Oil vapor hose (at back of heads) quick fix

One of my hoses, that I'd previously snipped the end off and re-seated, developed a leak again. If you don't know, these hoses are $48 a piece, and made of shit-quality rubber. I sourced a plastic 90 degree, Gates-made 3/8 elbow from the local parts store (they had a bin with a variety of sizes behind the counter.) I cut off the molded "U" at the head end, plumbed in a short @4in section of 3/8 hose I had and attached it to the spigot at the back of the head. The rest of the factory hose seems fine, but right near the head cracks like mad. I even used zip ties to help secure the hoses at the elbow. It survived a 40 mile test ride without leaking. The elbows were $7 for two.

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I had one of mine go bad unfortunately it was at the other end. I replaced it with the $48 hose with a lot of trouble because the hose seems too small to fit on the nipple, which is why it seems to go bad. They get cracks at the connection points. When I ordered a couple of replacements, one of them that came had a date on the MG parts package of 2007, which I wasn’t too excited about in 2017 or 2018.
My other side has some cracks at the elbow but isn’t leaking -yet.That side will be harder to replace and I’ll have to lift the tank, so I like the plastic elbow idea. Yes, some pictures would be great.

I added all info to top post.

Would it be best to have 2 of those elbows tied together otherwise you’ll have to bend the hose substantially?

I just did a Stelvio and used a strait piece of hose, left side went up over to right side, and visa-versa. That way the bend was real wide, enough not to kink.

GuzziSteve, I'll do that the next time I pull the tank for a permanent fix. JohnA, no, one works fine. The original hoses are kind of long so they stretch past the end of the head spigot, allowing a gentle bend for the short section. The hose I was using would make the bend if I'd used it for the entire length and not collapse on itself. I'll try to get a pic later today of the final product.

Wow, you guys are creative.

The guy w/Stelvio told me, looks at the ADV forum. I figured it came from Pete cause he goes there. It was like hydraulic hose w/webbing. All I did was the PIA work.

If you can replace any & all rubber components on the Guzzi’s I highly recommend that you do so. My fathers T-3 had junk rubber components including the Tudor battery. The top of the battery was made of a rubberish material that shrank. All the other rubber dry rotted. My CX100, all its rubber dry rotted. My 06 GRiSO, all its rubber is dry rotted. My 93 DucTi 900ss has none of its rubber to dry rot. Different quality machines use different quality components. PIAGGIO/Guzzi uses junk. Not only rubber but the dash is a real piece of garbage. My GRiSO started out as a electrical nightmare & continues. I really like the Guzzi concept & thé style of thé GRiSO, the Norge along with the Breva but the sad thing is, I’m done. I’m buying a new machine this year & it won’t be from PIAGGIO/Guzzi & it’s a shame. Ducati or another mark like BMW buts questionable, Triumph possible. No Japanese bikes for me even though they are the most reliable built bikes on the market. I know it’s sad. I hate to turn my back against Guzzi but when you have a $1400.00 junk dash which Guzzi knows is junk even while sitting on the showroom floor. I had two dash’s go bad back to back at different times & PIAGGIO /Guzzi does nothing to remedy or warrant the issue, I am walking away from them.

The hoses are a pain, although newer ones seem to be of slightly higher quality. Thing is, although they're expensive for what they are they'll last five to seven years on average so if you amortise the cost over that period it's not too bad. No, they should last longer but it's not something I'm going to die in a ditch over.

As for the dashboard thing? Perhaps it's the fact that I live in a very dry place but plenty of my customers don't and I've only ever had about three bad dashes over a 14 year period. I really don't think that's a terrible failure rate given the number of bikes I see. I agree though they are pretty junky and are absurdly overpriced for what they are.

Buy aftermarket. Never buy factory anything. Factory rubber is a no, no!
If you can find silicone hoses buy them. Heat has zero effect on silicone.

Buy aftermarket. Never buy factory anything. Factory rubber is a no, no!
If you can find silicone hoses buy them. Heat has zero effect on silicone.

I’ve seen new GRiSO’s on the showroom floor have dash failure. Not the only person with dash failures or multiple dash failures. I had counted well over 800 worldwide. That’s too many failures of dash’s. The first dash’s cost $777.00 but doubled in the next two years in 08.
I too live in a dry climate Dewey AZ.

Really? You've identified 800 failures of dashboards? That shows incredible dedication. Can you tell me how?

As for "Never buying factory anything" what is the logic behind that?

All you need to do what I had done was go onto every single Guzzi forum, GuzziTech, There are several others including Australia. You can count the people that had these failures. It wasn’t over a single year and single site. Digitek is the manufacturer of the horrible dash. Just ask & research & you’ll see.

Look, I'm not saying it's the best, I just think that the problem is blown out of all proportion. I see a lot of CARC bikes and as I said, three or so failures in fourteen years. Who's to say that at least some of the ones that failed were due to mistakes? Reversed polarity on the battery is a common enough thing. Voltage spiking. There are dozens of things that can cause a dash to go tits, that's all.

No sorry but your way off on that number of failures. The dash’s that has must all the failures were on bikes from 2006-2008. Not sure if digitek finally sealed the boards to stop the corrosion. Or if they started using better products on the circuit board’s. The 1100’s were mainly the bikes with majority of failures. Few 1200’s 8V were effected. I’ve done the research, why do you think the price went from $777.00 to over $1400.00. They PIAGGIO/Guzzi knew that there is more money for them to make by doubling the price with far more than four in fourteen years. My suggestion is look around at every Guzzi site & their forums tech. You see many owners with failed dash’s as with GRiSO’s sitting on the showroom floor.

Mate, with the greatest of respect I follow most of the credible Guzzi forums and contribute to many. I also run a business that's core business is CARC bikes. I owned one of the first GRiSO 1100's in Oz before moving on to one of the first of the 8V's. I was an official service agent for the marque for almost the entire production time-line for the CARC series.

I'm happy to say that the dashes aren't the best ever put on a motorbike but I reiterate, in fourteen years I've replaced three. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the most issue prone dashes are those from Breva 1100's and 1200 Sports although I've never actually replaced one but I have seen one with 'Issues'.

I'm not trying to create any kind of ill feelings but I do believe that you are making the problem out to be greater than it is. You are though, of course, entirely entitled to your opinion.