Greenie refurb

[guzzler]

21 hours ago, innesa said:

Thanks guzzler

Yeah, I'm getting 150-175 when the orange worry light appears. I had it recommended to me that I should carry around a tin of petrol, & just drain it (the tank) on a ride to see just how far it gets me. Of course, I'm quoting city riding, but I find that I don't get much better on the open road.

Do you have a particular mechanic you go to?

Are you a member of the MGCoV?

Cheers

G'day mate.

Very timely post this!

Sorry I didn't have time to respond yesterday as was working from home and had a wee look here when quiet! I actually finished early and headed down to pick up my bike from Rob ( Mechanic) in Warneet!

Whilst I was there I mentioned your issue with only getting 150-175 K's from a tank and he expressed surprise too!He thought it sounded like a bad sensor....! Anyways I asked if he'd be ok to take a look at it for you and said ok.

It's Rob Grant from Guzzi Repairs.You can get his # by googling Guzzi Spares and disregard the address in Cranbourne as he now works from home in Warneet! ( send me an email if you have any dramas finding it mate...I think my email is on my profile) 

I don't know whereabouts you are, but I can vouch for Rob's workmanship mate, he's been servicing my bike for some years now and he's a bloody good bloke too!

Cheers Guzzler

Ps I would not under any circumstances take my bike to the Official agents here in Victoria but that's up to you.

Pps I was in the Guzzi club but recently let my membership lapse, good bunch of people but as I explained to Ferg I just don't have the time to be able to participate in club events of late due to family commitments but will rejoin again when I retire in a few years.

  

 

[Gmc28]

On 1/6/2024 at 9:23 PM, Lucky Phil said:

The original triple is painted silver. I went with a stainless steel yoke nut and a black rubber grommet. I'm not a fan of chrome personally on the V11 Sport.

Phil

Decided for now to strip it then clear coat the aluminum (cast) piece, as I wasn’t loving the idea of layers of primer and paint, and all the exposed transition edges.  So far it’s looking ok, way better than the damaged aluminum-colored paint that I got it with, but will be easy to pull and do again if I don’t like how it looks on the bike. 

Got a little carried away with the 600 grit in a couple spots, and didn’t want to buff it any more and get it any shinier, as too much shine is what will make it not look right on the bike.  We’ll see.

And Stein Dinse delivered the new stainless nut today.  So re-assembly can commence this weekend, and maybe get ‘er runnin finally, soon. 

[Lucky Phil]

3 hours ago, Gmc28 said:

Decided for now to strip it then clear coat the aluminum (cast) piece, as I wasn’t loving the idea of layers of primer and paint, and all the exposed transition edges.  So far it’s looking ok, way better than the damaged aluminum-colored paint that I got it with, but will be easy to pull and do again if I don’t like how it looks on the bike. 

Got a little carried away with the 600 grit in a couple spots, and didn’t want to buff it any more and get it any shinier, as too much shine is what will make it not look right on the bike.  We’ll see.

And Stein Dinse delivered the new stainless nut today.  So re-assembly can commence this weekend, and maybe get ‘er runnin finally, soon. 

Green Scotchbrite gives the best satin finish to aluminium.

[Gmc28]

Agreed….I used the scotchbrite for most of the cleanup originally, but had the 600 out at the end to quickly address a bit of orange-peel in one area.  I got a little carried away with it, assuming the 600 wouldn’t actually have much “cut”, but misjudged a bit.

Also took the opportunity to pull flyscreen off and hit the un-finished backside with some satin black.  I’ll sleep better at night now…

[guzzler]

17 hours ago, Gmc28 said:

Decided for now to strip it then clear coat the aluminum (cast) piece, as I wasn’t loving the idea of layers of primer and paint, and all the exposed transition edges.  So far it’s looking ok, way better than the damaged aluminum-colored paint that I got it with, but will be easy to pull and do again if I don’t like how it looks on the bike. 

Got a little carried away with the 600 grit in a couple spots, and didn’t want to buff it any more and get it any shinier, as too much shine is what will make it not look right on the bike.  We’ll see.

And Stein Dinse delivered the new stainless nut today.  So re-assembly can commence this weekend, and maybe get ‘er runnin finally, soon. 

G'day mate.

What was the part # and price of that locking nut if you don't mind?

This is the chromed piece that sits about where your pinky finger is yeah?

Mines a bit manky looking and wouldn't mind replacing it at some stage.

Cheers Guzzler.

[Gmc28]

22 minutes ago, guzzler said:

G'day mate.

What was the part # and price of that locking nut if you don't mind?

This is the chromed piece that sits about where your pinky finger is yeah?

Mines a bit manky looking and wouldn't mind replacing it at some stage.

Cheers Guzzler.

Lucky phil suggested checking with Stein Dinse, which is what I did.  Found another source or two at similar prices.  Looks like I paid 18 euros for the little bugger, but then a bunch more to ship it.

mine, as shown in earlier pics in this thread, was in ugly shape. 
 

here’s a screen shot of my order.  They use the term “screw fork”, which seems obscure.  I think steering head nut was the term I used to find it from other sites.

and as phil points out, it’s not chrome, it’s a stainless finish, which is different than stock but much preferred in my opinion. 

[audiomick]

1 hour ago, Gmc28 said:

They use the term “screw fork”, which seems obscure.

Yeah, Germans don't always speak (write) English as well as they think they do.

 

This would be it, I reckon:

https://www.stein-dinse.com/de/moto-guzzi-verschlussschraube-gabelbruecke-8x30-california/item-2-1117543-30513401-.html

 

The word "Verschlußschraube" means "plug screw" or "the screw on the end that closes the hole". "End cap" would probably be a good translation.

 

Thanks for the tip. I might just organise one of those for myself.

[guzzler]

Thanks fellas.

 

[Gmc28]

18 hours ago, audiomick said:

Yeah, Germans don't always speak (write) English as well as they think they do.

 

This would be it, I reckon:

https://www.stein-dinse.com/de/moto-guzzi-verschlussschraube-gabelbruecke-8x30-california/item-2-1117543-30513401-.html

 

The word "Verschlußschraube" means "plug screw" or "the screw on the end that closes the hole". "End cap" would probably be a good translation.

 

Thanks for the tip. I might just organise one of those for myself.

Touché…  makes sense.   My German is only just slightly better than “zero” so I’d not catch those details for words that aren’t related to food, hotel rooms, or beer.  

And for any that might wonder, that file photo shown, which several sites use of the nut makes it look like it’s used, but the real product does in fact look new. 

[Gmc28]

had a little time to do some reassembly on Greenie last weekend, after have her bits laid on shelves for last couple years.  All good, except the top, forward frame vent hose (just behind good neck, no top, front of tank) I see is just capped with a bolt.  PO removed the airbox and installed pods, which i'm leaving alone for now (for various reasons), so that hose that would terminate at the airbox is now plugged.

Question is whether plugging it is ok.  I got the bike that way from PO, but a lot of stuff wasn't right on the bike, and I'd think thats the case here.  I'd think that would need to vent, so i'll look into best way to do that, but thoughts on that? 

Hose 16 on web sourced diagram from a spine frame of some sort...

 

[audiomick]

21 minutes ago, Gmc28 said:

... so that hose that would terminate at the airbox is now plugged.

Question is whether plugging it is ok. ...  I'd think that would need to vent,

If the frame is still part of the breather system as it was originally intended, then I agree with you. That would most likely need to vent.

I have read stuff on numerous occasions regarding the same situation on various different Guzzis, and seen the solution in practice a couple of times, i.e. no airbox, so where do I vent the breather to?

The commonest solution seems to be to put a longish hose on the connecter, and just stick the other end into an empty Jim Beam and Cola can, or some similar container, to catch any drips that might happen. Check the can occasionally to see how much is coming out that way (should be practically nothing) and empty it if required.

[LaGrasta]

yes, you can plug it, but there is no need; you can leave it open. 

[Gmc28]

audiomick and lagrasta, all sounds good.  I saw some of those threads, where folks talked about a lot of oil coming from the breather/system, and some saying that wasn't the case for them, but those seemed to all be in regard to the actual case vent (hose).   On this greenie the breather hose is in place and looks intact, the infamous one that is prone to failure (crack/leak), as is the return line which goes down to the oil pan, so the essentials are in place.  Hard to imagine not letting it "breath" from the 3rd, top-most hose would be an issue, but thats what i'm noodling....

[MartyNZ]

Crankcase pressure is always more than ambient due to piston ring blowby, however slight. This is unavoidable on all piston engines unless you have an unusual feature like a scavenge pump. For this reason, crankcase pressure will slowly build until it finds an escape path. If you block the vent going to the airbox, the pressure will rise until it relieves somewhere else, possibly showing as an oil leak. 

I don't think you should block that hose.

[Lucky Phil]

9 minutes ago, MartyNZ said:

Crankcase pressure is always more than ambient due to piston ring blowby. This is unavoidable on all piston engines unless you have an unusual feature like a scavenge pump. For this reason, crankcase pressure will build until it finds an escape path. If you block the vent going to the airbox, the pressure will build until it relieves somewhere else, possibly showing as an oil leak. 

I don't think you should block that hose.

Correct you should not plug the line to the airbox or the crankcases cant vent. If you have positive CC pressure due to blow by then you have a real issue. Most of what people see coming from the PCV or CC vent is air movement due to the pumping process of the pistons. It's easier for the CC air being pumped around by the rising and falling pistons to vent out the breather than follow the sometimes convoluted internal route to the underside of the rising piston. Sometimes CC pressure can briefly go to zero or a little below on a wet sump engine that uses a reed valve in the breather such as Ducati twins have for years and years. As the CC air is expelled out the breather any slight pressure is vented and the reed valve then closes and the CC pressure will go to zero or fractionally below very briefly. 

Phil