newbie Guzzista

I've lurked in this newsgroup now for a number of years on and off,
and occasionally posted. Now, I've bought a Guzzi I have. A Breva
V750IE. Now I SHOULD have put it on the centre stand and checked the
rear wheel free play before I bought it, but it has about an inch of
back and forth movement in the back wheel when it is in gear
accompanied by a clunking noise from the swing arm pivot.

There's no unusual vibration in the right hand footrest, but the gears
whine a bit and rattle in neutral.

Should I consider replacing teh drive shaft now or is it normal? I
priced a new one at about $350 US plus shipping to Oz. The scary part
is the amount of work that appears to be needed to remove the
swingarm.

If I do replace the shaft, are there any other parts that should be
done while I've got it out?

 

In aus.motorcycles on Sat, 8 May 2010 23:25:48 -0700 (PDT)

when you say "back and forth" you mean you rotate the wheel in the way
wheels are meant to rotate? As distinct from waggling it across the
plane of the bike?

If so, then that's probably not a real problem, just slack in the
shaft.

If there's no vibes then I'd say you don't really have a problem. To
feel safe though, take it to a knowledgeable dealer.

In Sydney either John at Moto Ciclio in St Peters or Dave Ward at Moto
Italia in Penrith, in Brisbane Tommy Newells, in Adelaide Brian at Eurocycle,
in Perth Mario at Thunderbikes. Not sure in Vic, some folk have had
distinct problems at A1, but it's probably your best bet.

Zebee

 

In aus.motorcycles on Mon, 10 May 2010 07:51:15 +1000

Nope. It's a sensible thing for people who ride bikes over 30 years
old! (And who tour on them... although I did stop touring on the Old
Girl when she was a relatively young 28)

And useful because even though the damn things really are just ditch
pumps with a car driveshaft, there's way too many "motorcycle
mechanics" who can't cope with them and appear to be scared when one
fronts up to their shop.

Besides... isn't it much better than having no idea at all who was
elbow deep in your motor last?

Zebee

 

Yeah, it's back and forth movement, not side to side so I guess it's
probably OK.

The noise in the gearbox varies a bit, especially when it's cold. When
it's been leaned over and then you go upright again it briefly gets
louder. When I get home I'll check the level (It's sitting in the
garage until then). I've been told elsewhere that some noise is normal
because it has straight cut gears, and a cure is to slightly overfill
the gearbox (1 litre instead of 900ml) and raise the outlet of the
breather to stop the oil coming out.

As for dealers, well. I live in the Hunter Valley, and the closest
thing I have to a Guzzi dealer would be the Suzuki Dealer in Newcastle
who no longer sells Moto Guzzis new. I was planning to do the
servicing myself.

If changing the gearbox oil doesn't help and I can't find anyone local
I'll take it down to Motociclo and see what they say.

Thanks for the responses all.

 

Perhaps a GOOD synth oil ?
I filled the box on the waterbottle with BelRay and all the groans
went never to return , same with the k bike quiting right down .

 

I am over 30 years old and I wouldn't have a clue what the bike mechanics
first name was


(And who tour on them... although I did stop touring on the Old

 

In aus.motorcycles on Sun, 9 May 2010 17:12:23 -0700 (PDT)

I suggest you contact the Vic Guzzi club on
http://www.motoguzziclubvic.asn.au/ and ask them if they have any
copies of Guzziology left because you really do need it if you are
going to work on your bike.

It has stuff for the late model smallblocks, and how they differ from
the older ones.

It is *the* Guzzi bible.

For advice over the phone, ring Mario at Thunderbikes in Perth or Dave
Newell in Brisbane. See the services section at http://aigor.org

Those two have decades of Guzzi experience, know all about the new
ones too, and are good blokes and usually willing to give advice.

John's a good bod, I'm just not sure how many late model smallblocks
he's done.

Zebee

 

It's fine. Every Guzzi I have owned was like that from new. It's
mostly about gearbox dog clearance.

Theo

 

Of course. I hadn't thought about that. By the time it goes through
the final drive it gets multiplied and that would account for an inch
of movement.

Thanks everyone. I feel better now. Just need to find a copy of
Guzziology and I'm good to go. I think I saw one on Amazon.

 

In aus.motorcycles on Mon, 10 May 2010 02:37:53 -0700 (PDT)

If you can manage a highish volume (5-6 a day, sometimes 10-20
depending) mailing list, then join the Australian Internet Guzzi
Owners Register. Not only will you find people who have the same
model bike, are in your area, or both, you'll get tech help.

If you don't already have one,
www.motoguzzisti.com/m/br/breva-750-frame-manual.pdf
might prove useful.

Zebee

 

Replace it with something made in Japan. : )

Fraser

 

A Tamagotchi?

 

Funny you should say that. The bike I test drove back to back with it
was a Suzuki GS500. It was worse.