I hate to love my Guzzi...

[Muley]

or should it be I love to hate my Guzzi

I really didn't want to start a new thread for this, but I'm sure many folks on this forum have the exact feelings as myself concerning Guzzi ownership.

First of all, best wishes to a good friend, Dean Rose, who I understand had a crash, enroute I suppose, to the rally near Cruso, NC.  I understand he's going to be OK with the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders posing as his nurses   I really wanted to attend that rally, but family matters intervened plus my EV was acting nasty, which is the subject of this post.

After struggling to remove a broken bolt and broken tap in the frame and/or luggage rack of the EV, and after more or less successfully getting that chore out of the way, I decided to put everything together today and go for a short ride.  No Joy!!   The EV would turn over but not run.  I didn't hear the fuel pump whining so I started on the easy things first.  The relay was clicking, and a brand new one didn't help.  The bike had gas , and I connected a wire dangling below the positive post on the battery which had been removed for some reason which now escapes me.  I took off the left side cover to see if fire was getting to the pump, and just stood there staring at a maze of wires, connections to the ECU, fuel lines and miscellaneous crap that had to be moved just to get a probe in there.  I kept turning the key, listening to the relay snap and hoping something would happen.  It did!   The pump came on, and the EV started like nobody's business. What was that all about?

Ah, now let's put the HB luggage brackets on.  Here's just one example of the title of this post   The older brackets mount to the frame with three bolts which go up through the bracket holes and between parts of the bracket itself - which makes it almost impossible to get an allen wrench in there at all, much less be able to make a fraction of a revolution to tighten.  In addition, I can't even get my fat fingers in to hand tighten the bolts, which, being upside down, succumb to gravity and fall back to the ground with amazing regularity.  The generous application of antiseize compound is not only hard to wash off my sweaty arms, but it tends to pick up grunge from the ground it falls onto.

I finally got the six bolts in place and tightened but not before sweating about 1 1/2 gallons on myself, my cardboard mat, my tools and any part of the EV underneath me at any time.

To make a long story short, there are many, many things on this infernal machine that no sane person would have designed.  I guess space is a premium on all motorcycles, but damn, didn't Guzzi go out of the way to raise the bar on servicing difficulty?  Consider the 18 bolts holding the oil pan on, the seat that takes 10 tries to put back into place.  The standard sized rear tires that rub on the swingarm (requiring redneck engineering to fit properly), the cam sensor that can't be accessed with a normal allen wrench, the no. 6 shot sized ball that falls out of the backrest when you remove it, the luggage rack bolts under the rear fender that almost can't be accessed by adult hands, the air filter under the fuel tank, and I don't even know where the fuel filter was before Hubert moved it to the starboard side under the chrome thingy, are all just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

I'm leaving room for a laundry list of other annoying design features, and I know others will add to it.

My wife shares my love/hate relationship with the HD&M.  I threaten to get a Honda or something "normal", and she says something like "that would sure be nice", but she actually loves the looks of the EV, and I think she enjoys the "exclusiveness" of ownership, even the constant questions from other riders.  However, her patience is tested from time to time ...

like when the EV refused to start after a brief stop at a remote scenic overlook on the BRP.  I pulled out my long reach 4 mm allen wrench, took the cam sensor off, wiped it with my glove, reinstalled it and headed for nearby Mt. Michell.

I guess as long as I can get back to the motel by dark, avoid rain, ice, fog, cold or heat then she'll continue to tolerate Guzzi ownership and so will I.

Get well soon Dean!  Hope you can come down to north GA later this month. 

[Tom H]

Have to agree, sounds like a normal Guzzi day!! LMAO!

In all seriousness, the bikes once sorted are very reliable as you should know. My Eldo and Ambo have been with me for about 35 years of MOSTLY trouble free riding. My EV has been a pain. I hopeing that once sorted it too will be a trouble free ride.

Tom

[NC Steve]

[azguzzirep]

Ah yes. Another fun one is when you remove one bolt that holds three separate things together then realize later that it was NOT necessary to remove it in the first place  then all the pieces conspire against you to never again line up together so the bolt can go back through.😭

[HDGoose]

After I found out that brake rotors were not available, and then became available for $300 each, I bought a Harley. Once I do the suspension upgrades, it will work for me just fine. Seems that the work arounds now require more machining than before.

[Lannis]

It sure would be nice if some Guzzi friends could gather and have a Tech Session at your place and sort the wiring out on that bike.

I'm sure that the engine is probably still solid (good compression, bearings, etc), that the frame, wheels, brakes etc are in good shape; all those things tend to last a long time on Guzzis.   And it's an HD&M which, although hated and despised when they came out, are now the most desirable of EVs.

Your problem sounds like the wiring.   Hubert screwed with it and screwed with it and mucked it all up and smeared it all with dielectric grease, and you've been sorting out the problems as they surface for years, but there are many more to come unless you can get at the root of the problem.

I finally gave up on my California III that had the same issue.   Good solid bike basically, but the PO fancied himself an electrician, and stuck his diagonal cutters and wire nuts and Scotch-Lok connectors into every circuit on the bike, and bored holes in that nice Cal III fairing for a dozen stupid little gizmos, and it never ran right again.   I pulled a hundred feet of 24 gauge wire, house-wiring wire nuts, twisted connections, duct tape, and lamp zip cord out of there, and it still wasn't right.   I sold it cheap, and the next owner did some more fixing, and now another competent Guzzi guy has it and went through it top to bottom and now it's great.

But it takes that kind of effort to reverse the effects of ham-handed bodging sometimes ...

Lannis

[jGuz]

My Norge instills a similar level of love-hate.  Every time she doesn't start, I think "this is the last straw! I'm getting a new bike!" Then I tinker around with the electrics or get a bump-start, and once I get rolling, I kind of forget all of that.  I think to myself: "why would I ever want to sell this bike? It's so pleasant."

Side note: I have ordered the starter fix for the Norge from MPH.  Hopefully that leads to more smiles and fewer bump-starts.

[atavar]

Everybody knows there is one mystical bolt that is the first to tighten on assembling a Moto Guzzi.  Each subsequent piece that is attached is required by design to cover up the mounting hardware that attaches the previous piece.  There is no way to get to piece 27 without first removing pieces 352 through 28 in precise reverse order.
Attempts to circumvent this sequence will unequivocally result in broken unobtanium parts. 

[Doppelgaenger]

I was faced with a similar situation last week when <0.1" of rain fell on the Breva. I hadn't planned on it raining really so I didn't cover the bike. Water got into the dash cluster and while riding down the road the 4-way flashers came on and stayed on. Then the high beam light kept going on and off. This lasted for miles and miles and I had to go home after I got to my destination because the flashers wouldn't go off. So I had to go back home and fix it... I thought it was fixed but it resurfaced again the next day

Between the now inevitable failure of the dash, the heat from the engine on the legs and the so far incurable (yet avoidable) pinging, I have a few moments of "this damn bike!".

I'd love to get a Motus, and at this point I'm pretty sure I will if the bike fits me, but that has to wait for the budget for a few years at least.

[Chuck in Indiana]

I kept turning the key, listening to the relay snap and hoping something would happen.  It did!   The pump came on, and the EV started like nobody's business. What was that all about?

You have probably answered your own question. More than likely, you have an ignition switch with some corrosion or dielectric grease  in it.

[oldbike54]

You have probably answered your own question. More than likely, you have an ignition switch with some corrosion or dielectric grease  in it.

 Or a fuel pump beginning its slow descent into scrap .

 Dusty

[tris]

This is a very supportive thread

I've been having negative H**da thoughts as my B11 sits in the garage in a pile of pieces while I fix a bunch of niggly problems

I shall persevere though as I dearly love to ride when it's on song

[Muley]

I had a random thought today that just might explain the fuel pump not fuel pumping.   When the bike is idling the horn either fails to sound off or it just gives a feeble beep.  But when I ride or rev it up the horn works normally.  I wonder if just maybe I have either nasty wiring somewhere or the alternator is getting decrepit.  Anyone know what the alternator should be putting out at various rpms and how to measure same?  Maybe the long sitting up pump had just enough gas varnish in it to not work with weaker than normal current.

On a really sad note, now I really like the thought of the properly running EV just sitting in the garage where it can't get into any trouble

[rboe]

One reason my Quota is gone. sigh.

Griso, has had her issues but so far easier to live with than the Quota.

No drama with the CB1100..... so far, all my drama has been with the dang XR650L.