thelonewonderer

Power is out in half my apartment, including the garage, so I haven't been able to take a look at anything yet. Instead, I've been looking through a lot of threads about shifting issues. I read about what you mentioned above, docc. Man, that was some problem! My input hub and flywheel looked great a week ago when I reinstalled the engine, so I'm hoping it's not as major as what you had to deal with. I'm glad I don't have the aluminum flywheel, and that my clutch plates looked good. Out of curiosity, if I had bad clutch springs, what would the symptoms be?

The clutch lever feels normal. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

Red Line 75w90 Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

I'll take a look at that tomorrow. Thanks!

Hey all! I've been test riding my newly rebuilt and reinstalled engine, making sure everything is good before I get back to riding for fun. The good news is that everything seems fine with the engine. I've come across something interesting with the transmission, however. Riding around at slow speeds, everything is normal. When I am going faster, I have trouble down shifting. I haven't had a problem going from 2nd to 1st, but every gear above that seems to take a second or two before engaging. After shifting, I can hear the gears turning in the gearbox. Not grinding, mind you, but I can actually hear them turning. After a moment, it gets itself where it needs to be. This all happens while I'm still pulling the clutch. The first time I noticed it, I had already let off the clutch and the bike acted as if it was in neutral. So, I pulled the clutch again and tried shifting down, but nothing happened. Then, as I mentioned above, in a second or two, the gears engaged. Shifting up hasn't been an issue. Has anyone experienced this before? Could it be an issue with the clutch, or the transmission itself? I've done a decent amount of work on different engines, but I have never had to work on a transmission, so this is new territory for me. Thanks in advance!

I want to thank everyone that helped me figure this out, and for hanging in there with me. You guys are great!

Could be! I'm just happy that whatever gremlin was there has left!

For the flywheel marks, all you have to do is make sure the timing marks are in lined up before installing the flywheel. I don't rely on the marks on the flywheel anymore for piston position. Just the valve positions, as you mentioned. There is a place in the thread where I learned what the "go winkie" is. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

To be honest, I don't have a proper answer. After I heard that awful sound, I removed the engine, then the heads, then the valves to make sure they weren't bent. All was good. I removed the timing and reinstalled it (anyone using the huge aftermarket timing chain tensioner? That thing makes it difficult!). Then, before I could do anything else, I get a call from my landlord that the apartment above my garage has a plumbing issue and they have to remove and replace all of the pipes in my ceiling. My lease states that there can be no work done on vehicles on the property, so I had to tarp everything and let it sit while the work was done, so I didn't end up with a nasty eviction notice (I have moto parts all over my garage. I specifically rented this apartment for the private garage; hard to find in Los Angeles). In the time that I couldn't work on the bike, I wondered what I could do to make sure everything was right and proper, without putting the engine back in the frame. I could turn the engine over by hand, but I did that before and I didn't think anything was wrong. It hit me that I needed to make the engine turn faster to see of anything was out of the ordinary. So, I decided to turn the engine over with a battery powered drill. It could turn it way faster than I could by hand, yet not too much as to cause damage to an engine with no oil in it. After I did that and the engine sounded fine, I was confident that I could put it back in the bike. I wish I could pinpoint exactly what was wrong with the engine to get those awful ticks. All that I can say is when doing your timing, be careful and meticulous! I may have just been off by a tooth, I don't know, but even a professional Guzzi mechanic told me my timing looked good to go. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

Well, gents, it's been awhile, but I have news! I got her to fire right up, this time with no horrendous sounds! I'm going to take her for a ride around the neighborhood tomorrow to make sure everything is good. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

Wanderer Maybe the valves got stuck in the guides. You have to pull the heads to check... I pulled the heads today and removed the valves. They moved freely in the guides. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

I'm definitely interested. Thank you. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

Well fellas, it's been a while, but I finally have a day to work on the engine. I got the heads off and took the valves out. None of them are bent. There are also no marks on the pistons from the valves. I'm wondering if it was something else making that awful sound. I'm going to remove the flywheel and the timing and rebuild everything again to see if I can do it proper this time. I did have a thought, though: anyone ever heard of someone using a different cam shaft? I know, it's out there, but all of the timing marks looked good, so I'm just sitting here, scratching my head. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

Valve to piston should be around 1.5mm on the inlet and 2mm on the exhaust. Ciao Thank you! I'm going to clay the pistons when I pull the heads. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

I haven't had time to pull the heads and check the valves, but I did tinker with it a bit today. I put the borescope in the cylinders and turned over the engine to see which valve(s) were making contact with the pistons. I turned the crank all the way around multiple times and not once did any valve touch the pistons. I also examined the heads of the pistons and there were no hit marks on either of them. The timing marks on the gears are lined up when the LH is at TDC, which should mean that the timing isn't off by a tooth or two. I thought I had come up with ideas on how to correct the timing, but when looking at everything those ideas go out the window. I've been watching and re-watching the video on "This Old Tractor" (here is the link if anyone is interested: http://www.thisoldtractor.com/moto_guzzi_technical_training_videos_eng.html)and I have installed the timing just like they do in the clip. Just to think out loud so someone might be able to see where I have gone wrong: The missing tooth on the phonic wheel has to be opposite the timing sensor. This places the camshaft pin where it should be for the cam timing gear to line up (roughly 10 o'clock). When setting the timing marks on the bench, the hole for the pin on the cam gear is in the correct place. One then has to turn the crankshaft so that the key lines up with its position on the crank gear. Once everything is lined up, one can install the timing gears and chain. If the timing marks still line up, everything should be fine. The key on the crank should guarantee that the crank is in the correct position and the pin in the cam should guarantee that the cam is in the correct position. If this is true, then the pistons and valves should be in proper sync. Where have I gone wrong?

Man, I just missed out on this. I was in need of a new one about a month ago. Found one on ebay for, I think, around $25, but with international shipping, it totaled around $60! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

A boroscope wont tell you if the valve is slightly bent. It only has to be bent 0.005" or so at the sealing face to stop it seating. Ciao That's why I'm taking the heads off and the valves out. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

I got my borescope and took a look inside the clylinders. No damage to the pistons and the valves don't appear to be bent. I'm still planning on removing the heads and valves to get a better look, but things are looking okay, in this area. I can also see that the piston in the LH cylinder is at TDC and both valves are open. They appear to lightly be touching the piston, which obviously isn't good, but since they don't seem to be hitting that hard, I'm hopeful that they will be in good condition (I can still turn it over by hand, so they valves aren't stopping the pistons). I won't have much time to work on it in the coming week, but whenever I have some time, I'll see what I can do. Thanks for hanging in here with me, everyone. Great bunch of people!

Good idea with the borescope. I just ordered one. Yeah, it was compression stroke. Checked with the timing marks and by watching the valves. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

I'm hoping that's the case with mine. I could reach in the exhaust port and feel the valves in there. They didn't seem bent and still seemed happy in their seats. I'll find out about the intake valves soon. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

I'm not sure. I know that is is possible to lightly hit the valves and have no real damage. Unfortunately for me, it sounds like my were hitting hard. Compression was still great in the RH cylinder, and a bit low in the LH. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

I think I mentioned it before, but I took the engine to a professional guzzi mechanic and he told me the timing was good. The only thing I can think of is that when I rebuilt the engine, there was some damage to the cylinder heads on the gasket surface, so I had them machined at the same machine shop I've used to fix heads to other engines, as well as some crankshaft and conrod work and everything worked out fine. I don't know how much was shaved off, but maybe it could have been too much, which could be why the valves are hitting. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

With the timing marks aligned, the LH cylinder is at TDC. When attaching the flywheel, I lined up the markings on it while the timing marks were lined up. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

Here are pictures of my timing with the marks aligned and the flywheel with the "S" where it is supposed to be. Look alright to you guys? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

Both. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk