Not possible in my line of work Peter. However, I am considering a run down to Italy in the school Summer holidays. Just need to run the idea past my wife…!
Richard, There is a good weekend in the Swiss Valaies last weekend of August , Peter and I ahve attened a few times https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/332169853543913/ on face book. I usual ride up on Friday and return Sunday or Monday/
My 2 bobs worth.
2012 8v ABS. 20,000klms
Had it for 2 months _ fine 3,500klms in that time.
On the jerky throttle thing. Had exactly the same on my Breva 1100. Fixed it by taking ALL, and I mean all, of the slack out of both the push and pull adjusters of the throttle. 95% prefect. Works the same for the Stelvio.
To get the smoothest air flow pull the mirrors back as far as possible, makes a huge difference.
Seat high at front and low at back feels best for me otherwise slopes forwards to much.
I can’t stop riding this bike. Any excuse it’s just that much fun to ride and handles as well or better than the Breva.
Iconfirm that taking up all the slack helps the throttle issue a lot (on my Norge 8v), but you need to be careful in slow moving traffic as the slightest touch on the throttle can have you battering down the road
Hi guys,
Thanks for all the info. By a strange quirk of job responsibility my Stelvio is currently languishing in Southern Italy and I am back in the UK! Here are my thoughts having ridden it down there:-
- A thousand plus miles on the Stelvio is a walk in the park
- I encountered the most extreme driving weather conditions I have ever experienced in Northern Italy. It was scary but the Stelvio was like a reassuring friend
- Halfway through the trip I set the seat back to fully lowered to make it easier to paddle the fully laden bike around
- I use the screen and extension in two modes.High with the extension wider at the bottom than top for high speed work. This sends a narrow high velocity stream of air way over my helmet. You can hear a whistle but otherwise very little noise and no turbulence. Low with the extension wider at the top than the bottom for low speed mountain twisties - most of the wind is flipped over my head and I have a clear view of the huge pothole directly in front of me!
- I think my feeling of being too heavily weighted on the wrist is actually due to the span on the levers being too great - will adjust before I ride it back.
- In some ways it handles better with fully laden panniers as it tips into corners more readily and commits to the line more securely (bear in mind I am a biking lightweight who tends to under commit to corners)
- On very difficult corners it has always been me that failed - the bike could have made it!
- Various highly visible fasteners are rusting before my very eyes spoiling the looks of a bike which pulls off the enviable trick of looking equally good clean or dirty.
That’s it so far. I won’t adjust the throttle cables before the trip back but will give a go when “Baby” is back in the UK.(So called because she is obviously not and it winds up my wife and daughters!)
Enjoy the rest of the Summer.
Richard
Thanks for the update, Richard.
With regards to (6), have you had a good play with the suspension settings? It’s taken me a while but I think I’m 99% there with the ideal setting to suit most conditions (solo with full top box or 2-up empty top box). Not sure how many pies you have eaten but we could compare notes when you next ride ‘Baby’ without luggage.
With regards to (8), I’ve noticed the rocker box screws are not looking so new these days but everything else is good. I will be coating the bike in ACF50 and suggest you do this too, if you haven’t already.
Jon
Hi JonI’m interested in your suspension settings - preload/rebound/compression clicks etc.Is it a stock shock/fork setup?What are your weights etc.ThanksLarry
No problem, Larry. The suspension settings are written on my noticeboard in the garage and I’ve ridden my Stelvio into work today so I’ll need to get back to you on that one. My bike has the standard factory suspension and has done around 3,600 miles
I weigh 13st in my birthday suit and usually have around 5-8kg of total weight on the rear carrier (top box+load). My current set up works well enough with this and with my 9st 4lb wife with empty-ish top box (she’ll kill me if she sees this post ) without needing any adjustment.
I started off using the settings in the owners manual which I found unsuitable, especially the preload recommendations which resulted in me scoring lines in the tarmac with both legs of the centrestand (Pyrenees ).
More info to follow
Jon
OK, here goes;
Front suspension
Compression damping (LH fork): 2 complete (anti-clockwise) turns out from fully in.
Rebound damping (RH fork): 2 complete (anti-clockwise) turns out from fully in.
Preload: 6 complete (clockwise) turns in from fully out.
Rear suspension
Damping: 34 clicks (anti-clockwise) out from fully in
Preload: 26 clicks (clockwise) in from fully out
This is working well for me on most road surfaces without needing adjustment but of course it reflects ‘best compromise’ to avoid having to adjust every time. For example, If I were to load up with pillion and luggage, or do some off-roading, I would definitely change the settings.
I hope this has been helpful. It’s taken me about 2 months of trial and error and I may not be finished yet!
Jon
Thanks Jon
Hi Folks,
A very interesting thread to a new Stelvio owner,2014 NTX purchased beggining of August now done 3k which has included a fully loaded 1500ml trip to Scotland.
I’ve had the bike cut out on about six occassions when cold,but the fuelling in town is far superior to the 2013 R1200 gs wc te I just part ex’d for the Stelvio.
I also find the throttle action very snatchy but have partially cured it by removing the twist grip from the bars and smothering the bar end in lithium grease which has had the effect of making the throttle action feel a little heavier and more controlable.
I have also brought the screen mountings about 20mm forward which directs the airflow between the headlamp and instument cowl and the inside of the screen,and has been very effective.
I did find on my Scotland trip, that whilst fully loaded the engine did not like being under load and became very rattly at the top end but performed very well if I treat sixth gear as an overdrive.
The bike always feels very well balanced even loaded I find it very managable even at very slow speeds.
Suspension,I started with the factory settings and spent a fair while playing with it in lots of different situation,just about got it right and the bike handles really well.
The ergonomics could have been set up especially for me and I find it very very comfortable,unfortuately my good lady does not agree,but I think that’s because I adapted my old GSA alloy top box to fit and may have sited it slightly to far forward.
I just love riding the bike despite on or two minor niggles and only getting low 40’s mpg.
I think someone said earlier that they felt the Stelvio is much faster than it feels,I think I’d tend to agree.
Steve
You will find that once you have covered 8000 miles or more the engine beds in and the MPG improves by up to 10 MPG
Keith
Hi Steve,
Some interesting idea. I assume you mean you shimmed out the screen lower mountings by about 20mm. I will give it a go. I think the comments about the Stelvio’s speed are correct. I was hustling it a bit though heavy traffic and had to keep a close eye on the speedo and upcoming speed cameras. It felt like I was overtaking the slow moving traffic at about 15 mph but the speedo kept telling me my point and shoot bursts were hitting 40! The Stelvio’s growl was also useful in alerting drivers I was coming up behind them and even ecouraged the occasional SUV to get over to the left.
Richard
Steve, I’ve found that in some temperatures under certain load conditions, the Stelvio can detonate in the higher gears. It seems to vary a little more on the petrol make more than the grade, with no noticeable advantage with the ‘brands’.
There is plenty of space for a pillion if the top box is removed so mounting it further back should do the trick. We use the Givi box and it’s mounted as far back as possible. Another thing to consider is your position as dictated by the handlebars. If you are comfortable to move them forward a little, it will provide more space for a pillion. It’s certainly worked for me.
I’m still playing with my suspension, by the way 
Jon
Hi Richard,
I actually moved the screen support bars forward by 20mm
by fabricating 4 S/S spacers out of an old rack that I had,it’s a bit of a faff as you need to remove the clocks and other bits and bobs,but I feel it well worth it,I also have an X-Creen fitted and the bike is pretty quite now in fact it’s better with my visor up than down and the visor can be left up at any speed.
My inspiration actually came from this set up.
Stevewrinkley2014-09-20 07:43:40
Steve, I was thinking of doing something similar.
My idea is to space out the screen on the four mountings, with a shorter spacer at the bottom and a longer one at the top. This will place the screen slightly further away for clearance whilst tipping it more vertical which may result in a better effect.
I would expect this to be a simpler solution but it may require the enlarging of the holes due to the geometry of the slightly splayed mountings.
At the moment, my Stelvio has the smaller standard model screen with a Wunderlich spoiler and it’s very effective but I would have preferred the look without the spoiler added.
Jon
Squarepants2014-09-21 10:36:11
I looked at spacing it from the screen mounts but felt this would affect the stability and strength of the screen,doing it from the screen mounting bars makes for a very stable set up and means the screen mounting does not have to be compromised at all.
From what I’ve been able to determine it’s not about getting the screen more vertical but achieving smooth airflow behind the screen.
Steve
I was chasing a friend on a Fireblade today. He was two up, I was solo. The Stelvio suddenly didn’t feel so fast! That said, it wasn’t embarrassing!
Richard
Fitted a Finebau fuel compensator a couple of days ago.
On Daves advice I ordered the Aero module rather than the twin lamba module which just happens to be a whole lot less expensive as well.
First impressions were pretty good,it had been set at 6 on the regulator and fitting was straight forward.
The Stelvio was immediately much smoother in the lower rev range felt much quicker and much more linear right across the rev range rather than having a very obvious step up in power at around 4.5k rpm.
There was no or very little change to the shapness of the throttle there was still a fair bit of popping and banging on the overrun and it was still a little choppy at constant low revs i.e.anything below 3.5k rpm.
I e,mailed Dave with my feedback and got an almost instant reply asking me to switch all switches to the off position and let the device work automatically.
Tried this and although I wasn’t disappointed with the initial findings,set to auto it was much better.
Overall the bikes much smoother,feels much quicker right across the range and although the throttle is still a little snatchy it’s much better.
All in all a very nice piece of kit for the money.
I’ve also fitted a gear indicator,that has been a bit of a faff but I think I’ve finally sorted it.
I couldn’t believe how much I missed a gear indicator.
Oh how I wish I’d discovered Moto Guzzi sooner.I’m even thinking of giving my Stelvio a name
Steve
I’ve named my Stelvio!
As for fuelling, I thought mine was pretty much perfect but recently I’ve found a bit of a flat spot at 3,000rpm. It’s only noticeable on gentle throttle openings and I can live with it but I’ll investigate further at some time.
Glad you are enjoying yours.
Jon