Alternator belt change for 1400 cali ?

[Bill E.]

  After the recent alternator belt problem of my friend Jim Walker in Utah,mutual friend Paul Vinnege noticed that his 1400 had 78,000 mi. and hasn't had the belt changed. He called his dealer and they asked him if it was doing some thing wrong. The manual says to change at 37,000mi. He would like to know if anyone has done this belt change at home, and what's the procedure, and how long to expect it to take. Also are any special tools needed?

[guzzisteve]

Tell Paul he could probably do it if anyone can. Just get a copy of the service manual and go slow.

[pete roper]

Doing the belt on a 1400 is an absolute prick of a job because of the radiator and the front engine mount. Of course it's doable but it ain't easy.

[Bill E.]

    Is it possible without a center stand or lift?

[pete roper]

Yes, but working off the floor is pretty ghastly!

[Bill E.]

   Yeah, especially if you're old and brittle like us. I'll pass the info along to Paul and he can decide. Thanks for the advice Steve and Pete. Guzzi folks are the best!

[Bill E.]

  For anyone interested Paul has decided to get it done at the dealer. They quoted him 5-7 hours for the job. that's why he was looking for another way.

[mjptexas]

  For anyone interested Paul has decided to get it done at the dealer. They quoted him 5-7 hours for the job. that's why he was looking for another way.

I'm looking forward to Paul's annual return to Central Texas for the winter.  Hard to find a better riding buddy.

[Bill E.]

    You are right about that. Fastest man on a california I've ever seen. At least now he won't run out of electricity on one of your rides.

[groundhog105]

  For anyone interested Paul has decided to get it done at the dealer. They quoted him 5-7 hours for the job. that's why he was looking for another way.

Exactly why I had mine done.   I think one of the guys from Phoenix AZ did his by cutting the plastic cover in half to remove it rather than take the front of the bike apart.  But I think you have to have a special tool to tension the belt.

[steveford]

I had my belt changed by the Dealer at 50000 miles. Now I figure I'm good for 100000!!!

[pete roper]

Exactly why I had mine done.   I think one of the guys from Phoenix AZ did his by cutting the plastic cover in half to remove it rather than take the front of the bike apart.  But I think you have to have a special tool to tension the belt.

Belt tensioning tool is a joke. I have one but never use it as it's a total PITA.

The belt change interval suggested is ridiculously conservative if it is tensioned correctly but there are bikes that shred their belts a quite low mileage's. Why? Who knows? But chances are it was a duff belt or incorrect tension rather than an indicator of something that *Needs* doing as a matter of course. I think I changed the belt once on my first Griso motor at about 60 or 70 thousand km and it still looked fine. The belt on the new motor has never been changed in 30,000 plus whatever mileage the wreck it came out of had done which wasn't many.

Pete

[guzzisteve]

I went and measured the factory tool and made one. It works fine if you have the room to get it right.
Most of the time there is stuff leaning and hanging in the way.

[Ncdan]

Great, is this belt something else needs worrying about with the 1400 bikes after I figure out why mine keeps codeing the URGENT SERVICE warning 🤪

[pete roper]

Dan, I think Mark has the Demand Sensor off the 1400 I wrecked out. I'll be seeing him this week in Wagga. If you'd like to try it and see if it cures the problem let me know and I'll pick it up.

Pete

[Ncdan]

Dan, I think Mark has the Demand Sensor off the 1400 I wrecked out. I'll be seeing him this week in Wagga. If you'd like to try it and see if it cures the problem let me know and I'll pick it up.

Pete

Pete, stand by for a PM, sending it now

[Ncdan]

Pete, I sent you a PM yesterday with a little more information. Today in attempted to ride this creature and as soon as I started up the driveway the URGENT SERVICE mode kicked in and stayed in for 10 miles I limp mode. Went into the restaurant and when I came back out and started the bike it came back on again. I turned it off and restarted again and it cleared itself. I got about five miles down the road and for no apparent reason it came back in and limped all the way home. I really don't want to turn against this bike but enough is enough. I don't know if it woukd help to remove the the tank and chase a gremlin or say to hell with it and just replace the sensor. Either way I'm screwed out of a trip with some old buddies this weekend that's been planned for months. I'm about ready to run this *^}%£€¥ off a cliff!

[TN Mark]

Dan,

     Stay away from sudden changes in altitude with your CA Touring. Hopefully someone can help get this sorted out asap. Can't the Guzzi technician computer software at a dealer nail down which sensor is bad?  I'm so sorry about you missing the trip though. They come along all too infrequently. Somehow, and fairly soon, it will all workout.

[theoneandonly]

belt service interval 31250 mls / 50,000 kms

service manual misses some key points
remove the following
seat ,battery , tank , front plastics ,lh coil , rh elecs box, horns ,oil cooler/fan, oil pipes l+r  ,ft lower iso mount , silencers , jack bike on 2 flat jacks , x3 blocks of wood at the front under engine ,  gearchange rod , gearbox side covers l+r , dis-con lambda's , header pipes l+r , lwr frame bolts x10 in total , drop lwr rails , drop exhaust headers, REMOVE BLOODY U-BRACKET , alt cover ....hello belt !

[Tom]

Exactly why I had mine done.   I think one of the guys from Phoenix AZ did his by cutting the plastic cover in half to remove it rather than take the front of the bike apart.  But I think you have to have a special tool to tension the belt.

Richard did it.  The belt had a lot mileage on it.  Broke outside of Big Springs, TX.  U-hauled back to Phoenix.  He cut the cover and you'd be hard press to see the cut.  The belt went on fairly easy after that.  I told without hesitation that I'd do the same thing.