V85TT - MG kicks themselves again.

[Roebling3]

We all have friends we have never met. Greg and I have likely passed each other multiple times in the territory we share.  He lives near DC, travels for work as I did. He's been riding & writing about new to market motorcycles for years. Greg put nearly 500 miles on a spanking new V85TT.

The bike was freighted by Piaggio to an MG dealer ~150 miles from Greg's home. He was stunned by the look of the entire bike. He easily made glowing comparisons, explaining how clever &, thoughtful the total design worked. But, on the last day, the TT suddenly dropped dead; on a very scary section of highway nearing the Baltimore Harbor Tunnel. He lived to write about it and publish.

Greg had found MG's V85TT 'character' right away. He was a happy test rider through and through. I could feel the punch line coming. It was different from any other, in my experience. Diagnosis revealed a bolt, fastening the valve rocker arm assy. had backed out. It was 1 of 4, Three had thread locker. The dealer has frozen my friend out of communication. Could the K1100, w/100K miles, waiting @ a foreign dealership ????

[fotoguzzi]

Got a link to the published report?

I don't get what your saying at the end about a foreign dealership tho.

[blackcat]

"Diagnosis revealed a bolt, fastening the valve rocker arm assy. had backed out."

This would stop the bike?

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

Greg lives "just over the mountain" from me (near Jefferson, MD) and I bumped into him once while out test riding a customer's bike. A mutual friend recently told me about the V85TT leaving him sit, but I never heard what the problem was.

I too am baffled by what the last line "Could the K1100, w/100K miles, waiting @ a foreign dealership ????" means.

[twowheeladdict]

Not sure how the title relates to the story.  Someone attend the MSM school of headline writing?

The "Kawasaki Automatic Compression Release System" on my Vulcan Voyager 1700 broke free at 50,000 miles and bounced around the top end getting chewed up with pieces falling into the bottom end of the cam chain and fortunately got caught by the oil screens before getting into the pump. 

Does this mean that Kawasaki kicked themselves?  Or does it mean that when you put that many moving parts together things happen from time to time. 

My bike is the only reported case of this happening on all the forums I belonged to up until 2017.

How many V85TTs have had this particular issue?  Sounds like human error to me. 

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

Here's Greg's article about the V85TT: https://rollingphysicsproblem.wordpress.com/2020/11/30/my-crazy-italian-ex-girlfriend/

I guess "Could the K1100, w/100K miles, waiting @ a foreign dealership ????" means that Greg had left his well-worn K1100 at Motoplex when he picked up the V85TT and it was waiting for him there for the trip home.

[bad Chad]

I read most of his blog.  I found it a bit arduous, reads like he is trying much too hard to be clever.

[Two Checks]

 It appears the guy who applies bearing grease now applies thread locker.

[Guzzistajohn]

The guy has a way of writing that makes you scroll more than read. Did you see the episode of MASH when Radar took a mail in writing course?

[fotoguzzi]

I read most of his blog.  I found it a bit arduous, reads like he is trying much too hard to be clever.

he's no Hunter S T.

[Tom]

"My Crazy Italian Ex Girlfriend".  I think the title explains the problem.      

[Cam3512]

Yea, I have 7,300 uneventful miles on my V85.  First I’ve heard of something like this.

[Huzo]

He (Greg), referred to himself in the first person.
He has therefore shat his nest...

[Solorider73]

Sounds like a build issue and hopefully it was a one off. I generally look for multiple complaints before I start getting concerned. This is the first I have heard of this issue. I have ~ 2000 miles on mine with no problems. I would hope a build problem would show up in the first 2000 miles.

[kingoffleece]

The way the guy wrote the story I couldn't finish it................. ..........
Figured you guys will fill in the gaps.  Now, where's that attention span.

[jpv7]

The way the guy wrote the story I couldn't finish it................. ..........
Figured you guys will fill in the gaps.  Now, where's that attention span.

Read it...but had to make a coffee along the way.  Geez.  In any case, the article wouldn't cause me to shy away from buying one if I really liked it.  This sort of thing happens to Honda too...

[JJ]

he's no Hunter S T.

"Song of the Sausage Creature!" (Timeless classic...)

[Mayor_of_BBQ]

It appears the guy who applies bearing grease now applies thread locker.

The Peter Principal in action

[v85kris]

7000 miles here, trouble free.

[LowRyter]

No excuses.  This ain't good.  Just poor quality.  Imagine being stranded somewhere.  Spend $12k for a bike, yeah, I'd expect more.

[bad Chad]

Sure, but I believe it happens to them all, still sucks, but I don’t think Guzzi has a lock on such.

[ridingron]

I'm not familiar with the screws on that assembly. Does someone sit there and put thread locker on every screw or does Guzzi buy screws with the thread locker already applied? Anyone know?

[Tom]

Richard Thibideau has 28,400 miles on his Ronald McDonald and no such problems.  A replacement after bouncing his Cal 1400 Touring down the road. 

[twowheeladdict]

No excuses.  This ain't good.  Just poor quality.  Imagine being stranded somewhere.  Spend $12k for a bike, yeah, I'd expect more.

So now you are saying Italians are quality workers? 

[LowRyter]

So now you are saying Italians are quality workers?

I think the expectation of quality, in this case basic reliability to go from point A to point B, is universal regardless of brand or in your context, country of origin.  No one expects to put up with this from a new motorcycle.  This isn't 1964.

[bad Chad]

Yet it happens with all brands, or so I think as there is essentially no empirical evidence to show otherwise.

[Solorider73]

From my automotive days we would say

It needs a “ Poka-Yoke”

[arveno]

I hope he goes back on riding BMW....

[Kremmen]

I got the Subject...the guy is a reviewer and received a defective bike, expressed willingness to re-test a fixed or known-good bike, and a month later felt like he'd been ghosted. That surely qualifies as kicking yourself - you could have turned a negative around, but didn't.

The writing improves in the later part of the article. The first part is much too flowery for my taste.

The K1100 bit has me scratching my head too.

[Kiwi_Roy]

There are 3 other bikes in this thread not even run in, if I had bought a new V85 you wouldn't see me for dust until I had done at least 10,000 miles lol.
I certainly wouldn't be worried about what some reviewer who obviously prefers a BMW thinks.
Thanks for reading it so I don't have to.