Independent Guzzi Mechanic - Northeast/Mid-Atlantic Area of the USA

[LowRyter]

1 hour ago, gstallons said:

The gearbox Joe had pictured looks like the way to go !  You get in there and things could get out of hand quick .When you do get it going , fill w/new fluid , ride it 100 mi. and drain / refill. Examine the fluid to see what it looks like .

That looks like the rear end, not the gearbox 

[CSP Rider]

Thank you all for the comments and recommendations! I was able to meet with the fine folks at Motoplex in West Chester, PA (15 mins from home) today and they have agreed to perform the gearbox swap for me. Both the GM and Service Manager are top notch motorcycle guys and I am looking forward to working with them to get my Italian beauty restored to her former glory. Will plan to visit some of the shops you guys recommended once the weather breaks and I have all 6 gears available 

[Pressureangle]

34 minutes ago, CSP Rider said:

Thank you all for the comments and recommendations! I was able to meet with the fine folks at Motoplex in West Chester, PA (15 mins from home) today and they have agreed to perform the gearbox swap for me. Both the GM and Service Manager are top notch motorcycle guys and I am looking forward to working with them to get my Italian beauty restored to her former glory. Will plan to visit some of the shops you guys recommended once the weather breaks and I have all 6 gears available 

Chester Springs to the Lodge at Tellico would be an absolute epic ride. 

SSR 2023

 

[kalev11]

I would also agree with Joe about replacing the entire unit with an unmolested used/salvaged unit. The factory assembles those gearboxes one after another, they have the most know how. It’s risky to spend so much money, in my opinion, and have an excellent mechanic, who has never torn one down, do the job. Even with the best of intentions and skills it will still be somewhat risky. YOU can swap that gearbox yourself or have a shop do it. 
The “breakers” might have a nice low mileage unit for 6 or 7 hundred. Check Pinwall or the like. 
I’ve been “in your shoes” unfortunately  as I’m the friend Joe was speaking of that had a gearbox explode, later an engine failure too. Not that hard to fix.

You'll get it going 👍

 

[pete roper]

5 minutes ago, kalev11 said:

I would also agree with Joe about replacing the entire unit with an unmolested used/salvaged unit. The factory assembles those gearboxes one after another, they have the most know how. It’s risky to spend so much money, in my opinion, and have an excellent mechanic, who has never torn one down, do the job. Even with the best of intentions and skills it will still be somewhat risky. YOU can swap that gearbox yourself or have a shop do it. 
The “breakers” might have a nice low mileage unit for 6 or 7 hundred. Check Pinwall or the like. 
I’ve been “in your shoes” unfortunately  as I’m the friend Joe was speaking of that had a gearbox explode, later an engine failure too. Not that hard to fix.

You'll get it going 👍

 

The problem I see with the box out of Germany is that it's another one from the same, failure prone, run isn't it? That would seem like playing Russian roulette with two of the chambers loaded rather than one! You surely don't want to be back at square one in a few months if the second box shits itself!

As to the factory assembling the gearboxes so they'll be better than one built by a skilled mechanic? Are you mad? The factory uses the cheapest labour possible and assembly is rote learnt without a lot of knowledge or understanding. There is a lot of 'Monkey see, monkey do' on an assembly room floor believe me!

The other problem will be finding a second hand box. I was looking a few weeks ago for a fellow mechanic in Victoria and V11 gearboxes seem to be like rocking horse shit! Finding one that is fresh and unproblematic could well be a real issue.

If it were mine I'd be stripping it and inspecting for further damage before making the final decision. As long as the pinions are ok and the shafts are straight I'd be rebuilding it. It's not a big job.

[footgoose]

there is a failure prone run?? (other than that early recall business) CSP's is a 2002 yes?

3 hours ago, pete roper said:

failure prone, run

 

[CSP Rider]

1 hour ago, footgoose said:

there is a failure prone run?? (other than that early recall business) CSP's is a 2002 yes?

 

Yes there definitely was a fail prone run into 2002, but my VIN is not included (after the ranges referenced in the service bulletin posted in another thread on this site). Plan is to obtain the 2003 MY box out of Germany which should be past the questionable manufacturing period (fingers crossed) and have that freshened where needed and installed. Then I can send the current one out for a rebuild, and have it on hand should the need arise in the future. 

[CSP Rider]

6 hours ago, Pressureangle said:

Chester Springs to the Lodge at Tellico would be an absolute epic ride. 

SSR 2023

 

No doubt on the epic ride from Chester Springs to Tellico Plains! There is a lot of the Blue Ridge Parkway between here and there, amongst lots of other fantastic roads along the way. I'll actually be down there in early Spring for an ADV rally on my Norden, but a September cruise down on the Goose isn't out of the question. I can't think of a more worthy scoot than a V11 to run the Cherohola Skyway...

[footgoose]

42 minutes ago, CSP Rider said:

Yes there definitely was a fail prone run into 2002, but my VIN is not included (after the ranges referenced in the service bulletin posted in another thread on this site). Plan is to obtain the 2003 MY box out of Germany which should be past the questionable manufacturing period (fingers crossed) and have that freshened where needed and installed. Then I can send the current one out for a rebuild, and have it on hand should the need arise in the future. 

first I've heard of this. Please reference the thread. Was there a recall?

[Joe]

12 hours ago, pete roper said:

The problem I see with the box out of Germany is that it's another one from the same, failure prone, run isn't it? That would seem like playing Russian roulette with two of the chambers loaded rather than one! You surely don't want to be back at square one in a few months if the second box shits itself!

As to the factory assembling the gearboxes so they'll be better than one built by a skilled mechanic? Are you mad? The factory uses the cheapest labour possible and assembly is rote learnt without a lot of knowledge or understanding. There is a lot of 'Monkey see, monkey do' on an assembly room floor believe me!

The other problem will be finding a second hand box. I was looking a few weeks ago for a fellow mechanic in Victoria and V11 gearboxes seem to be like rocking horse shit! Finding one that is fresh and unproblematic could well be a real issue.

If it were mine I'd be stripping it and inspecting for further damage before making the final decision. As long as the pinions are ok and the shafts are straight I'd be rebuilding it. It's not a big job.

Pete, I was the prior owner of Kalev11 bike. It was a recall era bike bought new. The late  motorcycle mechanic Mike Wells took the gearbox apart and installed the recall parts, under recall warranty. Best motorcycle mechanic (Ducati, Triumph, Honda, Moto Guzzi, etc.) I will probably ever know, period. The kicker is the gearbox many years later still exploded. So what does that mean? It means all this recall panic is important but still not a insurance policy that the unit could still fail. In some regards, we all need to let it go, they are all 20+ year old Italian made machines prone to some failures.

As for swapping out the motor or transmission, some how both went bad on Kalev11’s V11 Sport, he swapped one at a time as the failures were not simultaneous. Both swapped in his garage, the bike runs great. What does that mean? It means for not much money he swapped a 04 EV motor, reused bits from the original, mostly for original aesthetics, and got on the road fairly cheap. I think he bought it from Pinwall, with verified mileage.

If you have the skillset to rebuild everything, then go for it, otherwise swap parts is option B. The whole point is to keep these cool Italian bikes “on the road” by any means necessary. 

[Joe]

7 hours ago, CSP Rider said:

No doubt on the epic ride from Chester Springs to Tellico Plains! There is a lot of the Blue Ridge Parkway between here and there, amongst lots of other fantastic roads along the way. I'll actually be down there in early Spring for an ADV rally on my Norden, but a September cruise down on the Goose isn't out of the question. I can't think of a more worthy scoot than a V11 to run the Cherohola Skyway...

CSP, how do you like the Husqvarna Norden 901? Good tour bike also?

[CSP Rider]

7 hours ago, footgoose said:

first I've heard of this. Please reference the thread. Was there a recall?

See below link to original post from 2009 about the recalls (referenced here very recently as well in regards to the "hose" failures which I have experienced):

 

[CSP Rider]

26 minutes ago, Joe said:

CSP, how do you like the Husqvarna Norden 901? Good tour bike 

I am coming up on about a year of ownership now on the Norden 901 (about 4k miles total) and think its a fantastic machine (touring and otherwise). Of course I've made many changes to suit me, but out of the box Husky did a great job. Lots complain about the suspension, and I would agree it's a bit soft out of the box, but in my experience every bike benefits from tuning the suspension for individual needs/styles. The parallel twin is no Italian V, however, at 470ish lbs wet and 105 HP this bike is still plenty of fun in the twisities and great for blasting forest roads. 

Feel free to PM me if you'd like more specifics on the Husky experience so far. 

 

Cheers. 

[Bill Hagan]

15 hours ago, Pressureangle said:

Chester Springs to the Lodge at Tellico would be an absolute epic ride. 

SSR 2023

 

 

8 hours ago, CSP Rider said:

No doubt on the epic ride from Chester Springs to Tellico Plains! There is a lot of the Blue Ridge Parkway between here and there, amongst lots of other fantastic roads along the way. I'll actually be down there in early Spring for an ADV rally on my Norden, but a September cruise down on the Goose isn't out of the question. I can't think of a more worthy scoot than a V11 to run the Cherohola Skyway...

 

Makes sense to me ...

 

Seriously, Kathi and I might take a more back-roads route than that quick Google Maps avoid-highways shot, but it's hard to get there from here by any bad roads that don't start with an "I."

Consider an overnight here before launching on the longer leg. 

Bill

 

[CSP Rider]

26 minutes ago, Bill Hagan said:

 

 

Makes sense to me ...

 

Seriously, Kathi and I might take a more back-roads route than that quick Google Maps avoid-highways shot, but it's hard to get there from here by any bad roads that don't start with an "I."

Consider an overnight here before launching on the longer leg. 

Bill

 

Thanks Bill! Appreciate the offer and may take you up on that. Can we affix some "V11 Support Vehicle" stickers to the Norge? Maybe matching "support" polos for you and Kathi to make it official... 

We could make a very engaging 2 day run out of getting there for sure...