'82 Moto Guzzi v50 Rebuild/Redesign

I took one of the tips from Guzziology and created a port in the rear drive to feed additional drive fluid up to the pinion gear bearings. The modification is not for the faint of hear! Drilling the port as the book describes has you auguring a pretty substantial hole through some seemingly very structural elements. Presumably David Richardson knows best, though.

Drilling hole:
photo1.jpg


Port from the inside of the bearing housing:
photo2.jpg



To complete the modification you need to re-orient the shim in the rear drive so that the wide part of the shim (which is supposed to cover the breather chamber) deflects fluid into the port. Normally, if you did this the paper gaskets would then be the only closing off the breather chamber, which seems like it would be a deficient seal, but my rear drive had two shims in it. This is odd , but it proved very helpful for this mod. I re-drilled one to serve as the fluid deflector, and the other remains in the stock position.

Shim 1 in stock location w/ gasket compound on it:
photo4.jpg


Shim 2 stacked on top of shim 1 to support the modification:
photo5.jpg


Shimming arrangement checked and checks out with the help of the blue stuff:
photo3.jpg


Rear drive complete!
 
Here is a quick update. With the drive train together I'll need some wheels, and with the wheels come brake rotars. I've been at the media cabinet in my free time for the past two weeks working on cleaning up both. The wheels should be back from powder coating next week, and I'll throw some before and after shoots up once I have them back. For the moment, here are the rotors:

Pre sand blasting/what a mess:
F5CCFFB5-22D8-4224-AE4A-FC99C7881FA2-10672-00000E6C74BFD223_zps0f1978f1.jpg


Post sandblasting on 2 of 3:
8D8A0063-8975-4C85-A3C6-50B1DFA7BB49-10672-00000E6C68F62A8A_zps4f3a5fd7.jpg


Post high-temp powder coating the non-wear rotor surfaces:
http://i1058.photobucket.com/albums/t408/zachattach1213/3EEA64B4-76E4-4273-B5C1-A5EB15AD145B-10672-00000E6C660D7647_zps8d43856c.jpg
The combination of washing the raw steel with the preparation process combine with the oven temperatures causes the oxidation process the be greatly accelerated, and surface rust is inevitable. Can't wait to lay on the breaks for the first time and clean that off!

Here is the rear rotor installed on the rear drive:
E7C756E8-E8E5-4662-B145-C08CD27B2CE1-10672-00000E6C63376727_zps9098462b.jpg

I'm really enjoying the resultant look from cutting away that rotor shield. Again, can't wait to clean up the surface rust by driving this thing.

Lastly, I left the spacer that goes between the rear wheel bearings out in the shop and someone has pitched it. If any one knows where I can locate a new one I am all ears.

Happy thanksgiving all!
 
Nice. Have you tried MGCycles or Harpers regarding your missing spacer? Not entirely sure I understand *which* part you're missing, but I have an entire spare hub unit... maybe as a last resort, once my V50 is done and I'm sure I wont need anything from it. :)
 
Some project updates for those that are following:

I had lost item 19 in this diagram.
ScreenShot2012-12-06at100240PM.png

I bought a scrap v50 II wheel off of ebay and I think the spacer out of that wheel will match, but its a plane tube instead of the more complicated shape depicted in the diagram. If anyone has one of the depicted one from the v50III I'd love to check if this one is right, and turn one with the correct dimensions if this one isn't.


The wheels are not stripped and powder coated. I had West Coast Powder coating to this one as I don't want to handle anything this large with the set up I have. Went with a silver with a clear coat over it, and the result is fantastic. This shot gives you good sense of the before and after improvement, but it really doesn't do any justice to how good to wheels look now:
2DBBFFE3-21B0-4AAD-83CC-CA2F9D0B3187-6445-000008FF350505D3_zpscc86495b.jpg

I can't wait to mount rubber on them!

Finally, last weekend I began a task that I've been looking forward to for almost a year now. I pulled the frame of the shelf last friday and cut all of the brackets off of the frame that I'll not be needing, as all of the electronics will be hidden in the seat and under the tank. It was a immensely gratifying task.

Before:
78F058BF-8060-4B12-945A-A92DDD6DBBC7-6445-000008FF1D789C57_zps414a9ed3.jpg


During:
2463BA5D-2AE1-4010-885E-A394AC6EDE62-6445-000008FF2990E730_zps0d392fe8-1.jpg


After:
4A639258-8CAE-4295-8438-B18D1000CC21-6445-000008FF31CD32D0_zps7ca3c8c6.jpg


The tailings:
3106CE89-6930-4CB0-974D-1EA6054CACCD-6445-000008FF2F03B798_zps0b0a59d7.jpg


I'll be spending some time cleaning up the ground spots with a file this weekend, and there will be more cutting and some tubing work to do before the frame matches the vision, but this is the fun stuff!!!
 
Also,
I've been planning to use the english wheel to make aluminum fenders like ones on this beauty:
fenderplans.jpg

Thanks Le Container (http://lecontainer.blogspot.com/)
 
Well, I've got a lot of updating to do. The project has been busy.

I finally got the drivetrain fully assembled.
IMG_1244_zps9eb564d0.jpg

Note the tube of moly past on the ground next to it. Apparently BMW used to make some special lube for greasing shaft splines and when I went to inquire about purchasing some of this unobtainable grease, I was told that the product had been discontinued. Honda apparently makes a comparable product for those parts that can realistically only expect to be lubed once in a bikes lifetime. It can be found here for anyone interested: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0083BWUYW

With the drive train together, the next step was to get the thing back on its wheels so that I could mock up the seat design. I spent a bit of time cleaning up the frame where I had cut all of the brackets off. I used a file to do most of the work and then cleaned everything up with a flap wheel.

Post file:
IMG_1255_zps2bdd3822.jpg


Post flap wheel:
IMG_1257_zpsf1c8d0f1.jpg


With those details cleaned I bolted the frame on and focused my attentions on the front end. The original headset on these bikes looks more like it belongs on a vintage Schwin bicycle than a motorcycle, and Ed Miliach of GuzziTech makes an adapter kil that allows you to swap in tapered roller bearings. I purchased a set of these and tackled the modification and cleaning up the tripple trees.

Step one of the mod requires you to remove the original race off of the lower tripple tree. A Dremel cut off disk, cold chisel, and map torch were all used to accomplish this. Following remove I had a local bike (bicycle) shop pop the cups out of the frame and install the new ones. As things would have it, the bicycle shop is actually better equipped for this than the moto shop I spoke to.

The removed race and cup:
IMG_1266_zps4949fe71.jpg


The torch and a c-clamp was then used to install the new bearing races:
IMG_1268_zps5d8b1765.jpg

IMG_1269_zpsf261fec2.jpg


With the new headset in place, I sand blasted the old crud off the lower tripple tree and paint off the upper. I then filed off the casting seams, buffed the aluminum, and used a scotch brite pad to finished everything with the brushed look.

The toil:
IMG_1267_zps7b1d2e87.jpg


The reward
IMG_1273_zps686e5755.jpg


With the tripple trees on, I installed the fork and front wheel. Following this, I dropped on the gas tank and used plywood and scrap insulation foam to play with seat designs, which I'll continue elaborate upon in another post.
 
BMW and Honda usually recommend lubing the drive splines at each tire change interval. So that would be about every two years I'd say. The Honda moly-paste is very good I use it on my CX500 cafe bike.
Cheers, 50gary
 
Very nice build and excellent attention to detail. You and Dale have inspired me to start loooking for a V50 of my own.
Keep up the good work, I can't wait to see this bike completed.
 
Seat time!

So, as previously mentioned, I got a bunch of insulation foam and glued it all together to play with various designs. If you every try this approach, a sharp carving knife works well for roughing things out and rough-grit sand paper works miraculously well for the detail work. I've heard an electric carving knife really where it's at for this.

Things started like this:
938293fb-081d-45c6-afe5-c570e77f36a4_zpsf8443574.jpg


Worked their way to a girlfriend-compatible blunder:
e13a8eaa-f97b-4ce6-a834-65c6a79697f6_zps684595b7.jpg


Backtracked to ultra-simple:
a03faa65-a5cc-44d7-8520-b94a6afb38ca_zpscd001a0b.jpg


And after checking suspension travel distances:
4021197b-0706-47aa-b97a-f23ec1d0126c_zpsc2231715.jpg


Settled on a classic look that we know and love here at Do the Ton:
6c8b7b8f-9ac2-4fc3-bf93-e93f51ad3f94_zpsa5fe41b7.jpg


To accomodate the suspension travel, the chopped part of the frame will be refinished with a twist on the classic hoop. A local shop with a cnc tubing bender is working on it as we speak, and the finished product that should look something like this (only dropped down into place):
cb36ed3a-7157-4c55-b847-808122e7a05b_zpsc34997df.jpg


With these concepts in place, I set about learning AutoCad and how to operate the water jet at the shop, which I have used to cut the seat pan and supporting brackets:
fd4999d1-7d1a-4eef-9dd9-81af8664bb27_zpsa9344b1e.jpg


My goal is to get the seat pan as low as possible between the frame rails so that I can create a compartment in the seat for hiding the electronics. Remains to be seen if this can be accomplished while conserving comfort. Sometimes beauty has to hurt a little.

More to come.
 
The project has been pretty active. Here are some updates:

Thought these were cool. These are the tabs I cut with the water jet to support the seat pan:
d4f5391f-f76f-456e-a3a2-be0013023b9b_zpsf6e737ed.jpg


Did quite a bit of work with the wiring harness to get everything oriented in such a way that it fits in to the pan. Here it all is tucked in there (the blue masking tape is for my sanity. will be replaced with shrink wrap later):
661dc617-dff5-438d-8e73-75dec50d9f2d_zps8b766a53.jpg


Here is all of the wiring I trimmed out:
32008158-42a5-4acb-b0b2-efe6eda9b392_zps5491b108.jpg


Had to cut a window in the tank to allow the wiring harness to pass up and over the frame rail and into the future electronics enclosure.
442021dc-732f-48e6-a47c-fc890123e444_zpsef75ef57.jpg


With these modifications, the electronics will all fit into a nice compact enclosure that looks something like this:
667AB0F3-1990-4E87-8219-ACC9CDEDE8EA-4828-000005ECBEAD8DA2_zps2eb76a68.jpg

Note that the seat will be as high as the rear facet of the tank shown in the picture, which means I should have plenty of room for cushion!

There is actually a good bit of random space left below there, and I was wondering if I could get some A123 Li cells, and solder/wire them together into a circuit that served as an 8 cell battery pack? Anyone ever heard of people making odd/custom shaped battery packs? Also, anyone know where I could get one of the kick start kits that were allegedly made for the v50s?

Lastly, my God:
moto-guzzi-v50_zps95687d2c.jpg

From here:
http://www.bikeexif.com/custom-moto-guzzi-v50
 
Check this out : http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UTDctiyUa9E

He bought his cells off eBay. If you search on eBay a bit you will find multiple vendors selling the cells you need and some will even solder them up for you in your desired shape. This is the rout I plan on going for my future build.
 
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