Unkept's V11 LeMans Repair, Maybe Restoration, Thread

[arveno]

this one ;D

[Chuck in Indiana]

Might as well tackle the wheel bearing job. I *have* done this before, so it'll be simple. The only trick is to bump the spacer that goes between the two bearings to the side so you can get a punch on the inner race to drive it out. The drive side bearing comes out much easier, so do it first. In case you are wondering, that snap ring has nothing to do with this job.

Here's the first bearing and the spacer. The collar on the spacer is just to keep it from too far out of alignment when you are putting it back together.

The spacer width should be checked. Some were way too short on the V11s, causing premature bearing failure. Joe's was .005" short. Close enough for farm machinery.. ;D Oh, forgot. 113mm from my old people memory. You better check.  ;) Seriously, I don't even try to remember numbers. I see thousands of them every day when I'm working.

It takes a little more persuasion on the rotor side bearing..

Here's a special Guzzi tool I made at great expense  ::) the first time I had to replace wheel bearings.

Go get the bearings you threw in the freezer yesterday  ;D start them in by tapping around the outer edge with a plastic hammer.. never on the inner  race.. You *did* remember to put the spacer in there, right?  ;D Push the all thread through, install the big washer and nut, and turn the crank.  ;D Time *is* of the essence here, so I don't have a picture of that operation.

Nothin to it.
Back to you, Joe..  ;D

[Chuck in Indiana]

good job !! ;-T

thanks for sharing .

I was wondering who's guzzi next to the airplane ? looks like a strada... do u have any more picture ? look nice with those hard bags....

thanks
Marco

That's FGOs Strada that I'm going to part out if he doesn't come get it..  ;D :BEER: He was wanting a red suspenders touring bike without immobilizers, abs, etc. with a big steel tank that alcohol won't phase. Good touring bike that handles better than a touring bike oughta.
He wanted some bags put on it, so I made up some mounts and put some cheap Givi knock offs on it that a lister had given me. I was going to use this bike as our touring bike, but Dorcia didn't like it. <shrug>

[arveno]

That's FGOs Strada that I'm going to part out if he doesn't come get it..  ;D :BEER: He was wanting a red suspenders touring bike without immobilizers, abs, etc. with a big steel tank that alcohol won't phase. Good touring bike that handles better than a touring bike oughta.
He wanted some bags put on it, so I made up some mounts and put some cheap Givi knock offs on it that a lister had given me. I was going to use this bike as our touring bike, but Dorcia didn't like it. <shrug>

wow thats a good looking guzzi if he does not want it anymore , i'll get it  ;D just pm me .

[Chuck in Indiana]

Thanks, Marco.

[arveno]

Thanks, Marco.

your welcome  :)

[Unkept]

Ok, update time!

Today hasn't been the most productive... but I've ordered a bunch more crap for my car and bike project. *Sigh* I'll be taking up a second job soon to pay for all of this.  :winer

Anywho...

So I went back to Chuck for a second round of wrenchin' and learnin'



More parts to clean...



Chuck cleaned and re-glued the solenoid mounts for me.


More blastin' to do!



Men at work.  ;)



Showing off some parts of the front subframe. Mostly for my memory.



Here's where the stubborn buttons/solenoid mounts go.



I used locking pliers to hold the buttons in place to remove them. A PITA.

Here they are free. Chuck cleaned these up as I got back to spraying stuff. I'll glue them to the rubber pieces before I install the solenoid.






Should've worn a gas mask.


Paint smelled like green apples to me, fantastic! The not so fantastic? My snot was black for days!  ;D


That's it for pics from there, sorry guys. The parts came out good, but not great. Mostly from my lazy paint prep! Recommendation : Aircraft stripper  :o  ;)

I'll post pics of the parts later.

I shipped my Ohlins off to Ducati Indianapolis at Chuck's recommendation. Bill Carr and his son Matt Carr took care of me. Everyone there is friendly and called me almost daily with status updates! It ended up costing $322 before shipping for a full rebuild with a new (softer) spring.

They were so kind as to help me document my project, and sent me these pics via email.









And here it is back home!


I decided to re-install my battery tray today, small victories and whatnot.

A combination of locking pliers and a screwdriver got the job of installing the rubber bumpers done.




Rubber pieces mounted, looking good.



Received a plate in the mail recently...


A sloper, courtesy of Pete Roper!

Removed the grip from the throttle tube as well. It's glued on, so cutting was my only obvious option.



Heated grips will be going on! Oxford that I got on closeout from RevZilla.
I wanted to see how the bar setup might work... but I ran into a snag.

The switchgear on the left bar has an indent.


The standard bar accommodates this.



But I have non-standard bars going on...


So... to the grind.


Notice the dark puddle in the foreground? That's what happens with you try and plug the frame so you can rinse it out with mineral spirits (rusty gunk in there), and it doesn't work...

The frame mishap really dampened my spirits... and the bike/floor. I cleaned it up the best I could. *fingers crossed*

Back to the bars.

Ground mostly smooth.


Success!



Since I removed the airbox for pod filters, I wanted to find a new home for the air temp sensor.


So I read somewhere on V11Lemans about this idea...



That's it for now, I know I have some photos out of order... but it's been a big update and I have a headache.  :BEER:

Off topic but...

I made some Han Solo Dark "Side" Chocolate Bars for my friends upcoming "May The Fourth Be With You" and housewarming party. I bought the silicone mold on Amazon (Han Solo in Carbonite), learned the boiling pot/bowl trick to properly melt the dark chocolate chips, and put the mold in the freezer for 30 minutes to solidify the bars. Clean the mold occasionally, repeat!





May the Fourth be with you (tomorrow) Guzzisti!

The mold is his housewarming gift from me.

[normzone]

So newbie [normzone] here, who just finished looking at the pictures of the initial teardown on the first page.

I'm torn between awe and admiration, and...wanting to ask - couldn't you have just kept putting oil in and riding?

More power to you though.

[Vasco DG]

He said it hadn't led an easy life. When you pick up something that has an unknown or abused history its always best to hook in and do the necessary stuff BEFORE things start breaking rather than waiting for it to all fall in a screaming heap!

Joe's lucky, he has Chuck helping him out. That's like rolling a dice heavily weighted in your favour! ;D

Pete

[Rob Morton]

"I'll probably paint it, but I don't have the right arrangement... hmmm, heater and a cardboard box? I have almost zero experience painting."

Also same here but suspect the rub lies in the preparation?
Just like any other paint finish.

All the best with the renovation.

 :)

Rob

[lemans1000]

Congratulations for your interest and effort that you put in the bike.
You are doing an excellent job, I follow with interest.

[Unkept]

So newbie [normzone] here, who just finished looking at the pictures of the initial teardown on the first page.

I'm torn between awe and admiration, and...wanting to ask - couldn't you have just kept putting oil in and riding?

More power to you though.

I could have... but part of the reason I "dug in" was due to the fact that the oil I was putting in... kept wanting to come out around my cam sensor and oil evap system.  :D

Really, these things have been burning at the back of my mind... and addressing them before they become real issues seems like the right path.

He said it hadn't led an easy life. When you pick up something that has an unknown or abused history its always best to hook in and do the necessary stuff BEFORE things start breaking rather than waiting for it to all fall in a screaming heap!

Joe's lucky, he has Chuck helping him out. That's like rolling a dice heavily weighted in your favour! ;D

Pete

 :+1

Chuck's been a great help. I wouldn't be nearly as far as I am without his assistance. I may not have repainted the rusty bits... and had to save that for later.

It's not as if I'm getting everything done that I'd like to. Cosmetically the bike will still be flawed in the end, as bodywork/paintwork is hard and expensive! I mostly want the LeMans to be a mechanically sound machine with a few upgrades here and there. Stopping corrosion is another idea I couldn't pass up.

"I'll probably paint it, but I don't have the right arrangement... hmmm, heater and a cardboard box? I have almost zero experience painting."

Also same here but suspect the rub lies in the preparation?
Just like any other paint finish.

All the best with the renovation.

 :)

Rob

Hey Rob,

Thanks for the kind words. I would likely use aircraft stripper before repainting the parts if I were to do it again. If I keep the bike as long as humanly possible I most likely WILL strip the parts and do it again someday.

For now, "good enough" in appearance is good enough for me.  ;D

Congratulations for your interest and effort that you put in the bike.
You are doing an excellent job, I follow with interest.

Thanks! Your project is fantastic. Your bike will look much better than mine, love the powder coated frame and the green on the tank you are going with.  ;-T

The only thing my bike may have on yours is handing/speed... but it's a much more modern design by Guzzi standards.  :D

Thanks again everyone, I'll update the thread when I have some more to post... re-gluing some heat reflective tape to the tank soon... waiting on a couple more parts before I really start to reassemble.

Question. I took the timing cover off mainly to fix the leaking gasket. Would anyone suggest I simply keep the stock chain tensioner? I believe it works fine, and if I stay stock I won't have to worry about spacers/fitment. The Stucchi/Valtech blade tensioner doesn't sit flush like I think it should. It came from a loop, are those a different design?

If all I achieve in that arena is a fixed oil leak, I'll still be very happy.

-Joe

[CalVin2007]

 Nice work Joe (and Chuck  ;) ).   Joe:  You certainly have no fear of disassembling things, that's for sure! As for me---I don't either, but it takes a lot of notes and pics anymore to get it all back together.  ::)  You're doing a fine job and that bike will be so much better when you finish that it will seem like a new one. Better yet, you will know where every piece goes and how to deal with whatever needs arise...and that is worth a lot.
 
 Well done Chuck for helping out with savvy and shop space and equipment! You have a nice place there, and real tools.  ;-T

   Terry
 
 

[Unkept]

Nice work Joe (and Chuck  ;) ).   Joe:  You certainly have no fear of disassembling things, that's for sure! As for me---I don't either, but it takes a lot of notes and pics anymore to get it all back together.  ::)  You're doing a fine job and that bike will be so much better when you finish that it will seem like a new one. Better yet, you will know where every piece goes and how to deal with whatever needs arise...and that is worth a lot.
 
 Well done Chuck for helping out with savvy and shop space and equipment! You have a nice place there, and real tools.  ;-T

   Terry
 
 

Thank you! It's been fun, I like tinkering anyway...  :)

I think you are right, it will be like a new bike! I'll be doing a throttle body sync and some minor fuel trimming with my cables soon as well. New air and fuel filters, a now fully open exhaust, should growl and gather a bit more punch!

Going to meet some family for lunch today, my aunt's birthday, and then off to the May The Fourth party.  ;-T

Talk soon WildGuzzi,
Joe

[charlie b]

Thanks for posting this one.

I love this thread.  Great blow by blow of how to do stuff.  I wish I had done that with the last bike I tore down (20 years ago).

[lemans1000]

The only thing my bike may have on yours is handing/speed... but it's a much more modern design by Guzzi standards.

That's right.
I know what you've got, I drove V11 from firend of mine, that's a very serious and fast machine. V11 LeMans is on my wish list ... on the other hand, as getting older, I'm less interested in speed...

Continue to follow with interest.

[Chuck in Indiana]

That's right.
I know what you've got, I drove V11 from firend of mine, that's a very serious and fast machine. V11 LeMans is on my wish list ... on the other hand, as getting older, I'm less interested in speed...

Continue to follow with interest.

Uhh, the Lemon 1000 ain't exactly chopped liver..  ;D

[Rob Morton]

"Uhh, the Lemon 1000 ain't exactly chopped liver.."   ;D

So the 750S must be diced Pituitary gland.  :D

Rob

[Zoom Zoom]

Glad to see you're making progress. Yep, having Chuck nearby is a wonderful thing for sure.

I eagerly await when you tell up of your shake down flight. ;D ;-T

John Henry

[fotoguzzi]

Question. I took the timing cover off mainly to fix the leaking gasket. Would anyone suggest I simply keep the stock chain tensioner?

I might have missed your mileage but I would put in a new chain and maybe the new tensioner if it fit, I thought the Valtec would fit right in if it needs shims I dunno.

[Unkept]

Uhh, the Lemon 1000 ain't exactly chopped liver..  ;D

 :+1

I was merely stating that the only thing my bike might have over his is the edge on speed/handling... his build is amazing and looks like it would be a blast to ride.

Question. I took the timing cover off mainly to fix the leaking gasket. Would anyone suggest I simply keep the stock chain tensioner?

I might have missed your mileage but I would put in a new chain and maybe the new tensioner if it fit, I thought the Valtec would fit right in if it needs shims I dunno.

Thanks Brad. I suppose I could ask MI if they have a new chain laying around... over 50k on this one, I thought they should be good for 100k? <shrug>

I'm not sure, but the blade style tension-er just doesn't seem to fit flush to me? Maybe I'm doing it wrong. The bracket piece acted as a spacer for the longer bolts, so I could find some spacers or shorter bolts as well.

Just got home from orientation at my second job. Oh boy, here it comes. Working weekends...

-Joe

[Unkept]

Ok guys, things have been hectic and I'm recovering from something... but here is something for you all to chew on and possibly help me with. ;)

Here is why I don't think the tensioner will work.

If I were to tighten down the bolts, the plate for the tensioner will be cocked at an angle like so.

If I hold the plate flat against the molding of the crankcase... it would need spacers, I'm also sure this would place the blade in the incorrect position.


So is this the wrong tensioner for a V11 LeMans? It came out of a loop I think... for some reason I thought they were all the same.  :D It was FREE (Guzzi Content) though...


In others news...

I wanted to pull the wires from the fuse block for the starter (30amp fuse) since it kept melting fuses.

One of the wires was so corroded/burnt at the end it just broke off when I pulled at it. The other came cleanly enough.

You can see how melted the fuse box is at that fuse terminal.


I pulled back the ECU to try and finangle the wires to a further position from the original fuse block. I pointed to the original position for a ground wire.



With the increased slack I gained on those wires, I temporarily fitted up my new 30-80amp maxi fuse block. I need the terminals so I can mount the wires to the screws, but this is how it will mount.

This is a marine grade fuse block, I really like the build quality and how I can easily see the huge fuse. The screw tensioner system also ROCKS as I'll never need to worry about "bending back" these connections...

Note the melted small 30amp fuse in the background. :)


Any input on the chain tensioner is welcome... I DID buy a new chain for kicks. So a new chain with the stock tensioner system should be ok right? 50k+ miles on the tensioner though.

I'll be working weekends now. :( Hopefully I will fully recover soon and I can get the bike and car work done.

Cheers,
Joe

[Bill Havins]

Joe,

By the time this thread loads my computer is panting like a wooly dog on a Texas summer afternoon!  ;)  Nice documentation.  Hope you're having fun!

Bill

[Unkept]

Joe,

By the time this thread loads my computer is panting like a wooly dog on a Texas summer afternoon!  ;)  Nice documentation.  Hope you're having fun!

Bill

Thanks Bill, lol. I had been using Photobucket which downsizes my photos for me, I hadn't really thought about that... I'm now using Google Drive which doesn't really compress my photos at all so that has to be why it's slower. :P

Your avatar photo is prompting me for a Billhavins login from your website, strangely enough. Just an FYI.  ;)

I am having fun on the bike, it's the rest of my life's little issues that are dragging me down.  ;D

-Joe

[Chuck in Indiana]

Joe.. Chrome keeps crashing on this thread, so I can't see your tensioner pix. As far as I know, they are all the same. (?) I'll try Firefox..
Edit: Firefox won't load them either. It also popped up a Bill Havens log in..

[Unkept]

Joe.. Chrome keeps crashing on this thread, so I can't see your tensioner pix. As far as I know, they are all the same. (?) I'll try Firefox..

Sorry about that Chuck... I guess I didn't think about Google now compressing my images, Photobucket always did that by default, and so I've gotten lazy.  ;D

Each photo is 5MB or so, and so my guess is you guys are running into memory/bandwidth issues on my thread with all of it's high quality photos. I'll have to use Photoshop to shrink each file before I upload it for friendlier photo sharing next time. Too bad Google Drive has no options to share compressed versions of the photos, or a way to convert photos already uploaded.  ::) *sigh* At least there I have 25 GB of free and fast storage space.

-Joe

[Chuck in Indiana]

Sorry about that Chuck... I guess I didn't think about Google now compressing my images, Photobucket always did that by default, and so I've gotten lazy.  ;D

Each photo is 5MB or so, and so my guess is you guys are running into memory/bandwidth issues on my thread with all of it's high quality photos. I'll have to use Photoshop to shrink each file before I upload it for friendlier photo sharing next time. Too bad Google Drive has no options to share compressed versions of the photos, or a way to convert photos already uploaded.  ::) *sigh* At least there I have 25 GB of free and fast storage space.

-Joe

I had trouble with Google drive.. they said if I made the pix a certain size it wouldn't count against my storage limit. I did that, and it counted against my storage limit.  ;D Had to tell Picassa to quit that..

[tool flinger]

Nice work guys!

Something that you might want to do before you mount the rear shock reservoir is weld the nut onto the back side of the shock reservoir bracket.  If you that do then you only need to remove one cap screw (the 9 o'clock screw on the porkchop) to get the reservoir out of the way if you need access to the starter solenoid or need replace the shifter pawl spring, which is something else that you should consider if you haven't done that yet.

[Bill Havins]

...Your avatar photo is prompting me for a Billhavins login from your website, strangely enough. Just an FYI.  ;)...

-Joe

Thanks for the heads up!  I'll get it fixed.  Frizlfraken.

Bill

[Rob Morton]

Joe the tensioner and plate you are trying to fit looks suspiciously like the old big block type to fit 70s/80s Guzzis but to be honest as I have never worked on a more modern V11 or some such, could not say if the tensioner and plate have changed?
That marine fuse box setup looks like an excellent idea. Probably especially for a more powerful modern, brushless alternator output.
Great thread and pics, thanks.

 :)

Rob