New to GRiSO

Always admired Moto Guzzi vicariously and finally today, bought a used 2013 GRiSO. Had a Ducati ST3S and 3 BMWs and this is totally different. Bummed that there is seepage on the right side of the engine after a 110 mile ride back home but not enough to get my right leant leg or boots wet. Streaked on the right side of the engine. No oil leak when off and parked thus far. Previous owner had only put in 4K miles on it and did not notice it. Definitely no oil leak in his garage. Hopefully nothing major. Any advise to this GRiSO Newbie is most welcome. And would also welcome to meet anyone here in the NorCal area.
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Welcome, and well done on buying the best motorcycle in the world.


As for the oil leak, the usual suspects are the breather hose, oil pressure sensor, valve cover gasket or tampons.

Hi. Welcome. On the right hand side the first thing I’d check is for a split in rubber breather pipe where it joins the head. Too much oil (on mine more than half on the dipstick) and spirited riding will end up with oil blown through these to the collector box and sometimes on to the air box.

Welcome! Excellent move buying a GRiSO. You’re in the right place to diagnose and fix problems such as this leak. Check these threads about the leaky breather hose. If that’s not it, post up some good pics and the resident GRiSO whisperers will be along to offer suggestions.

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Thanks a lot for the quick reply, I must admit that I am not used to the throttle and gearing as I had the red warning light on a couple of times - when I was past 8K RPM. I think I was in second gear.

I plan to wash it clean, look at the recommendations above and see. I was smiling the whole time . What a bike.

I have a picture of the seepage below.

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Yeah, the breather hose looks to be the most likely. Pop the wing off and all will be revealed.

Welcome, probably a good idea to get rid of the charcoal canister too - though you are in CA...

Hello all!! New to the forum [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Loving the new Gu. I'm still in the 'Break-In' period, so I haven't been able to WHACK it open the way I want to and really review the performance aspects. I can say this at this point: walking it around the garage, it feels like a dead rhinoceros. Get it up to a moderate speed and lean it into a corner, it becomes almost weightless! Shocking. So far, so good. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Welcome to the Ghetto all you new guys!

Erivera - I think you've already gotten your money's worth here. The experts can help with just about any issue.

Frstrtdmac (? Not happy with your Apple product?) - I see you're in Seattle. Unfortunately, as you know, we're still in the middle of a pandemic, but maybe we'll cross paths one day. There's a great Guzzi community here, but Esther and I are sitting it out for the foreseeable future.

Groovitz - Enjoyed your pictures. What's with that exhaust?


Pete (Street)

I think his lawn mower is now missing its muffler.

Street, glad to know! I know nothing about this bike other than I wanted a lot get more powerful cafe style. So going that route!

GroovitZ, would love to see more pics! What fairing and exhaust is that?

Exhaust is Leo Vince LV-10. It's for a Kawasaki Z900, but I modified it to fit the GRiSO (stretched the inlet 1.5cm).[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Fairing is a Universal Bikini Fairing from Amazon. The painted finish and gloss are excellent. The stainless mounting hardware was painstakingly fabricated by hand to for the GRiSO. Headlight was moved up 1" (2.54cm) and forward 1".[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

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Welcome - nice bike in original condition.

Welcome!

I've never had that much on my bike but...  that's the area where mine will weep if I've overfilled it. First step since it's new to you is to check the oil per the manual.

Stop the engine.
• Keep the vehicle in a vertical position, with both wheels resting on the ground.
• Unscrew the oil refilling cap/dip-stick.
• Clean the dipstick and reinsert it, without screwing it in.
• Remove it again, and check the oil level.

Both my GRiSO and and my EV will puke oil "somewhere" until they are happy and in the case of the GRiSO it's right on that side.  Usually happy is about halfway between the full and low marks on the stick.

Thanks again for all the help. I looked and removed the wing and the area near the picture shown by beetle seems to be clean and dry. I suspect it is coming from the valve lower as shown in the picture below. The rubber looks fine but it came off the ‘valve’ so I replaced the clamp. There is a ‘bored ‘ screw with 2 small flat o rings and i wonder if the o rings need to be replaced. The leak is till there but less but I am sure there will be more leak with longer rides. Does anyone know what this ‘valve’ is called? I could not find it in the service manual (2010 is the latest I could find) nor do i see it in the Parts Fisch. It does not appear to be losing oil that much since the oil alarm is not coming on.

I plan to check the oil level again to make sure that it was not overfilled.

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If oil is coming out of there there is something severely wrong with your bike. I think noe. That is simply the manifold port that is used foot balancing the throttlebodies and driving the evaporative canister. Unless the engine were grossly over filled with oil and the banjo bolt were loose, (In which case it would affect the running of the bike.) it can't really be leaking from there.

Is there a reason you unbolted the injector hose?

From here it's probably going to be a tank off job to find the source of the leak. Could be coolant circuit banjo being loose, incorrectly installed rocker cover gasket, leaky plug tube o-ring, oil pressure sender switch, there are a host of possibilities but whatever it is it's a substantial leak.

Thanks a lot Pete. I was just trying to pull on things that could be loose in the area of the leak. This one pulled without that much effort so I thought I’d replace the clamp.

Well, from what you said, looks like I better have the professionals deal with it. I rode it again today to work, around 7 miles and it still seems to run fine. Still with oil weeping in that area only when in motion and not when parked or idling. I wonder if i should let it idle in the upright position and not on the sidestand and see if I can locate the leak better? I will try that when i get home. Thanks again.

Have you checked the space beetween the cooling ribs from the cylinder - if there is a split or a little hole?

After 10.000 km , my GRiSO had a "lunker" in german, a little hole beetween the cooling ribs on the right cylinder. Oil was leaking. It was a material fault and i got a new cylinder from Moto Guzzi (Warranty).

Thanks Dilip. I checked the dipstick and it is above the second notch so I think it is slightly overfilled. Tried to drain a bit of oil and removed a drain plug in front which turns out not to be a drain plug (thanks to the YouTube video that showed the drain plug in front - might be an older model GRiSO). There is a bit of oil that came out from that anterior drain plug. Turns out that the drain plug was lower and posterior so got out a bit. Cleaned it again and rode a bit. There is still an oil leak.

Thanks a lot Big Time. I checked and could not see a split or a whole. Thanks Pete and beetle and everyone who offered advise. I think I was focusing on the wrong part. When I looked at it again, it looks like it is coming from the most inferior screw of the “intake” . Sorry I do not know name of the parts yet. I think that it leaks there and spreads into the fin or gill - only 2 smeared with oil - and with motion, the air projects the oil posteriorly. I hope this is the correct diagnosis. Will see. Looks like a gasket. I hope this is not a big job. And I hope the GRiSO is a forgiving bike of newbie mistakes.

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Unless you have a porous head which is very unlikely it isn't going to be coming from there. The manifold bolt holes are blind holes and don't go near anywhere where there is oil.

At the moment you are simply poking around in the dark. The leak is substantial and although it looks worse than it is there is a quite serious leak from somewhere and you need to pinpoint it rather than just guessing and hoping. At this point you need to take the tank off. You can see that the oil is running down the fins from the side of the cylinder head closest to the centerline of the bike. There are several leak points in there and you need to establish which one is the source.

Removing the tank isn't a huge job but you need to remove the battery and it's rubber tray first and disconnect the electrical plug for the fuel pump/ level sender and the sometimes troublesome 'Quick Disconnect' on the fuel line to the pump. For a novice I would strongly advise getting a friend to assist and I hope your fuel tank isn't full as this Weill make it much more difficult due to weight. Remove the 'Wings' first and then the tank and all will be revealed. A leak of that magnitude should have a source easy to spot.

On your oil level? Never run it higher than half way between the 'Add' and 'Full' marks on the stick. Any higher and it will simply pump it out into the airbox.

If you have difficulties with any of this ASK before going any further. You don't have to use undue force on anything. If you do you will break something.

Good luck with the oil leak mate. Re oil levels, the manual says 3.5l of engine oil but I find that something nearer to 3.0l works better, otherwise you will find a lot of it going into your breather box.