pete roper

Skeeve. I think it has more to do with arrant cretinism. For years and years journalists bagged Guzzis as slow steering munters. When Guzzi made the short-frame V11 these self same journalists started whining about the fact that it didn't 'Handle like a Guzzi' AAAAARRRGGGHHHHH! I actually prefer the short frame models, especially with a skinnier rear tyre. Go like stink, steer like a dream. Never had an issue with instability but I do ride like the grandfather of the oldest man in the world. Pete

I find it hard to believe that you can be so priggish in person. When did I threaten you with anything? In a previous message you said that if I'd said something to you face to face, (Can't remember what it was, something completely innocuous probably.) I might get a slap. I simply pointed out that if you did hit me you'd probably end up on an assault charge??? Sorry? What???? As for your 'Little-Goody-Two-Shoes' holier than thou criminal record what makes you think anyone's interested? What's more what makes you think that anyone elses is any different? And what has how many rallies a person has attended, how many motorbikes they've owned, how many miles they've travelled on them got to do with anything at all? The only reason I have criticized anything you've said is because, I'm sorry, but in a lot of cases you are WRONG and the information you give out is inaccurate. Thing is you're unwilling to discuss the issues or give any kind of rational explanation to justify your position you simply start slinging the insults around and, oddly enough, that pisses some people off. You accuse me of rudeness? As I've TRIED to explain none of the things I've said would be considerd rude ina canverstion between equals where I come from. If I'm having a discussion with someone, in a pub, a cafe or my living room and I don't agree with what they're saying? "Don't be Daft" or "You're daft!" or 'Bollocks" are perfectly acceptable terms. Nobody would bat an eyelid! I'm sorry for you if the society you live in is so uptight that such terms are seen as upsetting. It must be very boring! Foxy has, in my book, two choices. He can either sell the bike as is and take a beating price wise. Or he can strip and inspect it and them make a decision as to whether to repair it. If he decides on the latter course it will be much better and easier for him to remove the motor from the bike and work on it in comfort and leisure on a bench or table than to leave the crankcase in the bike with the crank in and do a lot of concrete-grovelling and still risk leaving foreign bodies inside it. Nobody, not one of us on this board, has been able to come up with a definitive explanation of what may of happened in this case. I still think that big end failure, probably due to oil startvation, is the most likely cause. This doesn't though explain the bits of ferrous shit in the sump. That being the case there is still a huge question mark hanging over the whole enterprise and as such it would be foolish and counter productive to simply go for the cheapest option of just flinging in a new set of big end shells and hoping. Most people don't have the cash hanging around to diagnose by destruction testing, or the time, or the inclination. Many, many people though are willing to 'Give it a go' dive in and get their hands dirty and LEARN at the same time. While everybody wants to do things as cheap as possible most people will realize that by cutting corners you usually just end up throwing good money after bad. Do the job ONCE and do it RIGHT and here is a far lesser likelyhood of it coming back and biting you on the bum and it'll be cheaper in the long run. Pete PS. Perhaps they're more primitive in Az than elsewhere but I've attended motorbike events all over the world and I can't say they've ever been cop-magnets? Perhaps back about the time you were born there may of been an issue but certainly in Oz nobody has singled out assemblages of motorbikes and their riders, (Rather than be-patched thugs who cover their criminal operations by masquerading as a motorbike club.) certainly not the cops. Sure we get harrassed for speeding and on the weekends of the GP and the Supers you'll tend to get some revenue raising going on but that is fiscal opportunism pure and simple. So what's the point? Why do you think motorbikes attract cops?

The earth for the starter relay, (not the solenoid.) goes through the switch/button. If the switchgear is a bit 'How's Yer Father?' the trigger wire from the relay may just be rubbing against the handlebar and then earthing out through the head bearings, (It's how the factory did it on Mk I Lemans's! ) Otherwise look for the wire to the switch/button and trace the loom back to see if it's worn or frayed anywhere and its allowing the circuit to earth. Not a good idea to run the starter motor engaged with the engine running. It not only means that the motor works as a generator but the armature brushes were never meant to take the armature spinning at 18,000+ RPM. It gets messy very quickly! Pete

I'd love it to be so simple. But look at the earlier posts before the silliness kicked off. Foxy started it after it had stopped and it made a noise like cats screwing! Then he took the sump off and it was full of bits of metalic shit, some of which was ferrous. Electrical gremlins usually mean that the thing just won't go, they don't usually fill up the sump with munt and make it sound like a championship boxing bout between two jack-hammers! Potty mouth.

Yeah, but that wouldn't explain the lumps in the sump would it? If the nut comes loose and the locator pin in the cam shears it will bend valves but once that has happened it'll be silent again and won't run. I really think the only option is to pull it apart at this point for a thorough looksee. Pete

I think the answer to that one is 'It depends'. On the Hydro Calis the cam recall and installation kit is deliberately designed so the cam and lifters can be replaced without disassembling the top end or removing the crank. Nowhere in the instructions for installing the new stuff does it even suggest removing and checking the oil pump! This is particularly bizarre as the oil pump is the only bit of the motor that gets un-filtered oil and is therefore the most likely to suffer damage. I've done several cam recalls on these models and inspected the oil pump every time, even though there is no provision or instruction to do so and certainly no payment. In each case I found the oil pump to be damaged enough to require replacement and ordered another one as a warrantyable item. I remain convinced that people who have had multiple failures after the last 'Factory Fix' continue to do so because their oil pumps are stuffed and weren't checked rather than there still being a problem with the fix itself. The Hydro bikes use a larger oil pump and very light weight oil so any damage to the pump is going to be far more likely to result in a catastrophic loss of pressure. Certainly if I'd done one cam recall on a bike and it failed again shortly thereafter I would have the whole thing on pieces on the bench before I returnrd it to service and would 'Zero Time' it even if it meant that I ended up making not a cent out of it and I had to have a shitfight with the importer over the warranty claim. I persoanally think that Greg is very likely on the right track with the cam failure scenario. 2003-04 was the production period when Guzzi had both their nitriding and heat treating ovens closed. One was being closed permanently and the other was being overhauled and refurbished. During that time one assumes that with their customary cost-cutting zeal they were sending all their hardening work out to 'Guiseppe's Pizza Shop and Nitriding Works' down the road in Innocenti or somewhere and oddly enough it is bikes from this period, (The Hydro models too were from this time.) that seem to be experiencing tempering related failures. As has been stated before though we WON'T KNOW until the engine is stripped and inspected properly. Anything else at this point would, IMHO, be a bodge. Potty mouth.

Liking a beer and and being able to laugh at oneself do NOT equate to being permanently intoxicated or driving or riding while drunk. Jesus!. (Shakes head.) as I said, joyless wowser. Incidentally I think wowser is a particularly Australian term and I imagined that you'd be bothered to find out its meaning before flying off the handle. Sanctimonious little thing aren't you? As for yoru further advice to Foxy? Sorry but it further shows up your shortcomings and lack of knwledge and understanding of things mechanical. It's also fairly typical of those who are scared of heir limits. I've seen too many people who will go to quite extraordiary lengths to avoid removing a couple more bolts or disconnecting a couple of wires. Why risk going to all that fuss and farting about with the block in the frame when removal of the engine so it can be workedon with ease and comfort on the bench only requires the disconnection of about four wires and the removal of another ten or so easily accessible bolts? As I said before. Daft! Potty mouth

Yes dear. Now go take your meds and have a little rest. The best thing he can do is pull the motor and get it on the bench. Yes, he can leave the block in the frame and remove everything BUT the crank but he's already said that the sump was full of munt and quite simply it would be foolish to do anything but strip the motor at this point as we have no idea what the problem actually is, much, much easier to do on the bench. and he can ensure, even if the crank looks good, that the sludge trap is empty and when it goes back together its clean and zero-timed. Why spoil the ship for a ha'porth of tar? As for the 'Personal attack' thing? Well I think it's fairly obvious that you've got that down pat See you at the National in So-Cal later this year. You can punch me then if you like. I won't put up any resistance but I'd expect you'll probably end up on an assault charge Pete

Cam and tappet failure would explain the ferrous bits. I'd be surprised if it went *suddenly* like that though? I suppose a lobe could of actually worn through the base of a tappet and then the pushrod dropped down. Never seen that but I have seen hydro tappets worn until the foot was gone and the actual lifter was rubbing on the cam lobe! The bloke who owned that one RODE it into the workshop!!!! Good thought though. I'd be intrigued to know what has actually happened with this engine. Pete 'Potty-Mouth'

Gary. There is effectively no special torque. The book may specify one but since steering stems tend to get dust and grit on the threads any 'true' torque figure is unlikely to be accurate. Also does a book specified torque apply to just the yokes in the frame? or the yokes plus fork legs? Or the whole lot with the wheel in place? The greater the weight on the yokes the less effect a specific torque will have as turning the nut will mean lifting more weight so resistance will be greater. The way to check head bearings is very simple. Get the front wheel off the ground by lifting the bike under its sump. Grab the bottom of the fork legs and try and pull the forks back and forth so the steering stem tries to rock in the headstock. There should be no discernable play. Then swing the handlebars and therefore the forks from lock to lock. There should be no notchiness or roughness and the forks should fall under their own weight, just, with the steeing damper disconnected. The commonest form of wear in steering head bearings is for them to wear a 'notch' in the straight ahead position. If you have to exert more than the slightest nudge to the bars to get them moving or worse still if they try and drop back to the 'Straight ahead' position or 'Index' anywhere then they need replacement. If you get a rocking movement at the head stem when you move the forks back and forth you can try to remedy it by simply tightening the adjuster nut to take out the play. Just turn it clockwise and keep checking the forks will go lock to lock. If they start to feel *tight* you've gone too far. If they start to *index* at any point? They need replacing. If you can't remove all the play from the stem and the headstock before the spanner offers more than a few ft/lbs resistance then there is an issue and the bearings need replacement. Unless they've changed them big-block head stem bearings are #30205's and cost about $15 a piece. If in doubt? Throw 'em away and get new ones. Pete

Oh goody! Threats of violence! First refuge of the hopeless! (Yawn!) Oh, and seeing as I'm an atheist I would hardly say I'm god's gift to anything or anybody I've helped a lot of people over the years though whereas you simply spend your time carping and moaning AND giving out inaccurate info. I haven't seen you say anything actually dangerous yet but the attitude of 'It's OK for ME to work on MY bikes but they are far too complex for Mere Mortals' grates a bit. Foxy is going to take a huge bath if he sells his bike as a blown up munter. If he fixes it he can sell it and make back most of what he's put into it. Alternatively he can keep it and thoroughly enjoy it. Pete

But Dave! I'm the man who financed a sppedboat on the enormous profits I make from selling UFI oil filters. Further campaigns of mis-information are soon coming to fruition and after these I expect to have my own personal space station! I might have to baulk at wearing the tinfoil hat though and I'm told that that is vital if you want to keep the Klingons at bay Pete

Does the term 'Get a grip' mean anything. As I said before. I stand by my record of the help I've given others, for no financial reward, over the years. Oddly enough I'm usually right and if I'm not I'll always 'fess up. As for the 'Self flattery and grandstanding' remark? Mate, I'm over 50, I'm fat, ugly and like beer and Converts so no, a miserable wowser like you would never understand. Thing is that I don't have to agree with people on everything. I'm poles apart from Ratchet but I'm sure I could sit with him and have a beer. Likewise Dave Laing and I could probably have a ding-dong but at the end of the day we'd agree to disagree. And how exactly are you different from me in not havinga a financial interest? That's a curly one . I'm going to make a packet out of giving good advice and advising people to work on their own machines? Surely if I was being venal I'd be suggesting Foxy send his engine to me! Oh, sorry, there is probably some bizzare conspiracy theory at work here that I have yet to cotton on to. When you work it out please tell me so I can undertand it. Note Kevin. I have NOT attacked you, personally, or in any other way. If I'd said "Kevin is a know-nothing wanker who couldn't find his nut-sack in his pockets" that would be a personal attack. All I've done is state that I think that your opinions are ill informed and counter productive and have offered MY explanation of why they are so. There may be a problem in the fact that I tend to use the Oz vernacular when I post but, once again, get over it. Your own particular cultural norms are NOT universal. None of the terms I have used in any of these messages, (Apart from the example of a derogatory statement above.) would be seen as anything other than normal parlance between blokes having a discussion where I come from. 'World Wide Web', Not 'Uptight, can't pull my head out of my arse south western USA web' Go with the flow and accept that people are different and express themselves in different ways. A whole new world will open up before you! Personally I think you're trolling but, yeah, 'whatever' as you young people say. Pete

Not a personal attack Kevin but I'm afraid you are talking nonsense and it isn't going to help Foxy one bit to be confused by someone giving him inaccurate information. Broken bits of stuff can't 'Jingle Around' for thousands of miles in the combustion chamber and once a circlip has fallen out and passed down the side of the piston, (Which in itself will cause serious damage.) the gudgeon pin will slide out of the piston in seconds and do very serious damage to the bore. The gudgeon pin, at operating temperature, is a sliding fit in both the piston and the little end bush. Because of the forces acting on the piston and the speed with which it is moving it will slide to one of other side of the piston and score the bore in seconds if the circlip goes AWOL. I suppose it *could* conceivably remain in longer if there was some damage to the piston that prevented it sliding all the way out once the circlip had come out but the possibility is remote. Misinformation is a dangerous thing. Especially for the novice mechanic. I think I can stand on my record of giving helpful and accurate advice to people. Your opinions may be different to mine, that's fine, I'm just glad you didn't build my bikes pete

Errr. I dunno what sort of engines you've been looking at Kevin but that is absolute bollocks. No, I don't want to get into an argument either. The fact is that if a clip comes out it will cause immediate and catastrophic damage. Within a few seconds the pin will of moved sideways into the side of the bore causing further irreparable damage and the whole thing will come to a screaming halt. Also how would the rings or parts thereof get into the combustion chamber? And once there nothing 'Jingles about' it either gets expelled out of the exhaust valve or more likely gets stuck between valve and seat and the valve will then bash the piston, (I've seen this with foreign bodies of many sorts but never a bit of ring!) or it gets cold forged into the head or the the top of the squish band of the piston which in turn collapses the land betwixt deck and ring seizing the ring so it cant work and you get smoke and poor running and all sorts of silliness. The idea that lumps of metal could hang about in the combustion chamber without causing sufficient damage to create a catastrophic failure for more than a couple of seconds is so laughable as to be absurd. Have you considered how fast all these things are happening? 'thousands of miles' is millions, if not billions of cycles of the engine. To think that you can have anything biffing up and down in the bore for more than a very few cycles without causing irreparable, engine killing damage is, I'm afraid, plain daft! Pete

Cracked a cylinder? Really! Not saying I don't believe you but I've not seen damage that extensive on any bike that was even remotely rideable after a crash in 30 years, if it happens it must be incredibly rare, it would suggest to me a casting fault. Likewise the bent valves, I suppose once the rocker cover has been biffed off if you slam the head into a gutter or soething you could do it but in between the valves and the road there is a wholke lot of pretty solid stuff and once again the bike would be unrideable. As for the running of the bike after the accident? Well, yes, it ran albeit a bit ropily according to his description. If it ran while it was on it's side then bearing damage would of began then and their deterioration would of continued over time until there wasn't sufficient bearing area remaining to handle the forces being exerted on them. Once they reach that point failure will be rapid, almost instantaneous but it can take a while for it to occur. Cracked cylinder? Was it smoking or leaking prior to its demise? How would the bits of ring get into the sump? THat sort of damage is easy to see from the underneath of the engine, just lie down with a torch and have a squizz up past the oil cooler themostat/filter/PR valve mounting. The sort of scoring to the bores or a broken up and destroyed piston that will allow bits of ring into the sump will be immediately apparent. Pete

Hubert? What on earth is a compression test going to tell him about the bottom end of his motor? A compression test is a fairly effective but crude way of checking the condition of rings and valves, it'll tell him bugger-all about the bottom end. All it will do is cause more damage by spinning the crank with the rods with no bearings in so they'll hammer the bejasus out of the already damaged crankpin! The more worrying thing is that there are ferrous bits in there. Guzzi use tri-metal big end shells which aren't magnetic. The only things that ARE magnetic are various bits of the thermostat/oil filter housing and PR valve assembley, the crank, rods and assorted hardwear and the Nicasil coating on the bores which is faintly magnetic. The only other thing that they could be would be bits of piston ring but unless a piston has actually disintegrated and taken the bore with it they wouldn't end up in the sump. Any which way its going to have to come apart. My money is still on it having run its big ends due to oil starvation. Where the ferous bits have come from won't be able to be established until its in pieces. Foxy, you can either take Hubert's advice and say that it's all terribly frightening 'White Man's Ju-Ju' and sell it for pennies as a blown up munter or you can roll yer sleeves up and get stuck in. Fact is you've got nothing to loose by pulling the motor and taking it to bits. If you do decide to wreck it out you'll have to disassemble it anyway. Pete

Or how I can contact him? He's the Guy I bought my Scura off but I still owe him for the shipping. I want to paypal it to him but when I bought the bike there was some odd arrangement where I sent the money to a mate of his who has a paypal account. I've e-mailed him and asked if he still wants me to use the same address but so far I've had no reply. I was waiting for a substantial paypal payment myself but I'm beginning to have my doubts if that is going to arrive so I'd really like to actually get the man his money. Wally, if you still read the board occasionally can you please e-mail me motomodaoptusnet.com.au If the paypal account I used before is good I can get the money too you toot-sweet, it's been too long. Pete

Hubert, many MANY people with limited mechanical skills have rebuild Guzzi engines quite successfully. We're NOT talking about grinding cranks or servicing cylinder heads here we're just looking at taking it to bits and puting it back together. The man says he's got experience stripping and rebulding old pommy singles? In many cases they are more difficult or at least troublesome than a Guzzi twin! I think this OoooH. HAnds off! No-Touchee! Leave it to an 'Expert' thing has gone way too far. If he has a look at my engine strip series on Guzzitech Dk he can make his own decision if he wants to proceed and if he does feel he can do it there are heaps of people here and on other boards to help and advise if he finds himself getting in out of his depth! Oh, and on the 'Chips' thing I have to disagree. While I have seen small particles of swarf in some new Guzzi motors 'Flakes' and 'Chips' I haven't. It would certainly indicate that something is wrong to me. I do agree about the noise though. If you've run your big-ends you know about it! It sounds like a load of angry gnomes with jack-hammers playing in the crankcase! Pete

AGOSTINI s.r.l. CONCESSIONARIA MOTO GUZZI VIA STATALE, 60 23826 MANDELLO DEL LARIO (LC) ITALIA TEL.+39.0341.735448 FAX +39.0341.735727 Skype Agostini srl Also google 'em up and send an email to Agostini Team or assitenza agostini or whoever. There spare parts herbert is called Peter Bradley and he's an aussie so he speaks a sort of english Alis also is fluent in probably every European language Pete

Why are they in a cage? They look harmless enough to me Tom Pete

Do WHAT???? Look, I'm sorry if I offended you but, well, ????? Tough really. The comments were made humorously but truth be known I DO think the royals, all of 'em, from wherever, are a bunch of useless oxygen thieves. Regardless of that why the hell should Jaap take that post down? I used the royals simply as an aside in a little rant about how abhorent waxed cotton is/was. There are a billion far superior materials for building waterproof garments out of nowadays. Waxed cotton is in this day and age simply an affectation of over-monied cretins and fools! Every time we have a shower of rain here I see city yuppies strolling around in Drizabone waxed cotton coats all pretending to be the 'Man from Snowy f@cking River'! all the real stockmen wear plastic, just like motorbike riders, they aren't that dim! While I accept that I was a bit out of order in my little rant the other day that got pulled I'll be buggered if I'm going to take this one lying down! C'mon Steve, it's a big bad world out here, full of people with differing opinions, learn to live with it. And why the hell do you think I get any different treatment from any other member? I'd sodding well hope I don't and can't think of any reason why I should???? Pete

Joe, depite what myth may try and tell you Guzzi rallies, in fact most rallies, are fairly sedate affairs. Sure as the night wears on you'll find the likes of Jon and me will of cosumed a few 'Weak Teas' and we'll be loud sometimes, but rarely obnoxious. In Oz there are usually kids running around and in the US most people appear to be of almost pensionable age ! Nobody is going to insist on you having carnal knowledge of a donkey before you are *accepted* . Just remember that we are talking 'Motorcyclists' here, not seventh day adventists! Hope to meet you there! Pete PS. Bring your own donkey.........

The Guzzi motor is very elegant and simple, it just happens to be built like a tank! Best bet is to simply pull the motor off the front of the transmission, get it on the bench and set about taking it apart. While the motor in the linked article is from an earlier bike the V11 motor is essentially identical apart from the sump/oil pick up design and the fact the engine doesn't have a distributor and has a 'Phonic wheel' for the tining on the camshaft. http://www.guzzitech.dk/english/index.htm Go to the top right hand corner and click on the box that says 'Technical Articles', you'll find my engine strip instructions there with edtorial assistance from Rolf. There is also an article by Greg about the fitting of one of my plates. Pete

As Tom has said, if your bike's engine ran for any time at all while it was on it's side then this would of started the decline of the bearings. Sinc you don't make mention of it when you dropped the sump I assume the filter was still on tight? That being the case then it will either be related to the tip over/accident or will be another example of the sort of damage that occurs from oil pick-up exposure. Was the oil level low before the failure? You may be lucky. Drop the rod caps, push the pistons and rods up the bores and examine the crankpin. Guzzi cranks are nitrided and are remarkable in their abillity to withstand abuse. As long as there is no bad scoring you may well be able to dress up the crankpin with wet and dry to remove all the traces of bearing material and simply slip in a new set of shells, bolt the rods up and ride. If there is significant scoring though you'll have to pull the crank and get it re-ground then go to undersize bearings but it will probably only be the crankpin that needs grinding so it shouldn't be very expensive. I really DO recommend the installation of a baffle plate, prefferably one of mine . I know there are doubters out there but has anyone who bought and fitted one of my plates torched their big ends? Oddly enough I think the answer is a resounding 'No'. Pete