Moto Guzzi Centauro Owners Impressions

Centaur in Greek mythology is half man or woman and half horse.The Centauro lives up to the name it has lots of power and lots of torque a steel horse or man-woman-horse.The problems this bike had at the showroom were mechanical & electrical this turned off people because of Moto Guzzi not doing their testing on there own chip caused idling and mid range problems along with other problems .I contacted Adam at https://secure.gforcecycles.com he got me a Techlusion to adjust the fuel injection, air to fuel ratio at different RPMs,he also got me Avon sport tires so I could corner with the best of them,he has a Centauro and gave me other good ideas. Contacted Will Creedon and put his C-5 chip(9000rpm) he also added to my knowledge. I then had my mechanic Phil Cheney at www.danburybmw.com to machine a all brass housing for the temperature probe,and use European settings on valve & etc.He changed the battery wiring from # 6 to # 4 wire and also put heavier wiring to the spark plugs and so many other things I would be her all day talking thanks Phil .Gordon and Richie at www.mgcycle.com suggested I should put Stucchi crossover pipes and Mistrals mufflers carbon fiber oval these are great for passengers they stay cool.Then contacted Corbin to customized a seat that put me 1"back and 1" lower this way I can get in a racing postion or tournig position.We have a Centauro web site www.centauro-owners.com here we all share ideas problems we have a picture gallery,forum,articles,membership page and a great link page Mike Wallis watches over us and keeps us all in line as Luap McKeever at www.wildguzzi.com .People that have a Centauro call them the Beast.With all this done my Centauro is a very Reliable ,has Power through all the RPM range in all temperatures and conditions.Handling Performance and Controling in Cornering are excellent and the Quality and Craftsmanship can't be beat.This V-10 Sport Centauro she(The Beast) will bait you and take control of you and until you ride the hell out of her she will then (sometimes) calm down.The V-10 Sport Centauro is the most innovative model in the latest generation of Moto Guzzi motorcycles.It is destined to become a milestone in the history of Moto Guzzi.The rightful heir to the legendary V-700 ,T-3 & ect .After 35+ years and hundreds of thousands of miles, it is a Honor for me to have bike that is The Bike Of The Month. thanks to all of you.TAKE CARE & BE SAFE ../ Jim Palma MGNOC # L-663, AMA # 538847 & AOPA # 0153047 .. maxok@nycap.rr.com

Update from Jim (09-28-03) -The Spark Plugs were replaced with IRIDIUM NGK DR9EIX and the wiring MAGNACORE-ING for a V-10. After the removal of the air box and the Evaporative Emissions System you are left with the two lines that originally went to the air box to vent. The first one to vent is the Oil Breather which now runs down and is capped with a oil K&N Breather Filter or straight down to the atmosphere. The second line is from the Barometric Sensor that hose is also is run down to the atmosphere. The line or hose running from the fuel tank to the Evaporation Emission System is vented to atmosphere. The spigot that was on each of the air intake manifold (that went to the Evaporative Emissions System) is removed and the hole is sealed with a 6x1mm Allen Screw or Capped. The Evaporative Emission System catching fuel vapors under the gas tank is vented to atmosphere .After running the bike the Spark Plugs are removed and they are a nice coffee and cream color. All work was done by my favorite Technician Phil Cheney and all the great people at www.cliffsbmw.com Danbury , CT USA . Now the bike is ready for the Dyno , so I called John & Mike my two favorite Dyno Technicians. John Builds Racing and Drag Motorcycles and will Modify or Fix anything to a motorcycle at www.pcwracing.net .Mike is a Graduate Engineer from Union College in Schenectady , NY . They make a great team. The Dyno test was the same as before, no noticeable changes and the Techlusion setting were not touched. One must remember that Temperature, Air Pressure, Humidity and the Technician are all influencing factors on your Dyno Test. These tests can be Fudged. But in reality this provides no advances to the BEAST.

Graph #6 has an Emissions Test for Carbon Monoxide and Hydrocarbons. You can see the red line and how restrictive the airbox is compared to the blue and purple lines .But if you take all the little things like Spark Plugs and Ignition Wiring, Wiring to battery #6 to #4 ,Temp Probe Brass Housing and so on it will all add up to a big increase in HP and Performance. If for some reason in your area the Environmental Requirements are more Stringent, you have plenty of room to lean with the Techlusion.I am not a die heart Techlusion person (but I must say it works for me) most of the people on C.O.G. use Power Commander if some one would send me some Graphs and they look good I will gladly get one and try it out and maybe write another article about it. I hope this update and the first articles has helped someone and if you Centauristi have any Graphs, Data or Info ( I am learning ever day) please forward them to me so I can keep the research up to date on the greatest bike in the history of Motorcycling. TAKE CARE & BE SAFE../ JAMES R PALMA maxok@nycap.rr.com

It all started with a phone call to my friend Phil Cheney Master Tech at Cliff’s Danbury BMW Dealership at Danbury, CT. He said that Dyno Solutions www.dyno-solutions.com moved in next door and was on the Danbury BMW web site also. I call John Tavolacci the owner of the Dyno Solutions LLC he has the new 250i DYNO the latest version of the 250 series is the ( i ) and he said that Todd Eagan of http://www.guzzitech.com/ fame was in town for a few days to help John (John also has a great deal of knowledge of MOTO GUZZI BIKES) getting started with his new venture a NEW 250i DYNOJET (and he had with him a Power Commander 111 for a Centauro (Todd has been at the forefront and has done outstanding work on the PC111 for Motorcycles in General and for Moto Guzzi models as one being the Centauro, he has a few made special form time to time for rare motorcycles. I have been in contact with him to buy one for testing for almost 6 months at www.centauro-owners.com forum; he was free with his vast knowledge about the PC111 and Motorcycles in General). The next day I had a friend follow me down to Danbury, CT a 2 hour ride from Albany, NY. I meet John a Great Guy (He is a Certified Technician on the DYNOJET and has the latest "Tuning Link" software for the 250i DYNOJET. This allows for very Precise Fuel Mapping that can not be Achieved by Manually Mapping a Motorcycle) and he introduces me to Todd Eagan a Real Gentleman and also a Certified Technician on the DYNOJET.

Dynojet’s newest release for your Moto Guzzi is the Power Commander 111-usb (PC111usb which John got me from Todd) version, which steps up the features. Faster processor, more programming points (every 250 rpm vs. 500 rpm), a “cylinder trim” function which allows your Tuning Center to “Tuning Link” (correct) each cylinder separately, and an expansion port that may allow a future timing module. They’ve also made it easier for you to make subtle adjustments yourself.

Now this is a Great time to see the differences between the PC 111 which enriches and Leans vs. the Techlusion which just Enriches. Wanted to see what a 250i DYNOJET can do and the differences between the two since I was limited to 150 DYNOJET the year before, the Europeans seem to use the 150 DYNOJET all the Dyno Graph I received from people from all over Europe are done on a 150 DYNOJET, so I left the Centauro so they could put on a New Rear Tire Avon Sport from my dear friend ADAM at http://www.gforcecycles.com/ . Have to thank the great people from Cliff’s Danbury BMW Cliff, Phil, Francis, Evan, Mike and Vinny, so the Techs put the rear tire on and balanced it (Rear last me 1,500 to 2,000 miles the Front 3,000 to 4,000 miles) and an Oil change have been using Agip Racing 20w-50 4T Full Synthetic and a Oil Filter change, then next door to Dyno Solutions www.dyno-solutions.com John and Todd adjusted TPS, Throttle Bodies and etc. With this done the bike was Tweak up and ready for the 250i DYNOJET Performance Evaluation Program:

The 250i DYNOJET run with C-5 Chip and POWER COMMANDER111 20% STEADY THROTTLE PULL GRAPH # 9

Therefore when making the decision to add a PC111 and get a Custom Map you should do the following to Max Out your Bike if you can’t afford to do this add what you can but remember that as you add things in the future you will have to repeat the Dyno Run to remap the add on for the PC111 Map:

That all anticipated changes (after market EPROM C-5, Air Filtration, Exhaust, Euro Specification Valve (for USA imports) settings, Brass instead of Plastic use on the USA Imports Temperature Sensor Housing, IRIDIUM NGK DR9EIX and the Plug wiring MAGNACORE-ING for a V-10, Battery Wiring from # 6 to # 4 Wire, etc.) have been incorporated when the bike was tuned

Make sure that the bike is past it's break-in point so that it can be rev'd to it's limits

Make sure you are running the same Octane Gas you intend to use during the tune-up and the mapping session as you always use

Make sure you have it all done in your predominant riding season (same theory as having your snow blower tuned in winter as you never use it in summer)

Having this specific map made, you are still relying on the ECU and resident EPROM to make corrections in accordance with altitude, barometric reading and temperature. The PC111 will continue to subtract or add a given percentage of fuel in accordance with the map that was created.

This is where an after market EPROM like the C-5 comes into the picture for a Centauro. The original map was a combination of many miscalculations (some have hinted that Moto Guzzi actually had better maps in hand, but accidentally selected the less than optimum map that they then provided with the Centauro). The C-5 labored over by Will Creedon, made an out standing effort to correct errors in the map as well as other compensation algorithms.

Because the PC111 is so easily reprogrammed, it is possible to have individual maps made for each potential condition, and reload the map you need on a given change in the environmental variables. However, it makes more sense to have a good core EPROM, like a C-5, and have a custom map made on the PC111. With the good compensation algorithm the ECU will meter out the fuel in accordance with environmental changes and the PC111 will add or subtract the appropriate amount of fuel for the dynamics of your motorcycle (it's breathing and burning particulars).

Using other people’s maps is as productive and predictable as using another EPROM. It is an approximation of what might work on your bike. It could be a good approximation, or a bad approximation. It was a perfect match for one bike, with one EPROM, with one setup at given point in time.

I believe that a DYNOJET is a Must, the adjustments with a Laptop for a PC111 you don’t get all the sensing that is done by the 150 DYNOJET or a 250i DYNOJET set up.

The RIDE back to Albany, NY from Danbury, CT (126 miles) via rt84 HEADING WEST and the NEW YORK STATE THRUWAY heading NORTH the BEAST was so much more Responsive and Smooth. The Acceleration was so much more improved over the other set up I had, right on the MONEY (and I thought it could never get any better then). My GAS light would come on at 100 miles, now it comes on at 126 miles and GAS BURNED was 2.9 Gals. I was going 74 MPH 50% limit for no TICKETS of the time and other 50% 80 to 115 MPH hit 120 MPH once saying to myself good thing I had a new rear tire and the NEW YORK TROPPERS were sleeping. The 250i DYNOJET was something to behold, I was VERY IMPRESSED. My NEW PC111usb has a higher level of Technology than Techlusion. Every time I UPGRADE my CENTAURO it gets better and better but the PC111 put it out of this WORLD. I believe that Dyno is an ABSOLUTLE MUST for any Motorcycle Tune up for not only FI but for CARB Bikes too. I think the DYNO is the UNSUNG HERO of this WHOLE ADVENTURE.

I HAVE to GIVE Special THANKS to KEN APPLEGATE aka MOTTS, TODD EAGAN, JOHN TAVOLACCI, JOHN GANEY www.pcwracing.net , CURTIS HARPER http://www.harpermotoguzzi.com , Will CREEDON, and ADAM at https://www.gforcecycles.com that started me down this road of Research on the GREATEST BIKE IN THE WORLD the BEAST the CENTAURO . I hope this series 1, 2 & 3 part Article helps some one out there if you have any questions please Email. maxok@nycap.rr.com . Or email me about your Experiences. Thanks. TAKE CARE & BE SAFE & BE HAPPY…./ James R Palma MGNOC # L-663, AMA # 538847, AOPA # 0153047 & TCA 75-8077. Email me for more info or go to this address http://www.centauro-owners.com/articles/palma/index.html