2007 Breva 1100

[Sambobadger]

I have a opportunity to buy a 2007 1100 Breva that looks in excellent condition and only has 12000 miles.  Guy is asking 4500. Kelly BB has them for over 5K in excellent shape.  What do yawl think?

[bad Chad]

Buy it, great all round bike!

[Gino]

Great bike, took it to Turkey in 2009' never missed a beat, 2000 miles in 4 days, I reluctantly sold it because I was going away for a year. I'd buy another!

[Nic in Western NYS]

It's a great bike, had that model and year.  If you don't do your own wrenching, make sure there is a quality Guzzi mechanic nearby.

[Dean Rose]

It's a great bike, had that model and year.  If you don't do your own wrenching, make sure there is a quality Guzzi mechanic nearby.

The damn things are built like an anvil, one of the best bikes Moto Guzzi ever made.


Dean

[menzies]

I owned an 07 I bought new and regrettably sold it and now own an 06 I bought with 10,500 miles. As Dean said they are solid and I have never had one whimper for me. I fitted the 07 with the metal fuel filter and MPH startus interuptus fix from new.

[Huzo]

The '07 Breva, is that just a naked Norge, my Norge is an '07 and 92,000 k, see "wire wheel Norge " post. Please tell of the startus interruptus mod, I'm interested.

[Kev m]

The '07 Breva, is that just a naked Norge, my Norge is an '07 and 92,000 k, see "wire wheel Norge " post. Please tell of the startus interruptus mod, I'm interested.

Guzzi doesn't seem to like to learn lessons well.

I'm told that for decades they've run the power for the starter relay through the ignition switch. Such a set-up works fine for a while (especially when all the components are new) but will eventually lead to intermittent failure of the starter relay (located under the seat on the CARC) to fully close. When this occurs it won't power the starter solenoid and the motor won't crank.

The Starter Interruptus fix installs a direct fused power supply from the battery to the hot terminal of the starter relay.

It's pretty simple. I wrote up a thread years ago when it first happened to my B11. AFAIK it never happened again all these years later.

[ITSec]

The '07 Breva, is that just a naked Norge, my Norge is an '07 and 92,000 k, see "wire wheel Norge " post. Please tell of the startus interruptus mod, I'm interested.

As Kevin mentioned, this is a chronic issue with both large and small block bikes. Search the board a bit, and you'll find several threads with descriptions of how to wire in a relay and fused connection to improve power to the starter, as well as links to a kit available that just plugs in if you don't want to wire it yourself.

[rdbandkab]

We loved our 06 Breva....put around 53,000 (2up) miles on it.  Do the "startus" mod and ride.
Too bad we couldn't have had that engine in the NTX...   Sold the NTX after 18,000 miles. 
We really missed the sounds the Breva made.  The sound of the valves, Mistral carbon, and clutch were music.

rdb

[Huzo]

What is appropriate size fuse for the starter relay ?

[ohiorider]

I found a scanned copy of Todd's installation instructions.  Hope it's legible on your computer, since it's been converted into a JPEG by blowing up and copying a screen capture, pasting to Powerpoint, and saving as JPEG file. 



Either doing Kev's home rolled fix or the MPH kit, it's a no-brainer.  My 1200 2v Sport had started the 'interruptus' thing.  With the kit, not a second thought about whether the starter will crank.

[NC Steve]

As a side note, please be aware that the KellyBB and NADA have diddly squat to do with actual motorcycle prices, or value in the real world.

With your standard cars and trucks, they're usually ok, but on bikes they aren't even close to accurate, be it high or low.
The only benefit might be the amount a bank is willing to lend you toward a purchase

[Kiwi Dave]

I'm told that for decades they've run the power for the starter relay through the ignition switch. Such a set-up works fine for a while (especially when all the components are new) but will eventually lead to intermittent failure of the starter relay (located under the seat on the CARC) to fully close. When this occurs it won't power the starter solenoid and the motor won't crank.

Not quite correct, Kevin.  The starter relay works fine, but the current that is sent to the solenoid (through the starter motor relay contacts) is limited by the tortuous path from the battery through the keyswitch and back down to the starter relay.  The mod bypasses this long route with a direct path from the battery to the starter relay contacts.

[Kev m]

Not quite correct, Kevin.  The starter relay works fine, but the current that is sent to the solenoid (through the starter motor relay contacts) is limited by the tortuous path from the battery through the keyswitch and back down to the starter relay.  The mod bypasses this long route with a direct path from the battery to the starter relay contacts.

Ahhhh yes, so the clicking under the seat without the solenoid engaging is the starter relay closing but the power passed by the starter relay is insufficient to pull the solenoid in and throw the big switch to power the starter. Yes?

[Kiwi Dave]

Yep!

[Sambobadger]

Well, I got a lot more response than I expected and I thank you all.  I am aware that the KBB and it's cousins are just a general rule of thumb especially on bikes like Moto Guzzi.  Given that the bike is immaculate, with only 12K miles, Mistral aluminum exhaust, full optional hard bag set up, I think it is a screaming deal and I'm taking it.  I was and am curious what a bike like this goes for in different parts of the country.  Also, I don't 'think' it has a starting problem, but ya never know.  I just sold a 2003 V11 LeMans that drove me crazy for the last two years I owned it because of starting glitches.  Oh yeah, I just found out that the bike is a 2008 Breva 1100.....not 2007.  So....that starting thing MUST have been fixed right..;)

[Kev m]

No, the starting thing is not fixed. AFAIK it's a potential problem on all Guzzis for decades.

The point is that they all WILL have a starting problem at some, often inconvenient, point as the battery and wiring age.

It will potentially strand you with a no start at some point when the battery is weakened but long before the point where the battery couldn't have started the bike with a better wiring set-up.

That said, I've not looked into performing it on my smallblock, nor did I ever both with my Tonti Cali. Perhaps there's something about the parts used on the CARC models (Breva, Norge, Griso, Stelvio) that made them more prone to the problem, I can't say. <shrugs>

But Guzzi has changed nothing about the design to prevent it.

[Sambobadger]

Whew!  Had a fellow member warn me about dash failures on the 1100 Breva's.  I researched it a bit and found that there seems to be no real fix except to fork out over 800.00 for a new one.  This is not good...no start or speedo or signals?  Can't deal with that...does anyone know if Guzzi deal with this problem before the 2008 Breva 1100?

[Dean Rose]

My 2007 has had a cracked glass on the instrument panel for years and is still working great.

Dean

[ken farr]

I have an 06 B-1100.
Startus mod and a couple of other things to suit me.

As Dean said, anvil tough and simple enough you can wrench it.

It is faster than I am and handles better than I do.

Good machine.

kjf