belfastguzzi

---------- The rockers, little tappetty tappetty rods and the tappet bowls. -----

---------------------- This is a bit of a worry. Is the line a crack, or just a coincidental marking on the casting? It runs from the corner point of impact! I hope that it is not a fracture!

[These photos were all taken with camera phone, so aren't great.] Bear with me as I work at this: I can only get time to do it in short bits and pieces. I'll post more pics as I'm sure there will be people interested to see the 8V internals. Pete, I definitely loosened the stud nuts without doing the 2 inside bolts first. i see them now. They were hidden by petrol tank before. To confirm – these? The tank was brimful with fuel. All that weight didn't help when bike went down and impacted. This is the fuel hose that I put on instead of the kinked and split thin plastic o.e. line and non-releasing quick-disconnect. There isn't much room for the thin stuff as the tank sits so close to the engine and other components. The thicker hose is even more difficult to route without squashing. This hose has been squashed as can be seen in the pics. The glued repair to the broken tank outlet elbow is holding up ok. -----------

I'll probably drop a pin down into the engine... and that wee 'grub screw' plug.

Thanks: they are. Good. That was my second thought. At first, in the darkish position the bike was sitting in, I wondered if it was an oil gallery to fire oil onto the cam chain. Then, because that side of the cam box wouldn't lift, I wondered if the unit was being held by that screw. – Then – I realised that of course it wouldn't lift off because it's bolted from underneath (which is why the cam chain has to be removed out of the way). Ahhh... I think that I loosened the stud nuts first. ...as is breaking the tensioner blade.

Pete, I looked at your pics of the cam removal, from a couple of years ago, as posted on WildGuzzi. Some of the links don't work anymore. Could you possibly PM me the address of your Flickr page where they are? I am tempted to go the whole hog and remove the cam / rocker housing so that I can have a look at the bearing surfaces. What is the small allen screw at the rear inside corner of the housing for? It almost looks like it's a grub screw to tighten against the head stud, but surely not? Can you tell me: is there much clearance between the valves and piston heads? As the tappet gap was jammed tight by the shifted rocker assembly, the valves may have been sitting down into the chamber a little at TDC. Is that feasible? I did run the engine a bit after the crash... to see if it was going.

I'll leave my lid alone then, unless I get a spare sometime, to experiment with. Does the newer Griso (2010 and later?) have a different, bigger airbox? If so, how have accommodated it? D

How to be friendly to them? Is there a way? The earlier versions of the V including the 2 valve 1200 could have head protectors fitted. The 8V design doesn't permit that same solution. Crash bars? I don't fancy the look of them but may be the only realistic way to gain protection... if there are any. I came across a crash bar / hoop for the CARC final drive. Mine doesn't need that, as the exhaust provides the protection. The exhaust must have lessened damaged to other components too: e.g. the footbrake lever is bent, but not broken and footpeg isn't damaged!

That's probably how it worked in this case, indeed.

Pete, I didn't mean that, so I will take it out of the title: it reads wrong. I was meaning that the big design feature that makes the V twin Guzzis what they are, is by its nature also a big risk factor that is always there and always obvious. Most other 'ordinary' bike designs have the engine bits tucked away and can slide down the road on plastic bobbins.

Aye aaoww

The big vulnerable sticky out bits are Guzzi's characteristic feature – and a worry to the rider (at least I think about them a lot). So I have enquired enquired about crash protection, with no solution. It's easy to get aftermarket crash bungs etc for most 'common' bikes and there are bits of protectors for many of the Guzzis, but no one (from my enquiries) seems to make provision for the Griso. Have I seen a pic of a Griso with crash bars somewhere? Inevitably the almost-inevitable has happened. Inside the cracked head cover: knocked-in and squashed corner, with indent (in centre of photo) made where it has pressed against the head stud nut. The stud nut looks pushed over and the initial impression is that everything is knocked over: note that the valve stem is against the very edge of the tappet bucket. The tappet gap stays firmly closed as cam is rotated. Apart from the look of things, this is the reason that I think, at the moment, that all these parts are pushed out of place / bent. Otherwise, why are the tappet and valve stem jammed together? Rubber gasket is torn where the gasket channel is pinched at the corner.

Don't think so. The 8V is a higher rev motor: I find it doesn't really like chugging around at low revs. The more recent motors with different cams may be happier at low rpm. Pete – any more observations now on the added airbox holes, or further ideas about intake modifications? Have you seen/tried any more types of exhausts? I'll try bolting some holes onto my airbox, methinks. (My latest modification has been the application of a concrete kerbstone to right side of the motor. More on that later, when I get to inspect it properly. Hoping that the barrel/head is tougher than it looks!)

Good man, again. I'd wanted to watch that but forgot: so great to get the reminder and the link, thanks. BTW, Have you seen any of the TT stuff on ITV4 this week (if you get ITV4)? Murray Walker's TT Memories was on last night. An hour of great historical footage. Moto Guzzi were mentioned quite a few times, of course.

Ach, why not another off topic pic from the weekend?

Gratuitous bike shot to justify thread

30 May 11 Canon PowerShot SX200 compact camera Rain washes in, with passing dark then bright, into evening

Yeah maybe Scottish. I'm sure that the Isle of Man must have a less complex numbering system? BIRCH ME 2 something like that

The Scotland location pics (on Sport Touring) are great. This one of NW200 pretty well sums up the day: As for your comment on the other site about the number plate, "The fuzz ain't too strict about license plates in the U.K. This guy had a Isle of Man TT Centenial commemorative plate with an outline of the circuit" They may not be too fussy in the Isle of Man – but they are in the UK! Is that an IOM plate, or is it English?

So the Highlights programme is there! It wasn't when I looked at the beginning of the week. That's good. It will only be one race as there only was one, but it was a great one! Thanks D

Given the average age of most on this forum, I doubt if many have the faculty to actually recall the old one. I can't remember what I had for breakfast. Ummm, what was the question? Oh yes, breakfast: I had a banana.

Hi Dave,sorry about yet more bad luck. I can get you a complete 3 pce.lock set for approx. £180inc.vat or just the steering lock for£80. Have a look on Speedaway web site for yourself and you can price anything for your bike. They no longer do Guzzi spares now-got fed up so gave up. See if the prices compare with what they quoted me. cheers, Andy. Hi Andy I noticed that Speedway don't have Guzzi spares anymore. What do you mean about just the steering lock? How does that work? Oh, you mean the ignition barrel / steering lock unit on it's own, without the fuel cap and seat lock. £80 is certainly much closer to the mark! I'll think about that, thanks very much indeed. I'm inclined to go ahead and use a steel plate for strength, though I could also addd that to a new barrel. I'd be using 2 different keys then. It'll be a week or so before I get looking at it. Thanks, I really appreciate your helpful offer. D

No, I wasn't aware of AF1. I see it now, thanks – based in Texas. I will make something up myself. For starters, it will be stronger. I'm going to have to use other security in future when parking: the steering lock is only an honest person's lock.