Pexi's Moto Guzzi Weblog

For a Few Rides More

I've always been a big fan of Sergio Leone, so here you go: a totally different motorcycle movie, 2 min 30 secs:

Ground clearance - in action

Disclaimer: I made these videos just to see how much the centre stand really limits the left hand leaning angle - so, I'm riding here like a wooden block, not moving my body and not trying to go as fast as possible. Anyway, the ground clearance is now quite good for my riding style - I can touch the ground if I try, but it hardly happens unexpectedly anymore.

The centre stand hits the tarmac on left hand curve - short slow motion on board video (mpeg, 2.3 MB, 10 seconds).

There are minor pumps on the road and you'll hear the scratch (if not, right click to download the movie and watch it locally) and if you watch carefully, you'll see that the gear lever is in danger too.

Another touch here, slow motion too - the centre stand and my foot jump upwards and the sound follows a bit later...

These on-board bullet cameras are lots of fun!

Ground clearance

Limited ground clearance. This a regular phrase in almost every Norge test report I've seen and it's quite a common complaint for Breva 1100, too. They share the same frame and suspension, but Norge is 15 kg heavier, which may make it a bit more prone to grounding. The actual problem is the centre stand - Moto Guzzi did remove the centre stand totally from the 1200 Sport, for saving some weight, but obviously also giving it more leaning angle. So, the problem is real, but can it be cured?

There are not many things that can be done without removing the centre stand, but luckily they make a big difference:

1. Adjust the suspension. Factory settings are soft (actually dealer settings, IMHO), but that's why the adjustment knobs are there! Owners Manual says that at rear, and counting from from completely discharged, the std settings are 8 clicks and medium load is 35 clicks. Front fork as std is 8.5 turns open from totally closed. I weight 70 kg, and have tightened one full turn at front fork (this has hardly anything to do with the ground clearance, though) and usually ride with 12-14 clicks at rear. I've also tightened the rear rebound for one click. Like that the bike is still VERY comfortable, so I can only imagine what happens if a 100 kg (220 lbs) guy sits on the std settings bike and starts leaning... steel sparks look cool in the darkness of the night!

2. Modify the centre stand stop rubber. There are two sizes available from factory, a long one for bikes without rear panniers and a shorter one for the bikes with them. The reasoning here is that when the rear panniers are installed, the muffler needs to go lower. The centre stand stop rubber is resting at a flange on the muffler, so when the muffler drops lower, the centre stand rest-position is compensated with a shorter stop rubber. Anyway, even the shorter stop rubber is unnecessary long! First picture below shows original long one and the modified one on my Norge. If you'll click on the starting picture, you'll see an animation of the effect this mod has.

That's it. Takes five minutes (or half an hour if you set-up the suspension more meticulously) and after that you can't anymore grind the centre stand on the right hand turns, as the fairing and foot peg will ground first (pic 2 below). Left hand leaning angle is still a bit limited by the centre stand, but not much - the foot peg, muffler and gear change are getting pretty close to the ground too (pics 3 and 4 below).