Stelvio Update August 2010
August 3rd, 2010
Sorry people. Been offline for a while. Spent a good few weekends out on the bike and commuting to and from work. The Stelvio is proving to be a good work horse. I’ve had a couple of issues with the bike but nothing serious to the point of being let down. Luckily my local Guzzi dealer Haywards always step in to look after me as and when required. Heres the update…
A couple of months back I had the tyres replaced on the Stelvio. I specifically took the bike to Haywards because there is a known issue with the front left fork and heavy handed mechanics. What happens is that the front wheel gets removed for said tyre change. The mechanic then puts everything back together, tightens up the two pinch bolts on the fork, generally beyond the prescribed 10nm torque and hey presto the fork clamp snaps thus requiring a new lower suspension unit. Haywards are well versed with this issue and carefully tightened the bolts up but within a month or so the fork had snapped. There were no issues though because it was swapped out within days of the problem reported. Who says Guzzi parts are hard to get hold of?
The 2nd issue ive got is that the digital fuel gauge does not register a full tank. This is a common issue but Haywards have diagnosed a faulty fuel sender unit and have one ready to go for when I next go in there with the bike.
Over the past month or two ive also decided to part company with the panniers. They make the bike too wide when parking it in my garage so they have gone to a new home up north and ive purchased a new Trax 38 litre top box as reviewed in a separate article on my site. Again, Haywards supplied the parts at a good price… Theres a trend here isnt there… Luckily for me my dealer always comes up trumps and has everything in stock thats needed… The other benifit of going to a top box is that my son can relax on the back of the bike against the top box. He never felt concerned but does prefer the security of a box to lean against. There are no problems with weight loads and so on because the box, its mount and the Stelvio’s rack are well built and more than up to the task…
Back in May I did a 400 mile weekend jaunt on the bike. I had it well loaded up with gear including a 12 pack of beer tucked away inside one of the panniers. I have to say that it rode perfectly and didn’t complain once about the weight even though there was a fat biker sitting on top of it too. The engine including the power delivery was just perfect for a long run. It was docile when needed and had a huge reserve of power for the occasional over take when needed.
So, apoligies again for the lack of updates… I have been too busy playing bikes…
Ride safe.
