po18guy

I very much like Jason and the Scorchers. Part of the reason is obvious.

Hearing of the charging amperage requirements of the Odyssey battery, I did not want to lay out the bux for an "approved" charger. Ya' see, I had a perfectly good Schumacher rollabout charger that will do 2/10/40/200 amps. Not worried about the 40 and 200 here. 10A seems about OK. But, it has only those huge automotive battery clamps on it. So, I picked up an SAE connector w/10AWG leads and wired them to the output of the charger. They lead to a covered, polarized outlet that I mounted on the front panel for access. Now, amping up is that much more convenient. But 10amps through an SAE connector does have me wondering a bit. We'll find out on that. Will have to be used in concert with a volt meter to ensure staying at or below 15V. Got some leather tool holsters for the automotive clamps so as to avoid shorting. They'll go on the sides.

What's a guy to do if his compression tester has only 18mm and 14mm threads, but his bike (Kawi 500) has 12mm plugs? Well, what fits better than a spark plug? Gutted the plug, squared off the top on my handy-dandy drill press, tapped 14 X 1.25, filled the cavern with JB weld and drilled through it, slipped a high pressure viton O-ring on and there ya' go.

OK, alloy then. That certainly stretches...

I wish the prior owners of Big Red would have tried that. The handlebar caps (same but smaller) look like vise grips were used on them. Little matter, as. I will be replacing the bolts with some nice tumble polished SS from RaceboltUK.

We Luddites have trouble coping. The .027 (inches) is from my Chevy small block days.

Will let you know how hot glue on the end of a wood dowel works. If it can pull dents then it should...but MG might have used a hydraulic press to install it.

Comma is "point" in Eurospeak. In decimals, it's .027559, but .027 or .028 is good enough fur us 'Murricans. Tried Iridium plugs? First thing I did and noticed quicker starts. It has Autolites now, but I have NGKs at the ready just in case. I have obtained 40mpg at 70-80mph on the freeway - which might not be stellar, but not bad for the old lump, considering it is still breaking in.

You have me thinking. DW thanks you for that! Anyway, all of the diagrams I have seen and owner input here suggest that the top four screws have washers while the guard screws have none, either above or below. The top screws are all one length and the guard screws all of the same longer length. Will try to remember to measure them. That is how I am reassembling it and that makes sense. True enough, but how is this situation helped by placing washers under the head guard at its ends and omitting them in the middle at the leak point? Before I pulled her down, I re-torqued the cap screws. The screw at the rear end of the leak point tightened ever so slowly, with that "it's about to strip" feeling. Now I know why: It was essentially trying to pull the guard down into contact with the valve cover. That is simple mechanic's negligence. I miked the height of the bosses on the valve cover and all were nominally the same - thus, no washers needed. What was the fellow thinking - or not thinking? As well, gasket compression is another issue and re-torquing may be old school, but it can never hurt. To assuage any impinged upon nerves, I received the metal core gaskets from MG today. A clear improvement and dirt cheap for a European bike with such idiosyncratic construction. Short of a Japanese style gasket with flanges to keep it in place, they are the clear solution. I recall here that the Japanese entered the industrial age by copying known designs and since their unchanging and inscrutable cultural traditions did not extend to the arena of industrial manufacture, they quickly analyzed and solved problems such as leaking gaskets. I have a 1987 Kawi EX500/GPz500S. Has the original cam cover gasket and it shows no sign of needing replacement. Neither does it leak. However, the Japanese tend toward the rational rather than the passionate.

Hard to forgive H-D for what they did to him. He would be a nice follow on to Dr. John Wittner. As I recall, the doctor did a few positive things for M-G. Ah, but there were different owners then...

I have an assortment of the green "high pressure" O-rings for car/truck HVAC use. They appear to be viton - rather higher durometer than the usual nitrile - so would be appropriate for Guzzi crank sensors and that kind of stuff. 390º was their designated limit for that material. Boeing experience you say? I was in tooling in the 70s until I found a steady job in the government Dad spent 38 years there, ending up in Experimental and Test (B-3410 for any Boeing types) in a small building adjacent to the runway. He enjoyed the heck out of it, as the shop was a microcosm of the manufacturing process, with early CNC, heat treat furnace, autoclave, A&P welders etc. He told me stories of the various times he had to demonstrate to certain engineers that two objects cannot occupy the same physical space.

Here is a nifty chart listing the strengths and weaknesses of the various compositions of O-rings. https://www.globaloring.com/o-ring-materials-comparison-chart/ Located in Texas, they claim to have 50 million O-rings in stock - except for Guzzi sizes. OK, just guessing there...

#112 O-rings? Here's 5 for $2.50 free shipping https://www.ebay.com/itm/112-O-ring-1-2-ID-x-11-16-OD-x-3-32-thick-Buna-70-Quan-5/293205984259?hash=item4444704403:g:d-EAAOSwlTBdaBQt.

Got tired of being landlocked, so I found a not-rainy day and pulled the left valve cover. Hmmmm. Problem obvious, but what was the cause? Ya' know, you'd think that a well-paid professional mechanic would take some pride in his work. Of the top four bolts, one had a washer that was clearly from some other source, being twice as thick. One other had two washers. Now as to the bolts holding the head guard, two had washers beneath and two did not. How do you suppose that affected the clamping force? And these are the thicker (#6139 0.8mm) gaskets. Went immediately to the surface plate. The guard is flat. Good. After using my favorite beverage (Methylene Chloride) to soften and remove what was left of the old gasket on the cover, I flattened it with a few strokes atop 320 wet or dry on the surface plate. It wasn't bad but a little freshening could not hurt in the flatness arena. A little 3M 8008 gasket maker on the cover, and a sparing amount of Mobil1 synthetic grease on the head side and back together we went. 10 N-m and all was good. Went for a 30 mile/45Km thrash on the freeway/Interstate/Autobahn/Auto Strada and all remained nice and dry. Today, I re-torqued the cover bolts and noted that they would move at 7-8 N-m, so the sandwich I made of them had compressed a bit. Looked at the right side and 3 out of 4 bolts had washers beneath the head guard. Ugh. Since the right side is not leaking, I will let sleeping dogs lie and catch that one at next service. Sure glad I didn't pay for that "maintenance."

I describe the Ballabio as the red-haired step-child of the Guzzi family and that's not far off. By comparison, the '99-'01 Sports have a more integrated, compact (is that even possible?) look at the front end. The fairing is the subject of discussion. From straight on, it's not my favorite, but from the front 3/4 view, I think it looks rather nice. It does block a fair bit of wind at my favorite 120km/hr riding pace. The rest of the bike is standard '03 and onward OEM stuff. Is it possible that the reported instability of the short-framed bikes was compensated for by the longer frame, slightly more conservative geometry, and frame-mounted rather than fork-mounted gauges and fairing? I recall here the infamous tank-slapping early Kawasaki police bikes, said problem resolved by frame mounting the fairing. For a bike named for the hillclimb victory, I can understand the high bars, but you'd think the suspension would be upgraded. As well as something stating, proclaiming, even boasting Italy - but no. A little script on the tailpiece and that's it. However, nothing in the Guzzi lineup makes perfect sense - nor should it, nor should we expect it to.

We are on the fringe here. ""Most" of the small block Guzzi buyers are more toward the hipster mainstream, and that is what parent Piaggio wants. They are a scooter company and urban appliances are their forté. As I see it, the newer bikes have probably been subjected to focus groups and marketing studies. Homogenized 2-wheeled McDonald's hamburgers. Satisfying many but exciting (or offending) none. Guzzi exists and for that reason we should derive some satisfaction, and Aprilia had things moving in the right direction until they fell on hard times. If I had to guess, Piaggio bought the company with the idea of exploiting the name and. history, using that horrible business philosophy of "brand management." A certain American company has done the same, licensing their name to Ford, clothing manufacturers, glassware, jewelry - everything but better bikes. Alas, it seems that they are also in dire straits now, despite appearances. My proposal is to hire Erik Buell and allow him to offend a few and inject some lightness and performance into the current commuter bikes. Speaking of which and totally off subject: back when Buell introduced the Harley-powered XB9 and XB12 Firebolts, I examined one and sat on it at the international motorcycle show in Seattle that year. Despite the horrid engine, that bike fit and felt perfect - as very few do when subjected to the "fit" test. Daydreaming is satisfying - else we would not spend to much time involved in it. I somehow doubt that the board of Piaggio is capable of it.

Certainly does sound like a poor connection in the primary voltage. I recently had an odd low-current starting problem after a 40 mile freeway ride and a 15 minute rest. Engine barely turned over but did eventually start. I cleaned and tightened the battery terminals, the starter cable at the starter and tightened the ground cable at the transmission. All better, so it was apparently somewhere in there. Will still have to remove, clean and reconnect the ground at the transmission, as I did not completely remove it. But still, starting is fine.

Is the physical size of the Purolator an issue, or is it OK?

Until then, here is the comparison of the "recommended" motorsports filter and the "Boss" PBL14476. The Boss is claimed to be their best. Given the dimensions, threads, etc, is that enough to figure it out? I note that on amazon, the Boss is actually cheaper by a buck or two.

So, the take-a-way is: 1. Change your oil. 2. Use a filter. Seems simple enough. So why does the Ford/Chevy debate always rage on? As Guzzi owners, I get the impression that we are all part of a widely dispersed somewhat dysfunctional but very passionate Italian family. And having grown up across the street from some 1st generation Italian Americans, arguing among them is an art form. EDIT: Well, it's all academic now, if it wasn't before. Ordered the metal gaskets, 2 Hiflo filters and the double secret key to the mysterious door in the sump which holds the filter. All from MG, as I'm sure they can use the business. Even though the filter is enclosed, I am reminded of Cycle Magazine's comments in their test of the original 850 LeMans. "18 bolts and a glass of Perrier" to access the filter - what? No San Pellegrino?

According to MG, the production alternates between 8 and 14 flutes. So, two wrenches then? Am thinking that my uni-wrench from Cycle Gear might work in either case.

It might have a pair of those legendary, über rare factory liquid cooled cylinders. (OK, I made that up). Still, would do nothing for the cherry red headers. Maybe these blokes thought up the header wrap...

Prego! Hey, while we're here, any practical difference between HiFlo and the OEM Ufi oil filters? Inquiring minds and guzzinoobs wanna know...

They're not really lights, but reflectors. The glow from the cylinder heads and exhaust helps light the way - for a mile or so.

It's for riders who like to illuminate their big jugs. The upper is a repop of a Magni half fairing or something. The lower is pure garage rock. But, what would it do to the cylinder head temp?