Buying a Stelvio

[Don G]

Depending on the spring, you may or may not freeze your nuts off crossing the prairies, the mountain passes are a whole other story, perhaps swinging south would be a good idea. Good luck! DonG

[docc]

1 hour ago, Don G said:

Depending on the spring, you may or may not freeze your nuts off crossing the prairies, the mountain passes are a whole other story, perhaps swinging south would be a good idea. Good luck! DonG

Dang, Canada must be literally littered with said frozen nuts!    Not sure dipping into the northern tier of The States would keep them any better intact without grazing the Gulf Coast.

Y'all come, now, ya hear?

[Gio]

Indeed Docc ... a proliferation of (mostly) frozen nuts this time of year - but nothing a portable hair-drier couldn't thaw (on my top-five of usefull things to carry on longer journeys ... not that I have much hair, or would care what it looked like even if I did) ... but most excellent boot-driers on those damper days should motel x not offer in-room microwave ..! I have ridden through snow in AB during June in the past (seriously) ... hardy bunch we Canadians are!

[Don G]

About the only month that you can count out snow happening is July, perhaps riding across Canada should be left until a little later in the season like late May or June....   DonG

[footgoose]

23 minutes ago, Gio said:

Indeed Docc ... a proliferation of (mostly) frozen nuts this time of year - but nothing a portable hair-drier couldn't thaw (on my top-five of usefull things to carry on longer journeys ... not that I have much hair, or would care what it looked like even if I did) ... but most excellent boot-driers on those damper days should motel x not offer in-room microwave ..! I have ridden through snow in AB during June in the past (seriously) ... hardy bunch we Canadians are!

Great idea Gio! I have just the right (little) one. Must remember to not set boot on fire. Glove too.

[docc]

56 minutes ago, Don G said:

About the only month that you can count out snow happening is July, perhaps riding across Canada should be left until a little later in the season like late May or June....   DonG

I seem to remember someone telling me there are two seasons in Canada, "July and winter" . . .

[Twin AH]

On ‎2‎/‎15‎/‎2020 at 1:42 PM, LangleyMalc said:

Gord senior is now retired and Gord junior went before him and the shop no longer carries Guzzi. I also bought my Balabio from him in 2004  and had my old Cal II serviced and repaired there. A pity he retired as he was good - now we have International Motorsport, who have no inventory of parts (“Got to come fromPiaggio Bud”) and no in depth knowledge of the marque! Also while willing to tackle anything, not cheap and therefore at your cost. They are however a bit closer. 

Now I am retired I have the time to do the bulk of the work myself and with three bikes available, one should be running! Right now the Balabio (the one my daughter has stolen) is waiting for a starter but otherwise is sorted and the Cal 1400 goes fine. On that one, it developed a problem with the ignition switch and anti theft system (dongle) last year at about 18k km, which by the time International had finished cost $2,500 including a new dash. The previous owner had put in a personal security code and no one knew what it was!  Apparently you can’t put in a master override code to pair the new lock set with the original dash so I then ended up with a new lock set and a new dash! Lovely idea this dongle to prevent theft, but not much use if it can’t be overridden. 

Just an FYI in regards to some M/G work Gords son Matt has always treated me pretty good with my herd.

He is based out of Chilliwack and worth a chat if you ever need some work done.

Oh and maybe we will run into each other one day as I'm out in the valley burning fuel and rubber on a regular bases.... 

Enjoy your Stelvio I know I love mine....   Ciao

 

[LangleyMalc]

Well the Stelvio is finally in BC.  In the end I had to give up on riding  it across from PEI as the people of the Atlantic Canada Bubble do not want the rest of Canada visiting them except for essentially services and apparently collecting the Stelvio did not qualify.  Anyway the dealer crated it up and shipped it over at a not inconsiderable cost and it arrived yesterday in good order and with a full tank of Gas!  

The previous owner had fitted additional guards, and a hugger and I fitted new tyres so I did not have too much to do straight away apart from check the fluids, (oil too full - the dealer had overfilled it) and check the tyre pressures which were a bit low.

I will now ride it for a couple of weeks before taking Pete Roper's suggestion of checking the swing arm and shock mount etc for grease and checking the valve clearances.

First impressions after a couple of short local rides is that it is significantly lighter and more nimble than the California 1400, but it vibrates through the handlebars a bit at around 4000 rpm and the mirrors are moderately useless above about 110kph. (Despite its weight, or maybe because of it and the elastomer engine mounts, the 1400 is more deliberate in the corners and is generally smoother, but not as quick.  It is also a pig in a car park or on gravel - hence the desire for the Stelvio). 

Also the Stelvio crackles and pops on deceleration, which the 1400 did not do and it has a bit of a choppy throttle, but I am getting used to that.  I understand that you can flash it and cure some of this along with other mods, which will likely be coming over the winter.

Otherwise it is a comfortable bike and I am looking forward to using it.  Covid permitting I will try to get across Canada next year and also down into the States, but right now travel is limited to the West of Canada, which still leaves me with some spectacular opportunity.

So if you are in BC and see a grey Stelvio heading in your direction it will possibly be me! Happy miles.

[Lucky Phil]

26 minutes ago, LangleyMalc said:

Well the Stelvio is finally in BC.  In the end I had to give up on riding  it across from PEI as the people of the Atlantic Canada Bubble do not want the rest of Canada visiting them except for essentially services and apparently collecting the Stelvio did not qualify.  Anyway the dealer crated it up and shipped it over at a not inconsiderable cost and it arrived yesterday in good order and with a full tank of Gas!  

The previous owner had fitted additional guards, and a hugger and I fitted new tyres so I did not have too much to do straight away apart from check the fluids, (oil too full - the dealer had overfilled it) and check the tyre pressures which were a bit low.

I will now ride it for a couple of weeks before taking Pete Roper's suggestion of checking the swing arm and shock mount etc for grease and checking the valve clearances.

First impressions after a couple of short local rides is that it is significantly lighter and more nimble than the California 1400, but it vibrates through the handlebars a bit at around 4000 rpm and the mirrors are moderately useless above about 110kph. (Despite its weight, or maybe because of it and the elastomer engine mounts, the 1400 is more deliberate in the corners and is generally smoother, but not as quick.  It is also a pig in a car park or on gravel - hence the desire for the Stelvio). 

Also the Stelvio crackles and pops on deceleration, which the 1400 did not do and it has a bit of a choppy throttle, but I am getting used to that.  I understand that you can flash it and cure some of this along with other mods, which will likely be coming over the winter.

Otherwise it is a comfortable bike and I am looking forward to using it.  Covid permitting I will try to get across Canada next year and also down into the States, but right now travel is limited to the West of Canada, which still leaves me with some spectacular opportunity.

So if you are in BC and see a grey Stelvio heading in your direction it will possibly be me! Happy miles.

Are you really comparing a Stelvio to a Cali 1400!? Like comparing a Ducati Multistrada to a Diavel 

Ciao

[LangleyMalc]

Not comparing! Observing the differences as I have both And they do different things. Why does a Multistrada vibrate at highway speeds?

[PJPR01]

The items you are describing could be easily cured with a Guzzidiag session, resetting TPS and parameters and balancing throttle bodies properly.  Bike should be smooth enough to ride w/o that vibration, so unless something  is amiss, probably a tuneup is in order.    Post some pics when you can...Stelvio's are lovely bikes indeed.  Did it come with the 8.5 gallon tank or the smaller one?

[LangleyMalc]

This a 2013 with the big tank and the roller tappets. 20,000ks on the clock so just about run in. I will get it on the Guzidiag some time in the next month to check the mapping after I have been through the rest of the bike.

The vibration is not major and could just be the tyres ( new Shinko 705s) on the highway. It is just the California has zero vibration. (The Cal is a pig to move about under 4kph, As it wants to lie down and is impossible if you park it down hill, but otherwise once rolling is a great cruiser!).  No insulting my Mule!

On the Stelvio, when delivered they had changed the oil but overfilled it well above the dipstick with the result that When they had subsequently run it, some oil had migrated into the  air box as was evidenced by oil coming out of the drain tube. 

I dropped the oil level to about 75% on the dipstick and cleaned out the small amount of oil in the air box while checking for air box holes as advised by the Oracle - Pete Roper, but I did wonder if there is an air flow meter or oxygen sensor on the intake air side that might get fouled by the excess oil? If so this might explain the popping on deceleration. All suggestions gratefully received. 

Now have to set the tappets and check the gearbox and CARC oil Then take it for a trip to the North part of Vancouver island before thinking about Fuel mapping. 
here is the Stelvio and for comparison also the California during last month’s 2000k trip around central BC. It may be a big lummox of a bike but it performed flawlessly.

all for now. 

[pete roper]

It shouldn't be popping and crackling on the over-run.check the throttle stop screws for tampering. Valve lash should be 4 & 6 thou inlet and exhaust. When removing the plug caps to get the rocker covers off use a long, thin screwdriver through the cooling tunnel above the exhaust manifold to lever the caps off from underneath. Do not tug at them from the top.

 

Before even thinking about touching the throttlebodies check that the paint on especially the left hand stop screw is intact. If it isn't you need to be able to connect diagnostic tooling, (ie Guzzidiag) to check the TPS value. If you're lucky it won't of been re-set and you'll be able to simply physically adjust the reading back to 4.8 degrees before starting the tune up. If the paint has been gouged out of the screw and it has been obviously fiddled with but the TPS value is at 4.8 then it most likely has been recalibrated and you're about to enter a world of pain trying to get it right again.

 

The fact you say it vibrates as well as popping and farting on the overrun doesn't fill me with confidence but hopefully, if it has been shaved aped it will be able to be unfucked with diligence and care.

[docc]

[been there - shaved that . . . ]

Managed to unfuck it with this guidance.  Thanks, Pete!  

[LangleyMalc]

Done the tappets and now set to 4&6 thou. They were a little bit wider than that but not a huge amount. The throttle cables were slack as a wellie boot top, with about 20 degrees of “free play” before the twist grip did anything, so I took the slack out at the handlebars end, which has made rolling off and on a lot easier. The paint on the left hand throttle stop is intact, and I pulled the two sensors on the throttle bodies and cleaned them with carb cleaner, in case fouled with oil from the over enthusiastic “Red Seal” mechanic who changed it at the selling dealer. Just on that the gearbox was also a little overfilled. Not significantly, but I dropped it down to the hole. 
On the vibration front I dropped the tyre pressures to 28/32 fro the 36/39 in the book and the vibration has gone!  The popping on engine breaking is still there, but right now I will treat it as a “feature“.  Otherwise the bike goes very well with lively acceleration and good handling. I will admit that it is an order of magnitude better than the Cal in these departments and the Cal could more than hold its own in class. 
 So the last check will be Guzzidiag, once I can get ahold of a copy from a fellow Stelvio owner who has both the cables and the right program etc. I will report back when this is done. I have a set of cables but no windows computer right now!

On a separate note, what is the perceived wisdom for the Traction Control on gravel?  On or Off?  I have tried both and found that with it ON the bike bunny hops on corduroy and with it OFF the back end squirts about a bit; but generally I liked it OFF better for gravel but so far only a short test. I have not as yet tried turning on and off the ABS so could do with some guidance on that one too. 
 

thanks in advance 

M.