[Cheerfulljerry]

I'm trying to drum up some interest from other Imperiale owners if there are any, I'm starting to think that I'm on my own with this one! It would be nice to get other riders perspective's on Imperiale ownership, it's either this or I spend my spare time on Twitter winding up Biden voters

Anyway here's a couple of pic's of my Imperiale that I purchased a couple of months ago.

Love, Jerry

 

[Brian68]

Hi I also have an Imperiale 400. I live in the UK. I bought this about 6 weeks ago. So far quite pleased with it, reminds me of the B31 I had as a teenager. A little surprised of the cost of the 600 mile service at the dealers (£143.00). I am a retired motor mechanic, and tried to purchase a workshop manual but was told that Benelli have not released this for public sale !
Throttle appears to work like a switch on shutdown, either on or off, are they all like that ?

 

[Brian68]

Hi I also have an Imperiale 400. I live in the UK. I bought this about 6 weeks ago. So far quite pleased with it, reminds me of the B31 I had as a teenager. A little surprised of the cost of the 600 mile service at the dealers (£143.00). I am a retired motor mechanic, and tried to purchase a workshop manual but was told that Benelli have not released this for public sale !
Throttle appears to work like a switch on shutdown, either on or off, are they all like that ?

Just noticed that yours has fork gaiters and different decals. Were these standard. This is a picture of the one I own.

 

[Cheerfulljerry]

Hi I also have an Imperiale 400. I live in the UK. I bought this about 6 weeks ago. So far quite pleased with it, reminds me of the B31 I had as a teenager. A little surprised of the cost of the 600 mile service at the dealers (£143.00). I am a retired motor mechanic, and tried to purchase a workshop manual but was told that Benelli have not released this for public sale !
Throttle appears to work like a switch on shutdown, either on or off, are they all like that ?

WooHoo, I'm not the only one after all!

I took my Imperiale in for it's 600 mile service around 3 weeks ago, I think the cost of the first service is a little steep considering all that the dealer does is an oil and filter change plus a check around to make sure all the nuts and bolts are still in place. Not only that, the dealer still adds the VAT to the cost of the service so it works out at just under 160 quid! I think it's a great little bike though, cheap to run and fun to ride which in my opinion is the essence of motorcycling. For the first few weeks of riding my Imperiale I thought that the throttle was a bit on the 'jerky' side so I adjusted the free play out at the twist grip end and I also noticed that the throttle cable ran through a bracket on the top fork yoke which made the cable very taught so I removed it from the bracket, very easy to do, to give it some slack and after that it seemed a lot better. Also for the first couple of weeks of riding I found that that gear changing was a bit of a 'gamble', difficult to get into gear at lower speeds, so I adjusted the clutch cable and found that after a couple of hundred miles the gear changing has become a lot smoother although I have found that 'blipping' the throttle on down changes helps a great deal.

I have found a couple of 'niggles' with my bike, the ABS light only works when it feels like it and when the engines warmed up and you turn the bike off and leave it for 10 minutes or so, when you start the bike up again the idle is very erratic although none of these things affect the actual riding of the bike so at the moment I will live with it until it's next service.

As for as the modifications on my bike I was going to wind people up and say that I bought a 'limited edition' Imperiale but to be honest I'm a bit of a tinkerer. The tank and side panel emblems are standard to the bike, I added the Italian flag stickers on the tank because when I was riding home from work one night I managed to get a stone chip on the right side of my tank which p****d me off greatly! I touched the chip in and unless you were looking for it you wouldn't know it was there, but I do know it's there so stickers are my go to remedy for this sort of thing. I changed the chromed plastic mirrors and indicators because I think that chromed plastic is the work of satan! I removed the black covers that hide the throttle body just behind the cylinder barrel and found a nice chromed metal disc that fits nicely on the throttle control that's on the side of the throttle body. I removed the passenger grab handle 'cause I didn't like it and the fork gaiters are actually for a Triumph T100, the fork dimensions are identical.

If you a planning on keeping your Imperiale long term I would recommend changing the disc mounting bolts, Benelli have used M6 socket head bolts made out of cheese that only need a 4mm allen key to remove them, as I'm sure you know brake disc bolts have a nasty habit of corroding themselves into the threads over time and there's no way in hell that these little bugger's are going to come out easily after a few years. I fitted some stainless M6 hex head bolts to the front disc which was easy enough, unfortunately the rear disc bolts aren't quite so easy to change. One more thing, I've spent a little time removing some bolts on my bike and giving them a touch of copper slip, something that Benelli failed to do as this will make life a little easier in the future when doing brake pad changes and the like.

Anyway I hope that I haven't bored you with all this and it would be good to hear about your long term experiences with your new Imperiale, happy riding

 

[Brian68]

WooHoo, I'm not the only one after all!

I took my Imperiale in for it's 600 mile service around 3 weeks ago, I think the cost of the first service is a little steep considering all that the dealer does is an oil and filter change plus a check around to make sure all the nuts and bolts are still in place. Not only that, the dealer still adds the VAT to the cost of the service so it works out at just under 160 quid! I think it's a great little bike though, cheap to run and fun to ride which in my opinion is the essence of motorcycling. For the first few weeks of riding my Imperiale I thought that the throttle was a bit on the 'jerky' side so I adjusted the free play out at the twist grip end and I also noticed that the throttle cable ran through a bracket on the top fork yoke which made the cable very taught so I removed it from the bracket, very easy to do, to give it some slack and after that it seemed a lot better. Also for the first couple of weeks of riding I found that that gear changing was a bit of a 'gamble', difficult to get into gear at lower speeds, so I adjusted the clutch cable and found that after a couple of hundred miles the gear changing has become a lot smoother although I have found that 'blipping' the throttle on down changes helps a great deal.

I have found a couple of 'niggles' with my bike, the ABS light only works when it feels like it and when the engines warmed up and you turn the bike off and leave it for 10 minutes or so, when you start the bike up again the idle is very erratic although none of these things affect the actual riding of the bike so at the moment I will live with it until it's next service.

As for as the modifications on my bike I was going to wind people up and say that I bought a 'limited edition' Imperiale but to be honest I'm a bit of a tinkerer. The tank and side panel emblems are standard to the bike, I added the Italian flag stickers on the tank because when I was riding home from work one night I managed to get a stone chip on the right side of my tank which p****d me off greatly! I touched the chip in and unless you were looking for it you wouldn't know it was there, but I do know it's there so stickers are my go to remedy for this sort of thing. I changed the chromed plastic mirrors and indicators because I think that chromed plastic is the work of satan! I removed the black covers that hide the throttle body just behind the cylinder barrel and found a nice chromed metal disc that fits nicely on the throttle control that's on the side of the throttle body. I removed the passenger grab handle 'cause I didn't like it and the fork gaiters are actually for a Triumph T100, the fork dimensions are identical.

If you a planning on keeping your Imperiale long term I would recommend changing the disc mounting bolts, Benelli have used M6 socket head bolts made out of cheese that only need a 4mm allen key to remove them, as I'm sure you know brake disc bolts have a nasty habit of corroding themselves into the threads over time and there's no way in hell that these little bugger's are going to come out easily after a few years. I fitted some stainless M6 hex head bolts to the front disc which was easy enough, unfortunately the rear disc bolts aren't quite so easy to change. One more thing, I've spent a little time removing some bolts on my bike and giving them a touch of copper slip, something that Benelli failed to do as this will make life a little easier in the future when doing brake pad changes and the like.

Anyway I hope that I haven't bored you with all this and it would be good to hear about your long term experiences with your new Imperiale, happy riding

Thanks for the tip regards brake disc securing bolts, I'll order some and fit them. Bike has now had it's first service and feels much better now. They only charged £114.00 not £143 that I was quoted. I have managed to get hold of a full workshop manual in PDF format. If anyone is interested I'll put it on here as an attachment. I've also found a program called ECU HUD Hacker on the internet, that you can use to scan the engine ECU .It installs on a Win laptop , just requires a cheap interface available on Ebay.and so far appears to show all parameters. It'll even let you flash the memory with updated maps. I am going to play with it to see if I can iron out the deceleration fuel cut off.

 

[Cheerfulljerry]

Thanks for the tip regards brake disc securing bolts, I'll order some and fit them. Bike has now had it's first service and feels much better now. They only charged £114.00 not £143 that I was quoted. I have managed to get hold of a full workshop manual in PDF format. If anyone is interested I'll put it on here as an attachment. I've also found a program called ECU HUD Hacker on the internet, that you can use to scan the engine ECU .It installs on a Win laptop , just requires a cheap interface available on Ebay.and so far appears to show all parameters. It'll even let you flash the memory with updated maps. I am going to play with it to see if I can iron out the deceleration fuel cut off.

That was a bit of a result on your service cost then. I would be interested in the workshop manual that you have found if you don't mind sharing it. Unfortunately everything that you said about ECU hacker thingy went straight over my head, you seem to have a lot more knowledge about these sorts of things than I do. If you manage to smooth out the throttle control I would be interested to hear how you sorted it out.

 

[Brian68]

That was a bit of a result on your service cost then. I would be interested in the workshop manual that you have found if you don't mind sharing it. Unfortunately everything that you said about ECU hacker thingy went straight over my head, you seem to have a lot more knowledge about these sorts of things than I do. If you manage to smooth out the throttle control I would be interested to hear how you sorted it out.

That was a bit of a result on your service cost then. I would be interested in the workshop manual that you have found if you don't mind sharing it. Unfortunately everything that you said about ECU hacker thingy went straight over my head, you seem to have a lot more knowledge about these sorts of things than I do. If you manage to smooth out the throttle control I would be interested to hear how you sorted it out.

Yes I was surprised with cost of service. I'll be doing the next service myself unless I have any problems under warranty. I spent 50 years working on motor cars and the occasional motorcycle, so have some understanding of how the ECU's work. I'll let you know if I manage to cure throttle problem. Please find attached PDF file.

 

[Cheerfulljerry]

Yes I was surprised with cost of service. I'll be doing the next service myself unless I have any problems under warranty. I spent 50 years working on motor cars and the occasional motorcycle, so have some understanding of how the ECU's work. I'll let you know if I manage to cure throttle problem. Please find attached PDF file.

Brilliant, thanks for the Manual Looks like I've got a lot of reading to do I think I'm going to have to learn about how ECU's and the like work. This is the first EFI bike that I've owned, I've always stuck with good old fashioned carbs before, but times are a changing and I need to keep up!

 

[Cheerfulljerry]

Hi I also have an Imperiale 400. I live in the UK. I bought this about 6 weeks ago. So far quite pleased with it, reminds me of the B31 I had as a teenager. A little surprised of the cost of the 600 mile service at the dealers (£143.00). I am a retired motor mechanic, and tried to purchase a workshop manual but was told that Benelli have not released this for public sale !
Throttle appears to work like a switch on shutdown, either on or off, are they all like that ?

Whilst I think about it here's a thread that I found on another part of this forum discussing the Imperiale throttle response

Lambda sensors

I have a Benelli Imperiale 400, and I´m finding the throttle response a little awkward. It shows up mostly on bends, which are many and various here in the mountains. Approaching a bend I usually close the throttle and slow down to a speed that seems suitable, then, going into the corner I...

www.benelliforum.com

I thought that you might find it interesting.

 

[Brian68]

Whilst I think about it here's a thread that I found on another part of this forum discussing the Imperiale throttle response

Lambda sensors

I have a Benelli Imperiale 400, and I´m finding the throttle response a little awkward. It shows up mostly on bends, which are many and various here in the mountains. Approaching a bend I usually close the throttle and slow down to a speed that seems suitable, then, going into the corner I...

www.benelliforum.com

I thought that you might find it interesting.

Thank You for the link Re:Lambda Sensor. I've had a look. I'm afraid that disconnecting the Lambda sensor won't help with the deceleration fuel cut off, It will just illuminate the EFI fault light. Lambda just tries to keep fuel/air ratio correct.
I think that the throttle problem is due to the ECU map cutting fuel on deceleration until a preset RPM. I will take the bike for a run when I have time, with ECU scanner running on laptop in my rucksack to record what is happening. Hopefully I may be able to flash ECU to modify map. I'll keep you posted of results.

 

[grant.melton]

I'm trying to drum up some interest from other Imperiale owners if there are any, I'm starting to think that I'm on my own with this one! It would be nice to get other riders perspective's on Imperiale ownership, it's either this or I spend my spare time on Twitter winding up Biden voters

Anyway here's a couple of pic's of my Imperiale that I purchased a couple of months ago.

View attachment 37228

View attachment 37227

Love, Jerry

Where are you based. I’m in East Sussex.

 

[grant.melton]

Here’s a couple of my 2021 imperiale

 

[Brian68]

Hi Grant
I live in Hampshire, about halfway between Guildford and Portsmouth. I have a friend who lives in Burwash, who I visit in the summer, are you near there ?

 

[grant.melton]

Yes I’m about 10-15 miles max so not far

 

[Cheerfulljerry]

Where are you based. I’m in East Sussex.

Hello Grant, sorry for the late response I've had a very busy week again with work and everything, seems to be the way these days! I'm down in not so sunny Bournemouth where the weathers turned particularly nasty today. How are you getting on with your Imperiale?

Jerry

 

[Cheerfulljerry]

Thanks for the tip regards brake disc securing bolts, I'll order some and fit them. Bike has now had it's first service and feels much better now. They only charged £114.00 not £143 that I was quoted. I have managed to get hold of a full workshop manual in PDF format. If anyone is interested I'll put it on here as an attachment. I've also found a program called ECU HUD Hacker on the internet, that you can use to scan the engine ECU .It installs on a Win laptop , just requires a cheap interface available on Ebay.and so far appears to show all parameters. It'll even let you flash the memory with updated maps. I am going to play with it to see if I can iron out the deceleration fuel cut off.

Hello again Brian, just a bit of an update on the 'jerky' throttle response these Imperiale's seem to have. Since I spoke to you last a couple of months back I've been playing around with the throttle cable free play on the twist grip and have been able to smooth out the throttle control quite nicely. I've untethered the throttle cable from all of it's cable ties and clips other than one cable tie that secures the cable to the frame directly under the fuel tank and I have taken out all of the twist grip free play completely to the point where when you have the steering on full lock to the right the engine revs pick up, not a problem on full left or when riding normally, this isn't a perfect solution but it has smoothed out the throttle control completely and makes riding the bike much more enjoyable. Now I say that I've managed to get around this issue with a bit of tinkering but it could just be a simple case that my bike now has almost 2000 miles on it and everything has broken in as it should. There is another possible reason and this is because I've stopped using Shell petrol, this might sound stupid but I did own a 'v' twin Yamaha a few years back and that bike didn't seem to like Shell petrol either!

So anyway I thought I might share my findings with you.

 

[Brian68]

Hello again Brian, just a bit of an update on the 'jerky' throttle response these Imperiale's seem to have. Since I spoke to you last a couple of months back I've been playing around with the throttle cable free play on the twist grip and have been able to smooth out the throttle control quite nicely. I've untethered the throttle cable from all of it's cable ties and clips other than one cable tie that secures the cable to the frame directly under the fuel tank and I have taken out all of the twist grip free play completely to the point where when you have the steering on full lock to the right the engine revs pick up, not a problem on full left or when riding normally, this isn't a perfect solution but it has smoothed out the throttle control completely and makes riding the bike much more enjoyable. Now I say that I've managed to get around this issue with a bit of tinkering but it could just be a simple case that my bike now has almost 2000 miles on it and everything has broken in as it should. There is another possible reason and this is because I've stopped using Shell petrol, this might sound stupid but I did own a 'v' twin Yamaha a few years back and that bike didn't seem to like Shell petrol either!

So anyway I thought I might share my findings with you.

Thanks for update.
I've only done 1000 miles on mine so far. I'll try your suggestions and see how it feels compared to now. It's definitely getting better as the miles pile on. Roll on the warmer weather! Do you use yours everyday, if so how's it holding up against corrosion.

 

[Cheerfulljerry]

Thanks for update.
I've only done 1000 miles on mine so far. I'll try your suggestions and see how it feels compared to now. It's definitely getting better as the miles pile on. Roll on the warmer weather! Do you use yours everyday, if so how's it holding up against corrosion.

My Imperiale has definitely 'loosened up' a lot with the mileage. I still think it's a brilliant bike and keeping my fingers crossed and all it hasn't let me down at all during our wonderful British winter so far. I do ride my bike for commuting so yes I have been riding everyday, but not always at the weekends. During the day my Imperiale has to live outside in all winds and weather in our company car park, this is something I'm not to bothered about because I was keen from the start of ownership to see how the Imperiale would hold up in the typical UK weather conditions and bearing in mind the relatively cheap price point of the bike I am pretty impressed so far. There are a few little rust issues that have shown up so I've put some pictures on here to show you, this was easier than trying to explain these. The only really annoying rust problem I've had is around the mounting holes on the 'stainless steel' exhaust heat guard, I'm not sure if this an issue with all Imperiale's or just mine but it looks like that after the mounting clips were welded to the rear of the guard, whoever finished the face of the guard got a bit over zealous with the polishing mop so I've taken my usual route to dealing with things like this and stuck a sticker over the more obvious bit of rust, it was quite a large area. At some point next year I'm planning on removing the guard completely, the only problem with this is that the guards mounting 'lugs' has been welded directly onto the silencer, I'm also thinking about getting another exhaust down pipe fabricated but I want to keep the silencer because I like the look of it.

 

[Brian68]

Hi Jerry
Just wondering how your Imperiale is holding up in this cold and wet weather. I am lucky as I don't have to ride in the cold or wet, so my Imperiale is staying in my shed until next month.
Regards
Brian

 

[Cheerfulljerry]

Hi Jerry
Just wondering how your Imperiale is holding up in this cold and wet weather. I am lucky as I don't have to ride in the cold or wet, so my Imperiale is staying in my shed until next month.
Regards
Brian

Hello Brian. My Imperiale has been incredibly reliable all winter, It's still riding well and since I 'fiddled' with the throttle cable adjustment I've had no issues at all with the 'jerky' throttle response. Unfortunately corrosion has become a bit of an issue, basically anything that's not painted black has corroded including the wheel rims. I've addressed most of the corrosion issues but I'm not sure how I am going to deal with the wheels yet.

Jerry