Coming from a past diet of Japanese inline fours, I find the rattle, clatter and general valve train noise of the 1400 both characterful and slightly irritating in equal measure. I have mentioned previously a rattle that occurs on my Audace at around 2400 rpm, which is quite noticeable, even with ear plugs and full face helmet. It sounds like something vibrating/resonating at that frequency and it comes and goes with rides, but around the city where I'm up and down the revs/gears it stands out at low speeds. Before anyone mentions heat shields and all those other well documented issues, it's not those in my case and I'm pretty sure it's the valve train.
In an effort to try to figure out if this could be reduced, I've done several checks on the valve clearances (0.15 mm inlet, 0.2mm exhaust) and decided it was time for a small adjust. I base this on the idea that the gap is "right" when the feeler gauge has just enough friction to hold itself in place between valve and tappet, no more, no less. Having waited about 4 hours for the bike to cool down to something approaching body temperature I set the gaps with the intention of checking them again in the morning, but as one previous poster noted here (https://www.guzzitech.com/forums/threads/california-valve-adjustment.9536/#post-71891) with an older California the gaps get bigger as it warms up which I suppose is at least safe. This ties in with my own experience of the engine starting off quiet and getting more rattly as it warms up.
Come the next morning I couldn't even get the feeler gauge into the gaps, they had closed up that much I had to reset them at an ambient temperature of around 20 degrees Celsius. I guess this makes me wonder a couple of things
1) What happens at the dealership when you drop off your bike for a service? Do they literally leave it stand around all day and do it 8 hours later just before you pick it up? Or do they drain the oil and adjust the valves at the same time and you end up with a gap that might be way too small when it cools down?
2) How do you determine when the bike is stone cold anyway, the bike is realistically only the same temperature as the ambient workshop/garage/outside air. A gap set in Alaska in winter will be way different to one in Florida in summer, especially if you do it yourself outside in the open air. I'm guessing that the Guzzi recommended settings are the compromise between these two extremes and not the optimum solution for either.
What's interesting (to me at least), is that if you only ever ride in the summer (like I do). Can you reduce the gap for summer riding to lead to a quieter ride? Any suggestions or am I talking crap?
In an effort to try to figure out if this could be reduced, I've done several checks on the valve clearances (0.15 mm inlet, 0.2mm exhaust) and decided it was time for a small adjust. I base this on the idea that the gap is "right" when the feeler gauge has just enough friction to hold itself in place between valve and tappet, no more, no less. Having waited about 4 hours for the bike to cool down to something approaching body temperature I set the gaps with the intention of checking them again in the morning, but as one previous poster noted here (https://www.guzzitech.com/forums/threads/california-valve-adjustment.9536/#post-71891) with an older California the gaps get bigger as it warms up which I suppose is at least safe. This ties in with my own experience of the engine starting off quiet and getting more rattly as it warms up.
Come the next morning I couldn't even get the feeler gauge into the gaps, they had closed up that much I had to reset them at an ambient temperature of around 20 degrees Celsius. I guess this makes me wonder a couple of things
1) What happens at the dealership when you drop off your bike for a service? Do they literally leave it stand around all day and do it 8 hours later just before you pick it up? Or do they drain the oil and adjust the valves at the same time and you end up with a gap that might be way too small when it cools down?
2) How do you determine when the bike is stone cold anyway, the bike is realistically only the same temperature as the ambient workshop/garage/outside air. A gap set in Alaska in winter will be way different to one in Florida in summer, especially if you do it yourself outside in the open air. I'm guessing that the Guzzi recommended settings are the compromise between these two extremes and not the optimum solution for either.
What's interesting (to me at least), is that if you only ever ride in the summer (like I do). Can you reduce the gap for summer riding to lead to a quieter ride? Any suggestions or am I talking crap?
