Hi. Today I removed the rear wheel on my 2022 V7 Special for the very first time. It was really difficult to pull the wheel off the bevel drive hub. Once the wheel was off, I was surprised to see that the bore in the bevel drive where the dust seal and righthand wheel spacer sits (just inboard of the dogs that engage with the rubber buffers in the wheel when the wheel is fitted) was extremely rusty. It wasn’t just surface rust that you could merely wipe off with a cloth, it was really hard ‘crusty’ rust that could only just be chipped off and scraped off with a screwdriver. The bore is (or was) just bright shiny steel that has no grease on it. Should there be grease on that metal area to prevent rusting as water must get in there very easily? It just doesn’t seem right that bare steel should be unprotected as it will just get rustier and rustier as time goes on and may eventually prevent the wheel from being removed at all. I’ve got various greases ranging from general purpose high temp grease to black moly grease, red rubber grease and very sticky blue outboard motor grease. I’m sure that one of those would prevent further rusting but I don’t want to affect the rubber blocks in the wheel hub. Any advice gratefully accepted. Thanks.
Regards
Tony
Italians tend not to use grease in my experience. 
Any grease to coat the surfaces should minimise further corrosion, and if your rubber grease is sticky enough, that should be safest for the rubbers. I use silicone brake grease for stuff like that.
Thanks Banquo. I used marine grease on the bare steel parts and rubber grease on the ‘pegs’ that locate in the rubber buffers in the rear wheel. That grease really helped the wheel go back on quite easily.
Regards
Tony
We have a pair of v85’s both were the same when I changed the tyres at around 6 k and 5 months, hardly seen rain. Shocking, dealer said it was “ normal”
Hi Gino. It’s amazing that any manufacturer would put so little thought and care into the ‘real-world’ use of their bikes. This is my first Guzzi after over 30 years of BMW ownership and I’m not too impressed with the Italian machine.
Regards
Tony
I have BMWs as well which I have had issues with as well. It seems we live in a world where nobody cares about service, the manufacturers get their money and don’t really expect riders to actually use bikes more than a thousand miles a year, the dealers pander to the “fashion” motorcyclist as well.
Everybody wants money but isn’t willing to work for it. If I wasn’t reasonably mechanically competent I would buy a Honda and just ride the wheels off it but I like Guzzi’s and up till now (after more than 40 years of ownership ) I’m almost putting up with the lack of care from Piaggio and their dealer network.
I also have Nortons (commandos) so I know a thing or two about poor parts.
There, I feel better now, happy Christmas 