My LeMans IV restoration/engine build

[pressureangle]

Regulator final and carbs on. Rolled it through to prove oiling to top end and pressure switch.



.

[lazlokovacs]

bike looking amazing...

jus went through your fb photos,

the 'led' shot of the dash - have you found a way of getting rid of the 'pod' instrument housing? I really like being able to see the steering stem and yoke and I've never really liked the 'pod' on mine...

really inspiring stuff you're doing there!

[pressureangle]

bike looking amazing...

jus went through your fb photos,

the 'led' shot of the dash - have you found a way of getting rid of the 'pod' instrument housing? I really like being able to see the steering stem and yoke and I've never really liked the 'pod' on mine...

really inspiring stuff you're doing there!

Hadn't thought about a custom dash, really just going back to stockish with upgrades. But it wouldn't be too hard for somebody to make a nice turned-finish aluminum or stainless plate to hold all that stuff...

Like this guy...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtOTU6WXc1Q

[pressureangle]

Top end assembly.

[JoeW]

Top end assembly.

What are setting your rocker arm end float at?

[pressureangle]

What are setting your rocker arm end float at?

'enough' but not 'too much'.

There's probably .005"-.010" on them. Too much clearance doesn't help the oil stay where it needs to be.

[pressureangle]

Second start. Still needs final timing.

https://www.facebook.com/eric.lacruze/videos/1239207566091971/?l=2886184328069540647

[Chuck in Indiana]

So. Talk to me about the bearings.. the Kid mentioned he would like to do that on his Spot. I told him I knew nothing about where to get them, etc.

[JoeW]

So. Talk to me about the bearings.. the Kid mentioned he would like to do that on his Spot. I told him I knew nothing about where to get them, etc.

McMaster Carr has them and the washers

[Chuck in Indiana]

McM Motorcycle and aircraft supply..  I should have known..

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

McMaster Carr has them and the washers

http://www.mcmaster.com/#5909K13

http://www.mcmaster.com/#5909K73

[lucky phil]

Top end assembly.

I like the Baisley roller rocker conversion and am considering it myself but whats wrong with the original rocker end float arrangement? also the original end float shims look very worn, an indication of another issue that needs investigating?
Ciao

[pressureangle]

I like the Baisley roller rocker conversion and am considering it myself but whats wrong with the original rocker end float arrangement? also the original end float shims look very worn, an indication of another issue that needs investigating?
Ciao

Nothing wrong with the stock spring setup, in fact it appears that the pushrod angle, made even more severe with my setup, drives the rockers towards the short side away from the spring/needle bearing. I only put them in because they came with a set of heads I bought on ebay. The bronze thrust washers have some grooving but it matches the grooving on the end of the rockers; I didn't have them shaved or polished. It's really not that big a deal.

[huub]

as the pushrods push the rockers downwards i would expect the bearing to be fitted on the other side?
as soon as some pressure is applied the bearing wont be loaded any more?

[Chuck in Indiana]

http://www.mcmaster.com/#5909K13

http://www.mcmaster.com/#5909K73

Thanks, Charlie.. I'll pass it on to him.

[pressureangle]

as the pushrods push the rockers downwards i would expect the bearing to be fitted on the other side?
as soon as some pressure is applied the bearing wont be loaded any more?

That's correct. They may be no more than whiz-bang jewelry.

However, when things are whacking around at 8500 rpm, they do insure that the rocker can't compress the spring and move upwards; if it does, that closes the valve lash and could conceivably whack the valves together, or hold them open, or both.

[Chuck in Indiana]

That's correct. They may be no more than whiz-bang jewelry.

However, when things are whacking around at 8500 rpm, they do insure that the rocker can't compress the spring and move upwards; if it does, that closes the valve lash and could conceivably whack the valves together, or hold them open, or both.

I just talked to the Kid, and he said he was talking to a well known Guzzi Guru that uses them. He said if you watch it running with the rocker cover off, the rocker arm goes back and forth between the pedestals. Makes sense to me that the bearings would stop that, and that would be a good thing. <shrug>

[lucky phil]

Nothing wrong with the stock spring setup, in fact it appears that the pushrod angle, made even more severe with my setup, drives the rockers towards the short side away from the spring/needle bearing. I only put them in because they came with a set of heads I bought on ebay. The bronze thrust washers have some grooving but it matches the grooving on the end of the rockers; I didn't have them shaved or polished. It's really not that big a deal.

I was thinking more along the lines that I have had several heads apart and not seen any wear at all on these bronze shims. There was speculation in another post I read where the poster had the same wear on his that the oil pressure to the heads may be an issue. I dont know, maybe Pete or someone else thats had a lot of them apart may be able to tell us how common that wear is. Reminds me of the wear you see on the cam retaining ring that was solved by a modified ring assembly.
I have a new set of later (Stelvio?) 2 valve rockers for my bike I got cheap and checked them against my original V11 ones although they look identical. It appears the later type have the pushrod arm around clocked around the arm buy maybe 3 degrees and the pushrod arm moved laterally toward the outside of the head by a few mm as well. Dont know if this is a Guzzi design improvement to the arm geometry or it has a genuine reason for the later heads. Anyone know?
Ciao 

[pressureangle]

I was thinking more along the lines that I have had several heads apart and not seen any wear at all on these bronze shims. There was speculation in another post I read where the poster had the same wear on his that the oil pressure to the heads may be an issue. I dont know, maybe Pete or someone else thats had a lot of them apart may be able to tell us how common that wear is. Reminds me of the wear you see on the cam retaining ring that was solved by a modified ring assembly.
I have a new set of later (Stelvio?) 2 valve rockers for my bike I got cheap and checked them against my original V11 ones although they look identical. It appears the later type have the pushrod arm around clocked around the arm buy maybe 3 degrees and the pushrod arm moved laterally toward the outside of the head by a few mm as well. Dont know if this is a Guzzi design improvement to the arm geometry or it has a genuine reason for the later heads. Anyone know?
Ciao

I can't speak to the later rockers, perhaps they ground smooth the ends. All the washers I have came from LeMans, so big cams and high RPM may have something to do with it, and all of the rockers have a poorly finished end. If I'd thought of it, I'd have had them finish ground before sending them out to Baisley.

[pressureangle]

Getting close. Tomorrow will probably be the shakedown cruise.

Clutch hydraulic system finally done, a few odds and ends, and had to move the horns again-they hit the DYNA box.

[Furbo]

That's sweet!

I rebuilt a Le Mans engine maybe....15yrs ago? Put in larger cyls (94mm I think), and the last P3 cam on the planet.  I think mine might have been the last heads Manfred Hecht ported & flowed..

The larger bore then required double plugging as the original LM is about a big as you can get with a high crowned piston.

The P3 cam required stronger springs.....which needed chromoly pushrods. The increased power required carillo rods.

Naturally - I had the entire mess balanced.

The entire project then required and updated starter to turn it over. 

So - hard to do just 'one thing'. And it wasn't cheap.



But the first time it started was.......orgasmic. 

I used a Bub Hyper system exhaust and with the big boomer engine it sounded like a cammy 350 small block hotrod.

It was fun, I learned alot, but prolly wont do that again.

[pressureangle]

With the WebCam 86b, this thing cranks easily, even with -.030" decked heads, giving something like 10.5:1 compression. There's enough intake opening to keep the cranking pressure down. It sounds great so far, but with the light flywheel and on the centerstand it sounds mild enough-particularly compared to the horrible exhaust it started with, some nearly-empty D&D cans on the stock headpipes. It's mellow, and less cammy than it was with the stock engine.

We should see today.

[pressureangle]

...And, around the block!

First impressions; drivability is much better than stock. Expected.
RH carb needs inlet valve cleaned or replaced.
Very Quiet. Nice.
Hydraulic clutch doesn't return as quickly as I'd like; but the clutch is entirely new, things should tighten up with a couple miles.

I'm happy it has all 5 gears up and down, didn't make any bad noises, and didn't leave any parts behind or leak anywhere.

https://www.facebook.com/eric.lacruze/videos/1244002155612512/

[RANDM]

That's excellent, congratulations.

Maurie.

[pressureangle]

Since my crew chief forgot to order mirrors until he went for the first test-ride, I filled a little time installing LED side lamps where the factory had reflectors. I've had those side reflectors bring my attention to more than a few motorcycles and bicycles, I figured lit ones can't hurt.  I think they added a little spice as well.

[pressureangle]

I moved the photos, and added a bunch more, to Google+.

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipOaL8YD6zmXSrvHLxZ_TyTU0ZeX1y6301rOJS6mfjex7KAF4nlefP8rus4OfFmn6A?key=YmoxSV9NTFYtYl9wMmFHZ3pnOFZoZEVyeF9kLUFn

[pressureangle]

So, two more attempts at a shakedown only went about 4 blocks, with the right cylinder dropping out. First time was right after I filled the tank, thought maybe I forgot which way the petcocks turned. Started right up 5 minutes later and the next morning. Second time, I got the cyl. back for a short way by gapping the spark plug cap, but dropped again in a minute.
Turned out that my very carefully cleaned, tightened, and sealed spade connection between the Dyna and RH coil got hot and failed due to high resistance.
So, never having needed those connections but to take the motor out, and having had issues in the past, I cut them off and soldered the wires directly and sealed.

Of course at that moment, the LH carb decided the needle valve needed to be replaced so my shakedown is waiting on MG Cycle and USPS priority mail.

Harumph.

[lazlokovacs]

sounds painfully annoying....

the curse of the intermittent tonti right hand side cylinder strikes!

(rattling down the road on one cylinder, keeping the revs up, thinking maybe its the fuelling, maybe its the spark, hmmm could be the plug, could be the coils......)

been there and 'harumph' is the right word!

[pressureangle]

EEE-gads.

Found the time to retorque the heads, adjust valves, synch carbs.

The parts guys never ordered a spare set of valve cover gaskets, and the mechanic tore one in half. With only 25 miles on, of course. Ham-fisted crowbar, that guy.

So waiting, one more time, for the mail to come before the real first ride.

[pressureangle]

Well, finally. I got 50+ miles on this morning, with only a single problem. The Mechanic didn't remember to tighten the taillight nuts and it is swinging on the wires. You can see in the photo it's starting to come loose already at the halfway point of the ride.

Impressions;

Drivability is awesome. There is no point at which it doesn't run better, from idle through 6500rpm (I went there once)

It's ridiculously faster than it was stock. I have no idea how fast that is, but damn. It's as fast at half throttle as it was at full throttle before, and the main jets are so lean it needs to be throttled all the way to 5500 before it can go wide open and even then it's lean.

It's a ton smoother than before. I installed Carrillo rods and didn't rebalance the crank. It's dead smooth at 4k rpm, which is of course about 80mph. No need to weight the bars.

Suspension is a huge improvement. I knew it would be, and better be for the cost.

Valve train is a bit noisier than stock, but I knew it would be with chromemoly pushrods. Once day I'll check hot clearance, currently they're set at RaceCo recommended .002" cold. I'll probably go to the old H-D standard of 'light roll cold' (zero + oilfilm lash)

It's very punchy. The added compression and cylinder head efficiency really puts the hammer in it every power pulse. I probably should have upgraded the compensator spring in the transmission. Oddly, even though it has better characteristics below 3000rpm than stock, because of the pulses and improved throttle response it doesn't encourage you to drive it there. Stock was softer and easier to get lazy and keep RPM low. 2500 is a very nice cruise rpm.

I haven't even pulled the plugs yet to see where they're at. I'm sure there's a lot more in both drivability and ultimate power; the valve train should be stable to 8000 rpm, maybe 8500. I can't know how much faster it is upstairs. It pulls from 3000-6500 with a barely noticeable bulge at 3500, then linear to the top. Very easy to go very fast.

Next on the list; a new full-face helmet. The half helmet does not lend itself well to carburetor tuning speeds.