Just a quick one gents, Guy put his Griso on the ramp last nite to check the condition of the rear shock absorber linkage, nothing amiss, just curious and experience has left him dubious about same…
The bike is in very good condition having covered less than 8000 miles, about 3000 of those with Guy.
Externally nothing untoward, but when split, different story, driza bone ! The bottom drop link was actually seized and the bush required drifting out. All the needle rollers seized solid in their housings, prized them out, washed in petrol and greased.
Are considering fashioning some sort of boot from part of an inner tube and also checking the steering head bearings !
Will report back…
Tch ! Guzzis eh ?
That great Mandello grease famine strikes again.As long as they are properly greased, including the bolt shanks, then you shouldn’t need extra protection.I have yet to get the front bolt through the wishbone out. Rusted in solid.
That’s quite enough of that Mr Wye…!
You know, I really do wonder what on earth goes on at Mandello.
How can you assemble a motorcycle like a Griso, which has expensive high quality components on it, yet ruin it for want of a bit of grease that every motorcyclist has in his garage? How can those guys stand there doing their assembly job, putting in bearings but with NO GREASE? I mean just how can that happen? You wouldn’t do it. I wouldn’t. How can they?
Tee-hee !
Not every biker has grease. I knew one who owned a tyre pressure gauge and a polishing rag and nothing else. Didn’t ride for long. 1 low speed off (10 mph I think) and he sold the CBR600.
Says it all.
But I digress - sorry Kate!
Tee-hee !
I like topics that morph WG and we also have guzzis that are high mileage Mr Wye, even if they are old nails that date from a time when the grease pot was no stranger to Mandello …
Very true but it’s not just Guzzi’s
This year I had 2008 and 2009 Harley Sportster’s through my hands (BRIEFLY )!!!
1400 miles on the 08 and 7000 on the 09
Both required the mudguards repainting as the gud ole boys in the US of A had not been bothering with undercoat for several years. The chrome on the wheels was also pitting very badly.
Now what the hell did they expect to happen when these metal mudguards got wet and chipped underneath?
The paint was coming off in sheets to reveal rusty metal underneath!
To be fair, I would imagine the bearing block comes ready assembled from a component supplier, and is just put in by Liugi in Mandello. He would not be expected to take them apart and add grease before putting on the bike, they would assume the component manufacturer had added some lubricant when originally assembled.All bearings come with some lubricant inside. You and I would add more, but I doubt it is possible on a factory assembly line.How many times have I found bolts rusted solid on cars I have been working on.
On a technicality, a bike is shipped at its dry weight and if Guzzi want to include every lubricant in that set of definitions then it’s their call.
When I recently asked my main dealer about a chassis lube job as an add-on to its 12k service he mentioned that should have been covered at PDI and his own workshop would have covered it during the 600miler, ditto wheel bearings during recent trye renewal.
Phil
Its all too familiar. Last winter I had to replace the swingarm bearings. they were dry as a bone, no grease seen ever, not at service or at PDI. My Norge had been owned by a dealer before I bought it. The left hand side bearing was completely destroyed by corrosion, as was the spindle. the left hand bearing wasn’t a sealed version, nor did the frame have a grease seal inserted. I queried the condition with the dealer, and he said it must have washed out since the last service. (Bol***ks)
also same as your Griso the pivot block was dry, and bearings corroded. I managed to find a good pivot block at a breakers in the USA for a very reasonable price so I bought it. when it arrived it was full of grease, good old USA heavy. It was in perfect condition.
As you will see from my earlier post I am doing a full rear end strip down currently. When I rebuilt it last winter I applied plenty of the greasy stuff, and guess what it was still there a year later.
How many hours would you expect a dealer to take to do a PDI? How long has it taken you to access the swingarm bearing, lubricate it an replace (assuming not destroyed)? I put it to you that it would be unreasonable to expect a dealer to completely disassemble a bike to lubricate all parts like this at the PDI, they would expect grease to be inserted at first assembly. Not an unreasonable assumption in my opinion.
Brian UK2014-01-02 08:54:47
Or maybe fit a grease nipple … simple maintenance for ever. That link in photo would easily accomodate one.
I agree Brian, They should be greased at assembly. It took me an hour to strip down to get to a point where you could grease the bearings. So that would wipe out the profit the dealer would make. however when you consider the service charges, and the fact that the service manual has the get out clause, check and regrease, it begs a question. My issue was with the dealer who said it must have washed out.
Yes, that was BS.Ever tried to wash grease out of anything? Decent stuff is very difficult to shift.
Tell you what IF you ever use a commercial jetwash that “soap” they use will wash just about any oil/grease ect away. We get our vans washed weekly, the guy will not wash the wheels with the soap/jetwash he does them with a brush n bucket.
I asked him why …they used to BUT the stuff they use in a jetwash WILL degrease the wheel bearings.
I actually got some of the “Soap” it is very caustic, gloves needed. I use it with a stiff brush as a degreaser, very very good BUT you have to wash alloy with clean water very quickly afterwards.
I was mentioning this to a bike dealer and they have seen a huge increase in bikes with greaseless headstock/wheel and other bearings from across the board due to jetwashing.
The Nottingham Triumph dealers TELL customers specifically NOT to use a jet wash ever on their bike.
Fully agree, i have done a lot of off road riding in my life and unlike others have never used a power wash on any of my bikes for that very reason. Some of the guys i have ridden are regularly replacing wheel bearings, rear shock pivot bearings and headstock, bucket and brush man me and then rinse with low pressure hosing or a watering can. And keep the WD40 away from your bike nasty stuff.