Trouble Shooting Assist Needed

[stormsedge]

Recap: Bike was running fine, but had an occasional little pop in the exhaust at cruise + - 3K RPM in lower gears through town after rolloff. I had parked the bike for about a week and rolled it out cold to set the valves, thinking that was the problem...the real problems started on third gear rap of test ride...first and second gear had been up close to yellow, maybe red. In third, began missing/sputtering/cutting out/diving/losing power generally between 3500-6000 rpm. The bike was not doing this when I parked it. The only change to anything prior to parking it was that it had been out in the torrential rain a couple of times in the parking lot at work and I'd bought gas at an unfamiliar station (but done 107 miles on that tank). I reset the valves to where I'd started and put some Heet gas treatment in it...no change. One sparkplug is showing richer than the other--I changed the plugs just in case I had a bad one...TPS reading and mercury sticks still look good. Compression is sat. Bike has 7500 miles on it.

 

I am now suspicious of:

 

electrical system

injection system

fuel

timing chain

 

Btw, the symptoms remain basically the same with PCIII in circuit or out, ruling out a freak mapping problem.

 

Ideas? k

[richard100t]

Recap:  Bike was running fine, but had an occasional little pop in the exhaust at cruise + - 3K RPM in lower gears through town after rolloff.  I had parked the bike for about a week and rolled it out cold to set the valves, thinking that was the problem...the real problems started on third gear rap of test ride...first and second gear had been up close to yellow, maybe red.  In third, began missing/sputtering/cutting out/diving/losing power generally between 3500-6000 rpm.  The bike was not doing this when I parked it.  The only change to anything prior to parking it was that it had been out in the torrential rain a couple of times in the parking lot at work and I'd bought gas at an unfamiliar station (but done 107 miles on that tank).  I reset the valves to where I'd started and put some Heet gas treatment in it...no change. One sparkplug is showing richer than the other--I changed the plugs just in case I had a bad one...TPS reading and mercury sticks still look good. Compression is sat.  Bike has 7500 miles on it. 

 

I am now suspicious of:

 

electrical system

injection system

fuel

timing chain

 

Ideas?  k

50785[/snapback]

Have you tried draining the fuel tank & refilling it? Its probably not the fuel though, otherwise it would run poorly at any rpm. But hey you never know lol

[TX REDNECK (R.I.P.)]

Did anybody say relays ?

 

You mentoned being in rain storm. My sport was doing exactly as you've described. In my case I had ridden through one hell of a down pour & parked the bike for a couple of days. Then I went to riding it again & it was runnig like crap . It turned out that I had moisture inside the relay that was causing the problem . I spent the better part of 2 days chasing non electrical gremlins & all the time it was the relay. I ended up taking the bike to MPH. I told Mike the story about the rain & he put new relays in & 5 minutes later everything was back to normal .

 

It doesn't cost anything to move them around to different positions & see if that helps. The same relay that's in the V11's is also the same kind that's in my Dodge p/u. This relay was causing erratic shifting until I replaced it

[stormsedge]

Did anybody say relays ? 

 

You mentoned being in rain storm. My sport was doing exactly as you've described. In my case I had ridden through one hell of a down pour & parked the bike for a couple of days. Then I went to riding it again & it was runnig like crap . It turned out that I had moisture inside the relay that was  causing the problem . I spent the better part of 2 days chasing non electrical gremlins & all the time it was the relay. I ended up taking the bike to MPH. I told Mike the story about the rain & he put new relays in & 5 minutes later everything was back to normal . 

 

It doesn't cost anything to move them around to different positions & see if that helps.  The same relay that's in the V11's is also the same kind that's in my Dodge p/u. This relay was causing erratic shifting until I replaced it

50795[/snapback]

 

Tex, no, I still have the originals and I wondered if they might be the cause. I will give this a try as soon as I can get back into the garage. Thanks. k

[stormsedge]

Tried swapping the relays around (twice) as no one in my burgeoning metropolis has them. No change except I have managed to lose the tach and warning lights --fuses are okay, so if anyone has an idea there as well, let fly. I'll have to let it set for a couple of days as other duties call. k

[DeBenGuzzi]

Buy NEW relays there are a few places out there to get them. Thats all I can say you will need them eventually waytec sells them I have a second set my mistake now the original owner changed them out but even the best go out eventually soo anyway I haven't any idea about your problem than check the exhaust for leaks or cracks too my was popping and both my exhaust clamps were loose.

[dlaing]

  No change except I have managed to lose the tach and warning lights

The tach is controlled by the one relay that requires all five connectors on the relays.

It is possible that you swapped a four connector relay for into the socket that needs a five connector relay. If the tach is not working, but the headlight is, I am totally wrong.

All of the sockets can take the five connector relays.

A set from Pyro Dan is cheap:

http://www.dpguzzi.com/relay.htm

It may also be a good time to pull every electrical connection that you can get to, and spray in some electrical silicone lubricant.

[tomsp]

Thanks Tx and dlaing - I've been wanting exact relay info too and thanks to you we all have it. Hope this is the trick stormsedge. I've wanted to replace my oem relays but was hung up on the 5 pin vs 4 pin difference. Talk about being organized-- my LAST trip to moto italiano in san jose, looking at Al's bike - his relays were silver colored and each one specifically labeled- cool.

[stormsedge]

Tach not working, all idiot lights out except neutral light, headlight works, but not high beam...brake lights do not work. This is an additional problem to the poor power problem described following setting of valves. Thoughts?

[stormsedge]

It's fixed! Under the heading of "Things that Happen Simultaneously Rendering Logical Thought Inadequate"...I found the culprit after all the pain and thought over the valve train and potential electrical gremlins affecting the fuel injection, I decided today (since I finally was in town long enough to do it) to remove all the relays (thanks Tex and Dlaing), and pull the tank to get at the wiring harness---in hopes that I might eradicate some water intrusion or condensation---strangely, when I reached under the tank, to pull the vacuum lines free, my hand was blocked by something that felt like sticky cardboard...a visual identified it as the aluminum foil covered tank insulator---now with a perfect imprint of my open K&N filter impressed on it---apparently it had come unstuck and the Guzzi had resolutely attempted to suck it through the filter for disposal through the exhaust---well, we know how that worked out. A little double sided tape (okay, it was duct tape, but had I had double sided tape, that would have been the ticket) and it is as good as new. Whew...now I can go back to setting the valves a little more open to see how it acts in the upcoming hot weather (which was the purpose of the original drill anyway). It's always the simple stuff...and in this case it cost me a week of lost riding in the Ozarks... ...but I recommend Branson for anyone, especially with family...even if you can't take your bike. k

[jrt]

Wow, that's a weird one. Not too weird, I guess, since my heat reflective material also came loose. I used 3M fast-tack adhesive to reattach it, and that has worked well for about a year now. Glad you found it, and I'm glad it was minor!

J

[dlaing]

Whoever said removing the airbox cover "will suck the paint off the bottom of your tank" was almost spot on!

FWIW my aluminized material started to peel and I used rubber cement to readhere it.

But I'd bet that 3M stuff holds up to heat and gasoline better...

Glad it was a minor problem, too!

[stormsedge]

It really draws some air...you can see the imprint of the air filter ridges perfectly where it tried to suck the insulator through it!