Moto Guzzi

surffly

Over 1,000 Posts
Should be a fun, and hopefully simple project.
Got rid of my Norton.
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Bike was a tone of fun and I very much enjoyed it.
But it became redundant in my garage. While I did ride it to work often, it really was a more "point A to point A bike".
I would rather use the Seeley CB750 like that (and I need to focus on finishing it)

So the search began for something comfy that I could not only ride to work, but take on a weekend trip with the girl.
She wasn't a fan of the Norton for good reason, and my CL450 doesn't have the legs for two up trips.

After some wheeling and dealing I ended up with a 1970 Ambassador Moto Guzzi!
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I think it will fit the bill rather well.
 
It appears that the bike was restored in the Mid 2000s. A fair bit of money was spent on it, but it saw little use.
Has been sitting for the past few years, so needs a solid service at the very least.

Forks seem frozen.
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Has a nice alternator conversion.
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Carbs need to be rebuilt.
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First round of needed tools/parts
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Step one in any respectable build to to tear the bike down to the frame.....correct?
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I had not planed to mess with the forks until after the transmission was out, but in moving and shacking the front end freed up. It seems that there are no springs in the forks for some reason.
Guess I will have to order some.
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Alternator, incase I need a spare.
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Found that these stupid clips were not holding the cap very well. I was able to bend them a little bit, but I would like to see if there are any replacements or improvements out there.
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Looks like during the restoration that a new harness was made and modernish electrical block installed.
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In case you do not remember, or I forgot to tell you, the rear main seal on the motor is leaking. Or so the PO told the PO.
I had thought to be lazy and just fire up the bike to see how bad it was actually leaking, but thought better of it. I have the CL450 to ride every day, so no need to half ass the Moto Guzzi.
That and I have grown to rather like the bike so I wanted to do the right thing.

Lucky I did, while I still have not gotten deep enough into the motor to check the rear main seal I have found a few other small jobs that need doing.
I know it is the biggest cliche in this hobby for the current mechanic to bitch about the "last guy that touched the bike"......
BUY here it goes!

The fork spring thing is strange to me.
MANY of the bolts are covered in anti seize, but not actually tight!
Much of the hardware has been replaced with generic SS stuff.
THIS
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Have no fear though. I enjoy this kinda stuff. Very much looking forward to crossing a bunch of small jobs off the list and learning what makes a Guzzi tick.
My hope is that it all pays off in the end result.

I did not pull the fly wheel last night.
It got late, I got lazy
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Kinda not sure if this is going to need to be replaced.....
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Next on the list will be to mock up some florist foam and decide how much of the rear loop I will have to cut off for my new seat.
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Well the bike did come with a solo seat!
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I do need to find a "radio" rack to work with the solo seat.
And/Or a "beer rack" to work with the OEM seat
 
Engine on the bench for better access.
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Pulled the rear main seal bearing housing thing.
SUPER easy with special tool.
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The offending oil. I actually think most of of was coming from the lower bolts not sealing properly.
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Looks like someone already addressed the cam seal
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Bike had fresh oil though.
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Kinda cool view.
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Honestly dont think this bike was ever run after restoration.
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Replaced the rear main seal(old one was hard as a rock), the bearing gasket, the two oil pipe crush washers and the other pipe gasket.
Figured it was a good idea "while I was there"
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Alternator bracket that Grandpaul was asking about.
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This just looks REALLY bad.
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Well I have some information about the springs.

The winner was "no springs installed"!
Unsure why that was the case.

Since I had to take most of the bike apart for different services I figured I might as well rebuild the forks at this time.
As you saw I bought the correct tools and parts for the job.
Everything came apart fine, almost too easy.
Some of the seals on the bike have turned dry and hard from sitting for so long after restoration.

Also fork rebuilding is a cheap thing to check off the list.

Not only did I buy the fork seals, but I bought the lower bushings.
But then my troubles started!

First the OD of the lower bushings is to large to work with the fork legs.
They bind and just do not fit correctly.
It is almost like they were not finally machined.


After I found that out I decided to just put the old bushings back in and call it a day.
Nope, cant do that....
The tool broke!
Freaking thing has a 1/2 drive, would think it would take some torque.


So finally I spent the rest of the afternoon chewing up the lower forks trying to get them apart....but no dice.
I tossed everything in a box and went home.


Contacted MGCycles and they immediately told me to return the items I was having issues with.
They have been very helpful, and for that I am thrilled.
I did not post about this until after we had the ball rolling to fix the issue.
No reason to bash a company or flat out bitch about things. Stuff happens, and life goes on.
 
Nice three day weekend!
Spent most of it attempting to learn how to wake board.
Even though that did NOT go well, I did enjoy being out on the lake.

Rained all day Monday, so spent some time putting the carbs back together.
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I need to look in the/a book/manual to find out what jet goes where.
Normally the jets only go in one location, so I never really think about it.
I know I should instantly know what jet is what, but I am lazy.
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They came out fairly good.
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My hope is one night this week I can wrap up the transmission seals.
After that the bike can start going back together.
Still need to order fork stuff though.
 
Had a few minutes last night to mess with the bike.
Engine and transmission are on a bench in the shop. At this point I do not trust a lot of the bike.
MANY nuts/bolts are hand tight and COVERED in anti seize paste that makes one heck of a mess.
Nothing is jumping out as wrong, damaged or broken though so that is good. It just seems that everything is more mocked up, then ready to go.

None of this is a huge deal, just adds time.
At the end of the day I am actually okay with it all. It will give me a change to "get to know" the bike and the systems.

Front engine cover had a goo seeping on the inside. Unsure if that was a sealant?
Are there oil seals behind those gears that I should change?
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Need to order a new alternator drive belt.
This one seems "new" but is dry and hard from sitting.
Cheap insurance.
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My main focus was the transmission as I think I have all the parts in house to wrap it up.
It is also a smaller and more manageable evening job in my eyes.

One thing I have never seen before is ALL the leaking oil seals.
It seems that every seal on the bike is dry, hard and weeping. Everything looks installed correctly and I see no signs of damage.
Just leaking seals.

Here is the transmission.
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Even the O-Ring for the clutch activation!
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I opened everything up for inspection.
All looks clean and proper.
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Did find this little Easter egg.
Is it a normal marking?
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Do have an actual question though.
How does this gear come off?
I need to remove it to change another leaking oil seal.
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Matched the shafts up last night and everything looks good to go.
My plan is to lay out the whole transmission and inspect the gears, bearings, clips, bushings ect for damage, wear and improper installation.
Should be a fun and rather zen process.

Fork springs should be here tomorrow.
I bought those fancy progressive wound ones.
It is only money at the end of the day....

Transmission covers are at Mr Hayes' shop being modified.

Bike is slowly plugging away.
Anyone going to be at MidO next weekend?
 
surffly said:

At the risk of stating the obvious while missing what you were menaing to show... that hose is labeled "Not for fuel INJECTION". SAE 30R7 can handle fuel and temperature, but not high pressure. Perfectly acceptable for an old carb'd Guzzi.
 
Still slowly plugging away with this thing.
With the nice weather, SCUBA diving and wedding planing I just have not had much time for the garage.
Been getting a little frustrated and down about that , but I am really enjoying the other things I have been doing....so it is all good.

Front fork springs came in the other day, so once those are installed I can cross the front end off the list.

My transmission covers are back from Patrick Hayes.
He modified them for better sealing.
Super nice guy, crazy fast turn around time, and great work.

Should be a nice upgrade for the bike.

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O-Ring cut into the shift selector. The latter 5 speed units have this, but the 4 speeds did not....no idea why.

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Cleaned up the bore of the throw out bearing by installing a sleeve.
I will need some new parts for this as my old bearing came out in a million pieces.

But tomorrow I am off to MidO for Vintage Days.
Hope to see some old friends, drink some good beer and score big in the swap meet.
Also this event recharges my batteries and motivates me to get some of my junk finished up.
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Great weekend out at Mid Ohio.
Always fun to meet up with members, drink beer, wonder the swap meet and generally have a good time.

Rained like all hell Friday (would not be MidO without some rain), but did manage to buy a few needed parts.
Last two years have been kind of dry for me. I am chalking it up to the fact that I have a fairly well stocked garage and do not have a whole lot of "needs".
Or maybe I am growing as a person and not constantly buying any old junk?

About 5 minutes after getting to the swap meet I found an airbox for the Guzzi!
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Will need to be blasted, painted/coated and the rubbers replaced, but I am happy.
$13!
How can you beat that?

While I LOVE to mock the current pods on the bike, the fact is that they work and there is no mechanical reason to replace them.
I want to go back to the stock airbox purely for aesthetics.
I prefer the look of the box. I like that it hides the electrical and the battery. I also think that it looks more "finished" if that makes any sense.

There was not a whole lot of Guzzi stuff or bikes at the event.
I did see this parked at a "dealer's" booth in the meet.
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Been super busy with work, wedding planing, and SCUBA diving.
All bike stuff has been on the back burner. Actually rather bummed about that.

Ended up with Sunday free, so worked on the Guzzi a bit.
Also helped install long tube headers on my friend's TrailBlazer SS.
If one of your friends ask you to help with that job......RUN AWAY.

Fork springs and new seals.
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I really LOVE they way that you change the seals on this bike. Very simple.

While the tires are new, I might need to change them anyway due to dates.
They are also hard and cracking.
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Started to put everything back into the transmission, but decided that this was a job best saved for a quite evening.
I want to sit with the diagrams and manuals.
Only want to due this job once.
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Also need to figure out how to move this junk from one shaft to the other.
Anyone know how this works?
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Took one of the valve covers off.
Wouldn't you know.....the valves are not adjusted correctly....
SUPER tight. Lucky this is an easy job.
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Did get the motor back into the frame, so that was a good thing.
Thrilled that the front end is back on, and sitting properly.
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Anyone have some recommendations on fork fluid?

Even got done with enough time to go home, shower and wait for GoT!
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Feels great to be crossing some stuff off the list.
Still need to order some parts for the rear drive rebuild.
 
Called in sick Tuesday.
Was WAY to nice out to be stuck in a office.

Went up to Blue Mountain Lake to SCUBA dive.
I wanted to get my Altitude Certification. Also almost done with my Divemaster for PADI.

Lake was really clear. Had an interesting coal train car in about 30 feet of water to explore.
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The parts boxes are starting to get fairly small, so that is a good thing.
-Air cleaner
-Carb boot
-Random transmission O-Rings
-Shifter fork spring thing
-Throw out bearing bearing thing.
-Seal/gasket kit for rear end
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Need to drop that airbox off at my coater for some gloss black.
Might have a few other random parts for the bike done at the same time.
The mounts for the floor boards are chipped.

I hope this weekend I can tackle the transmission and get that re installed into the bike.
After that I will go trough the rear drive.
Fingers crossed the gears are shimmed and set correctly as I really would rather not have to deal with that.
 
Was looking at the Harper's solo seat that I have for the bike and it was suggested that I look into the LAPD style rack they make.
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Seems to fit the bill.
Tucks in night and tight, but is a usable size.
Neat part is they sell a pillion seat pad, so this could be converted to a dual seat....but keep the comfy tractor seat!

Just one problem.....
My rear frame does not seem to have the three needed tabs?
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Maybe I am missing something?
Did not all the bikes come with these mounting tabs?
I do not actually see evidence that they were removed, but I did not look that hard.

Kinda bummed as I really like that rack seat combo.
Wonder what my options are now?
 
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