Moto Guzzi Stelvio (merged) threadfest...

I think the Motobatt is the conservative "most likely to work best" choice.

If it wasn't for the cold start problem I might go with a Shorai or similar. Like I stated, I'll see how the Shorai works out in the Ducati. I have one in my DRZ but really haven't had much of a chance to really give it a fair test as the bike doesn't get ridden enough lately.

I chickened out when I recently replaced the battery in the KLR and went with a Deka AGM as they made a perfect fit, it has a stellar reputation, and was pretty cheap. Though the KLR being the pig it is could use to loose a few pounds.

We'll see how it goes .......

Knock wood.

Cuts into riding time.

Haven't had to replace the Stelvio's but will definately go with the Motobatt. Have one in my EV1100 Guzzi, Suzuki's, Ural and three 4-wheelers.

Good to hear Poli. Ordered it from amazon, in stock $102 and free shipping Being in Canada had to ship it to the border but I am only 45minutes away. Like the quad terminal feature. Much easier to add accessories now without having to install a terminal block.

Just picked up the 2014 last night. I had a fun ride home on her.

Gotta love this quote from the article...

"Today Guzzi has joined the leagues of BMW knockoffs pandering to middle-aged riders with marketing-driven dreams of globe-conquering go-anywhere adventures in their minds - and hernia-inducing tipovers in the Starbucks parking lot in their reality."

Congrats - I love the color!

I really like that Amazon Green color too! Great looking bike!

That is a thing of beauty, enjoy!

I'll have to remember that when I head up to the Denali, Top of the World Highway and Dempster in a couple of summers.



The article also missed some beautiful examples of Guzzi's long history of off road bikes like:

Congrats!

It's a beauty. Love the green.

I resemble that remark!

Well I officially joined the Stelvio club. Picked up my 2013 2 weeks ago this coming Friday. Here is a picture of the beast just before I left Moto International.

From there I headed out on the 1700 mile journey back to Reno the really long way. Visiting friends in the PNW before a 550 mile one day run from Portland to Reno.

The bike ran great over all with some great weather and a full day of western WA rain and 150 miles of NV 40 mph cross wind. I was really impressed with how the bike handled in the wind.

In the process of the run from Portland my right side driving light quit, but fortunately MI had installed fused jumpers in, with out me even asking, which was a big help.

My gas mileage is slowly creeping up. My high was just short of 39 mpg and low was 33.5 mpg with an overall average of 36 mpg for the entire trip. I did do a lot of spirited riding in any curves I could find and for the break in period varied the rpms a lot. The run from Portland I got 39 mpg on one tank and 37 mpg on the next and that's running in a steady wind the whole way and really bad cross winds on the second tank, held pretty steady and 5-10 mph above the speed limit. So we will see how it does as it breaks in further.

Good to do a long ride to get an idea of what I want/need to add. Which is:

1) different foot pegs
2) relocated the driving lights and mount highway pegs in their place.
3) Look into getting the bikes fueling remapped in hopes to reduce the vibes at 3500 rpm and get better throttle response in lower rpms.
4) research a topcase, not sure if I want to go with Trax or Givi.
5)Throttle lock

I did added a Tourtech spoiler to the windshield before I left Seattle which greatly reduced the buffeting. I can ride with my visor up to about 65-70 depending on traffic and how the wind is blowing.

All in all I am really happy with the bike, it actually did great right out of the box, I did have MI install heat grips and the euro signal kit prior to be picking it up.

Another shout out to TSS Moto Guzzi Portland, they did my first service, great guys there too.

Now just to get more miles on!!!

Chuck in Indiana, Wanted to let you know you are all set for Big Stella Campout. If anyone needs info on the campout let me know. Great place the week before the national to hangout with other Stelvio nuts. Tech sessions, Rocky Mountain riding adventures. Hope to see all the old and new Stelvio owners in CO for Big Stella.

Unfortunately, not going to make the Big Stella. How many are going to the Nat'l?

Congrats, I haven't seen that color on the Stelvio in person yet.

Wow, 2 new members on the same page, wahoo!

North 6633, great trip write up.

I just can't believe those stupid driving lights burning out so friggen early. That has to be one of the lamest things Guzzi hasn't fixed yet. Do yourself a favor and leave them off the bike, mount your highway pegs, then consider entirely different lights (LED?) mounted someplace else.

Guzzi just needs to source a different light that's better suited to the job and mount them someplace that doesn't vibrate like hell. BMW and Triumph don't seem to have any problems with their lights......

I replaced my footpegs very quickly, I wasn't very keen on the stockers at all.

Wind sucks, and crosswinds suck the most, hate it, hate it, hate it.

That's a pretty good testimony. After everything else I've read about the MotoBatt I'm sold.

I love the dual terminal design, that just makes so much sense.

The engine will smooth out as you put more miles on it. 3.5K is a bit lower than I generally run...4K and above is the sweet spot for my Big Girl. That means I stay in 5th a lot. Re mapping the ECU probably won't change the vibration at all but might allow the engine to pull better from low RPMs. Mine has been re-mapped and now has a pretty flat torque curve with 65 ft/lb from 2.6K; 65@3.5K; 62@4K; 68@4.5K;70@5K;73@5.5K;75@5.5K; then a downward slope to 50ft/lb @8.5K redline. It does not fall below 60 ft/lb until 8K rpm!

When you have a few thousand miles on the bike you will see a big improvement by balancing the throttle bodies. That one action will do more to smooth things out than anything else.

FWIW, I'm at about 17K miles now and the bike just keeps on getting better the more miles I rack up. One caution, my fuel mileage is not as good as what you are quoting. That was the penalty for the re-map. In my mind that's OK because the huge tank still gives me more range than my bladder can stand.

Peter Y.

WC,

My riding schedule takes me to the VA Regional Rally the last weekend in June. Then, as Fortrider said above, my plan is to do the Stelvio ride in CO the weekend of July 4-6. On the way home from CO, I'm scheduled into the MGNOC National in Elkader, IA the following weekend.

Looking forward to that series of rallies and meeting some new folks. I'll be on the Cool Orange NTX with the flash set of cast rims.

Ride safe.