pete roper

Guzzitech seems to have more than its fair share of needy whiners and 'expert' fuquetards. I just get really shitty when you get some limp-wristed, lisping nonce who has gone and bought a bike without doing any research on the product, the dealership network or the laymans knowledge of the simplest aspects of owning a motorbike and then starts complaining that it isn't like his previous bike, why does he have to put air in the tyres and check the oil and how it's an outrage he can't get it in pink. It's happening more and more, not just in the motorbike sphere but in society as a whole. Nobody wants to take any responsibility for their own actions and want to find someone to 'Blame' for their own stupidity. As some of the contributors here who visit Guzzitech know there is also a sub-population of knuckle-draggers and mouth breathers who will ask a question and when someone gives them an answer they're told they are wrong by the questioner?? I mean?? WTF's that all about. As I said in the other post nowadays every arse-puncher, pinhead and mono-neurone has a computer, can sort of type but still haven't learnt to think. There are plenty of people with whom it's possible to disagree and still have a worthwhile exchange of knowledge with. Look at me and Hubert. I may sometimes disagree with him but I sure as shit respect his knowledge. Same with a couple of other people here and on other boards. The world would be a dull place if we all agreed and there was only one way to skin a cat. The biggest issues we have in the west at the moment are caused by legislation that prevents idiots from killing themselves before they can breed. Stop protecting idiots from themselves! Let 'em play with loaded firearms in their living rooms while drunk! Abolish helmet laws! Seat belt laws! And encourage all severe risk-taking activities like ropeless bungy-jumping and skydiving without a parachute and crocodile wrestling. That would soon thin the herd!!! Pete

You'll notice that I don't post very much anywhere any more. The reasons for that are manyfold but WG in particular has become a lot less pleasant than it used to be and I see several reasons for that. Firstly there is the fact that unlike ten years ago, nowadays every mono-browed idiot has a computer, They type and send without thinking. Secondly there is the fact that with the change of government in the USA a lot of the more extreme right wingers can't help but trying to 'Politicize' all threads at every opportunity. A bloke has an accident? It's an excuse to start blowin' off about health care reform! Then there is just the general attitude that is becoming more prevalent of needy whining coupled with a sense of entitlement. Stupid people who buy something without doing any research, finding they aren't happy with it, refusing to learn how to do stuff but at the same time screaming at anybody who offers advice while demanding a 'Fix' for their own idiotic decisions. Guzzitech also seems to have a large contingent of these fuquewads. I didn't see the thread that caused Nolan to pull the pin but I understand it was fairly unpleasant. People just don't have to put up with that shit, either on the innerneck or in real life. I spent a lot of time on various boards being far more polite to shit-heads than I ever am in real life. Getting shouted at in return gets old pretty quickly and there is bugger all incentive to continue. Pete

Or if you like the riding position of Dual Sports how about a Stelvio? Got the importer's lad bringing the new NTX press demonstrator up here tomorrow. I can report back if you like?? Pete

No its not. Most tyres have more run out than that. It's anally retentive overkill. I measure how much they protrude with a vernier but anything more *accurate* than that i think completely un-neccessary. Pete

20 spline on the V11 I belive. 10 spline on the Sports etc. with the five speed box. It should be able to be aligned pretty much exactly. Try just turning it a spline at a time and see if you can get it right? Makes you wonder if it isn't a mismatched front and rear? Pete

I specifically said in an earlier post that I didn't think that this particular failure looked like it was caused by misalignment. But misalignment wouldn't of helped the situation and can and does cause serious damage. Thassall. Pete

People say this. They say it a lot. It pisses me off. Why. Because the amount it is out of true DOES of course have an effect and the smaller the amount out of true the less the effect. BUT there is also the impact of the shaft angle. Once again the greater this is the greater the loads imposed. Add in all the other loadings imposed by the system and simply RIDING DOWN THE ROAD and the forces imposed on the entire driveline are substantial. I've seen pinion splines twisted off on more than one occasion. I've seen a plethora of gear pinion, UJ and bearing cage damage on bikes that have habitually been run with their trunnions misaligned but at the same time I have seen NO torsional related failures on bikes which have a confirmed history of CORRECT trunnion allignment. OK, I'm full of shit and am not an engineer and therefore I haven't a clue what I'm talking about. You want to think that driveshaft alignment is a small and inconsequential issue? Knock yerselves out. Like I give a f@ck. It's your lives you're playing with, not mine. Remember. I have seen and see LOTS of bikes. About 2 out of 3 V11 Guzzis I see have their driveshafts misaligned. INVARIABLY with 100% feedback, people for whom I've pointed it out and fixed it say there is a noticeable improvement in suspension compliance. OK, so say that an average rider weighs 100KG. Then add in half the bike, another 100KG, then add in the forces acting on the entire system every time the suspension goes up and down and the fact that every time the shaft turns through 180 degrees these forces are going to load up one way and then the other imposing loads that SHOULDN'T be imposed if the system is assembled properly. At speed this will be happening many times a second. You work it out...... I simply can't be arsed any more. Pete

The misalignment will cause constant loading and unloading of the shafts but a case failure isn't waht I'd expect. Usually it is things like the cages of the bearings that will fail in these circumstances. In this case I have no brilliant ideas what caused the failure. Imperfect casting would seem the obvious one but it looks to me to be simple bad luck rather than anything sheetable home to a definite 'Mechanical' cause. And yes. I'd suggest it would be cheaper to look for a 2nd hand transmission than to fart about with that one. Pete

The only boxes with a problem I knew of were the very early ones and there was a recall on those for?? The selector dogs or some such I believe? I personally have seen very few problems with the 'Old' six speed. It has to me seemed to be a very good, reliable thing. The odd leak here and there and they rend to crack cases if the bike is in a prang but *mechanically* I've seen nothing to single them out as 'Widowmakers'! Pete

Is your drive shaft correctly aligned? Did you check that before you pulled off the bevelbox? If it wasn't the cyclic loadings engenerered as the suspension works will have more than enough force in them to damage bearings, pinion teeth or even twist off the end of the pinion if left for long enough.EDIT Just read a bit further and saw it was a Scura. I'm with the others pointing the bone at the flywheel. Pete

Alas so. As a mate on one of the other boards said, bloody caravans should only be allowed out on the roads for one hour a day between 3 and 4AM, and then only on days of the week with a 'B' in them. Not sure about the pipes. I have a feeling they might be Staintune CF ones but I'm not sure. I'll have a close look tomorrow if you like. Pete

Nah, S'OK. I've done my grieving for Johnny and he wouldn't want his friends hanging about being maudlin. I have the task of trying to sort out the insurance side of the bike itself. It's obviously a deader. All I'm trying to ensure is that John's widdow gets the full value of the bike and the idiot who killed him and his insurance company don't wriggle out of ANY of their obligations. I'll probably take one of the badges off the side and the identification plaque off it's top triple clamp and mount them on a trophy for the rally next year. Probably for the person who gets drunkest and makes the biggest arse of themselves. Johnny would approve of that That's 'The Man' and his bike 2 days before he died. Never one for regrets was Johnny!!! Pete

No amount of carbon fibre will make up for the fact that unless it has already been done it will be horribly under-sprung. Spend money on the superb forks and shocks before wasting it on CF. Pete

Sad though this is for me it may well be of use to others in determining if their V11 is worth even attempting to repair. The pics below are of my Mate Johnny's Scura that he was killed on last year. While the complete absence of anything forward of the steering head is down to damage inflicted when the bike went under rthe draw-bar of the Caravan that was doing a U-turn in front of him across double white lines just over the brow of a hill the frame, engine and other ancilliary damage is VERY typical of what happens in virtually any low-side where the machine comes to a sudden stop. Note the twisted frame. Kinked sub frame and smashed timing chest. Any time you see a cracked timing chest you cabn pretty much write the bike off as it means that the neck of the frame is twisted. I've got a few more pics but they are mainly cosmetic damage. A huge shame as prior to the crash this was a superbly presented Scura. Used to be owned by one of the posters here I believe. And no, I don't want anyone trying to tell me it will come up just fine with a bit of spit and polish. Pete

Todd had posted up on other boards about this and I was in an adage as to whether I should do so here. Greg has thankfully relieved me of that responsibility. I had the good fortune to meet Tex a couple of years back and he was exactly as you'd expect hime to be, whether you read between the lines or no, because he'd be reading between yours!!!! Very sad, but for Tex I give you..... Pete

Oh for fucks sakes! This is bloody absurd. Who is this fucking idiot that got into your bike??? Doccument it all and get onto the importer, the trades council or whoever and anyone else you can and try and get some sort of resollution. This is just absurd. The butchery is so obvuous and manifest you MUST have some sort of recourse surely. While obviously less than ideal the cambox threads can be helicoiled but I'd at this point be pushing for a refund and/or replacement of the bike. Personally given the history of things having been thoroughly rooted by the idiot who was supposed to be working on it I'd say you have a very good case for getting at least a new motor. Who knows what else Captain @#!#$#-knucle has bodged or destroyed and there is still the issue of how much crap went through the oil pump after TWO sets of tappets grenaded in it! What makes this so monumentally distressing for me is that I've been trying so hard to convince you what a fantastic bike the 8V is. AND IT IS!!!! But no amount of greatness can compete with rampant incompetence and idiocy! How can Guzzi expect to sell ANY bikes in Ireland, North or South, while this is the level of mechanical expertise being exhibited by their one 'Dealer'. I only wish I was closer. I'd love to pull that poor thing to bits just to seehow rooted it is. I mean??? I've had heads off an 8V now and am thoroughly conversant with most of the *new* motor and I see a well designed, simple, strong, easily understood and repaired engine that really takes a LOT of effort to screw up. Yet here is yours with stripped bolts, loose head bolts and God alone knows what else buggered in it. Jesus H.Christ on a Bicycle, with two flat tyres, twenty missing spokes and no bloody saddle!!!!! Pete

Ok, that makes sense. Thanks. Pete

Telford eh? Half a lifetime ago I was deputy officer in charge of a kids home in Wolverhampton and lived in Albrighton for a while. I still think the Museum of the Industrial Revolution or whatever itys called in Ironbridge/Telford is one of the best 'Living Museums' in the country. Nearly bought a house in Telford back then, then we moved back to Oz. I can't say i regretted the decision. Beautiful countryside in Shropshire though. Pete

All you are doing by running the bike on its stand in gear is hammering the teeth of the pinions and engagement dogs to pieces I've never understood why anybody would think this is a good idea Pete

The CARC has remained pretty bulletproof. I have heard of one or two cases world-wide of the pinion nut coming loose and there was a very early recall on some Breva 11 and Griso 11 boxes due to Piaggio having bought in some cheap, inferior bearings but otherwise they seem to be good. Chances are if you whip in the clutch and coast the noise you are hearing will be a combination of tyre noise and the straight cut gears in the gearbox running together, there are thirteen straight cut pinions in the box all spinning around together with only 1/2 a litre of oil to shut 'em up, it's not surprising it makes a bit of a racket. Pete

Now this 'Pump Emulation' is something I have read about several times. Can you explain to me why on earth you would need to have such a thing on a fuel injected engine? The reason you need accelerator pumps on carburetors is that there is always a lag between the point when the manifold depression drops when the throttle is cracked open and the time when the fuel delivery increases to compensate as the atmospheric pressure pressing on the top of the fuel in the float bowl has to overcome the inertia of the fuel and push it up through the jet and atomiser into the venturi. With an FI system you simply don't have to do this. Butterfly opens, more air goes through, tps detects opening and delivers fuel accordingly. Why would you need to copy something designed to work within the limitations of a carburetor??? Pete

8V uses a new clutch/flywheel and it is virtually silent. Yes, people take the piss. Some people are also annoying and can take pedantry to virtually unheard of levels of dullness. 8V is enormous fun IF set up properly. who did you buy it off? do they have a good rep? Pete

I tend to concurr. If you get the 'Flickering oil light of death'? well I have a cure for that but mentioning it will probably start a huge argument so I won't bother Pete

I'd be more inclined to go with an electronic guage as I always feel that the ones that rely on a pipe are fairly vulnerable. It's quite pricey too. You could buy a guage kit like that and a two way adaptor and screw it into the oil pressure sender switch hole for considerably less. Pete