V7 maintenance

[conkers3]

I have been thinking recently about how unpleasant it has been working on my bike. Now firstly, I am no Fabbio Taglioni or whatever but nevertheless it has been a pretty uninspiring experience to say the least.
OK I've had the dreaded broken red fuel elbow thing to contend with and although I tried to think positively about the situation it was a disaster trying the access everything.
1. a quick release that "doesn't!
2. a tank that doesn't refit back where it should.
3. a 2" space under the tank with which to try and work a hand/finger to do all this.
4. cramped electrics/wiring/connectors
Everything seems to be shoehorned into the smallest and tightest of spaces.
Is this true of all "modern " bikes?
I've had a Ducati 748 which was a dream to work on by comparison. Similarly my old Laverda Jota and RGS were so readily accessible as to be so straight forward. I could go on but just to say what a shitty little bike it is to work on.

 

[sign216]

Conkers,

One of the reasons I chose the V7 was it's easy maintenance. Admittedly, the fuel and air filters are not a bright point in that picture, but you've got to love setting the valves. Working on a Ducati 748 was "a dream in comparison." Really?

Joe

 

[conkers3]

Hi Joe,
Well you know I found everything much more accessible on the Duc. The tank unbolted, lifted up, undo the electrical connection and quick disconnect. What happeded with the V7?
The battery was easily accessible. Not so the Guzzi. The clutch was adjustable according to plate "stack height" again easily got to by undoing half a dozen allen bolts and a holding tool from the side of the motor. The Guzzi?
Rear wheel removal was a breeze. The V7? The air filters were very awkward but a lot of folks repalced the two foam filters either side of the upper fairing with an after-market single , all enveloping one to cover the two bell mouth intakes. (which were under the tank and easily reached in a couple of minutes) The V7? The oil filter was a simple cartridge screw on/off type. The V7? The dark art of replacing timing belts was a straight forward exercise.
Valve clearances = 1 - 0 to Guzzi!
There was little confusion about the oil level/quantity/ dip stick markings on the Duc - what is all that about on the Guzzi? On the Ducati there was room to inspect/re-route/disconnect electrical connectors. I find the Guzzi irritatingly tight and cramped . I wanted to inspect the clutch arm actuation of the V7- I had to take a torch and futter and fangle about to try and even see the bloody thing working!
I'm sorry Joe but I'm disappointed with my V7. I agree , I think it is a very pretty and good looking motorbike but to do any kind of work on , it just sucks. All this, and at the end of the day it's not even very fast or powerful.
I'm not a quitter though and although I've had it for only 4 months , I intend to hold onto it and see if it can swing me round to thinking about it in a better light.
Here's hoping.
regards, conkers.

 

[sign216]

I'm not sure how to respond. I came to the V7 from a 1958 BMW R50, which is the epitome of easy maintenance. Before I got the Guzzi I looked at the modern BMWs, but it was clear the new corp. mindset is that they don't want the owner to do anything but bring it to the dealer. Sad. I can recall guys years past, who would change a Beemer transmission roadside with little more than the factory tool kit.

Yes, "inside" the Guzzi is cramped, but that as the plague of all modern machines. Working on a car used to be pleasure, and now I pay for car repairs. How sad it that.

Yes, the jig is wrong at Mandello and the gas tank doesn't fit correctly. And I don't think the assembly line jig is even correct, today. Shit like this is one of the foibles of a tiny Euro brand. Ducati isn't a hugely large brand, but they tower compared to Guzzi. I both understand Guzzi's mindset, and so hope it was different.

It's like wishing your teenage son would act differently (I just had to talk to my son today.).

I hope you can keep the faith, but I understand otherwise.

And the Ducati was really easier to work on? God, what a slap-in-the-face thing to say about a Guzzi.

Joe

 

[conkers3]

I think you hit the nail on the head Joe when you mentioned about the modern BMW and the current minset of the corporation. They would prefer you to take your bike to a garage for servicing. I think this is what annoys me most , as I like to fettle a little. After my recent experience of breaking the red fuel elbow I don't even feel like changing the oil on the Guzzi. I didn't even break it trying to undo it but by trying to put the tank back in place!
In my original post I'd asked if ALL modern bikes were like this and your answer kind of confirmed it for me. I suspect the new generation Ducs are just as bad to work on.
In this respect perhaps I'm a little hard on the wee V7 and should stand back somewhat and look at the maintenance scene as a whole rather than get "het-up" about my own little selfish world. Unfortunately, the Guzzi just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when I vented my frustration.
Perhaps I should have bought a bike from another era.
Cheers, conkers.

 

[john zibell]

Conkers,

Working on the new generation just takes a little patience and perseverance. If you try to get in a hurry, bad things can and will happen. Hang in there, you will get the hang of these modern bikes. Luckily I've been able to evolve with the bikes. I started working on Guzzis in 1975 and do my best to stay up to date.

 

[Will]

Working on the new generation just takes a little patience and perseverance. If you try to get in a hurry, bad things can and will happen. Hang in there, you will get the hang of these modern bikes. Luckily I've been able to evolve with the bikes. I started working on Guzzis in 1975 and do my best to stay up to date.

I have a sneaky suspicion some of the problems Conkers has encountered may stem from the fact that the V7 is at heart a 1970s design that has had 35 years of upgrades added to it when needed and where ever they fitted. For example the original small block Guzzis had gravity fed carbs so there was no need for that fragile quick release coupling. There's a whole load of stuff on the current V7 that were never even dreamed about when the original small block design was drawn up. So in comparison a Ducati 748 probably is easy to work on, just like a 1970s V50 Guzzi was, because it is unadulterated by generations of additions to the design. Of course Ducati are selling enough bikes to be able to afford a complete re-design for each new bike: a new 848 isn't just the old 748 with a bigger engine! I guess that now Guzzi are such a small volume manufacturer they can't justify the cost re-designing the small block from scratch. It might be different if they were selling as many V7s as they did V50s (& all it's variations) in the 1970s & 80s but the global market has moved on and there's probably little prospect of that ever happening. I'm just thankful that there are any small block Guzzis still available!

 

[Holt]

Search for maintenance posts on 750 Brevas and Nevadas. Your problems are not very big, as soon as you learned to handle them, and all has been described over and over again.

For releasing the gas hose from the tank; let the bike sit overnight, give it a spray with some kind of dry PTFE-lube and handle it as a compressed air hose connector. Support the hose and push the grey ring right back.

 

[conkers3]

Actually, if you'd read my post , you'd have seen that I didn't break the red connector trying to undo it , but by trying to refit the tank!
Even your own discription of how to undo it is an absolute joke for a supposedly quick release system! I don't care how many times it has been covered(over and over and over again) it is rubbish compared to any other bike I have owned.
Best regards, Conkers.

 

[Holt]

Actually, if you'd read my post , you'd have seen that I didn't break the red connector trying to undo it , but by trying to refit the tank!
Even your own discription of how to undo it is an absolute joke for a supposedly quick release system! I don't care how many times it has been covered(over and over and over again) it is rubbish compared to any other bike I have owned.
Best regards, Conkers.

Oh dear, you are very happy about the SB, are you? :side:
All bikes I ever had did have different jokes to play with their maintainer. The SB tanks may take a small effort to get used to, but the general services and maintenances OTOH are as easy as they can come.
Be nice to your bike, and you will be rewarded.

 

[Alan L in BC]

I might just comment here - I have, just last week had my "rose coloured glasses" torn off of my face by a new aquisition - a '71 Norton 750 Commando. It seems to me that most of the bike displays engineering designed to frustrate. Many parts are seemingly designed with little common sense in mind - "what were they thinking"??? There are parts on my V7C that strike a similar chord. At least MG uses a common fastener system.

Putting a bit of brake caliper grease on the rubber tank-holding parts really helped me get the tank "home" on my V7.
I have not had a problem with the fuel fitting, tank off 4 times, but I am frustrated by the two hoses which have to connect under the tank and then not be kinked as the tank is settled into place. My 2¢ for the month.