Guzzi 1100 custom build

[buzzer]

I have read on a few forums that over the miles the preload on the pinion bearings gets loose, and sure enough it spun Just a little too free. So I removed a thin shim and re-torqued it up after inspecting the bearings which were like new. I couldn’t use a torque wrench so I used a balance on a long spanner and calculated the pull needed for the correct torque.

[buzzer]

I am amazed at how little wear there is on the engine and gearbox components. there is no disenable wear on the crank or bores, pretty good for 30k miles! I cleaned out the sludge trap in the crank but it was clean, glad I did it though as the bung was far too lose for comfort! it has a dab of retaining compound on it now. the only wear I have found so far is a roller bearing in the rear drive, and as you can see there is pitting on the inner race. this will be replaced.

[buzzer]

well the frame is back from the powder coaters, along with the plating of all the smaller parts. Its always a dilemma what colour to go on the plated parts… I can have them silver, but the corrosion protection long term is much less than the yellow passivate, so yellow it is!



the frame has come out superb as usual, but the swinging arm is terrible. I knew it was pitted, but he said when he blasted it, big flakes of rust came off, and although he coated it, he knew it would not be acceptable to me. He did say he could improve it, but I decided to try and find one that’s less corroded. We will see.

[buzzer]

While everything is on hold while I wait for the cases to come back ( blaster has Covid and is really poorly...) I agreed to help a friend of a friend who was struggling with two broken studs in a cylinder head, so I though I would share my knowledge on removing them...

removing broken studs is always a problem, especially where someone has had a go first! in this case they had drilled off centre and then broken an easy out in the bottom! in 50 years of doing this stuff I have NEVER seen an easy out remove a broken stud in alloy… My technique for broken stud removal is to first clean the head of the stud with a burr in a Dremel to get it nice and clean. Then use a half nut the same size of the stud, but drill the threads out so again its nice and clean.

Place the nut central on the stud and start off with the TIG on low amps and just puddle the weld on top of the stud.. This permeates the heat down the stud… Build up the weld inside the nut until its flush. I have the electrode sticking out a bit more than normal to get close to the stud top. You can use MIG... but TIG works FAR better... Once its cooled a little, give it a tap with a small hammer for a bit of shock. then try working it back and forth… its its too tight, or squeals as you try to turn… it stop. Then if its possible drill a hole into the alloy from the side and JUST into the stud. over a couple of hours feed some Plus Gas (wonderful stuff!) in the hole and work the nut back and forth… I have had great success removing studs this way in alloy.

[350TSS]

I agree with you on easy outs, it always seems to me that the taper on the easy out is too steep so the contact area of the serrations trying to grip the inside of the hole will always tear rather than turn the stud. Either that or the fact of driving the easy out into the hole drilled in the stud expands the remnants of the stud and makes it a tighter fit at the mouth of the stud hole.
I have never tried cross drilling the stud, not always an option due to accessibility, but will certainly try next time it is an available option. Thanks for sharing.

[buzzer]

Originally Posted by 350TSS

I agree with you on easy outs, it always seems to me that the taper on the easy out is too steep so the contact area of the serrations trying to grip the inside of the hole will always tear rather than turn the stud. Either that or the fact of driving the easy out into the hole drilled in the stud expands the remnants of the stud and makes it a tighter fit at the mouth of the stud hole.
I have never tried cross drilling the stud, not always an option due to accessibility, but will certainly try next time it is an available option. Thanks for sharing.

drilling into the seized stud has saved me a few times... one area where it really works well is carburettors of all places! when air/mixture scres seize the can be difficult to remove... but if you drill a tiny hole through the alloy body and "just" into the screw they come out with some plus gas. particularly useful on Monster carbs!

Looks like the guy that does my blasting is still poorly, so I have turned to working on the next project until I get all the Guzzi cases back... something I don't normally do as I like to do one project a time...

There are a few things I can get on without getting seriously into it, one of which was to make some tapered inlet manifolds. This is another 1000DS Ducati build and I am exploring the Idea of using a small supercharger off a VW 1.4 TSFI... we will see once I get properly into it, but for now here is how I made the manifolds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAaLRtB32lg

[buzzer]

All the parts are back from the blasters, so its cleaning time… nothing scraps an engine like leaving glass media in there so its important to get it all out. I have a process I use for this. First I wash it all off in petrol… paying attention to all nooks and crannies, holes and oilways with a long thin bottle brush. then I jet wash it off, and blow it all off, including all holes. (you need goggles for this!) then its into a stainless steel tray and another wash off with petrol, and then I use carb cleaner with a long spout into all the holes and oil ways… if there is ANY single bit of media in the tray, its back to jet washing and blowing off again. Its easy to see any media in the stainless tray. Here is the gearbox in the stages of being built up.

[Flip]

Loving the insight into the mechanicals of this thread.

The lack of engine wear doesn't surprise me too much assuming it has had regular oil changes as they seem to be pretty under-stressed if ridden with a bit of feeling.

My 'small block' V7 has a rev limiter that apparently kicks in at 7000rpm with the redline at 6400rpm, while maximum power is produced 200rpm lower at 6200rpm.

However, as all of us here know, riding a V Twin (on the road at least) is mostly about riding that fat wave of torque and so with my little Guzzi producing maximum torque at just 4800rpm (80% of that below 3000rpm) there is little point heading too far further up the rev range, and that fat spread of torque is the reason that it never really feels slow on the roads I like to ride despite it's modest 55hp.

With regards to the little bit of wear in the rear drive, talking to the Tech at my local dealership he reckons the weak spot there is the oil seal which sometimes gives up- he says he's seen a few go while under warranty with the majority (like many oil seals) failing after long periods of inactivity- All the excuse any of us should need to get out and ride whenever we can I'd say!!!

[buzzer]

yes, I agree about the torque... there is often no point in reving past the max point... I have a shift light on my builds (5mm ultrabright LED) , set to max torque and its quite satisfying to just change up at that sweet spot!

Onto building the engine… of note is the tool to compress the clutch, which is actually the centre splines off the gearbox, and a threaded bar into the crankshaft. this makes the plates perfectly aligned and makes fitting the gearbox easy.

next the cylinder heads… it took three attempts on these to get the bead out of one oilway! note the new tin of grinding paste, the old one has run out of the fine end, but it was 50 years old, I can remember my Dad buying it me as a teenager! Good to see the company is still going and using the same tin! Just to be sure I checked the bores for wear… there is none at all! Got to love Nikasil bores!

here is the engine and gearbox all back together… I decided to add some accurate timing marks on the flywheel for each cylinder so I can use a strobe and see what’s happening in reality. used my new digital DTI gauge… not sure I like it… watching that needle go round is far more satisfying!

and finally its all back together and ready to go into the frame

[Flip]

Originally Posted by buzzer

yes, I agree about the torque... there is often no point in reving past the max point... I have a shift light on my builds (5mm ultrabright LED) , set to max torque and its quite satisfying to just change up at that sweet spot!

That’s funny you say that as without a rev counter on the V7 Stone model that I have, Guzzi saw fit to employ an adjustable two stage LED shift light within the speedo. This flashes at its lowest setting (in my case like you, set at maximum torque) changing to constant illumination which I have set 500rpm higher.

I have to say there is a certain purity about a bare aluminium motor along with the sheer simplicity of the Guzzi design and having covered just over 6000 trouble free miles in eighteen months on mine I am loving the Mandello Del Lario experience so far, ticking all the boxes of what I was looking for as a second motorcycle.

[buzzer]

Here is the finished final drive with a new bearing and seals.

[buzzer]

The engine is now back in the frame, a nice and easy job with the removeable bottom frame rails…

[buzzer]

I didn't want to use the frame as a breather as it can rot them out, and rust partials can drop down so I am told... so I decided to make a new breather the vent the crank case and also the heads. Here is is... will it work? Who knows, we will see!!

[buzzer]

Two jobs today... first was to make a paddock stand. I hate the universal ones as they are very difficult to get a bike on one on your own..., and often not that secure. this one positively locks onto the wheel spindle, and when its on the lift I can clamp it to the top so its nice and secure.





The second was to make some bushes out of bronze to take the play put of the clutch lever as the hole had worn oval. I drilled it out and made some over size top hat bushes. Finally, here it is on its wheels!





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoiBIyf7MYY

[buzzer]

I pondered for a long time on the throttle arrangement for this bike… I wanted to keep the pull to open, pull to close for a couple of reasons… First, its safer… manufactures didn’t go to this arrangement for no reason as bikes evolved. Second, it means you can have much lighter return springs, which in turn males the throttle much lighter, particularly if you are going for a quick action. . A light fast action action throttle feels like you have 20 BHP more!

I couldn’t find a 4 cable throttle anywhere, so I ended up making one from scratch…