pete roper

The Griso only as a single plug per cylinder, I think you misunderstood Moto. Cali 14 is twin plugged due to the size of the combustion chambers/bore. Spinning the engine with the plugs out isn't a bad idea, just unhook the coils and 'jectors, plugs out and hit the button. It'll only crank for four seconds at a time so do it three or four times and it'll prime everything up. Pop the plugs back in and reconnect the injectors an coils. Easy. Do be VERY careful removing the plug caps.

OK, so its one of the last of the A5's. this *Should* mean the tappets are OK but without looking at them it will be impossible to say. The numbers issued by the factory as to affected bikes could be best described as 'Rubbery' but if it is a genuine 2010 you should be good. If you want to make certain pulling the cam-boxes isn't a big job but for the sake of all that's holy ASK ME before you start rippin' in as there are a couple of tricks for young players. As I said, the A5 motors are noisier than the later ones mine makes a variety of very loud rattles, clanks and whirs! When I say it makes a noise like a cement mixer full of bricks I mean it. Its obscenely noisy mechanically. Having said that if the valves suddenly start to knock and clatter very loudly it will mean that the tappets have gone west. This is very unlikely to happen in Bahrain as long as it has the later tappets as I am now pretty much convinced that the recurring problems with 8V tappet failures, which are seemingly confined to certain markets/countries, are the result of the engine never getting hot enough due to short trips and wet weather. Even so I do think the 10,000 Km oil change interval is too long and recommend changing it at about 6,000. Get them to plug Navi in for you and look at the ECU info. Under 'Mapping' it will tell you what version of the software is installed. Get back to me with that. If there are any issues we can arrange a time and I can walk you through the re-mapping sequence on the phone. Pete

OK, time to hook into this. Firstly, as a 2010 model it should post-date any of the tappet problems. Look at the engine number prefix. It'll probably be A8. That means it'll have its cams shimmed for end float and be marginally quieter than the earlier A5 motors but they're still a mechanically loud donk. If you can get it off the box-shifter without their 'Mechanic' doing anything to it, so much the better. Hit 'em up for a new battery and put it unto service yourself after reading the instructions. The gel mat batteries can't just be wetted up and flung in the bike. They have to sit, preferably overnight, before being asked to accept a charge or they'll simply blow the acid out all over your new bike! Before you ride it give it a decent once over. Adjust the valves, they are always way too wide ex-factory, check all the mounting bolts etc. If its never been ridden I really wouldn't bother changing the oils, just when you have the rocker covers off to do the tappets dribble a bit of oil down the back of the cam-boxes to make sure the cam baths are full to the top of the weirs. Almost invariably you will find that the throttle bodies won't of been set up right from the factory. With the W5AM and stepper motor controlled bikes only ONE of the air bleeds should be open. Ex factory they always seem to have both open. This brings us to what most people find most daunting about the newer bikes but shouldn't. The fact that the TPS is set electronically rather than mechanically. Certainly early in the piece this was a bit of an issue as it required the purchase of expensive tooling to be able to re-calibrate it. Nowadays you can simply buy a couple of cables off fleabay, download Guzzidiag off the innerneck and pay a paltry contribution to its founders site and for less than the cost of a case of beer you're ready to go. Because Guzzi have the TPS on the RH throttle body but balance adjustments are done on the left when you adjust the linkage rod with the screw on the bell-crank it changes the TPS reading. All that is required though is that you close BOTH air bleeds once the engine temp is over 60*C, hold the engine speed at about 4,000RPM and using your vacuum gauges or whatever tool you use adjust the high speed balance with the linkage screw. Once this is done kill the engine with the kill switch and re-calibrate the TPS with Guzzidiag. Then restart the engine and let it idle and whichever side is showing the HIGHER manifold depression? Open the air bleed that side until the readings on the gauges are the same. The whole thing is much, MUCH easier and quicker than the earlier screwing about with mechanically adjustable TPS's. Guzzidiag will also allow you to ascertain what map you have in the bike. If its a 2010 bike it may or may not have the 'Good' GRS8V03 map in. If it has you're good to go. If it has one of the earlier maps then it needs to be overwritten with the #68S map. Just send it to me, I'll do it for a beer. When you re-install it though you MUST re-calibrate the TPS before you ride as the new map causes the TPS signal to be interpreted differently and if it isn't re-calibrated it'll run like a dog. Ask BelfastGuzzi, he knows all about that! Because the idle speed is stepper motor controlled you should NEVER touch the throttle stop screw on the LH throttle body. Don't run the oil, which must be a high quality full synthetic, more than half way up the stick between the 'Add' and 'Full' marks or it'll simply blow it into the airbox where it will gum up the stepper motor and throttle butterflies. They will happily take an aftermarket pipe but best results are got with a long, restrictive pipe with a catalytic converter and a dB killer installed. This is why the 'factory' Termi pipe works so well. Stock suspension is high quality but under-sprung and over-damped. It can be made to work acceptably but this is the area I would, (and have!) spent my aftermarket dollars on. Swap to HH pads in the brakes. Early in the piece drop the swingarm and grease the swingarm and linkage bearings. I've got over 60,000km on mine and it has proven to be one of the most stupidly reliable and fun motorbikes I've ever owned. A turnkey proposition that never goes wrong. I love it! Pete

If you can give me a day or two, and feel free to pester me, I'll give you a run down. I'm currently in Sydney, a shithole and c#nt of a place, for a night and am about to go to bed but if I forget? Please nag me. I think my email is in my profile somewhere. Pete

I recently shelled out for a Shark Evoline 3. I was a bit anxious at first as I have a huge melon and they only go up to XL. Three weeks later I'm rapt. It is comfortable, quiet, (Espicially with ear plugs in.) easy to use, has a secondary tinted visor inside the clear one and in Oz is the only flip-face helmet that it is legal to ride in with the chin piece up, not sure why though. For the best part of a decade I've used HJC flip faces because they fit and were easy to use and robust compared to my earlier Shoei which fell to bits! The Evoline is something else. I think it may be the best helmet I've ever had. BUT......... Of course this is very subjective and just because I think its the best thing since sliced bread doesn't mean it would work for anyone else. Buy something high quality that fits. This does not include a Pickelhoffen covered in cow fur! I saw one of them in Minneapolis in 2004 and still regret not buying it as an ornament. It really was spectacularly awful! Pete

Only difference AFAIK is colour. Pete

Jon in Los Angeles has my Tekno bag mounts for my V11 but the bags themselves are not for sale as I use them for my Griso. Incidentally you *may* find that Griso bags will fit in the V11's if you can find the racks. Pete

Apparently the plastic elbow is available as a separate part fro the Pegasso. I'll try and find a part # when I have a spare moment. Pete

I sent you a PM because I couldn't reply here yesterday for some reason but basically I have a Scura hub here if you need it. I'm a long way away mind. Pete

Unfortunately Jerry you can't bring it over as a Classic either. Nothing after 1985 if it was ever imported here. The only exceptions are vehicles you have lived with for over six months and have a 'Personal' attachment too. Yes, it sucks. Pete

Remember, you're dealing with potential Guzzi owners. So tight they can peel and eat an orange without taking their hands out of their pockets. Try selling an undesirable old Tonti and its much, much worse. They want to pay peanuts but expect that the previous owner of a thirty year old munter will give better-than- factory warranty. Tell them to bite their bums! Pete

Another thing to be aware of with regard to heavy steering is lack of grease in the steering head bearings. All the chassis bearings on modern Guzzis suffer, generally, from the factory workers grease phobia. This is particularly apparent in the swingarm bearings and shock linkage bearings but the steering head is also only greased with a degree of modesty that would do a vestal virgin proud! I recently gave my Griso a five year chassis freshen-up and while I was surprised to find that the steering head bearings were still serviceable the amount of grease on them was barely adequate. If I lived somewhere slightly damper, (I live in one of the driest parts of the driest inhabited continent on earth!) I reckon they would of been cactus. While this would of given me the excuse to replace the crappy ball and cone bearings with tapered rollers their good condition made it un-necessary at this time so I re-packed them properly and lavishly with grease and have been amazed by how much lighter it has made the steering. The moral of the story is, If your steering feels heavy, or at least significantly heavier than you think it should? Check and re-pack the steering head. Pete

Is it sung by a girl with un feasibly large bosoms? If not, why not? I have absolutely no desire to purchase a cheesy single but if you're serious I'll send you a buck. Pete

I've ridden it and am doing a progressive write up on various forums. Try here. http://wildguzzi.com/forum/index.php?topic=58836.0 I didn't post here because I didn't think there would be any interest. Pete

Pro-taper make a variety of widths and bends. Pete

Alternator sits where the frame goes. You can't fit a Ducati alternator as the crank doesn't have a mounting spigot for it. Sump is also much, much deeper on the 8V and can't easily be swapped for the earlier 'Broad Sump' due to the cooling circuit and extra oil pump and associated plumbing. The earlier clutch would be extremely marginal with the 8V power and without it you couldn't mate the new motor to the 'Old' six speed,at least not easily. Pete

Anything from 2008 through to mid 2009 manufacture. Not sure of the exact VIN range, I don't have access to it. It might be up on Guzzitech though? Not sure. Personally, if I were in the UK I'd avoid anything from that period if it was unknown if the cams/tappets had ever failed. I don't know why but it just seems that in the UK and in certain parts of Europe repeated failures were common. I have no real idea why but my guess, based on the couple of cases I know of here, is that a combination of poor set-up and the "it's only a Guzzi, you can put anything in it." Attitude to the oil plus inadequate cleaning and inspection after the initial failure, (Crap will damage the oil pumps and builds up in and blocks the oil cooler .) leads to repeated failures. A correctly set up 8V is a wonderful thing. The problem is that a very large number of them aren't. Why I don't know as they are delightfully easy to set up and hold their tune extremely well. It just seems that a lot of people still believe that throttle bodies are 'Just like carbs' and try and set them up accordingly. That, coupled with trying to change the idle speed by playing with the throttle stop screw, ensures that a lot of them run like hideous munters. Pete PS. As for the busted yoke? Grisos use Showa forks. Whether the yoke is supplied with the legs or manufactured separately by another supplier I don't know? Best bet would be to go and ogle an R6 or some such which would use the same, very high quality, components and see if the yokes are similar. My guess is they probably wold be. As for strength? They seem perfectly strong enough for their intended purpose. Despite being supposedly completely unsuitable for such tasks mine gets ridden on a lot of quite rough dirt roads, (If you want to get anywhere interesting you quite often have to do some dirt around here.) and while my spine sometimes feels like it may crack and collapse I've never had any such concerns about the fork yokes!

Very early, as in 2008 and a few very early production '09's had the problems with 'Soft' tappets. While they were less hard than such parts usually are not all of them failed. My own bike, which was right in the middle of the bad run, went for 20,000km with the 'Bad' bits in as the importer forgot to send me my recall kit! Both the bike produced before mine and the one produced after mine failed at less than 5,000km. This to me indicates that while there was undoubtably an issue with the parts the bigger issue was with the servicing of the machines. Any 8V should be stone-axe reliable. I have NEVER had a failure of an 8V motor. Certainly any machine that had the dubious bits replaced BEFORE they had a chance to fail should, if maintained properly, be bulletproof. If however the tappets have failed the factory's suggestion that all will be well if the parts are simply replaced and the engine 'Flushed' is patent horseshit as should be obvious to anyone who has any pretensions to mechanical aptitude. As for the lower triple clamp? Obviously without knowing the circumstances under which the damage occurred it is hard to be sure what may of been damaged or how visible damage came about. Having said that Grisos, unlike V11's, seem on the whole to crash well. I've seen a few that have been tossed, some lavishly and with gusto! And they all scrub up OK with an application of money and elbow grease. If this is a post 2010 model though all the major niggles will of been ironed out. Nastiest thing about any new CARC bike seems to be the ongoing grease phobia at the factory! The swingarm and rear suspension linkage bearings have bugger all grease in them and need packing as a matter of urgency if you want to avoid premature replacement. I'm awaiting a new shock for my bike. When it arrives I'll be rebuilding and overhauling the entire steering and suspension apparatus, steering head bearings, forks, wheels, shock, linkages, the lot. The poor old girl is five years old now. It's time to give her a tart up! If you're considering it Keith I'd not want to spend 2K on it. It's a heavily crashed munter. Does it even run? With any modern bike you'll find costs for parts can mount up very quickly. If its done its ECU you've effectively lost any 'Saving' over buying a clean, original, straight machine. Pete

I just can't understand why you wold risk a catastrophic engine failure that will cost you a crank when simply dropping the sump spacer and associated munt, (18 fasteners.) will allow you access to the big ends, (4 fasteners.). Look, it's your bike. No skin off my nose either way but it seems like a false economy to me. Pete

You need to inspect the bearings. If you think that the debris is.bits of shell then you need to confirm or deny the fact. If it isn't bits of shell you need to look elsewhere. If it is bits of shell you have to replace them as plain bearings have to have the correct tolerances or they can't work and failure is inevitable. Pete

While pre-filling the filter is a good idea it is unlikely that putting a filter on dry will cause this problem unless the engine is started 'Full Noise' after a filter change. Most likely cause is oil starvation under hard acceleration due to oil pick-up exposure. Drop the rod caps and inspect/replace the shells if the crank pin looks OK and fit a sloppage sheet. End of problem. Pete

Remember that to tune it properly you have to be able to re-ret the TPS so you need ducatidiag, vdsts or one of the other scan tools. First do your valve lash and oils. Then start the motor and get it to over 60*C. Attach the Throttlebody balance tool you're using and close both the air bleeds, (Note only one of them should be open but usually both are ex-factory). Hold the engine speed at about 3,700-4,000 rpm. Ballance the TB's using the screw on the bell crank underneath the LH throttle body under no circumstances mess with the throttle stop screw. Kill the engine with the kill switch and re-set the TPS. Fire it up again and let it idle and open the air bleed on the side with the highest manifold depression until both TB's are in balance. Job done, its that easy, but you MUST have a way of re-setting the TPS. Pete

Yup, definitely. The distance from the grudge on to the deck of the piston is shorter and I *think* that although the bore remained the same the stoke may of been lengthened but I may of got that wrong. Certainly on the 1100's/1200's the rods are several mm longer than on the V11's and other 1068 motors. Pete

Pretty certain all the 2V CARC bike engines with the exception of the 850's and the Bellagio are the same Hubert but I'll double check for you when I get the chance. The 1100 and 1200 rods are identical I believe. Capacity increase is bore alone. In NZ at the moment on hols. Pete

Any error codes showing up? Most particularly O2 sensor or engine/air temp sensors. They do tend to be a bit thirsty when new but those figures are way too high. Brakes aren't binding are they? Pete.