URGENT SERVICE 850 miles New 1400 Eldo

[pete roper]

Sorry Ken, my bad. No offence meant.

Pete

[kballowe]

Sorry Ken, my bad. No offence meant.

Pete

Nobody cares.  Certainly not me.     


Kevin B

[TN Mark]

You're intent on putting your Eldorado on a trailer to Wisconsin so I'll assume you have a plan to actually get your Eldorado fixed. Is there a dealer in Wisconsin with a technician who knows how to file a warranty claim or that has the Demand Sensor in stock? Or does someone at the Wisconsin rally have the demand sensor your Eldo seems to need? Either way, getting it out of the Flying Tigers Service (?) Department seems like a great idea.

From reading this thread, what your Eldorado needs seems fairly clear at this point. It's just too bad the bike has been inoperable for a big slice of Summer. Hopefully bringing it to the Wisconsin Rally will get it fixed and running correctly.

[pete roper]

The offer of a loaner is still there. I think I have one off a TV4 that was a warranty job that hadn't failed that you could use as a test mule for nix. I'm certainly not going to sell it! It's a warranty take off ffs!

Pete

[kballowe]

You're intent on putting your Eldorado on a trailer to Wisconsin so I'll assume you have a plan to actually get your Eldorado fixed.

I will be attending the Wisconsin Moto Guzzi rally and that [censored] Eldorado is also attending the rally, one way or another. 
Not trusting it enough to expect 1,000+ trouble-free miles in three days.  Not just yet.

So, on a trailer it goes and then I'll ride it around a few days and see if it behaves.

But no, not planning on having it fixed in Wisconsin.

The offer of a loaner is still there. I think I have one off a TV4 that was a warranty job that hadn't failed that you could use as a test mule for nix. I'm certainly not going to sell it! It's a warranty take off ffs!

Pete

Thanks Pete !   But, I think we're making progress here !  Certainly, this Eldorado will be well sorted by Christmas !

 

[pete roper]

BY CHRISTMAS!!! (Gurgle!)

I hope you're not serious?

[TN Mark]

kballowe

     It’s your new bike and you’re certainly able to do with it as you desire. Perhaps the worst part of this entire fiasco is that anyone considering a new or a left over Moto Guzzi 1400 may be better served to look elsewhere. This thread and many more like it cast the brand in a very poor light.

One of my brothers bought a new Ural years ago and it’s been virtually trouble free with excellent dealer support when needed. How could, or why has, Piaggio  allowed the Moto Guzzi brand’s support to pale in comparison to Ural? I don’t currently have a Guzzi but I would like to own one again at some point. Ongoing poor support and dealers dropping out are certainly cause for reconsideration. Although the bright side is the brands plummeting resale value allows used ones to be bought very inexpensively. 

[kballowe]

OK, but look at all the great support on this board, and some others.

LOL - collectively, we can fix anything !

 



Kevin B

[TN Mark]

OK, but look at all the great support on this board, and some others.

LOL - collectively, we can fix anything !

 

Kevin B

Yup, great internet forum advice/support can be had from every forum I've ever been on. Of course it's nearly meaningless if not acted upon with a motorcycle that's under warranty at an authorized servicing dealer. No one I ride with, on any brand motorcycle, would consider trailering a new bike to an event because it can't be trusted to run correctly after being at an authorized servicing dealer for almost 2 months.

You certainly have more patience than the situation calls for IMHO. I sincerely hope your beautiful Eldorado runs wonderfully for you in Wisconsin. Otherwise you'll just have a beautiful trailer queen. No Moto Guzzi Eldorado 1400 should be a trailer queen that can't be trusted to run properly. Hopefully there's an actual servicing dealer between the Wisconsin Rally and your home 400 miles away that the Eldo can be dropped off at for a proper warranty claim.

[kballowe]

Rode it home yesterday.  Managed 75 miles with 7 restarts, and "off" time varying from ten minutes to four hours.
No issues.

 

[pete roper]

It's going to bite you on the bum.

[kballowe]

It's going to bite you on the bum.

I know.
I know.

BUT - (fortunately) I do have something else to ride.

 

[pebra]

Patience, and a plan, nothing wrong with that.
I hope you'll enjoy the rally, and that your bike will be fixed soon.

[Ncdan]

Keep fingers crossed, maybe luck up and was a connection.

[pete roper]

I seriously doubt it's fixed. The P0155 code shows the voltage is out of range and it's a known issue. It's only a matter of time until it recurs. Just hope it isn't in the middle of nowhere.

[Don G]

[kballowe]

Day 1 .  Rode it home Wednesday.  Managed 75 miles with 7 restarts, and "off" time varying from ten minutes to four hours.

Day 2.  Thursday Aug 1st.  71 miles. 5 starts.

Day 3.  Hooked up trailer n truck n gave truck keys and $100 to my buddy. 

Lit the Eldorado up and rode it the 411 miles to the Wisconsin rally.
No issues.

Hopefully I won't need to make that phone call.
 

[Zoom Zoom]

Give Big Daddy a hey howdy for me!

John Henry

[kballowe]

OK, so I got home a bit early from the rally and all went well.  Approx 1,000 miles and no issues
Could this thing be cured ????

I just now got home and rode the bike into the basement - and guess what ?

Here's a little video for all ya'all


https://youtu.be/blvpi_wjQiE



 

THAT sucks the big one.

The bright side ?  I got all the way back home before it happened.

[TN Mark]

It’s fantastic that you were able to enjoy the bike and that the next failure was after you made it home.

[kballowe]

It’s fantastic that you were able to enjoy the bike and that the next failure was after you made it home.

LOL - I know I know.

But, (as it turns out) there really IS a trailer in this story.    On Tuesday, when they open.

[lucian]

Glad you at least got a chance to ride it, and it got you home.  The problem with the hall effect sensors is they can and do fault intermittently. Not like the old school mechanical potentiometers   that either worked or they didn't.  If the po155 code has reappeared, I "m willing to bet track D Mv reading at 0 throttle will be way low, say  1900 Mv + or -.  ( should be near 4 v)   I hope they buck up and get you a new demand sensor under warranty. Thanks for taking the time to keep us all posted.

[pete roper]

There is no reason why I should feel this way but it makes me blood-vessel burstingly angry.......

[Ncdan]

So sorry my friend but I was afraid that ghost would reappear because mine did the exact same thing. It would disappear for a few days and many miles and starts to just reappear from one crank to the next. I’d bet money that I bet  that Dave could take it apart and test it and one side or the other would be bad. Hey look at the bright side he does have half of a good side in his possession now and I’m pretty sure he’d give it to you:) it will get fixed one way or the other my friend, give me a call when you get a chance.

[pete roper]

The offer is still open for you to walk into the shop with my TV4 take off and ask them to give it a shot. If it cures it they get a new one and install it and contribute 1/2 the price of a new one, (Theirs will be warranty, yes?) to Medicienes sans Frontiers. And yes, from these clowns I'd want a receipt. Oh, and make sure you get my take off back.

Pete

[DougG]

Hi Kevin,

I'm riding the " Demon Demand Sensor" train now myself ('15 Cali 1400), and as Dave, Dan and others have said, it doesn't happen all the time.  But it is always waiting.  Mine has never failed when riding, always at start up and eventually clears with a few re-starts.  I bought two off ebay already and they both tested bad (on both it was D track failure...1232 mv,  one had a weak C track as well...791 mv). Thanks again Dave for the test routine.  I sent them both back with a note of explanation.  I've also decided to stop messing around and buy new from Harper's - $425.  My riding time is worth all of that.  I'll let you know when it comes in and I do the install. 

Be well,
DougG

[TN Mark]

Do the new ones have a manufacture date on them so you know they're not of the same bad batch that made it into so many bikes years ago? If not, has the manufacturer changed anything about the design to ensure more reliability of the new one?

[Ncdan]

Do the new ones have a manufacture date on them so you know they're not of the same bad batch that made it into so many bikes years ago? If not, has the manufacturer changed anything about the design to ensure more reliability of the new one?

From what I understood when I was researching the TPS issue with my 1400, the company that produces them, made a bad batch produced and distributed among several brands and year models that use this exact sensor and best of my recollection it was several years ago. However a cycle company that purchased several hundred of these  could still be using them in recent production bikes.

[DougG]

Hi all,
Good thoughts Mark and Dan.  All I can add is that I have the identical bike in a '17 model.  It has not thrown a fault code in 1200 miles...yet.  Hopefully, Marelli figured out the problem.  When I buy the demand sensor I will do so only with the agreement that I will bench test it before install and if it fails, they get it back.  I'll report.

Be well,
DougG

[TN Mark]

Best of luck to you on that. It’s common to see a “No Return On Electrical Parts” notification at many dealers. That’s why I’m wondering if there’s a visual indication on the Demand Sensor noting a newer Revision number or a Manufacture Date. Is there anything to visually identify the batch of bad ones? Could a new warranty Demand Sensor replacement from Piaggio be from the suspect batch? I suspect ‘someone’ at Piaggio knows a lot about this issue. Like if it’s low single digit warranty item or worse.