Guzzi 1100 custom build

[buzzer]

Hi Guys, new here and new to Guzzi!  I have recently bought an 1100 California which I am going to use as a basis for a custom build...  not sure what just yet...  this will be a slow start as I am just finishing off a Ducati build.  For now I have stripped it down to the bare bike and its now at the back of the garage.

[buzzer]

the only jobs I have done so far is to make some bell mouths for the FCR carbs I will be using! here they are and a short video of how I made them

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brYe3Hnpd1g

[Petrus Rocks]

Nice!  How are you figuring out the jetting?  I have an '85 1000 and FCR's would be a a nice upgrade.

[Turin]

Those velocity stacks are gorgeous. Very nice work.

What do you have going on with your motor that requires 41mm flatsides? I'm running a set on my SE, but it runs 94mm hi comp pistons and a RR3 cam with major head work.

[buzzer]

Those velocity stacks are gorgeous. Very nice work.

What do you have going on with your motor that requires 41mm flatsides? I'm running a set on my SE, but it runs 94mm hi comp pistons and a RR3 cam with major head work.

At the moment the motor is stock, so they are probably overkill...we will see later on when its apart what I will do with it.

Time to make some silencers(lose word!) I bought these cheap stainless ones off eBay as the hard part in making silencers is rolling the cone… and they are expensive to bye. I cut the end off, removed the inner resonator tune and made some cones for the end. this makes them re-packable for the future. I can also fit the baffle for MOT time.

[buzzer]

Up on the hoist for the first time… I have temporarily used a build stand that I have used for Ducati’s, but I will have to make a specific one as this one will impede making the exhaust fit on the bike. First job has been to make some inlet manifolds to fit the carbs… I wanted them angled upwards and inwards, and that took some working out to get the compound angle right! it ended up as 68.5 degrees. As the carb diameter is larger than the head inlet, I needed to use a tapered tube… To do this I turned up a tapered mandrel, and after annealing the alloy tube, I pressed it in with the vice, which expanded the tube by the required few mm. I then turned a grove to accept the lip inside the carb mounting blocks.

the next bit was actually quite difficult… I needed to make the hole on the flange a nice fit on the tube, but at an angle. I deliberately cut the 10mm plate quite large so I could get it mounted on the milling machine at the exact angle. I then bored the hole with an indexable boring head. If that milling machine looks old, it is! I did some work on it a few months ago and found a date… 1929!

Next job was to TIG weld the flanges on, drill the holes, and finally cut to shape.

here is a short video of the manifolds being made...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2EfrVdAiKo

[buzzer]

a little side track as I had a new facing cutter for my milling machine and wanted to try it! I took the top yoke off and removed the section where the ignition switch fits… and milled it flat. I then contoured the edge to blend it in. Those power files are a great piece of kit, something i bought thinking I may not use it much, but I use it all the time! Then into the blaster to clean it up, it can wait a while for polishing….

[buzzer]

One thing I hated about the bike was the side stand… Just how agricultural is that bracket! I know its a great functional design, but its SO ugly!  so out come the angle grinder and it is no more!  In the loft (or as my wife calls it the spares department!!) i had a side stand off a 1994 Honda CBR 600…  it bolted straight on!  Just need to adjust the angle a little when the ride height has been set.  a job for much later on...

[lucky phil]

Are you going to weld around the outside of the manifold tube to the face plate?

Ciao

[buzzer]

Are you going to weld around the outside of the manifold tube to the face plate?

Ciao

As its welded on the back, I made sure prepared the joint well and got some good penetration.   I decided that three good runs of weld was sufficient on the outside 

[lucky phil]

As its welded on the back, I made sure prepared the joint well and got some good penetration.   I decided that three good runs of weld was sufficient on the outside

I agree but it looks horrible. Sometimes even in engineering you need to go the extra yard so it looks right and "professional"

Ciao

[buzzer]

I agree but it looks horrible. Sometimes even in engineering you need to go the extra yard so it looks right and "professional"

Ciao

In your obvious over inflated opinion...

Ciao

[lucky phil]

In your obvious over inflated opinion...

Ciao

Just calling it how I see it. I'm used to looking at quality engineering. Nothing wrong with yours it just needs a tweak.

Ciao

[Rick4003]

Hi Buzzer,

Nice build, and good progress so far. It would be nice if the pictures were bigger so we can see all the details? Maybe individually instead of 4in1 style?

Also if you might feel inclined to grind off the small tabs with the thread in the top yoke, (m6 mounting holes for ?) be very careful about welding the holes up. I did and it warped like crazy. No way it would fit the forks again. Lucky for me it was a spare one I had bought. I think if I had to make a second try I would turn up some slugs that is a tight fit in the fork tube bores and then weld it up a little at the time.

[buzzer]

Hi Buzzer,

Nice build, and good progress so far. It would be nice if the pictures were bigger so we can see all the details? Maybe individually instead of 4in1 style?

Also if you might feel inclined to grind off the small tabs with the thread in the top yoke, (m6 mounting holes for ?) be very careful about welding the holes up. I did and it warped like crazy. No way it would fit the forks again. Lucky for me it was a spare one I had bought. I think if I had to make a second try I would turn up some slugs that is a tight fit in the fork tube bores and then weld it up a little at the time.

Thanks!  the reason for the smaller pictures is that i link back to my build blog...  If I use to large a file size picture on there the load time suffers.  I may try linking them to my Flickr page for full size images.

Its a good point on the top yoke...  I did cast a glance to those holes, and thought I would leave them until finishing time...  this is a dry build at the moment, when it is all running I will strip and rebuild.  its at that point I do any fettling.  before I had an AC TIG i had good success in filling such holes with aluminium bolts, cutting them off just above the surface and then peening them, and file flat.  A great source of alloy bolts are BMW engines, they seem to use them as "one use" bolts on some components.

[buzzer]

yesterdays job was to mock up the exhaust... I had ordered some 2" mandrel bends and straight pipe as I wanted that chunky look, and for the pipe to fit straight into the silencer with no reducer. From a performance aspect, the large headers are probably not I deal... but I wont miss a few BHP! I also wanted that angled swept back look (old School!!) The bends are 135, 45 and 30 degrees. It should all polish nicely as its stainless steel. This bike will have more forward mounted foot rests, hence I could kick up the silencers earlier...

I find making exhaust systems quite therapeutic, although sometimes I could do with a third hand. My wife used to help, but since I burned the back of her hand with the hot end of the filler rod, all help has been withdrawn

[Huzo]

I agree with your comment on the therapeutic nature of exhaust building. I find that there is a lot of scope for expression and the exhaust is a large part of the character of the finished product.
I can see where you’re going style wise, it will look pretty good when done...

[buzzer]

Next on the list is the new foot controls… I sat on the bike and decided where I wanted the foot pegs to be. This bike wont have rear-sets, I want to to be comfortable to ride! I then measured how long from the peg the brake and gear lever needed to be and set about designing some controls. It would have been easier to have had them water jet cut, but that’s a 3 hour round trip for me, and usually quite a wait, so I decided to mill them out instead. What has made a BIG difference to me is the acquisition of a band saw… Its great for cutting stuff like this out! I was so lucky to acquire it… my mate was throwing it out!

I made a couple of spigots to mount them on the frame which I will weld on. I have used a couple of Oilite bushes on the holes rather than run the alloy directly on the steel. the first spigot I made I realised I had counter bored it a bit too far and it would have been too weak… a case of measure twice cut once! I then bent them in the vice to get the correct crank angle to clear the exhaust.

[Petrus Rocks]

Enjoying your build!  I have a Cal II I'm doing a similar job on.  I installed the same front end on mine.   Your machining skills are impressive!

[Canuck750]

Nice work

[buzzer]

The finished results, apart from a good polish...  As I am going to use a Ducati rear calliper, I have also used a Ducati Master cylinder, and also used the same leverage ratio for the pedal...  here is a short video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Uw3wcT7-40

[buzzer]

As I am taking off the linked brakes I needed to use a different rear caliper. I toyed around with making the rear caliper floating and using a torque arm… but in the end decided to use a neater, smaller bracket instead. It also meant that I could mount the speed sensor for the speedo as I am using a combined speedo / tacho.

[buzzer]

The tank I am using is off a V7… It was cheap to buy because it had a couple of big dents, which I have managed to get out. To do this I had to cut a couple of holes in the bottom to give access with a 20mm bar with a dome on the end, which I then used to knock most of the dent out, just needing a skim of filler. I then welded some plates on the holes and leak tested them with dye penetrant.

I use this a lot, its great for checking for holes and cracks, they show up immediately. fortunately all was good in this case. I prefer doing it this way to filling it with petrol as if you do have a leak its a pain to clean it out again. I have taken to using the dye penetrant on frames before I have them blasted… its surprising how many have cracks! especially Ducati!

A while ago my mate welded an RGV 250 engine mounting on the alloy frame. When he had welded it, he used some dye penetrant around the joints on the frame to check for cracks… There were quite a few! he welded them up and re-checked. Here is a gearbox I recently welded that still had a leak after someone had already welded it, you could not see it with the naked eye, but its easily visible with the dye…

[Petrus Rocks]

What are you using for a speedometer?  I like the sensor placement.

[buzzer]

What are you using for a speedometer?  I like the sensor placement.

I will be using one of the speedo, tacho combined.  they are available on Ebay for about £25.  they work well and are configurable and have lights for indicators, ignition, main beam etc so it makes for a clean install.

[buzzer]

With the new master cylinder mounted I looked at a way of mounting a reservoir. I could have used one of the small plastic ones, but instead decided to make one. I am pleased with the way it came out! here is a short video of how I made it!  Last update for a while...  I have to go on holiday apparently!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e0-kGpvQDjI

[Petrus Rocks]

Excellent machining!  What did you use for a bearing/bushing on the brake lever?

[buzzer]

Excellent machining!  What did you use for a bearing/bushing on the brake lever?

I used some split Oilite bushes I have had for years...  they were an off size but I could make the stub and hole in the lever to suit 

[buzzer]

Back from holiday where I unfortunaly got a dose of the virus! Not too bad though, I have had worse colds… But for a few day I have kept out the garage, and did some computer time instead and constructed the wiring diagram… I like to keep it simple, and wire from scratch, so many builds are spoiled by patching up the old loom. I am using an ignitech for the ECU, and its interesting that the the unit uses the cam sensor for one cylinder, and the crank sensor for the other. I like that idea!

[buzzer]

I have agonised over the rear light / number plate arrangement…

No matter how I plan it, it just does not look right with the number plate on the back, So I am going for a side mounted plate. that leaves the rear light to consider… the rear of the seat is angled (more later) so I needed an angled plinth to mount the light I am using on… here it is, bar a good polish.

A new addition to the workshop is a bandsaw...  How did I manage without one all these years!  I modified the top and bottom guides so they have bearing supports and it works an absolute treat!