I can only agree with you. My 4+ 2021 model V85TT was also sluggish. I bought mine in '22 with onl 500 miles on it. M&P in Swansea said they had completed the 600 mile service before selling me their demonstrator. It was very lumpy low down and lacked any smoothness at steady throttle. I took it to Downend Motorcycles and Charlotte worked her magic on it. I could not believe the difference. She is definitely my go to mechanic.
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Taken the v-boost back off, lasted 4 days and didnt like the way the bike was behaving. I never wanted it to be faster/smoother at the mid/top end i wanted the 20mph in 2nd, 30 in 3rd to not be surging/hunting. Im not going to re-map as apart from cost its not a route i really wanted to go down. So i think my guzzi days are almost over. Time to start looking around, but no idea what.
The main problem i had was stuttering and hesitancy at low speed.
For example when filtering through traffic if i tried to use the throttle to complete a manoeuvre it would lag only maybe 0.2 to 0.5 second but enough to throw the bike off, this became really bad with a passenger.
The problem was apparently to do with a standard Moto-Guzzi map upgrade not being completed properly.
Since the mechanic at Downend motorcycles finalised the last MG map upgrade it is much better - problem solved and it also accelerates more smoothly in the mid range.
I find putting it in sport mode minimises the stutter at low revs, and use E5 fuel.
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I have always used only Sport and e5.
Canāt see any point in buying a bike of 60 hp or whatever then turning 40% off lol
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Had exactly the same experience with mine. Ive learnt to slip the clutch below 1800 revs as she hunts or jerks loads. My dealer said that was normal for a V twin. What a load of ā¦ My 40 year old V65 pulls lovely in low revs in all gears .
It would appear that remapping is really the only solution
I went to that dealer last week. Boy were they not interested in selling me a guzzi ā¦
Donāt think the modes alter the power only the throttle response.
throttle and ABS / traction control
Hi Sparkieb, before you throw it all away, go and take a test ride on a 2024 E5+ version, I have just bought a 2000 mile old one and I can happily tootle around town without surging or lumpiness and it smoothly pulls away. Unfortunately many dealers donāt set these bikes up well and if you get a bad one they are difficult to live with, if you get a good one they are just lovely.
Sorry but its too late now, bike is up for sale and ive had a couple of test rides on a t120 bonneville that was smooth as silk, so thats the way im going. Loved the v85tt apart from the low speed carry on.
Oh thatās a shame, hope you enjoy the T120. I was nearly put off buying the V85 because the 2 I test rode both felt stifled, so I bought 2nd hand with a view to spending the difference on tuning, found a well priced 2024 Travel and it is far better than the 2 I test rode before. I am sure the bikes I test rode were restricted in some way, I donāt think some dealers can be bothered.
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I test rode a euro 4 bike thats was better than mine, not that i knew at the time
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Well its time to poke the hornets nest so here goes.
I have been running the bike Euro 5 now with about 4000 miles on and slowly added the following.
K and N air filter.
Velocity stack
Storm end can.
Boost plug.
Ebay copy decat.
All running great and an improvement at every stage. But here is the thing anybody following me said it smelt so rich it hurt there eyes. To be far i did agree as the v boost i understand it, richens up in the mid to high range. But having been out 2 up for some normal distance runs around the peaks when i get back my wives helmet gloves and jacket stink of petrol. An unburnt really rich smell, its an awful lingering stink. I tried swopping back to the original end can as it has a light colour on the exit and this backed up my concerns by showing some soot on the exit. I do not believe this end can change made any difference to the performance in an way across the rev range at any throttle opening.
So being a bit of a doubting Thomas regarding the ecu cheaters i removed it today and went for a ride. I have put the storm can back on and it feels better and the rich smell has gone. I do not believe its running weak or any hotter across the whole rev range, maybe not as responsive at 1/4 throttle but still big improvement over the standard set up.
I am not saying the v boost is not doing anything as it clearly makes a difference but for my kind of riding it just seems to rich to often without the cat to hide the smell.
Any input would be appreciated.
That is the sort of result of an ecu spoofer that i would expect.
It may still be more punchy but very rich. Like some early bike FI systems My KTM 990s were very punchy but made my clothes and especially my pillionās clothes stink of fuel - and did 39mpg when provoked!
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Iām no mechanic but isnāt the point of the boost plug just to try and fool the ecu to tell the fuel pump to dump more fuel in? And wouldnāt that make the bike run rich?
Tuning modern vehicles is not easy. The computers look at so much data from so many sensors. Trying to remap the thing just by altering one input - say temperature, isnāt going to cut it.
Just my opinion on the boost plug and not meant as a dig at anyone. Plus I may well be oversimplifying it?
the ecu will switch between closed loop and open loop to adjust fuelling, the booster plug affects one of the measurements (ambient air temp) only which results in a richer fuel mixture when engine is not up to normal running temperature and when large throttle input is made.
a good explanation here:
at normal running engine temperature and low throttle inputs the ecu uses a different map and ignores the ambient temperature sensor (and by extension, the booster plug).
riding conservatively with low throttle results in almost exactly the same fuel economy as no plug, Iāve measured this a lot using the app.
long trips on cruise control give high 60s mpg, 67 or 68 mpg, same as no booster plug.
riding it more aggressively means a drop in fuel economy compared to no booster since of course it gets a bit more fuel.
having more torque available from 2000-2500rpm is worth it for me, makes urban riding smoother, and the pickup from 3000rpm if on a fast road and wanting to overtake is also way better, i dont need to drop a gear anymore and can stay in 6th
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