docc Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Birchwood-Casey makes a liquid Aluminum Black Metal Touch-up that might come in handy for places like the Brembo logo on the calipers. Also, Formula 44 Instant Gun Blue is a quick and easy way to do up small parts in black like bolt heads or other steel parts. Just trying to get you further down the dark road, man! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scud Posted January 28, 2015 Author Share Posted January 28, 2015 Thanks. I am currently sitting in a county courthouse waiting room, hoping not to be selected for jury duty today. Idle hands being the devil's workshop... I just ordered a little bottle of that Gun Blue. I'll give it a try and maybe black out all the oil filler caps and final drive bolt heads (where I thought paint would not hold up). If, hypothetically, in the not too distant future, someone's paint bubbled off and they also needed to replace their flywheel, could Gun Blue be used to do the complete engine, transmission, and driveshaft output cases? I read that manufacturers use it to protect molds - so it seems pretty tough. How cool would a gun-metal-black lump of Guzzi motor look? Seems it would be easier maintenance than paint too - just rub some more on whenever it gets scratched or pitted. Have this been done before? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
czakky Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 I like it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chamberlin Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 I don't think gun bluing works on Aluminium??? I thought it was an instant oxidation process for ferrous steels. Since Al already has its own oxidation layer, I wouldn't think it would work. But I guess it would be easy to try it out! Personally, I would think a stripping and re-paint (with a better paint) would be the best way to go. Shouldn't be too hard to strip! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docc Posted January 28, 2015 Share Posted January 28, 2015 Two different products; Aluminum Black for the aluminium and the 44/40 for steel. Noticing the raised lettering on the aluminum caliper, I thought it would be straight forward to darken it with the Burchwood-Casey product. For steel, the 44/40 is great for touch-up so would likely do a decent job of dealing with chips and scratches, perhaps bolt heads. It works best on low alloy steels, but beads up and runs off of high chromium (stainless) alloys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scud Posted January 29, 2015 Author Share Posted January 29, 2015 Thanks guys for the paint and metallurgy briefing. Looks like science trumps wishful thinking yet again. If Einstein really said "Imagination is more important than knowledge", he must not have had a Moto Guzzi. I ordered the other paint too. What adhesive are you using for the rubber stand stop? Side-stand bumper - I used Seal All, which is an oil-resistant contact cement. I also used that for the heat shield under the tank, which has held. The bumber has held for about 18 hours so far; let the long-term test begin. BTW - the bumper's retaining nut touches the pipe, which doesn't seem like a good idea. I didn't notice that before, but I'm going to take that off and elongate the hole in the bracket to lower the bumper. FAIL (and not just on the seal joke) -- The Seal All didn't hold, which stopped me from going for an evening ride. My "new glue" is Griplock - the stuff that sticks your grips to the bars so hard that you have to cut them off later. We'll see if that stuff holds. @Docc: I was kind of surprised that you asked about the adhesive for that. Is sidestand bumper separation a common problem? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docc Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 @Docc: I was kind of surprised that you asked about the adhesive for that. Is sidestand bumper separation a common problem? There are several similar bonded pieces on the V11 primarily as shock mounts for the coils (3 each side) and the ECU (4). The coil mounts are especially failure prone. I found that cleaning the surfaces with a suitable high flash point solvent and joining the rubber and steel with a toluene based contact adhesive like Goof-Off or Shoe-Goo (same product, I believe) has been effective. I have not tried this with the sidestand bumper, but it appears to be the same construction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noel_lemansII Posted January 29, 2015 Share Posted January 29, 2015 What is it with some Scura owners? Like you, I purchased a 2002 Scura yesterday w/ only 14k miles on the clock! Weather is carp here [The UK] so can't wait until Spring/Summer. Until then, it's keeping my '81 leMans MkII company in the shed [aka mancave]. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scud Posted January 29, 2015 Author Share Posted January 29, 2015 What is it with some Scura owners? Like you, I purchased a 2002 Scura yesterday w/ only 14k miles on the clock! Weather is carp here [The UK] so can't wait until Spring/Summer. Until then, it's keeping my '81 leMans MkII company in the shed [aka mancave]. Welcome to the club of darkness - which is how another forum member greeted me, so I guess that's the "secret Scura handshake." You can update the Scura Register. My bike is still 11,000 miles behind yours - which coincidentally is about one round trip between our homes. Maybe some Scura owners tucked the bikes away for fear of the magic exploding flywheel - or they just became art - or maybe they were afraid of the dark. Low mileage, affordable, used bikes for us. You know you're going to sneak it out before spring. I am having a blast with mine (took a completely unnecessary 40-mile detour to work this morning). If you do nothing else, get the suspension dialed in correctly. You have direct access to the "suspension gods" on this site (baldini, camn, docc, guzzimoto, luhbo). Your prayers will be answered. Some of their collective wisdom is earlier in this topic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scud Posted January 30, 2015 Author Share Posted January 30, 2015 Bad Black Bolts It looks like the zinc plating bolts were not a good decision. I noticed a few little spots of rust on a couple of them after the bike got some heavy salt-air dew on it. Did a little more research and found that Zinc plating is not recommended for outdoor use, especially near the ocean. I will put the original bolts back in (after darkening by other means, of course). Bummer for me, but at least I have an actual "bucket of bolts" and can paint or powdercoat them all at once while the Zinc plated bolts hold the bike together. I just wanted to post this in case anybody else thought the zinc plated bolts were a good idea, - because it is not. I'll edit an earlier post with a warning. I hope I didn't lead anyone down the wrong dark path... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scud Posted January 31, 2015 Author Share Posted January 31, 2015 Here's the night-test of the black vinyl reflective tape. Photo taken with flash from phone. The tape is almost unnoticeable during the day (except of course for the infill on the fork bottoms, which IMO looks kind of cool). In addition to the forks, I put two strips on the lower frame and three on the swingarm, and cut out some pieces to fit the sides of the license plate light mount on the fender and wrap the raised strip that goes around the plate light. Safety first. Where are the rear brake lever and master cylinder guard? I can't see them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docc Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 Molto, molto scuro! You dress up as Darth Vader for riding gear? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scud Posted February 2, 2015 Author Share Posted February 2, 2015 For reference, here's a set of pictures of the bike with only a few hundred miles on it - and before I changed anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scud Posted February 2, 2015 Author Share Posted February 2, 2015 I'm not going to say "I'm done" because I imagine I'll tweak something else at some point. I do have a few mechanical and electrical things to do yet, including the Roper plate, when it arrives. But cosmetically, it's Scura-enough for me. So, rather than post up some more garage pics, I took my nice camera along for a ride today. Here are the GPS stats: 320 miles 8 hours (6am to 2pm) 24,806 feet elevation. That's nearly 5 vertical miles up - and down - over a few mountains, with a few peeks over the fence into Mexico. Step One: Awaken the dark beastie. Scura con Camels Breakfast stop in Julian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scud Posted February 2, 2015 Author Share Posted February 2, 2015 Photo-op at an overlook on Sunrise Highway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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