Comedy clown bike

[Mal]

Hi all

 

It was good to see a few of you at the V11 bash a few weeks ago.

 

In preparation for my European tour in a few weeks I thought I'd better sort out that clutch as it had been slipping on some of the steepest alpine passes (Stelvio etc) last year. Since then its been fine but I thought what the hell, I've a few spare days.

 

Took the engine out (very easy) and found that the friction material had come away fromthe plate but had been working like this for some time (probably a year) as the clutch plate it was originally attached to was very shiny and had obviously been used as a type of intermediate plate.

 

 

I'm amazed it was still going but had been working for thousands of miles (and only the day before I stripped it it had been up over some hilly roads in Yorkshire).

 

The flywheel has some serious grooves (and I'm not talking funky here) for the milage (only 33,000 miles).

 

At the same time I found that the front oil leak I'd had for over a year was caused by a cracked timing cover plate (and no its never been dropped) and to add insult to injury the alternator was cracked too although this has obviously been like it for ages judging by the dirt in the crack and has been working fine.

 

 

 

To be fair, the bike has been very reliable and has taken me everywhere and must have been holding on despite slowly falling apart but it does make me wonder if the wheels would fall off next

 

Mal

[Mal]

Here is the alterator crack, as I said this has been working fine like this for a while (could be years).

 

And something I'm not so happy about is the flywheel marks, I've since cleaned up all the gunk and it isn't quite this bad but still more wear for its milage than I've seen on other flywheels on older Guzzi's and I can't even blame this on previous owners as I've had this bike from new.

 

Funny thing was as I've said, the clutch was working fine other thanthe occasional Alpine slipping.

 

Hopefully it'll all be back together soon or I'll be taking the Le Mans 3 around Europe.

 

Mal

[Richard]

That crack in the alternator isn't actually on the alternator, that is on the ring that holds the alternator in place, which isn't actually attached to it. It should be a tight push-fit. If you are worried about it, it should be a relatively cheap item to replace...

[Greg Field]

Mal:

 

What you see on the flywheel flywheel splines is deformation of the metal as much as wear. Note the raised ridge of metal at the peak of each spline. This deformation happens to some degree no matter what, but it happens most severely when a bike's cush drive becomes inoperable (due to rust, usually) and to those bikes whose riders are enthusiastic users of compression braking. This type of wear creates backlash that then contributes to an acceleration of additional wear and deformation. Consider servicing the cush drive. Consider also drilling the rubber pucks and/or removing every other pair, so the cush drive is more effective. Finally, if you are an enthusiastic compression braker, consider modifying your riding style to make more use of the brakes for slowing the vehicle.

[luhbo]

Mal,

 

do you ride the bike also in winter, on salty wet roads? It looks as if excessive rust has busted this ring

 

Hubert

[Steve G.]

I don't like the looks of these pictures. And this from normal non-abusive wear??

Steve

[luhbo]

No, in my eyes it's wrong what Greg says. The picture shows clearly that the wear is on the driving side of the teeth, not on the braking side. Also the most excessive wear can be seen where the rear clutch plate engages. This could be caused by the fact that only one friction plate was working properly.

 

If it was my bike I think I would just reassemble the whole thing (with new friction plates of course) and take the summer easy.

 

Hubert

[Guzzirider]

I ain't saying a word.....

[Mal]

Ahhhh Guzzirider has blown my cover

 

Yes it has been to Santa Pod although all that would have done is wear out the clutch plates and at worse warped the intermadiate plate (which it didn't - thats fine).

 

Generally I don't ride the bike any differently to any previous Guzzi's and I've done huge milages on some of them and taken most apart for one reason or another and seen less wear. I'd agree that the loose clutch plate is probably to blame for a lot of this but I'll check out the cush drive, thanks for the advice.

 

Hubert - yes the bike gets used int he winter although I do generally wash the bike down afterwards if the roads have been salty (although I don't think I'll bother taking the alternator cover off each time!), I'll see if I can replace the part although as I've said the alternator has been working fine.

 

I'm waiting for a new engine cover to arrive (hopefully soon) and as soon as that arrives the engine will go back together (with new clutch plates of course) and then I'll just get on with riding it.

 

Mal

[luhbo]

No need to change the working alternator, I think, but remove the rust before reassembly. Iron oxides have a remarkable bigger volume than pure steel. Maybe that some suitable antirust primer could further improve the situation under salty conditions.

 

When I tore apart the clutch of my 750S the first time, those teeth were only half of what they were when new, and the clutch was still working OK.

 

Hubert