Stupid Stupid Stupid

[Sasquatch Jim]

 I generally start mine then push it out the garage. By the time I have my helmet and gloves on and shut the garage door, the engine is warm enough to ride. An easy two short blocks to the stop sign.  By then it is warm enough to ride normal so I do.  Sort of a natural way of warming the engine on a cold day.  By the time I am a mile down the road, it is warm enough to torture with full throttle etc.

[tris]

So NG569

Were you lucky enough to dodge the punch with only a few minor fixes and a note to self of "don't leave the bike idling" or will you need to call on the might of WG to fix it?

I really hope its the former as we have all done things we regret and on the good days we get away with it!!

[bigbikerrick]

Oh good - I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one.

I have always heard that Guzzisti are "weird" ,but have been concerned that with Guzzis latest offerings we were becoming too "mainstream", too soft....
Its very reassuring to know that Guzzi weirdness is alive and well!
  The real problem is , as the disease progresses, we tend to accumulate more than one Guzzi, then the dilema is which one do I take into the shower with me....Do I use cream rinse, on the lovely heads, or just a good herbal shampoo?   
Rick.

[craigclu]

A good friend started his GS BMW to warm it up, then made the mistake of going inside with an important phone call distracting him....  Totaled the bike and had melted plastic everywhere.  Fortunately, his insurance covered memory lapses and he ended up with a replacement bike.

[bad Chad]

I don’t warm my 07 breva at all. I may wait 10 seconds for the revs to come down, then I just ride it easy for first couple miles, after that it’s twist and grin!   

I do warm up my carb bike a bit but it has a choke and that’s a whole different game.

[malik]

Different bike, Chad & different ECU - the MUIG3 on the 1TB V7s seem to be cold starters out of the shop - it's one of the issues Beetle attended to with his maps - the warm up time on my beetle-ised 2014 Special is now around 30 secs to a minute or two, depending on ambient temperature. A happy chappie.

[Muzz]

Back in the day, when disc valve two strokes were the thing, there were a lot of kids my age with missing fingertips. I would probably of been one of them if I could of afforded a disc valve two stroke!

Pete

Never heard that one Pete.  I guess if you put your fingers in the port that disc would be pretty unforgiving.

To the OP,    Any further ahead.

[fossil]

I generally start mine then push it out the garage. By the time I have my helmet and gloves on and shut the garage door, the engine is warm enough to ride. An easy two short blocks to the stop sign.  By then it is warm enough to ride normal so I do.  Sort of a natural way of warming the engine on a cold day.  By the time I am a mile down the road, it is warm enough to torture with full throttle etc.

Exactly that. Then my 1TB runs like a charm. Only I wait longer than 1 mile. It´s after all an old-fashioned aircooled Italian engine.

[pete roper]

OK. Fess up that someone is watching you work when you do something dumb. You say to the person, "you didn't see that." Many mechanics/technicians don't like someone watching them for this reason.

Tex

Nah. If you screw up you fess up.

A bloke who used to post here as Mark III bought his Griso to me, can't remember if it was for the tappet recall or rollerisation but both require cambox removal.

He hung around and while I was unloading the LH camchain tensioner I managed to bust the tensioner blade. That requires the engine to come out!

Not my proudest hour but as I said, if you screw up you wear it. If you don't you're a shill and a word beginning with C that would get me banned on this forum.

Pete

[John A]

Nah. If you screw up you fess up.

A bloke who used to post here as Mark III bought his Griso to me, can't remember if it was for the tappet recall or rollerisation but both require cambox removal.

He hung around and while I was unloading the LH camchain tensioner I managed to bust the tensioner blade. That requires the engine to come out!

Not my proudest hour but as I said, if you screw up you wear it. If you don't you're a shill and a word beginning with C that would get me banned on this forum.





That's what I was trained to do as a young aviation mechanic. If I screw something minor up and don't fix it or if I try to cover it up, what will I do if I screw something major up? I took my new Chrysler to the Dodge garage for its first oil change. They only refilled it to a shade above the lower mark. I questioned that and the service manager defended that with all the stuff we know about oil levels. A week or so later I took it back for a recall and mentioned it to the service manager, he again went through all the reasons they left it low, too low in my opinion. When I got it back the oil level was back up and with a statement on the work order that I had questioned it and they checked and found it was near the full mark. Har Har , total bullcrap. If they lie about something so trivial, you know what they will do when they really screw up. When I mess something up, I own it. I just can't see doing it any other way

[guzzisteve]

The new guy never came back, most likely won't either. We'll never know what happen.

[Chuck in Indiana]

The new guy never came back, most likely won't either. We'll never know what happen.

Well, he said..

It might be a while though for me to update, but I update regardless.

so we shall see.  He may have just gotten overwhelmed and took it to a dealer..

[Groover]

Chances are good that he forgot 

[guzzisteve]

Maybe he's in the shower.

[Wayne Orwig]

Maybe he's in the shower.

 

[wirespokes]

Good thing I never do stupid things around you guys - like doing something stupid and then telling you about it. 

I mean, that takes some real balls admitting something stupid, and even more so coming back after getting ribbed about it.

[newguzzian569]

Ok I am back for a quick and easy update.  Pictures to follow if you are really patient with me.  I really have no excuse other than that I can be a procrastinator, sometimes more often than recommended.

Spark Plugs: I took everything apart (that a newbie can take apart)  I have decided that I won't risk it and ordered two new spark plugs. 

Plug Cable: So your views made me look a little closer at the problem and discovered that both spark plug cable had some melting from the heat dissipators. that said, I can't tell how bad. I think a little copper is shown but even with the slightly melter cables the right spark plug fires while the left one is not.

Battery: I am will get a lot of crap for this one. I need to charge the battery or replace it. I invested in a charger and will wait until I can do that. But I am also looking into replacing the battery as it was sitting without full charge for a couple weeks now.

I also wanted to address some comments:
- I live currently in the Bay Area, CA area. The temperature, that stupid night, was most likely near 50F - 60F. 
- I will shorten showers  (and I was happy to see that you all have a good sense of humour by suggesting that I should take my will Guzzi with me)
- Fuels tank was at 80% full.

Lessons: Scratch that last part. I think the real lesson here is no more warm ups. Like many of you said "turn on the bike, put on Helmet and gloves, and just go. Take it easy with the revs"

My Promise: After I saw what this group of smart and good looking people can do, I promise to provide a review of the problem, my analysis, and hopefully a working resolution. Expect photos if I can post them here of the parts.

[wirespokes]

Good for you!

Sounds like replacing the spark plug cables is a good idea. Give us some photos to judge.

It shouldn't hurt the battery too much being low for a few weeks. It'll probably charge right back up. Make sure it's a 2 amp charger and don't leave it on more than over-night.

[Triple Jim]

My Promise: After I saw what this group of smart and good looking people can do, I promise to provide a review of the problem, my analysis, and hopefully a working resolution. Expect photos if I can post them here of the parts.

You are probably mixing us up with another board.

[guzzisteve]

For when you have time & money. These plugs & caps will go together, wires you can get at auto parts store. Just take old one's in & match up length.
Plugs---NGK CPR8EA-- stock plugs but w/threaded post on top that fits in caps
Plug Caps-- NGK XD05F--not stock won't melt
Plugs & Caps you can get from most any Cycle Shop. You may want to check the gap on plugs before installation, I set them at .028".

[larrys]

A friend started his late model Bonneville in his garage on the center stand with the choke partially pulled so it was at a fast idle and forgot about it. Came back, the pipes were glowing red and the oil pressure light was on. Got so hot it melted much of the wiring on the motor, melted the plastic oil pump housing and warped the crankcases. A junkyard motor replacement was in order.
Larry.