AndyH

So how did you get it out then? I gave up trying myself eventually- I even tried an expanding anchor bolt on the end of a 10mm threaded rod as a kind of slide hammer but the anchor bolt wasn't up to it - kept slipping out. I wasn't prepared to shell out for a pukka slide hammer with bearing extractor (100s of quid for quality kit) so in the end took the swinging arm to the local jobbing mechanic. As the paint needed re-doing anyway I gave him free hand with the torch but he still had to grind a bit out from the outer races and collapse them. A tribute to his skills that he didn't mark the arm itself apart from burnt paint. He said they were the toughest bearings he could remember having to extract (mainly down to the width and especially the blind drive side) and he's been doing it all his life. I take my hat off to you sah!

Yep, the Hagon is just fine for me. Unless you're really working the bike hard and would notice the difference so need that external reservoir etc., the Hagon is perfectly serviceable for real life riding, good value and guaranteed for 2 years. Better than a cracked Sachs eye any day. Andy

The Vague-liar may be a problem (at least by many accounts), but not for me - if you do have White faced Veglias, my experience has been that the 60 deg drive at the transmission end is the weak (and expensive) link - the nylon worm gears don't seem to be up to it. I've got through a couple in just over 12000 miles. That is apparently the reason my bike was so low mileage when I bought it. The part seems to be irregularly available (couldn't get hold of one at first) being a variation of the 60 deg drive at the clock end which can be adapted by cannibalising the screw adapter from the old one, but certainly not cheap, so if it goes my recommendation is: save some dosh, keep your bike low mileage and guess your speed at the cameras buy a new one (try Gutsibits), splash out on a replacement speedo cable at the same time, lube it with teflon white grease, give it as straight a run to the clock as possible, and continue to guess your speed at the cameras. Then again, I always carry a Gearbox Ratchet Return Spring 'just in case' like people say you should, but never needed it. That's Guzzi's for you Andy

Not having the Guzzi work stand shouldn't be an obstacle - I managed without for quite some time - it's just easier to do the job with one. I used a couple of axle stands and a trolley jack. Better and safer if you have help but I managed on my own several times with some blocks of wood under the side stand. I found the problem with fitting a greaser onto the zerk in that position was that, once I'd got it on, I just couldn't get it off again and there was no space to get a leverl in and had to take off the arm anyway. So having been there, I personally consider whipping off the wheel and swing arm a minor hassle: I've timed it - 2 hour round trip. Besides, once you have the 'arm off, you can give the bearings a spin to redistribute the grease and try and stop them wearing the same ~5 deg part of their track. An observation on the 'take a depth measurement' process before pulling out the pivot pins. Good idea, but that's assuming that the alignment was correct in the first place: It wasn't and I got it much better when I set the alignment up again using the 'two flourescent tubes' method mentioned in another post on this site. I did find that the screw inserts for the hugger were loose and just spun around when I tried to undo the screws. It was a major PIA to get the hugger off as I couldn't get purchase on the inserts under the hugger and the screw was rusted into the insert pretty firm. I kind of mangled the hugger in the process when the friction melted a bigger hole but got there in the end. Once done I got new inserts from Wendel and have epoxied them in place to stop them spinning in future. AndyH

Just an observation: it's always an option to pare down the weight in search of more performance... I chose to take 25 pounds off the rider this year: big difference in acceleration and handling. Just made myself really popular, I guess. Anyone for a pie and a pint?

Well observed Hubert. It has to be said though, that some manufacturers' instructions leave a great deal to be desired: they often assume too much knowledge/ability on the part of the user and also forget to include important information because, of course, they know what they are doing (or in some cases just think they do). I write documentation for a living (including instructions) so when I have a new part in one hand and the paper in the other hand, I often wonder how well kit/instrument suppliers test their words out on customers before release... AndyH

The cable is absolutely fine - I can turn the inner with my fingers and get a blip on the speedo: that wouldn't happen if it was binding. But sure enough, 60 deg gearbox nylon gears are mashed: they engage OK when turned by hand with no resistance but under any resistance at all they jump teeth. Why nylon gears? What was Luigi thinking? I'd happily pay more for one with metal gears if it was going to last 20+K miles. AndyH

Oh the Hubris!! Shortly after writing this my needle started jumping around; dutifully I lubed the inner once again with white grease/PTFE (you'll find this method suggested elsewhere in the forum). Just this morning (3 weeks later) the needle starts bouncing around with gay abandon, 5 mins later reads only ~ 60 mph (+-10mph), then 5 mins later nothing - all in the space of 45 miles. The cable is new this year, the run is about as straight as it can be, it's been lubed to hell, the 60 deg gearbox is new out of the packet this year - total mileage achieved before self-destruction: 4000 miles. Good thing I have two more 60 deg gearboxes in stock... looks like I'll need them to cover another 8000 miles. AndyH

Before I got the MG workshop stand I used two cheap axle stands (£12) and a trolley jack under the crank case (piece of ply to spread the load) - served me well for a few months but after a few tricky moments trying to do it single handed, I opted to get the stand: didn't want to have to be extracted from under 500lb of fallen V11! Still, if you have assistance, this is the cheap route to getting the back wheel off. AndyH

Sold - might get the wife along on her non-MG. AndyH

Ratlinghope, up Long Mynd way near the Stiperstones - very nice part of the country with God's own roads. "Shropshire Hills Gathering" - is this an MG event or more general bike thing? May be a chance to get out the tent one more time "if it's nice out"! AndyH

Some of the posts on this site in response to issues relating to hot weather vapour locking suggest that prior to the pump being fitted inside the tank, moving it to the position above the frame was a factory attempt at resolving the vapour locking problem. I got some bad problems with vapour locking a few weeks ago during our hot(ish) weather spell for this year, and thought swapping the positions might be an option (my filter is currently above the frame spine), just didn't get round to it. The workshop manual suggests both positions are possible so it might be worth a try to resolve the vapour locking. As far as I can see it, the vapour locking problem could just as easily build up in the filter as in the pump so I'm not confident swapping them round would help that much. But if you don't try, you don't find out... Andy H

Sounds like you have a fairly fundamental problem here which may need addressing first, but when I had a bulb blow each outing I got LED bulbs off eBay. Goes into the same socket, no conversion needed. Bought four units just in case there was a bit more to it than vibes, but I've been running the same LED unit for 4000 miles. Worth a try? AndyH

Yours sits at 500 rpm when the motor is off, mine sits at 8000! My previous one ranged from 500 (off) to 3000 when revving hard. See a pattern here? I'm just one year ahead of you in Guzzi ownership and already feel like an old hand: speedo issues, tacho issues, charging issues, idiot light randomness when hot, peeling engine paint, seized fasteners, failed oil pressure switch, broken shock eye on Sachs shock (do check for that - it can be hard to spot!). But those mere foibles aside, I love it: best bike ever. Heck, you don't need a tacho - the rev limiter tells you that you need to change up. AndyH

I use white grease with PTFE - does the job OK. Pull out the inner and really grease it up. It really isn't worth losing the transmission end nylon gears, not exactly unpbtainable but eye wateringly expensive for a bit of plastic. If you do need to replace the 60 deg gearbox at the lower end you can convert the 'obtainable but equally expensive' one at the clock end using the metal adaptor insert from the knackered one - see my recent post elsewhere Andy

Hi Dave, just the way of things - don't feel too bad. Think it was probably the vibes - i was having fun on a favourite road across the Cotswolds and running up and down the 'box. Judging from comments above the vibes probably did for the counterweight. Not the condensation. As i say I can't trust myself to fix the clock properly myself so will probably send it to the guten Herren at Stein Dinse for treatment. Unless there's a worthy craftsman recommended in the UK, that is. Ho hum, it worked good for a couple of K! Cheers AndyH

When you fit the Electrex 451 replacement regulator the manufacturers recommend running a big fat wire directly back to the battery from these two red wires. I got a maxi blade 30 amp fuse and holder and wired it between the battery and those red cables with a fat 27amp rated cable (we don't seem to use 'gauges' of wire over here) using soldered connections and it seems to do just fine. If I get round to fitting an OEM regulator again one day I'll probably keep this solution as other posts suggest this (along with good earthing) is a 'good thing'. AndyH

Yeah, in case you haven't read it elsewhere on this site, that's why you don't bother changing the filter through that little round door - take off the whole sump plate so you can put the clamp on... well worth the effort A

Thanks Guzz, I'm too ham fisted to take my own clock apart and put it back together: respect to any owner who succeeds in that enterprise! I've used Stein Dinse before for parts so will follow that up. Cheers AndyH

I've just had my second tacho go awol. On my first the needle wouldn't go above 3.5K rpm. So I got a used tacho from Dave (thanks mate! ) and it worked OK for about a thousand miles, pretty wobbly over 5K but after another wet weekend in Wales (what other kind is there?) it won't read below 9K even when the engine's not running!! So maybe it was the condensation... So, first, do these devices ever work perfectly and second, does anyone anywhere fix these items? I can live without a tacho - I've done so for long enough already - but it would be nice to have a Veglia Borletti white-face tacho working without going down the non-OEM route. Any suggestions? AndyH

The bevel drive is essentially the same for both ends except that the transmission end has an insert that screws onto the transmission and the insert fortunately doesn't fall apart like the gears inside. So if you can't get hold of the transmission end part (GU04768300) which they say has been discontinued, buy the (admittedly expensive) part (GU23768310) that goes into the back of the clock and pry out the insert from the old transmission end part and press it into the new part. That's what I've been running for a few Thou miles so far with no problems. BTW may be teaching to suck eggs, but before you sling it all back together, get a new speedo cable (the cable's the cheap bit - comparatively) and lube it up well with white grease and route it as smooth and straight as possible to prolong the life of the fragile bit. I can speak from experience: it seems to make a difference. I actually have the correct part which I got from Wendel http://www.1000ps-web.de/KUNDEN/MOTOGUZZI/wendelmotorraeder.de - they may still have one in stock. It's in a locked lead lined box hidden under a large rock but looks like it'll stay 'on the bench' until my current one goes. Andy H

Agip or nothing, fussy eh?

I really don't have problems of this type at the moment but it's surely a matter of time... So anyone got any views on this kit from Gutsibits: HICAP Starting Upgrade Kit? Is this going to improve matters? AndyH

If we were talking British bike getting all grumpy and crotchety in hot weather I could kind of understand: we don't get really hot weather for very long here. But we're talking Guzzis for Pete's sake! Italian bikes, it gets hot there in Summer...??? Someone's going to tell me that Dnepr's don't like the cold next... AndyH

Very similar symptoms to those above happened to me recently - not a single blown fuse either. Could it be that the gradual drop in circuit voltage causes the headlamp relay and then the blinker to drop out before the other bits like the ECU finally cut out? One other symptom (don't know if you've seen this) was the charge voltage across the battery terminals looked OK at first but started dropping from OK levels (13.85 - 14V) to ~12V within about 5 mins of starting and so not charging. The whole thing was baffling enough for me to call off a planned bike tour round Scotland and go by car instead. I too have now fitted an Electrex 451 (needs slightly longer screws than the standard Ducati reg): I've also run fat (27 amp) Earth and Positive wires directly back to the battery (via a maxi blade 30 amp fuse) as suggested in the Electrex instructions and several posts on this forum. The Electrex doesn't have the equivalent of the standard wire that polls the circuit load, so this connection on the loom lies idle. This arrangement seems to be working OK so far with a couple of quirks: 1. It takes several long seconds for the charge light to go off after starting (which at first made me think it wasn't working at all). 2. at idle, when warm, the charge light shows when the headlamp is on but not when it's off. As I don't spend too much time at idle with the headlamp on I'm not overly concerned about the second issue, but when trickling through tight queues on the M25 round London I'd rather have some daytime running lights (am thinking of high output LED fitments to aid my survival). I also obtained a good second-hand alternator stator and fitted that in a 'belt and braces' approach to see if it changes things but have seen absolutely no difference. I think these are just 'features' of this make of reg so I'll try and live with them unless further problems manifest. BTW I also use an Oxford Maximiser battery maintenance device which reports that my battery is strong and holding charge well, so I use it to keep the battery in good form. Given the expense of replacing these batteries it seems well worth the £60. AndyH