wheelsucker

Just a note to others do a search in the future, if your bike starts then its generally not your starter. The starter works by sending an electric pulse to your solenoid which actuates a plunger/pushrod that extends a gear mechanism on the "actual" starter that has a rotating gear. The gear engages the a gear on the crankshaft (or I believe its connected to the crankshaft) and essentially starts up the motor. This is where the spark plugs and FI take over and the starter sits idle and the gear on the starter retracts, which is why you hear a grinding noise when you hit the starter button when the motor is already running. So in the end, if you can consistently start your motor then it most likely is not your starter.

With the end of October approaching and the MotoGP essentially decided in all respects, this seems like its going to be a long winter. Last winter was tame by East Coast/Maryland standards, I have a bad feeling this one's going to be long and cold. With several moves already in the books for MotoGP, next year could be VERY exciting, especially since I thought this year was kind of tame. It started out great but went downhill when Stoner had all his problems and Rossi essentially pulled away from everyone.

I know everyone has their own thoughts about the Stelvio and it have a bug eye look from the front. But once you get past that aspect I think the bike is just beautiful. A dealership is selling one on ebay and they have a bunch of pictures that show its true beauty. That bike is just SCREAMING my name, I'm gonna die when I go see one in person at the local MG dealership (when they get it in). It also doesn't help that I just got a new job with an EXCEPTIONAL pay raise and the credit card companies keep sending 0% interest on purchases made in the first 6 months. That's 0% interest until the balance of the purchase amount is paide off!!! MUST RESIST, but damn that bike is beautiful!!! Anyone know what the wattage/stator output is? How many extra watts are available for accessories?? Is it more than the V11 LM/sport series?

No need, already ordered a new starter from them.

So after all this trouble, I redid my starter brushes, got the new battery. Turns out my starter is trashed. The first clue was when I took off the back cover of the starter there was a bunch of gunk that looked like red clay. Now I have completely disassembled the starter and found the two of the magnets inside the starter broke in half. So it looks like I'll be buying a new starter...at least I have a new set of brushes:) Pics of trashed magnets attached, on one of the pictures where I'm holding the gears, you can see some of the magnet fragments covering the housing.

Found this link when trying to figure out how to install a new brush kit on the valeo starter. Might want to add this page to the list of keepers. http://www.largiader.com/tech/valeo/

I picked up a different charger last night. Its a 12v manual charger. It can charge at 2,4, or 6 amps and at 6v or 12v. I've been letting it charge at 2amps/12v since last night. Hopefully that will do the trick.

Ok, so I cleaned the starter out with dry lube and let it sit for a day. I also have the odyssey battery on the tender and it now starts. It will stay running but if I shut it down and try and restart after a minute then it doesn't have the juice to start it. What does this mean??? Is there a short somewhere in my system or is my starter solenoid going bad???

The guy at the shop said that the odyssey batteries don't need pre-charging like a normal battery. It is on my trickle charger but I retook the readings and the readings are 12.50 ignition off and 12.05 with ignition on at both battery and starter. I'm going to have to trace some lines to ensure that everything is proper.

I put the odyssey battery in and have 12.75 volts at the battery and starter with the key off. When the key is on voltage drops to 12.05 at both points. haven't had time yet to do any of the other tests. I'm sure I have some bigger issue since pep boys can start my starter right up on their machine.

Odyssey battery is in, and still not starting. Possibly the relay has gone bad but has anyone ever had issues with grounding the starter? I'm wondering if that is the problem? If I wanted to take the gas tank off to check all wires, is it simply a matter of undoing the two hoses on the drive side(throttle side) and the two hoses underneath? I don't believe any gas will come out correct?

If I could only have 1 bike (geared toward sport touring), then it would either be a Triumph tiger (2005 or later), or a Ducati MTS 1100. The Ducati ST2 would be a close 3rd choice though since they are much cheaper than both the above, but more sporty like the Le Mans. I just don't like the LM with hard bags, I think it ruins the lines although there was a guy who adapted the ST2/3/4 bags to the Le Mans and it actually looked very nice.

I went to the odyssey web site and all the battery wharehouse stores in Md carry them. I had to call around to quite a few before a couple of stores could get them, non had them stocked. I'm picking mine up tomorrow from the store in Glen Burnie. The store in Rockville said they could get one by Monday and there was one other store that said they could get one, but I'm don't remember which store. I'd say the Glen Burnie or Rockville store are the best bets. The bad news is that I got the starter to half start twice about 5 mins apart after I cleaned the starter, so I'm not sure if its the battery or the relays. Does anyone know where I might be able to buy some relays locally? Would the BMW shop possibly have some if the Guzzi shop doesn't?

Good news and bad news (kind of). So I bought a volt meter and my OEM battery measures 12.75v, I've got a line on one of the odyssey's though that I can possibly pick up tomorrow. I read in another thread where someone had said that our starter is also in some Fiat's. It turns out that the 1976 Fiat spider is one of them, so Pep boys tested it and.....the starter whirred like it was new!! So I'm going to clean the starter as suggested by mznyc, and all the connections, so it looks like the Guzzi may be on soon. I'll let everyone know the diagnosis for future problems.

I removed my starter, everything appears fine but what do I know. Anyway, can any auto shop test my starter or do I need a special motorcycle tester? MZNYC When you talked about cleaning the plunger on your starter, what is the plunger? Also, I took the back off the starter and there was some grease that was reddish brown kind of like red clay color. Is this indicative of the blown magneto's talked about in the other starter threads? Anyone know where I can get a new starter.....cheap? Or am I going to be paying $235??? Also, from looking at the pictures on MGCYCLE regarding the brush kit, it doesn't look to be hard to do this. What is the difference between rebuilding the starter and replacing the brushes? Harpers apparently has a rebuild kit and its much cheaper than a new starter.

tried the relay swap and no dice. My volt meter shows 10 volts with ignition on, I thought this was normal but I could be wrong. Maybe the battery is drained, can I try and jump with cables like a car or will it fry the circuits?

I checked the fuses, they are all fine. How do I ensure all the relays are in working condition? When I turn on the bike, I can hear the fuel pump start up and all the lights are fine. I have a volt meter on the bike so I don't think its the battery. also, can someone tell me how to ensure that my relays are fine? I pulled them out and I don't see anything wrong with them.

I broke down last night. When I would go to try and start the bike I would just get a click, maybe like the bike is trying to jump the starter motor? The starter does not engage, I just hear a click. My guess is that the starter went bad, but at 15000miles?? Any other guesses or places I should look before paying the reaper? Thanks, Matt

That's not a Rosso w/ a sidecar. That's a sidecar with Guzzi controls and driveline. Whomever did that should be taken to Mandello and beaten in the town square. They took a beautiful Guzzi and F'd it up, what a shame.

Only going Saturday, but I'll be up there on my 2003 LM, I have Maryland tags so I should be easy to spot as well. Kieth or any other D.C. area peeps, if you want change and want to go Saturday then shoot me a PM. They are having a Viva Italia show (cars and bikes) in the inner harbor on Sunday that I may go to. Matt

Man. U. just got a new sponser!!! The USA federal reserve Would love to see AIG replaced with USA or the Federal Reserve symbol on their jersey, or how about the U.S. flag!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

With the Abu Dhabi group buying City, this season just got a whole lot more interesting. Robihno now with City, who will join when the January transfer window opens?? With the endless amount of money the the Abu Dhabi Group, it could be anyone that likes money and is willing to wait a year to turn City into the new Chelsea. Unfortunately, I think that there are flaws with the Euro futbol system such as no salary cap, which might explain why its so hard for promoted teams to stay in the top league. GO Arsenal!!!

If I read the ordering info correctly the wheel sets are about $1300/set. That seems like a good deal for a set of Mag wheels....hopefully they can make a set for our bikes.

Any predictions for the EPL??? Champions league?? I am probably one of the few (Americans) who loves European futbol as much as American football. Anyway, I'll take a wild gander and and say that: EPL (Top 10): Chelsea Arsenal Man U. Liverpool Tottenham Portsmouth Aston Villa Everton Blackburn Man. City Champions league could be anyone but AC Milan is looking might good this year with Jose Murinho at the helm and some good additions. Hopefully Portsmouth, Tottenham, and Villa can make a run deep into the Uefa Cup if not win it. Would also love to see Fiorentina (Serie A (Italy) for those not into futbol/soccer) make a big run/win it. Don't know if we have any Spaniards, French, etc but my apologies to anyone from those countries. I follow La Liga and the French league solely online because the games are hard to come by in the U.S. Fox Soccer and Goal TV only televise EPL, Serie A, Bundisliga, and Central & South American matches along with some champions league and Uefa Cup Games......God I wish I lived in Europe. You guys/girls have the better sports, bicycle racing, F1, Moto GP, and Futbol. Hopefully the U.S. is catching on with 2 U.S. Moto GP events, more state bicycle race/tours, and the MLS is starting to EXPLODE but still lacks the quality of Europe/S. America. I've been to 2 D.C. United games, 1 domestic game and 1 vs. Chivas (Mexico Champs) and I've got to say both games were great but the game against Chivas was a different world with all of the immigrants chanting in Spanish (I speak Spanish so I thought it was AWESOME, my wife was as thrilled). DAMN, this turned into a long post/partial rant, must be the Martini

Are the nipples on #4 (monica) real or is that photo shopped? I've heard of torpedo nipples but that is just insane