The definitive guide to Rollerisation

I doubt that's the one in it. I haven't seen anything in the maintenance history that it's been updated. I'm waiting for the cable to check what's in it.

I've finished the rollarisation of the GRiSO incl the new map. It runs great now! Thanks for this form topic. and ofcourse thanks to Pete for the tutorial!

Hello Pete and all ... my rollerisation project took a delay due to a move to our forever home shortly after I got the kit and then an unexpected bout of cancer (it was awful, but after extended treatment so far all clear), but I'm back at it. I opened the "C" kit and inspected the parts and it appears that I'm good to go with the correct assemblies. Hoping to start this weekend after a refresh on all of the helpful instructions. Thanks for all the excellent instructions and advice everyone contributes to this forum!

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Mine recieved the "C" kit prior to my ownership, so I never saw. I appreciate the pictorial! What year is your bike?

kidsmoke wrote:

Mine recieved the "C" kit prior to my ownership, so I never saw. I appreciate the pictorial! What year is your bike?

It's a 2010. Unfortunately it's the C kit version so the heads have to come off to do the retrofit.

markymarq wrote:

kidsmoke wrote:

Mine recieved the "C" kit prior to my ownership, so I never saw. I appreciate the pictorial! What year is your bike?

It's a 2010. Unfortunately it's the C kit version so the heads have to come off to do the retrofit.

Well, I can tell you I'm a happy camper with my rollerized 09. I expect you will be as well. Good luck with the job!

kidsmoke wrote:

Well, I can tell you I'm a happy camper with my rollerized 09. I expect you will be as well. Good luck with the job!

Thank you! I'm a little nervous about the cylinder head component but there is a great pictorial thread on wildguzzi so between Pete's work here and everyone else's help plus that thread I'm up for it! I'll report how it all goes.

With a bit of common sense, the ability to know which end of the wrench to hold on to, and Pete’s fine help, you’ll not find removing the heads for your roller kit to be a big deal at all. If you’re good he might even treat you to some of his brand of caustic humor too.

markymarq wrote:

kidsmoke wrote:

Mine recieved the "C" kit prior to my ownership, so I never saw. I appreciate the pictorial! What year is your bike?

It's a 2010. Unfortunately it's the C kit version so the heads have to come off to do the retrofit.

Actually, they don't . . .

At least two of the Owners in my FB Group (Stelvio/V85/V100 owners) have done theirs without removing the Heads, using the 'Rope Trick'.

Cambox removed.
Put a stack of washers on two of the four Head Studs (diagonally opposite) so you can replace the Nuts, just nip them up to hold the Head snug in place.
Get the Piston just past Bottom Dead Centre (coming up on the Compression Stroke).
Feed a long length of thick Nylon Cord into the Plug Hole, leaving a metre or so hanging out.
Turn the Engine over very slowly until firm resistance is felt.
Secure the Turning Tool to stop the Crank moving.

You are now free to remove the Valve Collets, the Spring Retainer Caps, and the Springs.
The Cord is squished up against the Valve Heads, holding them in place.
You'll likely need to give the Retainer Caps a sharp tap to break the stiction, before you can push them down to remove the Collets.
You'll need to come up with some method to compress the Caps (as you obviously can't use a C-Clamp type Spring Compressor Tool), but as you're obviously confident (and competent) enough of doing the Roller Mod, that shouldn't be too much of an ask.

Once you're done, simply pull on the end of the Cord to remove it from the Cylinder.


Being a 2010, I'm surprised it needs the Spring Shims fitting, my 09 Stelvio didn't.
I presume you checked for the Drill Marks on the Cylinder Heads, next to the Date of Manufacture marks?

Thanks to the incredible posts that Pete and others have made, I'm wrapping up my rollerisation project today! I did remove the heads for my C kit and ran into a few "huh?" moments so will post a few things that I learned in a follow-up. It turns out that my right side tappets were just as bad as my left - maybe even worse. They were definitely on their way to failure. It's interesting that one tappet on each side had so much more damage than the other. I just hope that things down further are ok and waiting this long didn't wreck anything else too bad. Last up today is dropping the sump to have a look.

Questions for the group:
1. I bought my bike used and it has a Moto Guzzi branded Termignoni pipe on it. I have records of the bike being mapped to GRS8V68s in 2013. Is this map designed for rollered bikes? Should I think about remapping to one of Beetles maps, and how do you pick one from his list?

2. Are there any other tasks that I should consider as follow-up. It's a 2010 with approximately 12,000 miles.

Thanks all for your help on this journey!

LH Tappets and Cam Shaft
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RH Tappets and Cam Shaft
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markymarq wrote:

Questions for the group:
1. I bought my bike used and it has a Moto Guzzi branded Termignoni pipe on it. I have records of the bike being mapped to GRS8V68s in 2013. Is this map designed for Rollerised bikes? Should I think about remapping to one of Beetles maps, and how do you pick one from his list?

2. Are there any other tasks that I should consider as follow-up. It's a 2010 with approximately 12,000 miles.

Thanks all for your help on this journey!

Sorry I was too late with my post to save you a lot of work . . .

I'd definitely go for one of Mark's (Beetle's) Maps, it'll transform your GRiSO.
I had a good map in my Stelvio after doing the Rollerisation, was perfectly happy with it, ran much better than whatever it had when I got it.
Then, just out of curiosity/interest, I tried Mark's . . . WOW, another level again, worth every single Penny (Cent).


Just go to GRiSO.org, select 'GRiSO' from the model list, then select the Map that best fits your GRiSO.
If you're not sure, just message Mark and ask, he is very helpful.

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As for other tasks, PM me with your email address, and I'll send you my 'tips' list.
I've compiled it over the 9+ yrs I've had my Stelvio.
It's for the Stelvios, but all the info/ideas regarding the Electrics, Engine, Gearbox, CARC etc are valid for the GRiSO too.

TBH it's a minor thing to pull cylinder head off once rocker box is off compared to fussing around with bits of rope through the plugholes !!! Gasket doesn't stick so head is already wobbling around with rockers off & at very worst you just need a new head gasket but I suspect original would be fine & using proper valve compressor etc is easier as well as giving chance to view/relap valves

I too really can’t see why not to pull the heads off? I can’t see how there would be a time saving? In fact all that screwing about would, at least to me, seem to be likely to take longer! Then there is the added and greater risk of dropping bits, like a collet, down into the bowels of the motor. The difficulty of compressing the valve springs in-situ and the greatly increased risk of screwing up the valve timing on reassembly.

Removing the head requires the undoing of the exhaust stud nuts, the inlet manifold nuts and in the case of Stelvios the brace plate betwixt head and frame. On some Sports you need to drop the motor in the frame to get the head off or pull a stud but I’d still think pull ing the head is a lot less arduous and risky than trying to adapt the rope trick to a motor so almost uniquely unsuited to it!

If people want to try and do it that way? Fill yer boots! I just really think there in nothing to be gained from it. You can buy a cheap valve spring compressor of the ‘G-Clamp’ type from eBay or wherever for peanuts so it’s not really a matter of cost savings is it?

Why unsuited Pete?

Poking a length of Cord into the Cylinder seems a hell of a lot less work than removing the Heads to me, especially on a Sport as you point out.

Also, I've often wondered why it's 'OK' to leave the original Head Gaskets in place when doing the Roller Job on Engines with the Shim Washers already fitted, but removing the Heads is deemed something that requires new Gaskets?
As Paul points out above, with the Camboxes removed, the Head is all but off anyway, so why don't we need to replace the Gaskets?

I’d assume to minimise the risk of leaks of gas internally or oil externally.

In all honesty as long as they look OK when you take them off and the Teflon, or whatever the black shit on them is, is clean and intact then chances are that re-using them would be fine. But what if it’s not? What if it doesn’t seal and it causes a catastrophic failure or even just a need to re-do the job? That’s not something that I, in my professional capacity would countenance.

Having said that I’m pretty sure that I re-used the head gaskets on the engine in Red Bike when I rollerised it? Used ‘Coppercoat’ spray on them after a close inspection, but that was simply out of interest and I’d know what a likely failure would be likely to manifest as symptoms. Many a ‘Layman’ wouldn’t so it’s not an acceptable risk on a job being done for a customer or responsible to suggest as ‘Professional’ advice. I also wouldn’t really mind having to re-do whipping the heads off if there was a problem on my own bike as it’s something I’ve done so many times it takes me next to no time. That’s me though. Most people undertaking the task of rollerisation or head work find the idea pretty daunting and I’d think they wouldn’t really want to undertake it more than once. New gaskets are cheap insurance.

I pulled the heads. It added some time but it was a cool experience - my first! One of my "huh?" moment for me was trying to figure out what was the cap for the cam chain tensioner on the RH cylinder. But I figured it out eventually. My rollerisation took about two days, but I went slow and steady with breaks. I also dropped the sump, which was gumy at the bottom but no metal.

One of the "oh shit" moments for me was at the end of the project when I was finishing with putting the cylinder guards on. I couldn't get the bolts to go in - I realized the frame shifted away from the engine bolt holes that they cylinder guards bolted into, so the frame wasn't aligned with the bolt holes. I had taken my cylinder guards off and didn't put the bolts back in the threads. Ugh. I ended up putting a floor jack under the kick stand bracket and called in a friend to help push on the frame and eventually we got the holes to align. If you're doing this project and you have cylinder guards don't make the mistake of keeping the bolts out when you work on the bike.

I started the bike up tonight and she sputtered for a couple of minutes (probably from not being ridden tor almost two years too) but then came into her space. I did a short ride after idling for a while and it was a joy ... the banging was gone. Thanks again Pete and everyone for your incredible help. I'm going to post a few more lessons that I learned in the process.

Mark

The RH cylinder tensioner cap location (cap removed)
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Miscellaneous photos
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