New '04 Ballabio Issues

[cycdude6]

Hi all,

I'm looking forward to being an active member of this board! Great stuff.

I just purchased an '04 Ballabio leftover from Wagner Motorsports in Worcester, MA, USA.

My issues with the new bike are as follows;

1) Bad kill switch, intermittent. To be replaced.

2) Bad starter relay? -- bike doesn't turn over, fuel pump working, battery charged.

3) Low fuel light not working, ran out of gas.

4) Vacuum builds in tank, bike starves, must open fuel cap.

5) Left front fork seal leaking, to be replaced.

 

By far this is the most trouble-prone bike I've ever owned and I've owned twenty over the years including German, Japanese and modern British bikes. My bmw r11rt with 70K hasn't had this many issues yet!

 

That said, if the bike can be sorted out properly, I may have found a keeper. Love the handling, motor, ride and attention the bike gets...

 

John from Connecticut

[mznyc]

Hi CDude,

Welcome to the forum.

I've been here for about a year and the help from the members is immense.

Did Wagner give you a warranty?I would think that a new bike should be covered.Tank suck seems to be a common problem here.mine was fine so i dont remember what the fix was,just punch it into the search engine and I'm sure you'll get a lot of info.I bought mine last year and a lot of the maladies had been addressed by the Prev owner.I agree with you that they shouldn't be as problematic as they are,QC is my #1 complaint as I come from a mostly Honda background with no problems.100's of k miles on them with nothing but normal maintenance.If Guzzi could get their act together they would rule the world as the bikes are sexy and a blast to drive.

Sorry i couldn't be of more help but rest assured the calvalry is on the way!One of the KNOWLEDGEABLE members WILL chime in.

[ptrkbeam]

Welcome!

 

None of these issues seem too bad. Well, running out of gas is bad - sorry.

 

Is Wagner fixing? Peace of mind with a good shop.

 

The tank issue and relays are typical of the Guzzi "character" that goes with the "soul" and fixed easily. Both discussed a bit in this forum.

 

Guzzi's are cool, but you know that already.

 

And this forum has a ton of info from a lot of characters.

 

Enjoy that BillyBob.

 

[JoeV11]

Hi John

It was good meeting you at the IMOC rally. You seem to have a bike that got all the factory problems. But once they are fixed under warantee you will have one great bike! As I told you I also had the leaky fork problem. I also had the tank suck problem. Both were fixed by Marsh motors under warantee, even though I bought the bike from Missouri, and I haven't had any other problems since, and have had almost 5000 miles of fun. Guzzi's are unique and interesting and worth the rough start. Unfortunately they leave some of the initial QC to the dealers, not unlike HD did in the 70's.

Enjoy your bike, and I hope to see you around.

Joe

[Ryland3210]

Hi all,

I'm looking forward to being an active member of this board! Great stuff.

I just purchased an '04 Ballabio leftover from Wagner Motorsports in Worcester, MA, USA.

My issues with the new bike are as follows;

1) Bad kill switch, intermittent. To be replaced.

2) Bad starter relay? -- bike doesn't turn over, fuel pump working, battery charged.

3) Low fuel light not working, ran out of gas.

4) Vacuum builds in tank, bike starves, must open fuel cap.

5) Left front fork seal leaking, to be replaced.

 

By far this is the most trouble-prone bike I've ever owned and I've owned twenty over the years including German, Japanese and modern British bikes. My bmw r11rt with 70K hasn't had this many issues yet!

 

That said, if the bike can be sorted out properly, I may have found a keeper. Love the handling, motor, ride and attention the bike gets...

 

John from Connecticut

Hi John,

 

I purchased a leftover '04 Cafe Sport.

1) I haven't had any problems with this.

On 2), when I first got the bike, I had forgotten the clutch must be in to start, even if in neutral. My mistake.

3) Same problem, new sensor (it's in the fuel tank) replaced under warrantee.

4) Tipover valve had to be tie wrapped in correct vertical position.

5) I didn't have this problem

 

Two more: The speedo cable has failed twice. The original one lasted 130 miles. The second just failed at 2200 miles. Branchville motors is replacing it for the second time, still under warrantee. A design change was made since 2004. If you have this problem, make sure the cable housing is replaced with the new design. The bend near the transmission is not as sharp. Failures have been at this end. I hope this next one works longer.

My battery developed a leak the first time I took it for a ride. Turns out on my bike (maybe not on yours), the seat base rested on the battery and caused a leak. I had to bend the brackets on the battery holding bracket to lower it and had to dremel out a chunk of the plastic seat base to take the weight off the battery, then filled the hole with black silicon rubber. I can supply pix of this mod if you need it. By the way, I only weigh 143 pounds. No problems with this for going on a year now, and I don't expect any.

 

Check the thread on oil dipsticks. When changing oil and filter, I and others refill with 4 quarts. When the dipstick is screwed in all the way in (as the manual states) to take a measurement, with the bike vertical, the full mark on the dipstick is 0.69 inches too low. Under max acceleration in the lower gears, the pump can starve for oil and pressure drops. The idiot light goes out at only 2-5 psi, so you may not know there is a problem feeding the engine with sufficient oil. Also search Roper Plates and consider installing one to eliminate the problem.

 

Also, look in the how to section about tightening oil filters so yours doesn't come unscrewed.

 

I'm very happy with my Cafe Sport, and thanks to all the cautions and solutions on this Forum, I feel confident I'll be riding this bike for many years to come.

 

Cheers,

John

[WitchCityBallabio]

Nice meeting you at the IMOC Sunday!

 

As the bike was purchased as a left-over, I would think Wagner would take care of all these things for you under warranty hopefully.

 

My 04 Ballabio has never had any of the problems that you are experiencing, and fortunately, none of your problems sound too serious.

 

1 You can expect speedometer cable failure

 

2 Trip odometer knob breaking

 

3 The crossover pipe soft gaskets leaking (until you add the shims available on this site)

 

That said, I wouldn't trade my Ballabio for anything. It's super enjoyable bike to drive, and if possible, I become more enamored with it every day.

 

Hope you get it all sorted out and get to really enjoy it.

 

 

Doug

[cycdude6]

Thanks for the commiseration guys! I appreciate it. I do believe Wagner Motor Sports will do everything possible to make the bike work, under warranty. But right now it's torture, waiting for the day to come when I can ride the bike, with confidence.

 

John

[cdf]

Hi John,

 

I also bought a ’04 Ballabio from Wagner this year and they have been very good about fixing the minor issues I had. On my bike the odometer and tripmeter didn’t work from day 1 and they replaced the whole unit without any questions. I have an intermittent starting issue which I can’t exactly explain, but I think there may be a corroded connection somewhere under the tank near the front of the frame. Whenever it doesn’t start, I just turn the bars full lock left and presto the bike starts, it’s like magic…

 

Other than a few minor problems this has been a fantastic bike and Wagner seems to be one of the better dealerships that I have encountered. Good Luck and enjoy!!!

 

Cheers,

Chris

[cycdude6]

Hi John,

 

I also bought a ’04 Ballabio from Wagner this year and they have been very good about fixing the minor issues I had.

[

i]Right now I'm giving Wagner's the benefit of the doubt, dropped the bike off today and told 'em don't call me until it's fixed!

 

On my bike the odometer and tripmeter didn’t work from day 1 and they replaced the whole unit without any questions. I have an intermittent starting issue which I can’t exactly explain, but I think there may be a corroded connection somewhere under the tank near the front of the frame. Whenever it doesn’t start, I just turn the bars full lock left and presto the bike starts, it’s like magic…

 

Mine did the same thing, it was a combination of weak battery and dodgy start switch.

 

Other than a few minor problems this has been a fantastic bike and Wagner seems to be one of the better dealerships that I have encountered. Good Luck and enjoy!!!

 

Thank you!

John

 

Cheers,

Chris

[rocketman]

Hi John,

 

I purchased a leftover '04 Cafe Sport.

1) I haven't had any problems with this.

On 2), when I first got the bike, I had forgotten the clutch must be in to start, even if in neutral. My mistake.

3) Same problem, new sensor (it's in the fuel tank) replaced under warrantee.

4) Tipover valve had to be tie wrapped in correct vertical position.

5) I didn't have this problem

 

 

I'm very happy with my Cafe Sport, and thanks to all the cautions and solutions on this Forum, I feel confident I'll be riding this bike for many years to come.

 

Cheers,

 

 

Ryland3210,

 

What do you think of the ohlins suspension on your cafe sport? I used to own a 04 lemans with the standard suspension and I wasn't impressed with the suspension. I have heard that the ohlins is awesome compared to the marz and sachs. I now have a Norge and am missing certain things about my v11. I'm thinking about selling it and getting a cafe sport.