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Review of the 2004 Moto Guzzi V11 Le Mans Rosso Corsa:Riding the Rosso Corsa |
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Author: Herb Shattuck, 2005-09-14, viewed 302 times. | ||||||
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I recently purchased a used Rosso Corsa with 5000 miles, for Dollars 8500. It has Ferracci exhaust system, a power commander and K and N filters. | ||||||
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I was surprised that the bike felt underpowered in the midrange compared to the BMW GS 1100 that I also own. With comparitive power ratings and less weight, I kind of expected a little more. This bike needs to live just below or in the yellow zone to get up and go. That being said, it will stay with some well ridden sport bikes on a good challenging road. Turn in is excellent, especially compared with Guzzi´s of old. It requires some effort, but is progressive, linear, rock stable, with excellent feedback through the front end, thanks to the excellent Ohlins bits. It does not however, like to dramatically change direction mid-corner. You certainly can force it tighter if necessary, but it takes real surety and commitment. Flicking difections hard takes a little practice to get it just right because of the effort that it takes. You don´t want to overdo it. But again, no drama, just rock stability. Brakes are outstanding, very progressive, great feel, and good stopping power. The biggest problem to overcome is ground clearance. The Ferracci pipes touched down early and hard. So much so that it disqualified the bike from any serious sport riding. The fix took some effort. By cutting the end pipe two inches at the joint of the ´Y´ connector, you can move the pipes closer to the swingarm. Still the cans are too low, so you then have to extend the exhaust pipe 5.5 in to that the ends of the cans now reach just past the license plate. Then on the left side you need to remove the kick stand mount and grind down the bottom lip of the kick stand. Wallah! Now you are ready to take on the Japanese. Overall, there is not a bike on the road that has as much pure character as the Guzzi. Its classic design, interesting bits (two foot gas tank, dash board, ´Il Storia Italiano´ script, its really good) Fit and finish is supurb. Riding the Guzzi is very special. Riding it well puts you on another plane. After stopping to chat with a well ridden Honda 1000RR rider that waved the Guzzi by, he said, ´At first I thought it was a Ducati behind me, then when you passed, I thought, RC51? Wow! A Guzzi!´ He was very shocked. That is pretty typical. If you are looking for a unique experience, it is a very rewarding bike to ride and own. If super performance is your thing, it would probably have to complement another stablemate. Even so, you will find yourself turning the key on the Guzzi more often than the pure sportster. If you are out there in Northern California and see a big red faring in your mirror, be prepared to step it up or move over. |
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