TomInTheWind
Just got it firing!
Hi all,
I recently bought my first Guzzi, a 07 Norge 1200 with about 32000 miles. It seemed like the perfect long-distance sport touring machine with great looks, shaft drive, hydraulic clutch, Brembos, ABS, luggage, heated grips, adjustable screen and large tank. Just what I was looking for and the price was unbelievably low. So I took the bike for a spin around the block, it rumbled under me and felt alive unlike my previous Japanese bikes and I closed the deal without hesitation.
Quick bike history:
The previous owner had signed the title for sale back in 2015 and the third party that was selling it for him only put about 400 miles on it since then, so it had obviously been sitting for a while. Although the seller included no documented service history, he seemed knowledgable about the qualities of the bike having claimed to have owned several Guzzis. He had changed all fluids before putting it up for sale and all visible fluid levels looked correct.
Reality sets in:
The day after the purchase, I gear up in the hot southwest Florida winter sun to make some noise around the neighborhood and get used to the bike. My first cold start the engine starts sputtering and dies. I restart it, give it a little throttle to keep the revs up a bit, ease off and then it maintains idle. OK, so Guzzis need a warm up period, that's cool. Could also be some old gas in the tank that isn't burning properly?
I decided to take the new bike on the scenic route to the gas station. After about 30 minutes the engine was humming along fine, 5th gear, 60mph and suddenly the bike loses engine power with no response to twisting the throttle. I cut across 2 lanes of traffic to the shoulder while the bike is rapidly decelerating and when I brought it to a stop I found the engine was completely off, as if it ran out of gas. I waited no more than a minute and the bike restarted with no problem, only now the gas warning lamp came on. I ride 5 minutes down the road and top her off with 4.9 gallons of fresh premium. That's weird, I thought the Guzzi had a 6 gallon tank? Hmm.. maybe an issue when it switches to using the reserve caused it to die? There seemed to be plenty of fuel in the tank when it died. I took the shortcut home and it made it without issue.
Fast-forward to yesterday, about a week later:
It's a hot winter's day and I've planned a nice roundtrip around the Everglades with my Guzzi. The bike cold starts and stays alive without adding revs and it idled a little above 1k. Great, so it must have just been old fuel causing problems! About 45 minutes into the ride I'm in 6th gear, doing 80 on the interstate with just maintenance throttle and once again without warning the bike loses all engine power, quickly forcing me to the shoulder. My tank is nearly full, so I certainly didn't run out of gas. I restart the bike, put on the flashers and ride at a maximum of 60 about a mile to the next exit. I let it sit for about 10 minutes in a shopping center parking lot thinking it may need to cool off while I plan the quickest, safest way back to my house. I get about 5 minutes down the road and the engine dies again. Nope, looks like I'm stuck. 3 hours of baking in the hot Florida sun and a tow truck finally arrives to haul the bike home. I rode it onto the bed of the truck with no issue, started right up.
Causes?:
I've done a bit of preliminary searching and it seems my symptoms could point to clogged fuel breathers? I did have to loosen and slide back the tank (really Guzzi?) for VIN number verification when registering the bike. I suppose it is possible I pinched a breather hose when putting it back in place, or maybe it was already gunked up from sitting for a long time. Am I totally off the mark? If so, what else could cause this? My motorcycle technical expertise is limited to changing fluids and installing mods since I've only ever owned newer motorcycles.
I'm in the Naples, Fort Myers area and if I can't somehow fix the issue myself it looks like the nearest Guzzi tech is Tropic Powersports, can anyone vouch for them or anyone else in the area?
I recently bought my first Guzzi, a 07 Norge 1200 with about 32000 miles. It seemed like the perfect long-distance sport touring machine with great looks, shaft drive, hydraulic clutch, Brembos, ABS, luggage, heated grips, adjustable screen and large tank. Just what I was looking for and the price was unbelievably low. So I took the bike for a spin around the block, it rumbled under me and felt alive unlike my previous Japanese bikes and I closed the deal without hesitation.
Quick bike history:
The previous owner had signed the title for sale back in 2015 and the third party that was selling it for him only put about 400 miles on it since then, so it had obviously been sitting for a while. Although the seller included no documented service history, he seemed knowledgable about the qualities of the bike having claimed to have owned several Guzzis. He had changed all fluids before putting it up for sale and all visible fluid levels looked correct.
Reality sets in:
The day after the purchase, I gear up in the hot southwest Florida winter sun to make some noise around the neighborhood and get used to the bike. My first cold start the engine starts sputtering and dies. I restart it, give it a little throttle to keep the revs up a bit, ease off and then it maintains idle. OK, so Guzzis need a warm up period, that's cool. Could also be some old gas in the tank that isn't burning properly?
I decided to take the new bike on the scenic route to the gas station. After about 30 minutes the engine was humming along fine, 5th gear, 60mph and suddenly the bike loses engine power with no response to twisting the throttle. I cut across 2 lanes of traffic to the shoulder while the bike is rapidly decelerating and when I brought it to a stop I found the engine was completely off, as if it ran out of gas. I waited no more than a minute and the bike restarted with no problem, only now the gas warning lamp came on. I ride 5 minutes down the road and top her off with 4.9 gallons of fresh premium. That's weird, I thought the Guzzi had a 6 gallon tank? Hmm.. maybe an issue when it switches to using the reserve caused it to die? There seemed to be plenty of fuel in the tank when it died. I took the shortcut home and it made it without issue.
Fast-forward to yesterday, about a week later:
It's a hot winter's day and I've planned a nice roundtrip around the Everglades with my Guzzi. The bike cold starts and stays alive without adding revs and it idled a little above 1k. Great, so it must have just been old fuel causing problems! About 45 minutes into the ride I'm in 6th gear, doing 80 on the interstate with just maintenance throttle and once again without warning the bike loses all engine power, quickly forcing me to the shoulder. My tank is nearly full, so I certainly didn't run out of gas. I restart the bike, put on the flashers and ride at a maximum of 60 about a mile to the next exit. I let it sit for about 10 minutes in a shopping center parking lot thinking it may need to cool off while I plan the quickest, safest way back to my house. I get about 5 minutes down the road and the engine dies again. Nope, looks like I'm stuck. 3 hours of baking in the hot Florida sun and a tow truck finally arrives to haul the bike home. I rode it onto the bed of the truck with no issue, started right up.
Causes?:
I've done a bit of preliminary searching and it seems my symptoms could point to clogged fuel breathers? I did have to loosen and slide back the tank (really Guzzi?) for VIN number verification when registering the bike. I suppose it is possible I pinched a breather hose when putting it back in place, or maybe it was already gunked up from sitting for a long time. Am I totally off the mark? If so, what else could cause this? My motorcycle technical expertise is limited to changing fluids and installing mods since I've only ever owned newer motorcycles.
I'm in the Naples, Fort Myers area and if I can't somehow fix the issue myself it looks like the nearest Guzzi tech is Tropic Powersports, can anyone vouch for them or anyone else in the area?