pete roper

Haven't had a chance to read it yet but another good maxim to work on is 'If it feels better? Then it almost certainly is!' I spend a LOT of time trying to convince customers that they DON'T want to spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on *performance* work on their motors when they would be far better off spending a few hundred on the forks and shocks and (Usually.) going back to stock, or narrower in the case of later bikes, tyre profiles. Needless to say this arrouses deep suspicion in the sort of people who have their hair growing out of a pit in the top of their heads, who breathe exclusively through their mouths and whose lips move, very slowly, while reading the headlines in the tabloid press. The good thing is that these people, even though they are frequently well cashed up, (How is it that people who are as thick as pig dribble still seem to get obscenely rich? ) invariably think I'm trying to *trick* them by not selling them an endless procession of extravagant engine bling so they sod off elsewhere to have their wallets emptied. Occasionally I see them again after their bikes have been 'Worked' by an 'Expert'. This is particularly good fun if I'm on my Convert and manage to round up someone on a *75HP* big-bore Lemans . Suspension and brakes FIRST! Then gearbox. Then motor and FI. Only way to go. Pete

The question is 'Will it fit?' While I'm not sure I do know that Mr.Denny's Scura had a 180 on the back and I *think* that has a 5 inch rim. When we swapped it for a 170 at my workshop I seem to remember that it was in fairly close proximity to the shaft but I can't categorically say that another 5mm would of caused it to rub on it. As Ratch says, if you want your Guzz to handle like a pig on stilts then go as fat as you can on the back! If you want it to behave sensibly go smaller. Incidentally I recently went to a 170 section on the back of the Griso and it has made it a lot more whippy! Onl;y problem is I don't use as much of the front tyre now so all the poofter dags are still in the edges! With the first set of Rennsports, (A dreadful tyre! Deafeningly noisy!) I managed to wear the elephants off the edges (Which for a scaredy-cat slowpoke like me is really quite impressive!) Pete

This is one of those interesting little gramatical differences between US English and., I think, everyone elses. In the US if someone doesn't care about something the 'Could care less' For the rest of us? We 'Couldn't care less'! Fun innit! Pete

And I see this time and time again. While I can give no guarantee that the actual temerature reading given by the tool is accurate it is, or at least seems to be, consistently, inaccurate . I'm not telling people that this is a panacea for all ills. Simply that it is something that is worth checking and if there IS a false reading being obtained by the 'pooter it can, if it is off by a large enough amount, make a noticeable difference to both performance and fuel ecconomy. Watch it Jacko or I'll come over and bash ye with me handbag! Pete

This is very interesting and ties in with what I would of expected. More sophisticated than my toggle switch idea but. Interestingly over the last week or so I've been watching the fuel consumption on the Griso very carefully. As you may or may not know the *new* models have all sorts of silly bling in their dashboards. One of these is a function that tells your fuel consumption in Litres per 100Km. Now when you start the bike up it's always awful 7.8 to 8.2 L per 100. It takes about 25Km for the figure to stabilize, (You have two trip functions on the new dashboards so you can do a fuel consumption from cold and then when you reckon it's hot enough you can re-set the second one and start with a 'Hot' reading.) Consistently over summer consumption when hot has indicated, (And this is only an indication, the function seems consistent but pessimistic!) the machine said it was using 6.0 to 6.2 L per 100 but now the weather has got cold this has gone up to 6.4 per 100 or higher even when it's raining which would seem to confirm what I've always thought about big blocks, especially squarefins, being over finned to buggery! So what does this all mean? Well, I dunno really but it would seem to indicate that the variable nature of the signal from the ETS does have a consistent effect in varying the fuel delivery. In a lot of ways I'd like to do what John has done and give myself the choice to take it out of the equation. There again the Mighty 'G' runs so sweetly at any time I really can't be bothered. John? I hope your last comment wasn't an indication that you think I think you're full of sh!t? I don't always agree with people, (look at the vitriol I'm copping over on Phil's board for having the temmerity to disagree with someone!) but I'll always respect their opinions unless they suggest people do something that is downright dangerous! Your sollution seems elegant and extremely sensible to me! Pete

I think that the main reason why people suggest checking the level cold is to allow the oil to drain down and also to de-aerate. Personally I don't think it matters a toss. Check the bloody level with the bike upright and the engine turned off! As long as there is oil on the stick you know it's got some in so it shouldn't start squeaking when you're riding along! With 'Broad Sump' models it would seem pudent to keep the level towards the top of the marks on the stick. Pete

(Gurgle!) WD40 on brakes????? God's teeth! Dan, I too would worry about the application of lubricants near to the rotors which is why I made such apoint in my previous post about it being the responsibility of the individual to make sure they didn't over lubricate them. The stuff I use for the purpose is an aerosol can of a product, (Who's name elludes me.) that is specifically designed to work in *dry* type environments. Using a tube applicator in the nozzle I only use the tiniest squirt, barely enough for the substance to get to the end of the tube! Any excess that does appear around the bobbins is wiped off with a clean rag and I then wipe the rotor faces with metho to remove any traces that may of got on the disc. Look, it works for me. I'm not saying it's a 'Must Do' or that there aren't equally good alternatives but I hate seized, pulsy, discs and with care they can be avoided. Pete

Unless the sprockets are horribly hooked, (Unlikely at that mileage.) they will be fine with a new chain. The sprockets are poisonously expensive. Good thing they last a L-O-N-G time Pete

As Nige says, John at Motocicolo is good. I'm a couple of hours away in Bungendore just North of Canberra. More than happy to do a V11, yes, I'm a service agent and yes I have all the FI diagnostics. Pete

I'm not familiar with any 'Wonder Products' for brakes I'm afraid. This is one area where I'm probably less likely to be able to offer sensible advice than pretty much anyone else. As you probably know Oz is generally a hot, dry place apart from the bits that are very hot and wet and very cold and dry . The universal thing is that we have little cold, wet, weather of the sort that requires the application of salt or other such brake seizing crud. The important thing to remember is that anything that interferes with the free movement of the pistons and pads is a bad thing. The problem is that any sort of lubricant is liable to get on the pads or disks and diminish or destroy their ability to fo their task of turning kinetic energy into heat! As I said, we don't have the horrible, grimy, corrosive stuff that makes all *modern* brakes bind up and seize in European winters but I do have a cleaning regieme with my brakes. Every time I have to replace the pads I will clamp all but one piston in a caliper and pump the other one out as far as I dare. I'll then clean it thoroghly with brake cleaner and a 'Scotchbrite' type spongy thing to remove any traces of manked-on dust etc. before pushing it back into the caliper. I'll repeat this with all of the pistons before installing new pads and bleeding the fluid. On the front of the Griso or any model with 4 piston calipers this is a bit boring and time consuming but it does ensure that any residual muck that has been deposited on the bits of the pistons that are proud of the seals in the caliper can't rip the seals to bits when they, the pistons, are pushed back into the caliper. Is this overkill? I have no idea but seeing as seal kits for later Brembos seem to be made of unobtanium it seems like cheap insurance to me!!!! As for the lubricants? Well, if you do pop out a piston and need to re-install it or if you are simply rebuilding a rebuildable brake then I use lashings of PBR rubber grease on the seals on assembley, The 'Brown Stuff' mentioned above is I reckon one of the many anti squeal products on the market designed to be put on the back of the pads to help diminish brake squeal. Since I've not had a bike with squealing brakes I imagine this is probably mainly a 'Car' thing. One thing that is worth doing occasionally is using a TINY bit of lube on the bobbins that disc mounts to the spider on. DO NOTE THOUGH THAT I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY IF YOU OVER-LUBE YOUR BOBBINS AND END UP WITH LUBE ON THE DISC AN NON FUNCTIONING BRAKES. If you are so dim that you can't work out that adding a slipery thing to a braking surface is wrong then don't even f#cking attempt it, OK? Can I be any clearer than that? Pete

Yes, they work for any chain driven big block. PAul? Why remove the spring? Pete

Dennis, see your PM. You slipped under the radar too. Appologies. Plate will be out tomorrow. as will one for Rasmus in Volvo-land Todd gets a freebie 'cos he's goin racin' Pete

No worries Todd. This batch is the 'Racing' ones. made out of 1.6mm steel . Actually the price of the 2mm plate had gone up astronomically but they had a load of 1.6mm lying about so in the interests of keeping 'em relatively cheap I said go with the 1.6. I don't think that the reduction in thickness is going to cause any problems and may also help prevent the need to modify the sidestand mount when all the munt is pushed down a bit by the plate. pete

Next run of sloppage sheets is ready. I have a feeling that I owe someone one. A C.S. Morrison from Queensland? Can they just confirm as I've tried e-mailing and got bounced? Pete

Gosh there's a lot of tripe here this morning! Is it always like this and we just have some good axemen doing the *moderating* or have they just suddenly gone barmy! If the former? I dipds me lid to you, it must take half a lifetime deleting the crap! Pete

I would suggest that rather than screwing the dipstick in simply rest it on the threads and then keepadding oil until it reaches the 'Full' mark. While 1100 Sportis don't seem to be so prone to the problem it might be worth you doing a search on this site on the benefits or otherwise of slight over-filling of the sump and 'Sloppage Sheets' Pete

Thanks for the confirmation. It's nice to feel vindicated. I make no claims to *knowing it all*. In fact I'm pretty much a newbie when it comes to FI and I spend a LOT of time listening and learning from others about not only potential problems but also how the whole system works. Perhaps the fact that I am willing to say "I don't know" makes me some sort of charlatan? I tend to think the opposite though Pete

Thanks for the clarification Murray. OK, so the resistance falls with an increase in temperature rather than rising but the principle remains the same. So what is the problem with your bike and have you found a cure? Nige has been having a hell opf a time trying to get his Rosso working and any identified problems can be good grist for the mill. On earlier bikes where the temperature sensor was in the rocker cover I suppose that it could, vaguely, be described as an oil temperature sensor as it did get splashed with oil . As you point out though the one that screws into the back of the head is nowhere near any oil, (Or it shouldn't be!) so the refference is spurious. Pete

This is the phenomenon of heat 'Soak Back' and yes, if you have a poorly reading/poorly contacting ETS these are precisely the symptoms I'd be looking for. Mind you I'm a complete f#ckwit so what would I know? Pete

Errr? Guys. Unless Im seriously mistaken the ETS is a simple thermistor. It doesn't ground to *earth* at all. What it does is increse the resistance in the body of the unit as it heats up. This is the reason it has more than one wire going into it . It's not like the oil pressure switch for example which is a simple 'Off/On'. In my experience what *Appears* to be the problem is that the tip of the sensor doesn't make contact with the *bit* in the mount that screws into the head. This means that there will be an air gap and air is a really good insulator so even in the *secured* environment the temperature differential will be enough to cause problems. It's interesting this has come up as I was at a rally this weekend and took my Axone tool up with me purely to show anyone who was interested what it could tell you about your bike. I plugged it in to several bikes, both V11's and Calis, and I think that most of the people who were there (Morris Sod was one of 'em.) would agree that the temperature reading being sent to the computer was CONSISTENTLY considerably lower than the actual head temperature. In some cases by many tens of degrees centigrade. Now just call me 'Mr. Stupid', (And the local Guzzi Guru told one owner that what I had said was 'Bullshit') but if the ECU is being told that the engine is cold it's going to deliver more fuel to it? No? If you aren't going to have a variable delivery system why bother with an ETS? Why not just have a 3 position 'Toggle switch' that will send a choice of one of three signals to the ECU, one for 'Cold', One for 'Hot', and one for 'F#cked if I know?' somewhere in the middle? You'd always be able to get the motor running, it is after all what a conventional *Choke* on a carb does, innit? So working on the principle that the ECU is getting a false temperature reading it will tend to consistently over fuel. This will lead to poor fuel ecconomy and, oddly enough. a tendency for the engine to foul plugs and run like a munter in traffic. STRANGELY ENOUGH exactly the symptoms that the owner who the 'Guru' told my theory is 'Bullshit' is suffering from. Did it make me a bit cranky to a.) be treated like a c@nt for offering to try and help someone? Yes, a bit, even though the object concerned was pissed off his face and looking to be beligerent. b.) Be labeled as a BS artist by someone who couldn't be bothered to approach me and even discuss it, (Hey! I might of LEARNED something, but all this stuff has to be kept *secret*, eh? ). Yeah? Well @#!#$# 'em. It'll be a cold day in hell before I attend that rally again. (No reflection on Morris or the 'Nevilles' in this, they seemed genuinely interested, and all I was trying to do was show people something they wouldn't usually see. ) Who knows? I might be completely, brain-dead wrong, (Although I think any manual will tell you otherwise, they even tell you how to test the thermistor the 'Old Way' with a kettle and a mercury thermometer ) but I'll wager a barn full of bloated Bulgarian bibliographers that while a playing up ETS might not be the only problem the fact that it's staring him in the face like an excited peadophile it is certainly worth addressing and can't be lumped in as 'Bullshit'. Gah! That sort of shit really hacks me off. I left the rally at 7.00AM this morning and just got back to Bungendore. 1178 Kms in 13.45. Not bad for an old git on a Griso with a wogged pipe! Pete

Y'see Forrest? Yopu're so unobservant. From affar it looks like a gold breastplate. Closer to you'll see it's a rubber chicken See ya there. Pete

The V11's and 1100 Sports etc. use M6 high tensile bolts to retain the ring gear and from memory there are ten of 'em rather than the earlier eight used on the flywheels with 8mm bolts. The bolts themselves use Schnoore washers and I just install 'em with a blob of 243 on 'em and do 'em up until the washers flatten. I've never used a torque wrench on such fasteners in my life but if you feel the need I'd suggest that you use whatever the recommended torque is for M6 HT. Pete

Any leakage and fork problems I can't give any suggestions for BUT the spluttering may be down to the engine temperature sensor. The vast majority of these don't seem to seat properly so the ECU doesn't get a good temperature refference. This means the ECU always thinks that the motor is running colder than it is. In extreme conditions it can cause the plugs to foul. Result? spluttering and chuffiness. Pete

Actually I remember that case particularly well. It was one of those *very* rare moments where you make the correct diagnosis just like that. It wasn't jetting, it was slides. the slides in both sets of carbs Mark had tried were just far too lean for that bike. Richer slides and it couldn't bog just of idle, the rest of it was fine. The scariest part was I took it for a ride in LA, (Albeit a very short one!) wearing one of those ridiculous beanie helmets that was about 20 sizes too small! I have a vast head, (In no way connected to what's inside it! It's all bone!) and this f*cking thing sat there like a thimble on an elephant's trunk. Add in a single leading shoe front brake and no other knowledge of the bike and it was a recipe for disaster! And despite Jon's flattering description I'm actually a very ordinary mechanic. But I consider myself a 'Mechanic', not a 'Technician' or an 'Oil and chain changer'. That's good enough for me Pete

Two things about the valves. 1.) The shim stack. This is used to preload the valve springs so their seated pressure is correct. When the seats are re-cut it may be neccessary to add more shim to keep the preload correct. Most if not all big block valves are shimmed to the same height (47mm compressed height? Something like that.) but different models over the years have used a variety of springs. Most decent head shops will have a spring tester and the spring preload can be establishedwith this by compressing the spring to suit and getting a reading. Too little shim will lead to inadequate preload and a tendency for the vales to float earlier than they should. Too much, especially with a higher lift cam, can lead to the springs reaching coilbind with disastrous results. 2.) Cutting in new valves. Whenever new valves are installed it is extremely wise to re-cut the seats to suit. Even if you get a clean witness mark in the centre of the valve mating face there will of been wear to the surface. The valve and it's seat should have a difference of a degree or so to help cope with the deformation of the valve lip when seated. If this isn't established on installation it can lead to premature wear, hot-spots and burning of the valve due to it's lessened ability to dump heat when seated. In a lazy old slug like a Guzzi motor it isn't probably going to be an issue so much as some but I'd still recommend that the job be done correctly to maximise the life of the valve and seat. Lapping of valves is something that really went out with the Ark. A modern Serdi type bench will cut valves and seats accurately enough that no lapping is required, even a set of decent hand cutters will need nothing more than a quick wallop on the head of the valve with a ball-peen hammer to seat the freshly cut valves correctly. I don't think I even own a lapping cup any more? Although I do have some grinding paste somewhere! Pete