General Category > Bike Builds, Rebuilds And Restorations Only
Sessantacinque GT rehab (V65 GT), frame crabbing, gear box, transmission
Pescatore:
I am restoring this bike to as authentic and presentable as practically possible.
I did some basic stuff this past winter (oil changes, brake pads, tires, battery...). I drove it for about 100 miles and then the gears broke.
There were also idling problems, getting stuck at 4000rpm. Pulling the choke slightly reduced it to 2000rpm (later about leaky carb floats).
I also see the Motoplat ignition modules are unplugged and there are some ugly looking ignition coils under the tank that I want to understand better.
After moping for a week I decided to take it apart to have the gear box serviced. I took lots of pictures, hoping to remember how to put it
back together. I thought I would share some and maybe they will help someone someday.
This post gave me the guts to take on the work: https://wildguzzi.com/forum/index.php?topic=58695.0
Other similar info on Greg Bender's site gave me great examples.
Thank you!
I started with the intention of just crabbing the frame enough to get at the box and not disconnect too much. I used a bike jack under the engine,
which makes the bike rock between the wheels. Then, I tied straps from the back of the bike to the garage ceiling. This makes the front wheel
rock down, so I don't need to removed it like I saw done elsewhere (thisoldtractor web site).
The disassembly sequence below is how I went about it and there are probably more clever ways of doing it. Sometimes I did things that could have been done later with easier access, but sometimes at the end of the day, I was looking for things to accomplish.
If I were to do it over, I might simplify it. However, I don't want to deviate to avoid confusing future readers.
Let's roll...
Disconnect the fuel hoses at the tank and remove the tank.
Disconnect the breather hoses from the heads. I had to replace them, one was cracked.
Remove the mufflers and rear pegs
Disconnect the negative terminal of the battery (much simpler than positive) and tape it up
Remove the starter motor (couple hex bolts and two wires)
Disconnect the rear brake rod from the pedal (arrow below).
Remove the rear brake caliper (2 hex bolts again) and hang it to the bike frame. I put a few wooden shims between the pads before sliding it off the rotor.
Loosen the 3 frame bolts below the battery tray, but don't remove them yet.
At the front of the frame remove the bottom bolt and loosen the top bolt. Do the left side as well and remove the crash bar (it has two more bolts below the tank).
Unscrew the air box bracket, between the cylinders. I didn't notice this at first and the bracket bent a little.
Remove the cap nuts at the swing arm, 30mm.
Measure how much the swing pin sticks out, both sides. Then turn it to see how tight it is. Mine was about 6.8mm on both sides and it turned almost half a turn before it bottomed out.
Loosen the clutch cable clamp and pull out the whole cable. You can do this later too. I later realized that this is not as built, so I will be looking for a new clutch cable, besides, the jacket is in bad shape.
upload pic
Unscrew the gas intake fitting and slider cap on the carburetor and gently set it aside. On the left carb, the gas fitting can be disconnected only after the carb is out.
Remove the carburetors. You can choose not to remove the carbs, but mine were filthy from years of leaded gas. Loosen the clamps and wiggle them out from the back first.
Careful not to flip the carburetors, the bowl is likely full of gas.
Disconnect the choke cable. Set the carb aside for later.
At this point you are almost ready to lift the top frame. Make sure the frame is supported well. I ended up tying the front and rear with straps for more stability and to spread the weight on the ceiling.
Disconnect the rear shocks and swing them up, out of the way. Notice the spacer behind the shocker mounting hole. There is no spacer on the right shock.
Remove the three frame bolts below the battery tray. The lower bolts that tie the frame bars at the front shpuld already be out.
You are ready to lift.
To be continued soon.
Pescatore:
I need to make a correction. I did not remove the bottom bolt frame in the front, but the top one (brown arrow).
Here is the top frame fully... crabbed.
Pescatore:
The next step is to remove the rear tire and the swing arm.
I did that in reverse and regretted it. The tire being still attached to the final drive and swing arm makes it really cumbersome to disassemble further.
So, at this point remove the rear tire and support the final drive. Don't let it drop when the tire is removed.
Next, remove the final drive from the swing arm by undoing the four cap nuts.
Then, remove the pin bolts and pull off the swing arm. Keep track of the spacer washer on the left [EDIT: right] side of the swing arm. It goes between the swing bearing and the swing arm.
Now that the rear of the engine is accessible, disconnect the clutch cable, I already had.
Don't lose the spring that goes in the hole at the bottom of the clutch arm.
Don't forget to take out the nuts for the frame bolts.
Remove the cotter pin that holds the shift pedal and disconnect the shift rod.
Remove the long frame bolt at the front and the lower frame bolt (circled). I said to remove the circled one before... I lied, but it's fine either way.
I ended up loosening the exhaust pipes. The short pipe that connects the two long pipes in the middle seemed to be in the way of removing the gear box. It might not be necessary.
Now the bottom frame will swing down.
Disconnect the neutral switch cable and the gear box breather hose.
Undo the 6 hex bolts that hold the gear box to the engine.
Unplug the thin black hose from the bottom of the air box and the thick one from the valve breather box behind the steering column.
Before removing all the bolts, support the gear box with a wood block and pull it off the engine.
And there it is. Time to clean it up a bit.
Pescatore:
I cleaned the gear box and removed the breather nipple, which was clogged.
At this point I decided that opening the gear box is beyond my skills. Besides, I don't have the tools to unlock the bolt for the clutch housing.
Another tool is also needed to open the gear box. I have plenty left to do anyway.
Here is the inside of the drive shaft, in the order they came out.
I removed the drive shaft boot to clean everything.
I took everything to AJ Cycle in Gill, MA. They opened it up a few days ago and told me the spring had snapped (61238200).
Waiting for Harper to send new spring and gaskets. It should be all fixed in a week or so.
I went back in my garage, looking at the mess I made. Will I be able to put everything back together? I have hours of video, but it's all a blur.
Staring at it some more, I notice there is grime everywhere. Maybe I should take out the engine to clean it, it's just a couple more bolts.
And what's this spark plug wire all about? Where is the connector? Why are the ignition coils hanging on tie wraps? :undecided:
I know the carburetors have a problem. Let's open them up.
Here is one, all cleaned up with all new o-rings, fuel screen and float needle.
It's not easy to see in the picture, but these floats have gas in them. Maybe that's what causes the acceleration.
I ordered new floats and for the same part number they sent me 6.5grams floats. I have all stock jets (38/60/105/268, 3rd tack), so I also wanted to keep the same weight of 9.5grams.
After searching online I discovered there is a substitute part AP8106782. According to Rick at MG Cycle, the weight had been
switching over the years. It seems Guzzi is back to 9.5grams with this Aprilia part number.
The choke jet above has no o-ring yet. It took some patience to put a new one on because it was really snug. It feels like I have the wrong o-ring,
but the original was also snug.
Next task will be to take down the bottom frame rails and drag the engine out.
Pescatore:
Waiting for the gear box to be repaired, I contemplate the difference between crabbing the frame and just carting away the top. Being this my first experience,
I didn’t want to disconnect too much for the fear of not knowing how to rebuild it. It does take less space in my 1car garage (filled with crap), not having to set
aside the top frame. It certainly would be nice to clean the grime on the engine, now that it’s almost out. Dare I think to repaint it?
free photo uploading
Well, I removed the bottom frame bolts in the front and the bottom frame rails come off, along with kick stands. I take out the exhaust pipes, I disconnected the
ignition coils, spark plug wires, oil sump hose, tach cable, oil pressure wire and I rolled away the engine from under the frame. This is a rite of passage for me.
Lots of grime, corroded fins and the paint is flaking off. If I wash it, the paint will look even worse. If I go the paint stripper route, I’ll never ride this summer.
I noticed one exhaust hole has a ton of carbon build up (the side with the broken coil wire) and the other doesn’t. This bike was built to run on leaded gas.
I think I first need to check the plugs/timing/carbs before I clean that out.
Also, I need to research the Motoplat ignition that is disconnected. The connector housing for the coils has a burn mark. Looks like it overheated. I read
something in Guzziology about bad ignitions. This is sounding like a good winter project.
I think once I put the gear box back on, a light was will do for this time. If I need to open the cylinder, I will think about repainting then.
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