Cyborg

Ok, if you don't want to go to orthodontia, or many people pushing.. I lined Rosie's tank with Caswell's epoxy tank liner. That's worked fine so far.http://wildguzzi.com/forum/index.php?topic=62087.0;wap2 Thanks, and I may get to that point, although I've never been a fan of tank lining. I don't have any first hand experience to justify the lack of enthusiasm. Just wonder about cleaning, etching, slippery expanding plastic and probably a few other things. West System G-flex is something I might try. Although they don't recommend it for fuel tanks ( and neither do I) they didn't say don't use it, so I'm sure it would be fine, it's just that they haven't done any testing and don't want to assume any liability. I've used it in other applications (like fixing leaks in Hypalon tubes on a RIB), but would have to test it first with gas and alcohol. Great stuff and probably good for cracked side panels etc. I stand to be corrected on this, but I believe there was a class action against Ducati over expanding tanks (I think Ducati's situation was worse with tanks slipping off front mounts), but it was tossed because it wasn't deemed a safety issue. It certainly could be considered a safety issue with MG. With all those old farts pushing on that tank, someone's scrotum could fill with intestines!

Further to leaving the tank empty.... if I understand the expanding tank thing correctly, it's not the ethanol, but the water attracted by the ethanol that causes the problem. There were some car door latches here in monsoon country that swelled up and wouldn't work. By the time they were inspected by the tech fellows at head office, they had returned to their normal state and functioned fine. Drove them nuts for a while. Up here, Shell premium doesn't have any ethanol, so that is what I am going to use whenever possible. My recently acquired tank is swollen (assuming the PO used something with alcohol) , and it comes in contact with the fork tubes. This winter I am going to drain the tank and stuff a bag of desiccant inside it. I bought a sack of reusable desiccant for the air dryer, so have some to spare. I'm a bit of a non social hermit and generally only associate (very infrequently) with other hermits, so gathering that many people together at one time to reinstall a tank could be problematic.

Installed the relays and went for a spin. So far so good. No more bouncing tach, but didn't go all that far. Started getting a misfire on my way home and didn't think I was going to make it. It did have the decency to wait until I got in the driveway before it croaked completely. I had asked the PO about the fuel warning light and was told it worked, but was't all that bright. For fear of being saddled with the same label, I figured that checking for fuel might be a good first step. Looks mighty dry in there. Will head to the gas station with the truck and get some of the Shell premium (without the alcohol). Hopefully that's all it needs. This thing seems awfully thirsty and I really wasn't beating on it that hard. Just wanted to mention that I did a search on here because I wanted to know which relay was which. Came across a post by Kiwi Roy that answered everything. We are lucky to have him here.... Thanks Roy.

Thanks for the photos gents! Off to the garage..... I'll check back in a month or two.. (I suffer from A.D.D.)

Is there some sort of connection between the Devil's Brigade and Moto Guzzi? In other words, they might have been opposed twins instead of V twins?

Then there you go. Go to your local plastics shop and you may find what you need in the scrap bin and for about $50.00 and some of your time and imagination you will have a saddle bag set up that should serve you well. Maybe not fancy but functional. Why would I spend $50, when I can just steal the brides, nice big cutting board? Good tip on using the plane btw.

Whether or not the cracks will grow (and they probably will ), presumably you paid for new and should get new. Doesn't bode well for the manufacturer letting them out the door. The true measure of a company is not whether or not they make a mistake, it's what they do to fix it. Including preventing it from happening again. I wouldn't accept them...... and I feel your pain.

"I am sure there must be places that make panniers for your Moto Guzzi to keep them off of the side of the bike and hold them in place. If not you can always make your own. I fell on my head and made my own for my KLR out of HDPE" I like the HDPE idea and have sufficient equipment in the garage to turn a couple out.

The Nelson Riggs CL 950 saddle bags arrived as well. Same quality, but.... there is no way to use them when carrying a passenger. The cross straps are wide, and won't fit under the seat (which doesn't look like a good idea anyway, with the shape of the seat pan around the relays). They also won't fit under the tail piece. With relocation of the rear turn signals and an added bracket, it might allow room for the passenger to use the rear pegs. Even without a passenger, I would want to trim the padding (goes between the bags and the bike) around the turn signals to allow the bags to move rearward. I'll probably want to trim the padding a bit at the front, so it's not interfering with my posterior.

Received the Nelson Rigg CL2020 tank bag. Really nice quality for the price. Fits well, feels stable, and would recommend it (keep in mind it's my first tank bag). Will probably go a little cross eyed trying to read the GPS.

Decided to give it a go yesterday. The ground wire on mine was between the tach case and one of the studs that is used to mount the tack. It didn't appear festered at all and seemed snug. Call me a pussy, but I didn't really want to unscrew the stud and clean the contact area. I read somewhere that the threads that it screws into can be problematic. I made up a copper ground strap and attached it to the opposite tach stud and then ran a wire to one of the allen bolts on the engine. Took it for a test drive and thought it was fixed, but on the return trip it started bouncing again. I'm reasonably sure the ground is sufficient, so next step was ordering some relays from DPGuzzi.com . Talk about fast service. Not that keen on where they are made, but he says they are the best that he has found. If that doesn't work, I'll remove the studs, clean the contact areas and run both the original and added ground. If that doesn't work, I assume I'll have to remove the bezel and have a look at the internal ground.

Staring at the schematic. Starting to ( I think ) understand the relationship between those relays and the + to the tach. Is MG in the sack with the relay people? I can tell the schematic wasn't developed by one of those fellows from Hamamatsu. Jeez!

Thanks for that. Will add the ground wire. The relays are currently Siemens for the 4 pin and a Bosch for the 5 pin. Have both brands been problematic? Are you able to expand on the relationship between the tach bouncing and the H/L relay and start relay? Why do I feel like I need to blow up a copy of the wiring schematic and post it under bright lights on my shop wall and change my mantra to ohm's law? At some point this winter I would like to pick your brain regarding the switching over to LED's for the idiot lights..... if I may. Thanks again.

Went for a ride yesterday and returned with the dreaded bouncing tach. When cruising on the highway it intermittently bounces up and down between 1 and about 4K. Everything else seems fine at this point, other than the high beam indicator bulb which didn't work when I bought the bike. I assume it's a poor ground on the tach. When I did a search on the forum, there were a few threads about this problem. Has anyone out there gone through this recently? I'm unclear on whether or not I have to disassemble the tach (remove the bezel) to repair the ground to the stud on the housing. How is the tach grounded internally ? Trying to determine if running a second ground to the other stud will help. I haven't done any checks or disassembly yet. Figure I'll keep it for a winter project..... unless it starts to drive me off the deep end.

I'm in the same boat... cheap bastard and probably only use them for grocery/beer runs on a small island that I frequent. The Nelson Rigg tank bag and saddle bags will likely arrive tomorrow.

Or you could try this fellow.... http://www.tannermatic.com/

OK.... so according to the guy who knows... If you get above 200 c or 392 f, you could begin to drive off the silicone oil in the DC4, thus causing the silica filler to be left behind and silicon dioxide. Thought it would have been a higher temp than that. Vaseline melts at about 37 c or 99 f, so I'm "sticking" with the silicone grease.

My knowledge of chemistry is pretty much limited to the process of turning beer into urine, so my grasp of silicone forming silicon dioxide is limited. Part of my career was spent chasing electrical gremlins and never encountered problems from the use of that type of (silicone) grease. You could separate connectors that were 20 or more years old and not come across any problems. Never seen it used inside a relay and any switch that I saw exposed to it has been low voltage. I guess it boils down to whatever you are comfortable with. The fact that it's approved for helping to keep us at 40,000 ft is reassuring. I will petition the chemistry gods and see if I can come up with a definitive answer.

As far as I know, DC4 is silicone based and won't form silicon dioxide. (Feel free to correct me on that one) Silicone and silicon are two distinctly different things. I would use DC4 because of the higher melting point. As mentioned, it's used in aviation as well as the auto and marine industries. Silicone is indeed a problem when repainting, but it is so prevalent everywhere that you have to account for it anyway. Personally I wouldn't worry about using it on that account. Most pre painting cleaners that I have seen list removal of silicone as one of the features.