V85TT farkling

[Lutin]

Well, now that the Moto Guzzi is officially in the country having been registered on a Donegal plate (after paying the €600 Vehicle Registration Tax!) and paying the Road Tax (€88), it's time for a bit of farkling.

First off, a closer fitting front mudguard from an Aprilia 1200 Rallye (part no: 2B001431) with Pyramid Fender Extender -

A bit more protection than the original fork protectors -

Next on the list is a Palmer Products screen adapter to re-position the screen. I found the screen very noisy on first riding the bike - mind you it was on the lowest setting. I'll have to have a play around with the settings and see what happens.

And finally the centre stand. Is fitting a centre stand farkling?

As you can see, the shed is rather "busy". And this is it in a more tidy state of affairs than is was a few weeks ago.

 

[austin]

Well done Tony all good additions. I’ve had mine 6 years so my farkles are quite extensive.

On screens…. the bike is noisy and a bit buffetty. My current solution is the palmer products bracket you’ve got on order and a small Calsci screen. It looks a bit odd but it works. I’ve also removed the high mudguard partly as I never liked it much but also as an experiment for wind noise. Jury is out still. Tbh ear plugs are the best solution. At moment I’m experimenting with those Loop / artevive sort which are very good when fitted properly.

I’ve also the Capo low mudguard and fender extender. A high seat + cool cover. Lower / adjustable rider foot pegs (H& B I think, might be SW Motech), and an SW Motech tank bag:magnetic ring jobbie.

Panniers are Bumot together with their tool box that mounts on the pannier bracket. Top box is Moto Guzzi branded MyTech.

Exhaust system…. Binned the lot and bought a full Mistral system - big bore headers, decat Y pipe (mines an E4 so a 3-piece exhaust) and a carbon end can. Plus V twin boost spoofer doo-dah, a Velocity stack together with K& N air filter. I’ve since put the standard silencer back on as it was too noisy and tbh with the standard silencer gave a more mellow sound.

Finally (I think) is a +2cm Wilber’s rear shock. When two-up we found the standard shock woefully soft and it bottomed out too easily and the ride height was so low even on max preload the pegs scraped far too much. It’s a very tall bike now.

Oh no I also got a pyramid hugger but tbh it’s not needed and if it wasn’t such a faff I’d remove it and sell it.

The exhaust and air box mods definitely give a reasonable uplift in power and torque and it sounds good. But it would have been cheaper and possibly more effective to have gone T800 and an UpMap fuelling map. Total cost about £350 vs £1000+ on Mistral.

Home servicing is a doddle.

We are currently in Sardinia on the bike enjoying fabulous roads scenery food and wine. It’s a good combo.

Enjoy the bike Tony. I do.

 

[austin]

Pics ….

 

[steveR]

Well, now that the Moto Guzzi is officially in the country having been registered on a Donegal plate (after paying the €600 Vehicle Registration Tax!) and paying the Road Tax (€88), it's time for a bit of farkling.

Blimey, that is really taking the pee.... My sister imported her Skoda several years ago from the UK, but she said it was uneconimic nowadays, as I can see by the amount they had off you, she is right!!

View attachment 4886

As you can see, the shed is rather "busy". And this is it in a more tidy state of affairs than is was a few weeks ago.

Looks pretty well spotless to these eyes!!

 

[Lutin]

Thanks for the words Austin. I'm still very much trying to get used to the bike as it's quite a bit different to the Transalp. After all there's only 18 years between them!

The bike is quite a bit taller than I anticipated considering the quoted seat height figure. This isn't helped by my resetting the rear shock to the quoted "one click" setting in the manual for rider only use. It was on the second notch when I got it. That simple change in shock setting has, obviously, made the bike taller - not by much, but noticeable. The suspension is firmer than the Transalp's and is taking a bit of getting used to. Have not tried to bike two up yet.

I find the throttle action very sensitive, especially on small throttle openings (with the bike at around 3,000 rpm) and find that I am using my forefinger to brace against the brake lever to dampen movement of the throttle - particularly over rough road surfaces. Maybe I just need to re-calibrate my brain and have the engine spinning higher - nearer 4,000 rpm. Oh, and I love the growl when you give it big handful.

I'm not going the route the exhaust and inlet mods that you've done, though I might consider changing the fuel mapping in particular for lower speed running. I came across "Beetle" maps on one of the Guzzi forums which would appear to be the cheaper way to go. Just a cable to purchase and software to install onto a windows laptop. From what I have read, all the mapping options seem to make the lambda sensors redundant. Maybe I'm reading it wrong. For the record the bike's Euro 5 compliant so maybe that's part of the problem.

The bike came with Moto Guzzi luggage and a Givi top plate (handy for my existing Givi topbox). I nearly bought a different bike (2021) model that didn't have luggage but was fitted with Givi pannier racks. I even went to the bother of buying the fitting kit for my existing panniers. Not needed now. However, I dodge a bullet with that particular bike. But I'll put that story in a separate thread.

Still need to get the Garmin fitted properly. It's an older unit (Zumo 340) and I think I'm going to have to make a custom mount for it. Which is what I did for the Transalp and that worked out fine. Also, I think I'm going to have to remove the tank to fit the cable neatly. Bit of a pain but nothing too serious.

Steve, you should see the rest of the shed that now holds all the stuff that I had to move to make decent room for the Moto Guzzi.

 

[austin]

Good stuff Tony. Beetle is the guru for fuelling maps for all Guzzis. Normally you get a copy of some free software called Guzzidiag (German site - Google it) and the cable and usb adapter from Lonetec. But, I didn’t think this allows you to modify the ECU on the V85s. I might be wrong. I’m pretty sure you need to buy a T800 interface from an Italian company (name evades me
- Guarrshi???) and use that to install maps. Don’t forget to copy and keep safe your original map.

My throttle is very snatchy, not helped by a lot of lash in the drive train. Lots of revs, a light touch on the back brake together with a feathered clutch is what I do when I need to smooth things out. It’s fuel injection vs carbs and electronic throttle vs cables you are experiencing and carbs and cables are superior imho at very small throttle openings. I’m not sure a software map will help, but I’m probably wrong.

When you order your Palmer products screen bracket get it with the sat nav mount bar. Mount Sat nav on there I did have mine there. I also got a Ram ball handlebar mount bolt and mounted it there. I can do a pic if you need Clarity. For power the USB socket on the dash is fed by a 12v switched supply with a superseal connector right next to it. It’s all the cover of the clocks - remove screen and it’s bracket in one by undoing the adjusting bolts and it’s pivot bolts and then undo the 4 self tapped screws. I made a Y piece with three super seals so the usb still works and I can connect my sat nav or anything else to it. It’s a tight squeeze with all the extra stuff in there but it goes. Not sure what that circuits fused at but sat navs n stuff will be fine. Alternatively there’s another unused fused superseal connector attached to the RHS of the tool tray. No need to remove the tank just undo all the fasteners (this is the easy bit) and lift it back and up a bit then to the left a tad. Mine balances there really securely and gives easy access to run a wire through to the dash. There’s a cover on the rhs of the headstock that’s worth removing to run the wire behind as that’s where all the original wiring goes and you can cable tie your new one to the existing loom as it goes up from the headstock. When you look you will see. That cover is where the connectors are for heated grips and I think for the spotlights too (dealer fitted mine and I’ve never checked).