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Gearbox.
As mentioned earlier,
you'll probably not be a happy Guzzi owner before you have sorted the
bike properly, and owning a 1100 Sport is no exception here: Most 1100
Sport are made with straight cut gearwheels and other owners
experiences have shown that the 5. gear is not strong enough for the
power available. Its a bomb waiting to blow!! In most of these bikes
the fifth gear loses the surface hardening of teeth's before the bike
has done 50.000 kms. You'll note it by the increased amount of metal
parts on the magnet in the drain plug, and the horrible whining from
the gearbox in 5 gear. This makes a quick repair necessary if you want
to avoid a complete blow up of the box (you definitely do).
Mine was whining and had
plenty of metallic crud on the magnet !!!
Luckily the last of the
Sport 1100i's had helical cut gear wheels, so in theory you just order
a set of helical cut 5 gear wheels and build them into your gearbox (First
to fourth gear will usually be OK, its just the 5. gear that
self destroys). Italian spare parts logistics doesn't help you here:
Helical cut gear wheels was not available from the factory, and no one
knew when a new batch was being made. So I made a (large) number of
phone calls to European Guzzi dealers, and finally I tracked down a
set of gear wheels at Agostini in Mandello Del Lario - right next to
the factory !
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MY16M ECU
When you're not
satisfied with the original Weber Marelli 16M ECU, you have to build
your own.....
See description and pictures from the project here.
Latest addition to the MY16M project is an
air/fuel meter to allow me to follow the mixture ratio at all times.
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Bevel box..
When Guzzi reinvented
the open shaft drive (to be able to run wide rear tires), the air
volume in the bevel box is no longer sufficient to cope with the
increased air pressure when the gear oil heats up. This means that
the oil will be pressed through the big seal and end on the rear
wheel.
The solution is to
establish some kind of wenting to allow the hot air to escape the box.
I drilled out the ball from a grease nipple and installed it into the
filling plug. Then I ran a piece of plastic tube from the nipple to a
spare brake fluid reservoir under the rear seat. I haven't seen oil on
the rear wheel since :-)
Second try
After longer periods of
high speed riding, the rear drive could still press oil all the way
through my new venting system, probably because I have used tubes of
too small diameter. But a friend in Austria modified an industrial
hydraulics venting cap, to fit his Guzzi - and he could be talked into
making one for me too.
Its better than the
first setup, but I still see oil being pushed out when using the bike hard. I'm
wearing my thinking hat for the final solution.
Third time - succes !!
Back to the tube solution - this time with
a larger diameter tube. This seemed OK the first times I rode the
bike, but on rare occasions I could still make it press oil out. (A
few drips can really make the bike look messy).
The solution was to combine the large
diameter tube with a cheap plastic fuel filter. Rear end has been
clean for 6 months now :-)
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Roper Sloppage sheet
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Luggage.
Bagster makes the best
tank bags - because of the model specific tank covers in correct shape
and color. As the 1100 Sport went out of production 7 years ago, the
tank cover is naturally not in production any more, but I did manage
to find one at the British importer. A brand new tank bag for the
cover was bought on eBay in Germany.
Only real problem with the Bagster was the
installation time of the cover. It took me only 10 minutes to do
this, but it was enough to annoy me when I had to do this for every
day trip. Leaving the cover on for ever is NOT an option for
me.........
So when I saw the SW-Motech tank bag
system that just clicks on to a bracket that is installed on the
tank filler, I knew that this was the right solution for me. The
Bagster system is sold and I'm very satisfied with my new tank bag.
Next I bought a spare
rear seat, where I installed a base plate (own design, laser cut
stainless) for a GIVI topbox. Rear seats can be exchanged within 10
seconds.
For weekends and
holyday use with a pillion passenger, there's a need to haul more
luggage. It really doesn't add to the overall look of the bike, but is
necessary when you don't want a Goldwing-like motorcycle.. It's no easy
task to add a luggage rack to a 1100 Sport, and no one is making
anything model specific. But after a couple of weeks belly-scratching,
I managed to invent a set of brackets. Now its possible to install/detach
the luggage rack in less than five minutes, and the small brackets
that are permanently installed on the bike are almost invincible.
Several people have
asked for detailed instructions on how to build the brackets, so I
made a description and a few pictures available here.
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Carbon fiber cans.
Handmade at Agostini's in Mandello del Lario.
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Brembo PSC16 Master cylinder
I was never satisfied with the spongy
feeling of the original PS16 Master cylinder, so I installed the
newer and upgraded PCS16.
Recommended !
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Hydraulic Clutch
Why? - Don't even ask.
The main reason is actually that I
discovered that the beautiful Pazzo levers was available for the
PSC16 brake master, but not for the cable actuated clutch.......
So I thought of making a hydraulic
conversion as a winter project - just to be able to get the Pazzo's.
I've always thought that hydraulic clutches on bikes was technology
without reason, but as few people have had success with a conversion
like this, there was also a degree of challenge in the project.
First I bought a Brembo clutch master
cylinder (The equivalent of the PSC16 to fit the Pazzo's) and a
slave cylinder from Guzzitech.com. I heard different rumors about
this cylinder - most people complaining about the stroke being
insufficient to release the clutch fully. But as usual, I'm a wise
smart-ass, and I was sure that everybody else was unable to bleed
the cylinder properly......
Much to my surprise, I experienced the
same thing as everyone else, and the stroke of the slave cylinder
was only 5,5mm (with the master cylinder I just bought - an other
diameter master will give a different result).
The stroke from the cable actuation was
10,5mm, so it was obvious that this master/slave combination would
never work for me. It may "work" if I'd adjust it very carefully,
but I would have a very light clutch that would need full lever
travel to disengage. What I want is precise and fast control - not a
light and slow clutch.
I did a few calculations to determine the
proper cylinder diameter to give me the stroke I wanted, and I
managed to find an industrial cylinder in Switzerland that would
provide me with a stroke of approx. 10,3mm. A friend with a lathe
did a few necessary modifications to the cylinder, and I could
finally put everything together.
Oh yes - please also check the aluminum
bracket for the hydraulic fluid container - I did that one myself
:-)
The result is a lot better than I could
ever imagine - remember that I never saw the need for an
improvement. Operation of the clutch is much more precise now.
Engagement point is now crystal clear where it could be a bit "wooley"
with the cable clutch. The lever force is more or less the same, I
cant really feel the difference.
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Pazzo Levers
No need for fancy words here - its a
real quality upgrade!
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Mirrors
Original mirrors are last century style,
and have a nasty habit of folding when you ride fast (Easy to do on
this bike)
The solution was a set of aftermarket
mirrors originally designed for Honda CBR600F4/VTR1000SP1. They fit
perfectly when you rotate the mounting bracket 180 degrees - a five
minute job.
And even better - they are spaced a little
wider, allowing you to see more than your own shoulders......
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LED turn signals
I was tired of changing bulbs that was
broken due to vibrations, so I bought a set of LED turn signals.
You need to install an electronic flasher
relay and two diodes for the warning light in the dashboard, but the
new turn signal lights look really good on the bike, so it's worth
the effort.
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Throttle lock
On longer trips, its nice to be able to
loose your grip from the right hand bar end.
The Pacekeeper is the Danish equivalent of
the well known Throttlemeister system. Its a brilliant construction
that allows you to lock the throttle in any position, but it is
always possible to close the throttle easily without "unlocking"
If its officially road legal, I don't
know. But it is installed on every motorcycle in the Danish police
force, so I'll probably never be blamed for using this fine device.
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Grips.
Yep, I know - its a
small thing, but it's important to me.
I hate foam rubber handles! I
feel like I'm losing all proper contact with my bike - Try running
your own bike with only half the pressure in the tires, then you'll
know what I mean. Daytona rubber grips are now installed.
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Decoration
I could'nt help it, I
had to......
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Work shop stand.
Its not easy to change
tires or to lubricate the drive shaft without a center stand. I don't
like the ordinary type that lifts at the rear end of the bike. It
takes two people to get the bike on the stand in a safe way, and it
only usable for lifting the rear end.
I found the stand in
the picture at
Becker Technik
in Germany. It's installed on the two nuts for the rear gearbox mount,
simply by using two 18mm 1/2" sockets. It works exactly like a very
stable center stand. I can lift the bike on my own without the fear
of dropping it, and with a block of wood under the sump it can be used
when you want to work on the front end. Excellent !!
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Oil filter tool
There's no standard (cheap)
oil filter tool that fits the octagon shaped top of the Guzzi oil
filter, and without the proper tool you can't fasten the filter
correctly through the hole in sump. So to avoid lowering the sump at
every oil filter change, I bought this fine tool at
Moto Spezial
in Germany.
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GPS
An easy project - just
a detachable power supply from the battery to my PDA, which is placed
in a tank bag.
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Immobilizer
Sorry - no details on this one.
(If you have to ask why, you would
probably not understand the answer anyway........)
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Misc. small mods
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