pete roper

The tools required for pulling the timing cover are really very minimal. A 5mm allen key, a 4mm allen key, (T-bar typed with ball ends are best.) whatever spanners are required to remove anything that hangs in front of the top of the chest, (Coils mebbe?) and a spanner or socket for the nut on the end of the crank that holds the alternator rotor on. Oh, and a 10mm allen key or key-socket and bar for removing the sub-frame bolts at the front of the chest. Take off the alternator cover, (4 x 6mm allen bolts with 5mm allen heads.) Remove the stator and hang it out f the way, (3 x 5mm allen bolts with 4mm allen heads.) take off anything like the coils thats occluding the bolts at the top of the chest. Undo the rotor retaining nut an slide the rotor off the end of the crank. Undo the two sub frame allen bolts and remove 'em and their schnoore washers. After that it's simply a matter of undoing all the timing chest bolts, (The bottom six are longer than the top eight.) and prying the chest cover off. Remove the old gasket with a scraper, razor blade or some such, dress up both surfaces with a whetstone, install a new gasket and reverse the disassembley proccedure. It'll probably take you a couple of hours first time around but it's not a huge job and nothing is going to jump out at you, burst into flames or slay your first born. I'd at last try it before hiring a bloody trailer and driving 1000 miles! Pete

I said something *really* nasty on the 'Crows'. I won't repeat it here Pete

Woswrongwiffergreaso? Greaso is Great! Better and more original than the tawdry old munt they've been peddling for the last five years! I micturate on your narrow minded opinion of the Greaso (I still haven't a clue what that is????) Pete

Actually Raf's from the North Coast of NSW near Coffs Harbour. Now if the miserable sod would stop playing with photoshop and get my wbsite up and running agian........ Pete

Look, I don't know whether this is relevant at all but the earlier twin plate clutch/flywheel has had an aftermarket replacement made of anodised alloy available for yonks. There are generally very reliable, I have one that has led a very hard life in various bikes including one of our race motors and it still looks as good as new . I have heard of them failing though and usually this is because the flywheel has been attatched to the crank using Schoore washers, (A dished and serated type belvile washer.) but WITHOUT a flat steel washer underneath. This leads to the serated bits of the schnoore biting through the, (very hard!) anodising on the wheel and setting up stress points that lead to failure of the wheel. Whether the Guzzi 'Designed' RAM unit is prone to this I don't know, (It certainly isn't hard anodised.) but I would certainly recommend that in any circumstance where you are bolting any alloy flywheel to a crank you use Schnoores but also, underneath them, use a flat steel washer to spread load and protect the alloy. Will this help prevent the problem with Scura clutches??? I haven't a clue! But it's better than just stabbing in the dark and hoping! Pete

Thanks Daniel. While we are realistic about our chances and ability in terms of *real* racing we aren't just out thre to circulate with the tail enders. At the end of the day there is no way that a shaft driven, air cooled, pushrod valved twin can seriously compete with OHC, chain drive four cylinder machines that have had a far bigger budget than we have. What we have is enthusiasm, a degree of knowledge of the product and a barking mad commitment to having fun and keeping the Falcon's wings flapping on the track! On the way to this years Period 4 win we cut a crankcase in two, destroyed two bevelboxes and a series of UJ's, con-rods and a crank. Busted cylinder heads, bent valves and generally #@$&@#@ up in lots of ways but hey! That's racing! Next month I'm starting to build a motor for Phil's bike. He's racing in 'New Era' which goes up to 90-something so he'll be up against FZ's and GSX's! Yup, yet again we are tilting at windmills, it's just the windmills are bigger Last season he came 4th on a virtually box standard Mk IV LeMans, (The fact that the blokes who ride the bikes I work on are very good helps a LOT!!!!) Stuff in some go-fast shite and keep the opposition terrified of the fat copper on the old air cooled shitbox and we'll STILL keep 'em guessing for a few seasons yet Pete PS, Forks are 38mm Ceriannis from a Laverda SF2. They had 280mm brakes, (Poofs' brakes! Like Ducatis had! ) hence the adaptor plates. We have these forks still and depending on the track we run them or 38mm 'Zocchis.

Nah, you have to be a bonehead school teacher from the roughest high school in Sydney and look like this http://www.guzzitech.com/racers/roper5.jpg Pete

http://home.exetel.com.au/peterandkerry/ai...gallery/pb4.jpg Sorry, I'm too thick to be able to actually post the pic here so you'll just have to click on the link. It's an old pic of my little green hot-rod in it's final roundfin itteration. It was at this stage running a 70mm crank with 4mm over Carilos, 90mm bore, a silly cam, flowed midvalve heads and 40mm carbs, ChroMo pushrods. Next to no flywheel, close ratio straight cut ZD gearbox and a 7/33 rer end. In that guise I dyno'd it and it made 84 RWBHP @ 9,750RPM and it made an ungodly noise while it did it . Since then lots of the go-fast bits have gone into this. http://www.guzzitech.com/racers/roper4.jpg which currently is the NSW period 4 post classic club champion Pete

Alex wrote; I rang my dealer in brisbane and he quoted me $2,600 parts only to change over to the twin plate. There has to be a better deal than this. Someone please respond and help out us Aust. Scura riders To be honest that doesn't sound too bad. Sorry, but a new RAM clutch purchased locally will be in the $1100 range. Given that so few V11's are sold in Oz you can't expect Tommy or anyone else to be exactly Au-Fait with getting the box out so it will take time and therefore $$$'s If you opt for a conversion to the twin plater you need flywheel, pressure plate, springs, friction plates, intermediate plate, thrust cup and (????) a new pushrod plus bolts and shit like that. It isn't unreasonable. I'll do it for you if you want but my price wuld be similar and then you'd have getting here etc. and it might cost even more if something gows wrong. Pete

No idea what's in the Griso. Greg Field works at Moto International and has been drooling over the parts book/fische/download but he's away at the moment as his Gran just died and he's had to fly over to her funeral. Perhaps he'll be able to tell us when he gets back. As for HP? The RAM clutches I've installed have been in a couple of Tontis and one quite hairy 1100 Sport, so far I've had no suggestion from the customer that anything has gone wrong but I don't know what mileage he may or may not have done as he went away and didn't come back. Pete

Yup, horses for courses. I've had plenty of light flywheel Guzzis and our race bike has a really incredibly light single plate unit (of unknown manufacturer.) and for that purpose it's great. For road use though, in my old Tontis, which are not ridden head-down, bum-up but are used for swallowing horizon at a high average speed for many hours on end, I find a huge flywheel is a very happy thing. As is the fact I run very tall final drive gearing. They are also carburetted so fuel metering isn't so sophisticated so a heavy flywheel helps overcome the irregularities. If you're looking for less weight on your flywheel than the standard V11 set-up, be it single or twin plate, you're getting into the really minor adjustments as the V11 units are already about as light as you can get a steel unit and still maintain their integrity. As you get lighter and lighter it becomes a case of the laws of diminishing returns taking over. As for the *original* RAM unit? I've heard nothing but good of them and am not aware of any that have grenaded or worn out prematurely. The Scura items, although made by the same company, are to a modified design specified by Guzzi, (WHY??????? ) and although I haven't had the chance to do a direct comparison I believe that the actual flywheel itself is thinner, especially around the mounting boss which in itself is a bloody stupid to remove material as the closer to the axis the weight is the less inertia it carries and less influence it has on the whole wretched assembley. My feeling is that any gains to be made by working over the standard flywheel assembley are going to be so minor as to be virtually un-noticeable. I can think of about a zillion other things to spend money on before the flywheel. Try taking ut the cam plates for the gearbox selector mechanism and de-burring them thoroughly, that I'm told makes a vast improvement to the cleanliness of the gearchange. Pete

The Hydro motor was specifically developed for the Cali series bikes because, I suppose, they were expected to be owned by high mileage cruiser/tourers who wouldn't want to have to adjust stuff out on the road. There is also the fact that the Cali market is dominated by people who like the idea of mechanically silent, low maintenance bikes. Certainly the Hydro motors, when they are working well, are lovely. I'd have one in a trice. In fact I'm still tempted to see if I can get one really, really cheap in a couple of years in the USA and leave it there with a Mate, (After I've got Mike Haven to do whatever wonderful thing MPH do to them!!! MPH have had ZERO cam failures on the hydro models so whatever they're doing they're doing it right!!!!! ). Having aHydro EV waiting for me to go touring in the USA when I visit would be the lap of luxury and an exhibition of decadence hithertoo unseen in the western world!!!! Pete

The 'New' box has also reverted to using a shift drum rather than the cam plates used in the 'Old' box and primary gears are helically cut, (On the Breva at least.). Whether the 'New' box itself is shorter than the 'Old' six speeder I'm not sure, but it looks it. The whole motive unit is considerably more compact than earlier models though due to the alternator re-location, (Which incidentally turns the Breva into a real 'Shin Roaster' in traffic!) Pete

Lee, while I'm not overly familiar with the breather plumbing on V11's my guess is that the small pipe is simply a drain from the air-box. Crankcase pressure is vented via the large hose from a pipe that pokes up through the top of the crankcase just forward of where the gearbox joins the motor. This goes to the spine where the oil vapor that is pumped out with the excess gas condenses out and runs down the spine, back through another pipe which returns to condensate to the sump. That's that braided line with an elbow on it that you can see going into the sump next to the oil drain plug. The excess gas is then vented from a fitting up near the steering head down a hose to the airbox where it is re-breathed through the motor to consume any remaining hydrocarbons and reduce pollution. The little pipe the drip seems to be coming from is simply a drain from the airbox. It's there so that if for any reason oil vapor is being pumped through the breather system and is overwhelming it's ability to allow th oil to condense out in the spine any that gets pumped into the air box has somewhere to go. Without a drain the airbox would simply, gradually, fill up until the oil level reached the level of the inlet trumpets whereupon it would be dragged into the engine and I can tell you from experience with a previous Guzzi air box design that when this happens, although it rarely does any damage, it is quite un-nerving as the world behind you disappears in a fog of oil smoke If, after a hard ride you're finding that you're getting a drip on the collector box it might be worth, next time you have the bodywork off, taking the hose off the crankcase breather and checking that the ball valve in the pipe is working OK and isn't full of elephant smegma. In cooler climates especially condensation can be a problem and gummed up PCV ball valves can significantly contribute to problems with oil ending up going where it shouldn't. Pete

For the race bike, for the road it's rancid elephant smegma every time Pete

I agree wholeheartedly. I always thought that the oil cooler was pretty much un-necessary in all but the most hostile environments. The late model FI bikes do seem to run leaner and therefore hotter but since the vast majority of the heat is created at the top end and disposed of by finning, especially at low engine speeds where the problem of heat soak-back is most prevalent because at low RPM oil delivery to the top end is minimal so it can't effectively remove a lot of heat! Having said that the squarefin motors dump heat a lot more effectively than the older roundfins and I know that the only time my oil gets much above 110*c is if I'm idling along in traffic in Canberra on days when the ambient air temp is in excess of 35*c. Once I'm moving at any speed above about 25kph again the temperature soon returns to sub 100*c, in fact for most of the year I think that the oil runns too cool if anything! How do I know this? Well the SP has an oil temp guage on it that is fairly accurate. Our race bike used to have an oil temperature dipstick which was quite interesting. That bike is fairly well warmed up and even when being flogged mercillessly at the 'Creek' on days where the temperature was over 35*c the oil temp never got above 130*c and as we run Mobil 1 4-T full synth in the racebike it doesn't worry me unduly. Most of the time it runs a lot cooler than that! Bypassing the cooler will do no harm at all in most circumstances on any of the pushrod motors, the Hi-Cams are a different kettle of fish as they run very hot! Pete

Not quite, stroke remains the same but rods are lengthened I belive this is compensated for by a reduction in deck height. The return of the alternator to the valley of the 'V' coupled with the shorter *new* six speed box has allowed a significant reduction in wheelbase and the *perimiter* frame is all new as is the rising rate rear suspension. I know I'll get howled down here for saying it but I always found the V11 series felt incomplete, it would be unsubtle of me to describe them as half-arsed on this forum . The Breva, which is essentially a 'porrige' bike to take sales from chinles BMW riders, feels like a far more complete and rounded package, I'm hoping that the uprated forks, slightly pokier engine and lower gearing of the Griso will make it considerably better than the Breva. Time will tell. Pete.

Great shame. He couldn't of been that old either but I think he had mental health problems? While I have never wanted to own one the Breganze twins and triples are fantasic machines. 3 Cross motorcycles in the UK used to have a huge great 'Incredible Hulk' type fake chest with a thick pelt of hair on it above the spares counter that had a sign on it saying "Laverda Jota Owners Breast-Plate- Price on application" Pete

Went to Prague before the fall of the wall in '90 when it was still a Communist state. Since '68 the people had had a really hard time from the Russians but when you managed to get them somewhere where they were sure they couldn't be overheard by the local apparat they were a hoot and great fun to be with. At that time their outlook was pretty fatalistic, which isn't perhaps surprising considering their experiences in the 20th century, but that may of changed. Since it was one of the capitals of the Austro Hungarian empire it's architechture is magnificent and because the Commies didn't do anything for 50 years and the Nazis just walked in pretty much unopposed it is still in pretty much unaltered condition, it's like going back 150 years!!!! Pete

I have never actually heard of anyone burning a valve with the very tight US specs although I have heard of cases where people have experienced poor running at idle after a long hard thrash in hot weather. Whether this is down to the too tight clearances or some other problem I don't know but there are probably large numbers of Guzzis in the US running with the tighter specs with no ill effects. My own personal observations are that running the Raceco specs is competely un-neccessary. The old roundfins ran 8 thou, (0.2mm) inlet and exhausts but they a.) don't dump heat as well as the squarefins, b.) use cast iron rocker carriers with a lower C of E and c.) were designed to sit idling in Milan traffic with a fat copper sitting on them. all things that will tend to lead to the need for a wider clearance. I run my old roundies at 4 and 6 thou in winter and 5 and 7 in summer, (If and when I remember to check the valve clearances, usually happens about every 18 months-2 years! ) I've never burnt a valve yet. Any squarefin should be quite happy with less than that! As for the question of hammering the tappets due to wider clearances jumping the ramping? Nah, don't think it's that much of an issue really, even the V11 cam is not really particularly wild in any real terms, although some bikes do seem to change their breathing sufficiently to upset the FI if different clearances are used. For what it's worth I'll be running my Griso at 4 and 6 thou as that's wot the book sez, once the rocker spindles andd bushes have worn a bit though, (And they do.) I'll probably close 'em up by a thou. As I've said before, it's not a two wheeled Ferarri, it's a Briggs and Stratton ditchpump, service it regularly and treat it well and it will repay you with long and enjoyable service but fretting yourself into a pink fit over whether the valve lash is set to one or other of the specs really isn't worth it. Pete

Yak fat! Yak fat! Bring on the Yak fat!!!! I'm also hoping to be able to run my bikes on the by-product of a sideline I'm starting up from my beach house on the south coast of NSW. Just offshore there's an Island, Montague Island, that is a National Park and nature reserve. It's also a breeding place for fur seals. Along with the whale hunting trips, (Harpoon your own whale then drag it to the beach where we'll barbecue it over old car tyres!) Jude and I reckon we could run seal clubbing excursions. Jude has already worked out that we can use their filthy pelts to make ledderhosen and I reckon if I boil 'em down for long enough I'll get some decent lubricant out of 'em. Then of course ther's the chance to play 'Fairy Penguin Football'. The fun will never stop!!!!! The opportunities for promotional slogans for my business will be endless! 'I'll spear a whale to make a sale!', 'I'll club a seal to do a deal', (Already used by one bloke in Alabama ) Pete

Of course not! Sometimes I have problems with my server, sometimes I'm just an idiot who can't drive a computer Pete

Unfortunately I don't have enough experience with the old six speeder to know what *acceptable* is. As Ratchet has pointed out the backlash is caused by space between the dogs on the gear pinions and the dogs on the sliding muffs. The greater the *gap* the easier it is for the dogs to engage so shifting, although it may not be *smoother* will be quicker. Early five speeds all used a six dog engagement and when the box is set up right it works fine. The problem has always been that the boxes are built by production line workers, not mechanics, and the principle always seems to have been that as long as it will select all gears, no matter how poorly, then it's OK to push it out the door!!!!! Sport 1100C and some Daytona and Quota models and Centauros used a three dog engagement, which covered up the poor assembley to a degree but especially on models with no rear wheel cush drive the amount of backlash is so extreme that it beats the sh!t out of the pinion teeth, most particularly of 5th and inevitably on boxes with straight cut gears. It seems on the last Calis they have reached a compromise and gone to a five dog engagement system! With the *old* six speeder options for setting up the change better are limited as there is nothing really adjustable. the selection is governed by geared cam-plates rather than an adjustable drum. Recent experience has taght me though that using the pawl adjuster can pay big dividends. I was also told by the tech-whizz at our local importer that taking out the cam plates and rigorously de-burring them along with carefully checking and cleaning the selector forks themselves can pay big dividends in improving the shift. Since the cam-plates can be accessed easily by simply removing the gearbox side cover it's certainly something I'd do to them when the return spring breaks, (as it's bound to do some time!). If you can compare how much backlash you have in any gear with another bike. Any major difference and I'd be asking questions. Sorry I can't be of more help. Pete

There are many different methods of running in a bike, the important thing to remember is that running in is a controlled wearing out. What you are trying to achieve is two things; 1.) Knocking the high spots off bits that slide against each other, (Pistons, rings, bore, valves and guides.) and 2.) work hardening hard faces that carry loads, (Pinion teeth, dogs in the gearbox and to a lesser extent splines. Lets look at your Guzzi motor. For all it's major bearings it uses plain, 'Slipper' type bearings. These require ZERO break in, they either work or they don't, the whole point is that in service they should never touch as the hydro-dynamic wedge in the oil film will keep them apart. Bores are Nicasil. although they carry a hone of sorts the fact is that the real *hone* is on the rings. The bore itself is many orders of magnitudesmoother than any cast iron bore ever was, in real terms rings will bed in within the first 200Km and the pistons are unlikely to get hot enough to seize if they have been cam-ground correctly, (Something Gillardoni have usually got spot on, and they make all the OE stuff for Guzzi and BMW.). If you haven't bust a ring yet you won't. Work hardening is trickier and depends far more on heat cycling than anything else. If your first 1,000 miles weren't undertaken very gently and at a constant speed without stopping then the chances are that everything will be fine. If the engine and transmission have heat-cycled a few times the process will be well started and I don't think you need worry. I know there is a school of thought that says that heat cycling and work hardening are irrelevant to surfaces like gear pinions and dogs, cam lobes and followers etc. it isn't one I actually subscribe to. I do think it makes a difference. The 'Thrash it from the word go' school is all well and good with race engines and anything that you expect to rebuild on a tediously regular basis. For my money the best bet is simply to ride it *normally*, (With a new bike one tends to be carefull so that's fine.). Don't lug it, (Under 3,000rpm.) don't thrash it, (Extended periods above 6,500rpm.) and do lots of up and down the gears and slowing down on the over-run using engine braking to draw oil up into the bores. Most importantly DON'T change the oil too soon!!!! As I said at the beginning the running in is a controlled wearing out. As particulate matter gets knocked off the high spots in the engine's componentry it turns the oil into a very fine grinding paste. The particulate matter is far too small to damage bearings, (It simply passes through them.) but it does help with knocking off further high spots. Changing the oil too soon is far more likely to lead to problems than leaving it in a bit too long. Most manufactuirers recommend between 800 and 1,000 KM before the first change. Adhere to that schedule. At the first oil change DO drop the sump and check it for crap left over from the machining of the cases and DO change the filter. Swap the gear oils and use a bit of moly in the bevelbox. Then go and thrash the tits off it!!!!!! Other's opinions may vary, that's fine, but that break in has stood me in good stead for 25+ years on Guzzis. The race bike gets caned from the moment it has oil pressure Pete Pete

It's nice to see that *someone* reads the owners' manual Unfortunately, as Martin sez, that's just plain wrong. Modern tyres are designed for front or rear use, the carcasses are constructed so that the rears have greater strength for accelerative loadings and the fronts for dealing with the braking forces. Both will be marked with directional indicators and should be mounted on their respective wheels using those as the guide, not the ramblings of some antedeluvian half-wit in the Mandello Print-works and Pizza shop where Guzzi get the books made!!!! Pete