 to contact Will Creedon, but since you know him I might follow up one day ( possibly after the Centauro morphs into a 992 Sport).
With your starting problems due to little use, it would pay to use a can of "easy start" or similar ether spray into the intake tract (Mk5) or tracts (1100) so they don't drown the plugs & fill exhausts with fuel which is bad for 1100s having the electronic ignition firing the plug on the exhaust stroke which cause what you just experienced.
Have you thought of putting the carbon cans on your earlier yellow 97 with one of Will Credons chips for a bit nicer sound & performance, & then putting the SS cans onto bluey which may have the standard jets etc set up for those mufflers whereas she may run better, or if not, you could tune her up with suitable needles & jets which I'm sure will liven her up.
Mmmmm so many options ..... So much time .......I better shut up @ & go & attend my own folibles
Keep up the excellent work!!!!!

 

[scott_m]

...I did search online b4 to contact Will Creedon, but since you know him I might follow up one day ( possibly after the Centauro morphs into a 992 Sport)...

I know Will as I am from San Diego, California. He is a great guy and did many wonderful things to improve the Moto Guzzi Daytona and Centauro with his incredible C5 chip. We hadn't spoken in about 15 years since I moved away but how funny, I just exchanged messages with him last week.

You can contact him at the Centauro Owners Group. (This is also a fantastic information source for Centauro stuff)

http://www.centauro-owners.com

You will have to register to send him a message but its free and easy.

He is very well camouflaged there on the forum, just like me here. His username is "Will Creedon" LOL.