Shift Return Spring Failure Poll

[Steve G.]

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?

 

 

Are these an issue with pre 2002 V11's? Is this one time when the early V11's get away with this?

Steve

[belfastguzzi]

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

 

KB

What's peculiar about that?

[slug]

Argh. The shift return spring on my '04 Ballabio broke on Monday night, in a teeny-tiny little town, 215 miles from home. Stuck in first gear. My spare spring? Somewhere in storage, 215 miles away. Thought the '04s had the 15mm boss, so I didn't bother putting it in my incomplete tool kit. After struggling with getting the gearbox open with inadequate tools, one of the four circlips that anchor the two cogs, decides to fly ten feet away, landing in either grass or gravel. Great. Fantastic.

 

 

So, I was able to re-bend the broken spring and get it working well enough to get home. Some friendly local-yokels were able to scrounge up a replacement circlip and loaned us some proper tools. We got back on the road around 10:00. About 40 miles later, we pulled of the highway for gas, and my shift lever became disconnected from the linkage. Someone forgot to tighten that part. Oops. Fortunately we were at a truck stop and I was able to buy some machine screws and nuts to get things back together. I finally got home at 2:45. I had to get up for work at 5:45.

 

Last night as I was replacing the broken spring, I measure the boss and it was 15mm. <_ looks like i should carry a spare...>

[gavo]

2001 mandello,I pulled the gearbox plate at 3000 ks,spring ok boss ok.rounded of sharp edge that spring rests against,now 7500ks no problems,fingers crossed

[Admin Jaap]

Why didn't you use the spring on your middle finger? That one seems to work fine

[Woody]

With several reported spring failures on '04 machines that have the proper boss size it sounds like it might be wise to at least have one on hand. Does anyone know of a current source for an upgraded spring if I decide to do a preventitive replacement?

 

Thanks.

[EnduroGuzzi]

Hey, I'm in the club now! Mine went today at 8200 miles (04 Lemans). Stuck in second, luckily a person at work is also a long time Guzzi wrench who will save my bacon.

[Paul Guzzi]

My apologies … twice.

 

First, I was not especially clear when I said I had prior warning.

 

Second, I thought I responded yesterday.

 

Anyway, I have about 10K on my Ballabio now (not awesome, but not bad for a year, especially when I had to share its miles with the EV). The spring failed—as in broke and left me stranded 500 miles and $550 from home—at, as I recall, about 6.5K.

 

At some point well before that—and I'll just take a SWAG and say c.4K—I began to have difficulty making upshifts now and then. This was more than the occasional missed shift (I hope) we all make, but, instead, I would find, as I attempted to toe up the lever, that it moved up, but nothing happened, i.e., the gear had not dropped internally (or whatever it does internally!) to be ready for the shift.

 

I attributed (and even posted about) this as a "new boot" thing, as I had just switched from worn-out Alpinstars to Teknics. The latter were much stiffer, and I thought it was simply that I was not dropping my toe after shifts. Wrong.

 

My point is that if you are lucky enough to get these advance signs, as described above, assume you are about to join the ranks of the undone by a cheap spring. Carry belfastguzzi's step-by-step instructions, an extra spring, and the right tools with you if you take any trips well away from home base or a dealer. I do.

OK, Using Bill's warning system, since my '02 LeMans has about 4,500 miles on it (just bought it this year with 3,800 on it) and I'm starting to have a lot of problems shifting (it's never been smooth like all my Jap bikes, but is getting much worst last few days) I guess I need some info. Where do I get the step by step instuctions? Do I buy an aftermarket spring? and, if so, who makes them and where to I get them? I have no idea if the bike has the 15mm boss or the evil 16.5(ish)mm boss. I'm fairly new to this forum site and don't quite have your system down yet. Thanks for any advice you all may have.

Best Regards,

Paul

[gstallons]

Make SURE the problem is not the shift lever pivot is not the culprit. I waited 2 weeks for a shift spring,started disassembling the bike and found the shift pivot bolt oxidized (rusty) just enough to make the shift lever stick in the down position. F**k !! I removed the bolt and lubricated the bushings and bolt and PRESTO!!! Problem solved. I bought the spring from www.cannonracecraft.com.

p.s. when you remove the pivot bolt the nut is a lock-nut and the frame is threaded also. Reomve the nut before removing the bolt.

[Tom M]

OK, Using Bill's warning system, since my '02 LeMans has about 4,500 miles on it (just bought it this year with 3,800 on it) and I'm starting to have a lot of problems shifting (it's never been smooth like all my Jap bikes, but is getting much worst last few days) I guess I need some info. Where do I get the step by step instuctions? Do I buy an aftermarket spring? and, if so, who makes them and where to I get them? I have no idea if the bike has the 15mm boss or the evil 16.5(ish)mm boss. I'm fairly new to this forum site and don't quite have your system down yet. Thanks for any advice you all may have.

Best Regards,

Paul

 

I don't believe that the pawl spring will effect shift quality until it breaks. If it breaks the gearbox will stay in whatever gear was last selected. If your shift quality is getting worse you likely need to lube all of the pivot points in the shift linkage. Changing your gearbox oil to Redline shockproof heavy sometimes improves shift quality too.

 

I know of 2 sources for replacement springs: Moto Guzzi and Cannon Racecraft. Guzzi supposedly updated the spring design to eliminate failures. See the spring on the MG cycle webpage here: http://www.mgcycle.com/trans.html#Return . Cannon Racecraft is in Oklahoma, they can be reached at 405-524-7223.

 

There have been a number of step-by-step instruction threads posted here over the years. Here's one, the search button will turn up more. http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?...ic=2905&hl=

 

(Nice write-up BFG! )

[Tom M]

I just had my second spring fail 7k miles after the first one, which went at 15k miles. The one that just broke was a Cannon Racecraft spring. It broke in the middle of the coil, and yes the boss on the pawl is was reworked to 15mm. I just replaced it with the updated guzzi spring that I bought from MG cycle after the last failure. Kudos again to Belfastguzzi for the replacement instructions linked on the FAQ page.

 

IT BROKE IN MY DRIVEWAY AS I WAS ABOUT TO LEAVE ON MY FIRST RIDE OF THE YEAR. What are the odds of that happening? I'm just glad it didn't break when I was a lot further from home...

[belfastguzzi]

I just had my second spring fail 7k miles after the first one, which went at 15k miles. The one that just broke was a Cannon Racecraft spring. It broke in the middle of the coil, and yes the boss on the pawl is was reworked to 15mm. I just replaced it with the updated guzzi spring that I bought from MG cycle after the last failure. Kudos again to Belfastguzzi for the replacement instructions linked on the FAQ page.

 

IT BROKE IN MY DRIVEWAY AS I WAS ABOUT TO LEAVE ON MY FIRST RIDE OF THE YEAR. What are the odds of that happening? I'm just glad it didn't break when I was a lot further from home...

CRAP and double crap. When you say updated spring, you mean the one with a wider circumference coil? So the bigger coil broke, even on a 15mm boss?

CRAP and double crap.

[Greg Field]

Mine's never broken and now has 25,000 miles. I've been thinking I should change it out pre-emptively.

[richard100t]

Mine's never broken and now has 25,000 miles. I've been thinking I should change it out pre-emptively.

I'm in the "if it aint broke dont touch it" camp! lol all these shift spring stories are enough to make a guy paranoid. Its still better than having a new 8valve Griso with a bum engine.

[gstallons]

You could do like me, I bought 2 of them from Cannon for just in case. Now I don't have the slightest idea where they are.