Le Mans 3500 mile ride report

Posted May 15, 2003

I have been riding my Le Mans for about 9 months now, and am approaching the 3500 mile mark on the odometer. Since I get email about once every week or two asking how I like the bike now, it seemed like there would be interest in seeing this report.

A very brief summary for those who haven't read my previous reports (available on the Motorcycles page): I bought a new Moto Guzzi Le Mans in July 2002, and had the bars raised and pegs lowered. The gas mileage kinda sucked, and I had a problem with hesitation at about 4000 RPM.

Gas Mileage

The gas mileage situation hasn't gotten any better. Where before I was getting mileage in the high 20's, I'm now getting in the low 20's. This is almost certainly because I've gotten to be more comfortable with the motorcycle, and am more willing to use its copious power, resulting in greater fuel consumption.

When I first got the bike and started seeing these mileage figures, I was dismayed because I had expected it would at least return 30-32 MPG (about 7.8 - 7.4 litres per 100 km) when riding in city. This was based on reports I'd read on the v11lemans.com website, and also on my experience with BMWs of this size. I didn't feel at the time (and still don't feel) that it's an unreasonable expectation that a 1100cc motorcycle be able to get 30 MPG in-city. However, this bike just seems to get around 25.

One thing that helped was that when I specifically asked, other riders who rode solely in-city also reported getting fuel mileage in the mid 20's (25 MPG == about 9.4 l/100km). Most riders have a ride which is mostly freeway, or mixed freeway and in-city, and I had been reading the numbers from the mixed riders, thinking it was pure in-city. So, I had incorrect expectations, and the bike is actually just doing what it's supposed to do.

Ergonomic Modifications

I know there was lots of interest in my ergonomic modifications to the bike, since I'm apparently not the only rider that finds the seating position too leaned forward and my legs too cramped as delivered. In the interests of comfort (since I had previously given up on the Le Mans after I found out how poorly I fit on the bike), I had installed bar risers and lowered footpegs (these changes are detailed on the Ergonomic Modification page).

3500 miles on, I can safely say that this was an investment that was well worthwhile. If it were set up as stock, I would be in agony every time I rode, and probably would have sold the bike by now.

The seating position is still more crouched over than I would ultimately prefer, but I'm willing to make concessions to the bike's sportier nature. On longer rides, my right hand gets numb from a combination of too much pressure, holding my wrist rigid on the throttle, and probably vibration through the bars. This is partially a training issue -- I could alleviate most of that by relaxing my grip on the throttle and keeping my knees clamped to the tank.

It should be noted that riding position is a very personal thing. It'll be different for every single rider, and just because I find something comfortable is no guarantee that it'll work for you. You really need to sit on the bike and ride it around before you can determine what changes are necessary. If you're interested in seeing my bike and are in the Seattle area, let me know at reaper@obairlann.net, and we can arrange to meet somewhere.

Rideability and Hesitation

Early on in my ownership of this motorcycle, I was trying to figure out what was wrong with the bike, since it was getting such poor gas mileage. So, I asked my local dealer, Moto International, to try leaning out the mixture, and see if that would make any difference. It surely did, probably adding between .5 and 1 MPG onto my mileage. However, it also added an unpredictably lean condition right around 4000 RPM, that would have the bike hesitating and surging -- a recipe for disaster in a corner.

It took me quite a while to accept that if I wanted the bike to run right, I would have to deal with whatever gas mileage it turned in. However, once I did that, and had the bike retuned back to normal, the problem went away, and the bike has been a joy to ride ever since.

Suspension Adjustment

I said early on that I was going to take a day to experiment with suspension settings, to see if I could make the ride a bit less jouncy. I have completely failed to do this, mostly due to lack of time -- it's never seemed terribly important, since the bike already rides pretty well. I'm sure it's possible to improve the ride by adjusting the suspension, and I still plan to play with it some day, but I have no clue when that day might come.

Hepco Becker Luggage

One of my goals in getting this bike was that it shouldn't be a "downgrade" from my K75. That is, I shouldn't really have to give anything up by going from a less-expensive bike to a more-expensive bike. Of course, this is impossible, since Guzzi doesn't make a bike with ABS, and grip heaters aren't a factory option. I decided I was willing to live without those things, but I didn't want to downgrade on luggage.

On the K75, I had two sidecases, one of which was capable of holding a full-face helmet. This was my goal on the Le Mans. I checked into several options, and it turned out that the only aftermarket luggage manufacturer who made a rack for the Le Mans was Hepco Becker.

I looked at their "Junior" cases, and they were alright, but they didn't quite take a full-face helmet, so they failed the test. Hepco had a different model available, called the "Journey" which looked promising. I had Moto International order a set of those, to see if we could fit a helmet inside.

When the cases finally arrived, 6 months later, they were fine. But oh, waiting six months for something that should have taken a month at most was frustrating.

Unfortunately, due to the bar-end mirrors I'm using, I can't see behind me at all when the cases are mounted. They're almost exactly in line to block the mirrors, so I haven't yet had an occasion on which I needed to use them enough to be willing to give up visibility to the rear.

The Infamous Moto Guzzi Quality Control

When I bought the bike, I made up a list of things to check (loose screws, fuel vapor lock, breaking transmission springs, other nasty-sounding problems) on your new V11, fearing that I might have to make extensive use of such a list. As it turns out, I haven't had many problems. Only one screw has tried to back itself out (a screw holding the front fender on, just above the right front brake caliper), and the transmission oil level sightglass bolt was loose from the factory. Really, the sightglass wasn't "loose" so much as "finger tight" -- the important difference being that it wasn't leaking any oil.

I haven't had anything else fall off or break, for which I count myself fairly lucky. However, I have had paint problems.

The Infamous Moto Guzzi Wrinkle Black Paint

Apparently, about 20-30% of all Moto Guzzis produced in the 2001-2003 timeframe which have the wrinkle black paint on their engine cases suffer from bubbling. This is where the paint bubbles up and then flakes off, leaving a nasty, mangy-looking engine case. Moto Guzzi had a batch of engine cases (goes the company line) which were incorrectly prepped for painting, leaving some impurity behind on the engine case, which causes the paint to bubble up after a number of months or heat cycles or whatever.

Moto Guzzi North America (MGNA) has acknowledged the problem, and are currently "researching solutions" to it. I've heard several potential solutions mentioned, including replacing the engine cases (although whether it would be with wrinkle-black paint to match the rest of the wrinkle-black painted parts or not hasn't been clear), having the engine cases repainted locally, and offering affected customers $500 in accessory credit if they'll sign something saying that covers their problems. I would be happy enough with solution #1 or #2, but #3 leaves me cold.

So, what I've actually got on my bike is a severe case of bubbling paint on the engine case, and flaking paint on the final drive (where the drive shaft meets up with the rear wheel). The bubbling paint hasn't yet left any bare metal, so I'm not that offended by it yet, but the paint flaking off the final drive has left two big ugly metal spots. The final drive is actually slated to be fixed within a week or two (they're going to get me a new casing, and transfer the guts from the old case to the new and reinstall it).

I know that Moto International is unhappy with MGNA's delays on the engine case issue -- they wanted a solution available in the winter, so they could bring in customers and get their bikes fixed up in the slow months, before they were swamped with the normal summertime business. Since a solution is still not forthcoming from MGNA and it's nearly the end of April, I'd say Moto International will continue to be unhappy.

Warranty Service

I've had any number of little things come up that fall under the category of warranty service on this bike (just look in the service log for entries that cost $0 and were done by Moto International). Every one of them has been painless and straightforward. I haven't had any hassles over what's covered and what isn't, and Moto International has been very good about doing the service quickly and professionally, just as if I were a regular customer paying with crisp American Dollars from my own pocket.

I think that may just be that Moto International is a good dealership who cares about their customers, but I hope that it's also something that can be said of all Moto Guzzi dealers.

Riding Impressions

No ride report would be complete without riding impressions. Unfortunately, this is my weakest area, since I'm not a motojournalist, and my riding style is very non-agressive and defensive. It's just not that exciting to explain how much I like the bike when cruising along at 30 MPH in heavy traffic.

In any case, I'll give it a try.

The engine remains a very strong point of this bike. It has fairly smooth power delivery anywhere from about 3000 RPM up to redline, although there's a slight flat spot in the acceleration curve between 3000 and 4000 RPM. The motor pulls very strongly up through 8500 RPM, right up to the rev limiter (note: the redline is at 8000, so I was being bad by hitting the rev limiter at 8500 -- I only did that once).

The brakes are also a strong point, with ample stopping power and easy modulation. They don't ever feel grabby or weak, and I've always been quite confident in my ability to stop up to the limits of traction.

The suspension, as I've mentioned above, is a bit on the jouncy side, but that's certainly correctable through adjustment. I just haven't done it yet (if I were a skilled journalist I would have done it within the first hour of riding, but I'm not that confident in my ability to diagnose and correct suspension misadjustments). One easy fix is that when I'm being bounced around a lot, shifting my weight forward and leaning over the tank helps smooth things out.

The transmission and clutch have been quite good. Most of the time, I'm not aware of them, which is the best way for them to be. The only times I have been aware of them is when first gear is occasionally hesitant to engage (hint: hold downward pressure on the shift lever with your foot, and partially release the clutch -- this will spin the transmission gears that little bit needed to let them engage), and in thick stop-and-go traffic, when the clutch lever gets pretty heavy.

Overall

Basically, this is a great bike except for the gas mileage. I don't much care about the engine paint (although I'd be quite unhappy if the fairing paint started to flake off), particularly since when the flocked black paint chips off, it leaves black primer underneath -- if it were leaving bare metal, it'd be an issue.

If I had it all to do over again, I think the only thing I'd change would be my expectations of the bike, so that I didn't spend so much time worrying that the gas mileage might be showing up some kind of fault. It's not, that's just how the engine behaves.

Would I recommend this bike to anyone else? Absolutely. Particularly to BMW riders who want something more sporty and compact, and to sportbike riders who want something a bit bigger and more sedate than the 600cc death rockets. This is a great "middle ground" bike, being not quite a sportbike, not quite a touring bike, and definitely defining "fun to ride."

Created by Ian Johnston. Questions? Please mail me.