• Ciao Guest - You’ve landed at the ultimate Guzzi site. NEW FORUM REGISTRATIONS REQUIRE EMAIL ACTIVATION - CHECK YOUR SPAM FOLDER - Use the CONTACT above if you need help. New to the forum? For all new members, we require ONE post in the Introductions section at the bottom, in order to post in most of the other sections. ALWAYS TRY A SEARCH BEFORE STARTING A NEW TOPIC - Most questions you may have, have likely been already answered. DON'T BE A DRIVE-BY POSTER: As a common courtesy, check back in and reply within 24 hours, or your post will be deleted. Note there's decades of heavily experienced Guzzi professionals on this site, all whom happily give endless amounts of their VALUABLE time for free; BE COURTEOUS AND RESPECTFUL!
  • There is ZERO tolerance on personal attacks and ANY HYPERLINKS to PRODUCT(S) or other competing website(s), including personal pages, social media or other Forums. This ALSO INCLUDES ECU DIAGnostic software, questions and mapping. We work very hard to offer commercially supported products and to keep info relevant here. First offense is a note, second is a warning, third time will get you banned from the site. We don't have the time to chase repeat (and ignorant) offenders. This is NOT a social media platform; It's an ad-free, privately funded website, in small help with user donations. Be sure to see the GTM STORE link above; ALL product purchases help support the site, or you can upgrade your Forum profile or DONATE via the link above.
  • Be sure to see the GTM STORE link also above for our 700+ product inventory, including OEM parts and many of our 100% Made-in-SoCal-USA GTM products and engine kits. In SoCal? Click the SERVICE tab above for the best in service, tires, tuning and installation of our products or custom work, and don't miss our GT MotoCycles® (not) art on the BUILDS tab above. WE'RE HERE ONLINE ONLY - NO PHONE CALLS MADE OR RECEIVED - DO NOT EMAIL AND ASK QUESTIONS OR ASK TO CALL YOU.
  • Like the new V100, GuzziTech is full throttle into the future! We're now running on an all-new server and we've updated our Forum software. The visual differences are obvious, but hopefully you'll notice the super-fast speed. If you notice any glitches or have any issues, please post on the Site Support section at the bottom. If you haven't yet, please upgrade your account which is covered in the Site Support section or via the DONATE tab above, which gives you full site access including the DOWNLOADS section. We really appreciate every $ and your support to keep this site ad-free. Create an account, sign in, upgrade your account, and enjoy. See you on the road in 2024.

LaFranconi Competiziones on V11 EV: Too Loud?

N

NinjaGoose

Just got it firing!
Joined
Jul 3, 2009
Messages
7
Location
Davenport, IA
I have a '98 V11 EV that I've modded a little bit to give it a little more pep and personality. For about 2 years it just had the FBF open intake kit w/ BMC air filter and open crossover/H-pipe. IMO, it opened up the sound of the bike and gave it a nice, mellow roar when rolling on the throttle.

Well in my quest to make it run "like it should" (subjective), I installed a PC3 and just today my LaFranconi Competizione mufflers came in that I'd have my eyes on forever. My plan was to have all the power mods installed and then get it dyno tuned and have it running like a champ. Basically, I wanted my bike to produce a dyno chart similar to what Todd produced with the same mods on a modern California.

I've never heard any Californias with the LF Comp's in person, but the videos I've seen/heard made it sound pretty deep and throaty, but not overly loud.

Well after installing them tonight, I started her up to have a listen. I could have ridden it, but it was cold and dark. Granted, I was in my garage, with the door only halfway open so not to disturb my neighborhood too badly, but holy mother of God they seemed obnoxiously loud. Absolutely nothing like I thought, or even hoped. Not only that, but there's a real nasty rasp coming from the right-hand muffler when letting off the throttle from a decent RPM. No idea what the cause of that would be, but it sounds terrible.

Regardless of that, does anyone else have experience with these mufflers with the mod-combo that I have? Is your take on it that it's far louder than you thought it'd be? Too loud? Will they tone down/mellow any with some miles put on them? Will it be less obnoxious by simply being outside of the garage in open space? The way it sounded in the garage, I feel like I, myself, won't even be able to enjoy my rides due to the volume of these things. And not just the volume, but the overall unrefined sound and that nasty rasp when coming off throttle.

I'm really against the noise pollution from obnoxiously loud motorcycles, and never thought I'd find myself in that mix of offenders.

What say you? Should I give it a thousand-or-two miles before making my final judgement, or is this basically what I just spent over 500 George Washingtons on, and am already considering selling at a loss? This is really not the impression I was hoping to have with these, and am already filled with buyer's remorse. :(
 
I know a few who have installed them. They soon removed them as they were too loud with just an H pipe. The sound was OK with the stock pre-muffler/crossover but on a 1998 you really want to remove the stock unit just to be able to change the transmission oil easily. Sometime after 2000, a drain plug was added on the transmission cover at the rear so the stock crossover wasn't in the way for an oil change.
 
Well I just returned from a 250-ish mile ride, and I'm sad to say that the Comp's will be coming back off the bike and eventually posted up for sale.

They're just too loud.

On the plus side, they sounded much better when on the bike and being ridden under load. Also, and this is the biggest thing; the driveability was phenomenally improved. It's clearly evident that a whole corral of horses were unleashed with the new-found breathing due to the mufflers, and the bike was actually fine with being ridden at lower RPM.

Not only that, but 5th gear was even useful at highway speeds. Where with the stock pipes, anything under 80 MPH rendered 5th useless, as the bike would struggle to accelerate or even hold speed without a handful of throttle, I had it in 5th gear at 70 MPH today and it went down the road fine. Giving it a handful of throttle at 70 in 5th, the bike accelerated at a rate that I'd consider comparable to a pretty quick car. It got to 85 in no time.

And rolling off idle in first gear, accelerating hard up to 80-90, the power delivery is shockingly linear. Where before with the stock mufflers, there'd be a bit of a flat spot in the middle, and then a rush of power, now it just pulls hard from idle to 8K RPM, and it's so smooth about it that it doesn't FEEL quicker, but you watch the speedo move at a rate never before seen on a stock-piped California.

The bike felt like an entirely different machine... but it's just too loud. If it was possible to make quiet while just cruising along at a low-throttle load, it'd be fine and I'd be content. But even when just cruising, the volume is too much. I couldn't help but feel bad when going through small towns or passing by residential areas. Others may feel different, and obviously others do, but in my personal opinion, the Comp's are just too loud for me.

So, if anyone is interested in a pair of barely-used LF Competiziones, let me know. I'll be swapping them back out for the stockers soon and will be posting them for sale on here, WildGuzzi, and Craigslist.
 
lafraev.jpg


Not sure which ones you bought but I have these on my bike with a Guzzitech H-pipe and a cross over head pipe. I will admit it is a little louder but I consider it more of a dignified rumble. I actually thought it was louder than it really was until I had a friend riding the bike and I could hear it the way everyone else hears it. Get someone to ride it and listen to it before you make your final decision. They really are nice exhausts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6NNiaU3KAY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9N5-mF8BJc&feature=related
 
Those are the exact ones I have.

I suppose I could have someone else make a few fly-by's past me, but even still, they just seem too loud even for me while I'm riding the bike.

I also have to consider my ol' lady because we enjoy 2-up riding on the EV, and if they're too loud for me, then that could probably be multiplied by 5 for her lol.
 
Well went on another ride today. I'm getting used to the sound and am learning to like it. Kinda like one learns to like a Guzzi after some time. Also had another person ride it past me a few times and it's not as loud as I thought it'd be from a third person perspective.

So, they'll be staying on the bike. I'm also gonna get new head pipes with the crossover tube one of these days. That's supposedly gonna aid in cleaning up the sound a little bit, which can only benefit the situation.
 
brlawson, where did you get your head pipes with the crossover tube? I can't find any for the California anywhere. I've searched MGCycle, Harper's, eBay, even Google'd them and came up with nothing as far as where to buy. Stucchi's own site doesn't even list anything about them.

Also, did you have the Comp's on your bike before you added the new header with the crossover tube? Did that crossover really make any difference in balancing the sound any?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top