Is My Engine OK?

[Greg Field]

I want to say this as categorically as I may, because many of you may not know Gary Cheek (kg8 whatever). He knows his stuff in the way that Roper does. It's not theory or untested; he has the skills and the inquisitive mind and the equipment to do the work to draw the right conclusions for himself.

 

That said, he may not have ever hooked up a mechanical oil-pressure gauge to a V11 Sport, and romped on it hard enough to then see the gauge go to 0 psi and stay there for several seconds as the oil pumps sucks air. If he had, he would have, I believe, been visited with the response that's appropriate to such an event: "This ain't right; I will personally figure out how to fix it."

 

And he would fix it. His fix may not be a "sloppage plate," as Pete Roper believes it to be. Or it may not be just increasing and maintaining the oil level, as I believe it to be. And it may not be sealing the surface betwixt oil pickup tube and oil screen as another stalwart member of this forum (I am sorry that I cannot remember who it was) believes it to be, but Gary would propose a solution and try it for himself.

 

I say, "Salute" that we have so many so willing to hep solve the problems Moto Guzzi forces us to contend with.

[pete roper]

 

And he would fix it. His fix may not be a "sloppage plate," as Pete Roper believes it to be. Or it may not be just increasing and maintaining the oil level, as I believe it to be. And it may not be sealing the surface betwixt oil pickup tube and oil screen as another stalwart member of this forum (I am sorry that I cannot remember who it was) believes it to be, but Gary would propose a solution and try it for himself.

 

 

Greg, thanks. The thing is thare may well be several ways to skin this particular cat. The thing is that at the end of the day there is still an original *problem*. IMHO this is caused not by any fundamentally flawed engineering expertise at Guzzi, (Good God! Toddero, Tonti, Carcanno et-al don't have to even think of answering to a mob like us, they lived their lives and left us a great legacy!) Most of the problems I percieve, from gearbox bearings to fragile clutches to crap Hydraulic lifters all have the mark of the dreaded 'Bean Counter' upon them. Spoiling the ship for a H'apporth of Tar it's called and it needs to be ruthlessly stamped out, even though it's been going on since De Tommaso's time.

 

If you enjoy the simplicty and, (God I hate this term!) exclusivity of Guzzi you HAVE to accept that it is a small factory that barely qualifies as a *manufacturer* rather than a 'Builder of Specials' in global terms. That means that at least for the last twenty years you haven't got Japanese or *european*(?) style reliability. Things like the crap V11 'Broad Sump' are cases in point and there are dozens more!

 

While it obviously shouldn't be left up to people like Greg, Gary, Cliff, Phil and a dozen other barking mad one-eyed nutters to look at these problems, (I certainly can't offer any gaurantee I'll solve them!) the fact is that it has been left up to them and maybe in a small way me as well. If so I'm proud to be part of it rather than pissed off that it was bad in the first place!

 

At the end of the day there are many other options for motorbikes if you want more power/performance/whatever than a Moto Guzzi. Also it remains true that the fundamentals of the package are incredibly strong and offer a level of satisfaction, (For some of us!)that outweight the fact that we have to do a whole load of useless sh!t we didnt really need to or want to.

 

Having said that, my Griso is so tediously reliable I'm almost tempted to try and make it go wrong????? ARRRRRGH!!!!!!!

 

Pete