dark_bike

Ever since I had the bike the headlight was dim. I fitted an Eastrn beaver relay loom in the hope that this would cure the dim headlight but it didnt. Today I took the headlight apart and startet experimenting. I noticed that with dipped beam both filaments glowed (...). not as it should be so I swapped the connectors around a bit till 1 filament lit at each position. problem solved :-) only question is when those wires were swapped in the first place... the dithery instrument light occurred after I changed the speedo. will have a closer look. also removed and refitted the earth wire to the engine. all looked ok, but I sanded everything down anyway. Hopefully that does the trick. And sprayed every electrical connection with vaseline.

Is there such a thing as progress? I've fitted a new regulator today. Last night the intrument lights were unusually bright then all of a sudden dimmed. now with the new regulator they are steady. also the rev counter needle has steadied- it was a bit wobbly before. I have yet to see how the charging has improved, but so far, it's two gremlins down. however, now I have instrument lights that dim in time with the indicator... I had hoped the new regulator wouldalso improve the rather yellowish headlight, but no such luck. one thing's for sure, there is never a dull moment with a guzzi :-)

It is indeed. It'll be here by the end of the week :-) A very efficient lot and you can't beat them on their prices...well rarely.

I do have a generator light and it can be temperamental. This morning e.g. it didnt come on when turning the key. sometimes it glows when idling at traffic lights. at other times everything is normal. I cleaned the area around the bolt hole of the regulator and fitted a thick wire straight from the regulator o the negative terminal of the battery, so I doubt whether a better ground is possible. At night the lights vary in brightness so that doesnt sound promising either. oh well I think I'll stop worrying and love the bomb..er I mean get a new regulator ;-))

that was with the engine running.I revved it up to about 2500. I then took the negative crocodile clip of the volt meter off the neg battery terminal and then put it on again and then it was 13.something volt.

If you don't mind my chiming in, I've also got some electrical gremlins mainly a battery that doesnt seem to charge properly. I've read this thread with interest and fitted an earth lead between regulator and engine, cleaned relay and fuse contacts. I then started the engine from cold and measured voltage : about 13.3. when revving the engine to 2500-3000 that rose to 13.8. switching on the headlight made no change (got that wired through one of those eastetn beaver set-ups) As I still wasnt getting those 14+ volts I installed a thick wire between the regulator bolt and the negative terminal of the battery. start engine, 17-18 V! which then suddenly dropped to the good old 13.8.... how is that for a gremlin? havent got round to measuring the voltage between the red and yellow wires (need to take off one faiting half for that, which is a bit fiddly) I suspect the battery isnt charging properly because after driving to work 3-4 days the bike gecomes sluggish to start, especially when it gets cold at night, say between 0 and 10 degrees... battery is about 8 months old, starter motor is new. Tom

I've never got near that mileage out of seals. My Scura has 5 sets in 27k miles. Replaced clutch assy, had pawl spring issues, & rear wheel bearing problem in first few years but now running sweetly. I love my Tontis & didn't think I'd take to the Scura same way but, have come to really like it's relaxed ways & I wouldn't sell it now. The one thing I really still struggle with tho, is it's handling limitations on bumpy, twisty roads. Tonti never frightened me the same way. Welcome back Orangeokie, that's a lovely looking bike. KB I can tell you that the first owner wasnt a happy man from what I see from the service record ;-) I have Metzeler Z6 on the Scura, and Continental Contiforce on my Sport1100. The latter feels much surer and nimbler, contrary to its reputation, so that's probably down to the rubber.

There are still plenty for sale though most of them are the non-öhlins models. I do notice though that you hardly ever see ones offered with high mileages. Most are (well) below 20k km. A lot were probably bought on impulse and then years later are sold because they don't get ridden. And those that pile on the miles don't sell their bikes I guess. I have put more miles on mine in two years than the bike has done in the 7 years before I had it. A few things went wrong, the most annoying and expensive being the Öhlins front fork seals (which have lasted all of 15,000 miles - is that typical?) and presently a packed-up starter motor. But otherwise no drama, no exploding flywheels, no gear selector springs broken.

" When I bought my bike it had pods fitted, but I refitted the airbox to get it past the test for importation. Now that it is finally registered I've been driving it and though it runs nicely it hasnt much ooomph..I barely make it to 150 kp/h (90 mph). Could that also be a rejetting issue? it simply feels like the engine is not getting enough fuel. If the jets would have been altered to suit the pods I'd think the reverse would be true. any ideas? Tom

I've removed the rear caliper on my bike because one of the pistons was stuck. Got it going again, all fine, but I don't manage to get a firm brake pedal after filling up with brake fluid again, despited repeated bleeding. Also replaced the master cylinder. Somehow air remains trapped somewhere. Is there a knack for getting it out? I guess the bleed nippe pointing down doesnt help... Tom

I have a '95 one with carbs and that has two batteries under the passenger seat. The set-up doesnt look improvised so I guess it's standard. (dont have a WSM at the ready now to check) The original clip-ons are set very low too, real chin-on-the-tank stuff...are you sure yours are NOT standard? Tom

After I repaired my regulator I did some testing, here's the results The ammeter in position 1 only shows what the alternator is putting out In position 2 it shows the net charge ±, you need to stay Positive If you have any additional running lights or heated gear you might be tipping the balance. BTW, did you test your diodes (I thought I asked before but it seems to have dissapeared) Good Luck Roy Hi Roy, when temperatures are more humane (oh for a heated garage) I'll have a go at your scheme. Meanwhile, I did recharge the battery last week and the next morning starting was sluggish as ever. So it might well be the battery as well as some other cause X. cheers Tom

The sport1100 I bought some months ago has 2 batteries (didnt check yet whether they have the same Ah rating as the single one on the V11). They probably eliminated one due to lack of space in the V11. more experimentation on Friday.

At idle it is around 12.5 - 13 V, at about 2500 rpm and over it is a little over 14. I drive about 20 km to work. In summer I usually go for a spin after work as there is some nice countryside just around the corner but in the present weather I'm glad when I make it home dry and unscathed... what with the low-revving engine I guess its just a matter of the alternator not putting out enough to serve both the lights and rechgarge the battery on such a short stretch, but I'd have though Guzzi would have got that sorted by now.

Nope, all dry..I may be naive but I'd think that with € 130 gel battery some quality might be expected..the thing is barely a year old

Hi Tom almost certainly the regulator. Two checks you can do. You will see two yellow wires from the alternator which plug via bullet connectors to the loom. Get a multimeter, set it on a range which will handle 600v AC, and with the engine at idle check the voltage. It will start off quite low but by 1500 rpm or so it should be showing up to 600v, certainly 100s of volts. This will tell you if yoiu have an alternator issue. Next, plug the alternator back into the loom and using 20v DC on your multimeter, check the voltage at the battery. As engine revs rise you should be seeing 13.5 - 14.2 ish volts, and the voltage should rise gently with engine revs. Anything less than 13.5v suggest regulator is iffy. Finally if both these check out OK, start the bike and put the headlights on. If the lights get significantly brighter as you blip the throttle, you might have a failing battery, ie it's taking charge but not keeping it. A sure sign of charging problems on V11s it that when volts get low, say 8.5v, the tacho stops working. If you see this happening on your bike, don't assume it's a dud tacho, ride home asap and check the above. Hope this helps Cheers Guzz Hi Guzz, didnt have the time to sort things out fully, but did manage to measure the charging voltage at the battery with the engine running. With a bit of revving that was 14.0 volt, so that would seem OK. Next, I'll clean the regulator mountings to make sure it does make a good ground. I've got to improvise a bit with workspace at the moment (too many vehicles, too little space) so anything involving taking fairing parts off will have to wait a bit.Cant get at the connector of the alternator to the loom very well right now. cheers tom

Thanks for all the advice guys, gives me something to do tomorrow :-) I'll let you know how I get on. Tom

Now that it gets colder I've noticed a new problem with the electrical system. It seems that the battery isnt charged sufficiently during my ride to work and back. When it is really cold the battery simply is too weak by the end of the week to start the engine, even though it is only a year old. I've had this problem before on a Guzzi, on a 750 Targa to be precise, and I later learned the the generator on these bikes was rather undersized. Another problem that still persist is the fluctuating brightness of the lights, both headlight and instrument lights. A couple of times they become unusually (to me at least) bright then dim down again, untill they settle, like there is some sort of voltage surge. Doesnt affect the engine though. last but not least the indicators blink faster at really high speeds/revs (say 100 mph/6000 revs or so) I checked all earth connections I could find and they seem all right. So the big question now is: what could that be? To me it would seem that there is something wrong with the voltage regulator but what do I know...? best regards Tom

The word 'lawyer' usually works wonders in obstinate cases like this one....especially in combination with you reminding him that his ignorance/sloppiness might well have resulted in serious injury (if not worse...) Writing stroppy letters can be very relieving :-)

No, the clatter you get is from the crappy single plate clutch tryng, and often succeeding, in beating the flywheel to death. Since the clutch and flywheel should be dry no oil change will fix the problem. If there is undue knocking from the gearbox it will be a combination of too low an idle and unballanced throttle bodies. Once again, changing the oil won't tune the engine. Pete I took his suggestion with several grains of salt (it was mid-winter anyway ). But it goes to show how 'knowledgeable' some dealers are.

What pratts :-( . Check that they screwed in those stubs to the same depth, otherwise you will get alignment problems. I can imagine the stub and/or bearing on the left hand side may also have suffered. The dealer I bought my bike from said the clatter it makes when running in neutral was due to the input shaft of the gearbox. Using a very good gear oil would reduce it. Yeah sure

The world is going to the dogs while we're discussing washers looking at your photos more closely it would indeed appear as if that washer/ring/thingy is in the bearing rather than on top of it as it is on the sport1100. I found a thread in a sport1100 forum dealing with just this. this would mean that they are indeed different and SD's catalogue is wrong, or am I jumping to conclusions? I'm not a native english speaker either but I'd say the correct term for this item would be a shim, ie a thing that is used to take up play or adjust something. enough nitpicking for today

Hubert, on my V11 it looks just as in your pictures. no problem there. But if you look on the Stein Dinse site und V11 parts lists, and click on this item number 33 it says 'washer (Scheibe Nadellager Sport1100 ie)' (needle bearing washer sport1100 ie) so it definitely is a washer (there is even a picture of it, and it doesnt look as if it should cost €5.60 ) , but not all V11 bikes have it/need it apparently... tom

Hi, Tom, I believe the rear drives are completely different on your two Guzzis. I wondered if maybe the washer was original to the 1100 series, but not needed for some reason on the V11. Hi Docc they certainly look different but if you look in the V11 parts diagram there is this washer which has the same part number as the 1100 one. Understanding Guzzi exploded drawings is an art in itself. Not everything is where you expect it to be. Even if you bike is running perfectly there is always something to keep you busy

On my V11 I have neither this washer nor a gap. in other words there wouldnt be space even if I wanted to fit one. On my sport1100 I dont have a washer either but there is most definitely a gap (there are other bits missing as well so some @#$%&**!! has had has paws on the bike.) Maybe the manufacturing tolerances in the swing arm dictate whether a washer is needed? I wouldnt put it past Tom