1999 Bassa recommissioning update

[Michael_A]

About a month ago I purchased a 99 Bassa from a gentleman who had to give up riding due to a (hopefully temporary) condition. He did a lot of work and maintenance on it, but it had sat for several years and needed a full inspection and recommissioning to be truly road worthy again.
First up, dump old fuel and go through the EFI system. A CA Cycleworks TPS was installed, but the bike never seemed to run right, I suspect for quite a while. Also, given the age of the bike it was time to replace all the rubber hoses and clamps in the fuel system. Might as well do the filter, too. With the throttle bodies out for cleaning (they needed it) the injectors were sent off to Injector RX in Houston for overhaul. One was significantly plugged, and both flowed below spec prior to servicing. Returned with identical flows and significantly improved spray patterns.
Because of the CA Cycleworks TPS being non-linear, a modification to the well written up synching procedure was warranted. I could probably write a whole article on that alone, and just may, but the long and short of it is…. If you try and set at 3.9 throttle degrees and around 540mv… it will NEVER run quite right because of the delta in the curves. The TPS needs to be advanced slightly as 3.9 degrees throttle equates to around 675-700mv at correct idle speed. Thank the steeper non-linear curve; kinda had to do it carefully "by ear" (actually with a multimeter and patch cable so I could monitor real time), like setting timing in an old distributor equipped car without a timing light whereby you very carefully advance/retard until a "sweet spot" is found, and with lots of test drives. Happy to report it runs beautifully! No popping, banging, backfiring, or pinging. A real joy of an engine.
While the injectors were sent away, the bike got a full service; all fluids, valves, filters. etc. and a close inspection (yeah, I slurped air into the back brake circuit… oh boy that was fun sorting out…). A few other rubber hoses were questionable and replaced. Battery was about 5 years old so good to preemptively replace it now. Everything was checked and inspected (found a cracked intake manifold gasket and the fasteners holding it on were quite loose) and one coil had suspiciously high primary resistance; both replaced. Some accessories removed (nothing wrong with them, just not to my taste), and a big clean-up/wash to remove years of garage storage dust.
After several weeks of work a final shake down ride this morning. What a lovely running thing it is! No issues presented themselves and it was a joy to put a few hundred miles on what should have been a short check ride.
A few things still need doing – a front fork overhaul (tubes pretty badly pitted and will be replaced). Oh…and the tach died when I enthusiastically went over some railroad tracks. Time to call Speedhut… Other than that squawk a super fun ride! Then I picked up a nail in the back tire… oh well…. It was getting a bit flat spotted, might as well replace it…  Just thought I’d share and perhaps another member can find some inspiration to carry on and get another Guzzi back on the road!

[John A]

Nice bike. I have a black one that I bought new. The chrome pieces on the fenders will loosen up . I used marine or automotive Goop and worked it under the edges here and there with a thin spatula. It works well, sets up fast.

[Michael_A]

During the inspection I caught some of the chrome trim bits were loose.
Did a big clean up and disassembly and went back with automotive silicone based adhesive.
So far, everything is hanging tight and fortunately didn't come adrift prior to securing them.

[nwguy]

Congratulations Micheal. Nice looking Bassa!

With help from Mark (Beetle Maps) and repeated and progressively better tuneups, my 99' Bassa is finally running very well. My journey since April 2025 when I bought it is fairly well documented in posts here on WildGuzzi. It's a fun and interesting bike to ride (tall first gear, linked brakes, heel-toe shifting). After the Ducatis, Aprilias and Buells I've owned, I've found the right bike for me at my advancing age. 

Weather permitting, I'll be heading up to ride the Icefields Parkway between Banff and Jasper in Canada next week on it.

[Vagrant]

50/50 the ground wire broke off the back of the tach. Easy fix.

[marcmorrison]

Mike...glad that the Bassa went to a good home and you are enjoying the ride.  Your comment about tuning the TPS vis-a-vis the "sweet spot" sounds like my grandfather tuning old cars (and I mean OLD....he was born in 1890)...it's a notion that I have resorted to using when almost everything else fails.  Carry on...

[Michael_A]

Well, a quick update to the update! Went through the front forks. The original tubes were pretty pitted and I secured some NOS replacements, as well as NOS bushings (old ones looked fine; saving as "spares"). Ended up doing a full strip, clean, and rebuild on the forks, replacing tubes, seals, o-rings, etc. It is amazing how much "mud" accumulates in the bottom of the forks, even with regular fluid changes. The front end works beautifully, and the compression/rebound adjusters actually do their thing - though I need to log more seat time to take full advantage of setting/adjusting them. And in the spirit of "while you're in there" went ahead and cleaned the brake calipers and replace pads front and rear. Rears were pretty thin and wearing unevenly. Discovered the caliper was sticking on it's slider pins, so an effort worth doing. Oh, and put on a new set of tires. Rear was a bit thin and I picked up a nasty puncture on a recent test ride making running it out with a flat repair a marginal proposition, front OK, but again... "while we are right there, might as well...". Went with Michelin Road Classics, seems a pretty decent tire, and I have them on my V7 and regularly drag pegs on it so no complaints. Think I got the fuel injection as dialed in as possible with the CA Cycleworks TPS... forming an opinion that it may not be the optimum choice for a Guzzi given the "fetteling" required to get it to run right... but they are an economical alternative given that OE replacements are pushing around $800! I have noticed it's a bit pissy on a hot day restart after a hot soak. Can't blame it, but it has been hot here in Texas this summer. It was much happier this morning when it was in the upper 60's. May be the nature of the beast and the limitations of early EFI. An enjoyable project recommissioning the bike and I'm looking forward to putting some miles on it!   

[TN Mark]

All the best to you with your Bassa. I had a black 1999 and a blue/silver 2000. Absolutely loved those bikes. They both had EV floorboard subframes, the Guzzi leather saddlebags and the Guzzi passenger back rest and luggage rack. I put EV handlebars on ghe 1999 and Centauro handlebars on the 2000. Plus a few windshield options. IMHO, the Bassa was one of the most attractive Tonti frame bikes of that era. They even had tubeless wheels and fully adjustable forks. The later Cal Specials lost those valuable pieces.