audiomick

Fantastic. Can I use that? It would be very often useful to "explain" the behaviour of sound equipment.

As far as I understand it, no "tuning" effects. Either it works satisfactorily, or it doesn't, i.e. under a particular value, the pulse is too weak. Above that, it is enough, but "more" doesn't make it better. The ECU sees the pulse, or it doesn't. What is that in sensible units?

That depends on the fault. Assuming it did have something to do with that switch, the bike ran again later, so it can be considered an intermittant fault. I gather the bike was rolling when it died. So if the switch was cutting in and out, the momentum could easily have "push started" the bike a couple of times before it finally died. All crystal ball stuff from here, but it seems plausible to me. Since you worked on and around the switch recently, and now the motor is cutting out, I would definitely have another look at it and make sure it went back together properly.

Firstly, and easiest to check: the switch on the side-stand, the switch on the clutch, the kill-switch. All those "safety features" that will stop the motor if they have a fault. Check them and make sure there is nothing dodgy, and take it from there. Oh, and have a look inside the ignition switch. After that, the relays, primarily those involved in the safety features. But as @gstallons already wrote, there is a whole list of things it could have been. Maybe even "only" a bit of water in the fuel tank.

That'd be good, if you could do that. I'm pretty sure it is in the workshop book somewhere, and will look there, but confirmation from another source is always helpful.

Today I took the timing sensor out. Lots of buggerising around: I replaced the breather hose that runs under the spine from the headstock to the back of the motor a while back. It seems I made a "tactical error" in the process. The cable from the timing sensor went up between that hose and the frame, and the connector was hidden under the airbox. The result was that getting the sensor out involved "unclothing" the Le Mans all the way down to unfastening the airbox. When it goes back together, that plug will be nicely accessible on the frame just above the sensor, don't you worry. The sensor didn't look too bad, but it will be swapped out. Holding the new one against the old one, and assuming they were both the same length in new condition, it seems the old one has swelled and shortened such that it is about a half a millimetre shorter than new. That would be enough to take the gap from (assuing it was correct) about 0.7mm to about 1.2mm. Going by what I have read here, amongst others from @guzzler's report on the subject, that would be enough to make it run badly. Whatever, the new sensor will go in. Cleaning up around the sensor was a pain. There were liberal amounts of some sort of silicon sealant involved, and getting that all cleaned up took a while. Since the airbox is now unfastened, the list of "things to be done now" has grown again. I wanted to just put the new sensor in, and see how that affects the way the bike runs. Since I'm so far in now, it seems sensible to go at the "tank off mainenance" thing again from scratch. I've been through that once already, but it was all a bit perfunctory. Since I've got it all apart again, it seems sensible to go at it again and take a bit more care about it. Cleaning the throttle bodies really properly, for instance, And I've got some new rubbers for between the throttle bodies and the motor. And I've got a new timing chain here, and whilst I'm in there I could repair the two broken screws of the four that hold on the alternator cover. And the tailpiece is off, to make it easier to get to the screws for the sidecover. Since that's off, I could have another look at the wiring under the seat, particularly on the underside of the relay sockets. And while I'm in there, I could consider adding the additional relay to supply direct power from the battery to the starter solenoid. The fun never ends...

@Sempervee1 thanks for that. I didn't know those existed. Might go looking for one of those, too. Getting the fuel lines of the taps on the V35 Imola is always a bit of a pain, and that looks like the tool for the job.

Related to that, sort of: I have, on advice of someone much more experienced than me, a bit of fuel line, about 18 inches or two feet, with the grey connector on it. If the tank needs to be emptied (and yes, I have tried this...) that gets plugged on to the "out" connector on the tank, and the fuel pump gets activated with Guzzidiag. Takes a minute or two, but undoubtably the most comfortable way to empty the tank. PS: I think the "out" connector is the red one (as I already wrote, long tank with the pump in the tank), i.e. the one to the outer side. Please check for yourself though. Look here for instance, page 540 https://guzzitek.org/gb/ma_us_uk/1100/V11_1999-2003_Atelier(Compil-GB-D-NL).pdf

Oh, yes please. That'd be a plane trip though, I think. Hmmm....

Thanks for the advice. Much appreciated. To the quote: no need to relieve the pressure, but my (limited) experience shows that it helps. It's really not hard. Like I wrote, disconnect the fuel pump, start the bike and let it run till it starves. Last time round, just the start attempt was enough. The motor didn't start because the start attempt "emptied" the fuel lines. That is why I thought that this time round there would be no more pressure in there to speak of. Whatever, each to his own. Fuel running out of the tank: mine (long tank with the fuel pump in the tank) doesn't lose any fuel out of the tank. It dribbles a little bit when the fuel line comes off, but no more than you can catch with a rag. After that, it doesn't lose any more.

Thanks for the answers. First up, I do know how the connectors work. I even have a couple of spares in a box in the garage, and practised with them before going at it on the bike. What hasn't been mentioned: it is very helpful to disconnect the fuel pump, start the bike, and let it run until it stops before one tries to disconnect the coupling. This relieves the pressure in the fuel lines, making the whole thing much easier. Last time I did it, I got the thing apart first go after doing that. This time round, the battery was not in the bike, and I was not motivated to go back home and get it out of the cellar and put it in. I thought that after nearly a year of standing around, there wouldn't be much pressure left in the system. In hindsight, I probably should have put the battery back in. There is a German expression that translates as "in hindsight is one always wiser"... Regarding the tools: the ones I first found are a set, and were on e-bay for about €20.- . I have since found out that KS Tools offers a set that looks almost identical, but *might* be better quality for about €50.- . Still thinking about it, but I'm likely to buy a set, and probably the one from KS.

I wouldn't say "no" to one of them. But only because it was one of the prettiest bikes ever. From any manufacturer. The "parallel" Daytona would do at a pinch too.

I went at taking off the tank of the Le Mans today, and had a bugger of a time releasing the fuel line couplings (Fuel pump in tank, if that is relevant...). On the German forum, I've seen a couple of links for a tool specifically for those sort of coupling. The only one I could find was this https://www.ebay.de/itm/312456395437?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=707-127634-2357-0&ssspo=1p-7cXsKRVe&sssrc=2047675&ssuid=BB8lR4S0S6q&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY allegedly, the green one is the one to use. The thing is, I don't like the look of those. I reckon they look like cheap crap. Does anyone know a source for this type of tool from a quality supplier?

Don't want to put a damper on anything, but what does it go up to at high revs? If it gets much over 14.8 or so, you'll be back to cooking the battery, as far as I know.

That would be this, I reckon. This "when scying TB" was probably supposed to have been "when synching the throttle bodies", I guess. To the first question: whether the engine is warm or not has absolutely no effect on the TPS Voltage. What is really important, as detailed in the thread linked above, is that there is nothing interfering with the throttle body closing completely. Connecting rod disconnected, high idle mechanism disconnected, throttle stop screw all the way out. All that. What makes it difficult to land exactly on the 157 mV is that the business moves a bit when you tighten up the screws. A couple of attempts will show in which direction and how much (approximately) it will move, allowing a better guess at what it should be before tightening. Also, within 2 or 3 mV is close enough, actually. When synching: the bleed screws are, more or less, only relevant at and just off idle. Based on the procedure outline from page 572 onwards in this workshop manual https://guzzitek.org/gb/ma_us_uk/1100/V11_1999-2003_Atelier(Compil-GB-D-NL).pdf The procedure there is for using the Guzzi diagnosis tool. We're not, so ignore the bit about 3.8°. Disconnect everything from the throttle bodies, and measure the Voltage with the multimeter. Re-connect all the linkages. Close the bleed screws all the way. Using the tool of your choice (vacuum gauges, or whatever) balance the throttle bodies at about 3,000 r.p.m. . Use the bleed screws and said tool of your choice to set the idle speed and balance the throttle bodies at idle. That's a summary. Read the thread in the link above for the full story.

@thumper, you did tell the new owner about the forum, I hope?

In case anyone is interested, that seems to be still available. I bought one less than 2 years ago, or maybe slightly over 2 years. Works really well. https://shop.becker-technik.de/en/products/central-lifter-24

Without wanting to worry you too much, there is a whole chain of things that can lead to what you are describing. They are all cureable, and mostly *fairly* easy to find. You have to go through it systematically and methodically, and eliminate possible faults one after the other. Thereby, start with the most obvious and simple and leave the complicated stuff until the simple things have been eliminated or verified as the cause of the problem. Battery is easy, and on the top of the list because you don't know how old it is, or how it has been treated in the past. Batteries age. What can happen when they get old is that they can take a charge, even start the bike once, but have no capacity any more. At a second start attempt, or even the first, they can't deliver enough energy to turn over the starter motor, even though they look like they are charged. That is fairly easy to test. Get the multi-meter. Measure the voltage across the battery terminals. It should be nearly 13V. Leave the meter connected and press the starter. If the voltage drops below 10V, the battery is most likely too old. There are several other things, known issues with a V11, that can cause the starter motor to not turn over, but check the battery first. One thing at a time. PS: this optimiser, what is it? There are "float chargers" on the market that are actually not really good for the battery.

Hi @dell. Looks like @docc is heading in the right direction, but so's you know where he's heading: The symptoms indicate that the battery is not delivering properly, i.e. dead. 'Nuff said, do what docc says.

Not the same as on Dave's I think, but Mistral has something similar https://www.mistralspecialparts.it/en/product/classic-exhausts-moto-guzzi-v7-700-special-eldorado-850gt/

It is a lot of fun. Perhaps the best bit is you can flog it as hard as you like, and you never get to silly speeds. Things to consider: I gather the V35 motor is less prone to problems with the heads and valves because the valves are smaller. The V50 motor has more power, of course, but even it is moderate. The clutch is heavy on both, but as already written here, the clutch from the V85 /V9 bolts straight in. Much lighter in action, and lighter in weight (kg). While you're in there, get someone to machine down the flywheel (make it thinner). There's a bloke in the german forum that does that, and can get about 1kg off of it, if I remember rightly. Looks like this when he's finished https://tsmsportz.com/postimg/CR5h3B36 I have a feeling that motor parts are a bit easier to get for the V35, but might be imagining that. If the motor becomes untenable, a V65 or V75 / Breva / Nevada / V7 motor will go in. It's then a bit tight around the carbies, but I know of at least one V50 with a 750 motor in it. It was built by Martin Hageman at Gpiu in Germany for his wife. Having said that, it has the V50 tank on it, not the Monza/Imola tank. With the Monza tank it might get fiddly around the fuel taps as well. Whatever, my V35 Imola is lots of fun.

The "small block" Guzzis are actually the "real" Tontis. Not just the frame, but rather the whole bike is a Tonti. Mine.

Yes, I think so too. I think it might possibly be related to the charge light not coming on KOEO, but I don't think that is the cause of the charging issue(s) either. I still suspect that there are more than one fault, and that this is confusing the issue(s) somewhat.