belfastguzzi

The plastic 'chrome' unit has a poor finish, so I'm not bothered about painting it: the chrome is all dimpled/blistered. (It was supposed to be replaced under warranty – but it is just one of the warranty parts ordered that I never received.) Is the headlight bowl still chrome finish? I think it is, in your photo, but not sure. Edit: looked again and yes it looks like the silver chrome. I'm interested to know how the new version drives compared to the first 8V motor. Have you ridden an '08 or '09 Griso?

Interesting. I have thought the cowl would be better in black and will paint mine sometime. I haven't seen anything like the Edgeguard for the Griso. I used rubber (inner tube) to make a barrier for the V11 and may do the same on the Griso.

What do you want old chap: a featherbed frame? Maybe you're right and they are too high: mine seems to fall over rather a lot. Biesel, what age is yours? Is it brand new? Edit: second hand? Someone has put a black dash cowl on it. Or, maybe you?

Thanks all. Yes, only doing it because it's the rear brake. I put it on the bike last night – and it will do ok as it is. Not perfect (I'll have to buy a new lever for that) but it works fine.

meet and a track, could be good

I hope to get the crashed Griso back together and running in the next day or two. I know it's not a procedure in the MG Service Manual, but I decided to bend the damaged footbrake lever back towards its original shape using heat. I didn't have a pattern for what shape exactly it should be, when I started on it after midnight last night. Fitting it to the bike this morning, it is not quite right. I've found a pic on the web and I see that I have made it too straight. The question is, should I leave well alone now, rather than heat the alloy a second time and risk making it too brittle? And don't bother telling me off for doing it in the first place! Oh ok... fire away... This is what it should be like: I suspect that it should come out at the rear of that lower bracket lozenge shape, rather than underneath it. I would appreciate if anyone else with a Griso can check this for me. Even better if you can take a photo. I'm going to bolt it up properly now: maybe it is ok as it is.

Going back to the time of the cam & tappet replacement issue, a note followed about the importance of replacing these little pushrods the right way up i.e. grooved end towards the rocker. There was no explanation as to why: and there wasn't any observation of any difference in the two ends. I haven't seen any more comment on this and don't know if it's been on other forums. As I have the parts out, here are pics to show that both ends have flats. The rocker end has a smaller flat. The bottom end appears to have a concave dimple in the centre. I can't see these flats just being wear on my particular rods. Looks to me like they are machined like this. To hold a small pool of oil?

I did the full bananna on my bike today and yes, there are machined grooves in the top of the rods. I have to say I have no idea why No, I didn't put a micrometer on them to see of there was some sort of infinitesimal difference in the 'Bells' of the 'Dumb' but they looked identical. Another thought was that maybe at full lift the groove had been machined to allow clearance of the rocker edge. Nope! I can see no reason why they should have to be put in in any certain way but one has to presume the instruction means something so, simply, do as you're told!!!! (Shrug?) Pete Took mine out tonight and there is actually a difference in the two 'ball ends'. At least there is in mine. I'll explain and post a pic tomorrow or soon. Has there been any more talk about these elsewhere, since they were last commented on here a couple of years ago?

No third party, it would be my insurance. I was following someone who went off at a bad corner. In the moment of distraction while I looked to see what was happening, my front went and I followed the other bike: except I hit the road and smashed the kerb – the other bike rode up the kerb and then went down, onto grass. So it's my problem.

I can't see it being an insurance write-off, Gene, Pete. I'll inquire about the overall cost of parts and labour and see if the shop has an idea how an insurance company would regard it, but it's hard to win with insurance. No matter what, I'd not get anything near the cost of a new bike. So yes, put it back together and live with the scratches. The tank and bodywork would need replaced under insurance: that would push the price up a good bit. However the wheels, forks and frame *look* ok (to my eye). They'd be a decisive factor in a write-off calculation, I imagine? To check for a possible crack, is there a reliable diy version of dye penetration that could be used on that rocker/cam casting? One positive is that this incident has given opportunity to put a helicoil insert into the rocker clamp (head cover bolts to it) where Mr Hammer had stripped the thread.

---------- 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?