GRiSO tourer complete

When I bought my 2007 1200 8v GRiSO and rode it 650 klm home.
On start up after fueling until I got moving the bike was running on one cylinder
and at the last stop (10 klm from home) she wouldn't start and had blown a fuse.

I contacted Pete regarding starting on one cylinder, he advised replacing the plug caps which are prone to failure.
A cheap and easy upgrade and well worth doing.

On getting home and into the bike, as expected the roller conversion was not installed. Again Pete came to the rescue, sourcing the conversion from Europe during the first lockdown.

When installing the conversion as I came to grind in the valves it turned out both inlet valves
on the left cylinder were bent. They would seal in one position and that was probably the reason for starting one one cylinder.
Once more Pete to the rescue.

Once the motor was together it was time to start the customizing to get the bike the way I wanted.
Things I didn't like were the bent bit of wire on the kickstand, the left hand handle bar switch, the speedo/rev counter, the "in your face" silver muffler.
I knew before I bought a GRiSO that I would want to carbon fibre wrap the exposed frame rails.
The original livery was black tank with silver frame.

With black carbon wrapped frame rails I would need a contrasting colour for the tank etc I chose British paints Indian red.
I took the sample colour card to Resene and got them to match the colour in a 2 pack durepox.
After painting I did  final coats in 2 pack clearcoat. It worked out really well.

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I replaced the bent bit of wire with a neat stainless steel tang on the kickstand and the left hand switch with a conventional arrangement.
I painted the muffler satin black and shimmed it 19mm inboard which changed the look and was the start of complete satin black exhaust
and trim which really goes well with the look of the bike.

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Since I was building a touring bike I fabricated a rear rack and bought panniers and a matching bag to go on the rack.
The limited range would be a problem on long distance trips.
I've gone for a 6 ltr desert fox fuel bladder. It folds up when not being used and can be
strapped on top of the back luggage meaning it's not on the side which would be a problem in a spill.

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I fabricated a carbon fibre screen and instrument cluster. I've used an Acewell speedo / rev counter and a Garmin 396 GPS which have worked out well. Although it is feasible to run without the original speedo connected I cut down the seat to a single seat and fabricated a tail tidy.
Currently I have the original unit stashed there which allows for configuring settings. Since the bike is running really well I will leave it there.

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Beetle was hugely helpful with the new map and advice. The bike runs excellently.
Kiwi Roy was really helpful in advising how to beef up the starting circuitry.
I added heavy duty cables to the starter and earthing back to the battery and use the original trigger circuit to the solenoid
to power a relay from the battery to the solenoid.

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The bike is real head turner and runs and rides really well. Thanks for all the help and advice.  Evans

It is indeed a handsome GRiSO.

While I too find your dislike of the original instrument binacle a bit odd it's your bike and you have tackled the issue sensibly and to your satisfaction so

I think that keeping the original dash is probably necessary as there is a air pressure sensor in there which I imagine would be vital for the ECU to be able to use.

Now, get out there and enjoy it!

Evans,

Impressive work.

I think you mentioned before that fabricating bodywork was your trade & what you've done looks professional.

Any chance you could post a tutorial on how you made the instrument binnacle , tail cover or wrapped the frame rails?

Interested of Ohio

I have the mould for the screen and can make a black fibreglass blank if anyone wanted one
It would be up to them to carry on from there.

The rest is flat panel taped to join on the back filled and faired with body filler
then painted black carbon wrapped and clearcoated.
You can buy flat G10 fibreglass sheet or make your own on a flat surface.

The tail tidy involved taking a mould from the seat before I cut it down.
Then using that mould to make the part.

Doing carbon fibre wraps is not expensive in materials just takes time.
It's not hard but obviously would involve some experimentation before getting on to the final products.

This that I put on the Tenere forum gives a good idea of the process

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Other options for wrapping are vinyl or hydro dipping either using carbon or other designs.

It's the making of the mould part that is baffling to me. I suspect I could get it close, but symmetrical, maybe not. A smooth surface without ripples suitable for clearcoat, sortof.

I've never made anything with fiberglass so it's all intriguing

I'll check out the link.

Happy to advise once you get an idea of what you want to achieve and how you will go about it

That is a good-looking GRiSO. I think the black headers look great, although I am somewhat attached to my "auburn" copper shine pipes. I also like the carbon fibre wrap of the frame rails. If I ever save up enough spare cash (yeah, right) for a full body repaint and will take the bike apart anyway, I may go that route as well.

Hi Evans,
short comment from Austria (don;t mix up with Australia as the US guys do) to your one cylinder GRiSO:

I had a problem similar to yours by end of September this year.
also after the gas station the GRiSO (1200 8V MY 2015) was running only on the left cylinder.
I then drove the last 5 km to home at slow speed. In between, the right cylinder kept igniting for a short time sometimes.

When I got home, I removed the ignition caps and saw that the spark on the right cylinder jumped sideways onto my head.
I then bought new ignition cables and fitted them to both cylinders.

Then i decided to check the spark plug and then pulled the plug from the right spark plug again.

And that was a good thing, because to my great surprise the ceramic upper part of the candle (NGK Iridium) was in the spark plug connector.
So it wasn't a fault on the ignition cable, but the spark jumped over sideways through the insulation and not at the electrodes.

The problem arose because I tightened the spark plug with a torque of 30Nm (as specified by Guzzi) instead of 12Nm (as specified by NGK).

A secondary effect by riding home only on one cylinder was, that the right cylinder was still injecting fuel, but not burning. As a result, the unburned fuel was transported to the catalytic coverter and burned there on the hot part.
Thus, I removed the exhaust muffler to check the catalyst.

The metal substrate of the catalytic converter was a single molten lump that dramatically increased drag and throttled the engine at higher loads and speeds.

I purchased now a new Termignoni exhaust, which is still waiting to be mounted to the GRiSO.
Unfortunately Austria is in winter, temps below 0 degC. Have to wait until February to get it done.

Best reagrds and a Happy New Year from Il GRiSO!
PS: and dont bike on one cylider as teh GRiSO is a V2!

Evans,

That is a superb job you've done and you now have a very fine looking GRiSO indeed. I love the carbon fiberised frame.

Well done!

Todd