Sorry for the long read.
I had a very dangerous event happen to me a few days ago which could of been a lot worse but somehow I got lucky.
Quick history. I drive a 2012 V7 Stone which has generally been fine since I got it, although it has its MG quirks every now and then but nothing major.
In Sept 2019 I noticed a small amount of oily residue on the back wheel and I suspected it was coming from the drive train compartment. My bike was in need of a service so I brought it into my usual place to get it looked at. The repairs were done and it was fine to drive for the rest of the year.
I went away in December so it was standing still for about 2 months, came back and took it for a drive. Ive been driving it around slightly less than usual with CV going on but even so I took it for a 30km drive the day before the incident with someone on the back as well.
The next day we planned a drive around with some friends so I cleaned it up a bit and didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.
I drove about 10 miles to meet up at friends house then continued to drive some more and got on a motorway. Going about 60/70mph I went to push a button on the speedo to clear the mileage. Around that time something happened and I very quickly started to lose power, then control which caused my back wheel to skid side to side as the speed dropped. Luckily I managed to keep control of the bike and must of dropped at least half my speed maybe more, I'm not sure. I don’t know how I did it but I was very close to losing it. If the roads were wet I don’t think I could of counter stirred to stay upright. I really don’t think I pushed a gear down or anything when I hit that dial button in case people wonder about that.
I quickly pulled onto the hard shoulder safely and noticed smoke coming from the drive train.
We were in a pretty sketchy part of the road so I very carefully drove on to get off the motorway to have a safer look. After stopping I then noticed that on the drive train/transmission that the oil plug (6) wasn’t there along with all the oil inside the housing. There was a bit of very fine metal shaving on the wheel and what looked like some splatter marks around the wheel but it wasn’t thick at all.
I was shocked! And I still don’t understand how this happened. I then got it picked up and transported to my usual Guzzi mechanic.
I asked for a brief description from the mechanic its with and some photos which are below;
“Pinion gear chewed (photo 1/2), debris (photo 3), inner bearing surprisingly good (photo 4), inner race also surprisingly good (photo 5). Bearing hidden under crown wheel (photo 4), destroyed.”
My question is... where did the oil go, as there was none on the wheel or tyre? Where did the filler/level plug go? If they come loose, they drip on the tyre.”
If anyone can she some light on this please let me know as I feel this is all very strange and should not me happening?
It possible to change some internal bits inside the drive train to get it running again but tbh I am a little on edge to drive that specific bike. Should that be a thing or not?
(https://i.ibb.co/jwdnDRB/107.jpg) (https://ibb.co/jwdnDRB)
(https://i.ibb.co/w0W2Kq1/108.jpg) (https://ibb.co/w0W2Kq1)
(https://i.ibb.co/JqczyXn/109.jpg) (https://ibb.co/JqczyXn)
(https://i.ibb.co/qxnxbMv/110.jpg) (https://ibb.co/qxnxbMv)
(https://i.ibb.co/QpDpcZf/111.jpg) (https://ibb.co/QpDpcZf)
(https://i.ibb.co/vkts9vT/Screen-Shot-2020-06-22-at-22-03-09.png) (https://ibb.co/vkts9vT)
Sorry for the long read.
I had a very dangerous event happen to me a few days ago which could of been a lot worse but somehow I got lucky.
Quick history. I drive a 2012 V7 Stone which has generally been fine since I got it, although it has its MG quirks every now and then but nothing major.
In Sept 2019 I noticed a small amount of oily residue on the back wheel and I suspected it was coming from the drive train compartment. My bike was in need of a service so I brought it into my usual place to get it looked at. The repairs were done and it was fine to drive for the rest of the year.
I went away in December so it was standing still for about 2 months, came back and took it for a drive. Ive been driving it around slightly less than usual with CV going on but even so I took it for a 30km drive the day before the incident with someone on the back as well.
The next day we planned a drive around with some friends so I cleaned it up a bit and didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.
I drove about 10 miles to meet up at friends house then continued to drive some more and got on a motorway. Going about 60/70mph I went to push a button on the speedo to clear the mileage. Around that time something happened and I very quickly started to lose power, then control which caused my back wheel to skid side to side as the speed dropped. Luckily I managed to keep control of the bike and must of dropped at least half my speed maybe more, I'm not sure. I don’t know how I did it but I was very close to losing it. If the roads were wet I don’t think I could of counter stirred to stay upright. I really don’t think I pushed a gear down or anything when I hit that dial button in case people wonder about that.
I quickly pulled onto the hard shoulder safely and noticed smoke coming from the drive train.
We were in a pretty sketchy part of the road so I very carefully drove on to get off the motorway to have a safer look. After stopping I then noticed that on the drive train/transmission that the oil plug (6) wasn’t there along with all the oil inside the housing. There was a bit of very fine metal shaving on the wheel and what looked like some splatter marks around the wheel but it wasn’t thick at all.
I was shocked! And I still don’t understand how this happened. I then got it picked up and transported to my usual Guzzi mechanic.
I asked for a brief description from the mechanic its with and some photos which are below;
“Pinion gear chewed (photo 1/2), debris (photo 3), inner bearing surprisingly good (photo 4), inner race also surprisingly good (photo 5). Bearing hidden under crown wheel (photo 4), destroyed.”
My question is... where did the oil go, as there was none on the wheel or tyre? Where did the filler/level plug go? If they come loose, they drip on the tyre.”
If anyone can she some light on this please let me know as I feel this is all very strange and should not me happening?
It possible to change some internal bits inside the drive train to get it running again but tbh I am a little on edge to drive that specific bike. Should that be a thing or not?
(https://i.ibb.co/jwdnDRB/107.jpg) (https://ibb.co/jwdnDRB)
(https://i.ibb.co/w0W2Kq1/108.jpg) (https://ibb.co/w0W2Kq1)
(https://i.ibb.co/JqczyXn/109.jpg) (https://ibb.co/JqczyXn)
(https://i.ibb.co/qxnxbMv/110.jpg) (https://ibb.co/qxnxbMv)
(https://i.ibb.co/QpDpcZf/111.jpg) (https://ibb.co/QpDpcZf)
(https://i.ibb.co/vkts9vT/Screen-Shot-2020-06-22-at-22-03-09.png) (https://ibb.co/vkts9vT)
Hi, I had my rear drive fail as well a month ago or so. The teeth on the pinion broke (look at pictures i posted here a while ago). Still not sure why to this day how it happened. The final drive oil had been periodically contaminated with water and i had to change oil regularly (i suspect it entered the system through the breathing screw). Anyhow, that might somehow weakened the teeth's metal but just pure speculation.
So, the cheapest solution I found was to change the whole rear drive bevel box. I bought one from Ebay from an used V7 III racer that had 5k miles on it (i have a V7 II stone but it fits no problem). I paid CAD$200 (or USD$150 for it) but i got lucky. I've seen others on ebay (mostly coming from Europe) ranging from USD$300-$475. It will be cheaper than buying the parts individually and rebuilding it yourself or having someone else do it.
As to how your problem happened, I think is like someone just mentioned, someone forgot to fill up the oil. I would also chyme on what someone else also mentioned here, its best to do the work on your own bike yourself so as to be sure that things are done properly. Just my 2 cents. cheers.