belfastguzzi

The web pages that I made a long time ago (2004) with photos of the spring fix are no longer working. I still receive regular enquiries and requests from various parts of the world regarding the infamous broken spring issue. Yesterday, I received two requests for info and photos, from opposite sides of the globe. That has prompted me to get the photos into a FAQ / How To topic on the site here. Clearly the springs are continuing to break, so at root, it's probably a bad design and even having the correctly spec'ed parts won't always avoid the consequences. Gearbox Pre-Selector Spring and Pawl Arm Boss My repair procedure as documented in 2004 including a roadside repair method. Please see the exploded parts diagram and the detailed instructions on disassembly and fitting that are already on the site and are referenced with links in the FAQ sub-forum. I originally posted some of these pics in 2004 discussions on the V.11 Forum in this thread 1) here and the roadside repair one is 2) here 3) and actual roadside job is here ---------------------------- Edit 26 Feb 2016. I still receive queries about this every year – and sometimes asking to see the photos. NB - the photos in the original posts above were lost a long time ago, so I posted them, or small, rescued versions of them, in the posts that follow here. Scroll down to see the photos.

Gearbox Pre-Selector Spring and Pawl Arm Boss Repair procedure as documented in 2004 including a roadside repair method. The web pages that I made a long time ago (2004) with photos of the spring fix are no longer working. I still receive regular enquiries and requests from various parts of the world regarding the infamous broken spring issue. The springs are continuing to break, so at root, it's probably a bad design and even having the correctly spec'ed parts won't always avoid the consequences. I've rescued what photos I can from web server. Yesterday, I received two requests for info and photos, from opposite sides of the globe. That has prompted me to get the photos into a FAQ topic on the site here.

a little bit more interesting info on the tweaks to the engine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhmakMbt7f4&NR=1

Remember? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2Vv0T0F-Hg&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70LYG8jYd98&feature=player_embedded#at=60

I looked that up a while ago, because there were a few cans of acetone sitting around. After reading, I decided against it. Can't remember the details, however here is some opinion: There is positive experience report here: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/12755-my-experience-adding-acetone-petrol.html Interestingly, I see some more comment on Tesco fuel, which I mentioned in my previous post here.

Go for it.

*On seeing previous comment* ha ha haaa I spoke too soon

Uk Petrol is a bit different from US gas, from what I've read here over the years. Within the UK there are noticeable differences reported between 'brands' and it could well be that there are also differences between regions, especially such as England & Northern Ireland, as oil'n'stuff comes directly into terminals in Belfast. Over here, for example, the Tesco supermarket petrol is often the cheapest, but it is regularly reported as being bad stuff. Motorbikes & cars get less miles on Tesco petrol. On the other hand, Sainsbury supermarket petrol has been reported at times as being the best available, with race teams obtaining fuel there 'cos they've tested it and found it best. There are of course lots more anecdotes.

Ah, yeah. I think that I knew that but forgot. So, how are you getting on with that Griso anyway?

Admirable vision and determination, Artist Formerly Known As .... Just what the forum needs in this long period of staleness when the V.11 fixes have been hammered to death. Don't you think that a serious improvement would be to have the silencer/muffler on both sides? Also it should be fin shaped with a pointy front end and a flare added towards the back end. Added benefit: with such a mod, it would then be difficult to argue against it being the fastest thang in all areas west.

well, yes: like many parts it's intended to be a one-time fitting, but as we know, it's not actually good enough, robust enough, to last for the life time of the bike. So as with most other issues, we have to find a way to work around the manufacturer's intention, which is that you throw away the complete pump and buy a complete new one just because one part has failed – at a cost that is 1,000 times greater than the cost of the failed part. The first postings on finding a fix said that the plastic piece (intended as a one-time fitting) needs to be broken out – which is what I was expecting to do. However it can be gotten out in one piece, as Hayden advised me. I used a combination of pushing and levering to get past the difficult point, which is to get the direction of the tangs reversed. There is a lot of resistance until that is done. It's a bit problematic because a drift does dig into the plastic and could punch through it without care. Eventually I dropped a piece of lead into the elbow to cushion and spread the stress. I found it best to lever it from the outside as well, once there was enough of a gap to do that. I don't think that you need to worry about the tang scratches in the alloy damaging the o-rings. But... I'll see how it goes. Definitely, threading in a metal elbow will give the best long-term confidence. I do think that it would be good to be able to buy the plastic part – even to carry as an emergency spare. If your outlet snaps while away on a trip (not inconceivable) what are you going to do? You could easily and quickly carry out a roadside repair if you had the cheap replacement part (you don't even need to completely drain the fuel) but you might find it a bit troublesome to locate a new fuel pump or to pay for it and it would be a right palaver having to locate someone able to fit a threaded elbow.

Update on the plastic fuel elbow as used by Guzzi, Aprilia, maybe Ducati? Triumph? And has been broken on various Grisos (possibly other models too?). I think it gets broken because the quick disconnect is awkward to get at and difficult to use and itself gets broken. The fuel line on the Griso is short, so it is too easy to raise the tank (without the fuel line disconnected) and suddenly there is a snap as the plastic nozzle comes under tension and snaps off. I've seen some pics of an early fix (USA) where some sort of pipe was brazed in. There has been discussion of threading in a metal elbow... and as I couldn't find an elbow at the time, my solution a year and a half ago was a glued-in steel tube. It worked, until the glue eventually gave way to the petrol. Now I think that rather than an aftermarket elbow, a banjo union will be best, as it can be positioned to point in the best direction. I got one without knowing what size the baseplate hole would be: it's actually too small, but looks to be the right idea. On the Friday before I wanted to do a Sunday track day (after other crash repairs to the Griso) I glued the steel tube back into the plastic part to see me through the track day and I'm confident that it would have lasted another year. However Hayden in England contacted me to say that he has a V11 pump and he posted me the plastic elbow from it. It arrived next day, on Saturday morning. I fitted it and all was sorted for the Sunday. Great! Ultimately a metal outlet will be better as the plastic is fragile. However the main need to still explore alternative solutions is that the manufacturers of the plastic part won't supply it to you or I. If anyone else goes down the route of a threaded elbow type of repair, please post details. When the plastic piece was out, I could see that there is plenty of metal in the baseplate to tap threads into. I'll do the job some day. There is no rush as the bike is going alright. Thanks Hayden! Another fabulous example of forum help coming to the rescue (when the dealer and importer system does nothing for us).

Don, are you still around here? Interested to hear how you're getting on and if you fitted the PCV? I'm not about to do it, but it would be useful to have some experience written up on this wee sub-forum. DB

I must have missed this post. Did you do the relocation, Andy?

Thanks, that's what I thought. It doesn't match with what the handbook says or shows.

Premature senility would explain it.

Dave, there is a new gear lever as a buy it now on E.Bay. £39.55. Andy. Thanks Andy It's my brake lever that Is damaged, but maybe they also have that. I will look.

Make me an offer. It has a good fuel outlet elbow: might come in handy sometime. Very observant: good comment. It held together. It didn't leak. It stayed upright.

Sorted, or at least back together. Proof of the pudding in another 9 or 10 hours at Kirkistown track. Hope it stays together.

Excellent developments! Thanks so much, Hayden. Another question (sorry) Can rubber fuel pipe be constantly immersed in petrol or should it only be plastic? I'm wondering if I can replace the small piece of plastic pipe that runs internally from the pump to the outlet, with a short bit of rubber hi-pressure fuel hose? The plastic stuff seems to be 'use once' It retains the shape that it gets fitted to and so doesn't come off very well. This piece has been off a couple of times and isn't in best shape. I'm thinking that the rubber pipe if totally and constantly immersed would get soft?

I asked this question when I first got the Griso. Now there are more out there, I'll try again. What do Guzzi mean by 'notches'? It's a puzzle because what they say in the manual doesn't matches the drawings or photos in the manual, nor photos of new bikes. The manual says that the standard setting is to have 4 notches showing and the sports setting is 5 notches. Yet the MG pictures and actual bikes from the factory all seem to have only 2 notches showing! This is a photo from MG Service Manual. The stem is set at only one or two notches, depending upon what is meant by notches. This corresponds with the diagram showing how the stem should be set, but not with the text. Here are all the notches/rings on the stem I have had mine set at what I think is at 4 notches, but is it? Biesel, what does yours look like, as set from the factory?

Tonight I got the crash damaged bike back together and running (apart from headlight but that's nearly sorted) on target for Sunday trackday. Then another problem became apparent. On running, I could see a small petrol leak from the tank outlet. This is an old problem going back to the time of the cam recall and the terrible work done by the service agent. He damaged various parts of the bike, including the fuel lines and the quick release from the tank. This resulted in a broken plastic elbow. The elbow outlet is part of the pump and can't be bought / replaced on its own – and the pump unit is well over £300 to replace. That was too much to pay just because a tuppenny plastic part was broken – and it wasn't my fault. I got an engineering shop to ream out the surviving part of the plastic outlet nozzle and to make a steel tube outlet. I had hoped they would thread it in, but they glued it, saying the glue would last forever. I was sceptical but gave way to their experience. However the glue has not held. It's probably been leaking for a long time. I reckon that I should do what I hoped to do first time round. That is: find a metal screw-in elbow and get threads cut in the fuel pump base so that the new elbow can be attached. The red plastic part won't come out unless it's broken out, so I don't want to remove it until I can get a new elbow. So I've got a few questions to find solutions to, pronto. Where can I get a suitable outlet elbow? Where can I get someone to fit it / cut threads in the baseplate? I'm really disappointed that this has happened so close to the Sunday trackday that I've had booked for ages. Maybe I'll superglue the tube in to the plastic part again, just to see me through the trackday. Friday isn't the best day to get an urgent job done, even if I can find a suitable elbow. Fuel outlet elbow with replacement hose that I fitted, instead of damaged plastic line and quick release. Steel tube glued in where the plastic nozzle broke off. Top part of outlet in baseplate casting.

Yes changed the cams and I thought maybe the airbox, but Pete R says the airbox is still the same. The graphs look interesting. They show the improvement with: new cams plus PC V and air filter ???