I think I can add a few things here as I bought what was seemingly a 'decent' example of a 1996 here in DK 14 months back and today I can say it is the goods. To own this bike, IMHO, you need to be mechanically able and prepared to troubleshoot.
I trawled the net looking for all the information I could find on the beast over 7 long years before mine popped up at what could only be called a steal at the time. The guy I bought it from had no mechanical inclination and was way in over his head. When I first went to see the bike I popped off the bung on the ECU to see what was running this beast only to find a KK (original) chip
The guy hands me the original oil pump and invoices for the upgraded pump installation, recent belt change and the full history since new, PERFECT
Ok, let's go for a ride anyway. It was RAW!!! The bike was stone cold and started perfectly and then ran with a few stumbles as it was fast idling and it I couldn't slow it down below 2000 RPM. I rolled out the drive and tried to ride sedately down the road but it was just not satisfied until it was past the 3-4000 RPM mark and beyond that switch in the throttle it was like I was riding an electric motored vehicle
. So, it is true, the original injection setup is rubbish for real street riding. On the open road and motorway, it was perfect and flawless but in the real world of moving around you need to use the tractability and it is impossible with the original ignition curves. Then about 10-15 kms out the rear brake was hard on. What? I came to a stop sign with a weird stop and then a tiny chirp as the rear wheel locked
I pull off the road pump the foot brake and I am rolling like there was nothing wrong. I immediately ride back to the owner and offer him below his price and left for home wondering what I was trying to get myself into
I got the call the next morning, offer accepted. I picked it up 4 weeks later as I was leaving that day for a holiday.
So, what problems have I encountered and fixed over this last 12 months :-
Rear brake caliper, leaking and won't release. I checked there was enough freeplay to allow the master cylinder piston to release all the way, there wasn't
and you cannot buy a kit to refurbish that caliper. A new item is around $50 which includes pads, you can't bitch about that.
The speedo was hoping a bit. I took the inner out and fount it had been kinked at some point. I bought a new inner cable and fitted it, problem solved.
The screws holding the speedo casing on were stripped in the heads. I slotted them and replaced them with equivalent stainless items.
The exhaust was sitting completely skew and as a result there is a small blemish on the right hand of the rear swing arm. I found the left and right mid pipes were swapped over. I fitted them correctly and then aligned the system and tightened it up.
Flushed/replaced brake fluids and found the front wheel fitted incorrectly. The spacers were on in the incorrect order offsetting the wheel 3 mm which was causing the pads to wear unevenly
New tyres, Angel Sport ST
Fuel tank has some blind inserts for screws of the side tank panels, the right one at some point had a screw that was 2-3mm too long. This somehow became a weeping issue. I sealed it with some lactate sealant and it hasn't leaked in over 12 months. All fuel here has an ethanol content but this was not the cause of problem and the bike runs on E10 blend daily, again without any issues.
Adjusted the forks to factory settings and the rear has a little more comp and rebound dialed in. I've not moved it since. It seems to work really well for me as is
The forward uni joint in the drive axle had the grease nipple sheared off. Fitted a new one and greased the shaft.
Intermittent cutting out where the fuel pump won't prime on re-power. This took time to sort because although the relays had been replaced I finally cracked one open and found the tang for the normally open contact bent at about 30 degrees so the contact when it was being powered was there BUT it couldn't manage any current. I found this on 3 relays
There is lots of evidence of power issues to the the fuel pump and ECU. Be sure they are good relays and are seated correctly when plugged in. You should hear an audible click as the sockets lock onto the spades on the relay.
The seat was sitting down on the tank and fairng, the plastic of the pan had stretched and the feet were slipping over the frame rails. I fitted some wider supports there.
I fitted the Will Creedon C5 chip, ride-ability was good, fact is the difference was night and day BUT there was still some stumbling and fuel economy was pretty ordinary. I had read that if I fitted a Cliff Jefferies MyECU it was perfect. So I did it and I can say, it is perfect and I expect it to be better when I enable closed loop in the not too distant future
and consistently runs in the 40 MPG range. If you are heavy on the gas it won't las long though.
Second ride with the MyECU and the cam sensor died. Actually, it became intermittent. I was up to speed on this and caught it fast. I came to some lights and the bike just stalled
So I dragged off to the side and tried to start, NOTHING. Triple checked relays and they were good. I had a plug tube in the kit and pulled a plug, no spark. I tried several times and then I had spark, Great says me, I won't be pushing it home. Got on moved 15 meters and then dead
Called the wife to come and get my gear and I'll walk it home. She turns up, I say let's try once more with the jumper cables (the battery was somewhat tired by this point) and it fired and ran. I was on it like a shot and moving before you could blink an eye and managed to ride the 3-4 kms home all be it with a bucking and heaving monster. I sourced an original sensor from Latvia for $15 (bought 2) and installed it to correct depth and it hasn't missed a beat since
Left tank side panel kept popping loose, replaced the rubber grommets all round and now both panels sit correctly.
I've replaced all bulbs except the fuel idiot light and headlight with LEDs. I made a rectifier for the instrument indicator to work on both turn signals.
I fitted Oxford sport heated grips.
Gearbox is dropping a few drops from the clutch rod housing at the rear of the gearbox. I need to source a larger body O ring this week and hopefully that'll have that sorted.
I have a leak in the timing chest gasket, unbelievably right in the 12 o'clock position, this will be changed in the coming weeks when I can get to it. It weeps and then runs down the left side of the engine when on the stand.
The only time I've been kept off the road with it is when the cam sensor failed and it was at Easter time so the parts took an extra 2 weeks to get here.
Moto Guzzi's don't tend to be good garage queens and if what you are looking at has been, you can expect lots of work replacing seals and gaskets etc.. As Pete/Vasco has mentioned in many other threads over many years, you are looking at a used vehicle, nothing is certain. The best thing you can do is get on your bike and ride it, it will love you for it
Good luck!
