I bought my new Norge 8V last October though I don’t know how long it had been in the dealers. The year letter on the VIN is “A”, whatever that is.The first 3000 miles have been all good except for the gearchange. When the engine’s cold it’s not too bad but once it’s warm selecting first gear at standstill causes the bike to lurch forward accompanied by a loud clunk. It doesn’t pull forward once it’s in gear so the clutch isn’t dragging enough to do that. Changing first/second and second/third is also very clunky. It really detracts from riding what is otherwise a joy to ride.Is this normal for the new single plate dry clutch? And does it improve after a few (more) thousand miles and I just have to be patient.It’s still under warranty so I’ll take it to a dealer if necessary but I’m curious to know if there’s any user adjustments possible on the clutch. Neither the owners handbook nor the service manual make any mention of clutch adjustment. On the Cali I’d be checking cable and lever free play but I’m not familiar with the hydraulic clutch.Thanks Dave
There is no adjustment for the hydraulic clutch it is set at the factory by use of different length clutch push rods and once set should be self adjusting. I would recommend taking it back to the dealer and get them to check it, bleeding the hydraulics would be my first action .You will find a bleed pipe coming from the clutch slave cylinder and clipped near the battery
Keith
I was sort of hoping to get some responses along the lines of “they all do that for the first few thousand miles” so I could get some idea of whether mine was behaving badly. I took the advice and booked the Norge into the supplying dealer. They replaced the clutch fluid which made little difference. They agreed it was clunkier than it should be but were unable to suggest a remedy. They are going to check with the Piaggio technical person sometime this week so I’ll see what comes of that.ThanksDave
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My 97 Cali has a very slick gearchange in comparison to the Norge. I was expecting some "Guzzi-ism " (and the dealer’s mechanic asked if I was familiar with Guzzis - expectation management!) but this is worse than I anticipated. By chance another new Norge owner was at the dealers when I was there and he was quite happy with the clutch/gearbox on his bike. It certainly sounded less clunky. I’ll wait to see what Piaggio say.Dave
What did they say or are you still waiting.
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My 1200 Sport has 1600 miles from new and never did that bad 1st & 2nd shifts.
Yet my 1200 has its own gearchange foible: sometimes a prod into first doesn’t get first but a false neutral, then no subsequent prods will get first except by slipping the clutch then the next prod goes into first with a wallop/jolt! But no lurch forwards, just the Bang. When not doing this, first gear selecting is quiet and easy. All changes into 2 through 6 are quiet.
TonyTooJuicy2014-08-05 08:59:11
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My 1200 Sport has 1600 miles from new and never did that bad 1st & 2nd shifts.
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Yet my 1200 has its own gearchange foible:  sometimes a prod into first doesn’t get first but a false neutral, then no subsequent prods will get first except by slipping the clutch then the next prod goes into first with a wallop/jolt! But no lurch forwards, just the Bang. When not doing this, first gear selecting is quiet and easy. All changes into 2 through 6 are quiet.
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Tony[/QUOTE]
That depends on whether the clutch dogs in the gearbox line up when the shafts stop, if they don’t then you need to let some clutch out in order to start the shaft turning slowly until it engages, the gears, as you may know the gears are in mesh all the time, it’s the dog clutches being engaged on the sides that engage the actual gears, they need to line up to actually engage, not a problem normally, as both are turning, as the synchromesh slows one side down so it can mesh, it’s perfectly normal!
Let the clutch out to the biting point whilst putting a little pressure on the gear lever is all that is needed!ianboydsnr2014-08-05 18:19:47
My 2p;
Selecting first when cold: Silent, smooth, like butter.
Selecting first when hot: CLUNK!
Generally, I think the gearbox action is very good and way better than my mate’s GSA but not a patch on my previous KTM.
1200 Stelvio (2014 registered but who knows?) 3300 miles.
Jon
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I never did hear back from Piaggio via the dealer. The dealer is particularly bad at communicating anyway so I don’t know whether Piaggio had any comment or not. Either way I’ve given up on getting anything useful from that route.In the meantime I’ve added another 3500 miles and nothing much has changed.When it’s cold the gearchange is quiet and positive. But as soon as it warms up then it gets clunky, particularly when engaging first from rest as though the clutch is sticking rather than dragging. I’ve tried holding the clutch fully in for a second or two before shifting gear but this makes no difference. I get the false neutral instead of first as well - clutch in, back to neutral, clutch out and try again usually works but by then the revs are higher and the clunk greater!Thanks for the comments. I think my bike is maybe poor but not much worse than others. I’ll experiment with the gear-changing technique as well.Dave
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Think i,ll give the finebau unit a crack do you know which unit is best for the Norge 8v and is it a straight forward fit norgster502014-09-18 22:11:25
Dave will keep you right - you can contact him on here, it is the ‘latest’; model. fitting is so simple and will take 2 mins after you get the tank off which is the hardest part - be very very careful when disconnecting the ‘quick dis-connect’ as they can snap off - i managed to do just that a couple of weeks ago, it is something that can happen any time you take the tank off if you are heavy handed as i was. there is a video on YouTube by Hayden from the forum showing how it should be done, have a look at that
guzzi quick disconnect fuel fitting - YouTube this shows two connects - the Norge only has one
the Finebau unit has solved my bikes stuttering problems at slow speed and mad me a happy Norge ownerjim mac2014-09-19 10:39:03
many thanks have got a reply from Dave so will order monday. will check out the you tube clip also
bit greedy but does it improve fuel efficiency ?
I havent noticed any change but the bike has only done 5k so i expect consumption to go down a bit when it loosens right up in another few K. I get about 38 round town and 43 on a long run, but i do a bit on motorways and dont try to mainimise fuel consumption.
I have never been able to match what some people say they get mileage wise on any bike i have had, all down to roads, riding style, weight etc i expect
If you havent disconnected the tank just be careful and resist the urge to force it off. I suspect if the fuel lines could be depressurised it would help, but dont know. I got it off twice easily and third time caught me out.jim mac2014-09-20 13:05:34
thanks will get one fitted may meet at the autumn camp
Sorry, i wont be there, a bit far from Edinburgh.