More questions

[BrianG]

Completed the Out of Province Safety Inspection, and the RIV Compliance Inspection today........... more questions!

 

Clattering noise at idle.... sounds like a big end bearing...... goes away when clutch lever is pulled..... Is this NORMAL??

 

Manual says 0.002 valve lash on both sides for "American Spec". Rest of world is 0.004/0.006. Now that the bike is free of y'all.... can I set it to these more intelligent lash settings?

 

Is the electric fuel solenoid a frequent source of fuel leak?

 

Is the throttle butterfly shaft a common source for fuel drips?

 

Here is the vacuum take-off for sync'ing the throttle bodies??

 

Is there ANY vacuum take-off, anywhere?

 

Is that retarded battery placement correct??

 

What terrific workmanship....... mostly!!

[RichMaund]

Clattering noise at idle.... sounds like a big end bearing...... goes away when clutch lever is pulled..... Is this NORMAL??

 

-Yes. A dry clutch will rattle like that.

 

Manual says 0.002 valve lash on both sides for "American Spec". Rest of world is 0.004/0.006. Now that the bike is free of y'all.... can I set it to these more intelligent lash settings?

 

-I always used the world specs with good results.

 

Is the electric fuel solenoid a frequent source of fuel leak?

 

-Yes. It's a POS. The dripping fuel will remove insulation from the wires and make it REALLY interesting. Replace with a manual petcock like the newer Guzzi's came with.

 

Is the throttle butterfly shaft a common source for fuel drips?

 

-Yes. Probably some crud in the injector. Then it seeps and drips. Mine did this if I went too long between riding it. Run some injector cleaner through it during a ride that uses up the whole tank of gas in one day. That'll clean the injector and won't let the nasty cleaner sit in the tank longer than needed. Also, change out that electric petcock. Damn things weep anyway and don't seal well. Closing the manual petcock when you park will prevent weeps like this on the throttle bodies.

 

Here is the vacuum take-off for sync'ing the throttle bodies??

 

-Should be a vacuum hose connected to each rubber throttle body fitting between the TB and the head. They go to the charcoal cannisters. Just diconnect them for a bit and plug in your balancer meter.

 

Is there ANY vacuum take-off, anywhere?

 

-See above.

 

Is that retarded battery placement correct??

 

-Yes. Works fine as long as you don't overcharge the battery from an external charger. That can build pressure up in the cells and acid will come out! Many owners convert to a gel cell battery. Hope this helps.

[stormsedge]

I think Rich aced the quiz...I'll just copy his answers.

[BrianG]

Thanks Rich!

 

It's certainly a class piece! Just a bit of "improving" and it'll become my favorite bike, I'm sure! Besides, in this town of just

[RichMaund]

Remember Folks... I'm a retired Navy Nuc Plant mechanic. An "Uber Geek" of the wrenching set. Only the Navy Missile Techs were bigger/better geeks than us! My neighbor is one of those. (And he owns a Harley, but I don't hold that against him.) We joke about it often. He retires in a couple years and can't wait for the more relaxed lifestyle us older folks have. Compared to the "data dump" (i.e. Empty everything in your brain onto paper.) exams I used to take to qualify for plant watchstations, the questions here are easy by comparison. And the great thing is they don't leave me exhausted and with a headache and a cramped up right hand from four hours of intense writing! So I'm happy to help.

The first V11S's were the best of these bikes in my opinion. While I owned my 2000 model, the Lemans owners here were always bringing up problems with their bikes that mine didn't have. Made me even gladder to own it! Not only that, it had the cool red frame.

Yep, the originals had some weak points. All easily addressed. But they were a very "pure" design in the best Guzzi sense and worked extremely well with few compromises.

Too bad I'm not wealthy and can afford to keep all my bikes over the years! But in this case, with the complications of years of on the job injuries getting worse every year plus the problems from my legs getting crushed almost ten years ago, I really belong on a sidecar.

 

Sometimes I think it was all those data dump exams that gave me the bad arthritis in my hands.

 

If you all want to see what I've been up to this Winter, go to my home page below and then to the updated Retro page in the upper left corner. My rig is finished! I made the custom windshield and canvas for it this month. Just waiting for the freeze to end now. This is how us Uber Geeks spend out free time in the shop.

[TX REDNECK (R.I.P.)]

^^ Hey Rich! I just wanted to say 'Welcome Back ' and to let you know I have seen some Guzzi's with sidecars

[al_roethlisberger]

Completed the Out of Province Safety Inspection, and the RIV Compliance Inspection today........... more questions!

 

Clattering noise at idle.... sounds like a big end bearing...... goes away when clutch lever is pulled..... Is this NORMAL??

 

[snip]

 

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Rich covered the rest well, and although his answer about dry clutches being noisy is correct, the noise and scenario that Brian describes is the opposite of how the dual-plate clutch normally sounds(perhaps just a typo? )

 

As long as Brian doesn't have a single-plate clutch equipped bike(i.e. Rosso Mandello, Scura, Tenni) the clutch should rattle when the clutch lever is pulled *in*(clutch disengaged) on a standard dual-plate clutch equipped model. Single-plates tend to exhibit "rattles" in an opposite fashion(as Brian describes), although single-plate behavior and exceptions is an entirely different discussion about exploding flywheels and such

 

Bottom line, a dual-plate shouldn't rattle when the clutch lever is out(clutch engaged).... at least that's my experience.

 

al

[RichMaund]

Thanks Tex.

It's been over a year now since I sold the V11S. Although I often have a bad leg day and should stick to sidecars, I'll have to stay on two wheels if I ever want to have my wife ride with me again. She hates sidecars and gets motion sickness in them. I'm getting an urge to find a old Tonti framed 1000cc Goose to restore for two up touring. I can make an extra large touring tank from 16 gage steel, repaint the bike and I even have a old 1970's Pacifico touring Fairing. The Shadow Classic set aside in the rafters. That's the thing about these old bikes. There's nothing on them I can't rebuild better than new all by myself. So they make terrific projects.

Soon as this freeze is over, I'll start cutting steel for the power hammer frame I'm going to use to shape sheet steel. Much kinder to my hands than hand hammering!

 

I've had the sidecar rig done for a couple weeks now and I'm already planning more projects. It must be a sickness.

[BrianG]

As long as Brian doesn't have a single-plate clutch equipped bike(i.e. Rosso Mandello, Scura, Tenni) the clutch should rattle when the clutch lever is pulled *in*(clutch disengaged) on a standard dual-plate clutch equipped model.  Single-plates tend to exhibit "rattles" in an opposite fashion(as Brian describes), although single-plate behavior and exceptions is an entirely different discussion about exploding flywheels and such 

 

Bottom line, a dual-plate shouldn't rattle when the clutch lever is out(clutch engaged).... at least that's my experience.

 

al

41860[/snapback]

 

It is the rythmic, loud tapping when the clutch lever is not touched, that concerns me. The "rattle" noise when the clutch is pulled is much less disconcerting.