rossoandy Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Hi all, my Rosso recently suffered a failure of the driveshaft u/j and in removing the shaft I found the bevel box torque arm top bush had failed. Surprise surprise it is not available from Moto Guzzi as a replacement but as a complete arm at around £100. I was not impressed and so pressed out the metal cased rubber bush in my vice (easy) and measured it up. Half an hour later I had found a supplier of a bush which will do the job! £19 for two....#Powerflex.co.uk part no PF99-103 It is a 'top hat' design and may need the top hat sawn off just leaving the 30mm sleeve I need.I dnt see any problem with that. Given more time there may be a supplier of an identical bush on the internet but I was happy with my findings. The bush I have ordered is of the type used in competion suspension joints on cars and so is a harder compound than the soft Guzzi bush but I doubt that I will feel the difference. I wil let you know when its fitted and road tested! Are you also aware there is as replacement driveshaft u/j available for around £8 each from a motor factors? Much cheaper than a new driveshaft but you will need access to a good sized vice and a big hammer! I am dissapointed Guzzi cant supply these sort of individual components directly, not everyone has bottomless pockets! Probobaly a lot of Guzzi owners would enjoy the work and satisfaction of repairing rather than replacing parts. Guzzi list a driveshaft at nearly £400 in the UK and a torque shaft at £100, £500 total for new parts. Repairing them would total around £38!! Thats a lot of petrol for actually riding the bike!!!!! Roll on summer, anyone in Kent or on way to Channel Ports welcome to pop in for a cuppa, Andy Ashford Kent UK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gstallons Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 If you own any other shaft drive bikes you know they are all like that.. Can you post a brand name & part number for the bushing and u-joint? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skeeve Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Didn't we have a thread in here ages ago [when V11s were still in production] about how to build a replacement torque arm w/ proper spherical bearings on the ends & a hollow tube to save unsprung wt, all for less than the Guzzi stock part or the $$$ that Stein Deinse or somebody was offering a similar "go fast" goody? I seem to remember such... Of course your solution RossoAndy appeals to even the most frugal Guzzista! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gstallons Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Didn't we have a thread in here ages ago [when V11s were still in production] about how to build a replacement torque arm w/ proper spherical bearings on the ends & a hollow tube to save unsprung wt, all for less than the Guzzi stock part or the $$$ that Stein Deinse or somebody was offering a similar "go fast" goody? I seem to remember such... Of course your solution RossoAndy appeals to even the most frugal Guzzista! Rossopuro sells them...don't remember the price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felix42o Posted February 11, 2011 Share Posted February 11, 2011 Didn't we have a thread in here ages ago [when V11s were still in production] about how to build a replacement torque arm w/ proper spherical bearings on the ends & a hollow tube to save unsprung wt, all for less than the Guzzi stock part or the $$$ that Stein Deinse or somebody was offering a similar "go fast" goody? I seem to remember such... Of course your solution RossoAndy appeals to even the most frugal Guzzista! Rossopuro sells them...don't remember the price. Think it was like $100 US delivered, but not for sure. I would have built something up, but at the time I wasn't near any tools or a garage. Anyway, the Rossopuro piece has solid spherical bearings as well, and it's fine without the bushings. That particular problem is solved permanently I suspect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gstallons Posted February 12, 2011 Share Posted February 12, 2011 If you owned the Roundel you would be bragging that you paid $400.00 for the part, your dealer only charged you $200 for installation & free latte. Make that the Teutonic Roundel........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
docc Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 How many miles on the Guzzi when the U/J failed? Front or rear? Was it just noisy or worse? Thanks for feedback! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felix42o Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 If you owned the Roundel you would be bragging that you paid $400.00 for the part, your dealer only charged you $200 for installation & free latte. Make that the Teutonic Roundel........... Yeah, no joke there. My BMW experiment has proven that to be very true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gstallons Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 If you owned the Roundel you would be bragging that you paid $400.00 for the part, your dealer only charged you $200 for installation & free latte. Make that the Teutonic Roundel........... Yeah, no joke there. My BMW experiment has proven that to be very true. . There are two categories of BMW riders.... Those I like & those I don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felix42o Posted February 13, 2011 Share Posted February 13, 2011 If you owned the Roundel you would be bragging that you paid $400.00 for the part, your dealer only charged you $200 for installation & free latte. Make that the Teutonic Roundel........... Yeah, no joke there. My BMW experiment has proven that to be very true. . There are two categories of BMW riders.... Those I like & those I don't. That's what they say about each other, too. The airhead camp seems to be less obnoxious. It's a cool bike, and the attention to detail is really impressive for the age, but man is it boring to ride. I don't think I'd think twice about selling it and finding an 850T or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossoandy Posted February 15, 2011 Author Share Posted February 15, 2011 How many miles on the Guzzi when the U/J failed? Front or rear? Was it just noisy or worse? Thanks for feedback! Hi all. The uj first failed at around 10k, I found the play starting to develop during a routine check over and managed to find an automotive distributor who located a matching u/j. The old joint was held in by the traditional circlips and fairly easily removed and replaced. The new joint however had no grease nipple. The same joint has failed again (rear) and has covered around the same mileage despite no grease nipple. This time I failed to pick it up before the rollers had failed completly and unfortunately the housing is damaged,so its a new shaft this time! It is repairable by my machine shop but they very busy at moment so I will repair it at a later date as a spare unit. I felt no unusual vibrations or other signs of failure. Corsa Italiana in London said they never have changed one, yet they kept the shaft assembly in stock so I guess they have sold them before.... I would add the bevel box has now developed a little play on the input shaft bearing, despite a rebuild around 6k ago..I am going ot keep a close eye on that. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossoandy Posted February 15, 2011 Author Share Posted February 15, 2011 Didn't we have a thread in here ages ago [when V11s were still in production] about how to build a replacement torque arm w/ proper spherical bearings on the ends & a hollow tube to save unsprung wt, all for less than the Guzzi stock part or the $$$ that Stein Deinse or somebody was offering a similar "go fast" goody? I seem to remember such... Of course your solution RossoAndy appeals to even the most frugal Guzzista! Rossopuro sells them...don't remember the price. I remeber seeing the rossopuro ones some years back whilst visiting GMG...nice kit but around a £100......various colours too.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jrt Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 If you owned the Roundel you would be bragging that you paid $400.00 for the part, your dealer only charged you $200 for installation & free latte. Make that the Teutonic Roundel........... Yeah, no joke there. My BMW experiment has proven that to be very true. . There are two categories of BMW riders.... Those I like & those I don't. That's what they say about each other, too. The airhead camp seems to be less obnoxious. It's a cool bike, and the attention to detail is really impressive for the age, but man is it boring to ride. I don't think I'd think twice about selling it and finding an 850T or something. I dunno- I rather enjoyed my R90S. The ride is a bit sewing-machine like, but it is a dependable, predictable bike. I put lots of 1000+ mile rides on mine with zero problems. That counts for something, I guess. I liked the attention to detail in the maintenance as well. It was a breeze to work on. Better than an 850T? Nah, about the same. I never hung out with Bimmer riders, though, so I will refrain from any remarks toward them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felix42o Posted February 16, 2011 Share Posted February 16, 2011 If you owned the Roundel you would be bragging that you paid $400.00 for the part, your dealer only charged you $200 for installation & free latte. Make that the Teutonic Roundel........... Yeah, no joke there. My BMW experiment has proven that to be very true. . There are two categories of BMW riders.... Those I like & those I don't. That's what they say about each other, too. The airhead camp seems to be less obnoxious. It's a cool bike, and the attention to detail is really impressive for the age, but man is it boring to ride. I don't think I'd think twice about selling it and finding an 850T or something. I dunno- I rather enjoyed my R90S. The ride is a bit sewing-machine like, but it is a dependable, predictable bike. I put lots of 1000+ mile rides on mine with zero problems. That counts for something, I guess. I liked the attention to detail in the maintenance as well. It was a breeze to work on. Better than an 850T? Nah, about the same. I never hung out with Bimmer riders, though, so I will refrain from any remarks toward them. Oh i agree with you. It's absoulutley...fine. I just don't get much out of it. And it's taken some work to get it right, as the '74 had some strange thoughts on brake design and shock tech. Mine isn't an 'S', though, either. Anyway, didn't mean to hijack the thread!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guzzi2Go Posted February 17, 2011 Share Posted February 17, 2011 How many miles on the Guzzi when the U/J failed? Front or rear? Was it just noisy or worse? Thanks for feedback! Hi all. The uj first failed at around 10k, I found the play starting to develop during a routine check over and managed to find an automotive distributor who located a matching u/j. The old joint was held in by the traditional circlips and fairly easily removed and replaced. The new joint however had no grease nipple. The same joint has failed again (rear) and has covered around the same mileage despite no grease nipple. This time I failed to pick it up before the rollers had failed completly and unfortunately the housing is damaged,so its a new shaft this time! It is repairable by my machine shop but they very busy at moment so I will repair it at a later date as a spare unit. I felt no unusual vibrations or other signs of failure. Corsa Italiana in London said they never have changed one, yet they kept the shaft assembly in stock so I guess they have sold them before.... I would add the bevel box has now developed a little play on the input shaft bearing, despite a rebuild around 6k ago..I am going ot keep a close eye on that. Andy I guess this is where the story about shaft alignment and importance of mid/shaft grease nipple comes in... Just wait till Pete spots it! ;-) Any thougts on relevance of the torque arm bush condition on the RWB life expectancy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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