Weird rattling noise from new V7 850 Special

[spambacon]

Moto Guzzi motorcycles make significant noise compared to other motorcycles.

Engine sounds are more pronounced as the cylinders point upwards and are literally closer to your ears.

The gearbox is also characteristically louder than many other types made today.

These are the sounds of "character" on an Italian motorcycle.

For what itbis worth, your motorcycle sounds perfectly normal to me in your audio recording .

Thank you this is so reassuring, since the comment of the others and also with your comment, my mind is much more at ease now.

I just did a small tour of 150 kilometers yesterday after reading those comments on my video and just enjoyed it.

The before dreaded sound was now just part of it all, strange what the mind does when you don’t hyperfocus on these things. As i said, i don’t mind sounds if they are part of the normal operation. A friend of mine drove an MV Augusta and the engine was sounding like crap in idle, but it ran beautifully every time we rode.

The tightening of the exhaust bolts definitely was successful, the overlying metallic resonance, that was present on my first video is gone now. So no effort wasted.

I am going to get the original nuts from the dealer that he ordered and immediately put them into my storage drawer, as i will now exchange them with stainless capped ones.

 

[john zibell]

Be sure to apply anti-seize compound to the studs.

 

[spambacon]

Be sure to apply anti-seize compound to the studs.

Will do that, thanks for the advice. Does the required torque change with the anti-seize? I‘ll vaguely remember reading about that.

 

[spambacon]

Yeah so last update on this story: It didn’t came to changing the nuts.

The reason those were stripped: the bolts where the headers are attached to are also stripped or broken from the start.

It was a real struggle to get the stripped bolt off. I had to use what i would call excess force with a wrench to get it to turn. The nut was stubborn until the end of the thread.

Either way, i contacted the dealer and they will change those. They need to order the spare bolts and

Good thing that i got my spare nuts beforehand as i was allowed to just throw a nut over the damaged bolt, as it gets exchanged anyway.

With my spare nut i will be at least able to drive the bike to the dealer that it can get fixed.

 

[scott_m]

Will do that, thanks for the advice. Does the required torque change with the anti-seize? I‘ll vaguely remember reading about that.

Torque values are useless when you apply anything to the threads. At that point in time, you must rely on “wrench feel” in your hand.

 

[spambacon]

Torque values are useless when you apply anything to the threads. At that point in time, you must rely on “wrench feel” in your hand.

Yeah i thought so. The nut i have threaded in there now is just dry, as ir will get replaced by the shop anyway.

The damage on the bolt is on the front, so the factory worker had to wrestle the nut over the damaged bolt and just went to town on it.

There was no way a socket would have fitted over it anymore. I had to use a monkey wrench to get it off.

 

[bosco659]

@spambacon , I just found your post and at last I have found another owner that hears the same sounds as I do. I have a ‘23 Special V7 850 and have heard the noise you are hearing from the first day I picked up my bike, about 13 months ago. I had the bike in for its first service at 1,500 km and I let the dealer know about the noise. They replied it was normal (not surprised at the response). I have since ridden the bike another 1,800 km and the noise is still there, although I’m getting used to it. Over the past year, I have met and spoken to many V7 850 owners and they claim their bikes don’t make this sound. I listened to your videos and that’s exactly the same noise as mine and it seems it’s the right hand side. I have previously checked all bolts and nuts for tightness, including the exhaust clamp nuts and everything was tight. After reading this thread I will go and check again.

If I’m to understand this, are you saying the tightening of the exhaust has eliminated the noise? Thanks!

 

[bosco659]

Thank you this is so reassuring, since the comment of the others and also with your comment, my mind is much more at ease now.

I just did a small tour of 150 kilometers yesterday after reading those comments on my video and just enjoyed it.

The before dreaded sound was now just part of it all, strange what the mind does when you don’t hyperfocus on these things. As i said, i don’t mind sounds if they are part of the normal operation. A friend of mine drove an MV Augusta and the engine was sounding like crap in idle, but it ran beautifully every time we rode.

The tightening of the exhaust bolts definitely was successful, the overlying metallic resonance, that was present on my first video is gone now. So no effort wasted.

I am going to get the original nuts from the dealer that he ordered and immediately put them into my storage drawer, as i will now exchange them with stainless capped ones.

Just a word of warning about using stainless nuts, especially on the exhaust. Normally I would use stainless on stainless fasteners only. Stainless on carbon steel sometimes will corrode because of dissimilar metals. In those cases I would use a lubricant like an antisieze compound with a high nickel content, if I remember correctly.

 

[spambacon]

@spambacon , I just found your post and at last I have found another owner that hears the same sounds as I do. I have a ‘23 Special V7 850 and have heard the noise you are hearing from the first day I picked up my bike, about 13 months ago. I had the bike in for its first service at 1,500 km and I let the dealer know about the noise. They replied it was normal (not surprised at the response). I have since ridden the bike another 1,800 km and the noise is still there, although I’m getting used to it. Over the past year, I have met and spoken to many V7 850 owners and they claim their bikes don’t make this sound. I listened to your videos and that’s exactly the same noise as mine and it seems it’s the right hand side. I have previously checked all bolts and nuts for tightness, including the exhaust clamp nuts and everything was tight. After reading this thread I will go and check again.

If I’m to understand this, are you saying the tightening of the exhaust has eliminated the noise? Thanks!

Hi, i understand that this is a frustrating situation, especially if you are sensitive towards stuff like this.

My bike sounds exactly like in my second video and like others have said, i am now convinced that this are normal valve train noises.

The weird metallic noise that was overlaying my first video disappeared with the tightening of the header nuts but the rattle is still there.

At first i also thought, that it only comes from the right cylinder, but try to position your head over each cylinder during driving. You’ll see that the left one also makes the same noise. It is just difficult to hear as the left cylinder is positioned slightly more towards you and the valve cover is not at the same position as the other one.

Reason i believe that this is normal noise:

- Many knowledgeable people here heard my bike and said it is normal.
- The noise appears only when the bike is warm (i think the valve stems are getting a tad bit elongated though the heat and get more loose, therefore producing noise), that also speaks against the exhaust theory, as the noise pretty much disappears when the bike is standing still for 5 minutes, even when the exhaust is still hot, it needs a kilometer or so of hard riding before it gets louder again.
- After the first service the noise was getting more pronounced. What happens at the first service? -> Valve adjustment.

For ultimate peace of mind my plan is to test ride another V7 but that didn’t came to fruition until now due to time constraints.

Side note: what helmet are you using? i have a very noisy nolan helmet and pretty much have to use ear plugs every ride, as my ears hurt from the wind noise otherwise. Even with the plugs, the wind noise is so loud that i avoid driving long streaks over 100 kmhs.
I suspect that this may have something to do with it, maybe some weird resonance in the helmet shell or something similar, i don’t know.

 

[bosco659]

I normally wear a Bell Magum, open face helmet, most of the time with ear plugs. The ear plugs eliminate 90% of the engine noise. I also just bought a SHOEI Neotec 3 but haven’t ridden with it on yet.

I met a guy that just bought a new V7 850 Special. I’m hoping to ask if I can take it for a ride to see if his makes the same noise. If it does, I’ll accept it as normal.

 

[spambacon]

I normally wear a Bell Magum, open face helmet, most of the time with ear plugs. The ear plugs eliminate 90% of the engine noise. I also just bought a SHOEI Neotec 3 but haven’t ridden with it on yet.

I met a guy that just bought a new V7 850 Special. I’m hoping to ask if I can take it for a ride to see if his makes the same noise. If it does, I’ll accept it as normal.

This sounds like a reasonable plan. Please let me know if his bike sounded any different.

Keep in mind, that his tapper noise could be a little different, due to valve clearances. As long as the same noise is there, even if it’s a little quieter, i would file it under variance and accept it if i were you.

Otherwise it will suck the joy out of the bike for you.

Unfortunately i speak from experience as i had similar problems with my last tv purchases, where small issues ruined the tvs for me.

I now tend to be more on the forgiving side with these issues, as i realized that this did put me in a bad mental spot. But as you can see from my post, this side of me still rises it ugly head on occasion.

 

[loudviking]

If it isn't noisy, it is broke...

 

[spambacon]

If it isn't noisy, it is broke...

I also came to this conclusion after all the answers here.

 

[bosco659]

The problem with me is I always think there’s something wrong with almost every vehicle I own. I often have dreams about this too. lol. A friend who is a physiologist told me not to worry because it’s just an indicator that I’m a perfectionist and will never be satisfied with the performance of any vehicle I might own. It’s true for every car, truck, motorcycle, snowmobile, boat I’ve owned. Lucky for the buyers of anything I’ve sold because they will have purchased a nearly “perfect” machine.

I’ll post updates to this subject. Hopefully all is goid.

On another matter, on my Special, the left exhaust pipe is turning a light gold colour but the right side has no colour whatsoever. I was concerned about running lean on the left side. Something else to worry about.

 

[spambacon]

The problem with me is I always think there’s something wrong with almost every vehicle I own. I often have dreams about this too. lol. A friend who is a physiologist told me not to worry because it’s just an indicator that I’m a perfectionist and will never be satisfied with the performance of any vehicle I might own. It’s true for every car, truck, motorcycle, snowmobile, boat I’ve owned. Lucky for the buyers of anything I’ve sold because they will have purchased a nearly “perfect” machine.

I’ll post updates to this subject. Hopefully all is goid.

On another matter, on my Special, the left exhaust pipe is turning a light gold colour but the right side has no colour whatsoever. I was concerned about running lean on the left side. Something else to worry about.

Don’t worry about the gold, almost every V7 i saw online had a golden left header. Something with the fact that the cylinder is slightly more back than the other one i think. General the bike is running very lean because of Euro 5. It is an absolute miracle that they created this air cooled engine without it feeling anemic!

 

[V700Steve]

Yes, you own a rattletrap, one that makes more noise. Was the same thing w/MG came out w/G5 1000, not so much the Convert that was 1st. Just a noisey motor.
There were riders gluing felt to the inside of valve covers & wheel weights to the outside fins on top. I've seen all kinds of junk on valve covers. I got used to the rattletrap noise, soon no more pushrods.

 

[bosco659]

Don’t worry about the gold, almost every V7 i saw online had a golden left header. Something with the fact that the cylinder is slightly more back than the other one i think. General the bike is running very lean because of Euro 5. It is an absolute miracle that they created this air cooled engine without it feeling anemic!

Thanks. That’s reassuring. The dealer also told me not to worry about it, but I think they say that about and concern or complaint. lol.

 

[spambacon]

Thanks. That’s reassuring. The dealer also told me not to worry about it, but I think they say that about and concern or complaint. lol.

Sure sounds like my Dealer .

It's the same here on the other side of the pond, when they're selling they are your best friend, afterwards you become a walking liability.

I think the hyperfixation on faults are one of the worst expressions of my ADHD.

I only recently came to peace with it after a series of unfortunate mishaps, that ruined almost all of 2023 for me. Motorcycling was in fact a great help for grounding myself and helped me to better focus on the important things in life.

I told myself to stop overthinking everything and just accept life as it comes, but as you see from my post, it is more easy said than done.

An italian bike always was a dream for me, but before i came to terms with myself, it wouldn't have happened because italian bike always had a bad reputiation with reliability and that would have driven me crazy before.

Now i can't get of this thing as i love to ride it. Nothing compares to pressing the starter button in my driveway and it rumbles to life. I just came back from a small 80km ride in the sunset through the backroads here, absolut fantastic!

 

[rro]

Yes. That is the image of myself.
This forums are also very important for sharing this experiences.

Sometimes I found myself freezing because of my thoughts. My goal is to take the best of those experiences, and try to free my mind from those behaviors, that I create in my mind, and limit me from take the best of my life.

Iam trying to stop expecting the perfection of the things.

 

[umtys]

It's unbeliveable to see another ADHD that owns a Guzzi with a goldish left header. Hey spambacon! you're not alone Your technicians are reliable in Germany ( tested by me and approved). As another perfectionist with a Guzzi l have an advantage ; l'm partially deaf.