Pressureangle

Yeah, the oil thread. lol. Ok. I have never seen anyone point to a Guzzi gear failure and say "I always used X brand oil in it". I have no idea what sort of testing regime Guzzi uses, or ever used in the past. So really I (we) are left to their recommendations and our own research and the anecdotal experience of others. My own research went so far down the rabbit hole that I spent a couple days researching industrial lubricants, separate from 'automotive' lubricants. Industrial gears come in every conceivable design and purpose, and are lubricated by everything from pressure to sprayed to bathed. Typically, industrial gears are loaded to their design intent far more often than automotive gears, so the demand on lubricants is higher. The short end of the long story is that I've chosen Chevron Delo ESI 75-140 for all my non-friction gears, whether straight or hypoid. In the 'Sport's straight-cut gearbox, there was a surprising reduction in noise over RedLine heavy shockproof, and a notable but unmeasured reduction in bevel drive temperature. The one consideration that I have not yet seen is the warning against water contamination and subsequent acidic corrosion. My vents are well-attended and I'll simply change the lube every season or two, this lube is not available in any local stores here but is not on the high end of expensive boutique oils to order. Does it matter? I don't know, I went 10,000 miles on RedLine heavy and came home with only about 100cc in the box after blowing it all out the vent with no damage to the gears, so not it my case. Would it matter with a loaded sidecar running the freeway at the speed limit? Who can say? Guzzi, BMW, Honda, Kawi- they all have different recommended lubes, and none of them are famous for drive gear failures. I think it's generally overthunk.

Sooo.... Looks like I'll be spending time periodically in El Paso. I imagine the mountains of New Mexico are within day-tripping distance. Who's got commentary?

I have to say I'm generally low-rpm. I adjust RPM and throttle in a matrix of load and speed- if I'm drifting through 35mph traffic, I'm around 2500-3000rpm but at a very light throttle. As MPH goes up, RPM goes up. I loaf but I don't lug. On the other end, I don't think I've ever seen 8k on this engine, I have a psychological limit at 7k. I don't think that last thousand gives me anything extra anyway but stress.

It *is* barbaric. But what's that quote, 'When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.' - Sherlock Holmes

Funny thing with valve adjustments; there's a fine line between 'ok' and 'too tight' but a long spread of what's 'ok' on the loose side. Some race car stuff runs anywhere between .008" and .028", with guys fine tuning their throttle response and 60-foot times (drag strip stuff) with the small differences in valve timing. So the difference in felt drivability between *2-4 and *4-6 is astonishing, but the difference between *4-6 and *6-8 is probably barely noticeable. I keep mine at ~4-6. Ish.

That's going to depend on the entire process. Given that we'll run these on idle machinery, the internal cost is pretty cheap. Can't give any numbers until the first piece comes off the mill.

Just as an update, we're evaluating the costs of restocking these plates; We had them cut at a local laser shop last time, which requires a minimum order (if the material comes in 4x8 sheets like many, that's ~36 pieces) vs. buying cut squares and machining them on our own equipment (much less up-front costs) as we can set up and run one or a hundred as required with only the raw material as overhead. It took 3 years to find homes for 50 pieces, I don't expect demand to increase so unless cost or quantity discount go down, we'll probably take route 2. That comes with a different set of problems, primarily edge finish as Stainless doesn't cut as cleanly as normal steel. Truly, sharp edges don't much matter once installed, but there can be no burrs or bits to interfere with sealing or become loose debris.

Not yet.

What Paul Thede said in 1985 is not relevant, and I only know one guy who ran his stuff that loose on the racetrack; he was very fast, but we swapped bikes once and I could not ride it *at all*. Back then frames were spaghetti and tight suspension flexed frames causing head shakes, wobbles, etc. I set my sag front and rear at about 1/2-3/4" depending on where I am. For general riding I go a little loose, for curvy riding a little tight. Damping adjustments depend on speed and road surface. Simply put, wallowing is due to not enough spring and trying to tighten it up with damping only makes it harsher and worse due to the inputs. Tighten up your sag to 1/2" without sitting on the bike, and set the damping somewhere in the middle and try that.

My Bitubo was mostly empty with weepy seals. As a matter of exploration, I disassembled and cleaned it, with attention to the seals. Refilled with fork oil and it's been perfect for a few years since.

You guys use spray deoxit? I have little tubes, setting a single drop directly on the contacts. I don't think I ever get enough on anything to get to the rubber- and just as a matter of habit (won by hard experience) I let everything dry for a couple minutes before I reassemble pretty much anything anywhere. Still, important information.

The studded side is the exhaust, the intake side the spigot. Edit; rhetorical questions before coffee. Not fair.

There are a thousand petcocks that screw onto the tank just fine, but none have the 12mm outlet for the large hose to the fuel pump, and very few have a certainty of delivering enough fuel. Not only must it feed the engine as with carbs, but it must keep the pump well fed including what bypasses the regulator back into the tank. Pingel is the only maker I'm familiar with to rest assured the flow is adequate.

The o-rings came today, so I reassembled. I used a little Ospho to get rid of the worst of the white deposits- they're pretty tough. The o-ring grooves in the pintle are 2mm x 11mm, and the opening in the body 14+mm. The o-rings are 2mm x 10mm ID. 11mm + 4mm = 15mm, so 1mm-ish of compression on the installed rings. The only o-rings I could source quickly are 90 durometer; I used a silicone grease to install them, which is fairly sticky. Assembly was straightforward between squeezing in the vise and rotating the pintle gently. Between the hard rings (70 durometer is catalogued but not available quickly) and the sticky grease, the pintle doesn't slide extremely easily; a drop of light oil in the top of the pintle did loosen it a little bit. It will probably loosen a little with fuel exposure, and seems like a tight but manageable turn by hand for someone with thumbs that work. To do over I'd probably use a silicone spray and the softer o-rings. I can say with certainty it's tight enough not to leak. Since I don't have the means here to manage the slot/screw internal stop, I simply used a small punch to ding the top of the thumbwheel a little, which gives a plenty firm stop when it gets to the first thread, as did the compressed stock ring. I'll update further when it's in the fuel.

I need some idea how many people would fit a Pingel (or alternative) petcock to their bike if an adapter was available. Just say yes below.

I contacted Pingel once about making something with a 16mm thread, but they weren't interested. On my list of things-that-could-happen is an adapter from 16mm to 22mm or 16mm to 3/8npt so a Pingel fuel valve could be fitted.

Lucky Phil was right, my solution was temporary. So we dive deep. The trick is getting the thumbwheel off, I used a jeweler's file to skim the crimped edge as I ran it up and down the threads (after taking the E-clip off so it moved easily) until it came off without damaging the threads. Then simply set aside your fear and whack the pintle out with a punch (carefully, I was too lazy to walk 20 steps for my brass drift) You can see it's a disaster inside. This one wasn't leaking, neither closed nor open but obviously the top o-ring exposed to the fuel is destroyed. There's some sort of grease between the two, and I'll do some homework (including re-reading Phil's thread) on what grease to use upon reassembly. Tomorrow come the 2x10x14 viton o-rings and the reassembly.

I was going to put this in the 'what did you do today' forum but it's better here I think. So I started the painful process of de-watering my fuel system. Again. My fuel cap has had a bad gasket for some time, and although I cleaned them I thought recently, my vent/drain are plugged. Again. I rolled the dice on ordering an Oberon fuel filler, Aprilia Fuel Cap FUE-7040 is a perfect fit. The first at-hand was to fix the vents, and since they're coiled up like snakes inside the tank there's no wire to run through them. I used a small syringe to get some Ospho into them for a couple minutes, then blew it through with air. Rinse and repeat 3 or 4 times. Same with under the fuel cap, which I'd tried to seal up with tank sealer; it didn't adhere well and peeled out easily. So to the steel wool. After the vents and fuel entry were clean and dry, I shot some Cosmoline into the vents and blew that through a few times as well, and spread it around the bare metal on the top. The Oberon cap was a simple 3 screw replacement save shaving a tiny bit off the vent protrusion with a jeweler's file. The Oberon cap fits close in the tank opening, with no space for the rubber gasket used by the stock setup- but the stock setup was crap so I don't think it will be a problem. Between this and the fuel valve both again, I'll make both the fuel filler/tank top and the fuel valve at least yearly maintenance items. I'll add a photo or two of the fuel valve to an existing thread.

My only concern is how hot and melty the material becomes after a long pavement slide, although trading serious burns for serious abrasions is a fair trade. Dyneema is so strong it's hard to fathom- a 1/8" Dyneema rope has the tensile strength of a 1/2" steel wire rope, if memory serves. The literature says 'UV resistant' but (20 years ago) UHMWP ropes needed UV protective sleeves to make them durable enough in the sun to be economical for ships. Perhaps they've sorted chemical UV blocking in the material. Keep posting, being in S. Florida I'm always interested in safe comfort in the heat.

No, this is actually an exhaust vent for air control systems- they call it a muffler, as it quiets the exhaust and prevents pests from going into the system.

Just saw this as a 'whatizzit' on FB groups. I directed him here, of course.

Here's the thread on what I had to do with the Sport to get it dry. I originally simply vented the cap to a hose, but it was so bad that it still pushed juice out a 1/8" hose over 3 feet long. The trick was shielding the base of the vent from thrown oil, which took a while to suss out. Since this mod, I've had zero trace of oil in the vent hose, I even ran it for a day without the hose and it stayed dead dry.

For what it's worth, when I have to glue something important that's rubber- particularly to metal- I use 3M weatherstrip & emblem adhesive. I can't say I've had failures with Shoe Goo or Gorilla Glue, but I feel better using a product with these specific materials in mind.

Yeah so left the bike out in the rain yesterday, and made it about 3 miles today before the sputs started. Order new cap, clean fuel system. "A bought lesson's better'n a giv'd one any day"- Uncle Ford

I stopped at a scenic overlook on the Cherohola Parkway (I think the 2019 spine raid?) and there was a guy with a Motus. I talked with him for a few minutes- he said basically the bike was everything you would expect and 99% of what you'd hope for. He disappeared pretty quickly too, I had no idea it wasn't a production bike at the time.