cycles4fun

Yea I'm aware of the punshment on the drive train from the lack of a cush drive. These wheels have 52,000 miles on them and like you said I use great care to avoid unnecessary driveline shock. I recently replaced the rear drive pinion shaft, coupler, and drive shaft as they were pretty beat up with hardly any teeth left. It also beats up the clutch drive gear splines. I updated to the deep splines years ago for greater surface area and longer durability. The bike is all apart at the moment and I pulled the gearbox down for the hell of it and have a look inside, thankfully there is no visible wear on the gear dogs which is a relief as mine is an SE with the rare close ratio strait cut gears. As you say the low weight of these hoops are amazing! I'm running a 3.5 X 17 FR and 4.0 X 18 R. I did not weight them, however recently I had the wheels off my my Triumph Daytona 675 for powder coating and at the same time had the Astralites stripped down for painting. Comparing the wheels side by side I would have to call it pretty close with the edge going to the Astralites! I weighed my Lemans a couple of years ago and with a full tank of fuel (5 gallons) it came in at 493LBS full wet. I imagine thats around 450 dry which is pretty impressive. It's a bunch lighter than a new Lemans and faster as well! I have a vintage CB750 Honda and it feels like a schoolbus compared to the Goose! Then again the Goose feels like a schoolbus compared to the 675 which I already hacked off 24 lbs! Talk about a featherweight. Oh well their like children and I love them all for what they are. Ride safe Mike

The number of teeth is 30 and the inside diameter is 2.010". Hey Greg I can perform machine work as necessary. What part should I be starting with? Model and or part number would be a great help. Thanks again. Mike

Hey guys, I need a little help in identifying this Astralite drive gear. I have looked at various Guzzi drive gears and nothing looks the same. I seriously do not believe they made a unique part for these wheels during the manufacture. I'm guessing they used a Guzzi part and modified it. The teeth are getting worn and I want to start looking for a back-up. Any ideas? Thanks for your help. Mike

I believe I am the only one to have disassembled this engine so I can assure you a hone has never touched the lifter bores. I also am very clean and meticulous when assembling my engines and always use good assembly lube so I really do not believe I created this. I had the heads off a couple of times, the most recent (15k miles ago) for the installation of a 94mm big bore kit. The reason I took it apart this time was to have all the rotational assembly expertly balanced as I have been chasing a vibration and want the engine to run as smooth as possible. I have discussed this with Mike Rich and he recommended a shop for the balancing. When carfully inspecting all the components I discovered the intake valve lifter bore wear. I am very anal retentive regarding oil maintenance and I can assure you the lifter bores have never seen a hone up to this point. The lifters are original with 52000 miles on them. I"m pretty anal retentive regarding oil maintenance and use a very high quality synthetic blend. The cam was perfect so It should not be creating any issues. Honestly in reality it would likely live happily as it is but since I'm there I figured I would try and make it perfect. I dropped the crankcase off at a trusted auto machine shop tonight and we discussed the possibilties. He agreed I could run it and it would likely work fine but also agreed it is out of spec by around .001" or so and not perfectly round. He asked that I leave the crankcase there and he would get back to me. After dropping it off off there I went to another friends general machine shop and borrowed the correct reamer and it worked flawlessly on my test piece leaving beautiful holes. I really think this is the way to go but will wait for the other opinion to come back before making a final decision. This is likely putting everyone to sleep so I'll shut up now. Mike

The reamer I was practicing with was a bit too small so as I previously stated I bored a hole in a chunk of aluminum (6061 I believe) the same depth as the lifter bore. I was able to step it up in very small increments just a couple of tenths or so each pass of the reamer and the finish was beautiful, dead smooth with nearly a polished finish AND perfectly round. The only issue was the last 1/4 inch where the reamer pass's through the end of the hole. Without the aid of a pilot it is prone to chatter as it is largly unsupported as its exiting through and chatters a bit. If I stopped it from going all the way through the hole and backed it out while still rotating it clockwise the chatter would not occur and the size was not affected leaving a perfectly round hole with no taper. Beaming with cofidence I purchased a new reamer within the correct range and gave it a go on the chunk of aluminum before I attacked the lifter bore. What an absolute piece of shit! The thing would not even remotely begin to clean up a freshly drilled hole and chattered uncontrollably. Against my better judgment I purchased a reamer made in India and it is a total piece of crap! They did not have any other choices so I figured it should at least last a couple of holes or so. The P O S won"t even work!!!I'll take it back tomorrow and bitch! The slightly smaller reamer I was practicing with previously was a joy to operate and obviously was much higher quality. So now I'm back to square one. I know with a high quality reamer it should work fine, but I do agree without the aid of any pilot its tricky business at best. I might go down to boys at San Jose BMW and have a chat with them as they have a very reputable machine shop and may have some ideas. I'll also hunt around on the Internet for some precision American made reamers. Word to the wise, if you are buying machine tools buy the best you can afford or don't bother. Mike

I run battery tenders on all of my bikes and their always ready regardless how long they have been sitting. It's a very small investment and well worth it. The harness attaches to the battery and you can route the connector out to a convenient location. The "Junior" model for around 30.00 is just fine. good luck! Mike

Thanks Dave, Yea the wear is really odd. It cleaned it up with a bead type brake hone which visually looks fine but when measuring it the problem is obvious. I will give the reamer a shot. I'm pretty confident I can get it done. Just pokin around for input before I take the plunge! Mike

Sorry about that. I guess I'm old school. The cam follower (lifter) bore in the engine crankcase.

Anyone have any experiencing reboring lifter bores? Both of my intake lifter bores show excessive wear with clearances approaching .027" on one and close to .002" on the other. There was a strange rough looking wear pattern on both of the intakes like they were vibrating or something. No up and down gouging just a rough surface much like sandblasting would leave. The exhausts look fine measuring .0007" on one and .0012" on the other. The spec calls for .0009"-.00169". My service manual really does not get into the details of boring it just shows a pic of a reamer sticking down a lifter bore. I took a chunk of aluminum to practice with and bored a hole close to the size of the lifter (.8673" 1st oversize) and then used an adjustable reamer to enlarge it and test my skill at holding tight tollerances. Its pretty tricky but the outcome is very nice. I think I will have a go at it but I'm a little nervous! There is a second oversize available so if I make a mistake I can still have a way out! I imagine jigging it up on a mill would be a real pain in the butt and very expensive. The lifter bore is not on the same plane with the cylinders and since they are out of round finding center could be a challenge. I'm no machinist so I'm really just guessing here. Does anyone have any insight on the topic. Thanks in advance Mike

Hey guys just wanted to take a moment of your time and introduce myself. My name is Mike Sorge and I live in Fremont California. I have been a total bike nut for over 30 years and have owned all manor of sportbikes from each of the Japaneze as well as Ducati, Aprilia and of corse Moto Guzzi. My current bikes are a heavily modded 87 Lemans 4, a Triumph 675 Daytona, and a mint condition CB750 Honda. They are like children, I love each of them equally for their own special charm. I'm looking forward to all of your wisdom, advise, opinions, and especially your humor! I have attached a pic of my lemans on a recent trip through Grand Canyon. Hope you like it. Thanks Mike Well I tried to add a pic but it did not seem to make it. No messages of file size problems or anything else. What am I doing wrong? Please help! I think I just found my problem. The file size in just over 1MB which will have to be resized. I will have to wait for the kids to show me how tomorrow!!! damm computers!

Thanks guys. never thought about building my own tubless rim! Pretty interesting and looks very promising. Does anyone know of the vender for the factory tubless wheels for the later Californias? Perhaps they can supply a tubless rim in the 18inch size.

Hey guys wondering if anyone has any ideas on a wheel swap I'm thinking about. I have a Lemans 4 and thinking about spoked wheels. I would powder coat the rims and hubs black and leave the stainless spokes. I was thinking about using the wheels from a California as a starting point however the rear is a 17 in and I would prefer an 18 in. I want a 4.0" 18 rear and a 3.5" 17 front. Did Guzzi ever use a 4" 18in tubless spoked wheel? An aftermarket 18in rim laced to the Guzzi hub would likely forefit the use of tubeless tires which I really would prefer to use. I currently have a 150/60 rear and 120/70 front on rare Astralites but really dont like the look of the Astralites. I realize they are worth a fortune that could easily finance the project. Any ideas? Thanks Mike