LOL I was only joking about being Paranoid… or was I?
But yeah, I had my 950 and it done 136000 miles and so you would think that I would be ok, but I had an accident a few years back and its made me into a right nob.
Anyway, I have decidied to go with the 20/50. I have put 3 litres in and ran it for a little bit to get the oil through the engine and checked the level and its a tiny tiny bit over smack in the middle of the LO-HI markers, so perfect.
I have not done all the oils and so I hope thats good, and I can relax until tomorrow. LOL.
As for changing the oil, yes, on the 950, I changed it every 5000 miles, and I also changed the filter too. I will admit, that I never once changed or cleaned up the little mesh thingy, but in my defence, I never knew about it and so I never touched it… Given that I myself did 136000 miles before I sold it on, and its still on the road almost 30 years later, I think that I did ok with it. That said, I{ never used it for short runs, I always did long runs on it, and we toured the whole of europe on it ( hence the mileage ).
Anyway, I will keep an eye on it and if I feel that I made a bad choice, then I got other options to go for, but I dont see any problems… Others have used 20/50 in the past so I should be fine!
New to me?
Yes, its done 18K when I got it and now its hit 22K and so thats over 3000 miles in 2 months and so that ok.
I was told the oil had been changed by the previous owner, but given that the shaft had well over half a litre and the gearbox had well under a quarter… I think that they got the two mixed up, and even though the engine was about right, and it didnt look or smell too bad, I left that until I got all the bits I needed, Sump Gasket, Filter etc. So yeah, thats done now.
Mineral v Synthetic.
The only thing that Synthetic might be beneficial for, is that it lasts longer in fast revving engines, and it helps coat the engine better.
For older machines ,or for engines like the Guzzis that are very agricultural, I think that Mineral oil is better.
The 20/50 I have put in today is 20/50 mineral oil… Halfords Classic its called.
Lets see how that fares yeah?
In the past, there was a local car bits shop that was run by a guy, who was getting MORRIS oil, ( Blue and yellow containers ) and he would give me 4 litres for a fiver! - Well good and so I used that and I assume its Mineral oil… I will also be honest, but my first big bike was the 950 California and before that, I was always on MZ Bikes and they are all 2 stroke singles and so I put almost anything into them nd had the attitude that oil was oil. I dont remember if sunflower oil is 10/40 or not LOL ( Yeah, thats a joke )
And anyway, I never knew about Synthetioc or Semi or Mineral for some time, so what the oil was, I simply dont know, but plenty of people are saying that Mineral oil is better for the Guzzi engines and yes, regular oil changes is vital.
I have also heard, that changing the filter is so important… You can change that every 5K and only do the oil every 10K and thats fine. I have been doing that on my Fazer and while I no longer ride that, its on 86K and its running sweet as a nut. I havve given it to my mates son as his first big bike and he loves it so much, he wants to buy it.
Ok, thats enough! - Im already waffling too much as it is.
Oh, hang on, the rattling…
Well, there are 2 noises that are present… one is something in the engine that I dont like. I am trying my hardest to ignore it as my mate says its nothing, and he recons that it could be, and probably is, just the engine still being tight and not fully run-in. Im not so sure about that.
The second noise, I have managed to pin-point, but not solved it.
I was using a phone to record a video of the noise, while I was going around the bike using the camera to go right into each and every nook and crannie as I was going to post it for a mate to have a look.
So, I checked the video on the computer before I posted it and because the camera and my PC audio setup sounded different to my normal hearing, it picked up where the noise was coming from…
I know this sounds silly, but I am deaf in one ear and I cannot hear with the other one, and Im bland in the third one! hehe
Anyway, I dont have good directional hearing and I just hear a noise, but the noise was definitely from the exhausts.
Now, the silencers are NOT stock, they are stubby ones and they have a lovely deep rumble and when pootling along at 60 or so, the sound is beautiful.. Sounds powerful without dominating, unlike the stock pipes, they sound like its a bloody 250cc
Anyway, when I hold the silencer, the rattle stops. I{t only rattles when I rev it, not when its idling.
They have a sort of 2 linked arm thing that holds it on, and this is what causes it to rattle… When I hold iot, and rev it, no rattle. It does this one both sides.
I undone the silencer on the right and shook it, and there is nothing loose thats making any noise, and each bit is in itself solid and so ~I connected it all back and tapped the silencer and there is the sodding rattle again.
So I undone everything again and this time I used some fibre washers to help dampen the vibration, but it didnt help at all??? I went nuts cos I cannot stop the vibration! - I could put the stock silencers back, but as I said, they sound rotten.
So yeah, one sound sorted, or I know what that it, I just dont know what the other sound is?? That one is a tiny tiny sound and again, I only hear it when I drop the throttle nd it drops the revs and thenm its a little whirring sound as the revs drop… Almost like a small fan.
Dont know if its sopm,ething, but this engine has pipes going into the head, under the fuel tank… I cannot for the life opf me remember if the 950 had those?
Im wondering if its somethign like oil cooling system, but could that be a pump that makes that noise? I dont know?