Lucky Phil

Just knock out the supplied hub and use your 6 speed one. You might need to turn the fitted one to get the splines to line up if the're out and then pull/tap it out from the engine side. Looks to me like they have just slid it in there for packaging and transport purposes. Ciao

Plugging away at this. Oil pump is in and front cover on. I've made up a cam belt tensioning tool which looks a bit ordinary but works ok. Chuck sent me a file of its dimensions but I couldnt open it because I didnt have the software but when you see an image of one its so simple and you cant get it wrong anyway. Thanks anyway Chuck, just avert your eyes as its ahem....rustic. Turns out it gives you about what I thought the belt tension would be so I'll set it by feel like I do a Ducati belt. I also modified the pulley flanges so you can change the belts with the pulleys still fitted. Basically just the cam timing to do. The "tool" Pulley mod so you can replace the belts. Standard you struggle to get the belts out as they fowl on the casing. The r/h belt pulley inner flange had to be done also and line up with this one. Cam timing to go.

Good to know, glad you got it sorted. Ciao

Yes docc dont bother going inside the drive unit. There's a lot of stuff going on in there, and one of the reasons I consider that these days shaft drive is a waste of time. I'd rather turn the drive through 90 deg in the gearbox and run an oring chain and live with a bit of simple lubrication every 6-800klms. Just think, you can renew your whole final drive assembly when its worn out in a few hours on a Saturday afternoon having a couple of beers and watching the game of your choice for maybe $200 odd bucks. Ciao

Yes docc all the bearing should have pretty much identical dimensions as they are made to a standard. I was a little perplexed when you mentioned they were different. The calipers are accurate enough for this type of measuring. The mission is at the end of the day to minimize the lateral clamping force by the axle nut on the inner races as much as is possible. Ball bearings can tolerate some lateral load but its not their primary load path. Ducati main bearings on my engines for example are ball bearings BUT they are Angular contact type to cope with the lateral loads caused by the clamping effect of the crankcases when the engine is cold and the side thrust form those engines fitted with helical primary gears. My advise is to either machine up a new spacer which to someone like Chuck for instance would be a doddle or do as I did and add a shim to the spacer to bring it up to the correct dimension. I went the shim route because I could do it with a single shim I had on hand and I didnt have any raw stock that would be suitable at the time. I also rarely remove my wheel so the spacer falling out wouldnt be an issue. I bonded it to the spacer. When the bearings are fitted and the spacer is the correct length it also doesnt float around when the wheel is out like a short spacer. The sleeve on the right side always tends to corrode anyway but any spacer in this application and the one on the other side of the rear drive thats made of steel ( which is all of them from memory) shouldn't really suffer from any crush by whats produced from the axle being torqued up. Ciao

Docc all the other stack ups wont really affect or mitigate the short wheel bearing spacer. If I understand your post the spacer is 1mm too short. What are the actual differences between the bearing widths? The place you usually find C3 bearings are fitted in engines. Ducati's always used C3's in their head bearings although I dont know its totally necessary as plenty have run std clearance bearings in them. I've seen this issue of short spacer enough times for me to measure them whenever I have wheel bearing out. Its quite common, dont know why though. Maybe the bearing widths vary enough to make it an issue although I've seen plenty of original wheels and bearings with short spacers. If you look at the new bearings you will find they have a slight bit of lateral play so a tiny bit of lateral preload they can tolerate but you're aiming for zero. Maybe a combination of wider bearings and using all the lateral play reduced the issue of the short spacer on the original wheel bearings.I'd be surprised though if it mitigated 1mm too short. In general I dont worry about where anything is made if its actually a "name" product. I am wary if its a product say its a Chinese product from a Chinese company. The known big brands like Timkin etc have their own quality management and monitoring structures so are generally high quality. I've bought a few Chinese engineering things from Chinese companies over the years and the simple stuff like Titanium bolts etc are generally fine but the more complex stuff is risky. Ciao

Yes, on the surface of it I dont know why you'd bother really for a Brembo rear master. I mean they are only $55US to buy new, or 80 Australian Peso's Ciao

Disassemble the master again and check you dont have a blockage at the master cylinder inlet. Also compare the rebuild kit parts in detail with the original parts. Apparently your not alone......https://www.dino.co.uk/2011/08/07/bmw-f650gs-rear-brake-keep-seizing-try-this/ Ciao

Most of my stuff is Mitutoyo including a 6"" dial vernier I've has for 45 years and its still going strong. I upgraded to a digital Metric Mitutoyo about 2 years ago. If I were you docc I'd buy a decent quality 6" digital vernier caliper and you can measure OD,ID and depth. Should be able to get one for around $75US brand new at a guess. Ciao

Thats a big issue docc, .045" is over 1 mm and that will place an large lateral squeeze on the wheel bearings inner races. You need to either machine up a new spacer of the correct length OR as I said use a shim or thin washer bonded to the spacer to get the length right. Ciao

I really like the profile sweep of these mufflers but not the proportion. For mine they need to be 100 mm shorter and a little larger in overall diameter, maybe 20mm at the end and keep the same taper proportion. Oh and brushed Stainless or Titanium finish. Ciao

You need to fit one bearing docc then use a pair of vernier calipers and measure from the fitted bearing inner race face to the seat of the opposite side. A spacer equal to or few thou or even more longer than this measurement is ok but shorter is a no,no as it will pre load the bearing too much when you torque up the axle. I found my spacer too short and glued some shims onto it (only to hold them in place when the axle was removed). You are aiming for a spacer that is the exact dimension between the bearing inner faces when both bearings are seated up against the bearing bores outer race shoulders. A fractionally longer spacer is acceptable but any dimension shorter is not. This is the #1 reason for short wheel bearing life along with using high pressure washers foolishly. Ciao

A few companies over the years including OEM but its a little irrelevant because Alloy gears a rubbish by and large, best to stay away. Ciao

Not sure, email Joe and ask him. Whatever he's using it will be of the required quality and specifications. Ciao

From Joe, email him directly. Mention the forum and my name. There's nothing in it for me personally but he's a good fellow and always been very helpful to me and I like to encourage these type of talented people to keep producing stuff for Guzzi's. Lets him know I appreciate his efforts and pass the word around. joe.caruso@ntlworld.com Ciao

All good answers here so far but to reiterate. Make sure the brake pedal is adjusted so the master cylinder piston fully retracts and doesn't trap brake fluid in the system.As the dragging brake heats up it then starts applying the brake automatically. Simple to check. Take the reservoir cap off and check when you apply the brake quickly you get a tiny backflow of fluid into the reservoir as the master cylinder piston closes off the reservoir feed hole at initial travel. Dont use silicon brake fluid. Spongy brakes result as well as lubrication properties are inferior to traditional fluid. Dont use WD-40 or solvents on brake seals. Made sure you arent unconsciously dragging the back brake. Racers were often bad for this, used to swear on a stack of bibles they didn't do it but they did. They just didn't realize it. Buy a 12 dollar brake moisture content tester off ebay and use it. When it indicates water level of over 2% in the brakes and clutch system flush and refill the system. When you have the wheels off pump the brakes until the pistons extend until the pads touch, clean any exposed piston surfaces and then lever the pads back to the point where the caliper can be just pushed over the disk. This helps un-stick the pistons from the seals and give a good lever esp on bikes that dont do many miles. A pressure bleeder is WAY better than a vacuum bleeder and hand bleeding. You can buy a good one for $60us that will do the bike and the cars. Rear brake caliper need to be removed and inverted for effective bleeding. Very often the front brake master cylinder needs to be loosened off and rotated 15 deg or so and the lever operated slightly so air trapped in the connection between the master cylinder and the brake hose can rise into the reservoir. You will see the bubbles appear in the reservoir with the cap off as you jiggle the lever. Esp critical for bikes with clip ons that position the brake master to hose connection slightly above the base of the reservoir. Ciao

Yes later oil pump and cam gears have a different hole lightening arrangement. Nice arent they. Ciao

Well I managed to get the engine upright on the bench with the help of my son who visited last night. This is one heavy sucker. God knows how I'm going to get it off the bench once the front cover etc is on, maybe a 3 man job. getting it upright allowed me to fill the engine with oil and go through a pre oiling procedure. Put a pair of 13mm nuts on the oil pump drive and rotated it with my battery drill until oil emerged from the front main and cam bearings. Pulled the rocker covers and yep,oil in the heads and rocker pins. Now to assemble the front of the engine and do the cam timing. Oil present and accounted for. Ciao