Pic of my shot tappets

I'm at the dealer now and we'll be ordering a roller kit.

Just 6400 miles!

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Good catch LBC, hope your kit arrives quickly

Another big thanks to Pete and Mark for the cam removal vid. The dealer tech found it most helpful.

Here are some more pics of the carnage.

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Good-O! Is this a warranty freebie then? Hope so.

Incidentally, while I won't be videoing it unless I can press-gang Erika into helping me, tomorrow I'm going to be disassembling a Roller tappet cambox so I can actually identify which bits of the other one that was just thrown higgledy-piggledy into a box are broken, missing or have been kidnapped by aliens!

Not that your bloke should need it as the boxes should come fully assembled but it might be useful for future reference. There are a couple of special tools needed for dis and reassembly. I have them. they are for holding the cam still and entering the assorted washers of the thrust mechanism.

pete

I have a fsh so it sounds like I'll just pay labor. We shall see. I'm worried about the prominent pits in the dlc on the one tappet. Enough missing dlc to have already done significant damage?

Make sure they drop the sump for a good clean out.

Will do. Much worse than I expected for so few miles on the clock.

Drop sump and clean. Inspect the strainer's for anything untoward.

Is yours a 'C' kit or a 'B' kit motor? If a 'B' kit it's really easy.

Pete

I'm not sure which kit Pete. I'm hoping the dealer will order the right one. It's a 2011, if that is any indication.

In which case it *Should* be the easy 'B' kit. See the earlier thread though where Mark posted up the tell-tale markings on the valley side of the heads.

That wear isn't terrible so with a clean out and rollerisation you *Should* be good, but no guarantee.

Pete

Dealer says roller kit is ordered, no ETA yet, and no reply yet from Piaggio regarding what I'll have to pay. The suspense is excruciating.  Terrible feeling knowing it's in bits far from home at the mercy of strangers.

LBC Tenni wrote:

Dealer says roller kit is ordered, no ETA yet, and no reply yet from Piaggio regarding what I'll have to pay. The suspense is excruciating.  Terrible feeling knowing it's in bits far from home at the mercy of strangers.

I'll be interested in your experience.  I'm in the LA area too and need to find a dealer I trust to do my conversion.

Glad you caught it LBC - 6400 is nothing really!

Can someone point me to the video linky please? Want to be able to have a looksee.

Thanks.

It's in the tech section.

Pete Roper wrote:

It's in the tech section.

Cheers Pete.

It's interesting that its common practice nowadays to run cams directly in aluminium ie without shells or bushes. Would have been frowned upon once upon a time as cutting corners etc, but millions of cars aswell as bikes seem to do ok on it.

I just got my rollerised GRiSO back from Thousand Oaks Powersports. I only rode it the 50 miles home, but it's running better than ever. Less clatter, no more lumpy idle, and no more popping on decel. And somehow they got Piaggio to cover kit AND labor. I only paid $200 for dropping and cleaning the sump. I dealt with Alex, Brian, and Eddie. Great guys. They will be the only shop touching my GRiSO henceforth. I am very relieved to have found a great dealer shop not too far from home.  

Thanks very much for learning that for me. That's my local shop!

I'm at 5K, so time to check them out.

LBC Tenni wrote:

...................... And somehow they got Piaggio to cover kit AND labor.................

Could it be that Piaggio start to indirectly admit and feel responsible for their fuck up on this flat tappet deal?
Never heard of them forking out money for labor in this scenario... maybe your dealer ate the cost of labor and told you that Piaggio took care of them to simply end the discussion. I can't see them doing that in every cases, if not John Lyon needs to get there pronto!!

In any case, Congrats to you for having minimum expense on this...

Thanks Pascal. I have to give big credit to Alex at Thousand Oaks. He's the one who made the calls to Piaggio and got them to do the right thing for me. I just hope it'll get done for others as well. Also big credit to Brian the tech, who was genuinely happy to learn by doing the work on my bike. Eddie was great and supportive too. Really good guys who are working hard to take care of the customer. Best dealer service experience I have ever had!

Which kit was it your bike needed? While I'm glad for you its going to be pretty rough on shops if they are going to have to swallow the cost of dozens of upgrades at Piaggio's pay rate.

As for that idiot on WG who seems to think he can take the credit? Words fail me.

Thousand Oaks must of changed hands. The original owner was a truly unpleasant little creep who would exploit anyone and do anything to wriggle out of even the tiniest responsibility. Nice to see them stepping up to the plate.

It was the B kit Pete, as you said. WG is certainly a different sort of crowd. Get off my lawn!
Thousand Oaks did change hands last year and it seems the new ownership is 180 degrees from the last guy. I think they have the right idea and they seem to be winning customers away from the Ducati and Vespa shops.

Pete Roper wrote:

As for that idiot on WG who seems to think he can take the credit? Words fail me.

I just read those threads. OMG. Despite meeting the very definition of a 'troll', that moron is now being praised.

While this result is very good news for Don, I wonder whether Thousand Oaks will now be inundated with fuqqed flatties, all expecting the same treatment?

'B' kit is a snip. Especially on a GRiSO. I wonder if the result would of been the same if it was a 'C' kit for a Stelvio?

It's great you got it done but if shops are going to be pressured to do all of these at Piaggios pay rate you're going to see a lot more owners being told their tappets are fine and a lot more dealers dropping Guzzi.

Pete

Sam's, (Converted Duc's) bike done this AM. Apart from a leak from the RH tensioner plug it all went fine. Only minimal wear.