Lucky Phil

Thanks Chuck for the lesson in springs. I recently moved house and decided to let go of a lot of stuff I had accumulated over the years the most painful of which was my grandfathers American Machinists handbook, the addition I cant remember but from the 50's I believe. Seeing you refer to it made me regret the decision even more. Ciao

16mm. Ciao

Hey docc I'm pretty sure my rear axle is stepped like yours. I just assumed it was like that. I noticed my bevel box has a slight leak about 3 weeks ago ( oil drop on the rim,bit of oil at the 6 oclock position reaching over the seat and feeing with the finger) and ordered the large seal from MGcycles at some horrendous postage cost then revisited this thread. Went back and looked at the bike....doh, its the small internal seal leaking just like yours. Looks like the box needs to come apart and another order from MG:( I think I'm at a point in life where all my accumulated experience and knowledge is leaking out and disappearing, like oil in a Guzzi bevel box. Ciao

this engine is amazing. When I bought the project, it had the original engine. 1800 hours since new, 300 since a top overhaul, and had been sitting for years. Because of the cam sitting high in the case, they rust cams and lifters when not in use. It was of practically no value. cheap. (Guzzi content) I pulled it apart, cleaned light surface rust off the cam and lifters, reassembled with all new gaskets, put an oil filter mod on it, and it runs like new. Burns a quart in 14 hours. Doesn't leak. (!) Sometimes, you get the bear.. Sound like you got a good one there Chuck, unlike the old P&W radials I worked on as an apprentice. They used to leak more oil than they burnt. If they weren't leaking you got worried:) Ciao

Yea, extra points for surfing, I can see that. Same as points for playing Guitar and speaking a second language:) None of which I can do, or the surfing for that matter. Ciao

Chuck, check the engine oil qty, there's none on the floor, must have run out:) Ciao

Thats not a bad srike rate Scud, 2 out of 3. Mechanical engineer,entertained, you can work on the missing piece:) I've said more than once that I dont need to be the smartest guy around because I know smart people to ask. This thread proves it. Ciao

If you can Jim just wait for Chuck and Scuds spring. Knowing Chucks magic fingers work it will be a first class solution and unbreakable. Ciao

It was the boss on the ratchet arm that was too big on earlier models and caused the spring binding on the coils. The sharp edge on the selector arm plate where it engages the spring tab can cause a stress raiser on the tab which may cause it to fail. I rounded off the selector shaft plate edge to help alleviate this. but Chuck may have found another solution. I took my bike for a little blast yesterday for the first time in about 5 months ( been very busy) and reminded myself about how well this thing shifts from 2nd gear upwards without using the clutch. Its every bit as good as my GSXR1000 track bike, just snick, snick, snick really nice. I recommend it, just load the lever a little and flick the throttle under accelleration and it clicks right in there. Ciao

Hey Chuck excellent work, Skud too of course. Re the stress raiser on the selector stop assembly where the spring tang goes.I thought the same as you so rounded this edge off when I did my selector mod to make life easier on the spring. Heres a photo of mine, maybe I didnt cover this in the mod post. Ciao

^^^^^ me too please. Ciao

You know Chuck what Footgoose discribes is not uncommon in many motorcycle transmissions and my view is its down to gearbox revolutions. In the scenario mentioned the box often isnt rotating at a speed high enough for proper reliable dog alignment and it gets balky and misses shifts. I can tip in a few bucks if necessary to help the cause. Ciao

I'd be more concered Chuck with how the nylon would react to transmission fluid over time. Ciao

So fast you end up with dead flies on the back of your helmet. Ciao

I have some experience with piano wire Chuck. Used to use it to hold the wing and hori stab leading edges on on the C130 Hercules and gear doors on the A4G Skyhawk. Ciao

What about a Titanium spring, like GP bikes have? Save some weight:) Ciao

"If" there is room, an O ring on the pedestal would cure that leak. Probably, that isn't an issue if we decide to go this way. I think Chuck to do the post on the selector cover "right" you're going to need to spot face the cover around the hole so the post sits perpendicular. If you do that then the post can have a wide integral flange that can be sealed effectivley with some loctite or sealant on the flange face. Not that keen on the post bolting to the less than flat internal cover plate face. Ciao

Of course the issue with this mod is 3 fold, lots of extra bits in the gearbox, the spring is now going to be extended in 2 directions during operation. A straight extension as the selector arm ramps ride over the wheel pins and a small rotating motion as the selector arm moves in a linier direction as it rotates the drum. Also we now have another oil leak point. The first shouldn't be an issue if its all loctited up, the second can be overcome without too much difficulty and the third I'm not sure about in the long term. I would suggest that the ends of the spring be able to rotate on the anchor posts if they dont already. It should be easy to measure the original spring tension with a digital scale with the cover off to get an idea whats required of a coil spring. Would it not be possible to stick with the original design and look to have a higher quality spring made. I'm sure Guzzi didnt use the best available spring material at the time. Ciao

On a modern engine the primary role of the airbox is for resonant tuning, so the airbox works in concert with the engine and exhaust system as a whole. Its similar to tuned length exhaust but on the intake side. The volume of the airbox and its associated resonance has a significant benificial effect on the airflow into the engine. Its also used in conjunction with variable length untake trumpets and the shape of the lip on the intake trumpets. Its quite a scientific process these days, hence nobody removes airboxes anymore as it will lose you a lot of power. The ram effect has a negligeable benifit especially on a road bike and the ram ducts bigger contribution is in feeding cooler more laminar air into the airbox more than any small static pressure increase. On the V11 Guzzi though the airbox is there to hold the air filter and for noise emission reasons, its design pre dates resonant intake tuning on production bikes. Still dont see the point of removing it though. Ciao

Compression test worked out then, very good. Removed breather valve appears not to be an OEM component. Ciao

Sounds like a big end to me. Ciao

A Benelli Sei?.....whatever they're asking its to much. Ciao

Sorry, max valve lift on the overlap just before TDC on the exhaust stroke for the exhaust valve and just after TDC on the inlet stroke on the inlet valve. During the overlap period.You can sometimes do it with a lever or a light weight valve spring or a light spring with a removeable retaining clip ( valve drop check) or with clay or soder with the head off. Ciao

Valve to piston should be around 1.5mm on the inlet and 2mm on the exhaust. Ciao Thank you! I'm going to clay the pistons when I pull the heads. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk Yep, or you can lever the valve open at max lift on the overlap with a dial gauge attached and see what the claerance is. Ciao

Valve to piston should be around 1.5mm on the inlet and 2mm on the exhaust. Ciao