Must be something sqiffy with the rear then. My hustles beautifully through B road twisties. Gone through the foot rest hero bobs, and skimmed the down pipes and muffler heat shields on the right. Centre stand lever inhibits on the left. I run with around 35mm of thread showing on the rear shocks on both my Breva and Nevada.
Nothing ‘squiffy’, although I think that term is open to interpretation! The bike handles the twisties well but the suspension is poor at absorbing bumps and could do with more damping control with a lighter rider on board. We don’t expect a magic carpet ride like the CCM but we know it could be so much better than it is.
Suspension is very personal - depends on weight of rider, how they ride and of course what they are used to. The three small blocks I’ve had in the past all needed their rear suspenders to have a date with Mr Bin.
Jon
Rather than throwing them away accept that in 30 years time some sad old git will be after a genuine pair of rear shocks to finish of their restoration.
Charge them mega bucks.
Haha - yes! I’ll keep the old fork oil too, and sell that as genuine Breva vintage pre-aged fork oil 
We shall keep those classic original shocks cossetted away under the mattress. Not quite ‘precious’ as Golom would say, but a better investment than money in the bank, for sure!
Jon
Suspension is very personal - depends on weight of rider, how they ride and of course what they are used to. The three small blocks I’ve had in the past all needed their rear suspenders to have a date with Mr Bin.
Agree the first part…tho I have owned 2 V50s and a Monza and none have required different suspension in my opinion…in fact neither do any of my big blocks…well apart from the Daytona…and that only shows up over really tight twisties with lots of bumps…
Progress…
Aim was for Helena to be flat footed on the lil’ Breva (Pepe, as she calls him). With the help of some aftermarket shocks intended for a Bonneville, with replacement lighter weight springs, some home-machined bushes and a lot of trial and error, we are there.
The set up has notably improved ride comfort compared to the original and there is some adjustment possible in terms of height, preload and damping in both directions. The shocks are made by TEC and include remote reservoirs with 15-way damping plus some useful extenders and adjusters to the free-length, which has been very useful. We have tested clearances and can bottom out the shocks without anything rubbing down there (oooh! Matron! ).
In terms of VFM the shocks are amazing but they are not in the same league as the usual quality items. They do the job really well and they handling has improved massively - partly down to the ride and partly down to the slightly more relaxed geometry as a result of lowering the rear end. We have, inevitably, lost a small amount of suspension travel but due to unsuitable springs on the OE items, this travel was probably never to be seen 
.
I’ve also been experimenting with clutch mechanisms to lighten the action (mixed results, not happy with it), fitted adjustable 'bar risers (very good) and now it’s time to modify the side stand which currently puts the bike at 90 degrees to the road!
More work to do, then 
. Helena reckons it needs an injection of excitement too 
Jon
.
But as stated earlier, rider mass plays a large part.
I didnt write the first part of the above Kev…and I dont neccessarily agree with your comment…I believe tis more technique and mind over matter…
Ooooh, I have to challenge that statement! Especially for lighter bikes, the rider weight plays a massive part in setting up the suspension. If Cal Crutchlow and Danni Pedrosa use the same spring rate, I’ll drink fork oil
Jon
As Hagon and Manxton those like to know the weight of the rider it must make a difference, but I would agree that technique and confidence are more important.
Some people when they ride a bike look as though they are part of it.
Kate, Allan Howe and Gio all fall(fell) into that category.
When I deliver motorcycles…I have a six inch plank to unload them down out of a renault van…to date I havent dropped one and we aint talkin modern liteweight bikes…stuff like CBX’S and big zeds…you just have to stack the odds in yer favour imho…
That said…I aint about to receive a moto gp ride… 
so I rarely bother messin with suspension meself…unless its knackered…
Style is important. Shift your body weight to the low side of the bend and you can feel the bike moving over the bumps beside you, so a heavier rider can appear lighter on the bike than a lighter rider that sits dead in line with the bike.Sitting up straight also makes the rider a dead weight on the suspension, but a prone rider taking their upper body weight on back with loose arms will flex from the hip joint. Both prone and hanging off help to mask the riders upper body mass as it become double sprung mass.
Yes of course there are some riders out there who could take a hardtail chop over the Strata Florida and not bat an eyelid - but I’m not one of them, nor is the missus! All other things being equal, it is of course better to tune your suspension to suit the rider if you want to get the best out of the bike. I would also argue that there is a safety aspect here too; keeping the tyres in contact with the road .
Back on topic, we will trial the new set up on some varying roads/distances and report back. The bike feels too small for me now, which is a good sign, according to Helena, who really needs a 3/4 scale motorcycle.
Jon
A bit late but if a 3/4 size bike is wanted the Indian Scout starts off like that.
Grom?
Helena being “vertically challenged” may also have certain features that may flatter you, but also make braking a stretch with standard levers. The Yam FZ6, FZ8, FZ1, MT07 & MT09 all have span adjustable front brake levers that fit straight on a B750 master cylinder. They also add leverage offering extra finesse.
Thanks, Cabernet. This info may have saved us a few squids. We’ve already purchased and fitted short Pazzo levers for both the brake and the clutch, which in terms of quality are pretty much as good as it gets but they come at a price.
They work well with the standard clutch cable but in order to reduce the hand pressure, I fitted a reduction lever device which introduces a second short cable and an aluminium box which contains a short lever attaching to the new short cable and the original clutch cable. The cables attach at different distances from the fulcrum within this box such that a 3mm pull on the cable at the lever translates to a 2mm pull on the clutch cable at the other end.
It’s not a win-win situation because there are some mechanical deficiencies and the adjustment needs to be spot on to ensure easy neutral selection (clutch disengages fully) and no clutch slip under load uphill in top on a wide open throttle (clutch engages fully with relaxed cable).
We’re not 100% happy with the set up and there are a couple of things we can do so it’s ‘work in progress’
As chief fiddler, I took the lil’ Breva out for a thrash the other evening and the handling is spot on. This allows full exploitation of the 48BHP, which has proved enough to have fun on the twisties but others will have alternative views, of course.
More news to follow!
Jon
Enjoyable thread to follow.
My two pennyworth ? Several years ago my little Kawasaki GPX250 (baby Ninja) went for it’s MoT, and the tester pointed out that the rear shock had seized solid, and there was ZERO suspension movement at the rear.
Me ? I hadn’t noticed 
Oh, forgot to mention, my only other bike at the time was a pre-war rigid Triumph…
You were obviously born to ride Moto Guzzi.
On the roads we endure these days, I don’t know how I’d survive with the rock-hard rear-ends I used to like back in the 80s!
To put this into perspective, I discovered I’m faster on my Stelvio than on my Griso 8V, despite the latter being slightly more powerful with less frontal area and a fair bit lighter. I was out for a blast on the Griso yesterday evening and worked out why. On the twisty bumpy roads, the Stelvio’s suspension has the advantage*. There’s no doubt the Griso has the edge on looks and it’s a delight to ride but it just goes to show which one is the real ‘sports’ bike!
Sure, I could probably bring the Griso closer by spending a bit more time on my suspension set up but I still think that handling beats power in most circumstances and for me, a good suspension set up makes all the difference.
Jon
- The rider view, enjoyed by the ‘Adventure Bike’ genre, also plays a part here because you can see so much further ahead on the hedge-lined S-bends.