Nero Corsa motor seized at 70mph, plenty of clean oil, 18k miles

[Splicer]

So I don't really have a question here. I'm wondering what the heck I could have done to destroy my motor.

 

I've owned the bike since it had about 9,000 miles on it (three years ago). By the time it had 12,000 miles I had to have the camshaft replaced. I thought I'd posted about that here, but I can't find the topic so I must have hallucinated it.

 

I've had problems with it for quite some time—problems like stalling out and having hard starts when it was warm. if the bike had been sitting and it was 50 degrees out it would start right up. If I let it idle to warm up and then rode it a mile it would start stalling out at stoplights and then I'd have to try a few times to get it started again.

 

Well, I was on 880 last week on my way to a doctor appointment, and the bike started running worse than usual. It was hesitating at speed, and I didn't like that. The motor sounded extra loud, which I thought was bad considering that I had my helmet on and there was wind noise. I was considering whether I should pull off when that decision got made for me. The motor stopped and the rear tire started to skid. I pulled the clutch in time, the rear wheel started spinning again, and I made it off the freeway without getting run over.

 

If the clutch is pulled or it's in neutral, it rolls. If not, it's like a brick wall. At best, the rear wheel slides without rotating.

 

So unless there is some other explanation that might cause this, I think I've turned my Nero Corsa into a parts bike that I might be able to give away for the cost of towing.

[docc]

Bummer, man. I hope you can put her back together again!

 

What made you replace the camshaft?

[Splicer]

 

What made you replace the camshaft?

 

It was making bad noises. Rackety, "who dropped the box of ball bearings into the combustion chambers" kinds of noises. Mechanic told me that I needed to replace the camshaft, tappets, and pushrods. I took the camshaft and pushrods to Ed Milich who confirmed that the camshaft was toast. 

 

Photos of the damage can be seen here: https://plus.google.com/photos/+StevenScotten/albums/5631924300347451473

 

There was never any explanation or theory set forth as to how the camshaft got that damaged in 12,000 miles of use. I thought maybe oil starvation and that I ought to get a Roper plate, but folks (I think here) told me I was being silly unless I'd been wheelieing down the road. At the time I did live in San Francisco where I was no stranger to 20+% grades, and I've never been exactly gentle with the throttle. But for the last two years I've lived on a totally flat island and other than some brief (less than 20 miles) highway travel once every couple of weeks or so rarely have gotten the bike over 30mph.

[docc]

So, what's next? Are you going to have someone tear it down and have a look?

[andy york]

Sorry for the bad fortunes but I do find that to be very odd. The spine frame motors seem to be fairly bullet proof, other than the somewhat finicky fuel injection.

I do hope you keep us posted as to the out come, regardless of fixing or selling it.

I don't know what was involved with the camshaft but with the lack of more bike history, it sounds like it may not have

been cleaned well enough on the inside when that happened.

good luck    hoping for the best

[Splicer]

Sold the Guzzi carcass today. It's a sad day.

[docc]

Sorry to hear that, buddy. Hope there's something bright and torquey in your future!

[stefano]

  sorry about the bad luck. but you know, it's really about riding. put together a few more bucks, get a new bike with a japanese name on the tank and enjoy the summer.

[Skeeve]

Sold the Guzzi carcass today. It's a sad day.

 

Shucks! Just read your thread. Only thing I can think of off the top of my head that would destroy your cam & tappets like that is the V11 being a flat-tappet engine that requires a decent amount of ZDDP in the oil. If someone ever changed the oil using some of the "friction modified" low wt. automotive oils suited only to post-'95 automobiles, well, might that have done it in over time? Edit: just saw your post wrt the early life of the motor when you were in SFO & realized that w/o a Roper plate, normal acceleration from a stop up some of those steep grades would have been enough to create occasional, temporary oil starvation from an uncovered pickup.

 

Bummed that you deep-sixed the bike so fast: I understand that you might have just wanted to put yourself out of misery from staring at it, but suspect you could have made a better deal if you hadn't rushed... Hope I'm wrong, for your sake!

 

So, is your next bike going to be a shiny new Stelvio w/ the tasty QV engine?

[Splicer]

 

Sold the Guzzi carcass today. It's a sad day.

 

Shucks! Just read your thread. Only thing I can think of off the top of my head that would destroy your cam & tappets like that is the V11 being a flat-tappet engine that requires a decent amount of ZDDP in the oil. If someone ever changed the oil using some of the "friction modified" low wt. automotive oils suited only to post-'95 automobiles, well, might that have done it in over time? Edit: just saw your post wrt the early life of the motor when you were in SFO & realized that w/o a Roper plate, normal acceleration from a stop up some of those steep grades would have been enough to create occasional, temporary oil starvation from an uncovered pickup.

 

Bummed that you deep-sixed the bike so fast: I understand that you might have just wanted to put yourself out of misery from staring at it, but suspect you could have made a better deal if you hadn't rushed... Hope I'm wrong, for your sake!

 

So, is your next bike going to be a shiny new Stelvio w/ the tasty QV engine?

 

 

I sold the bike to Ed Milich, who will hopefully do something good with it. He also said that he would give me a postmortem after he gets around to tearing it down. However, he did say from the lack of metal bits in the oil that it probably isn't a bottom-end issue. Which, well, I knew that much but good to confirm it. I wonder if I killed another camshaft. If so, whatever I've been doing has been destroying cams more often than some people change their oil.

 

As to your last question, and the following one…

 

  sorry about the bad luck. but you know, it's really about riding. put together a few more bucks, get a new bike with a japanese name on the tank and enjoy the summer.

 

Probably neither. I mean, who knows? But if I was sitting on a pile of money and went shopping today I'd probably put myself on a Triumph Speed Triple. Modern Triumphs aren't quite like getting a Japanese bike. I used to have a 2002 955i SpIII and loved it. I might own another Guzzi again but I think I need a break to try out some other stuff.

 

I *do* hate to have given up on the Nero Corsa, but it really was doing me no good. Having that bike be my only motorcycle basically cured me of riding. I used to ride close to 20K miles per year, and the past couple of years it's been more like 3K. The Nero Corsa had about six months of honeymoon (though even that was not without its issues) and for the last two years I haven't been able to keep it running well/reliably enough to take to the mountains for a quick day of riding, never mind go on longer trips. 

 

It's sad. It was a beautiful bike. But walking is hassle-free.

[docc]

Good to hear someone like Ed has the bike and can get to the core of the trouble. I wish she had worked out better for you.

 

A few years back, I rode a Speed Triple on a whim. Kept me up nights thinking about it! Gnarly good fun.

 

Anxious to get the report back from Ed. Thanks for keeping us posted, Splicer!