Installing a Roper Slopper

[badmotogoozer]

I had to go back a ways in Tech topics to find this so I've reposted Greg's instructions here for the seekers.

 

Rj

 

I put mine on at 0400 hrs Sunday morning, before my Sunday ride. For anyone who's interested, here's some words and pix on what's involved:

 

Preliminaries

 

1) Drain the oil. I did it the night before so more of the oil would drip off the parts I would be playing with. If you will be changing oil and filter, remove the filter, too. I had just changed oil two weeks prior, so I'm reusing the oil and filter.

 

2) Inspect the sloppage plate, and if necessary, debur it.

 

 

Here's the plate. It's a very nice piece that's even inscribed with the name of Pete's company, so that when some archeologist unearths your V11 ten thousand years from now, they'll read the inscription and surmise that the Aussies ruled all the world in the year 2006.

 

 

There were no real burrs on the one Pete sent me, but whatever cutting process used left a minor raised ring around the circumferences of some of the holes. The only holes on which this could possible matter are the ones for the oil journals. I used a flat file to gnaw them down. This shows it about halfway through the gnawing. Clean the plate thoroughly afterward.

 

3) Using a 19mm wrench, loosen and remove the three oil lines that enter the sump.

 

 

4) Remove the screw that fastens the sidestand support to the upper sump, as shown in the fuzzy photo above. Loosen also the big bolt that holds the sidestand mount to the crankcase. I have a crashbar, so I had to loosen the big silver neut shown, which fastens on the crashbar.

 

5) Remove the lower sump by removing the screws that fasten it. If you lack an air ratchet, or (like me) can't stand the racket made by air tools early in the morning, let me introduce you to my little friend, the perfect tool for this job: Mr. Torq-It. He's great for taking out and replacing all those sump screws.

 

 

6) Loosen the upper sump by removing the screws around its inner perimeter. Some of them are shown below, as is another of my little little friends: Mr. Hoseclamp. This one is best friends with Billy Bob's oil filter, but there's another Mr. Hoseclamp out there who wants to be your oil filter's friend, too.

 

 

7) Loosen the four screws that hold fasten all the plumbing for the oil system (two are shown above). Support the oil filter and the rest of the guts as you are removing the last screw, so it doesn't tear free of its threads under weight of the upper sump.

 

 

8) Set the upper sump carefully on a bench, supporting it if necessary to keep it from tiliting and spilling the oil out of you filter, as shown above.

 

 

9) If the old gasket is torn, replace it, and then top it with the sloppage plate and add another gasket on top, as shown above. Those lobes of the gasket that extend toward the center are the most important part of the gasket and need to be in perfect shape because they seal the pressurized oil journals. Make sure they are in top shape. A leak from one of the journals will be internal, so you won't see it. A small leak won't be catastrophic, but a big leak will be. I do not use gasket goo for these gaskets. If you insist on using gasket goo around these journals, use it very sparingly (so you do not plug a journal) or use an anaerobic sealer so it will not harden in the journal if it gets in there. As the photo shows, the sloppage tray is a good fit and fills well all the space toward the back of the sump (right side of photo), so it should keep more oil near the pickup during drag-race starts.

 

 

10) Time to install the upper sump and sloppage plate. It is vital that the gaskets that surround the oil journals stay in place during installation. One good way to ensure this is to slide one bolt into place at both front and rear journal blocks before lifting the assembly into place, as shown above. Lift it into place and start threading the two screws until they can support the assembly. Then, insert the other two screws and thread them in partway. It is best not to fasten them until you have started threading in all the perimeter screws. Go ahead and thread in these perimeter screws loosely, then tighten the oil-journal screws, and lastly tighten the perimeter screws.

 

11) If the lower sump gasket is torn, replace it, and then lift the lower sump into place and tighten its perimeter screws.

 

 

12) Hook up the three ol lines and tighten them. The two at the front are often routed so tightly that they rub together and onto the alternator cover. As you can see above, mine were abrading each other and the alternator cover. Take this opportunity to separate them before you tighten the fittings, so they do not wer through.

 

 

12) By adding the sloppage plate, you've lowered the upper sump by about 2.5mm, between the thickness of the plate and extra gasket. Because of this, you may need to relieve the lower perimeter of the hole in the sidestand mount. In my case, I had to remove about 0.5mm and did it with a Dremel and burr, as shown in the fuzzy photo above. Tighten both the screw into the sump and the bolt above it that fastens the sidestand mount to the engine block.

 

 

13) The thin, silver "Roper Line" betwixt engine block and upper sump is the only external cue that that plate's in there. Check your work once-over, add engine oil, and go for a ride.

 

I added oil to halfway between full and add, as checked by the Guzzi method, meaning with the bike level and dipstick screwed all the way in (this is about where iit had been when I experienced oil starvation under acceleration before) and then rode it yesterday on a long ride two-up.Tonight I'll try some full-on launches while watching the oil-pressure gauge to see if the sloppage tray does its job.

 

Whatever the result, afterwards, I'm gonna add oil to the full mark as checked by the safer method of just inserting the dipstick to the top of the threads.

 

Thanks again, Pete!

[dlaing]

More Install Photos here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/98476523@N00/...9179611/detail/

Courtesy MG Dan Diego Coronado

[kanoa]

i finally installed my sloppage sheet yesterday, then did some drag racing up and down a freshly paved but deserted riverfront road here in brooklyn. i'm glad to report that the oil-light no longer comes on under bat-out-of-hell acceleration. thanks again pete, and thanks greg for the gaskets and install-guide.

[antonio carroccio]

Ryan, pardon my stupidity, but what do you need this for?

[mike wilson]

To prevent oil in the sump slopping backwards under acceleration, exposing the oil pump pickup to air. The engine then loses oil pressure until the pickup is covered again. This damages the parts of the engine requiring high pressure lubrication and causes the nasty mechanical noises, shortly followed by the wailing and gnashing of teeth noises.

[badmotogoozer]

Several people have been asking me what gaskets to order for installing the sloppage sheets so....

 

You'll need to order.

 

01003600 x1 The sump gasket.

01003650 x2 Block to spacer gaskets, one for each side of the sheet.

90706140 x2 O-rings for the thermostat housing.

 

You may also want to order, but probably not strictly *necessary*

 

90706948 x1 O-ring for the filter access plate.

30153000 x1 Oil filter.

 

Pete

 

Added parts required and numbers according to Pete.

 

Rj

[BrianG]

OK.. I've just installed my Roper Plate and didn't come across these o-rings as listed in the parts-required list...

 

90706140 x2 O-rings for the thermostat housing.

 

Where are these?

 

and did I miss something or is the "guts" that is held on with the 4 longer bolts the "thermostat housing?

 

I did, however discover that there are 4 o-rings in the 2 oil filter-line "joiners" that might need attention.

 

Lock-tite??? On the internal sump-spacer bolts and the 4 "thermostat housing" bolts?

[Guest gyles]

To prevent oil in the sump slopping backwards under acceleration, exposing the oil pump pickup to air. The engine then loses oil pressure until the pickup is covered again. This damages the parts of the engine requiring high pressure lubrication and causes the nasty mechanical noises, shortly followed by the wailing and gnashing of teeth noises.

 

Mike, is this a problem specific to the v11 or other guzzis as well? I race a 98 Daytona RS and don't think i've seen any idiot lights flashing from race starts... that said, you aren't really looking for idiot lights and trying to aviod/get past other riders... i'm now wondering if my oil light is coming on and i'm just not seeing it.

 

Cheers,

 

Gyles

[pete roper]

From memory the O-rings you are talking about are on the spigots that the whole Thermostat housing, oil filter business go into the spacer on. I think you've already mentioned them? I don't think there are any other O-rings involved in the operation.

 

Pete

[mike wilson]

Mike, is this a problem specific to the v11 or other guzzis as well? I race a 98 Daytona RS and don't think i've seen any idiot lights flashing from race starts... that said, you aren't really looking for idiot lights and trying to aviod/get past other riders... i'm now wondering if my oil light is coming on and i'm just not seeing it.

 

Cheers,

 

Gyles

 

I think you would have noticed this by now. Unless you change big end shells as readily as you change tyres? I can't remember which models it is specific to but I don't think the Daytona is one of them.

[pete roper]

I think you would have noticed this by now. Unless you change big end shells as readily as you change tyres? I can't remember which models it is specific to but I don't think the Daytona is one of them.

 

Any of the 'Broad Sump' motors are prone to it but for some reason it isn't so evident on the five speed spineframes. Why? Even though some like the RS are more powerful and their gearing is much the same? I have a therory, which is that the longer wheelbase and taller gearing means that while accelerative forces may be the same the likelyhood of the sump tilting back is less with the older bikes and therefore pick-up exposure is less likely.

 

Regardless of my thoughts on the matter one way or another the problem does exist, seemingly more so on some bikes than others, once again for no really discernable reason. So much so that Guzzi obliquely aknowledged it in their launch of the *new* motors where one of the sales pitches was that the sump was completely re-designed to prevent oil starvation problems. this isn't to say that they would ever aknowledge that the earlier bikes *did* suffer oil starvation problems!

 

Look, whether people believe it or not there is a cure if you want one. One that is specifically designed to deal with the problem and I think that by now it has been fairly comprehensively proved that on bikes that are prone to the 'Flickering Oil Light of Death' the problem is cured by my plate. I don't know how much more torturous a test you could carry out than accellerating very hard up-hill on a cobbled street? On a bike that had previously exhibited the problem of the oil light, had had a pressure guage fitted that confirmed that the oil pressure was dropping to virtually zero in these circumstances and then, after the plate was fitted, no longer demonstrated the symptoms of either the light flickering or the pressure dropping

 

If you think the problem is bullshit or that I'm promoting snake oil? Fine! Nobody is FORCING anyone to accept there is a problem or, most of all, purchase one of my plates. It's simply an option that is there if people want to protect their engines. Certainly my Scura will have one fitted but I'm not trying to convince people it's a 'Must Have'.

 

Having said that, cranks and stuff are VERY expensive. The plate is dirt cheap and works

 

Pete

[BrianG]

Installed the plate last night and had the same hole alignment problem mentioned by others. It seems that the circumferential hole pattern is a bit clocked with the thermostat housing pattern. As others have done, I accommodated the issue by expanding the rear holes for the thermostat housing, to 7mm. Problem solved.

 

I noted that the plastic oil dip stick very slightly fouled the edge of the hole it passes through on it's way into the sump. Just enough, in fact, to score the 4 edges to create a graduated progression of marks indicating the precise position of the Roper-plate on the dipstick. I subsequently used a round file to bevel the edges of said hole.

 

I found that 4 liters of oil is pretty much the new magic number. With new filter and emptied oil cooler lines 4 liters left me just below the plate.... which you can actually see down there, if you use a flashlight shined down the dip stick hole!

 

Nice piece Pete! Glad to have it!

[johnduff]

Hello,

 

I'm french so please excuse my english.

 

I'm really interested about this modification but I don't know were I could find a roper slopper (I don't know if it's the correct name but I mean the plate who stops oil movement).

 

So my questions are :

- Where could I find a roper slopper ?

- How much does it cost ?

 

I have a V11 Sport with a 2003 engine.

 

Thanks

 

Jonathan

[Admin Jaap]

Just add your name in this topic - http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=14323 - and contact Pete Roper (or he will contact you.)

[fotoguzzi]

thanks for the instructions! got mine done today home on sick leave.