valve settings

[Guest frankdugo]

just saw a post at small block guzzi. said guzzi now is calling for increase on all bikes. intake 15mm-exhaust 20mm. thoughts? post said permature valve wear reason given. i set on the loose side.

[gstallons]

15 mm and 20 mm WOW! That is loose.

[belfastguzzi]

15 mm and 20 mm WOW! That is loose.

 

what's a little . between friends, or between tappety bits?

 

Frank – Can you post a link to the original info?

[Guest ratchethack]

just saw a post at small block guzzi. said guzzi now is calling for increase on all bikes. intake 15mm-exhaust 20mm. thoughts? post said permature valve wear reason given. i set on the loose side.

Frank, I don't mean to be negative or critical, but units of measure and decimal points are pretty important to get correct here. Guys have been known to find themselves off in the weeds unless they start out using correct info. You're off by a factor of 100.

 

The recommendations are .15 mm and .20 mm intake/exhaust.

 

This equates to:

 

.006" and .008".

 

I've been running these for many years and have been happier with this than with "world spec" (.004" and .006"), especially in hot weather.

 

Several hereabouts, including Pete R., have recommended .005" and .007".

[Dan M]

just saw a post at small block guzzi. said guzzi now is calling for increase on all bikes. intake 15mm-exhaust 20mm. thoughts? post said permature valve wear reason given. i set on the loose side.

 

 

Thoughts? I think that's a gap of about this much: l-------------l on the intake and this much: l----------------l on the exhaust.

Give it a try but these specs may be a little too loose.

[docc]

Valve specs are like women . . . loose is good . . .

 

Paradoxical though: loose women are "hot" and loose valves are "not."

[rocker59]

.15 and .20 are what's in the manual for my Nero Corsa...

[Ryland3210]

As wear progresses, does anyone know whether the clearance opens or closes on these engines?

[Garsdad]

As wear progresses, does anyone know whether the clearance opens or closes on these engines?

 

Wear on cam=opens. Wear on seat=closes. See which way yours goes, and plan repairs accordingly.

[Guest frankdugo]

belfast, the site is in yahoo auto groups.if you go thru mgnoc there is a link.have fun also thru guzzi tech

[Guest frankdugo]

hey rachet,where'd you get your valtech tensioner ?

[pete roper]

hey rachet,where'd you get your valtech tensioner ?

 

Any of the usual reputable suppliers. Speakers, Moto International, MPH, MG Cycle, Guzzi Classics, Harpers etc. They'll all have one in a bag overnight for you. Get a new alternator seal and timing chest gasket as well.

 

Pete

[Guest frankdugo]

thanks pete

[Guest ratchethack]

hey rachet,where'd you get your valtech tensioner ?

I called the boys here (see link below). If you get a guy named Greg on the phone, and ask him about them, he thinks they're too loud and doesn't like 'em overall. But he'll sell you one if you really want -- no prob.

 

http://www.motointernational.com/main.htm

 

You won't likely get any comment on this a-tall from Dave or Tony.

 

FWIW, I haven't noticed any change in chain noise.

 

Wot Pete said about the gasket and alternator seal, though after careful inspection with a jeweler's loupe , my alternator seal showed no sign of wear, and I kept the new one I had on hand in "spares stock".

 

Frank, if you're preparing to do this, here's a little tidbit for you before you start. The alternator nut (32 mm as I recall?) can present a formidable challenge unless you have a fairly extensive assortment of wot I think of as "esoteric" tools. Not only do you have the crank nose protruding about 4" out of the center to deal with to remove this nut, but the nut itself is recessed in the alternator sprocket, making a thin-wall socket mandatory. Now throw on this little pile o' challenges the fact that it's properly torqued to 80 Nm (60 lbs./ft.), and probably needs a minimum of 100 Nm or 80 lbs./ft. to break it loose. . . Unless you favor attempting to chisel it off and plan on replacing it (and then you still face the problem of how to torque it?), well, you're lookin' at a potential project breaker -- unless you either find a great walloping 32 mm thin-wall, ultra-ultra-deep socket somewhere, OR use one o' the time-worn, shade-tree self-sufficiency techniques that've kept the likes o' Yours Truly from being stumped many a time. NOTE: Box and open-end wrenches are equally useless here.

 

If you take a garden-variety 6" x 1 1/2" pipe nipple from your local hardware, and find a garden-variety nut of 1 1/4" across the flats (or even better, I found a turnbuckle nut, which is longer) from the same local hardware, you can use the nut as a mandrel to fabricate your own deep socket, which works a treat here. Pound the nut into the nipple (an interference fit, but easily enough done), and flatten each of the six sides of the pipe against the nut on an anvil, drive the nut out, drill a cross-hole at the other end of the nipple for insertion of a breaker bar, and Bob's yer Uncle. Easy off, and easy back on, though in my case, I had no way to use a torque wrench on this contraption going back on, so I had to torque it back up to 60 lbs./ft. by "micro-accurate wrist torque".

 

Hope this helps.

 

BAA, TJM, & YMMV

 

EDIT: There's another important, yet simple "gotcha" here having to do with potentially fatal loss of magnetic charge of the alternator rotor whilst you're in there, but unless you're actually preparing to do this, I'll save it for another post.

[Guest frankdugo]

explorin the price&contemplating, from day one that chain noise has bothered me. but from you saying you notice no diffrence , guess just have to put it down as typical guzzi noise - like the clutch engagement .i'm on murhpys side