Scud

I agree that the problem sounds like something other than the battery. For what it's worth, I had a Yausa in my Scura for a couple years. I only removed it because I'm going to put it in a different bike. The Odyssey is a little smaller, and fits a little easier.

We lost one of the blues greats the day before Chuck. James Cotton:

The clearance to the small eccentric was loose. Thinking back on it, it's probably my fault. When I initially did the shift-improvement on this bike, it was the first time I had ever opened any transmission - so it's not a surprise that I didn't get it right the first time. Then I just assumed all my problems were due to the clutch not being right. I did't notice the lack of bushing till I went to put the cover back on the spare trans. Two bushings. Wouldn't fit. So yeah... I'll go soak both bushings in some penetrating fluid and see if I can remove one easily. Then drain the oil, remove the starter, pop the cover (yet again). I might sneak in a few more miles before I do it though, cuz I am so happy on my red bike now - like this little fellow. Do you know why Moto Guzzi added the metal banana? What's it supposed to do? Cheese-head wants to know.

Thanks Phil - First the good news. I put the spare selector on and it's flawless. Just went for great little night ride and didn't miss even one shift. This includes 3>4 under hard acceleration around 7,000 RPM. Oh happy me! Then the "hope it doesn't bite me later" news... I didn't notice till after I had everything together that the metal bushing (in top left hole of RH selector above) stayed with the spare transmission. So it's all back together with no bushing on the top corner. I assume this is mostly to help with alignment when installing the pre-selector, but if I develop a leak there, at least I'll know what to do. And onto the learning curve. I did compare the two units carefully as you described, then adjusted the eccentric. It was loose beyond any feeler gauge, so I think that was the problem - and that it could have been fixed by the adjustment. But when I saw that the spare had the upgrade, I just had to install it.

Pulled the pre-selector off the LeMans (on right) and off the spare transmission (on left). The LeMans preselector goes through all the gears on the bench, up and down. So I'm really unsure what I would adjust. The spare also goes through all the gears, but it feels even tighter and crisper. And the spare has a metal banana on it. I think I've seen something about this being standard on the 2004 bikes, and that there was an upgrade kit available for the earlier bikes. So... is there any reason I shouldn't just put the newer preselector in?

10 plates - me - bbolesaz - k99 7 more available.

Thanks Docc - I just opened up the parts diagrams for 1999 and 2003 side by side: 1999: http://www.harpermoto.com/parts-by-motorcycle/1990-2000-moto-guzzi-motorcycles/v-11-sport-mandello-1100-1999-2001/frame-en-v11-sport-mandello.html 2003: http://www.harpermoto.com/parts-by-motorcycle/2000-up-moto-guzzi-motorcycles/v-11-cat-1100-2003-2004/frame-en-v11-cat-1100-2003-2004.html The spine frame has subtle differences but the subframes are clearly different. Part number 7 (the lower subframe) in both diagrams is the one I have offered if somebody want to try to fit it.

I'm not usually a hater... but I hate that thick black crinkle bubble peeling flaking farking paint. It peels off the inside of the engine and transmission cases too. What is actually longer compared the red frames? Is the spine itself longer - or is it just that the lower subframe has long arms? From what I can see, the red lower subframes are identical to the black (2002+) ones except for the addition of the bracing arms.

I'll get right on that. All I need is a bathtub and some wagon wheels.

Just throwing a thought out there for you red-frame guys... Maybe Guzzi engineers recognized that the engine (not the tranny) was not adequately supported in the early (red) spine frames. In the red-frame bikes, the engine is only attached via two large bolts in the timing cover, and the mated surface with 6 small studs between engine and transmission. Maybe these transmission cracks are due to the engine's torque reaction having nowhere to go but the timing cover and the transmission mounts. And maybe this is also part of the reason the paper timing cover gasket is prone to breaks and leaks. With the 2002 frame (I posted a picture in post #50 of this thread) the subframe is extended to solidly connect the lower rear portion of the engine block directly to the porkchops (the lower bolt that also mounts the tranny) and the main cross-tube of the spine-frame. This, it seems to me, prevents (or at least limits) twisting action through the transmission case - and maybe why we are not seeing too many cracked tranny cases on 2002 and later bikes. An offer you can't refuse? I have a spare lower frame and I would gladly donate it to anyone willing to try to fit it. It's black. You might want to paint it red - and maybe paint the arms silver to match the engine. You'd have to tap two big holes in the engine block - but the casting is very thick there and the holes would go through to the bell-housing (just as they do in the 2002 and later bikes). This means you can get all the metal shavings out and not be worried about getting metal in the crankcase. I might even be able to find a correct pair of bolts and washers. Anybody want to give it a try?

That's how I knoll, baby. I do some work for the US Army in Fort Leavenworth once or twice a year. The joke, of course, when one goes to Leavenworth, is: "Why, what'd ya do?" To explain for members outside US, there are a few prisons in Fort Leavenworth, including a Federal Penitentiary and the Army's maximum security prison. If you get sent to Leavenworth, you're gonna be there a while.

Maybe the guy has never done this on a V11 before, so his mind is not clouded by *conventional wisdom* and really has found a great way to get the gearbox out&in with minimal wrenching? Sign of brilliance . . . Yes, rather clever. The only thing connecting the rear wheel assembly to the frame is the brake line. I would not have thought it possible to get the tranny out without at least somehow disconnecting the engine from the frame.

I have installed the Phil 'n' Chuck shift extender on the foot lever/linkage. The overwhelming majority of shifts are smooth. I can get clean 3>4 clutchless if I engine brake 3rd, but it will usually miss if I shift under acceleration (with small throttle dip). I can get clean clutchless 4>5>6. I have also felt an occasional clonky, abrupt downshift in some lower gears, but I have not figured out exactly which gears or the conditions that cause it - and as Andy noted, it's kind hard to describe. Here's the layshaft diagram at Harper's website. http://www.harpermoto.com/parts-by-motorcycle/2000-up-moto-guzzi-motorcycles/v-11-cat-1100-2003-2004/driven-shaft-en-v11-cat-1100-2003-2004.html The gears are arranged on the two layshafts like this: Front ----1--5----3---- Rear --4-------6----2- Gears 4 is very far forward of gear 3, maybe that has something to do with why 3>4 is a problem (if the stacks are compressing under acceleration).

Thanks Marty. I went and re-read that thread. I made several posts in there, which are about the same bike as this thread. I never did touch the eccentric adjuster. I could do that - or even swap the whole pre-selector from the other tranny, instead of swapping the whole tranny. This is the kind of thing where it would be nice to have someone who knows what they're doing ride the bike. It's probably something simple - just as the clutch problem was solved by different springs. But I'm still puzzled by the fact that engine braking in 3rd followed by upshift to 4th is smooth - whereas running briskly through the gears under acceleration (with normal clutch and slight release of throttle) causes a false neutral (missed shift) between 3rd and 4th.

The season finale of The Bachelor was on tonight, house full of women... so I did some research... in the form of a canyon blast under a full moon and the scent of nigh-blooming jasmine. Gosh, that makes it sound like something from The Bachelor. Focused on the 3>4 upshift and what's going on that causes occasional missed shifts. The harder I'm accelerating, and quicker the clutch action, the more likely I am to miss the 3>4 upshift. If I back off the throttle in 3rd gear enough to allow mild engine braking (even for a fraction of a second), the 3>4 upshift goes in easily. Good news: knowing this makes it much more rideable - I just have to adjust my habits a little. Bad news: this seems like a problem deep in the gearbox, not a pre-selector issue - which makes swapping trannies even more likely. All thoughts, insights, speculation, or ridicule welcome. What could be going on inside the tranny to produce those symptoms?

Yeah, I knew you wanted that. I was just wondering if the different lower bracket might be an even better solution. It seems the cracked transmissions are mostly on the red-frame bikes - and the later subframe with the arms to the block may be the reason. But that bracket should be pretty for you to make. Then maybe you can get Chuck to make 20 of 'em and paint 'em zinc-chromate green.

Phil, I don't have one of those plates, but I do have an extra subframe from a 2002 bike - with the arms that wrap around the transmission. It would require tapping two holes in the engine case that go through into the bell-housing. I think the Loop and Tonti frames used these locations for frame connections. Bolts are M12 x 1.75 pitch x 35mm length.

I'm sure anybody who can finagle a transmission out like that can get it back together. So pardon me while I take a little detour on your thread and consider whether this an easier way to get the tranny out (since I may be doing it again soon myself). I thought crabbing the frame involved lifting the frame - tilting it forward over the engine by removing the rear-most upper subframe bolt. That would be difficult with a floppy rear wheel and swingarm still attached. So it looks to me like the engine and tranny were lowered as a unit - after detaching the lower engine mount bolts (to the timing chest) and all the transmission mount bolts. Then it could be lowered, just a couple inches, enough to pull the transmission off the engine. Does that sound right? I also note that the throttle bodies are removed - but there must be another reason for that.

Yeah - I saw the straps. But I thought the wheel, final drive and swingarm would have to be disassembled and removed. It looks like he left that whole assembly connected to shock. And it looks like he managed to get the transmission out without "crabbing the frame." Having been in there a few times recently, and thinking about going back in again... I'm both amazed and curious.

That's good news. And did he really remove the transmission just by pivoting the whole rear-end back on the shock mount? That looks like wizardry to me. Or maybe a multi-person job?

Pete's going to make another batch of official Roper Plates. I'm going to bring 10 into the US. I want one, so that makes 9 available. People occasionally find this thread and ask me if I have any more plates (which I don't). So I'll just hold a small inventory and resell as needed. This time, I'm not going to coordinate the gaskets. The plate alone fits into a USPS flat-rate envelope, but the addition of the upper sump gaskets requires a bigger package and more expensive shipping. I don't know the price yet (will depend on how many he makes, currency exchange, and postage from Australia) but I'll just pass along the cost, with slight rounding up for . Post up here or send me a PM if you want to pre-reserve one at a price to be determined later.

Very nice. What rear disc is that?

I got this transmission from eBay. The tranny was $500 and the seller said it was from a Nero Corsa, was in good shape, had about 20,000 miles, and had never been opened. I bought it a few months ago - in response to getting dealer quote of $500 just to open and inspect the transmission from my LeMans - and that was if I took it out of the bike. That was from the local BMW dealer who recently stopped carrying Moto Guzzi. That was also before I had gotten into a tranny for the first time and I was still intimidated by it. So, it cleaned up pretty well, and what I thought might be a leak appears to have been accumulated gunk. I gave it a quick flush with diesel fuel to get some more of the Redline heavy out. Cleaned the sight glass and breather, cleaned out the slave cylinder cavity. And the (nearly unobtainium) slave looks in good shape. The verdict - it runs through all the gears and there is no perceptible play of the output shaft in any gear, nor in neutral. If this transmission works, I'll do an autopsy on the other one to see why it's been having a hard time with 3-4. And maybe LowRyter will get a transmission case to paint silver for his leaky greenie.

I don't get the premium price for the Coppa Italias - not when Nero Corsas, Rosso Corsas, and Cafe Sports all have the same suspension. The Cafe Sport is the same as the Coppa but with more subdued color scheme. Although I think maybe the Coppa was the only one that came with Titanium exhaust from the factory.

I'm having a look at my spare tranny now. It had redline heavy in it, but appears to have been drained. Flushed it with diesel just to be sure... I'm a little gun-shy after looking in the last transmission... If I put that one in and it shifts better than the one that's in my Red LeMans now, that means the-take-out needs rebuilding and I'd be willing to take it apart and sell you just the black case, which you can paint. I remember there was a silver tranny on ebay a while back. Have you checked Teo Lamers? This is fixable...