txrider

Not to be picking nits but that's Peter Egan, one of my favorite cycle magazine writers. And I definitely suscribe to the multi bike garage.

Will an ohm-meter resistance check of the ignition wire always show a bad cap? Or do these sometimes open up under load?

Gary, there's a lot written about oil in the archives and you will gather from that everyone has their own preference. Pete Roper, an acknowledged Guzzi expert claims any old 20w-50 will do since the Guzzi engine is anything but high tech. I've used 20w-50 BMW dino for the initial run in and then changed to Amsoil 20w-50. I like the heavier oil for the high temps here in Texas. Change frequency is 3000 miles.

Todd, thanks for the tip. I've been worried about that lens sticking out there while all the local gravel trucks lose rocks on Loop 820. By the way, what do you recommend as protection for that piece of glass?

Update on my no-start problem. Bike is fixed and problem appears to have been the loose bullet connector at the clutch safety switch. Both those low grade connectors replaced with Delphi-Packard Weather-Pack connectors, definite upgrades. My faulty connectors may have been flukes but I recommend replacement if you have any problems with them. Source for the connectors is Waytech.com but be prepared for having to place minimum quantities for each component. Good people to deal with nonetheless. The crimper can be had from RadioShack, $8.00 instead of $89.00 for the special application item from Waytech.

Phil, thanks for sharing the good news. So basically spring replacements and 7 wt oil replaced the 10 wt? I've been interested in what Traxxion Dynamics has to offer on suspension upgrades for our bikes, now we know. Did they suggest a possibility for rear shock replacement?

Get an inexpensive digital multimeter like RadioShack sells and check the battery at the end of the day. Should show 13.0 volts immediately after a ride. If less, then not enough engine revs/run time for alternator to recharge the battery. Love the part about execs car alarms being set off...

Thanks, Ratchet, you're the man. And right on about the cooling fan. I got lucky and bid/got a 30" industrial cooling fan that does double duty for cooling the garage in summer and works well to blow over the engine when tuning. I still set a limit of 10 minutes or so run time during tuning.

I'd be interested in knowing more about idle air bypass adjustment. Do you simply adjust for the closest balance between cylinders at idle? And is the starting point like, 1/2 turn out from closed?

I second the suggestion on the Twin Max but be ready for it not being in stock. I ended up having a three week wait after the distributor said he had one left and it would ship the next day. As for the bars and seat I couldn't agree more other than I can handle 200 mile rides. More than that would be tough. I'm looking forward to what you try on the bars. MPH is a little pricey but considering the clutch and brake lines I guess that's to be expected. On the exhaust noise, my bike had Staintunes on it when I got it and they're a nice balance of having just enough tone to be pleasing without being noise intrusive. That's with the stock crossover used. You might give a listen to those if there is a bike available. As for your description of the riding experience I totally agree- it's the most fun bike I've ridden in years- kinda gets back to basic motorcycling with that big twin sound and torque. Another note- I changed the grips to Oury Roads which are slightly larger in diameter with a blocked pattern. These made a great deal of difference in felt vibration and provide a slightly larger area to spread pressure on the hands.

Chet, I'm dealing with exactly the same no start problem and I think I know the problem although there are several good possibilities. Here's what I've done- 1. Removed the tank to get access to the pair of clutch safety switch connectors. One of mine was "waggling". This was likely the culprit. While there I used an ohm meter to test the switch break/continuity. It was ok. Applied DeOxit to terminals after tightening. Both of those bullet style connectors will be replaced with Packard/GM style as soon as I find the right crimper. 2. Traced the sidestand switch wire up to it's connnector, disconnected and tested that switch also. It showed to be good. 3. Removed the kill switch/starter switch housing and cleaned, applied DeOxit to those contacts. 4. Removed the relay which controls the starter ( first one in line from front of bike), cleaned the terminals and replaced. I have a new Bosch replacement if required. Granted this is a shotgun approach but it eliminated possibilities and for now I'd like to keep the sidestand and clutch switches working rather than removing them. I bet you'll find one of these items is the culprit assuming your battery is at least 12.5 volts. I should have mentioned start there first, you might save yourself some time by doing so.

That was the bike. I saved those issues for years then discarded them, unfortunately.

No experience or opinion for that matter on indexing spark plugs but I recall some interesting things written about increasing plug gaps. Back in the 70's Gordon Jennings and the Cycle magazine crew were making a Ducati 750 GT (called the California Hot Rod) competitive for Daytona, with some success I might add. They had done the whole treatment to the engine including upping the displacement to the rules limit, huge valves and cams and got into the ignition system which was found to be substantially inadequate for the rpm and compression ratio they were running. Their upgrade ended up being a pair of K-Mart auto ignition coils replacing the small oem pair which enabled them to open up the plug gaps from the previous 0.025" to 0.050". That last bit enabled them to get the spark at speed the engine called for and they wrote up the entire project in several Cycle issues. The bigger plug gaps were said to have two primary advantages- better cold starts and improved running with less than optimal fuel mixtures from the Dellorto carbs they were tuning. This is probably not relevant to our present day bikes, just interesting history on big plug gaps on old bikes. I imagine present day fuel injection makes such changes now pretty much wasted time.

Here's Racetech's recommended procedure on setting sag- http://www.racetech.com/articles/SuspensionAndSprings.htm

The numbers for steel and aluminum metal alloys properties (compressive strength) are available in Machinery's Handbook if any of you engineers have a copy. Since my "redundancy" I no longer have access to that tome.

Jason, if you'll recheck my post I checked the id of the 3/4" black pipe and it was in fact 0.824" which was one reason I selected it for review. As to properties I've looked for some tables for compressive strength of cold rolled,stainless and aluminum and strangely did not find the data I was searching for. I'm surely not a metals/engineer type so can't comment on maleability of the black pipe but seems any steel would be stronger than alumunum for the application. I think you're doing a service by offering this possibility, most of us don't have access to a lathe and the cost seems reasonable. For myself I'll wait until I can do the measurements on my own bike just in case there is some variation bike to bike. There goes the anal retentive again...

I was poking around McMaster-Carr and find two possibilities of pipe that should work. Both are 0.824", 0.113" wall thickness. Check p/n 7750k232, black welded seam steel, $18.30 for 50" length and p/n 44985k14, stainless, seamless pipe at $63.75 for 72". Od for both looks to be 1.050".

I just ordered one from Todd at MPH. It was very cost reasonable and shipped the same day. Good folks to work with.

No dirt and sludge, just oil darkened by metallic fines. Source of that I'm not sure but it's been there on all my fork maintenance chores and that's been 4 bikes over the last 5 years. A good possibility is spring contact with the fork inner wall.

I've done two sets of usd forks so I definitely am not an expert. But from that limited experience I can say that even turning the forks upsidedown doesn't allow all the oil out- one has to also expel oil from the cartridge by pushing the damper rod up and down so the piston can displace oil inside the rod. And since the oil change is actually more of a drain/flush/refill procedure I suggest using drain plugs would result in less than a total result. But everyone makes his own call on such.

I experienced the same problem and finally resorted to using standard torque for a given size fastener and some info out of my old oilhead BMW shop manual for common applications like brake calipers. I found the LM easy to work on but not having a complete list of torque values was frustrating.

I've used the Throttlerocker since 1999 when I had an R1100RS with somewhat balky throttle cables. That's long enough that I find it useful in town and out but that's my particular grip and throttle preference. I like lots of leverage and free moving controls and the 'Rocker helps. For the $10.00 it's some of the best money I've spent on bike accessories. By the way, the current model, the Throttlerocker II uses velcro instead of the original tension clamp arrangement and it works fine.

Dr Gil, I've been keeping up with the progress and road blocks concerning your Guzzi acquisition and congratulations on the upcoming purchase. I purchased my 2004 Red in January, also used, and immediately put the bike up on the work stand for a general inspection, cleaning, fluids change (engine, trans, rear drive, forks and clutch/brake fluid), and lubrication check of shock attachments, final drive coupling and cush drive, speedometer drive cable as well as all control pivots. Generally, I found most of these needing lube. Also, pulled all connectors including relays and applied DeOxit. Of course my advantage was January was a good month to hibernate in the garage for this going over. The payback is that now the bike runs like a dream, is reliable and gets lots of favorable attention. It's easy to work on, uncomplicated as a motorcycles go but does have a maintenance regimen it likes.

Here's the source that Al R. found several months ago- http://www.heeters.com/sparkplugs.shtml

Hog, sounds like it could be the temp sensor, doodad sticking out of the r/h cylinder head. Bad sensor, ECU thinks engine is cold, running in warmup mode.