What did you do with your GRiSO today?

The condition of the valves and guides was astonishingly good! Difference in stem size on both inlets and exhausts between new and old was microns and performing the 'Pull Test' revealed that stem to guide sealing was as close to damned perfect as it's possible to be! For a 90,000km motor it was outstanding.

I had new valves on hand and if I'd had any real doubts I would of replaced them but since everything was looking good I just reassembled everything. If the weather permits I'll take it out for a thrashing today.

Pete

Good onya Pete. Enjoy your thrashing. Please explain "the pull test" for guide / stem seal.

The only way valves can dump heat is through the seat when closed and through conduction from the stem to the guide. For this reason it is very important to keep the clearance between stem and guide to the bare minimum needed to prevent the valve seizing in the guide when hot.

A good way to judge the clearance is to put the valve back in the guide once the spring/s etc have been removed and then put your finger over the top of the guide/stem seal. Pull the valve out of the guide and if the clearance is good you should get a satisfactory 'Pop!' As the stem comes out of the guide as the clearance is so small that air has trouble getting between the stem and guide.

With small stemmed valves like the 8V, if the condition is really good, you can pull the valve part way out of the guide and atmospheric pressure will push it back into the guide when you release the head. On my awful old 90,000km of abuse heads I was expecting the valves to flop about a bit and definitely wasn't expecting them to 'Self-retract'. I was pleasantly surprised by the lack of slop and truly astonished at the way they pulled themselves back into the guides! It was almost like brand new!

Pete

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Well I didn't expect to come home on the back of a truck today!!  My G11 just cut out with no warning, no misfiring or spluttering, nothin!

Starter turns the engine over ok, dash works as normal with no error messages, all fuses ok. A quick search suggests it might be fuel filter related, although in my experience fuel problems generally cause a spluttering before it conks out - this was instant cut out.

It was running bloody lovely up to that point!

Its a 2006 1100 with 26,000 on the clock. anyone got any ideas?


There are worse places to break down

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Short in the kill switch? Or the sidestand-down switch? (which should light up the stand warning light on the dash)

Take the tank off, turn it upside down, (Drain the fuel first.) and remove the fuel pump. Observe that the crappy piece of non-submersible fuel hose has blown off the filter spigot. Curse, go to hose shop and purchase length of Gates fully submersible hose and a couple of good hose clamps. Be horrified at cost of hose! Return home, cut hose to required length and install between pump and filter with new clamps. Replace pump assembly in tank. Replace tank on bike. Refill with fuel. Ride.

Sorry to hear this Andy. Hope it is an easy fix.

Thanks guys, have checked the side stand switch, that was ok but I think I can see the unattached hose in the tank if I shine a torch in there....looks like a metal filter so its not the first time, I'd guess...
Probably gonna have to book it in to a dealer, 'cos even if I had the time, we are having some building work done and my garage is full of crap........

Good luck with it Andy, Hope you get it sorted out.
Today I donned my quilted lined DriRider jacket and went for a ride to "Many Peaks township ". Around an hours ride to the south east with the only road that actually has bends in it within several hundred Km's. Three men and a dog live there, but its Grand Hotel serves a lot of local bikers and car clubs. Getting served on a sunday around lunch time can take a while but it's worth the wait, their BLT sandwiches are the best I've had ( at least lately )
The bike performed well ( F'ing excellent actually ) I popped Beetles db killer IN map back in and it is definitely better on my Flat tappet 8V than Allan's ( The Saint ) map. Sorry Allan, As Pete say's, Flat and Roller tappet engines are just a bit different.
I stopped a couple of times for a leak and Forgotten earplugs, and then tapped it out though the gears to FULL Noise at wide open throttle        It gets to the redline in top gear pretty dam quick, at least I think that's what is happening. It just pulls all the way , then stops accelerating, I look down and the tacho is on or very near 8K  
Maybe I need to insert a seventh Gear ?  
Oh by the way, the bike makes a new noise now with the snorkel removed, Induction Roar, Not unpleasant, just noticeable with the DB killer in.
Saw some very cool old aussie cars today on their club outtings but sorry no photos, dropped and wreaked my new phone a week ago.

Rolled over the 500 mile mark on my new GRiSO today! Still loving the bike and loving Beetle's map for the current all stock configuration. Night and day better than the factory mapping. I fiddled with the CO trim a bit and finally ended up at a -2 setting which seems to have cured my misfire at idle and best as I can tell not negatively affected anything anywhere else.

My new Agostini pipe should be in middle of next week, so I'm looking forward to that! I'll probably get it on the lift in the shop for a first service at the same time as I install the pipe. One thing I'm really looking forward to with owning the GRiSO is learning to do more of the servicing myself. On my previous bikes, I never dared do anything more complicated than an oil change because they were shim under bucket style valves and required significant disassembly just to get to the head. Looking forward to getting my hands dirty with the relatively 'simple' Guzzi engine.

Also, bit of a random question, I'm reading a lot here about different styles of the 8v engine, flat tappet (which I am understanding as undesirable/unreliable) compared to roller, A5 vs A8 etc. Can someone shed some light on the evolution of the 8v engine for me?

diedel wrote:

GRiSO on high heel(s).

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Used Stelvio shock does fit in the GRiSO.

pros:
- if you're tall and heavy (190 cm/≥ 110 Kg with gear), than the longer Stelvio shock (+ 1 cm) gives you more overall headroom
- spring has obviously a different rate and fits better higher weights. Required preload is much less than on the GRiSO one
- you are able to adjust spring preload without torturing crown nut or even dismantling back wheel
(- bike is handier if you lower the forks, too)

cons:
- rebound damping adjust screw is only accessible if bike is on a center stand and swingerarm is totally relieved …
- no more compression damping adjustment, cause the Stelvio shock doesn't have it (but till now i didn't missed it…)
- changing the shock is laborious

Thats all interesting as i would like to do that myself.

Couple of questions, Laborious in what way, any different to just swapping out the shock?
You say you set the preload, did you adjust the damping before you put it in or leave it the same as the Stelvio?
What height have you set your forks?
And finally , although you have done it for size reasons, does the bike handle any differently? Better/Same/Worse?

…
1) Couple of questions, Laborious in what way, any different to just swapping out the shock?
2) You say you set the preload, did you adjust the damping before you put it in or leave it the same as the Stelvio?
3 )What height have you set your forks?
4) And finally , although you have done it for size reasons, does the bike handle any differently? Better/Same/Worse?
…

1) No, not just swapping the shock…  I had to remove the rear bodywork, mudguard etc. to run a chance for slightly lifting the air intake housing. Otherwise you won't get the shock out (or the Stelvio one in). To get a grip on the upper shock bolt you'll have to dismantle the right footrest plate, too. Taking off LH footrest support gives you also a little bit more freedom of handling.
Preconditions: bike on some kind of center stand (e.g. little manlift under the oil sump) and fixed front wheel (to the ground) to lift up back wheel. I left the back wheel mounted. Limiting condition is space between framework and swingarm – very fiddling, but there is a way pulling the shock upwards.
En passant you can check/grease the needle bearings of the conrods (be careful not to loose the needle bearings while dismantling the linkage – sometimes they are not sufficiently greased and are dirt dry).
2) There's no damping adjustment on the Stelvio shock (and mine is not tuned/overhauled). Personally i didn't missed it till now, but that depends on your individual preferences…
3) Sleeves are 5 mm more than factory settings above the upper fork plate.
4) Lowering the front end (~– 5 mm) and lifting the back (~+ 1cm)?? Naturally it will change the bike to a certain degree. It's handier, it will bumb easier into the curve imho – and i did it also for more fun while hunting BMW GSn

diedel wrote:

…
1) Couple of questions, Laborious in what way, any different to just swapping out the shock?
2) You say you set the preload, did you adjust the damping before you put it in or leave it the same as the Stelvio?
3 )What height have you set your forks?
4) And finally , although you have done it for size reasons, does the bike handle any differently? Better/Same/Worse?
…

1) No, not just swapping the shock…  I had to remove the rear bodywork, mudguard etc. to run a chance for slightly lifting the air intake housing. Otherwise you won't get the shock out (or the Stelvio one in). To get a grip on the upper shock bolt you'll have to dismantle the right footrest plate, too. Taking off LH footrest support gives you also a little bit more freedom of handling.
Preconditions: bike on some kind of center stand (e.g. little manlift under the oil sump) and fixed front wheel (to the ground) to lift up back wheel. I left the back wheel mounted. Limiting condition is space between framework and swingarm – very fiddling, but there is a way pulling the shock upwards.
En passant you can check/grease the needle bearings of the conrods (be careful not to loose the needle bearings while dismantling the linkage – sometimes they are not sufficiently greased and are dirt dry).
2) There's no damping adjustment on the Stelvio shock (and mine is not tuned/overhauled). Personally i didn't missed it till now, but that depends on your individual preferences…
3) Sleeves are 5 mm more than factory settings above the upper fork plate.
4) Lowering the front end (~– 5 mm) and lifting the back (~+ 1cm)?? Naturally it will change the bike to a certain degree. It's handier, it will bumb easier into the curve imho – and i did it also for more fun while hunting BMW GSn

Looks like it may be worth doing then, many thanks for the info

Yesterday I gave the bike a quick tub and headed for Newcastle to see a sister in hospital. As I was leavin ol mate came over and said "Gday Im from Alice Springs and my mate has one of them." so Gday to Alice Springs GRiSO owner. I then went to a bike shop and looked and sat on a few different bikes. None fittedme or ticked the boxes like my GRiSO.

Today i have received and install my hf agostini exaust, couldnt instal the catalizer yet. Nice sound, but a bit small, smaller than i saw in picture , so a bit akward for now, may be i ll get use to it.

You know you're in love with your bike when "I need a pack of smokes after work" turns into a totally reasonable excuse to go for a two hour ride into the next state over. Also got did some tweaking to CO trims on the map for my new Agostini exhaust, which I'm loving. And installed the H-B crash bars.

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Suits that colour scheme very well, I reckon. Nice shots.

what i love with this exaust is to be able to see the entier back wheel, carc looks great ether side,
nice color, nice pics !

jexmatex wrote:

what i love with this exaust is to be able to see the entier back wheel, carc looks great ether side,
nice color, nice pics !

I agree! The single sided swingarm is such an evocative design element it seems a shame that Guzzi hides it behind such a giant exhaust canister from the factory. And the sound this thing makes is just awesome. I ended up running it with a modified version of the db killer in place, and I've been trying my best to figure out what it sounds like all day. A quick blip of the throttle gives a V8 muscle car snort, but I think perhaps because of the unequal length headers as the RPM's increase the sound changes to something more exotic sounding that I can't quite put my finger on. I'm going to have to try to get some decent audio/video clips of it and figure it out.

yeah well, in my country cops shout you on sight/ear if your bike is too loud
i think the noise level have raised to meet my V11 with mistral lvl.

but a least with this exaust i can understand my RPM without having a look at the speedometer.

Great looking can! Nice to see my color scheme with a different exhaust. Want!

Did 500 kilometers to britanny, enjoying this bike on the highway and the small country road, and try the 1983 california II of a friend under a nice windy sun ! GRiSO addict

Not Today , but yesterday I took my wife Jan to 1770 , a little town on the coast where captain cook dropped in back in the day. So happens the owner of the Cafe we breakfasted at owns the Tullah Lodge in Tasmania we stayed at last Xmas.  He leased it out and moved up to gods country
We lost a drag race to the green Kwaka 1400, but we were two up and I didn't wish to scare Jan too much ( she know's I still get the blood rush haha ) We backed of when he got round us at high triple digits. Remote area, good road, no one else around, ( Can you tell I'm trying to justify my stupidity)
Some pics, sorry didn't get any close ups of the GRiSO, next weekend
The Bride, She has suffered me for 30 years now and shows no sign of coming to her senses
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At the breakfast table
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Terry's kawa 1400 in back
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