Hello Everyone!
I am not dead
and nor is the Guzzi.
Had a few busy years or at least that’s how it feels like. Now a few weeks ago I finally got some time to work on the Guzzi and build the new battery box that I have been talking about for at least a year.
But first a little introduction to what I have been up to that has been limiting the Guzzi time.
1st big project.
New roof on the house – old cement tile roof was possibly about 70 years old. My best guestimations would say that the roof was laid around 1943-1952 ish. Only have some old news papers to go on. Anyway, it was time for a new roof.
Old roof:
New roof:
Other than the roof project, we have made a ton of other stuff on the house as basement wall drainage, build a large wooden terrace, new insulation in the attic and a load of other stuff. In the workshop there has also been lots of stuff going on. Work table and welding table have been built, painted and put to use, milling machine has been installed, I have built a foot pedal for the TIG welder and loads of other things to get the workspace as I want it. Still a bunch of stuff to do. But now it is very useable.
And now for the Guzzi projects.
Last year I replaced the cam chain and tensioner:
Old tensioner:
New chain and tensioner:
I drove a little bit after this, but the battery died one morning I was going out to ride with one of my friends. I did not want to buy a new small lithium battery as it didn’t have enough capacity to keep the voltage stable when riding in queue or in heavy traffic as in Copenhagen when I visit the office.
A new battery box had to be made to fit the new larger battery. This project got then delayed for about a year until I again had some time to work on it.
The box is made of 2mm aluminium and the hinge for the lid is riveted on with aluminium rivets. The box was then powder coated satin black. To hold the battery steady inside the box it was lined with 3mm rubber sheet. Two connection cables were installed on brass bolts through the top of the box to make replacement of the battery easier. And it looks cleaner when all the cables are fixed to the box instead of all running to the top of the battery.
Box top and sides tacked together:
Top and sides welded together:
Welds ground down and mounting points added:
Test fitting of battery:
Connection cables:
Riveting of hinge:
Finished rivets on box
Bottom lid fitted and secured with special ZF gearbox screws stolen from my friends BMW x1.
Powder coated:
Lined with rubber sheet:
And fitted to the bike:
I was really tired of the two-button indicator system so I have been planning for a long time to replace it with a three-way switch as on normal motorcycles.
I could not find any controls that had the three-way switch, a horn switch and a push button light switch but nothing more. All the switches I could find had several extra buttons I did not need with the M-unit system.
I recently bought a 3D printer, so why not just print a new switch housing to use the moto gadget switches in?
The housing is designed in Fusion360 and printed up using PETG plastic.
The housing was sanded and painted with acrylic spray paint.
To get everything fitted I needed to do a bit of rewiring in the head light and used the chance to clean up on some of the slightly sketchy wiring I had done earlier. Now all connections are done with deutch DTM connectors and all wires are neatly wrapped in shrink wrap. Didn’t get a picture of it.
I also made a set of stainless-steel handlebar weights as I couldn’t find anyone I liked. And this was also almost free
That is, it for this time, but I hope to have time to do some engine work or fabricating my airbox during the winter. There is also a new front fork from a Ducati Multistrada in the works as well as a 1037cc cylinder kit. More to come but the wait will be long