V7II Gearbox or Tranny?

[stornello465]

On that note - anyone got any how-to's wrt changing out the gearbox? I took a look at the service shop manual and it looks somewhat straight forward, but I feel like I'll live to eat up those words.

[moto-uno]

  If I read this correctly , you took your bike (still under warranty ) to a shop they recommended , they found metal shaving
( I'm assuming it's had a least one oil change ) and then they won't warranty it's repair ?  Peter

[Dave Swanson]

Yes, please explain the outcome of the warranty claim. 

[stornello465]

That's right. Kind of a long story, but in the end it's my fault I guess.

My ex was supposed to take it in to do 600-mile service and I don't think it ever happened. I was on the phone with the SF dealer from mile 2 to get guidance and help on what I should keep an eye out for, when to service, etc. The bike never came with a manual so I tried to hunt one down. Mentioned the tranny issue since immediately when I'd driven the bike some 40 miles, but they kind of brushed it off. I'd pop in every other month or so and just chat with them, see what to do. What do I know. Seemed like annual service was fine, nothing to do with pushing my ex at the time on deets, receipts, etc.

Anywho, fast forward 9 months into ownership (and 8,000 miles on it - love driving the thing), I take it in to get annual service in September last year. Again pointed out the tranny issues, turns out they didn't even investigate - just played around with the clutch engagement. Just told me to be mindful to do full gear shift...

Fast forward til a couple of months ago when the SF dealer went silent on me after another back-and-forth on the tranny. Before going dark they even dismissed it as a "maybe it's just the nature of the bike." So, I contacted Piaggio group directly to get some kind of help. They told me to go to the dealer in San Jose - about an hours drive from me. Went there, handed the bike in, and you know the rest. Piaggio declined the warranty claim because I didn't have receipt of the 600-mile service, where they'd change out the gearbox oil. So, the check-up of the bike would have been covered under warranty but now it wasn't, so I shelled out $300 for the work the San Jose dealer did. I'd have to pay $4,000 for a new gearbox plus whatever the labor was. They offered to sell me a new bike and would give me $1,500 for a trade in...

Another thing that kind of sucks with it is that it seems that the dealer in San Jose let my bike sit outside the entire time. The tank lid looks completely different from when I handed it in (little red plastic bit looks like it's been in the sun for 30 years) and was oxidized on the inside. Looked brand new when I took it in. Also seems like they scratched my side plate up pretty good which cost hundreds from Piaggio, for some reason. Contacted them, and they said they never touched it and "I could come in and they would take a look at it for me." Thanks, but don't really feel like doing 2-hrs of riding for a "nothing we can do, here's some polish and wd40 - good luck" recommendation that I'm expecting. Either that or "here's what we can do for another $500."

Silver lining is that when they changed out the gearbox oil, the tranny issues seem to have gone away, for now. So, net-net, I have a bike that's cosmetically worse off than when I started this whole thing, but has a tranny that kind-of-sort-of doesn't try to kill me on the highway.

Sorry for the rant - been trying to be cavalier about it but I guess I needed to write it all down somewhere.

[malik]

On that note - anyone got any how-to's wrt changing out the gearbox? I took a look at the service shop manual and it looks somewhat straight forward, but I feel like I'll live to eat up those words.

There's a tutorial on dismantling the bike & attacking the gearbox on Moto-Guzzi-750@groups.io In the Files section - Breva 759 Gearbox Repair. It's also on thisoldtractor. Although for the 2TB, it's pretty comprehensive - I had better get around to wtiting up the addendum for the 1TB - the major difference is the locations of the various connections in the "Engine from Frame" section. It's likely that there may be a few more differences in the V7 II. When you get down to the nitty-gritty, I found the workshop manual mostly decent, although deficient in some places & just plain wrong in a few others. Mr White Gloves skims over some crucial steps without going into detail. Thankfully, others have been there before us & have highlighted these. Best of British.

Now that it seems your gearbox is working fine, you might not have worry about separating the engine from the rest of the bike until (& if) the clutch push rod oil seal fails & gear oil seeps onto the clutch plate. Happened to me at around 100,000 - 120,000km (62 - 75,000 miles). So you may well have a few years before it becomes an issue.

[stornello465]

There's a tutorial on dismantling the bike & attacking the gearbox on Moto-Guzzi-750@groups.io In the Files section - Breva 759 Gearbox Repair. It's also on thisoldtractor. Although for the 2TB, it's pretty comprehensive - I had better get around to wtiting up the addendum for the 1TB - the major difference is the locations of the various connections in the "Engine from Frame" section. It's likely that there may be a few more differences in the V7 II. When you get down to the nitty-gritty, I found the workshop manual mostly decent, although deficient in some places & just plain wrong in a few others. Mr White Gloves skims over some crucial steps without going into detail. Thankfully, others have been there before us & have highlighted these. Best of British.

Now that it seems your gearbox is working fine, you might not have worry about separating the engine from the rest of the bike until (& if) the clutch push rod oil seal fails & gear oil seeps onto the clutch plate. Happened to me at around 100,000 - 120,000km (62 - 75,000 miles). So you may well have a few years before it becomes an issue.

Super helpful - thank you, malik.