1
« Last post by Guzzidad on December 11, 2025, 08:12:11 PM »
Back in 04 I struggled with choosing a Quota or a Tiger. I eventually chose the Tiger and no regrets. Put over 100K miles on it. But if that Yamaha was available back then it would have been my first choice.
2
« Last post by DC950 on December 11, 2025, 08:05:18 PM »
Gaerne Balance Trials boots. It seems they're called Classic now. As protective as any street boot and just about as comfortable to walk in as any boot. They are the widest motorcycle boot I've ever been able to squeeze my wide feet into I switched to Gaerne GTX Dakar because the are much more protective. Not as wide unfortunately and not nearly as comfortable to walk in. If you don't buy your boots locally, IMHO this is the best place to get any riding boots. The owner is very nice and incredibly knowledgeable about just about every boot made: https://www.atomic-moto.com/
3
Finally got the final drive leak taken care of, and hopefully it stays that way so my next trip is less leaky. The pinion and ring gear were torn up and my local shop replaced the whole unit. More on that in the thread for the leak: https://wildguzzi.com/forum/index.php?topic=123836.msg1914649#msg1914649
4
Documenting this here in case it's useful to anyone else who encounters this issue in the future, but unfortunately this ended up not being a simple matter of too much oil in the bevel box. After having the seals inspected in Portland, Oregon with no issues observed, and then having the input shaft seal replaced (though it appeared fine) in Fort Collins, I just picked up the bike back from having the final drive replaced entirely and am hoping for some trouble free miles on my Moto Guzzi now. The input shaft seal still looks good with no visible damage to it. This was my first shaft drive motorcycle so I'm no expert here, but my theory based on observation is that the pinion gear making too much contact on the bottom half. How do you adjust the depth of the pinion into the ring? I see a washer that may act like a shim there. Funny enough, the workshop manual I have (PDF) for my bike is in English, but switches to Italian when providing the instructions for checking the backlash here! In English though it does state "SINCE THE BEVEL GEAR IS A SAFETY COMPONENT, IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN TO PER- FORM ANY PINION/SPROCKET CLEARANCE ADJUSTMENTS FOR THE ENTIRE DURATION OF THE COMPONENT'S SERVICE LIFE. IF THE CLEARANCE IS NOT WITHIN THE REQUIRED TOL- ERANCE, THE ENTIRE BOX WILL HAVE TO BE REPLACED." I think this was out of adjustment on my bike. If it wasn't out of whack since new, then it may have been caused at one of the two rear tire changes when the rear wheel and bevel box would have come off. I think that issue of improper contact from pinion to ring gear chewed up the teeth, and that either the poor contact or heat may have over pressurized the pumpkin and caused oil to pass by the input shaft seal. Does that sound plausible? It's a mystery to me, and hopefully fixed now since the whole unit has been replaced, so trying to diagnose it is just to satisfy curiosity. I don't know that anything I could have done would have prevented this.        "COMPLETE TRANSMISSION BOX" was $789.98 and they reduced the labor to a half hour since this was a return issue from them having replaced the input shaft seal in October, the damage with tax came out to $935.32
5
I picked up my V7 850 at Aces Motorcycles' new location in Frederick today, after having dropped it off as a return visit for the final drive leaking back in mid-October. The address is listed as Frederick in some places, Erie in others, but it's easy to find as it's right off I-25 and used to be a Harley dealer. The address is 3761 Monarch Street, Frederick, CO 80516. There were a few Aprilias on the floor, but I only noticed one Moto Guzzi. I asked the service writer, who might have better info than who I spoke with last on the phone, and his words were "I'm not sure if we're going to continue to carry Moto Guzzis" So, I guess it's not a sure thing, and it didn't look good on their floor. Apologies for any misleading in here. I'm quite disappointed by this uncertainty as it's my nearest MG dealership, and with the new location it's hardly "near" anymore. Aces replaced the final drive on my V7 850, and I haven't put enough miles on it yet to know if that's the end of it, but I sure hope it is! I'll take some photos of the old final drive and post them to the more relevant thread: https://wildguzzi.com/forum/index.php?topic=123836.0Here are some photos from the new Aces Location. It's a lot nicer than the awkward showroom sprawl of walking through multiple rooms, and then small parts & service area in a separate building at their former Fort Collins location.        
6
« Last post by ridingron on December 11, 2025, 06:48:26 PM »
Good to hear you're enjoying the new ride! 
7
« Last post by inditx on December 11, 2025, 06:42:20 PM »
Rode at 35 this morning but it was 50 this afternoon!
Still diggin’ this bike!
She runs like a scalded dog! (although I would never scald a dog fwiw)
inditx
8
« Last post by cmice on December 11, 2025, 06:24:07 PM »
While it seemed I've gone quiet, I've been doing quite a bit of work behind the scenes. With the motor completely apart to assess the bearings, it was time to start building the shopping list...and that covered a lot of ground.... First-up was the re-plate vs. buy-new decision on the cylinders since my chrome has definitely failed and bare aluminum was showing, plus the bearing damage as a result. I followed Charlie's math to look at re-plate vs. new, and indeed, buying new pencils out to the best eventual outcome. I checked with the two usual places for re-plating, and one would come in about $100 cheaper than buying new (still no pistons or rings), the other would come in at $20 more expensive than buying new (with no pistons or rings). Plus shipping back and forth, when you add up all the nickels, buying new sets gets you the most bang for the buck. In the end, I flipped for 83mm Gilardonis which included pistons, pins, piston rings, and head gaskets. Existing con-rods will be re-used; question as to whether the small-end bushings need to be mic'ed and reamed to size for the new pins, or close-enough and just run it? Do the rings need to be gapped or do they come pre-gapped? (I'll check them regardless) Speaking of conrods, that leads us to the great bearing replacement. The chrome seemed to have done a number on the conrod big-end bearings and the front main bearing. The rear main looks fine, and the journals all mic out to standard size and look great. The rocker pins also look fine, as did the cam jounrals. The cam bearings looked not great, so a *very* gentle touch-up with 1000 grit cleaned them up - called it close enough, we'll leave them alone. Can these ever be replaced? Seems like if you could find plain bearings the right size, a line boring machine would make this not too bad a job. Ok, back to the update - given we're replacing the front main, that leads us to the topic of adding an oil filter. The newer-style (with filter) front main bearing is cheaper and more available than the non-filter one; plus by adding a filter, we should be protecting all these expensive parts so this won't have to be done again by me or the next owner. So new-style front main, plus a filter-in-pan off of Ebay, all that's left is the machining. I didn't take a lot of photos, but there's a great writeup of the process here for those considering the change: https://www.advrider.com/f/threads/moto-guzzi-early-big-twin-oil-filter-conversion.257513/Just finished the machining today. Hardest part, as others have found, is 1) having a 8mm drill long enough to do the deep oil passage (200mm will do it), and 2) the fixturing to hold the housing square with all the studs still in, and 3) having a machine tool with enough throat to hold this massive stack of parts plus extra-long drill (hint: the Bridgeport wouldn't accommodate just the housing with studs, let alone a Jacobs chuck and long drill). Thankfully a friend has a habit of collecting old machine tools, including a 3-phase Rockwell gear-drive drill press - plenty of throat, nice and square and solid so nothing wiggles around while the quill spans a massive distance. Little spooky working on that thing because if it snags on anything it will take your arm off. All that's left is to fab the blanking plate for the old pickup, and then we can start putting the motor back together. Lastly, earlier I'd posted a photo of the starter ring-gear and asked about how this could happen and whether to run it or not. While I was browsing on eBay for a filter-in-pan sump, I found a listing for an "EV" flywheel and cover for cheap. This alleged EV flywheel looked like a single-plate unit (which is junk) but figured what the hell - grab the assembly and if all I keep is the cover and ring-gear then great. It showed up - and to my delight, it is completely unused and is not a EV flywheel at all, but a good-old multi-plate flywheel. As an added bonus, the scale says the flywheel weighs in at 7.2lbs instead of the stock 9.2lbs(!) - so I guess I scored a lightweight LeMans flywheel by accident! Gonna run that mofo for sure. :) Next update should be about putting the motor back together - plus a fun side-quest in 3d-printing.
9
Now that I have confirmation that she runs, I can move on to the brakes. I've got all the parts lined up: Brembo brake rebuild kits, new brake lines, etc. The first challenge is removing the frozen pistons. I've stalled on the pistons since I don't have an air compressor to pop them out. I've unsuccessfully tried a couple different techniques gleaned from online videos. I'll check with a neighbor to see if he's got a compressor and go from there.
Definitely a fine balance between elbow grease, brute strength, the right tools, know-how and stick-to-itiveness that I will be straddling throughout this process. So far, so good.
Question regarding the electrical system:
I'm considering going with Greg Bender's wiring harness/loom setup. Aside from the basics, he does offer a lot of options, upgrades such as the Domino handlebar switches. Has anyone upgraded their fuse box for a modern one that would allow for a 32Ah battery instead of the standard 20Ah? I'm leaning towards upgrading all of the electrical but I'm curious to know what most folks do.
If the caliper pistons are steel, heat the caliper body and apply your favorite penetrating fluid. Before using iar to pop the pistons out, wrap the caliper in a sturdy rag to keep the piston from flying off and causing havoc. I've never upgraded the fuseblock - just cleaned the fuseholders and made sure they gripped the fuses tightly and used new fuses. I would recommend wiring in a relay to power the coils, and rewiring the starter relay so that it receives power directly from the battery. I'd also recommend LED bulbs in the dash warning lights so that you can see them in direct sunlight, LED headlight and taillight as well (saves power and brighter). If you install an LED in the "battery" warning light, then you'll need one of Greg's "bootstrap harnesses" in order for the charging system to function. I also recommend removing the four wires to the ignition switch from the 12(?) connector on the main harness and putting them in their own 4 (spade) terminal connector. The dinky Molex pins of the 12(?) pin connector aren't up to handling the amps involved and can heat up, melting the plastic connector shell. Domino switches would likely be better than the stock switches, but if the throttle is part of the right switch, then you'll need a different throttle also and possibly custom length cables. I'd stick with the 20 ah battery and change the starter to a Valeo type (plenty of copies for less than $100 on ebay).
10
« Last post by faffi on December 11, 2025, 04:38:54 PM »
I think my proudest moment was when I rode my brand new CB100 home from the dealer in pouring rain. I felt like I was on top of the world. No other motorcycle have come close to that sensation for me.
|
Recent Posts