FreyZI

Now I need a CF belly pan!

Since I seem to be going down the road of accessorizing with CF, I'd probably get in on an order from MDI. The matte will probably age better than the gloss, as nicks and scratches won't contrast so much.

BTW, every other CF part on my Tenni is also 1x1 weave except for the hugger. 1x1 looks like a checker board. 2x2 looks like diagonal blocky lines. 1x1 is also called plain weave, and 2x2 is sometimes called twill weave.

Just realized looking at pics online that Tenni doesn't appear to have any CF from factory. I bought my Tenni with all the CF bits. Side cover I believe to be an MG product, judging from sticker. It appears to be 1x1 weave. But, my Mistral mufflers are very clearly -- like Docc's -- 2x2 weave.

A closer shot of the prototype side cover showing somewhat the weave and hand-laid character.

Note that these pieces are prototypes, not final product. There are a few rough edges, holes are not yet holes, and I presume the CF was laid a bit quickly. Even with the final product, you will know that this is hand-laid fiber. To me, that's a plus -- and similar to the rest of the CF bits on my bike. If you're not okay with that, walk away. First up, a pic of the humps: Prototype at north. Note that this was an attempt to replicate the more satin finish of the vacuum-method pieces. I am not a fan. Next up, the side cover. Original on right. If people want these, we should figure out what to do about the depression for the gummy stickers (wanted or not). Next, a close up of the samples of the Kevlar weaves. They are leaning against the prototype side panel with regular 2x2 CF weave.

I'm baaaack. Sorry for the long, long delay and being incommunicado. Summer seemed to have other plans for me. I did manage to get down to Gettysburg and talk to the CF guy. He's made a couple prototypes for me and I'll share some pics of what I've got in a follow up post shortly (it's really hard to get a decent photograph of carbon fiber parts). When I first went down there some months ago, I left with Greg three pieces: 1) a OEM plastic seat cowl to model, 2) my aftermarket (presumably) non-vacuum mold seat cowl for comparison to 3) my OEM vacuum-molded CF side panel. To clarify, as I understand it, there are a couple different CF processes, including: 1) where a vacuum is created that sucks quite a bit of the resin through and off the carbon fiber, leaving a thinner, lighter, less glossy finished product; and 2) a standard process whereby much of the resin remains on the finished surface, rendering a somewhat glossier finish and more robust piece. My Tenni, between the seat cowl, side panels, front fender, hugger, gauges thingy, and starter cover, has at least three different finishes. My initial hope was to match the seat cowl (tail hump -- what are we calling this thing now) to all of the other CF pieces (excepting the hugger). Unfortunately, that is not possible with the manufacturer. Frankly, it may not be desirable for the tail hump anyway, from a durability standpoint. Anyway, although I had only taken the side panel so Greg could see the finish I had originally hoped for, a little (potentially fortuitous) miscommunication resulted in him making a prototype of the side panel, too. I like the prototypes well enough to commission a better mold and a batch of tail humps. I'm not opposed to doing the same for the side panels. Cost is not going to be prohibitive, but it may change a bit with inflation, so I'm not going to quote any prices. I'm pretty sure I can make my initial outlay. Since I hadn't spoken to any of y'all about the desirability of side covers, I told Greg to go ahead with the seat cowl and that I'd get back to him on the side panels. So, let me know if you are gung ho on the side panels and I'll have those reusable molds made up, too, if there's enough interest. As for the options, I got a sample of the red and the blue kevlar weaves. I like them both. They are very understated and would only really pop in bright sunlight. Kevlar weaves will be about 50% more $$$ than standard 2x2 carbon weave. Photos coming shortly. Thanks for your patience and understanding that both the manufacturer and I have other things to do as well. For his part, Greg recently had a joint replacement and is still getting around a bit slowly. He and his family business have more than enough dragster bodies work and he only took this on because he thought it was a cool project. We are at least several months away from having finished products. He and his daughter are very nice folks and I know they will do their best to get us high quality stuff. Cheers, Frey

Okay. Tried a few things this morning. First, no fuel cap, with the old spark plugs gapped to 0.6mm (spec per owner's manual, but wider than the 0.5mm I previously had them at), I still had bucking. Then, I looked up the factory spec on NGK BP6ES plugs (0.8mm gap), and set them accordingly. Engine wouldn't start at all. Then, I reset the gap to the 0.5mm I previously used (still with no fuel cap). Started right up and warmed it up a bit. Once choke was released, I started getting popping and chuffing. So, maybe I have a fuel mixture issue. Maybe an air leak? Other notables based on comments elsewhere: High test wires and spark plug boots are new Carburetors were stripped, cleaned, and rebuilt Fuel petcocks and filters were replaced (and I did away with the electrovalve in favor of simplicity)

Thanks, Pete. I'll give it a try. Not sure if there's a best practice to make a vent hole in the cap. It's the old plastic fuel flap with the spring-loaded stopper. The stopper doesn't appear to have ever had a hole in it, excepting the little square one that accepts the post from the flap. If I'm to drill a vent(s) hole in it, what size would be appropriate?

Hoping for some advice on next steps for a '79 G5 that's bucking. Background: This was a project bike and got a full (not museum, but solid) restoration. I did most of the work, but couldn't get it running and so took it to an experienced classic Guzzi mechanic. He got it running (with an entirely new Bender wiring harness and other sensibly replaced electrical bits, etc.). However, his brief rides up and down the neighborhood didn't reveal a problem that has been with the bike ever since. Started out running well, but after 15 minutes or a half hour, it would begin to feel bottled up and decel for a second, followed by a surge, repeated ad naseam, resulting in a bucking sensation. If I parked it and rode the next day, it would start fine and ride fine for a while, but the bucking would eventually return after a bit of riding. I thought this was limited to when the engine was quite warm. At least, until today. A little research and chat with another Guzzi mechanic revealed that this decel/surge issue can be a symptom of ignition coils faltering when hot. I installed new ignition coils and took a spin yesterday -- same issue exactly. Warmed up in the driveway, did ~7 miles and (on interstate doing ~65mph indicated), the familiar bucking returned (though not so bad). After a few more miles, I filled up the tank and continued, doing ~4 miles before going up what passes for a mountain in these parts (somewhat less that 1K') and then another 25 miles or so of country riding, 30-60 mph, with no problem whatsoever. After stopping at a friend's place for an hour, I rode 5 miles or so, with a good bit of bucking in the last mile, to a farmers' market. Bike got a 10-minute rest, then bucked the last 5 miles home. So, the new ignition coils didn't resolve the problem. Today, I replaced the NGK spark plugs with some E3 plugs. That was terrible (worse engine firing and more bucking than before). I removed the plugs and the points were black and wet. I looked at the old plugs -- they were gapped at about 0.5mm. I widened the gap to 0.6mm, per the owner's manual and took it for a ride. Still crap -- probably a bit better than the E3s, but -- until today -- I hadn't experienced the bucking when the engine wasn't particularly warm. Today, both with the new plugs and the re-gapped and cleaned up old plugs, the bucking was present right out of the driveway. Since those rides around the block, I've confirmed that the condensers were replaced in the restoration. I also checked the gaps of the points and they are right at spec of 0.4mm. This certainly seems like an electrical ignition system failure, but I don't have any sense of what may be going on. Nothing has changed since restoration. Bike has been inside. No corrosion. Haven't removed any ground wires. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Cheers, Frey

All: Sorry for the delay and for being incommunicado. April and May are always busy months for me, then my kids wrap up school, so lots of other priorities. Now on vacation (hang gliding school with kids) and next week off to Colorado for wedding (I decided instead of renting a car, I'd get a bike, so I have a used sport touring waiting for me to pick up there). Not much free time for Guzzi stuff between all this. Meanwhile, the fabricator had his big show in Vegas, lost his mold maker, and had a TKR. Between him and me, we haven't had a confluence of time to connect at great length. Last I spoke with him, he was planning to work on it last week and see if he could get quality edges with a different technique. I told him I don't need at mold that can be released a thousand times, so let's see what happens. As far as commitments go, there are none. I didn't want to take anyone's money for exactly this reason: the stars not quite aligning and people being pissed at me. It hasn't been a priority for me lately, or the fabricator. It'll be after July 4 by the time I get around to dealing with it, and then I'm at the mercy of the fabricator. I'll update when I know more, hopefully with pics of a sample. But no guarantees this will be soon.

Thanks! Definitely adding these ideas to the itinerary.

Taking the kids to Lookout Mountain area (Rising Fawn, GA, actually) for five days of hang gliding school. Never been to that neck of the woods, but I know there a few of you not too far away and at least familiar with Tellico Plains. Putting out feelers for ideas for things to do in the Chattanooga area (with teenage children). Our lessons each day should end by early afternoon, so we'll have time for some afternoon and evening outings. Please let me know if you have ideas. Cheers, Frey

All: Sorry to be incommunicado. Been busy and haven't tended to this -- I have meant to reach out to fabricator, but always seems to be somewhat after COB every time I get around to looking at my to do list. Last update was that he won't do vacuum finish, so no matte/satin. I am hoping to finish up my hell week and then have some time for fun next week. I'll plan to ride down to Gettysburg then and see if I can get some pics of samples for color options, etc. He never did give me a final price. Hopefully it doesn't look dramatically different from his estimate a couple months ago. Sorry for the delay.

I've heard of explosive diarrhea, but that's something else altogether.