9: 2004

Another season is over. The summer was wet with lots of rain. This is why I didnt drive as many kilometres as in the 2003 season. I reached almost 5000 km. I havent had any major problems – but I suppose I must be over the worst.

A few things are worth mentioning though. In the late summer there was a wet spot on the left exhaust pipe right underneath the starter, every time I took the Guzzi out of the shed. It was definitely oil and since it smelled like cat pee, there was no doubt that it had to be gear box oil. Not that is leaked a lot – at least I couldnt see where the leak was. Problems only seldom solve themselves so when I was getting tired of wiping away the few drops of oil I had to investigate.

I loosened the lower left fairing, took off the cables to the battery and took off the starter. Quite right – here –here behind the starter on the gear box, the neutral indicator is placed. This indicator is fixed to the gearbox with two bolts. Between the housing for the gearbox and the indicator there is a seal. This seal is rather thick and is made of plastic. It was slightly deformed but I was able to adjust one of the bolts ½ a turn without applying any force. This, however, had the effect, that it deformed the seal even more. The problem has been solved momentarily by cutting a piece of hard rubber that I had acquired, and placing it under the original seal. It will keep tight until I get around to buying a new seal that I can t install next winter.

I checked the oil level at the gearbox and it turned out that I had to put on almost a decilitre. Watch out for the bolts that you use for checking the oil level, by the way – both under the gearbox and the rear drive. The thread is very weak and can very easily be destroyed. Under normal circumstances Id suggest that you empty everything out and put new on. It is very easy – you need 1 litre. 0,25 litres for the rear drive and 0,75 for the gearbox. When you change the oil in the rear drive you should do the following to avoid overpressure and thus the risk of oil leaking by the seal – or in the worst case ruining the seal. It is called the “burping” method – why you will see from the following: the oil is changed as follows – unscrew the filter bolt first, then the one in the bottom and the oil will run out. When all the oil has run out after a few minutes you tighten the bottom screw again – pour fresh oil in – perhaps with a squeeze of moly – and then fasten the filter bolt. Go for a good ride till everything is warmed up – 10 km or more. Now there will be an excess pressure at the rear drive since warm air takes up more room than cold. Loosen the filler bolt to unload this air. If you are lucky it will sound like a burp. Fasten the bolt again. I have read that some people do this a couple of times a year – I havent. It cant harm anything, though.

I dont know about all the rest of you Guzzi-guys – but I adjust the mixing screws several times a year. Otherwise my bike just doesnt idle decently. Early spring and late autumn they need to be a bit further out – somewhere in between 1/8 and ¼ turn further than during the summer when the weather is warmer.

One thing that constantly bothers me is batteries. Im on my second battery in less than 3 years. I know that batteries on motor bikes live a tough life – but still. If my bike has been standing for a couple of weeks I cant be sure that it has enough power to start. I need to find out whether something else besides the watch uses power when the engine is switched off. Part of the problem with lacking power has probably been the number of short trips Ive made – the generator hasnt had time enough to charge the battery. Because of that Im sure everyone has a charger, I have one too. It is approx. 20 years old. Mine has one advantage – it works for both 6 and 12 volts so I can use it for both my Nimbus and my Guzzi.

Thus I have put the charger on for an hour or so the few times I havent had enough power to turn the engine – and it has been willing to start. It is not an optimal solution, though. There appears to be two ways to measure the charging level of the batteries. You can measure the charge directly on the battery – a fully charged 12 V battery will show 12,7V – or you can use a densimeter. A densimeter is a glass tube with some small balls flowing around in the sulphuric acid you suck up from the battery. You look at all this – trying to look very important and say, “well………”. As I am a lazy guy and dont want to measure the battery all the time – not to mention fiddling around with sulphuric acid - I have been shopping. I have bought an intelligent battery charger. I had thought about this for a long time – but this year it happened. It is absolutely brilliant. Why havent I done that a long time ago? You put it on, and the charger figures out on its own how to fully charge the battery. You cannot over-change, and can leave it on constantly. On the one I bought there is a cable apart from the usual alligator clips – with a fuse – that you can fix to the motorbike. One end is fixed to the battery – the other somewhere easily accessible. This end comes with a watertight lid. When you come home you can connect the charger in a few seconds.

There are a number of these chargers around – I bought an Optimate III. I paid costs 490,- DKK plus shipment. When I received mine I connected it. By then it had enough power to start. But it took nearly two days before the charger indicated that the battery was fully charged! It charges by only 0,6 amps and some quick math told me that my battery at the start of the process was only one third charged! The charger has other smart features – for instance that you can put the cables on the wrong way – not that I would ever do that, but still ;-) Further more putting on the alligator clips dont produce sparks. A battery being charged leaks hydrogen and oxygen which is not to be taken lightly.

A charger like this is a must have. I cannot recommend it enough.

I tried to start the Guzzi tonight. It was about 1 degree centigrade but the battery had lots of power and it started right away. The only thing that bothers me is that I went to a marked, 2 months later, there was a stand selling exactly the same charger for only 400,- DKK. It always happens to me!!

Apart from that I have acquired a cheap compressor. Bought a two HP model in supermarket, including 5 different parts and a 10 m hose for 610,- DKK. It is perfect for hobby use and now I am able to check the tire pressure at home as well as blowing the leaves out of the shed and so on.

The only other thing I bought was a small light. I have been looking for one for quite a while. The idea was that it would be nice with some light if I stranded on a dark country road sometime. It had to be small enough to sit in my key ring for the bike. The ones I have seen until now have had a bluish light, been too big or too expensive for me to pay what they cost.

But right now they sell bicycle lights with diodes in supermarkets. One that has a white light, and one with a red light. They are very small – about the size of a quarter – and they cost 29,95 Kr. a pair. They have the most amazing light. I dont need the red one for anything but the batteries can be taken out and used in the white one when it needs a change of batteries. At that price it cannot be matched.

My new bright light.

This summer at Bella Italia in Tåsinge I saw and heard another Le Mans. It looked very nice, and it had a set of Lafranconi Competizioni mufflers on. What a sound! Very deep rumbling, without being noisy – so I have decided that mine needs a set like that.

I look very much forward to the spring.