Prize winning Rosso Corsa commits hara- kiri

[HaydnR]

It was only two weeks ago that this fine example and its proud owner was picking up first prize for best in its class at the Scottish Motorcycle Show which is well and truly deserved as this is no unused kept in cotton wool show pony, but an all weather,lives outside under a cover motorcycle used everyday for commuting, weekends away and annual holidays and most importantly Harry Boyle's pride and joy.

 

 

Falkland in Fife was the location for the monthly meet of Moto Guzzi Club GB Scottish branch. The weather was superb for March. It was a good turn out with guzzisti travelling from far and wide. We had an enjoyable lunch chatting with each other in the afternoon sun. Harry and I are the branch organizers so are usually the last to head home after seeing everyone off. Linda(my wife) and I waved Harry off with a hint of envy as today we had travelled by car with the kids in tow. Twenty minutes later I received a call on my mobile, it was Harry, he had broken down. I pulled over and spoke to him, I advised to phone for a recovery truck as from telephone diagnosis it sounded unfixable at the roadside. He wasn't far away so we detoured to go give him some support. When we found him a couple of other members were on the scene. The bike could freewheel, engage all gears, clutch disengaged engine from box ok but wouldn't turn over as if starter jammed so quickly diagnosed engine was fooked, partly confirmed by 90% of the dipstick missing. The truck arrived after a 45 minute wait which wasn't at all bad. The bike and the Harry were loaded and dispatched to my house for further investigation.

 

 

 

Once at home the oil drained and sump dropped, a photo was taken as fat head (me) hasn't got eyes on stalks.

 

 

The photo confirmed that the conrod had gone bang.

 

Further knuckle scraping to inspect further damage proves that all but the top end of the engine is toast.

 

 

 

And as for Harry, he is not one for being down but it's obvious to those who know him that this is very trying.

 

At the point the engine went bang Harry was just starting an overtake, so the power was on, at a guess about 5000rpm. I drained 2 1/2 litres of oil out so don't suspect oil starvation.

[Tom M]

That's awful HaydnR. My condolences to your friend Harry for the blown engine but at least he didn't crash and get injured. I hope he can find a good used motor to replace that one since the rest of his bike looks to be in beautiful condition.

 

I'm no expert but my first guess on the cause of the rod letting go would be an oil filter that had backed off. Harry should have seen the oil pressure light on if that's the case, but it could have been missed in traffic. He should check to see if the filter is still tight. It might be a good idea to remove it and check the gasket too.

[HaydnR]

That's awful HaydnR. My condolences to your friend Harry for the blown engine but at least he didn't crash and get injured. I hope he can find a good used motor to replace that one since the rest of his bike looks to be in beautiful condition.

 

I'm no expert but my first guess on the cause of the rod letting go would be an oil filter that had backed off. Harry should have seen the oil pressure light on if that's the case, but it could have been missed in traffic. He should check to see if the filter is still tight. It might be a good idea to remove it and check the gasket too.

 

Thanks Tom. The UFI filter is tight on, I haven't removed it yet. I made some calls this morning and there are some engines available so should be up and running again soon, it's a lot of money but people often bin their car motors with cambelt failure causing as much un-insured expense.

 

Haydn

[Guzzirider]

Poor Harry I know he kept that bike in pristine condition

[Slavomir Musilek (R.I.P.)]

RIP to that engine

[grossohc]

What a sickener for Harry.

[macguzzi]

Bloody Hell

[richard100t]

Now I dont feel so bad about having to replace my driveshaft

Thats some really bad luck. I havent been on here much lately but thats an extremely rare thing to happen to a v11 motor.

[Admin Jaap]

That's sad... <_ but i really like to know what happened>

[Jamess]

That's sad... <_ but i really like to know what happened>

Polish Poisoning. Most people just do the outside............

[HaydnR]

That's sad... <_ but i really like to know what happened>

 

 

That is 'the' question. I don't have the experience to tell. Was the sheered bolt the cause of the destruction or part of the result of the big end bearing seizing.

 

On another note, we have found a cafe sport engine 6000 miles on it which has damaged heads (smashed fins) which therefore is slightly cheaper than a couple of higher mileage complete 1100 sport engines, one from a sport corsa.

I thought that the lower mileage engine would be the better as I thought that Harry's heads were ok, but discovered this afternoon that the intake valve has bent. I have yet to remove the right hand head but don't foresee any damage. I am thinking that replacing the bent valve and using the original heads may still be an option. What are your thoughts on this?

[richard100t]

That's sad... <_ but i really like to know what happened>

 

 

That is 'the' question. I don't have the experience to tell. Was the sheered bolt the cause of the destruction or part of the result of the big end bearing seizing.

 

On another note, we have found a cafe sport engine 6000 miles on it which has damaged heads (smashed fins) which therefore is slightly cheaper than a couple of higher mileage complete 1100 sport engines, one from a sport corsa.

I thought that the lower mileage engine would be the better as I thought that Harry's heads were ok, but discovered this afternoon that the intake valve has bent. I have yet to remove the right hand head but don't foresee any damage. I am thinking that replacing the bent valve and using the original heads may still be an option. What are your thoughts on this?

I would have to replace the whole engine. If the top half is still mostly good then part it out on ebay to recoup as much of the cost as you can.

[jrt]

Condolences. Glad Harry (or anyone) wasn't hurt.

[Admin Jaap]

That's sad... <_ but i really like to know what happened>

 

 

That is 'the' question. I don't have the experience to tell. Was the sheered bolt the cause of the destruction or part of the result of the big end bearing seizing.

 

On another note, we have found a cafe sport engine 6000 miles on it which has damaged heads (smashed fins) which therefore is slightly cheaper than a couple of higher mileage complete 1100 sport engines, one from a sport corsa.

I thought that the lower mileage engine would be the better as I thought that Harry's heads were ok, but discovered this afternoon that the intake valve has bent. I have yet to remove the right hand head but don't foresee any damage. I am thinking that replacing the bent valve and using the original heads may still be an option. What are your thoughts on this?

I would replace the whole engine. The original heads still could be damaged, although not visible. There's little chance that an engine that has already done several 1000 miles, will break (again).

[Guzzirider]

That Sport Corsa engine at Reboot would be very smooth with those Carillo rods.