arek

Yeah, and no, I did not go to Mark, but rather I sent the heads to Mike Rich. Originally, I had a shop in SoCal - the name of which I probably should not mention - simply clean the heads and valves and put it back together, but they did such a poor job - 3 times I shipped the heads back and forth with problems - and I finally shipped them to Mike. The oil seeping through the guides was result of their work, and not a problem I tried to fix. When they arrived at Mike's, he had to re-seat the valves seats, install new guides.

It just so happens that I work for a company that makes world's smallest fisheye lenses, and I have a demo laparoscope with wide-angle lens on it (It has never been used ) It has input for light illumination and a viewfinder, so I will try to take few snapshots through the spark hole now - about 500 miles on coated pistons - and another after few 1000s of miles to see if, in fact, the coating is preventing carbon build up. This will also tell us if peeling is occurring ... for the skeptics.

I agree with you It is too early to make statements, so let's see if this hold up over time. But, wouldn't it be great if it did tho ... a cheap and simple solution to a long fought problem I am optimistic ...

ratchethack, you are right. I did not approach this scientifically, and I did not control all variants to isolate it to the coating, so it is difficult to make this claim a fact. When the heads were off everything got cleaned, and brought back to stock. However, the engine had only 5k miles at the time, so it was not a 50k mile carbon build-up that was removed. It was fairly clean. Nothing else was changed. The pinning was really bad. My road test procedure was opening throttle under load - 3rd and 4th gear going on a slight incline - at 3-5k RPM the thing was rattling like crazy - coins in a metal jar type sound ... first time I head it, it freaked me out and I posted about it here, because I did not know what it was. Repeating this same road test after coating the pistons, I cannot detect any pinning at all. I mean no pinning at all ... not "significantly less pinning." When you say that there is evidence of such coating performing on turbo and nitrous engines, but that this does not translate to a stock road engine of a Guzzi, I would have to disagree. To my mind this is completely reverse - if something works on an engine that is pushed to its limits, it will certainly work on an engine that is very conservative. However, something that works on a conservative engine may very well break down when pushed to the max ... durability and longevity may be another issue, and I will certainly monitor what happens over time. I got the pistons coated at Polydyn . I coated both tops and skirts, with their appropriate coatings - $70 for pair. I did not take pic I don't know details about the process they use, only what I read from their website and what I could find on the web - basically nothing scientific. What I did like from their description of the piston coating, is that they formulate their coating to match the expansion coefficient of the substrate material, which made me feel better about cracking and pealing. Also, heat distribution may be the key here for helping with pinning. But again, no scientific proof, simply claims, which, however, so far seem to be working.

Well, I thought I'd share this. V11 was pinning bad, then got a little better with TP adjustments and TB synchronization, but never went away. Then, I pulled the heads and while having it all out, I coated the stock piston tops with ceramic coating in hopes minimizing the pinning. Well, guess what ... it is GONE. No matter how much I open the throttle under load, I cannot hear any pinning whatsoever. originally I thought that Mike Rich's pistons was the only solution to get rid of it, but this certainly works - and the cost ... $70 Cheers

I have couple of things to let go: Moto Guzzi rear rack in black - like new. not mounted and ready to ship. includes all hardware, brackets and bolts - $250 obo Red Windscreen from 04 Ballabio- red paint in excellent condition, no scratches or anything. not mounted as I took it off as soon as I got the bike - $150 obo please send PM or email at abetlej@gmial.com. thanks.

I am looking for some used but usable exhaust, Mistrals or similar type. Arek.

How to stop it? I can’t find a sweet spot with the supplied fastener from Stucchi ... its leaking and making noise. Has anyone experienced same thing and found a solution? Or am I on my own Thanks in advance. Arek.

hey all, looking for a used PCIII for my 04 V11. shot me a PM or call @ 3212768571. Arek.

yeah, no luck. they don't have anything on their website either. This would be great ...all I need is a friend in Itlay! any forum members with a PayPal account currently living in Italy ??

does anyone know if there is a disti in the US? I have not heard back to my emails to info@lavizzarimotorsport.com so I just thought I would ask. does anyone have experience with shipping from Italy? what kind of cost am I looking at? any ideas appreciated. thanks.

thanks. I scored one of these mounts on sale and had local machine shop change the diameter to 53mm. ($5) Painted black and mounted 1-1/2" gauge. looks good, but I have the Ballabio front headlight assembly that is stationary and so the gauge needs to extend out some to clear when turning. once I change the front to the sport type, then I will tuck it in. all in all $100 bucks.

I installed a pressure gauge in a different way than what was described on the forum already, so I thought I would share how this looks.

Greg, thanks for your feedback. Can you recommend a reputable shop in California, that will not try to screw me?

Attached is a picture looking inside one of the exhaust ports - it clearly shows oil leaking down the valve. I am sending the heads back out to the shop that did the work - so is there anything I should be cautious about when talking with them. Is this evidence enough for a free repair? What do you think is required to fix this problem? What is a cause of such leak? Thank you again.

Thank you all for the input as I try to figure this out. Last night I had a chance to take off the heads again, and I have a some observations: 1. There was again oil in the cylinders - given 2. There is evidence of oil on the valves inside the ports - looking in from the side of the heads into the ports. Valves are wet starting at the guide, and the oil spot expands as it reaches the bottom of the valve - exhaust port (I will try to make a photo) 3. Upon inspection of the head gasket, I found oil around the openings of the push rods, as circled in the attachment. no oil around the main head studs, suggesting the o-rings are not the problem. Arek

I have pods installed, so this is not possible. I am almost certain it’s the heads. I mean, what could I have possibly done wrong upon installation or removal? I did my research, I watched the removal and install videos, and it is not that difficult, really. I am taking the heads off and shipping them to the guys who worked on them.

Thanks for the replies … I really appreciate it. I think that the possibility of the oil getting through the piston rings is highly unlikely, as there were no hints of this before I took off the heads. I mean I did not see any symptoms of oil in the combustion chamber when I removed the heads. When I took the heads off initially, the spark plugs were golden brown, dry and no hits of oil anywhere. In fact, the first time I re-installed the heads after receiving them back from the shop, I did not remove the cylinders at all. So there is no way the rings mysteriously began to leak. It has got to be one of the other 2 ways, through the guides or push rod holes. Is there any way to check for either one?

Where to start ... I finally had the time to replace the cylinder gaskets, and I went at it this weekend. So, I take off the heads, and what do I see ... a bucket of oil inside the combustion chambers – unburnt oil at that. It was obvious even before I opened it up, as the spark plugs were soaked in oil. So I am thinking, without lots of knowledge and mechanical experience that the o-rings are to blame, or maybe I have done something wrong the first time. So, I go ahead, replace the base gasket, new o-rings, replace the head gasket, new o-rings, tighten everything to spec ... blah blah. So, I fire it up and all sounds good, but out of caution I remove the plugs ... guess what - soaked in fresh oil Can someone please tell me, how in the world is the oil getting inside the chamber? Is it possible it is going through the valve guides? What are the possible ways for oil to leak into the combustion chamber? When I took off the cylinders, I oriented the rings spacing properly for reinstallation, and they looked good. I think I can eliminate oil going through the rings. All of the o-rings are new. Can we eliminate this? I do not know enough about the heads to know what other way it can seep in there. To give some background on the heads - I removed the heads to begin with, to clean the valves and clean the chamber. I sent the heads to a shop up in LA, and they tell me that the valve seats are worn - 6k miles on bike - but guides are ok. So, I let them replace it, and $500 later I get them back nice and clan with new valves. Looked good uninstalled. Is it possible I am doing nothing wrong, and the problem with the heads after the work at the shop? I appreciate any help and ideas.

I believe these are the Lavizzari megs - they look the same - Lavizzari They are tempting ... they look so good - I imagine them in black I emailed Lavizzari and they are 620 Euros. I assume that since they are available with the removable baffles for Griso, they are also available for V11 - these are same pipes. I will email them and ask. Don't know about PCIII, as I don't have one. And, I am definitely keeping my stockers for the "inevitable fixit tickets"

I am thinking of getting these. You think I will have trouble with the POLICE in SoCal? ... These are loud.

Greg, oh no no ... it was not you who suggested that the base gasket would be OK. Sorry for the confusion. I will need replacements for both sides, but I will give you a call at MI, as I need some other parts as well. Thanks. Arek

Greg, I can see the oil coming only from between the block and cylinder (not head), seeping through the base gasket I guess, and it is shows only in the very center - bottom short stud on both cylinders. It is slowly seeping onto the block. There are no leaks from the head gasket, or anywhere else. Thanks.

Thanks for the input! I did replace all o-rings - bought everything from Greg at Moto International - with new ones, so I did not want to think this was the issue. I though about it though. So, do you think I should now replace the cylinder gasket or at least clean it from the oil, or leave it as is and try to replace the o-rings? Of course leaving it as is will be an easier job. Thanks again. Arek

Hi. I took off the heads put them back on both sides without removing the cylinders. I was told that the gasket under the cylinder should be ok. But now I see small oil seepage under the cylinders from the gaskets, in the very center on the outside of both cylinders - above it sits the head bolt next to the spark plug. So, what can I do now? Is the only option to remove everything again? I torqued all head-bolts to recommended 40 Nm. Could I tighten the bolt that is above the leak, without any damage? If I do remove the heads again, can I just clean the gasket and the block and put it back together? Thanks for any suggestions. Arek