twhitaker
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Posts posted by twhitaker
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The speed bleeder should be a very good substitute for the third hand.
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You might try www.mgnoc.com
This is a subscription monthly newsletter. If you don't belong, you should. Maybe you know someone who subscribes he can give you a copy.
This lift is essentially a parallelegram frame that is powered by a floor jack or a scissors jack. You just roll the bike onto the lift, strap the bike down, operate the jack and up the bike goes. I second his recommendation of using jackstands to support the lift for safety sake.
The designer of the lift, Russ Rasmussen, can be contacted at
rrasmuss@mail.crk.umn.edu
I would dearly love to have a centerstand for my bike but money is tight right now.
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There is a way cool do it yourself motorcycle lift write up in the Feb Guzzi newsletter.
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I bought the skinny Vista Cruise unit as I could tell the large unit from my California would not fit. I took the little sheetmetal bracket and deformed it to fit on one of the throttle mounting screws. I filled in the recess below the screw head with a couple of lock washers.
(reduced picture size, docc)
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Oh well. I thought I may not have represented Moto Guzzi in the greatest light. I was pretty enthusiastic though. Alfred seems to eat, sleep, drink, etc Ducati. When I was there he had over a dozen of them for reference.
Looks like I'll be contacting Cyclops at www.convertibar.com
I heard they make a post that will accept our bars. Has there been any feedback on that item?
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I went to Cycle Kat last summer to provide a donor bike. They said they would call me in a couple weeks. Haven't heard a word from them. Al R. mentioned they put it off as a winter project. Well, there is only 6 more weeks of winter and no word yet. I've got the cold weather gear for the trip but 90 miles in 20 degree weather is still 90 miles.
For what it's worth Alfred can contact me at work at 937-222-6444 or at home at 937-859-3322 or twhitaker6 at woh dot rr dot com
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http://www.speedbleeder.com makes bleed screws with little check valves in them. I believe there was a discussion a couple months back in wildguzzi. Our bikes take the M6 size. I believe my California takes the M10 size. I'm getting ready to buy 4 for the LeMans and 3 for the Cali. I doubt I'll install them before March though. At $7.00 apiece I figure I can't go wrong.
I'm not looking forward to dealing with the clutch bleeder. I suppose you removed the tire to gain access?
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My bikes have Vista Cruise units on them. They cost about $20
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The reasons it was such a kick in the ass were as follows:
The bike sat for a month while I was trying to figure out what was wrong. It died on the way to work. I had to borrow a truck to get it home. I bought a HD TPS. I had to borrow another truck to haul it 4 hours to the dealer. We spent a night at a motel to get an early start on fixing the bike at the dealer on a Saturday morning.
Joe Eish and his brother spent about two hours checking the electrical system out. He replaced the relay and voila, the fuel pump came on. His bill came to $12.00
He accepted the TPS as payment and a satisfied customer was on his way on another 4 hour trip home.
I now carry a spare relay on each bike.
Costs:
1 month downtime.
TPS $45
Motel $85
Gas $37.50
4 meals for two people $80
Embarassment for not replacing the offending relay in the first place.....Priceless
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The frame number is the one used for VIN most everywhere. I was thinking along the same line as Steve G.
Fortunately, we're not talking about a H.D. here.
I could imagine a motor without a serial number being attractive to a thief.
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I had a very confounding problem with my California 1100i last summer that I was certain it was in the fuel system. I replaced the fuel filter. It had 56,000 miles on it and it was almost as clean as the new one. I was making plans for rebuilding the injectors. I considered replacing the TPS. My wife got the best of me (I hate to admit defeat) and we took it to the dealer. Their investigative efforts centered on the relays. Sure enough that was the problem all along. Mine acted like it was starving for fuel. As it was, the ECU relay was cutting in and out, causing the symptoms.
On my Cali there is a brown wire coming out of the relay socket that provides power to the fuel injection pump. I have to jiggle it every once in a while.
I wrote on the blackboard a thousand times, "I will never assume it is the fuel system. It's the electrical system that controls the fuel system."
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Are they going to do anything about a serial number? Don't want you to eventually get into something you may regret.
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After futzing around with the OEM oil filter on my California for a couple years I bought a socket that I thought would fit from Auto Zone. When I tried it out it spun on the filter. I went back to Auto Zone and bought a Mobil 1 filter M1-103. It fit the socket fine and also fit the bike.
When I got the LeMans the first oil change required me to remove the sump for an inspection. I tried the old strap wrench and it spun on the filter. I drove a screwdriver in the filter and banged off the offensive piece of s**t. I now have two bikes running on Mobil 1 filters and dino oil.
I know the filter is almost as expensive as the OEM part but from the reports I've read I'm confident it is one of the best on the market.
It's an easy enough job I change filters on both bikes every 3000 miles.
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The hex nut on the rear axle is also the right size for removing the filter access cover. Just use the nut in combination with the box end wrench to loosen it.
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When the shifter spring went south at 6000 miles, I bought an extra spring and attached it to the bike like a voodoo charm to ward off the evil spring spirits. It was only $3 You might want to do the same. Carry a spare relay (Bosch) as well. 24 degrees F here with freezing rain.
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The S100 cleaner is the best stuff I've ever used. It's available at any HD shop. Ten minutes spraying the bike followed with ten minutes flushing with a garden hose. Think volume not pressure here. Blow dry with a leaf blower and the bike is the cleanest it's EVER been.
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I second Daves opinion. I did not realise how hard the red was on my eyes until I changed.
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I believe the push pull forces in combination with the small rotational movements inside the bearing as the rear of the bike moves up and down cause fretting of the elastomer in the bearing. Maybe a bronze lined spherical bearing would work better. That's likely what Paul has on his. They make them as press fit units like ours as well as rod end units like Pauls.
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You didn't happen to get your bike from Rich Maund, did you? If that's the case, you can trust it to be completely optimized. You lucky devil.
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Todd Egan at www.guzzitech.com is the maestro og custom maps for the PCIII.
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Oops. I meant to say spherical instead of swivel. They are used in all kinds of control arm and motion control applications.
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I went out and looked at mine and sure enough it is disintegrating too. It looks like it may be a swivel rod end bushing. I would suggest taking it to a bearing supply house for a cross-over. INA makes some high quality bushings. My guess the bearing house price would be a third of what the dealer wants.
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Sometimes the use of a heat gun will facilitate removal of parts. Aluminum expands at a far greater rate than steel. heat the hub around the bearing and it should fall out.
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I too have had the bad spring demons visit upon my LeMans. I now carry a spare spring ($3.00) to ward off those naughty guys. My Karma bell works for my tires too, so far. The Karma spring has been working for a little over a year now.
Brake/Clutch Bleeding
in How to...
Posted
Oops! My eyes may be deceiving me but the clutch bleeder looks like it might be an M8. Hard to tell by just looking in the cramped quarters. I assumed the rocket scientists in Mandello would standardize. Give the folks a call. They might know. It's an 800 number.