why you don't camp near creeks when it is raining

This year's National Guzzi Rally in the US was rained on. A lot.
As in over 10 inches in 24 hours. At a rally held at a campground, by
a creek[1], with hundreds of bikes including the national distributor's
test fleet and some rare bikes from the 50s.

End result?

Well, here's a bike that didn't get away.
http://picasaweb.google.com/mmeives/CycleTeardown2007

As the guy says "The bike was under at least 12-18 feet of water and
mud for 8-10 hours."

Watch the slideshow... The water pouring out of the crankcase, the
mud in the bevelbox and wheel, the mud and water in the electrics....

http://www.bmwmoa.org/features/guzzi_rally.htm has an account of the
weekend.

Zebee

[1] although to be fair, with rain like that there weren't many places
in the area that didn't get Very Wet Indeed, and there were fatalities
at other places in the area.

 

<snip>

Nothing to do with the topic, but do you remember the bloke who used to
go to rallies with a Guzzi outfit?

The "side car" was a welded up frame of steel tubing, with a wee body
strapped into it. On arrival, he used to unclip the rubber straps, pick
up the body and toss it into the nearest stream, jump in to said body,
which floated, and paddle off.

The steel frame was also capable of having a full size motorcycle hooked
into it, thus replacing the usual ute for salvage purposes.

regards,
CrazyCam

 

Wouldn't that Guzzi be an insurance write off? Only 2 reasons I can
think of that would have you cleaning everything like this guy is doing.
No insurance or being a fanatical Guzzi nut, Or both! Either way, If he
ever gets it going again, Better of selling it, Imagine the electrical
probs he's going to have within 12 months from electrical corrosion.

Aiso. >

 

Back in the late 70s/early 80s the main Kwakka dealership in Brisbane
(Beaumonts) had a 350 Avenger equipped with a sidecar frame, channel and
tie-down hooks and it was their bike pick-up vehicle.
Piece-of-piss to load up (compared to a ute or trailer) and still narrow
enough to get through lot of traffic jams.

 

those electrical problems are pre installed at the factory, the water
probably fixed most of them

mh

 

It's not a Honda Marty.

 

never had a leccy problem with a Honda
Never owned a Guzzi but have nothing but trouble with one.

mh
(its in storage so it aint bothering anyone ATM)

 

What's the relative mileage?
People hang shit on Guzzis (and other Euro bikes) when they have problems at
100,000 or 200,000km and think Jap bikes are reliable 'cause they don't fail
during their 60,000km entire lifespan!
I've never owned a 'Guzzi either but if I had to pick between a California
and a Blackbird for the
bike-most-likely-to-keep-running-for-the-rest-of-my-life I wouldn't be
choosing the Honda!!

 

about 20,000km, all in the first 18 months

switch block failure
faulty oil valve in sump causing low oil pressure, installed broken
from new according to report
faulty oil pressure sensor

I had a VFR for 30,000km except for self inflicted damage ( falling
orf) it was perfect, And there is a heap of High mileage VFRs out
there.

I've had the strom for 28,000km and nothing so far, the Strom forums
are reporting Strom with 200k without any issues.

***I think it got to to with more that way the bike is looked after
and ridden, BMWs and Guzzi's do attract and different sort of owner
that Jap bikes IMHO and in Guzzi's case, quality control has been an
important factor

I love Guzzi's, but the experience I have had with the one bike and
the associated dealers has left a very bad taste in my mouth and
owning one myself would be a labour of love and I would accept their
idiosyncrasies.

Comparing a Cali to a Budgie inst comparing apples to apples, but I do
get your drift.

mh

 

Gotta Duke ST2 Never been a problem owned since Jan 03 and still has the
stock chain/sproketscourse I run a scotoiler, Lushy

 

My (purchased new) K75C required a new fuel pump, fuel gauge sender, had
starter motor failure, demolished the rear brake drum when the spring broke
in half as well as a serious oil leak.
All this by the time it reached 35,000K & I got rid of it in favour of a
Honda.
Sure they may last for up to 200,000K but considering the steeper initial
purchase price & the inflated cost of labour & spare parts involved in
keeping them running for that distance I find it far more convenient &
certainly no more expensive to just replace the Jap mount at shorter
intervals than to battle on with an aging temperamental & by then
unreliable, hole in my wallet.
G.

 

Not video as such, more a vid of stills of the flood. Which show how
serious it was - a trailer up a tree, semi on its side....

Zebee

 

Well; Theo hasn't HAD the Norge long enough yet!

 

No more expensive?!!?
Fark me you must be making mechanics very rich (or salesmen very poor)!
You drop thousands of dollars just wheeling a Jap bike out of the showroom.
(And another thousand when it's superseded at the end of each year)
Or are you talking about used bikes?

 

Let me put it this way...quote (supply only) for the K75 fuel pump & mount
alone was over $1200. Every item I priced was up to 10x the cost of it's jap
equivalent.
To repair my starter problem required "the frame to be removed from the
engine" according to the manual...well beyond what I was prepared to tackle
or pay a shop to do.
The oil leak I was told required the water pump (? from memory) to be sent
to Tamworth for rebuilding as the BMW replacement cost was prohibitive
according to the Port Macquarie BMW Dealer.
Add to this a badly scored rear hub due to a defective spring breaking & I
decided to get rid of the bike.
Had a look at a new Honda Blackbird & the BMW equivalent in
capacity/performance (forget the model designation) & test rode both.
Found I could have purchased two new Blackbirds for around $2K less than the
one BMW.
Now 18 months & over 30,000K later I've yet to experience a single problem
with the 'Bird...unlike my experience with the K75 at a similar distance.
G.

 

my k100 required a fuel pump a while back , 8 or 900 according to the
agents , I fitted an x series foulcan pump and fixed it with a worm
clamp , worked perfectly ( the pump from a wagon works fine)
the starter brushes cost about $20.00 from a local Bosh supplier and
the shaft brg's another $60.00 or so , but then it's only done 160k///

 

Interesting info, thanks.
In my case the pump & (rubber?) mount as well as sender had been destroyed
by our 'crap local fuel' according to the dealer. Even using a combination
of used & new bits still proved expensive.
My starter problem was related to it not engaging the engine. Was told the
engine required extraction to fix. However after 3mths of push starting it
decided to commence working again...most times.

 

In aus.motorcycles on Wed, 29 Aug 2007 21:08:50 +1000

That does seem to be the difference between long term euro riders and
long term jap riders.

The habit of using weird stuff to fix things

I haven't had to use car parts on the Guzzis, as the bits are all
available and cheap for my 70s bangers. The MZ had VW seals in the
brakes though.

Zebee

 

The older model I had
(V7) used fiat points and condensor , the k100 foulcan pump was fitted
by making a tin mount screwed down inside the tank to the existing
metal (vegetable can modified)and then gortex wrapped and clamped ,
simple and cost about $100.00 , the rubber used in these fuel pump
mounts is meant to turn to jelly after a few years ( I am convinced of
it) the brushes mentioned needed a quick rub with emery paper to fit and
of course owning a lathe if I can make it I will .I priced something for
the other bike the other day which was plain stupid , 30 minutes in the
machine shed and I made one ... sometimes cheep is best .
oh and the k100 seems to have a slight injector problem which it
appears I can use a holden injector kit off a v6 to fix for $10.00 for a
seal kit
Did you know Escort pistons fit a 998 HD with a 40 over bore

 

Put a XF Falcon fuel pump in my K100RT recently, direct replacment cost
about $85 at repco.

I get most of my parts really cheaply, Oil filters I buy in a 6-pack from my
local BMW car dealer for half the cost the bike shop charges for the same
part.

If you are going to own a BMW (or Guzzi etc) join a club, the members (or
on-line groups) will have all the dodges worked out.

Boxer