belfastguzzi

I can tell (by your photo) that your immediate guess was an educated (and personal) one.

For a minute, I actually considered the possibility that it might be. Davidb "I wonder what other surprises you will find after the warranty runs out? I have lost all confidence on riding my guzzi more than a 100 mile radius. I will most likely trade it in on a jap bike or take it COMPLETELY apart and reassemble it." Db, don't lose confidence: as people keep saying, anything mechanical and anything assembled by human beings is going to wear, break and be put together wrong. Some of the 'wrong things' sure are surprising though – so far, on my bike the problems have been because of parts produced to the wrong spec. i.e. too short, too small, too big...no grease... That's bad, as well as surprising, but fixable and hopefully when these things are fixed, the bike will be pretty well sorted for a long life. The V.11 is a good bike, mechanically, because it is fixable and generally over-engineered in the first place. We all know that most modern bikes and cars are just far, far too complex and are made to be scrap in less than 10 years. It's not that modern stuff isn't better made, it's their complexity and their dependence on electronics. I think that would be the weakest spot of the V.11 – its nod to modernity in the form of an ECU: but I can live with that, its not like everything is controlled by it. My wife's car stopped starting (if you know what I mean) last week. I could see that it wasn't getting petrol and it wasn't getting a spark – and there was nothing else that I could do about the situation. It turned out that a sensor on the flywheel was faulty. If any of the dozens of sensors on a modern vehicle can stop it dead and you are a hundred miles from home – there's nothing you can do, except get out the credit card and mobile phone. My cars have generally been around 20 years old and no matter what has happened to them out on the road, I have never had to leave one, there's always been a way to fix or bodge it to get home. For me, that's part of the 'fun' (sort of). Calling up a recovery service isn't. And, for me, the MG Warranty doesn't mean a great amount as there isn't any local dealer here to sort the 'wee' things. The last bit of your post is attractive. The best thing would definitely be to take the bike apart and reassemble it, lovingly. Most of us don't have the time or space to do that. I reckon I will end up doing that over time, in bits and pieces. Probably a lot of other people here have done that too. Then there'll be a really nice machine that you can be confident in and that will run and run. I should add that if I was using my bike or car for business and knocking up a BIG mileage every week, like Brian R, then a 'modern' efficient car/bike would probably be best. Its 'disposability' wouldn't be such an issue then either.

Here's the give-away clue: You know that forward grease nipple on the transmission shaft, that's so hard to get at? Well even with the wheel off I was having trouble. The grease just didn't want to go in. When I looked closer at the grease nipple I saw a little bit of yellow spongey foam stuff sitting in the hole. I couldn't make sense of that. I pulled it out a bit and there was obviously more inside. Was this a new/different type of grease valve? I decided that it wasn't and pulled it all out. How did this get in there? This is the first time that I have greased this joint. Do Guzzi clean and polish every grease nipple by hand, outside and inside, and in this instance a bit of the cleaning sponge got left behind? Did the factory run out of little ball-bearings for the grease nipple one day and so they improvised with a bit of foam instead? In 2002 did they experiment with sponge-foam balls in the rear wheel bearings as well? It could explain a lot. GuzziWorld

Only when I'm having fun.

What's this? It's related to an awkward area that gives people a lot of trouble, near the back wheel. Size clue – It's beside a socket T-bar, for scale (and it's not a maggot or caterpillar).

And the sun stayed sunny and the wind got only a little windy and things got – even better. Look – two wheels now! Yippee! And these bikes look better without seats and stuff anyway, so I might as well just leave it like this. I wonder will tomorrow be so good? Oh, it's gonna be Monday.

Yep, it was a rather good day, with a bit of sunshine. I looked at my bike through a bush and it looked just fine. A big bag of sand hid the fact that it had no back end, so that was pretty jolly hockey sticks.

But I thought you're 85?

But invasive exploration is so much fun. On the same theme: I've got an old Range Rover sitting at the side of the house, rotting away. Half the front end of the car is lying inside the back of the car. It all started when the windscreen wiper blade fell off in the rain one day. I took off a panel to make the repair, then thought I'd fix something else in there and...one thing led to another..you know how it is. It looks a bit like that with the V.11 at the moment. I started to put on a new exhaust system, but got as far as installing the cross-over before I couldn't help myself and found the whole backend of the bike was in bits. Bodywork here, bearings there, shock-bolt somewhere else, brake parts, nuts, washers. Oh well – as long as they don't get mixed up with the Range Rover bits...

Inner ball bearing and spacer now in place. The spacer does push the needle roller inner ring out. It now sits very slightly higher than the outside washer.

Thanks Paul. The inner bearing and spacer are not in place yet. As you have reminded me, I will know what the final positions will be when I put them in.

I have taken some photos. Drive box, needle-roller bearing inner ring position, photos here. You will see that with my housing, the inner-ring sits below the other faces. However when it is pulled out, to the maximum distance that the inner captive washer (that the bearing ring sits against) will travel, it appears like Paul's photo. I guess that when fitted, the ring and outer washer should pull into position to be flush, with both sitting against the swingarm. Paul, does your inner-ring naturally sit the way that your photo shows, when it is fitted? Can you push it further in? I may have introduced a bit more movement into my inner-washer assembly when I tried to knock out the needle roller by hammering on the inner-washer, before I discovered that the inner-washer does not come out. It is certainly bashed and cupped but I'm hoping that won't matter too much when everything is tightened up. This is one of the pics where the bearing-ring and washer faces are sitting flush, but above the drive-box housing and sleeve. Does yours go like that. Paul, with the washer on and the ring pushed in?

That is helpful. It looks like the inner ring will still sit proud when you put the washer on. Should the swingarm tighten against the inner ring or the washer, or both? Maybe it all pulls together so that they are flush when the axle is tightened. If you have a washer and can take a photo I would be interested to see what it looks like in its location, compared to th eheight of th einner ring. I will take a photo shortly. Brian, my drive box inner bearing had a very slight bit of play, but nowhere near as much as the bad wheel bearing. I suppose that you have replaced your wheel bearings before but not the inner drive box bearing, so it could have been slowly getting more damaged over a longer period of time? It seems to me that the needle roller bearing has a lot of potential for easily and quickly getting damaged and causing trouble.

'The pipe wielding man swung at Natsumi, who pushed Miyuki to safety as she agilely side stepped the blow. "We're police!" she cried out, then she flashed her badge...'

and the rest of the bulletin confirms what we worked out some time ago, and what MG weren't telling us at the time: In case of breakage of the pawl spring in vehicles with frame numbers before KT111435 - KS112350, the pawl should be changed (when asking for the spare part, you automatically receive the pawl updated version). The change consists in the reduction of the diameter on which the spring rests from 16 mm to 15 mm. Precisely.

Wondering what length the stick should be? Here's the short answer: When you go to the shop to purchase a stick, the most important thing is to find one you are comfortable with and gives you an acceptable amount of flex. The weight is important, but also important is the curve of the stick - if you are a beginner, you really don't want a stick with too much curve. As for how tall the stick should be, when you are standing in shoes or socks, the stick should come between your chin and nose. I prefer a stick around the top of my breastbone - about an inch or so under my chin. MGNAmen typically prefer a longer stick to reach out and poke the customer away from rushing forwards... More information here. This must be the old 5-speed box he's talking about poking: 'Fatigue...when you are using a short stick-as long as your shifts are short as well...you energy levels should be okay-but if your caught out there on one 200ft rush and trying to come back-especially for little guys-if your stick is to short-you can't get proper hip flexion/extension-and your illipsoas muccles come into play more then your quads and you will find your...blah, blah' BTW, where do you find is the best place on the V.11 to carry your stick?

For non-PC. I have cleaned up the index, from Carl. It's reduced by a third. It was formatted in Word to differentiate v11 from Breva, but this is lost here. A0 Technical Data D fuel system D3 fuel system, cylinder synchronisation 750 breva D3-A fuel system, cylinder synchronisation v1100 D3-B fuel system, cylinder synchronisation E Engine E2 head covers E2-1 engine, head covers, removal - check - reassembly v750 E2-1A engine, head covers, removal - check - reassembly v1100 E3 timing system E3-1 engine, timing system, alternator disassembly v750 E3-1A engine, timing system, alternator disassembly v1100 E3-2 engine, timing system, rev and stroke sensor E3-3 engine, timing system, timing removal v750 E3-3A engine, timing system, timing removal v1100 E3-4 engine, timing system, timing check v750 E3-4A engine, timing system, timing check v1100 E3-5 engine, timing system, timing reassembly v750 E3-5A engine, timing system, timing reassembly v1100 E3-6 engine, timing system, detailed timing check v750 E3-6A engine, timing system, detailed timing check v1100 E3-6B engine, timing system, detailed timing check v1100 california E3-7 engine, timing system, alternator reassembly v750 E3-7A engine, timing system, alternator reassembly v1100 E4 clutch E4-1 engine, clutch, removal v750 E4-1A engine, clutch, removal v1100 E4-2 engine, clutch, check v750 E4-2A engine, clutch, check v1100 E4-3 engine, clutch, reassembly v750 E4-3A engine, clutch, reassembly v1100 E5 flywheel E5-1 engine, flywheel, removal v750 E5-1A engine, flywheel, removal v1100 E5-2 engine, flywheel, check E5-3 engine, flywheel, reassembly v750 E5-3A engine, flywheel, reassembly v1100 E6 engine heads E6-1 engine, engine heads, heads disassembly v750 E6-1A engine, engine heads, heads disassembly v1100 E6-1B engine, engine heads, heads disassembly v1100 california E6-2 engine, engine heads, head valves disassembly v750 E6-2A engine, engine heads, head valves disassembly v1100 E6-3 engine, engine heads, valve guides and valve seats v750 E6-3A engine, engine heads, valve guides and valve seats v1100 E6-3B engine, engine heads, head valves reassembly v1100 E6-5 engine, engine heads, heads reassembly v750 E6-5A engine, engine heads, heads reassembly v1100 california E6-6 engine, engine heads, valve clearance E7 cylinders E7-1 engine, cylinders, removal v750 E7-1A engine, cylinders, removal v1100 E7-2 engine, cylinders, check E7-3 engine, cylinders, reassembly v750 E7-3A engine, cylinders, reassembly v1100 E8 pistons E8-1 engine, pistons, removal v750 E8-1A engine, pistons, removal v1100 E8-2 engine, pistons, check v750 E8-2A engine, pistons, check v1100 E8-3 engine, pistons, reassembly v750 E8-3A engine, pistons, reassembly v1100 E9 compression ring E9-1 engine, compression ring, removal - check - reassembly v750 E9-1A engine, compression ring, removal - check - reassembly v1100 E10 engine block E10-1 engine, engine block, removal E10-2 engine, engine block, check v750 E10-2A engine, engine block, check v1100 E10-3 engine, engine block, reassembly E11 connecting rods E11-1 engine, connecting rods, removal v750 E11-1A engine, connecting rods, removal v1100 E11-2 engine, connecting rods, check E11-3 engine, connecting rods, reassembly v750 E11-3A engine, connecting rods, reassembly v1100 E12 crankshaft E12-1 engine, crankshaft, removal and check v750 E12-1A engine, crankshaft, removal v1100 E12-1B engine, crankshaft, check (flanges ) v1100 E12-1C engine, crankshaft, check (crankshaft ) v1100 E12-1D engine, crankshaft, assembly backlashes (connecting rods) v1100 E12-1E engine, crankshaft, reassembly v1100 E12-1F engine, crankshaft, replacing the seal on flywheel-side flange E13 oil sump E13-1 engine, oil sump, removal and check v750 E13-1A engine, oil sump, removal and check v1100 E13-2 engine, oil sump, reassembly v750 E13-2A engine, oil sump, reassembly v1100 E13-3 engine, oil pump v750 E13-3A engine, oil sump, oil pump v1100 E13-4 engine, oil pump, oil pump check E13-5 engine, oil pump, oil pressure adjustment valve E13-6 engine, oil pump, oil transmitter E13-7 engine, oil sump, oil filter support v1100 F gearbox F1 gearbox, gearbox housing F1-1 gearbox, gearbox housing, removal F1-2 gearbox, gearbox housing, reassembly F2 gearbox, clutch housing F2-1 gearbox, clutch housing, removal F2-2 gearbox, clutch housing, reassembly F3 gearbox, gears v750 F4 gearbox, gears v1100 G transmission G2 transmission, pinion housing G2-1 transmission, pinion housing, removal G2-2 transmission, pinion housing, check G2-3 transmission, pinion housing, reassembly G3 transmission, transmission case G3-1 transmission, transmission case, removal G3-2 transmission, transmission case, check G3-3 transmission, transmission case, pinion - gear meshing (bevel gear set) G3-4 transmission, transmission case, reassembly california

Now show me yours.

I mentioned this one before (last year?) but it still doesn't appear to be published. Anyone seen it in real life, maybe in USA?

Oh oh. Is Badgoosey turning into a... girly ?

That is just the sort of technical advice that you would expect to see in a Guzzi manual.

Maybe I can 'help you out' if you can't pick-up where you left off with that process. Hopefully, once you initiated the order the Apple Store will have your order record and it can be sorted. But if not...p.m. QT Pro does lots of nice stuff and is worth getting.

OK. The pleasures and perils of home mechanicing: looks like I got it wrong the first time round. I've knocked out the new, 'too tight', bearing. Had to take out the rollers and then the shell. I carefully drifted another new roller bearing in, all the time checking that the inner ring would fit freely. This time I didn't knock it right in. The outer face is flush with the drivebox sleeve that the bearing sits in. With the washer sitting on top, the inner ring does not now protrude as far as the outer face of the washer. So, unless it closes-up when the axle bolt is tightened, this means that the inner ring does not press against the swing arm. It is the washer and then the sleeve in the drive box that take the pressure. The inner bearing ring probably remains free to move and to rotate. It seems that when I drove the first bearing right in, it caused some slight damage that was enough to cause a tight fit between the rollers and the inner ring, that would soon have wrecked the whole bearing if I had gone ahead and assembled the wheel like that: possibly leading to the sort of result that Brian reports. Hope this may be useful to someone else doing the job. Can anyone confirm that the needle roller bearing outer face should fit flush with the housing sleeve and that the washer sits proud, with the inner ring slightly inside it? Though N.B., Brian: the inner ring still fits through the washer hole, so 'grinding it down' wasn't a problem in that sense. It didn't make the ring smaller so that it slipped though. At full-size it does slip through anyway. It just shouldn't lock-up tight, it should have a bit of movement, or so it seems at the moment, until someone says otherwise or until I get the whole lot assembled and fitted and maybe observe something different.

I'm confused now – by what you say about problem of the inner 'bearing' (the inner ring) pushing through the washer. The original fit is that it does go through the washer. That wasn't your problem. The face of the inner ring butts against the swing arm (not the washer) – on my bike anyway. Same with the bearing on the other, brake, side. It must be these inner rings and spacers that hold the axle/wheel in place when the swingarm is tightened up on them. Hence the bearing failure that we are getting, from new, when the too-short spacer has been fitted by MG. It seems that normally this inner ring should be static and the needle rollers turn as the axle revolves. Maybe there was a problem with your needle roller cage and it was too tight on the inner ring, either because of rust or bad fitting or some other damage? This comfirms that I should be worried about the new bearing that I fitted. As per the other thread, the bad needle roller bearing was torture to get out. The shell was stuck solid. I eventually got it out in bits and fitted a new bearing. I assumed that it should be knocked in as far as possible, right up to the inner washer. Surely it will move right in when the axle nut is tightened up anyway? When the bearing was out, the inner ring fitted very nicely inside it and turned smoothly. The trouble is that, now that the bearing is fitted in the drive box, the inner ring has to be forced in and is too tight in the rollers. It turns roughly and only with force. This can't be right and your story tells me that this could lead to a similar lock-up. What has gone wrong? It looks like I will have to take the new roller bearing out (which I dread) and try again with another new one. Is the housing too small for the bearing shell? Why is the bearing so tight on the inner sleeve when it is fully inserted?

Yep. This was me. Sort of on the edge of Europe, Al. Looks like exact same problem as hairypony has. I've had 2 failures. One was a cracked stem on a Ducati wheel (possibly the same valve as Guzzi use? Certainly looked like the same material.). The crack is not visible. It allows slow deflation of the tyre. The solution was to replace it with a steel valve. The tyre guy knew what the problem was straight away as he has seen it plenty before. The second problem was when my v.11 tyre deflated on the road. I thought is was a puncture and rode on slowly. Later, on closer inspection I saw that the nut holding the valve to the rim was gone. Valve cap was still on, so only explanation was that the nut split and came off. This allowed the valve to drop into the tyre when enough air had leaked out and then there was rapid deflation. The tyre guy called it magnesium. It looks like some sort of megnesium alloy to me. It's yellowey, not like aluminium. Seems to me that this is the wrong material to use for such an utterly crucial part and that the valves should be changed for stainless steel. PS it seems that those aftermarket caps are bad news for a number of reasons. Back to cheap black plastic indeed.