Moto Guzzi Stelvio (merged) threadfest...

Toad, did you give up on riding the Blue Ridge Parkway? Your photo certainly does not look like it was taken in the mountains of Virginia! I'm heading for Roanoke Wednesday morning, look for a black NTX just like yours, I'll try to flag you down if I see you. My plan is to take US 40 most of the way.

Pilot Road 3 Trail

Hey Blakebird,

Thanks for the info on your MPG w/ a mistral exhaust.
Thats what I was looking for.

Cheers,
Espi

Dirty,

The problems you have on your stock bike between 3-4k rpm are almost certainly due to incorrect TB sync and/or TPS setting. I had the exact same issue on my bike when new, and at the first service I insisted that the shop do a TB sync and TPS reset. Normally that is NOT part of the service, but they will do it as a warranty "repair" if you complain about "surging" in that rpm range. Wow, what a difference!!!! My TB's were out of sync by a fair margin (2 marks on their gauge) and my TPS was slightly off (but still in spec). I rode home on a different bike. The only surging I get now is when she's cold in the morning. Once warmed up, I have no issues at all. I'm still running her in as she's only got a bit over 2k miles on her, but the bike just gets smoother and smoother as the miles tick by.

I had a conversation with one of the most knowledgeable Guzzi techs I know over on another board about this, and he is emphatic that techs are not setting these bikes up right from the get-go (i.e. at PDI), and that's the cause of all of these "surging" complaints. I was skeptical until I saw with my own eyes, on my own bike, that once again, he was right on the mark. The issue is the PDI procedure doesn't say anything about a TPS reset or TB sync, so tech don't do it. The result is what we've all experienced, which is a surgy bike exactly where you state, 3-4k rpm.

Last, yes, these bikes are LEAN! Mine pops and snorts like an unruly beast on decel, so I know it's too lean. One day I might address it with a PC-V and/or other add-on gizmo, or just send it off to one of the shops that knows how to crack these magic black boxes and set the stock mapping as it should have been set and be done with it. $300 (or so I've been told). For now, it runs fine (no surging, etc) so I'll live with the popping, but I want to get it running cooler, so a proper map is in its future.

I hope that helps.

-SM

Haha Peter,
No that's an old pic. I am at present sitting ina Quality Inn in Waynesboro after sauntering down the Skyline. Will be rolling down the Blue Ridge tomorrow. Hope we can meet up in Roanoke.

Toad, I know exactly where you are. When I came back from Wyoming about 4 weeks ago I stayed in that same QI. Small world. I'll get to Roanoke in the late afternoon. Mark's house , where I am staying, is just outside the city. When I get to town I'll txt you on the off chance that we can meet before I get settled in.

Peter Y.

Thanks SM, I may take it back to the dealer and have them do it. I have been thinking about getting the software to be able to reset the TPS and save me the 3+ hour round trip for the future. I have a Twinmax that should work for the TB sync.
The Fat Ducs also got rid of the decel popping...with the Mistral it was REALLY annoying!
I think the ECU re-flash from Todd at Guzzi Tech is around $500. If I could get my lost fuel mileage back it might be worth it in the long run. Just extending the range of a tankful might be worth it also. An extra 10mpg could be an extra 75-80 miles per tankful.

Yeah, I can imagine the popping with the Mistral was a bit over-the-top.

Re. the reflash, there are several approaches. Todd offers the "Cadillac" version, whereby he "cracks" your ECU so you can later edit to your heart's content using the PC-V/Autotune (which he also sells). His method also allows complete control over the entire throttle range, not just the upper 60% like some other solutions out there, and he does a stock O2 sensor delete so you can remove the stock sensor and just screw the wide band O2 sensor from the Autotune into the stock bung. Finally, he will load a map known to work with your mods so you have a solid setup right from the start (but you're still free to futz with it until your eyes bleed ). Todd, if I've f'd that up, feel free to correct.....

Then there's the next level down, which runs around $300. You tell the tuner if you're running stock, modified exhaust, etc., send them your ECU, and they will send it back modified. You can't do anything further with it on your own. If you later change pipes, etc., you need to send it back to them for another $300 tune.

Last is the "roll your own", via PC-V/Autotune (or just the PC-V by itself). Without a ECU crack, you have to weld a second bung into your header for the Autotune's wideband sensor, and it's up to you to fiddle with maps, etc. The Autotune makes that easier, and the latest incarnation of the PC-V let's you set an A/F ratio and it will do its darndest to make it so, but it's still a bit of a lab experiment.

Yeah, I've looked into these things a bit, and frankly it all makes my head hurt. If I had the dough, I'd just ring Todd and be done because his solution is the cleanest IMO, and he's done a buttload of work to make it that way. I like clean.....but I don't like parting with > $1,000. Second choice for me is to just send my ECU to Redline or similar shop and tell them to "fix it". We'll see.....

-SM

I'll be at Redline in a day or two for new tires and a flash. I was directed there by Pyoungbl who swears by it. I will let you know how it turns out for me.

Awesome, thanks Toad!

-SM

Hi All, I just joined the group. Last Friday I picked up my new 2012 Black NTX from Pro Italia in Los Angeles. I flew down from SF on Thursday night and rode it up to Mammoth Lakes where I spent the night. I already had a weekend trip planned with four friends to ride over 108 to 395 to Virginia City on my Bonneville T100 but got the Stelvio and met them on Saturday in Walker.

What a great bike. I'm still figuring it out. I need to bring it in for the first service as I now have 800 miles on it. The second day I noticed my left front amber turn signal lens had fallen off. The previous day I felt a smack on my left toe I thought was a rock but it might have been the lens.

The first 3 hours the engine was wonderful. I kept varying the rpm's between 3 k and 6 k to break it in, never revving too fast and not going over 6 k. After lunch I noticed a vibration, felt like engine vibration, and when trying to accelerate the bike felt like it was fighting itself to accelerate. Previous to that it would accelerate willingly. The next morning it was fine for about an hour and then I had to stop for 20 minutes for a one way traffic control. Upon starting off after stopping the vibration was back.

It's been on and off. Yesterday the last 100 miles was vibration free after having some vibration when first starting out. It happened at all rpm's between 3 k and 5 k. Not sure if it's a gas or altitude thing or what.

I do know when it was running smooth it was pulling willingly and felt terrific.

Sock Monkey. I'm in San Mateo.

Rick

Hiya Rick!

Congrats on the new bike! It'll be good to have another NTX blasting around the Bay Area.

Re. your vibration issue....hmmmm. I've not had anything like that. First check to make sure all the critical nuts/bolts are tight like axles and wheels. Also check the final drive just to be safe. After that, inspect things like oil levels: final drive, transmission, and engine. Where I'm going here is maybe something didn't go right during PDI of the bike. If you still can't find anything, take it in and have a shop check it out. I take mine to Elk Grove Powersports. It's a long way (about 100 miles one way), but a really nice ride if you take the back roads along the Delta. I can give you a route that's really scenic.

One of the first mods I did was I ordered the Sport mirrors and in-fairing turn signals from MPH in Houston. They have a "kit" that they sell with all the parts in it for a bit over $100. The Sport mirrors are much better than stock (more solid, less buzz) and you've already discovered the flaw with the turn signals integrated into the mirrors.....ker plunk....what was that? Doh!

-SM

Damned if my center stand didn't just break. Lightest made part of bike no doubt.

2012 for sale

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=832649

Sad to hear that he's selling due to a health issue.....

-SM

+1

Well the good news is that you will be getting a new one when the bulletin is done. Somewhat bad news is that the parts are still not available for a while. Last I heard was late November. I have had my NTX for about ten days now and only have about 300 miles on it. Really like it so far. It does like to surge a bit, some odd vibs at times but nothing that I have not already read about here in the list. Not going to get excited until I have quite a few more miles on her and have a chance to sort things out. Typical new Guzzi minor stuff all round. Going to just leave the side stand alone as its not an easy item to use anyway and I have other means for service work and such. Will wait until the new parts arrive. Have to say that the NTX has taken the place of my V11 Sport very nicely with the added load hauling and comfortable touring capacity as iceing on the cake.

Demar39, glad you bought the Stelvio, it is a great machine. That said, the vibration you are feeling could be a spark plug boot/wire failure. I had a similar vibration, changed plug wires and boot, problem is gone.

Good Luck

Goose....thx for the tip...that makes sense based on the nature of the vibration. I have an appointment for Saturday for the first service and I'll have the shop check it.

Rick