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I hear you, and good luck. Keep in mind that 10°C means a good 1/2 hour or more to get up to temp.I'm not retired either and have two kids at home which restricts my riding. But I don't take a bike out if I don't think I'm going to be an hour or more and at least 50 miles. I mean, maybe once in a while I do something shorter, but the cooler it is, the less likely.Anyway, good luck with your modifications.
I had similar experiences with my 16 V7 II . I did the modifications to the “breather” system. Lost thereturnhosethe vacuum hose routed the hose that returned to the crankcase into a catch can ,&ran a hose from crankcase up under fuel tank & put a lawnmower fuel filter on it . Overfilled oil level will slightly over pressure crankcase . I added a deep sump & run the level @ the lower mark . This also added a bit more oil capacity too. About every 1k miles or so I clean out about a tbsp. Of “baby -batter from catch can. I’m usually over speed limit & run 4-6 k rpm on big road . Oil consumption is negligible, a few oz. Every few thousand Mi. & change every 5K . 32k Mi. So far . Still a smile generating bike . Chase the stick chase the stick !
Correct , I didn’t notice if you mentioned mileage on the bike , it’s been my experience V7’s seem to loosen up &ride better @ about 18k miles . That’s not an exact figure but in that neighborhood. This is based on the 2 that I currently own . Or maybe that’s just me . I noticed the same thing on the BMW’s before that . A factory rep said that around that mileage it’s considered a “used “vehicle & doesn’t need to meet new euro five emissions specs .Maybe urban myth ! But they do seem to run better as miles accumulate. Your results may vary, as they say .Hope to see ya down the road
I removed the evap canister on my V7 II a couple years ago. There’s a writeup on GuzziTech that I followed. Capped the vapor hose at the intake manifold. I plan to eventually do the same thing on my V7 III and maybe my V9.I added a homemade catch can to my V7 III last year in order to race it, but just for the transmission breather (no more top hat), but the engine I left alone since the airbox was allowed as a collector. There’s V7 III engine breathing setup is different from the previous Herons, so I’m going to study that for a spell before I consider modifying it further.
Did you have any issues with the bike once you removed yours? Throttle, pressure, etc.? For reference, my bike has agostini no cat slip ons and a K&N filter. As far as I know it’s on the factory tune.
Wrote a bit before I had a coffee. Ill try again working on being polite.Rides are a bit shorter at times, but such is life. Between Kids, work, and life I get out when I can. Sometimes that means a quick rip to the store, sometimes its for an hour at lunch, and sometimes its for a two day weekend, it all just depends on life. While I realize I'm a rarity on a guzzi, I'm not retired Spring and summer riding in my location mean 10C (50F) with moisture in the air.Oil is normally 10W60 Castrol, just this last change I moved to Liquidmoly 10W60 GT1. I haven't ridden the bike with it yet.I suspect that oil is getting to temp most of the time, but my guess is cold ambient air with lots of moisture means condensation happens in the frame and heads. I understand that's a part of an air cooled bike, especially with this mounting configuration. However I would rather make some changes to the bike to suit my needs and correct an issue myself and others have had, than sell the bike.I know others here have done both a catch can or a removal of the EVAP system (I don't think I've seen both on the same bike), looking for insight into their experiences. I have read the threads I can find, just needs thoughts on what I'm proposing. Pic of the bike as everyone loves pics.
Other than a little extra gas stink, no issues. I would consider a Beetle custom map for overall better feel, especially sans cat.
How is a catch can going to eliminate the issue?
I don't think there's any vacuum present on that line. It's basically a PCV type system meaning POSITIVE crankcase ventilation. Vapors containing some oil mist are pushed out by positive pressure. That said perhaps there's some vacuum draw on the return line you're eliminating. Personally I wouldn't do any of this. I would concentrate on preventing the mayo in the first place. FYI Heron Heads, up to the V7C would occasionally go through all their oil on a road trip and toast the motor. The problem seems to have gone away with the 1TB models. Did the return line contribute to this? I dunno. I don't remember if the 2TB had it too but kinda thought it didn't. Then again I believe the MkI 1TB has a different vent system than either the 2TB or the MKII, but I'm not at my desktop to check that right now.
To be honest, I'm at a loss to help. I wonder if say a different viscosity oil might reach a higher temperature sooner and therefore release moisture, but I can't say for sure. I think if I was in your shoes I would certainly try and go from there. I can't believe that say a synthetic racing 4t 10w-40 that can protect my wife's Ducati at 100 mph @ 90°F couldn't say protect your Guzzi at 50 mph @ 60°F. I would be really curious to at least experiment. I mean on the automotive side I feel like I have ~$125k between two vehicles with some sort of BS 0W-20 or so oil recommendation. I mean crap, if we can't run a < 10k air-cooled motorcycle on a 10w-40 that's double the viscosity warm. I mean we're comparing a 50 HP air-cooled motor with a 400 HP turbo running on 0W-20....I mean, isn't it worth an attempt?!?
I am just going to throw something out here. I had a Harley Sportster that did the same thing. I really had no solution but changed the oil when It started to milk up. The Sporty uses a remote oil reservoir, in Harley talk an oil bag. I currently have a Cummins Ram pickup. It kind of suffers from the same problem in that in the winter doesn't maintain optimal engine temperature. I can watch the temperature gauge fluctuate as the thermostat opens and closes even going down the road on extended runs. I could change the thermostat but I would want to have the original during the very hot temperatures we Have where I live. Diesels are very sensitive to the temperature of the engine. My truck came with some unusual options, one was a snow plow package which included a kind of a bra to keep snow out of the engine compartment. It also blocks the amount of air that gets to the radiator. I put this on in the winter which allows the engine to get up to the proper temperature quicker and stay there. Would some type of shielding over the cylinders help with this issue? I think it would be worth a try. I would keep an eye on temperatures but I doubt that would be an issue. I had to let my V7lll idle for 13 minutes, another story, to reset the ECU. I was concerned that it might get hot so I was prepared to use a fan on the engine if needed. It never got overly warm during the 13 minutes. These engines run pretty cool as you well know. I would try some king of shields myself.kk
I just installed a small water trap in the drain from top frame tube to sump line on my V7 ll . I drain it every 200 miles roughly and not unusual to get a table spoon of water especially in winter . The breather system not a good design with the engine breather using the top frame tube as a plenum.Which is stone cold at start up so any water vapour condenses and returns back to the sump . The water trap seems to work well eliminating mayo for those riding year round in temperate climates.
I'm a believer in big oil breather tanks with reed valves, in reducing blow-by, mayo and even (maybe) giving a slight power increase (large underseat 'corse' oil breather tank on my 916 is claimed to add some HP due to reducing pressure in the crankcase by, effectively making the volume bigger?).All of my bikes (V-twins) have such a setup, on my LM2 I have the Agostini larger breather box with the feed from the crankcase passing through a large-bore reed valve (modified Ducati crankcase breather).The breather tank setup does still return any oil that gathers in there back to the crankcase but I've never noticed any mayo and I'm in England where it's not particularly hot and is fairly humid, that said I don't ride in the cold or wet, at least not out of choice and the oil always seems to get to a good temperature on ride outs.The only one of my bikes that had any kind of notable 'excrement' from the breather is my Monster which has a high-comp/tuned setup that seems prone to blow-by but I recently made a custom large (1L) breather/catch tank which seems to have resolved that, if there is any excess that gets through as vapour it just drips out of an overflow (no airbox to send it to) but since fitting the larger tank I've not noticed any drips on the garage floor.Not sure if any of the above is of any use but thought it worth sharing.
For my race training last year, I made an oil catch can out of a mini Gatorade bottle, a couple hose barbs, and some Gorilla glue.Use a pill bottle or some heavier duty plastic container that your hoarding partner won’t miss, paint it with the coolest new PlastiDip color, or keep it bare so that the prescription label provides nostalgic memories for years to come.
I’ve had milky oil in the past—engine and final drive—and it’s simply because I ride in all elements, including rain, and keep the bikes outside (change of atmospheric conditions means moisture will get in. Because of my factors, I monitor my oils more and sometimes halve my oil change intervals.
Water in the final drive, I had that earlier on with my V7III SpecialIt turned out that when riding in the rain spray from the front wheel would enter the drive tunnel through the boot.The boot was attached using a Q strap which wasn't clamping at the bottom where the tail entered the ratchet.A better clamp fixed that.
