restoring a t3

[Guest SPITZER]

I was wondering if there were any t3 specific forums or can I ask anything here. I am restoring a 1979 850 t3. The bike was my pops and was his only mode of trans for years. Now I am about to start school and need something that will run everytime I need it to and has power for cruzing. I have a yamaha yzf600r that is modded out, but is not practical for to and from commuting. So for 200 bucks I bought his old bike. It sat from 1992 till now, in grandma's shed. But other then that there is nothing wronge with it. Before I start to ride it I want to restore it to it's original condition.

 

 

Anyting I should know, check for? Anything. - Andrew

[Admin Jaap]

Hi Spitzer, I think that on the Wildguzzi forum there are more people who are into the "older" models and have more knowledge.

 

But you are of course welcome to our forum and maybe there are some Guzzisti around who can help you!

[Baldini]

Andrew,

 

I got an old T3. They're great bikes & should do what you need it for. Like Jaap says WildGuzzi is a good US forum mostly concerned with the Tonti (the type of frame on your bike still used in the latest cruisers Guzzis) bikes. Also try Guzzi Exchange forum (Australia) & www.GuzziTech.com forum (USA). Sorry I don't have link but search should show them up. Most any question your likely to come up with's probably been answered there sometime. Recently on WildGuzzi Pete Roper has been doing a series of posts on stripping the motor ...

 

Also there's a book called Guzziology by Dave Richardson (USA) that's a mine of information. The Haynes manual is good for basic rebuild info tho as I recall there's a couple of specs wrong.

 

Bike's been in storage for 13 years - Dry or Damp? -big difference. You need to change Engine, gbox, drivebox oils, eng oil filter & brake fluid. Watch drain plugs, level plugs don't strip threads (a little WD40 might be good). Brake pistons could be seized. Front engine mounting bolt also habitually seizes in the case on these (bottom of timing cover). Depends how it was when it went away....Drop float bowls & clean. You'll need battery: Hawker Odyssey are good but expensive. Tyres? Stick with 100/90 front, 110/90 rear - don't be tempted to fit bigger sizes: wrecks handling. I like BT45's.

 

Good luck,

 

KB

[jrt]

Topica hosts a couple of Guzzi lists-

 

http://lists.topica.com/lists/mgcl/

 

Also, the Guzzitech list mentioned earlier should be very appropriate and helpful.

 

 

First things to check: apart from std. stuff like carbs, also drop the timing chest and throw out the old timing chain tensioner. Put a new one in there as the old versions tend to lose rubber into the oil system.

Clean out the crankcase pan, clean out the wire filter and replace the oil filter (by '79, I think they had an oil filter but I'm not positive). Heck, replace all the oils. I think they were using nikosil cylinder liners by '79 also, so you should be good there. Check under the rocker covers for rust. Grease up the electrical connections....and see if it goes. How much you work on it and replace is kind of a function of how much money you want to spend and how pristine you want it to be. The T3 is a great bike- I hope you enjoy it!

J