What did you do with your GRiSO today?

Well done mate. The wrap sucks gonads.

Problem is I want to polish them a bit more now

Dammit. That’s twice in 2 rear tires, when they’ve both had 1000s miles of tread remaining. Am I a fool if I ride with a plug for another month…?[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

yup

Pouty face. But I kinda knew it. My common sense gland might be a little underactive, so it’s good to be told sometimes.

I've had a proper plug repair done by my tire fitter before on rubber that's got lots of life left.
I would consider doing that.

Lots of people will ride with an external plug and have no problems but personally I prefer to get a proper self vulcanising internal patch done, then I call it good. I'm told though that few shops in the US will do internal patches for liability reasons.

If it's only got another 1,000 miles of life I'd bite the bullet and stick a new one on. I use up fronts before rears usually, (Which is weird because I don't use the brakes an awful lot.) so if it was a rear I'd just go with a new set for the simple reason matched new tyres are lovely!

I guess it matters what kind of distances and at what speeds and conditions you routinely ride..only you know that. To my eyes that tire is pretty well used up. I have a real paranoia of riding hard into corners of mountainous twisty's with that sort of tread with a plug in it..but thats just me..I know it is a maybe a personal phobia I have...If I were just commuting locally everyday on the slab I would maybe feel different.

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Got my battery tender hookup and usb charger put on my new GRiSO! Both cables were just long enough to be secure and not pull when going lock to lock for the charger. The bike came with the phone mount, but from using it so far the vibrations seem to be very well controlled. The STL area has a few more days of warm weather so I'm gonna try to make the most of it!

Beautiful fall day. GRiSO loves cool weather and high barometric pressure, running very strong. Changed the rear Matris spring from 135 to 110, just about perfect.
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I did just a good ride after changing the clamps in the tank and fuel filter, and installed original screen
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I took some pictures of my love after a gentle throttle twisting ride [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Rode it to the office for what was probably going to be the last time for the year.

now it looks like a certainty. 5 miles from home engine loses a noticable amount of power and starts making a very loud clatter/clacking. Pull off road, engine off. Call a friend who helps me chain it to a streetlamp near a service station and catch a ride with them home.

Lord knows its probably a dropped valve. Odd given that I'd adjusted them a few months ago. Wonder if the temperature drop has anything to do with it. Going down tomorrow again to check under the valve covers for any obvious signs and then sending a borescope down the spark hole to see if the piston is buggered.

Typical!

After rollerisation it didn't have any problems with revving above about six grand did it? In most of the cases I've seen where valves have dropped it's been because the valve timing has been out by a tooth and the symptom of that is a reluctance to rev above 6-6.5k.

Pete Roper wrote:

After rollerisation it didn't have any problems with revving above about six grand did it? In most of the cases I've seen where valves have dropped it's been because the valve timing has been out by a tooth and the symptom of that is a reluctance to rev above 6-6.5k.

None that I know of. I purchased the bike post-rollerisation, but I was reving it up to 7k that day without issue.

There's a noticeble engine note change above 4k rpm but I believe this is due to the fueling on the stock map?

I had noticed a ticking sound between 2-2.5k but investigations in previous threads suggested this could be the camchain tensioners in the heads getting "gunk" in them (per your own comments    ). Ironically, the whole point of this ride was to get the tank emptied so I could get them checked.

Clattery tensioners is more usually related to a blown sump spacer gasket experience has shown. If that was the problem then it may not of dropped a valve but may of run its big ends. If that is the case then if you're lucky you may be able to save the crankpin and just drop a new set of big end shells into it. If the crankpin is buggered you'll need a new crank. I have several if you need one.

Well some good news

Endoscope confirmed that it wasn't a valve - no damage to the pistons and more importantly no valves sitting on them.

Issue now will be figuring out what it actually is. Considered running it up to get some audio to post here but worried about doing damage to *whatever* is wrong.

Think I will check the sump spacer anyway - Didn't have an oil pressure light but am I right thinking it blowing wouldnt cause one?

It depends. The oil pressure switch operates at some ridiculously low pressure. The fact you didn't get a light or the 'Oil Can' icon on your dash doesn't really mean anything.

Drop the sump and spacer and take a look at the big ends. I'd wager that's the problem and when the spacer comes off you'll likely find the blown gasket. DO NOT try and run it up again, it will only cause further damage. If you want a test that may or may not give you proof positive stick a 24mm socket on the front crank nut and then try turning it first one way and then the other while using your borescope to look at the top of one or other of the pistons. Position them mid stroke and if you can change direction of the crank and get even a few degrees of rotation without the piston moving it will be because the big end bearings have melted and the rod no longer fits on the crank pin. You mak even be able to feel or hear a 'Clonk' when this happens. Unfortunately this isn't 100% reliable as a melted shell may still hold the rod in place on the damaged crankpin with no 'Free movement' but the bearings are still stuffed as the clearance, and their integrity, is vital for the oil to be able to form a wedge.

Once the sump and spacer is off you'll be able to look up at the rods. Chances are they will be blued and discoloured by heat and you may also be able to see slivers of melted big end shell poking out between the rods and the crank webs. If you drain the oil through a sieve chances are you'll find lumps and sparkly bits as it comes out and when the sump is dropped it too will be full of crap.

Once you have established if this is the problem we can discuss ways to deal with it but if it is the problem, and I suspect it will be, the very best you can expect is a full engine out, crank up rebuild.

Suffice to say we saw ZERO other motorcycles.

43F(6 C) and a steady drizzle. Not quite rain, but never dry. Just not a great day for riding. It was the prescribed monthly Guzzi Lunch day, and days prior, the forecast was for dry roads, and nearly 50F (10c), so it'd been in our minds that we'd get to run the bikes. I remained optimistic that it'd dry out. It never did.

So Pearl and Lucky (Ratso) got to run a bit, and are now filthy. The Michelin Road 5's were faultless. We had 2 GRiSO's present, a 3rd accounted for, as Mr. Pope made the considerable trek, wisely, in his cage. We had a smattering of others, the usual suspects, all Tonti pilots who'd left their bikes at home.

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It was a truly miserable day to ride, especially given that it was about 100 miles each way for me. But, I got to meet up with a couple friends, and make some new ones as well.

Plus, it's easier to wash the cage than to do a decent job on the GRiSO.

Yeah, about 60 miles round trip in less than desirable conditions.
Totally worth the trip!

Rick, nice to see you again too. You're a hard guy to pin down, always off on some trip or another.
Enjoying life, gotta love it.
I hope the new rocker cover screws work out for you.

Colt, it was good meeting up with you and Kip. And the others of course.

Yes, we spend a good amount of time meandering about the continent, and hope to do a lot more in the future. Our travel mode is pretty cheap in the grand scheme of things. We're enjoying our remaining years on this rock.

Another 6k miles, so checked the valve gaps, changed the oils, and GRiSO looooves fresh sparkplugs - really make a difference. New helmet day too (love that new-helmet smell), still sorting out the new shock, and the brute is running the best it ever has. Rode up the hill to Alices Restaurant - it’s a bit of a weekend scene and I typically avoid it all - too many Silicon Valley tech-bros in M3s and Porsches, a lot of bikers, and always ambulances and fire trucks scraping somebody off of the road. Months ago, I bought a couple of tatty paperbacks in a local coffee shop on the how-tos of sportbike riding, written by a local, Gary Jaehne. I only googled him last week and found out he’d died in 2012;  stacked it on a corner not far from the coffee shop where I’d bought the books. Today I counted 4 emergency vehicles in a hurry, which rattled me and so I stopped for gas and a break.I came out of the shop and saw GRiSO had drawn a crowd - the sportbikers don’t give a shit, but the greybeards can’t resist getting closer. Love this bike.
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Ah, yes. I went to Alice's once, summer of 2005 at the end our US 50 Coast to Coast trip. On a week day, it was busy.

And the GRiSO does draw a crowd of olde phartes. On the Cherohalla Skyway one time, I had some BMW/Ducati riders do a u-turn to come into an overlook to see mine. One of them commented, "I heard there was a GRiSO up here."

I swear, they were standing around like it was the baby-Jesus.