A bad V11 day

[Tom M]

I jumped on my bike last Saturday to go for a ride. Turned the key and hit the starter button, nothing happened. No relay or solenoid noises.

 

Damn.

 

Started looking around under the seat and found the plastic on the 30amp fuse completely melted into the fusebox.

 

Double damn.

 

Had to use a solder iron to free the melted fuse from the fusebox. Checked the contacts and one was annealed/soft from the heat, wouldn't grip a new fuse tightly even after squeezing it tight.

 

Triple damn.

 

Back from the autoparts store with a new fuse holder, solder and heatshrink it in, put everything back together and hit the starter. Nothing again.

 

This day was starting to suck.

 

Jump on V11Lemans.com and dig up Kiwi Roy's troubleshooting posts. Did I try turning the bars lock to lock? Nope. Give that a try and it fires right up. Yay. Now I can look forward to pulling the fairing and tank to check the electrical connectors.

 

Go for a ride. Ten miles out I notice my brake pedal is slippery. Look down and see oil on my boot. And on the engine, exhaust and tire. Pull over and look around. The oil breather pipe that I replaced four years ago has sheared itself off at the bell housing spigot.

 

The sucking was complete.

 

I rode it home, cleaned it up and parked it. Ordered another breather hose and a MAXI fuse and holder. Looks like I'll be wrenching again soon...

[czakky]

Damn.

 

Atleast Kiwi_Roy's done the leg work for you as far as troubleshooting goes. Was that a genuine breather hose or the ford radiator hose or whatever like I have.?

[jwh20]

I had the tank off my '02 LeMans a couple of weeks ago to replace the fuel and air filters and I didn't find it necessary to remove the fairing.

[mznyc]

Sorry to hear this.When it rains it pours for Guzzi owners.If you want a beer holder Tom, let me know.Will give me an excuse to take mine out for a long ride.

Maybe a bad ground leading to a regulator failure?

[Tom M]

Czakky,

I bought the hose that just failed from a Guzzi dealer. I looked at my old receipt pile but couldn't find the one with that hose on it so I'm not sure exactly who I got it from. The failed hose seemed to have expanded and it was much softer than I remember. I'll check it against the new hose to see if I'm right.

 

jwh20,

You're right that the fairing doesn't have to come off to pull the tank and check the wiring but I pulled it anyway since I have to replace the breather hose. Fortunately it takes less than 5 minutes.

 

Michael,

"Hold my beer and watch this" usually doesn't turn out well, does it?    Thanks for the offer to help though.  I won't be doing much with the bike this weekend as my youngest is graduating High School. 

 

The melted 30amp fuse seems to be fairly common and usually not due to a regulator failure but I will check mine when I get it running again.  The way that day went I wouldn't be surprised if something else went wrong.  I was half expecting my pawl spring to break on the way home...

[Tom M]

I removed the breather hose that failed and it's definitely defective. It's longer, fatter and much softer than the new one. It seems to me that it expanded from the hot oil and vapors. I'll post a pic of the two when I get a chance.

 

I couldn't find the receipt but I know I changed it when I had the jugs off for valve and piston work in 2010. I'll contact my usual vendors and see if they have my purchase records and take it from there. I don't expect a refund but I want them to know that they were selling defective products a few years ago.