Factory rollered

Hi all.

I'm new to Moto Guzzi and the mighty 8v GRiSO.
I've been researching all the posts about rollerization of the engine etc.. but one thing I'm curious about... what do the factory rollers look like compared to the kits for the older ones. The people I have bought my bike from are adament it's been done, but after looking under valve cover it looks like the flat tappets images online. So before I start getting serious with them I need to make sure mine hasn't got factory rollers which apparently they say look "very different" from the kits... help!

Already done by Beetle here [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

BTW Not sure I understand why you are trying to avoid 'factory rollers' (that is the best option !); I can't see how you could tell the difference between factory rollers & 'converted to rollers' flat tappet heads ??

Think you mean you don't want factory FLAT TAPPETS.....

I was told that factory rollers look different than converted.
This might be rubbish so wanted to see what the view was.
Yes flat tappets of any kind I don't want.

No, all roller tappets look the same.

Some early roller tappet bikes used modified early type, single plug tube, cambox/rocker carrier castings. Later ones, or rather ones built after the old stock was used up, use the California 1400 twin plug castings but the 'Outer' plug tube is redundant as the 1200's only use a single, central, plug.

The casting type though does not denote whether the bike is a flat or roller tappet engine. That is governed by the tappets themselves which are pictured in the thread mentioned above.

There is an enormous amount of inaccurate information out there about the issue. If you have doubts just take a pic and post it up here. We'll immediately be able to tell you.

Pete Roper wrote:

No, all roller tappets look the same.

Some early roller tappet bikes used modified early type, single plug tube, cambox/rocker carrier castings. Later ones, or rather ones built after the old stock was used up, use the California 1400 twin plug castings but the 'Outer' plug tube is redundant as the 1200's only use a single, central, plug.

The casting type though does not denote whether the bike is a flat or roller tappet engine. That is governed by the tappets themselves which are pictured in the thread mentioned above.

There is an enormous amount of inaccurate information out there about the issue. If you have doubts just take a pic and post it up here. We'll immediately be able to tell you.

Thanks Pete.
Here's what was under my valve cover. FYI it's a 2011 plate. First registered 07 April 2011 UK[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

That's a flattie.

Also it's not a 2011 year model engine as it has the earlier coarse thread tappet adjusters and early type rockers so my guess would be it's a 2010 build machine.

Musing on this further today my guess is that the shop has checked and found that this was an early bike that came with cast iron tappets. There was a recall for these machines to be converted to the forged steel tappets with a DLC coating on them and these, once installed, do look pretty much identical to the earlier tappets BUT they are NOT roller tappets and they will still fail.

What the shop has done is mistaken the recall for a conversion to rollers. Problem is, if they believe that the recall was a conversion and are too dim to realise they may of pushed more bikes out the door to unsuspecting punters who believe their bikes are rollerised and are happily riding around destroying their engines!

Pete Roper wrote:

Musing on this further today my guess is that the shop has checked and found that this was an early bike that came with cast iron tappets. There was a recall for these machines to be converted to the forged steel tappets with a DLC coating on them and these, once installed, do look pretty much identical to the earlier tappets BUT they are NOT roller tappets and they will still fail.

What the shop has done is mistaken the recall for a conversion to rollers. Problem is, if they believe that the recall was a conversion and are too dim to realise they may of pushed more bikes out the door to unsuspecting punters who believe their bikes are rollerised and are happily riding around destroying their engines!

Thanks Pete.

So just to confirm.. if the bike had been rollered as standard from factory...(later ones) the view under the valve cover would still be as obvious as the kit rollerization?
The seller seems to think they are completely different looking and also my bike isn't even late enough for that anyway I don't believe. ENG NUMBER A5014428.

No. The roller system, of which there is only one, looks exactly the same WRT the appearance of the parts that poke out of the cambox regardless of year, model, colour of salesman's girlfriend's pubic hair or anything else!

Flatties look like flats and rollers look like rollers. There is no half way house.

Sorry.

Rollers you see a fork w/roller mounted to it
Flats have a small rod in a cam follower

You have flats

Flats were changed on all engines in 09 in US cause they didn't spin, they were too flat
Dealers that don't know shit use this change to tell you it's fine, a big scam if they know.