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NcDan, were you speaking with the Guzzi dealer down near Charlotte? I'm sure you've probably aware, but there's a new dealer in Greensboro, and I've heard a few good things about them, so it might be worth talking to their service manager there also. They are an established shop that handles Indian, Motus and until recently, Victory. The owner also operates the shop a few blocks away that sells Triumph, Royal Enfield, Vespa, and a few other smaller brands as well.https://indianmotorcyclegreensboro.com/
Just to be clear on this as there seems to be a bit of confusion I�m not talking about wheel bearings or anything in the Bevelbox/final drive area, I�m talking about the bearings that the swingarm pivots on in the frame.To get to them, especially on a bike with bags, is a BIG job. Exhausts off, bags off, then there are lots of covers and hocus-pocus that have to be removed before you can access the swingarm spindle which works the same way and uses the same bearings as the CARC bikes.Yes, it would obviously be best to combine the inspection with other work like a tyre change but the amount of time/money saved is not going to be large in the overall scheme of things.Problem will also be that with a virtually new bike the chances are that if it is taken apart the bearings won�t of had time to go rusty! No doubt some shops will take great pleasure in telling owners who ask for them to be inspected and re-packed the job was �Un-necessary�. Believe me, it�s not. The small wisp of grease the bearings come with from their manufacturer is NOT sufficient to protect them in service. They need to be stuffed to the max, preferably with a marine grade �Waterproof� grease.Pete
Dan, let�s be quite clear about this, there isn�t and never will be any kind of service bulletin regarding an issue like this because greasing bearings on assembly is just such a basic thing one assumes it is just done right!Likewise workshops won�t know about this sort of thing unless they have reason to go in and find out about it! I don�t have x-ray vision or second sight! I wasn�t aware of the absence of grease issue on the CARC bikes until I started to have to pull them apart for other problems like the leaky rear main bearing flange on early 8V�s and fitting aftermarket shocks for people. If you�re running the sort of shop where �Servicing� involves an oil change and maybe a filter? If you�re really lucky a valve lash check and a look at the tyre pressures then until a bearing fails catastrophically the shop won�t know anything about a problem! That doesn�t mean it isn�t there. I know from experience that the bearings can get pretty bloody bad before some people notice any problem! The first 1200 Sport I pulled the swingarm on the bearings came out minced! The cage had completely disintegrated and most of the rollers had turned to dust! The owner did say after the fact that he thought the back end hadn�t been feeling �Quite right� for a while!Look, whether people choose to act on our findings is entirely up to them. These are critically important bearings though and the idea of finding myself sitting atop 270kg of lumbering �Cruiser� and suddenly having the rear wheel drop out of alignment after hitting a bump at speed is not something I�d want to contemplate. In fact thinking about the consequences should be enough to make a bit of wee escape from anyone who understands the rudimentaries of single track vehicle design and the laws of physics!Yes it�s stupid and shameful that the bearings aren�t packed properly at the factory, (Believe me Guzzi isn�t Robinson Crusoe in this regard!) but bitching about it through your wired up jaw from traction in your hospital bed isn�t going to fix the problem or make it go away! Far better to just get it done and if the bearings are found to have a tonne of grease in them you can come back here and tell everyone what an idiot I am and the haters can all have a little gloat! Pete
I�m sure checking it is essential. Now school a bit. Exactly where is the bearing and how do I or someone get to it. I thought we were talking about the rear wheel bearing like you encounter when changing out the back tire, is this the bearing in question?
Danny, he's talking about the swing arm bearings. Item 7.
Thanks for clarifying. I thought the parts to the numbers were off too but wasn't sure of asking....
That doesn't slow me down. I'll just ask - if I get smacked down, well, sticks and stones applies doubly on line ... !Lannis
Not pertaining to the current posts but I don't cyber bullying. :laugh
I�m not sure what I missed but I just want to know if it takes any special tools to get the bearings out of the swing and so as to do the D@&$ job the Italian bike builders should have done right in the first place!!!😡
To do it right on a Norge or similar, there's is an expanding conical type device that can be used to extract the outer race.Otherwise it's tap it out from the other side with a drift.
The cones do, the races? Not so much.The early CARC bikes are an absolute bastard in this regard as the only way to get at the race was by two tiny reliefs in the register at three and nine o�clock. They looked as if they were designed for some sort of small internal puller but I couldn�t find one to do the job and there is no �Special Tool� from the factory.Luckily later models have larger �Half moon� cutaways at twelve and six o�clock and Michael has ground up a special punch for just this job. Three whacks with a BFH and they�re out and then the old race can be used as a drift to push the new one in. Simples.Pete
