First Goose

[dale decrescenzo]

purchased my first ever Goose, a '18 V7 Special with 1700 miles ... been wanting one for some time and i just could not past this one up.. After my first 400 mile ride however, it is clear that some things need to be "improved".

I found the seat to be unbearable after about 45 minutes, requiring several R&R stops (rest & Rub).
The rear shocks are passing sharp edge hits directly into my spine.
and the stock cans are just a bit too quiet for my liking.

as for the seat I,m getting mixed reviews on the gel, perhaps my good oll dirt bike guys at guts seats can help ?
as for the shocks, I have not gone through the effort of setting sags yet, but i don't think that will be a total solution.
as for the cans, I've got some on order, and will lets hope...

any recommendations of other improvements, best sequence of updates, etc.. list them up please..

 

[GTM®]

Hi Dale, first congrats and welcome to the GT Forum and Guzzi Famiglia. Hope you'll add your info to our Registry here; https://www.guzzitech.com/forums/threads/v7-registry-picture-thread-add-your-bike.9108/
So on to all of your questions... ALL of them have been extremely well covered here. Please spend some time reading in this section. I know "social media laziness" runs rampant these days, but this site is a reference library of information/questions that has been repetitively asked, then grouped (by me), to handle them and cover ALL Q&A and R&R.
Please also be sure to click on the STORE tab above. I have spent almost two decades R&D'ing products to offer the the community here, and I even now do custom seats (also in the STORE).
Anyway, hope you enjoy the bike and post often.

 

[DeadEye]

Hello Dale, Congrats and Welcome

After some searching - I found a couple threads taking about changing the pre-load setting on the rear shocks - i have them set about 11 threads showing below the adjuster - I find it much better. But I still need to watch the Road intently for EVERY Crack !
Picked up a Guzzi comfort seat on Ebay and its better - but now I have one to *play* with
I have a set GuzziTech pipes that should be arriving Any day now - there is a sound clip that clinched the deal for me

 

[Wildroamer]

purchased my first ever Goose, a '18 V7 Special with 1700 miles ... been wanting one for some time and i just could not past this one up.. After my first 400 mile ride however, it is clear that some things need to be "improved".

I found the seat to be unbearable after about 45 minutes, requiring several R&R stops (rest & Rub).
The rear shocks are passing sharp edge hits directly into my spine.
and the stock cans are just a bit too quiet for my liking.

as for the seat I,m getting mixed reviews on the gel, perhaps my good oll dirt bike guys at guts seats can help ?
as for the shocks, I have not gone through the effort of setting sags yet, but i don't think that will be a total solution.
as for the cans, I've got some on order, and will lets hope...

any recommendations of other improvements, best sequence of updates, etc.. list them up please..

I'm quite new myself, having just bought a V7III a few months ago, so welcome to the MG club! I almost bought a Special, they're beautiful!
Remember, around here, the only stupid question is one that's been asked before!

I kid, and as this is also a forum, I see no problem asking questions! I sure do/will!

Cheers from Vermont!
Todd

Oh, and there is a guy who refurbishes your seat for like a hundred bucks, or less. I'll find the outfit if you want. My Milano's seat is pretty damn nice, IMO, as I don't start to squirm until over a hundred miles or so, it seems.

 

[DeadEye]

Oh, and there is a guy who refurbishes your seat for like a hundred bucks, or less. I'll find the outfit if you want. My Milano's seat is pretty damn nice, IMO, as I don't start to squirm until over a hundred miles or so, it seems.

Oy, I’ll take that info on the seat rebuild too !

 

[Wildroamer]

Oy, I’ll take that info on the seat rebuild too !

Hmm, sadly it appears that he may have gone out of business. Website has disappeared.

Spencer was his name, http://www.greatdaytoride.com.

Oh well, there are certainly others. His mod was one I had seen favorably mentioned quite a bit on different forums.

 

[DeadEye]

Hmm, sadly it appears that he may have gone out of business. Website has disappeared.

Spencer was his name, http://www.greatdaytoride.com.

Oh well, there are certainly others. His mod was one I had seen favorably mentioned quite a bit on different forums.

Or maybe too much business at that price !

A local guy wanted $400 Cdn - I know that's only 10$ US - to put new foam in my seat - No new cover and the Grab Strap was going - he couldn't be responsible for the Safety of reattaching the strap.
Yes - We are Cheap sometimes - Now I have two seats - One to Learn upholstering on ...

The General consensus ( with upholsterers ) is that the seats are Too Soft and you are bottoming out - you need better quality *firmer* foam to support you.

So I was going to make a seat out of *Soft Wood* vs Hardwood... Ha ha - just kidding.

 

[Raven]

A local guy wanted $400 Cdn - I know that's only 10$ US - to put new foam in my seat - No new cover and the Grab Strap was going - he couldn't be responsible for the Safety of reattaching the strap.

Was that Blue Tent by any chance. He charged me close to that a few years ago and frankly it was not much of an improvement. My Corbin is a different story...aaahhhh!

 

[DeadEye]

Was that Blue Tent by any chance. He charged me close to that a few years ago and frankly it was not much of an improvement. My Corbin is a different story...aaahhhh!

No, this guy was off St. Laurent by “Robbie’s spaghetti house” in that industrial sector, it was a shared unit.
( I might have pissed them off when I “Jokingly” asked where their masks were, when dealing with customers...)

If I have to wear one into their establishment, I would expect the same from them... they don’t want to catch anything from me ( Except my money)

 

[dale decrescenzo]

thanks all for the inputs..

think ill give out an update, the pipes i thought were coming are way past due. tracking # reflected that they left Ohio went to Columbus then KC and were out for delivery ( for 14 days...)
I went to the local post office to confirm the tracking data, and i learned something new !
all that tracking data shown was the "planned route" and updated at the "planned time".
but in reality, the package never left Ohio...!!
tried to contact the seller, the website only allows one to join a mailing list, tried to call.... it's a automated statement on how busy Covid has made them, tried facebook but that only directs me to the web page or the phone number....

They saw me comin....

now im off to order pipes AGAIN. Im going to have spent enough that i could of had Jessey James come to the house and hand craft me some pipes out of old lawn mower bits.....

Id give out the name of the bad vendor, but im new here and not sure about the rules...

 

[Raven]

Why don't you order your pipes here using the store tab at the top of the page?
Get a refund from the other outfit.
I have never heard of tracking showing the "planned route" and I have had hundreds of packages shipped by USPS.

 

[DeadEye]

If you ordered it on a credit card they sometime cover lost / fraudulently handled transactions.

While we’re on the shipping subject, it only took 3 days for my stuff to get from the OC to Detroit - Canada customs has had my stuff for 10 days, inspecting it... I’d like to Inspect it too !

And today - It was released

 

[aproud1]

purchased my first ever Goose, a '18 V7 Special with 1700 miles ... been wanting one for some time and i just could not past this one up.. After my first 400 mile ride however, it is clear that some things need to be "improved".

I found the seat to be unbearable after about 45 minutes, requiring several R&R stops (rest & Rub).
The rear shocks are passing sharp edge hits directly into my spine.
and the stock cans are just a bit too quiet for my liking.

as for the seat I,m getting mixed reviews on the gel, perhaps my good oll dirt bike guys at guts seats can help ?
as for the shocks, I have not gone through the effort of setting sags yet, but i don't think that will be a total solution.
as for the cans, I've got some on order, and will lets hope...

any recommendations of other improvements, best sequence of updates, etc.. list them up please..

Welcome to the party! It's a long list(and there are many more things you can do) but these are great, super fun motorcycles.

I would highly recommend new rear shocks. They made an enormous difference. These below are priced right and made a big difference for me. There are better, but I couldn't bring myself to spend the money.

https://gtmotocycles.com/collections/all-products/products/gtm-s2w-ifp-twin-shocks

I bought a standard comfort gel seat to use while GTM rebuilt my stock seat. It is definitely more comfortable than stock and doubles my comfort time in the saddle. Still, I'm a biggun and knew I could benefit from a custom seat from previous experience. Though new shocks will likely extend your saddle comfort time.

I personally think Todds exhaust is the best looking out there (I ended up with something more subdued) and they certainly seem to be the best built.

I would highly recommend dropping your front forks 10 - 20mm. It's free and improves handling. The Evap mod is pretty much free as well. Todds SAS removal kit and the K&N air filter are both great mods as well.

https://gtmotocycles.com/collection.../gt-motocycles-v7iii-v9-sas-air-block-off-kit
https://gtmotocycles.com/collections/all-products/products/kn-filters-v7-v7-iii-v9

Lastly I would replace your fuel filter. the stock one present a potential issue and it's really not hard to replace.
https://gtmotocycles.com/collections/all-products/products/all-metal-in-tank-fuel-filters
And grab an oil cap tool while your're at it.
https://gtmotocycles.com/collections/all-products/products/gt-v7-oil-cap-tool

You'll definitely want an ECU reflash at some point. They come too lean from the factory.

 

[dale decrescenzo]

thanks all for the replies..
Shocking:
step one is to check and set my sag..Im a bit girthy at 265 lbs and im sure preloads will need addressing (if not spring rates)
is there any recommendations or spring rates per applied blubbers ?
lowering forks:
As my bike was purchased used (1750mi) i do not know if forks are in stock position, looks like my fork caps are just above the top triple clamp. Is that the stock location ? and will lowering them leave me a pocket to collect debris ? humm....
The sound:
even though this is what i want changed most of all, it really is of the least importance, and yet carries a bit of a price tag...
kinda like a hot girlfriend,
The investment would go a long way toward correcting a seat or the shocks, or even some gold valves (if they exist of the V7).

Oh well.....
Thanks all again.

 

[aproud1]

thanks all for the replies..
Shocking:
step one is to check and set my sag..Im a bit girthy at 265 lbs and im sure preloads will need addressing (if not spring rates)
is there any recommendations or spring rates per applied blubbers ?
lowering forks:
As my bike was purchased used (1750mi) i do not know if forks are in stock position, looks like my fork caps are just above the top triple clamp. Is that the stock location ? and will lowering them leave me a pocket to collect debris ? humm....
The sound:
even though this is what i want changed most of all, it really is of the least importance, and yet carries a bit of a price tag...
kinda like a hot girlfriend,
The investment would go a long way toward correcting a seat or the shocks, or even some gold valves (if they exist of the V7).

Oh well.....
Thanks all again.

Look on youtube for spring preload adjustment. Best to measure IMO. Helpful to have a second set of eyes.

Lower forks is actually moving up the forks in the tree

Mine:


This link has some details.
https://www.guzzitech.com/forums/threads/v7-iii-suspension-thread.17726/page-3


Stock exhaust is big and quiet. Besides improving the sound it can knock a far amount of weight of the rear of the bike. Still I like you didn't see as a priority.

 

[DeadEye]

Hi and welcome,

I guess it depends on the budget - I took some of the advice here - adjusted the preload on the rear shocks about 11 threads.
I find it much improved on all but the nastiest roads cracks and frost heaves. ( Canadian Winters )

Although I didn't really want to spend any money on the new to me bike I did and I'm Loving it !