I’ve wanted one of these since they first arrived on the market during 1995/96. It took 8 years before it was within realistic economical reach, and even though I was extremely pleased with my Le Mans I decided to change.

I found my new bike in Germany with less than 20.000 kms on it, and two previous owners (both above 40 years of age). All original except for a Stucchi cross-over.

It looked very nice, a little dusty as it had been stored in the show room for 6 months, but obviously a virgin: Engine had never been taken apart, and no one had tampered with it. This means that you don’t have to correct other peoples errors, that means apart from the errors made by the factory!!!

For even though its a 20 years newer construction, it still have the Italian heritage: The owner still have to finish a number of details to make the bike what it should have been from the factory. Details about this in the box below.

What’s it like, then ?

Absolutely amazing is not a very detailed answer, so I’ll try to be more specific in the following:

• Riding position – more sporty (stretched) than on the Le Mans. A lot of weight on your hands in city traffic, but nicely balanced from 100 kmh and upwards.

• Fairing – covering you nicely, wind pressure on your helmet, but no turbulence.

• Steering – quicker than the Le Mans, but just as stable. An easy ride, and as soon as its rolling you dont feel the weight.

• Suspension – Worlds apart, this one actually works. You’re an easy victim when your previous bike was a 20 years old Le Mans whish is hard as a rock, but still: Its obvious that this one is a modern construction (suspension vise) and that quality components has been used. Very nice on the bumpy back roads.

• Brakes – top note! 320mm Discs and four pot Brembo Calipers are state-of-the-art equipment for Italian sports bikes.

• Engine – not that different from my modified Le Mans. It pulls more willingly between 6 and 8 thousand RPM, but feels otherwise more or less the same. The travel of the throttle is only approx. 60% compared to bikes with 40 mm Dell Orto’s. This means that you are going really fast when you wind on the throttle as you are used to. A significant psychological effect, really.

• Gearbox – business as usual. This one has a somewhat higer gearing, which meant that I had to change my gear changing pattern, but after a couple of days I had the hang of it.

• Fun factor – the most important measurement: That’s how happy you are after a ride. The scoring here is Five stars plus bells and whistles……

/Jens

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Modifications – 2005-2007

 

Gearbox.

As mentioned earlier, you’ll probably not be a happy Guzzi owner before you have sorted the bike properly, and owning a 1100 Sport is no exception here: Most 1100 Sport are made with straight cut gearwheels and other owners experiences have shown that the 5. gear is not strong enough for the power available. Its a bomb waiting to blow!! In most of these bikes the fifth gear loses the surface hardening of teeth’s before the bike has done 50.000 kms. You’ll note it by the increased amount of metal parts on the magnet in the drain plug, and the horrible whining from the gearbox in 5 gear. This makes a quick repair necessary if you want to avoid a complete blow up of the box (you definitely do).

Mine was whining and had plenty of metallic crud on the magnet !!!

Luckily the last of the Sport 1100i’s had helical cut gear wheels, so in theory you just order a set of helical cut 5 gear wheels and build them into your gearbox (First to fourth gear will usually be OK, its just the 5. gear that self destroys). Italian spare parts logistics doesn’t help you here: Helical cut gear wheels was not available from the factory, and no one knew when a new batch was being made. So I made a (large) number of phone calls to European Guzzi dealers, and finally I tracked down a set of gear wheels at Agostini in Mandello Del Lario – right next to the factory !

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MY16M ECU

When you’re not satisfied with the original Weber Marelli 16M ECU, you have to build your own…..

See description and pictures from the project here.

Latest addition to the MY16M project is an air/fuel meter to allow me to follow the mixture ratio at all times.

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Bevel box..

When Guzzi reinvented the open shaft drive (to be able to run wide rear tires), the air volume in the bevel box is no longer sufficient to cope with the increased air pressure when the gear oil heats up. This means that the oil will be pressed  through the big seal and end on the rear wheel.

The solution is to establish some kind of wenting to allow the hot air to escape the box. I drilled out the ball from a grease nipple and installed it into the filling plug. Then I ran a piece of plastic tube from the nipple to a spare brake fluid reservoir under the rear seat. I haven’t seen oil on the rear wheel since 🙂

Second try

After longer periods of high speed riding, the rear drive could still press oil all the way through my new venting system, probably because I have used tubes of too small diameter. But a friend in Austria modified an industrial hydraulics venting cap, to fit his Guzzi – and he could be talked into making one for me too.

Its better than the first setup, but I still see oil being pushed out when using the bike hard. I’m wearing my thinking hat for the final solution.

Third time – succes !!

Back to the tube solution – this time with a larger diameter tube. This seemed OK the first times I rode the bike, but on rare occasions I could still make it press oil out. (A few drips can really make the bike look messy).

The solution was to combine the large diameter tube with a cheap plastic fuel filter. Rear end has been clean for 6 months now 🙂

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Roper Sloppage sheet

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Luggage.

Bagster makes the best tank bags – because of the model specific tank covers in correct shape and color. As the 1100 Sport went out of production 7 years ago, the tank cover is naturally not in production any more, but I did manage to find one at the British importer. A brand new tank bag for the cover was bought on eBay in Germany.

Only real problem with the Bagster was the installation time of the cover. It took me only 10 minutes to do this, but it was enough to annoy me when I had to do this for every day trip. Leaving the cover on for ever is NOT an option for me………

So when I saw the SW-Motech tank bag system that just clicks on to a bracket that is installed on the tank filler, I knew that this was the right solution for me. The Bagster system is sold and I’m very satisfied with my new tank bag.

Next I bought a spare rear seat, where I installed a base plate (own design, laser cut stainless) for a GIVI topbox. Rear seats can be exchanged within 10 seconds.

For weekends and holyday use with a pillion passenger, there’s a need to haul more luggage. It really doesn’t add to the overall look of the bike, but is necessary when you don’t want a Goldwing-like motorcycle.. It’s no easy task to add a luggage rack to a 1100 Sport, and no one is making anything model specific. But after a couple of weeks belly-scratching, I managed to invent a set of brackets. Now its possible to install/detach the luggage rack in less than five minutes, and the small brackets that are permanently installed on the bike are almost invincible.

Several people have asked for detailed instructions on how to build the brackets, so I made a description and a few pictures available here.

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Carbon fiber cans.

Handmade at Agostini’s in Mandello del Lario.

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Brembo PSC16 Master cylinder

I was never satisfied with the spongy feeling of the original PS16 Master cylinder, so I installed the newer and upgraded PCS16.

Recommended !

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Hydraulic Clutch

Why? – Don’t even ask.

The main reason is actually that I discovered that the beautiful Pazzo levers was available for the PSC16 brake master, but not for the cable actuated clutch…….

So I thought of making a hydraulic conversion as a winter project – just to be able to get the Pazzo’s. I’ve always thought that hydraulic clutches on bikes was technology without reason, but as few people have had success with a conversion like this, there was also a degree of challenge in the project.

First I bought a Brembo clutch master cylinder (The equivalent of the PSC16 to fit the Pazzo’s) and a slave cylinder from Guzzitech.com. I heard different rumors about this cylinder – most people complaining about the stroke being insufficient to release the clutch fully. But as usual, I’m a wise smart-ass, and I was sure that everybody else was unable to bleed the cylinder properly……

Much to my surprise, I experienced the same thing as everyone else, and the stroke of the slave cylinder was only 5,5mm (with the master cylinder I just bought – an other diameter master will give a different result).

The stroke from the cable actuation was 10,5mm, so it was obvious that this master/slave combination would never work for me. It may “work” if I’d adjust it very carefully, but I would have a very light clutch that would need full lever travel to disengage. What I want is precise and fast control – not a light and slow clutch.

I did a few calculations to determine the proper cylinder diameter to give me the stroke I wanted, and I managed to find an industrial cylinder in Switzerland that would provide me with a stroke of approx. 10,3mm. A friend with a lathe did a few necessary modifications to the cylinder, and I could finally put everything together.

Oh yes – please also check the aluminum bracket for the hydraulic fluid container – I did that one myself 🙂

The result is a lot better than I could ever imagine – remember that I never saw the need for an improvement. Operation of the clutch is much more precise now. Engagement point is now crystal clear where it could be a bit “wooley” with the cable clutch. The lever force is more or less the same, I cant really feel the difference.

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Pazzo Levers

No need for fancy words here – its a real quality upgrade!

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Mirrors

Original mirrors are last century style, and have a nasty habit of folding when you ride fast (Easy to do on this bike)

The solution was a set of aftermarket mirrors originally designed for Honda CBR600F4/VTR1000SP1. They fit perfectly when you rotate the mounting bracket 180 degrees – a five minute job.

And even better – they are spaced a little wider, allowing you to see more than your own shoulders……

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LED turn signals

I was tired of changing bulbs that was broken due to vibrations, so I bought a set of LED turn signals.

You need to install an electronic flasher relay and two diodes for the warning light in the dashboard, but the new turn signal lights look really good on the bike, so it’s worth the effort.

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Throttle lock

On longer trips, its nice to be able to loose your grip from the right hand bar end.

The Pacekeeper is the Danish equivalent of the well known Throttlemeister system. Its a brilliant construction that allows you to lock the throttle in any position, but it is always possible to close the throttle easily without “unlocking”

If its officially road legal, I don’t know. But it is installed on every motorcycle in the Danish police force, so I’ll probably never be blamed for using this fine device.

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Grips.

Yep, I know – its a small thing, but it’s important to me.

I hate foam rubber handles! I feel like I’m losing all proper contact with my bike – Try running your own bike with only half the pressure in the tires, then you’ll know what I mean. Daytona rubber grips are now installed.

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Decoration

I could’nt help it, I had to……

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Work shop stand.

Its not easy to change tires or to lubricate the drive shaft without a center stand. I don’t like the ordinary type that lifts at the rear end of the bike. It takes two people to get the bike on the stand in a safe way, and it only usable for lifting the rear end.

I found the stand in the picture at Becker Technik in Germany. It’s installed on the two nuts for the rear gearbox mount, simply by using two 18mm 1/2″ sockets. It works exactly like a very stable center stand. I can lift the bike on my own without the fear of dropping it, and with a block of wood under the sump it can be used when you want to work on the front end. Excellent !!

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Oil filter tool

There’s no standard (cheap) oil filter tool that fits the octagon shaped top of the Guzzi oil filter, and without the proper tool you can’t fasten the filter correctly through the hole in sump. So to avoid lowering the sump at every oil filter change, I bought this fine tool at

Moto Spezial in Germany.

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GPS

An easy project – just a detachable power supply from the battery to my PDA, which is placed in a tank bag.

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Immobilizer

Sorry – no details on this one.

(If you have to ask why, you would probably not understand the answer anyway……..)

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Misc. small mods

• Cylinder head crash bars

• Aluminum exhaust flanges

• NGK red silicone spark plug caps

• CNC milled quick operation dipstick

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Modifications 2008