good new…at least for my pride: a normal spark plug socket is not suitable for the inner spark plugs of the Vintage.
Called Corsa Italiana this morning and the guy from the workshop said he uses “standard thin wall sockets”. No need to buy a special tool from Guzzi or Harper, but it has to be a thin wall.
The thin wall socket worked and i managed to remove head and barrel.
I’ve extracted the cam-followers and…I’ve found the culprit!
The tappet for the exhaust side valve has its base scratched and its rim is chipped.
The other follower is normal - even if I don’t know exactly how a normal tappet should lookÂ
One thing I’ve noticed is that both followers look very dark, I was not expecting that.
I’ll post some picture as soon as I can - not easy to get decent pictures to highlight the proper things on a shiny metal piece.
Before ordering the follower I want to have a look at the camshaft just to be sure it’s not damaged.
Anyone bought tappets and/or followers? where can I get a good deal?
The followers being dark may well be a result of the hardening process. Most other parts hardened by Guzzi have a dark grey appearance - the colour of graphite.
You should take the sump off now and check for any debris, also with the sump off you may be able to see a bit of the other followers looking up into the engine with a torch.
I presume you mean the bottom cam bearing face of the (cup shaped) cam follower. (?) If so, then yes, the cam must also be examined. I forgot to mention, when mine broke up, it fcuk’d the associated cam as well so I had to swap in a ‘new’ camshaft as well. (‘new’ as in good 2nd hand.) That meant ALL four NEW cam followers 'cause you can’t use the original ones with a different camshaft, as they and the original camshaft have become like a matched set. So they have to be new. Well so I was told at Motomecca.
Or, a 2nd hand camshaft SHOULD come with the set of followers it was used with, AND they are labelled as left inlet, left exhaust etc.
Yep think you caught it in time ~ my cam follower was much worse, it looked like it had been chewed by a mouse ~ if it had been made of licorice. Definitely looks like hardening has gone on yours so it’s chewing away at the softer steel beneath. Also bu99ers the cam unfortunately.
I also think so, but bike is out of warranty and she has not been service by official mechanics so it will be impossible to make any claim. Or at least this what I’ve been told by Corsa Italiana.
Hi all, I have news!
I’m eventually reassembling the bike!!!
After contacting few dealers and speaking with few expert I decided to buy a used camshaft and just 1 follower. This is why:
The used camshaft comes from a Griso with less then 18K Km, a pretty new one, and costs less than half the price of a new one.
My bike is very new and if a had a problem with the original camshaft after just 4500 miles, who will guarantee me it won’t happen again with a new one?
The used camshaft is rode in so if it is ok now, it will be ok for a long time.
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I wanted to buy the followers for the same camshaft but they were not available so, if I bought a completely new set of followers they would still not “match” the camshaft …and my follower have less then 5K miles I can consider them pretty new! Few delears supported my decision, actually a couple of them said that to me even before I popped the question…ed if someone that sells this stuff tell you don’t need to buy, I think it’s a pretty honest advice!
So order done from TLM, from Netherland (these guys have everything! really!): camshaft, follwer, oil filter and 3 liters of oil, all for 246 pounds!
Now I’m waiting for a piston ring (the oil ring) from France as I’ve broken it while putting back the cylinder.
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AWAYS BUY AND FIT COMPLETE NEW SET OF CAM FOLLOWERS thing is the original followers have started to bed in to the original cam, they won’t like you putting in a different used cam, how do I know, I once put in a 2nd hand  cam but was too tight to buy New followers (and Motomecca told me I should but I ignored them) result, trailered home by the RAC after just 150 miles with a disintegrated cam follower. So, far from saving money I ended up paying out for 2 used cams and a set of new followers. The crankcase was also scored where the cam follower broke up but fortunately I was able to clean it up. Lots of broken metal in sump that had to be cleaned out, needing new filter and oil as well. You have been warned !
how old where your followers when you did the job?
As said mine were less than 5000 miles and I ride gently, so they did not soffer too much stress.Â
One of the I’m re-using does not even have oil marks on it, it looks newer than the new (because the new one does not look smooth and shine as I expected), the other 2 do look used, but after inspection through magnifing lens, do not have scratches.
This is the pillar my stragery is based on, low mileage and gentle riding style.
With with a higher mileage I woudl have gone straight away for a new set of follower.
  said this, gutsibits quoted me about £26 per follower, let’s say 80 quid postage included, maybe not too much for a little peace of mind…
All I know is what Motomecca said, must never use used followers with a different camshaft. If you get a used camshaft it should really come with its original followers as well so is like a complete set, AND the followers have to marked as left / right inlet and exhaust so go together with the correct cam. The first camshaft I got DID come with its followers BUT showed signs off pitting on the faces which meant they’re shagged. Motomecca said so when I showed them to them. At which point I was warned not to keep using my ones instead, but which I ignored!Â
You’ve already had one fail for whatever mysterious reason, something funny about that by itself so logically this suggests to me best to replace the lot to be sure.
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I hate to add to your woes but I agree wholeheartedly with the last post.
No matter how low the mileage is the original followers will have bedded in to the original cam.
I would always fit new followers after a cam change. it’s not an area you want to skimp on, especially with the marginal anti-scuff lubrication provided by modern oils.
Hi guys,
I can eventually update you on the topic!
After 7 looooooooooooong months I’m back in the saddle!
I’ve done 300 miles so far and everything seems and feel OK.Â
Going back to the “how many followers should I change?” Â issue, well, I’ve decided to change only the faulty one.
Background for the decision was:
 -) I put a used camshaft without bedded followers a brand new set would then still feel “uncomfortable”
 -) mileage of bike was very low and original followers looked really OKÂ
 -) I really don’t know what caused the problem in the first place; better to save some money in case it is something chronic.
This decision was backed up by a mechanic specialized in racing things (he’s a my friend’s brother)
Funny fact about “going slowly”.
The above mechanic actually said that my touring attitude could have been one of the factors causing the issue: the camshaft gets only splash-back oil, so keeping revs low could result in very little oil on the lobes.
He also added to give more weight to his comment that some car manufactures put a quite visible disclaimer on replacement camshaft; something that sound like: “when starting the engine ensure revs are quite high so that oil gets to the camshaft”.
Looking at how the engine is built I thought some oil should arrive from the followers themselves, but I’m not an expert so maybe that oil is not enough so, to be on the safe side, from now on I’ll try to keep revs a bit higher…or at least choose bumpy roads!
Glad you are up and running again. The bit about revving to get oil to the cam and followers seems to be a practice followed by our Japanese owning cousins, fire it up and bang it on the rev limiter. No matter how thin modern oil may be, that offends my engineering instincts.
To be fair - the choke control on a modern Jap fours (err, well, carbs at least) does tend to stuff the revs way up there. Not for me either, I’m immediately trimming it back.
