Moto Guzzi Stelvio (merged) threadfest...

[Chuck in Indiana]

Originally Posted by oalvarez

fwiw, love the looks of the Quota as well.

I looked at the Quota when I decided that I wanted to buy/ride a Guzzi. It was the most similar Guzzi to the Wee-ABS that I was riding at the time. They were only imported in the Year 2000 and initially had some problems that the owners soon figured out how to sort out. There are currently about 160 or so in the US/Canada and they occasionally are for sale at decent prices. They were offered in three colors -- most were Red and Black but a very few came in that "drop dead gorgeous" Champagne and Blue combination that Sock Monkey showed in his picture. It's not uncommon to see a handful or so of them at the Guzzi Rallies around the Mid-West, particularly the Wisconsin and Michigan Rallies.

I backed away because I wanted a bike with ABS and the Quota did not have it. I finally bought a '12 NTX (in Cool Orange) and now have 5k miles on it. I bought it at Rose Farm and I believe the initial set up is very important to the success of the customer/bike relationship. I use a bike for long distance touring, camping trips and cycle rallies. The NTX satisfies my needs very well.

I could get interested in a Small Block NTX, depending on how it's equipped. I toured quite successfully for 25K miles on my Wee-ABS and the 650cc engine was more than adequate, even for the mountains in CO and MT.

Ride safe.

[oalvarez]

Originally Posted by Chuck in Indiana

I finally bought a '12 NTX (in Cool Orange).....

Ride safe.

drool....Guzzi nailed it with that color.

[X1Glider]

Originally Posted by rocker59

Under the skin, it's almost identical to a V7 Classic.

You'd have to like a 50bhp, 400lbs Moto Guzzi to like the NTX750.

I had a '99 R1100GS. The power to weight ratio is probably about the same.

[Ham]

I agree, sweet orange, now with the winter pounding down around me I go down into my man cave and just look at my NTX....5 more months.

[Ham]

Like all of you reading the internet I have arrived at a few opinions, add that to personal experience and I don't think there are a lot of mysteries.

When I rode japanese machines they came ready to go, I never ever did a valve adjustment on anything and nothing fell off but me. They were all Hondas. I towed every other rice burner of my friends home at least once. They were kawis, yammies, and suzukis. But overall, not many breakdowns. That of course was in the 70's.

As I talk to my riding friends of all types of makes today we are much more commonly riding more exotic breeds. Harleys....well they are a handful, but they always have been. But more to the point all my friends have had setup problems these days. Its real hard unless you are there when they open the crate to know who screws up what. Maybe the exotic breeds were always this way.

I do know high tech is easy to screw up.
I do know lots and lots of people today utilize the drugs of their choice at their work.
I do know that if you follow the manufactures suggestions to the T you have less trouble.
I do know that due to the above the cost of the maintenance becomes a major factor on what product to buy and the test magazines should really go into those costs more....but of course they don't want to due to advertising.


So I learned my lesson. Go over your bike and check your bolts. I have found not one washer missing, nothing misaligned, but as you will note a while back...definitely loose bolts after a jolting ride...my bad....and corrected thanks to SockMonkey.

I do note that changing all the fluids in my NTX is a several hour affair because I didn't have funnels that manuverable and small. What do you guys use?

[pyoungbl]

Originally Posted by rocker59

Under the skin, it's almost identical to a V7 Classic.

You'd have to like a 50bhp, 400lbs Moto Guzzi to like the NTX750.

Interesting. I just checked the specs and the NTX 750 weighed 407 lbs according to the factory. I'm sure that was with no fuel. At any rate, that seems like a great start for a new 750 NTX. The '89 model cranked out 52 hp. It also had 59 Nm or torque at 4700 rpm. All in all a very good combination...24 years ago. Maybe it is possible to re-create that earlier NTX at a competitive price point. Ah, the possibilities. I'd be a willing customer and gladly sell my thumper for a smooth twin.

[Sock Monkey]

Originally Posted by Ham

I didn't have funnels that manuverable and small. What do you guys use?

The dealer.

Actually I have a couple of cheap funnels with a bit of smooth, flexible tubing on the end. Not the corrugated type, as that just collects whatever fluid I'm trying to get into the bike. I got them at the auto parts store for $3-4. Easy peasy.....

-SM

[rocker59]

Originally Posted by pyoungbl

Interesting. I just checked the specs and the NTX 750 weighed 407 lbs according to the factory. I'm sure that was with no fuel. At any rate, that seems like a great start for a new 750 NTX. The '89 model cranked out 52 hp. It also had 59 Nm or torque at 4700 rpm. All in all a very good combination...24 years ago. Maybe it is possible to re-create that earlier NTX at a competitive price point. Ah, the possibilities. I'd be a willing customer and gladly sell my thumper for a smooth twin.

All a V7C needs to be an NTX is a set of forks and shocks, a set of wheels and tires, and some swoopy Stelvio-looking bodywork by Miguel Galluzzi.

[JJLalas]

Originally Posted by Sock Monkey

The dealer.

Actually I have a couple of cheap funnels with a bit of smooth, flexible tubing on the end. Not the corrugated type, as that just collects whatever fluid I'm trying to get into the bike. I got them at the auto parts store for $3-4. Easy peasy.....

-SM

I use this one (8€ at Louis.de, item number 10003209). Small enough tip to fit shaft and oil plugs

[JJLalas]

Originally Posted by rocker59

All a V7C needs to be an NTX is a set of forks and shocks, a set of wheels and tires, and some swoopy Stelvio-looking bodywork by Miguel Galluzzi.

That is true. I ride my V7c to places where there are usually a few roads torn apart for reconstruction, gravel roads, or fire paths. Sometimes the road literally ends and the GPS and local maps say "hey, we thought that was a paved road, the town it leads to is abandoned, nobody's been around here for decades "

And the V7c rides effortlessly in those cases. The handling is great, and I have no off road driving experience whatsoever. It's light and torquey. My 15 liter gas tank takes me 300kms (190 miles) and the new metal one holding 5.8 US Gallons should give a range of over 260 miles.

I thought the market wasn't ready for a dual purpose bike with 750cc and "only" 50CV, but Honda proved me wrong with their NC700X, and I am happy with that.

Give people the chance to buy the bike with ABS and to be honest Guzzi's got it pretty easy with the current V7c and the old NTX650 mixture. Let them delay the release of the V7 Scrambler version and go for the new V7 NTX

Here's my V7c in trail setting mode:

[Chuck in Indiana]

Originally Posted by pyoungbl

Interesting. I just checked the specs and the NTX 750 weighed 407 lbs according to the factory. I'm sure that was with no fuel. At any rate, that seems like a great start for a new 750 NTX. The '89 model cranked out 52 hp. It also had 59 Nm or torque at 4700 rpm. All in all a very good combination...24 years ago. Maybe it is possible to re-create that earlier NTX at a competitive price point. Ah, the possibilities. I'd be a willing customer and gladly sell my thumper for a smooth twin.

Let me offer this for comparison -- the '12 Suzuki 650-ABS Adventurer is listed on their website as 472# Curb Weight, which I assume is reasonably full of fuel. It has mounted aluminum rear cases like the NTX and small side crash bars, but other than that, it looks like a pretty basic, chain-driven model. Add a decent engine protection system/skid plate (20#), a center stand (20#), some sort of rear top case and suitable mounting arrangement (20#), some added weight for the shaft-drive as compared to the chain (??#), a couple other minor accessories and you're looking at 550# or so.

Are these numbers realistic? My '09 Wee-ABS set up for long distance touring, full of fuel, with the accessories listed above, and with my normal tool kit/emergency repair items under the seat, weighed just north of 570# prior to my '11 trip to Montana. With me on it (200# in my riding gear), fully packed for the trip (I normally carry 80-100# of personal and camping gear), and just fueled, it totaled out at 875# on the DOT scale in Butte, MT.

My point, depending on how these AdvTouring bikes are set up, they can get pretty heavy, pretty fast. Looking at typical marketing numbers, might be a bit misleading. Additionally, if the owner expects to ride them fully loaded and off-road, they can be a real hand full. I have no expectations of every using my NTX for anything other than road touring. At 615# Wet Weight, I'm well over 900# when I'm loaded and rolling down the road.

Ride safe.

[dirtymartini]

[QUOTE=At 615# Wet Weight, I'm well over 900# when I'm loaded and rolling down the road.

Ride safe.[/QUOTE]

+1 on this...Maintained dirt roads are as far as my NTX and I are going to venture. IMHO the expectations of ALL the adventure bikes on the market have been blown out of proportion by clever marketing and films like Long Way 'Round etc. Just because it can be done doesn't make it a good idea

[James Adams]

Originally Posted by dirtymartini

+1 on this...Maintained dirt roads are as far as my NTX and I are going to venture. IMHO the expectations of ALL the adventure bikes on the market have been blown out of proportion by clever marketing and films like Long Way 'Round etc. Just because it can be done doesn't make it a good idea

That's what I keep telling myself, too.

[kirb]

Originally Posted by Ham

I do note that changing all the fluids in my NTX is a several hour affair because I didn't have funnels that manuverable and small. What do you guys use?

I use a syringe 'like' this:
http://www.amazon.com/Fjc-Inc-2731-S...=large+syringe

It makes changing the oil in the trans/CARC much easier. Once you have an idea of how much it needs, you can just get close with the syringe. Keeps a mess to a minimum. Got to go slow with the 80/85-90.

I use this for draining odd areas (tinfoil also works great):
http://www.amazon.com/PIG%C2%AE-Form...ble+oil+funnel

[Desertpistons]

I am sure you can appreciate the build up of the Stelvio/ NTX grandpa

or maybe not :)