pete roper

Yeah, that’s it.

On the subject of flat tappet inspection there is a video in my YouTube feed of me pulling the left hand cambox on an 8V Griso that I made after some poor bloke on another board was told that his shop was going to charge him $2,000 just to inspect the tappets! A figure so mind numbingly absurd I felt compelled to react! The video from the point where I started on the motor, (Having removed the ‘Wing’ before the filming started. The ‘Wing’ is retained by three fasteners.) is thirteen minutes long to the point where the cambox was disassembled on the bench! Working on the dodgy shop’s pay scale that would put me at being able to bill myself out at $8,000 per hour! I would have liked that! I’ll see if I can link it up here later. I wasn’t rushing either.

I think my definitive guide to rollerisation is posted here. It covers which models the factory say were flats but experience says some later than listed 2012 engines were still flat tappet. I’ve never heard of a 2013 plated bike with flats. In my experience unless a flat tappet motor is really ‘Ridden to Death’ rollerisation fixes the problem safely and effectively. For the layman I would say yes, seek out a post-‘12 model but as someone who has more experience than most of this issue I would say there is nothing to fear from a flattie engined bike as long as it was addressed when first the problem was detected via either noise or inspection. If it’s just some poorly maintained and neglected dunger that has been owned by Cletus the pig-f*cker and maintained by his seven toed cousin from the next holler over I’d say run a mile but there are numerous ‘Tell Tales’ that are easily checked on inspection that will enable you to easily identify if it’s likely to be a ‘Good-‘un’ or a ‘Bad-‘un’. Probably time I did a proper write up on that. Personally my opinion is that if you’ve ridden a properly tuned and mapped 8V you’d never look at a 2V the same way again.. And don’t get all ‘In my face’ over the odd numbering nomenclature. It’s just the way it is. Get over it. Even I’ve managed to…..

Yah. It’s the Ducati permanent mag Alt. One thing I can think of is was the stator or rotor removed and the rotor not stuck into the stator as a ‘Keeper’ for any length of time? If so it’s possible it may of lost its magnetism which will hinder charging.

Whenever I see things like that I always think there has to be something wrong with the bike? I mean? It’s a Harley, it’s got a wheelbase a mile long, its rake and trail figures are enormous, it’s travelling on a seemingly smooth road and it’s not even going very fast! Even shitty motorbikes don’t usually go bonkers if their fundamentals are sound. Tyre pressures, steering head bearings, swingarm and wheel bearings etc.

Michael can do it I’m sure. He’s taken over my biz, was my understudy for best part of a decade. Best Guzzi mechanic I know. Knows enough about V11’s to do a clutch easily enough. Might not be the fastest because of the chair but I can guarantee it will be done right. PM me and I’ll give you my phone # and then I can text you his details. We’re just outside Canberra. Pete

Yup, I had a customer from Gunning, a few Km away, that had a red one. The red is very striking as well.

This board has some weird censorship. Since when was d-i-c-k a word so gratuitously obscene it needs to be tipexed!?

Very underrated the V9. At one stage they got within a bee’s @#$$#! of building a ‘Budget’ V85 with the V9 powerplant and MUIG 3 controller and to be honest I think I would have preferred it to the V85. I think they were going to call it something uninspiring like the V85-X? They even did promotional videos but then it just vanished. (Shrug?)

What exactly are you looking for? Most parts there are either manufacturable, like the bush for the lever, or substitutable for parts from other models. Stuff like the selector pawl is universal to all five speeds.

I’ve only ever seen one Harley doing what it was designed for with both style and aplomb. Back about twelve years ago now I did one of my ‘Big’ tours of the USA, how lucky am I? On that trip I was on my Mana GT and after buggering about in the Deep South I headed westwards. Towards the end of the trip I took one of the interstates across the deserts of either UT or AZ. Can’t remember if it was 15 or 40, it matters not. But somewhere out in the wastelands, (Which I love by the way.) a bloke on a Road King joined the highway at some god forsaken ‘West Frecklepork’ type of hamlet and we droned along for probably a couple of hundred miles or maybe more together. We both stopped to fuel up at a servo in the middle of nowhere and exchanged pleasantries while we got drinks, (No need for a piss! It was HOT and we both necked about a gallon of water and took more in reserve! Place filling our jackets with ice from the soft drink machine!) and then went on our way. I followed behind and the burble of the, not overly loud, Road King was a joy to hear. It was probably the perfect bike for just casually eating miles in the Desert West of the US. Eventually he pulled off down an exit to another bumfuck hamlet that probably the people who lived there had never heard of but he gave me a cheery salute as he did so and I returned it as I and the little Aprilia soldiered on for another couple of hours until I cried uncle and rested overnight in yet another tiny, shagnasty little town where the food was terrible, the bed uncomfy and the most memorable thing was the barmaid at the dive bar I went to had the most astonishing false tits I’ve ever observed in my life! Made even more fantastic by the fact that they were obviously several decades younger than the rest of her! No judgement from me. I’m no oil painting or glittering Adonis. But as an example of anthropoid artifice she was a stunning beacon of, well, something! She was also utterly charming and drove my slightly pissed self back to my motel and wished me happy travels. It’s memories like those that make a life worth living. And are also a reason not to totally despise Harley’s.

I think you are correct. Memory loss is a thing……who knew?

‘Gambalunga’ means ‘Long-Legs’ I believe and from memory was the name that was given to the 120* V-Twin GP bike. ‘Gambalungino’ means ‘Little Long-Legs’. The 120* twin was very innovative for its time and used offset crank pins for perfect primary balance. Something not used by other manufacturers until the 1980’s I believe.

Centy was granddad of Griso. How could I not like it? Certainly it’s appearance was ‘Challenging’ when it was launched but it was a brave move by a cash strapped company. Certainly it would be easier to start such a project from one of the ‘CARC’ platform bikes but because of their large, long swingarm all such ‘Specials’ end up looking like shit in my book. I still haven’t seen a ‘Custom’ CARC bike that looks better than a stock or lightly modified Griso.

If the dash is blanking out it means voltage is marginal. The dashboard has a built in failsafe protection that if the battery voltage drops below a certain figure, (9V? Can’t remember off the top of my head.) it will abort the start and kill all power to the ecu to protect it from voltage spiking if the engine does start. The ‘Service’ warning will sometimes appear if the voltage drops to close to that critical point and it may also trigger various error codes in the dash and ecu. The voltage drop is due to the current demand from the starter which is very high and if there aren’t sufficient CCA in the battery it will drop below criticality. Usually when the dash re-boots after this event you’ll get a code appear on the LCD screen ‘AMG’ something or other which will appear before the tacho does its ‘Sweep’. Off you’re getting any of these symptoms it is most likely just a very tired battery and hopefully the ecu isn’t fried. It’s unlikely but not impossible. Thankfully ECU’s aren’t terribly expensive on the Bay of Fleas.