100K mi on my Small Block !

[SmithSwede]

Yeah, I know getting to 100,000 miles is no big deal to a lot of you salty, crusty old road dogs.  But I personally have never liked a bike enough to ride it this long.  Until I got a Guzzi. 

This is a 2013 V7 Stone.  My wife bought it in secret from Mike Haven at MPH, and Mike personally





delivered it to my house as a surprise Christmas present in December 2013. 

Now I’m at 100,000 miles.

Guess it’s broken in now. 

[oldbike54]

 Dude , you can't ride a motorcycle that far 

 Dusty

[kballowe]

This is a 2013 V7 Stone.  My wife bought it in secret from Mike Haven at MPH, and Mike personally delivered it to my house as a surprise Christmas present in December 2013. 

Now I’m at 100,000 miles.

Guess it’s broken in now.

Wow.  Good for you !

 

[mtiberio]

congrats.

[Cam3512]

Sure as hell can't tour on a small block, not enough power!

Congrats.

[Dave Swanson]

100K miles on a bike that can't tour!     That must have been a lot of trips to the pub! 

[oldbike54]

 Did this happen on the to Houston on Friday , or on the way home ? How much rainwater did you swallow , how many miles on the tires , what oil are you running ? Come on man , we want details !

 Dusty

[ohiorider]

Congratulations.  That's putting on the miles!  You averaged over 16,000 miles a year since you bought the bike.   

Bob

[lucian]

Well done SS, I can only dream of  putting 16000 miles a season on the clock. May another 100,000 happy miles await you! 

[ampm7]

That's fantastic!

[bad Chad]

Rock on!

[SmithSwede]

Congratulations.  That's putting on the miles!  You averaged over 16,000 miles a year since you bought the bike.   

Bob

Bob.  I’m a sick man.  Ask Dusty.   I only averaged 16K on the Guzzi because of all the other bikes I was riding.

[alanp]

Congrats, bike looks almost new!  If it wasn't for the reliability issues, I would buy one myself.  Oh wait, I did buy one. 

[oldbike54]

Congrats, bike looks almost new!  If it wasn't for the reliability issues, I would buy one myself.  Oh wait, I did buy one.

 Apparently they do need to take a sabbatical at a little over 80K miles .

 Dusty

[PJPR01]

Good one Esquire!! Quite a milestone!

[ohiorider]

Bob.  I’m a sick man.  Ask Dusty.   I only averaged 16K on the Guzzi because of all the other bikes I was riding.

You're only slightly more sick than I am.  For years, my average across 2 bikes was about the same as your one bike mileage .... about 16k a year.  Dusty isn't the right guy to ask.  He'd think its perfectly normal behavior.  So do I!

Bob

[HarveyMushman]

Yeah, I know getting to 100,000 miles is no big deal to a lot of you salty, crusty old road dogs.  But I personally have never liked a bike enough to ride it this long.  Until I got a Guzzi. 

This is a 2013 V7 Stone.  My wife bought it in secret from Mike Haven at MPH, and Mike personally





delivered it to my house as a surprise Christmas present in December 2013. 

Now I’m at 100,000 miles.

Guess it’s broken in now.

Cool, and congrats!  I think I passed 500 miles on mine this afternoon . . .

[slowmover]

Did you have any major repairs and when did the first ones happen? Have you changed the fuel filter more than once? I’m embarrassed to say how low the miles are on my 2013. I guess I should stop babying it.

[travelingbyguzzi]

Congratulations! You are HOTD! Hero Of The Day!

[jcctx]

 

[Chuck in Indiana]

Ahh, everybody knows them little small blocks ain't worth nuthin.. 

[Texas Turnip]

Congrats. Do Beaver and I need to make you a cowboy hat?

Tex

[malik]

Very well done. And welcome to the club. It only goes to show that, in spite of what some people think, the V7's are proper Guzzi. You're really going to show them once you retire & can pick up the pace. You do know that you only have another 100,000 on that odometer, don't you?

[Muzz]

Well done Prescott, both the V7 and you!

Makes me wonder why I got such a lemon run with the gearbox in my Breva.

[Gliderjohn]

Great milestone for a bike. Will be curious to see how many miles you can rack up before any major engine or tranny issues. Keep us informed.
GliderJohn

[Sykestone8886]

I too would like more info about what problems you've encountered and what you have replaced.im only curios because I'm a happy owner of of 2016 v7, please enlighten me, and congrats on your milestone.

[SmithSwede]

Since several have asked about maintenance and service issues, here goes.  Probably TMI, but for thems what curious, here goes.  If I didn’t answer your question, PM me. 

Background.  This is a blue collar bike who works for a living.   I don’t abuse it, but it gets ridden rain or shine, hot or cold, day in day out.  Contrary to what some people say, I regularly tour on it, and routinely run it at an indicated 80-90 mph for hours on end.   It is not pampered.

I’m a big believer in letting a cold bike warm up.  I start it and let it idle for several minutes while I gear up.   I then ride very gently for 3 to 5 miles, slowly opening up more throttle.  But once I’m convinced it is at normal operating temps, I run it pretty hard.  I don’t “bang” on it.  I try to be super smooth on gear shifts and throttle/brake manipulation.   But other than that, I typically ride it in a spirited but smooth manner.  WOT throttle is a fairly regular occurrence. 

Spark Plug caps and wires.   This was my ***biggest single problem*** until me and others more talented finally figured it out.  Vexed me from day one.   I was stranded several times and took the Ride of Shame in a tow truck to home or a dealer. 

I got check engine lights.  Fouled plugs.   Carbon tracks.  Missing under high speed load conditions.  Replaced the ECU under warranty.   Cleaned throttle bodies, tightened all exhaust clamps, cleaned injectors, changed coils and wires, sacrificed goats, etc.  Drove me nuts!  Nearly sold the bike over this issue.   On Dusty’s advice, I did buy a brand new Triumph in desperation as a potential replacement (which turned out to be a mistake in retrospect, but I submit an understandable overreaction and not really something to blame Dusty for).

I’m now convinced the root cause was simply the crappy OEM black rubber spark plug boots.  Turns out the OEM boots are fabricated from fermented turds sourced from the Devil himself with little specs of moldy corn flakes therein. 

I finally replaced the devil crap rubber boots with the phenolic NGK caps (NGK XD05F) and the associated plugs for those caps (NGK CPR 8EA).  And used silicone sealant to waterproof the wire going into the cap, since it’s a direct shot (no rain loop) to the plugs, and thus rain water drains directly into the cap.  No more problems since these mods. 

Nevertheless, I’m still a bit suspicious about the ignition system generally.  I now always carry a small bottle of WD40 because if the bike sits outdoors for days in heavy, windy rain, a plug can drop.  And I always carry at least 4 extra spark plugs due to a bad experience at Wooloroc, Oklahoma that my Guzzi compadres will never let me forget.   And I carry two extra NGK spark plug caps.   At 90K miles I suddenly had a spring break inside a nearly new NGK cap which caused the left cylinder to drop on starting the engine.  No big deal because I had a spare cap in my saddle bag.   

Clutch.   My first clutch wore out at 64K miles.  Clutch was slipping at high speed and there would be Exxon Valdez levels of trans oil leaking from the bell housing when I parked.   Turned out the clutch was worn past the service limit, had oil on it, and one of the  metal “fingers” was fractured.   

The input bearing to the transmission was also toast.  (P/N 92201225). I had been getting a lot of swarf on transmission drain plug, so the warning signs were there.  I’m now pretty sure the failed bearing caused the trans input shaft to wobble, causing trans oil to leak to the clutch because the seals could not contain the oil.   A Guzzi guru told me this input bearing is a weak link.   But maybe I just had a bad bearing. 

I’m again ready for another clutch at 100K mi.  This time I suspect engine oil contamination from the rear crankshaft seal.  I will now change the transmission input bearing as a matter of course when in there for a clutch.  Along with all clutch pushrod seals and the rear engine crank seal.  Might as well. 

Exhaust.  At 45K mi, the cross over pipe going into the right side exhaust header cracked off.    Engine sound suddenly got really loud.  WTH?   A local welder welded it back together at no charge—�and no problems since.   I suspect I may not have positioned the exhaust system correctly to relax tension when assembled and heated up. Or maybe it was an infant mortality and not my fault.   Nevertheless, I now take a lot of care to make sure everything on the exhaust “hangs” well with no excess tension or strain upon reassembly.  I’ll even ride it 20 miles or so with moderately torqued fasteners, then snug it up after that warming/vibration cycle gets things centered.   

Crank Position Sensor.   I’ve replaced several.   Then I got stranded at the airport at about 80K miles and my usual solution of replacing the supposedly “bad” CPS didn’t definitively solve the problem.    I’m now convinced the problem all along was a suboptimal connector between the CPS and the ECU.   

These are 2 wire inductive sensors.   The third wire is just a ground/shield; this is not a Hall sensor.   Dead simple.  My former “bad” sensors Ohm out normal.   The last problem was solved by mechanically scrubbing the connector and flooding it with EZ Oxit and waiting 6 weeks!

Lack of CPS signal is easy to diagnose.   Engine cranks for only a second or two, then stops.  No spark.  No fuel.   

If it happens again I’m going to hard wire the circuit and just eliminate the plug in connector.   It’s not easy or convenient to get to anyway.   

Engine temp sensor.   At 46K, the engine starting running really rich, and gas mileage dropped to low 30 mpg (normally 42 to 45 mpg with my heavy body, heavy throttle hand, and 30L saddle bags). Traced to a loose connector on the engine temperature sensor.  Tighten and sealed this connector and snugged down the sensor firmly.  No more problems since.  But I do have a spare temp sensor waiting just in case.

Engine Oil.   I’ve only used AGIP 10W-60 per the manual, despite a strong hunch that this is total overkill for the little two valve 750 and is a spec meant more for mechanical beasts like the 4 valve Griso.   I suspect any good synthetic 10W-40 or 20W-50 would be fine for a 750.   But that’s not what the Good Book sayeth. 

I’ve usually changed the oil at 6,000 miles, but I don’t hesitate to run to 7,000 or 8,000 miles if I’m too busy to change it. 

UNI oil filters every other oil change.

Don’t overfill the oil or it blows into the air box.  Mine likes the oil level at the LOW mark when the engine is cold.  When the engine is hot the level is a bit less than midway between the MIN and MAX marks. 

When newer, it used to burn maybe 100cc per 1,000 miles.   Now it’s more like 150-200cc per 1,000 mi.  I now have oil misting externally from something which I think accounts for the difference.  The engine is not burning oil. 

FWIW, I’ll mention that I used to get a small smudge of swarf on the magnetic engine oil drain plug.   After 65 to 70K miles, I’m not getting any swarf.  Go figure.   Finally broken in?

The O-rings for the dipstick get flattened and hard very quickly.   Maybe 6 months/10K miles.   I bought a big stash of these O rings and replace them regularly whenever they start letting oil mist out in that area.

Valves.   Previously, at least one valve would tighten up about 0.001” every 6K miles, usually the left cylinder exhaust, but sometimes another.  But for whatever reason, after 65 to 70k, they haven’t moved.    I’m now only checking them every 10-12K mi. 

Fuel filter.    I replaced it with a metal one at 49k because I got nervous about the half plastic/half metal one.   But I admit the OEM filter had not failed, and it looked ok to me.  Not grossly swollen.   

Final drive.   After lots of riding in heavy rain, I would sometimes drain the FD oil and it would come out milky brown green water contaminated.   So I silicone sealed the rubber boot on the swing arm, which solved the problem.   

I run 200cc oil.   Use a horse syringe to add the FD oil, and heat it in hot water beforehand to make the process faster and cleaner. If you use more than 200 cc, on a hot day after high speed riding, it will spit the excess out. 

Blow out the vent cap on the top each time you change the oil.  Mine got plugged once with mud, causing the FD seal to (temporarily) leak. 

Some say only run Dino Oil in the FD or it will leak.   I’ve always run synthetic, and no leaks.    I’m using Mobil 1 75-140 synthetic; sometimes AGIP if I have it. 

Transmission.    No issues whatsoever, other than the input bearing I mentioned.    I run AGIP 80W-90 or Mobil 1 75W-90, changed every 12K mi or so.   I love the way this old fashioned “long throw” transmission with a dry clutch can shift once you get used to it.   Dead smooth. 

Driveshaft.   At 85K, I had a complete failure of the “mushroom” head of the drive shaft and the related couplings.      (Part numbers 23328081, 31327783, and 19328891).  Bike felt “grindy” when taking off from a stop.   When I went to grease the splines, there were molten pellets of black stuff all inside the drive shaft tunnel of the swingarm, like molten plastic.  Burnt grease?  I had to separate these components with a mallet.   Splines on the failed components were worn to a knife edge along the outer half of the travel.  Oddly enough, they seemed fine 10K miles earlier when I last changed the rear tire and greased the splines.  Did I finally bust through a tough but thin layer of case hardening and the softer metal beneath wore rapidly?  Fortunately, the output spline from the transmission, and the input spline to the final drive, looked perfect.  So I replaced the drive shaft/U-joint and couplings with new parts (about $300, not too bad—probably still better than chains and sprockets).

Some say the small block drive shaft just wears out at about this stage of life.   Others told me that I should have been cleaning off all the old metal contaminated spline grease and scrubbing the splines down to clean bare metal before adding fresh grease, instead of my prior technique of just slathering fresh grease on top of the nasty old grease. 

I’m now cleaning them back to bare metal each tire change.   Using Guard Dog 525 moly spline grease.   We’ll see if it fails again after 80K or lasts longer with this different greasing protocol. 

Speedometer sensor (located on rear tire next to rear brake caliper).  Around 20K, it stopped working after riding in much rain for days.  I dried it with a hairdryer and it came back.  Silicone sealed.  No further problems.   

Gauges.   No real issues.   They fog up sometimes in colder weather with lots of rain.   Ignore until summer.  Or hit them with blow dryer.   I often cover them with a plastic shopping bag if I know they will be outdoors and exposed to lots of rain.   

Brakes.   No issues.   Pads last 35 to 50K.  Original discs.   

Batteries.   I’m paranoid about batteries and replace them every two years or so just to be safe.  I depend on this bike for work.   So it needs to work. 

Alternator/Regulator.   Mine has always read “too high” at about 15.2 volt at higher revs.   Haven’t bothered to rectify this problem.   

Screws, bolts and connectors.  It took me a while to figure this out, but practically everything on this bike will loosen with vibration and mileage.   The solo screw that holds the shift linkage to the shifter.   Brake disc caliper bolts.   Passenger footrest bracket bolts.   Intake boot clamps.   Mirror stalks.   Etc. etc.  I now make it a habit to snug up everything when I change the oil.  And if I remove something, it automatically gets the blue Locktite upon re-assembly. 

Air filter.  My theory is people change these way too often.   I replace mine every 30K miles.  Or longer. 

1 headlight bulb at 60,000

2 tail light bulbs.   Turns out water could not drain from the little silver housing.  Drilled small drain hole.  No further problem.   

Cables and levers are all original.  But I do pack a new clutch cable with me on longer trips. 

Steering head bearings are fine. I did re-grease them at 30K with BelRay waterproof grease.

Haven’t touched wheel bearings. 

Replaced the fork gaiters at 40K with higher quality rubber one meant for a Triumph.   

Changed fork oil at 50K.  It was nasty black and smelled like the Seattle fish market in late summer.  Salmon oil?

Changed rear shocks at about 40K with much better IKONs. 

I’ve had no issues whatsoever with any kind of overheating, despite many urban summer traffic jams and routine high speed running throughout  Texas and the American South.  And I’ve had zero problems with radiators, thermostats, hoses, belts or cooling fans—�because the thing is air cooled the way the gods of engineering intended honest engines to be.

[Air-Cooled]

Great info for those of us with lower mileage. Thanks!

[malik]

Good info. Thanks for putting that together for us.

[Sykestone8886]

Thanks Swede. I really appreciate all the helpful info !!