Shift Return Spring Failure Poll

[nose2wind]

2000 v11s

 

55,000 miles

 

No spring problem here!

 

Oh I did have the wire loop on the kickstand break about 50,000 miles ago. Does that count?

 

Sorry!

 

Bird dawg

[Todd davis]

2002 Lemans, No failure yet at 7600 miles

[Diesel]

I took delivery of my 03 LeMans today.

 

It was a left-over with only 8 miles on it.

 

Upon returning from it's maiden voyage this evening, I noticed it was difficult to shift into 3rd.

Problem does not improve as I continue towards the house. Hmmm......is the spring getting ready to break?

 

Once I turn onto my street i start rowing throught the gears to see whats going on.

Pull into my drive, put it in 1st, pull up to the garage and go to put it in neutral but can't becasue I'm stuck in 1st gear.

 

47 miles

 

I'm actually glad it happened.....and I couldn't ask for it to happen in a better place.

Now I know I have a spring boss thats too big so now I won't have to investigate to see if it's too big.

 

 

Edit: Well I was able to eventualy get it into neutral eventually after yanking on the lever with my arm, but the shifting problems came back after another ride. Opend up the gear box and found everthing is seemingly fine....measured the infamous spring boss and it's 14.909mm, spring doesn't bind.

 

Guess I'll play with that adjustment screw under the achorn nut right beside the selector lever.

[docc]

Lovely ride today in the lead of 5 other bikes and the Sport stuck in second. Until I managed to downshift it into first. Once. I'll bet they noticed the pace changed up a little.

 

Upon stopping at a safe place to split up I leaned over to look at the shifter and my left leg zipper on the Aerostich popped open to the calf. Great! A Wardrobe Failure on top of it all. I had to lie down on the pavement to coax the zipper back up. Cars stopped, cameras came out, but not an offer to help with my zipper. I bet they would have helped Janet Jackson with her Wardrobe Failure.

 

That's what I get for riding with a macho crowd whose motto is, "If you can't pull up your own zipper, we're splitting up your gear."

 

Finally back in second I had a nice solo ride home to get the side case off and order the spring. For those of you who claim to have done this on the roadside, you have my admiration.

 

But you'll still have to pull up your own zipper . . .

[JackBoots]

What is the verdict on the Cannon Race Craft springs?? DO they look any beefier?

 

Has anyone had one fail? Is the popular consensus that they are better than a Guzzi spring?

[JackBoots]

Ok Guys... 2002 Le Mans... purchased with 8000 miles last year. Currently at 13,000 miles... no way to find out mechanical history of the bike.

 

Ocassionally the shift sticks downshifting around 2nd or 3rd gear.

 

Planning on taking a trip to Montreal from Boston in 2 weeks. Do I chance it on the spring that's in there? IS there a Guzzi shop in Vermont and/or Montreal?

 

BTW, I am going to order the spring and shaft tomorrow... probably try Harper's

 

 

Thanks!

[Tom M]

Ok Guys... 2002 Le Mans... purchased with 8000 miles last year. Currently at 13,000 miles... no way to find out mechanical history of the bike.

 

Ocassionally the shift sticks downshifting around 2nd or 3rd gear.

 

Planning on taking a trip to Montreal from Boston in 2 weeks. Do I chance it on the spring that's in there? IS there a Guzzi shop in Vermont and/or Montreal?

 

BTW, I am going to order the spring and shaft tomorrow... probably try Harper's

 

 

Thanks!

 

I don't think the sticky shifter has anything to do with the spring. I have an 02 LeMans too, my spring failed at 15k miles. Others had failures at half that mileage, still others had no failures at all. Nobody can predict if or when these things will break.

 

I installed the Cannon Racecraft spring last year. I recently got the updated Guzzi spring to have as a backup from MG Cycle when I ordered a few other parts. The Cannon spring was definitely beefier than the Guzzi part.

 

When I did the install I measured my pawl boss and it was oversized by about 1mm. I'm cheap so rather than replace the pawl I just ground the boss down to the proper size with a dremel and stone. All you need to do is provide clearance for the spring.

 

If I were you I'd get the spring and bring it with me along with the installation instructions from this site. In the unlikely case that it does break any shop should be able to fix it with the instructions.

 

Have a great trip!

[jtucker]

My understanding is that this *mainly* affects 2002 bikes with possibly a few from other years mixed in.

 

I see a number of MY2000 owners chiming in here that they have *not* had the problem. Are there any confirmed cases of this problem popping up on 2000 bikes?

 

FWIW, my 2000 V11S has about ~19K miles on it with no spring problems. (I say "about" because the spedo/odo was busted for a few thousand miles or so).

 

I was beginning to wonder if I should add a spring to my survival kit, but I'm starting to think that my bike may be safe. Of course, I've probably jinxed myself now...

 

__Jason

[Richard]

Ok Guys... 2002 Le Mans... purchased with 8000 miles last year. Currently at 13,000 miles... no way to find out mechanical history of the bike.

 

Ocassionally the shift sticks downshifting around 2nd or 3rd gear.

 

Planning on taking a trip to Montreal from Boston in 2 weeks. Do I chance it on the spring that's in there? IS there a Guzzi shop in Vermont and/or Montreal?

 

BTW, I am going to order the spring and shaft tomorrow... probably try Harper's

 

 

Thanks!

I would go for clean up the gear linkage, hope for the best and take the spare parts with you....

[gstallons]

Mine just flubbed up this afternoon!!! What about the Canon Racecraft spring ? Where do you get this? Also,what about the shift pawl o.d. measurement?

[JackBoots]

ordering the parts and taking her to Montreal!

[gstallons]

BTW, FYI !!! Make sure the shift lever is NOT the culprit. I just started tearing my bike down. Whem I loosened the shift lever shaft bolt my problem went away. If anyone has a shifter stick in the down position, look there first!

[Garsdad]

The spring is, what, $6? The repair takes an hour or so in the comfort of your garage/carport/apartment parking lot. The spring I got from my Guzzi dealer is 1) heavier-gauge wire than the old one, and 2) has a bigger diameter loop to provide clearance around the over-size boss. I did the measurements (see thread somewhere on this site) and I have more clearance with the big boss and the larger spring than would have been available with the 15mm boss and the stock spring. It won't be binding up when I shift.

 

I do not understand why any owner of a 2002 would carry a spare spring with them, along with the tools, so that they can make the switch on the side of the road if it breaks on a trip. Change it now. So you spend $6 when you may not have to; are any of us so close to the financial edge that we will go broke with a spring purchase?

 

Seems silly. We spend the same amount to change out the cheap stock relays because we know they are junk. Why not the spring, too?

[belfastguzzi]

The spring is, what, $6? The repair takes an hour or so in the comfort of your garage/carport/apartment parking lot. The spring I got from my Guzzi dealer is 1) heavier-gauge wire than the old one, and 2) has a bigger diameter loop to provide clearance around the over-size boss. I did the measurements (see thread somewhere on this site) and I have more clearance with the big boss and the larger spring than would have been available with the 15mm boss and the stock spring. It won't be binding up when I shift.

 

I do not understand why any owner of a 2002 would carry a spare spring with them, along with the tools, so that they can make the switch on the side of the road if it breaks on a trip. Change it now. So you spend $6 when you may not have to; are any of us so close to the financial edge that we will go broke with a spring purchase?

 

Seems silly. We spend the same amount to change out the cheap stock relays because we know they are junk. Why not the spring, too?

The main reason to carry a spare spring is incase a repaired/replaced one breaks again. It's not instead of doing the check and fix. Thankfully the fix seems to have mostly worked, but some say that there have been further breaks once they've done the replacement.

As a spare spring takes insignificant space and there aren't any peculiar tools needed, it only makes sense to stash a spring – and forget about it.

And: it's easier to forget about it if you've checked - fixed - satisfied yourself that all is now well.

But: there'll always be some sort of niggling worry if you don't check and don't know what's in the gearbox, especially if the bike was assembled in that 'difficult' period.

 

On the other hand, if you don't check/fix (but carry a spring in 'be prepared' mode) it's not the end of the world and maybe that frisson, when the spring-danger pops into mind when hurtling down the road, adds just the sort of life-on-the-edge experience that's essential to the motorcyclist. So you get the desired risk, but there's a safety-net under the saddle and then the superlative satisfaction of a roadside fix well done. Maybe not so silly?

[Baldini]

....there aren't any peculiar tools needed....

 

Carry a cut down key for one socket head screw in the gbox sideplate.

 

KB