docc

Kiwi_Roy, that grounding point makes me suspect that someone had your bike apart and, upon reassembly, moved the ground to that point under the seat lock. Seems like it would be worth putting it back where it belongs on the gearbox.

Thanks for posting what you find out!

Yes, although I found it easiest from the timing chest (where my regulator is grounded) to the fuel pump mount which also gathers up my lights and horns.

Someone cut the ground wire apart and glopped it back together? Too strange. Your bike will love you for a solid ground path! Just to clarify, my battery ground bolts to the gearbox behind the seat lock, not to the seat lock. If anyone's ground strap is under the seat lock bolt, it's surely a good idea to move it an inch to the nearest gearbox bolt.

Hey, man, your thread is only on Page 5! You can't rest now!

It looks to me like you could fish it along the loom where it follows the frame with out taking the airbox off.

I recall my stock fuel filter was Weber. WIX is currently listing a filter for the V11 application.

I wondered the same thing about the starter access. I looked at all the manuals and diagrams and I don't think there is any room for inspection. I was hoping just to be able to spray some cleaner through to flush the nastiness then watch, wait, and hope! Click on the link to Pete Roper's post, above, and he details the leak culprits; all the rest of which would require the gearbox pulled. moto-f: not wet and dirty on top around the vent hose connection?

Honda GB500 Tourist Trophy! What a little sweetheart!

Yes, except for the part about intake vacuum. The vent at the top of the frame connects to the airbox, not to the intake manifolds where there would be vacuum (that is how some cars have done it). The intent is merely to use the air filter to prevent dirt from getting into the system and for any oil mist that might make it through to either collect in the airbox or possibly get burned by the motor. But there should be no noticeable vacuum in your airbox or something is wrong. Your airbox will have low and high pressure pulses rippling through it, but unless something is wrong you should not have vacuum. And any vacuum you could create, like from putting in a one way valve, would pull not only on the crank case vent but also on the oil return line. I know that because I tried it and it suck oil from the case up the return line. Thanks for helping my understanding on that. Makes good sense! I thought there would be at least a little vacuum at that airbox tap, but my vacuum gauge agrees: none. Apparently, the nasty oil haze that gets into the airbox is driven by crankcase pressure.

Sorry , buddy: I know you want to get some riding in: Simple answer: NO: not all three. If you mean by "heated liner": a vest liner under your jacket; or even a "jacket liner": good to go! Keep the revs up and charge the battery overnight, before and after. Helps to run a a "thermostat" or cycling device so the heated garment is not on full time.

I'm trying to gather up this: "Upper hose goes to frame and lower hose to the front cover." Could you share more about those two attachment points? I'm leaning with L'y-Phil here that it is a breather box and not an oiltank. Good news: you can just check the oil level like the rest of us! (Wet sump, stick all the way in).

Understood. I counted your post among the opinions that there is no check valve in the V11. If there is a valve, it would be exactly as gstallons noted: like a PCV valve on a passenger vehicle. These are simple ball valves that are "pulled" open by intake vacuum. As noted, the upper (spine) frame member receives the crankcase vent hose and the oil fraction settles in the frame returning to the crankcase through the return line on the lower left side of the frame. Intake vacuum is applied from the airbox by a hose that connects the forward left side of the airbox to the banjo fitting visible at the top of the frame just behind the headstock pulling the oily vapor portion from the crankcase back into the aibox. If there were a check valve, it would be "opened" by this vacuum. So far, I'm with GuzziMoto and moto fugazzi, also baldini and czakky : "No PCV check valve on the V11." I've amended the "Tank Off Maintenance Checklist" in FAQ. Anyone finding a check valve in their vent pipe under the crankcase vent hose needs to "pipe" up!

No valves and counting . . .

I am beginning to think the check valve was used when the vent went to a canister and before the system was closed with a vacuum applied from the airbox connection . . .

Has anyone ever actually seen this check valve in the breather tube of a V11? Otherwise, it will be one less thing to worry about and I can remove the reference from the "Tank Off Maintenance Checklist" in FAQ . . .

Good point there, L-Phil! My true dry sump bike has the dipstick in the tank. I'm thinking the Ghezzi-Brian is a normal Moto Guzzi wet sump . . . Somebody here knows!

B-lee: what are the wattage ratings Gerbings lists for those items? My Gerbings gloves are 22 watts and the jacket: 77 watts. Too much for my Sport! I can run the jacket only on a thermostat (so it is not on constantly) as long as the revs are up and no stop-and-go traffic. I also start the day (if I'm going to run heated jacket) with a fully charged battery (from an overnight charger).

We are to presume it is considered part of the vent pipe for parts and assembly purposes? I'm afraid to go looking for mine since I think the hose would be destroyed.

+1 on contacting G/B. There are members here with G/B experience, so maybe they can help. I could not find anything on the tank. Do you have any links or photos? The Guzzi manual says to check the oil with the stick "screwed up." That could mean other things, but let's say "all the way in." Also important not to let the oil level get low. Not even halfway down. The pick-up is forward in the sump and can go dry in hard acceleration and low oil level. Many swear by the clamp. No matter what, use a quality filter and be certain it is fully tightened. The old "hand tight' method for car engines will not do! One of the members did some extensive testing and measuring and concluded the filter should turn 1 and 1/8 revolutions after the gasket makes contact. YMMV!

I got looking for the "check valve" in the crankcase breather. I can't find it in the Workshop Manual or the Parts Listings. Where is it, actually?

It is the 1064 cc V11 engine, yes? The pictures I see look like a normal Guzzi sump. Where is there an oil tank?

Is it just the cost difference? How much more does the GPS unit cost?

You Greenies all hang together, yeah? And you're all handsome and well spoken!

One of the great past-times at motorcycle events is to gather about the bikes of an evening and chat it all up over a pint. Little goes unnoticed by the enthusiasts and at Barber Vintage Festival some keen lad noticed a wee drip on the ground under the left rear corner of my sump. Engine oil. Groan . . . wet alright, the entire back corner. Arriving home I found this: But felt a glimmer of hope finding the dip stick O-ring all flattened out: Cleaned it all up and applied gstallons' tried and true spray foot powder to see this at the weep hole of the bell housing between the engine and gearbox below the clutch: First thought, of course: Bugger! A rear main seal . Thank goodness for this forum. A little search time brought up this post by The Lovable and Cuddly Pete Roper: "1.) Almost always leaks from the bell housing can be traced back to the breather hose that comes off the pipe from the top of the bell housing. Guzzi, for expediency clamp this with a shitty clamp like the sort of thing that they use for ringing birds! they also use really crap hose that tends to perish quickly and crack. When the clamp loosens or the hose cracks or collapses the hose leaks, it then runs down through the hole the pipe pokes through, through the bell housing and dribbles out of the drain slot and people who should know better say, "Uh! You've got a blown rear mainseal mate! That'll cost you a zillion dollars to fix!". If you're lucky while they are pulling the old tart apart they'll notice the pipe is a bit ordianary and replace it and then the leak will be fixed. If not then the leak will recurr within a few days, you'll get the sh!ts, the dealer will get the sh!ts with you, you'll sell the bike and then spend the rest of your life saying Guzzis are awful sh!theaps. Simply replace the hose first, make sure the ball valve is there and not gummed up and use decent clamps to secure it." A quick look, and the top of the engine and gearbox junction are all nasty and wet. The clamp on the oil hose tightened about a turn and a half or more. Cleaned it all up and had a ride. Dry on top. I'll expect a little residual from the weep hole for a time, but it certainly not the Exxon Valdez which gives some hope! Thanks very much to Pete Roper for all his contributions. How much I appreciate having this forum to turn to! Wish me luck then! Sometimes you can keep searching the internet til you get the answer you want whether it is right or not!