What did you do with your GRiSO today?

I do like that yellow.....

Earlier in the month before NZ moved to more restrictions with impending virus problems.  A rally was held, and today I completed and published a video of that time to the Tube  

always enjoy your videos!
glad you are recovering from your spill and can continue to enjoy motorcycling

cheers

The yellow does look good.

Clutch fluid replacement today. It looked like the crap had been in there since 2011, with nasty black sludge in the reservoir. Note to self: Don’t let the freakin reservior run dry while you’re trying to pump the new fluid through.

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That sludge be best pleased to be out of your bike.

I took a wee ride out with impending rain.. got caught in it and it was mighty refreshing
Got home and doing a tinker, found the boot split on the swing arm. Reading some stuff, i might be best get some bearings, a new boot, and possibly a special tool to sort the problem.  
Any experience tips here?

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No need to panic. Any water can't get into the bevelbox as it is sealed at the front.

What will happen is dirt and grit will get into the swingarm and moisture won't be good for the splines of the output shaft, pinion and driveshaft yokes.

You'll have to pull the swingarm to replace the boot. Unless they've been done before I'd be surprised if the swingarm and linkage bearings aren't shot to shit.

Never been touched in 174k sir. I will get a new boot and replace bearings in one hit. Done a temp seal of the boot. (,got a 3k ride next weekend). And look at what I need to complete the job prior.

What you will need is the swingarm bearings, seals, a boot, probably a shock double conrod, (As long as your wishbone isn't cracked you should be able to re-bearing it for less cost than replacement as it only has two bearings, seals and a pin.) and maybe a few linkage mounting bolts. If the bearings in the double con rod are shot it's cheaper to just buy another one.

The biggest bastard is getting the outer bearing races out of the frame. Persistence and brute force will out!

If you can't find the bearings, seals or con rod locally we have both in stock, as well as the boot and probably the required bolts. I'm not certain but I also think we have a good second hand wishbone in stock.

Brake fluid for today[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Well I farewelled the 'GRiSO Tourismo' off to Townsville in Peter's trailer with my bike loader in it.

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It'll be registered up there in Peter's name and I'll ride it back down here later in the year.

Next job? Prep my van for sale!

I got in about 200 miles of riding today, checking out v2 of the foam build for the saddle and the new windscreen. The front part of the saddle passed the test and I’ll be taking my gal out for a pillion ride tomorrow to see if her portion is satisfactory. The windscreen was remarkably stable and smooth, even at shall we say “extra-legal” speeds.


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Today, I shall be checking it for damage after yesterday's storm, which managed to dump my roof on the car and destroy that.

Edit: just one tiny chip on the engine. Now, all I need is a heat resistant satin black touch up pen.

Sunday ride out to the Taralga Hotel for lunch with Maca and Bill, a Harley riding mate from work.

Went out via Gundaroo - Gunning - Crookwell - Laggan - Taralga.
Returned Taralga - Goulburn - Tarago - Bungendore.

From Bungendore we each took our own ways home.

Great riding, cold beers, tasty burgers, good company.

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Yesterday I went for a ride/coffee to Gular. Fun was had, was accompanied by a Kwaka Vulcan. Speed was seen, weather was great.

Next time you guys are up here, we should visit Armatree Hotel. 3 Km off the highway just south of Gular. You can even camp there if needed. Now, we might need to create a need...

There's always a need.......

The Taralga ride is a beauty.

At the weekend I dismantled the GRiSO a little, Today I had some parts taken to the shop to get sorted.
The Swingarm removed, bearings will be replaced, as will the top end of the driveshaft, as the Universal Joint is still, prob due to the cracked boot and moisture causing damage. Will look over the rest of the components and see what needs work.  Unsure how to get the inner races of the bearings out for the swingarm, prob going to have to go in with a more solid bash, cause with a moderate bash, nothing budged.
Had to be a little inventive to get some parts separated and out.[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

A couple more pics from the task. [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Mate your multigrip looks as though it needs a bit of TLC!

Well done so far Ghost bullet

Useful string on swing arm removal here [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Removing inner races can require excessive force very accurately positioned - there are 2 opposite cut outs in the boss the race presses against - a slim cold chisel can slip in one side then the other until the little sod moves

It is going to be heroic to re-install the asymetric swing arm with the weight of the bevel box on it at the same time as aligning the drive shaft end. Strongly recommend you split off the bevel box. locate the shaft first, slip the swing arm over it and leave the bevel box till it is all solid.

Big allen key socket will help with reinstalling the swing arm as getting the pivot to start on the screw in the left hand casting with ine hand whilst keeping the whole casting level with the other can be amusing.

I believe the same allen key socket works on the steering head.

Thanks for your advice, appreciated.
I'll come to this forum should I have drama looking for answers

Thanks for your advice, appreciated.
I'll come to this forum should I have drama looking for answers

lcjohnny wrote:

Well done so far Ghost bullet

Useful string on swing arm removal here [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Removing inner races can require excessive force very accurately positioned - there are 2 opposite cut outs in the boss the race presses against - a slim cold chisel can slip in one side then the other until the little sod moves

It is going to be heroic to re-install the asymetric swing arm with the weight of the bevel box on it at the same time as aligning the drive shaft end. Strongly recommend you split off the bevel box. locate the shaft first, slip the swing arm over it and leave the bevel box till it is all solid.

Big allen key socket will help with reinstalling the swing arm as getting the pivot to start on the screw in the left hand casting with ine hand whilst keeping the whole casting level with the other can be amusing.

I believe the same allen key socket works on the steering head.

If the bevelbox is left attached to the swingarm when it is removed from the bike the shaft will remain attached to the output shaft of the gearbox. It is to all intents and purposes impossible to reinstall the swingarm onto the frame without removing the bevelbox.

I suppose in theory, really wild/why the hell would you even bother trying theory, it might be possible to remove the shaft from the gearbox and spend hours trying to dangle the shaft down the swingarm and get the back yoke to slip onto the pinion splines and then struggle to offer the whole thing up and get the front yoke splines to slip onto the output Sahara and further to that snap the shaft forward over the retaining circlip before finally inserting the spindle.

What I can guarantee you is that this would be weepingly frustrating and would take hours and hours and result in not just frustration but physical exhaustion from trying to juggle huge, inconveniently shaped, heavy assemblies that were never meant to be removed or replaced in such a way.

Far, far easier is just undo the four bolts that hold the bevelbox to the swingarm. The box can be removed and then the swingarm simply slipped down over the shaft and put to one side. The shaft can be popped off either with a rap with a hammer on the front yoke or leverage with a tyre lever or podge bar.

Reassembly after the bearings have been serviced is a simple reverse of disassembly and requires no Herculean strength or strange slight of hand.

Providing the races come out of the frame OK, (It depends on how rusted in they are and there is a 'Knack' to getting them out.) we can turn over bearing replacement and linkage greasing in an hour and a half. Frigging around with trying to keep the bevelbox attached would add hours to the job if we were stupid enough to try it. Just forget it. It's a truly dumb idea. Removing the bevelbox from the swingarm is also a lot easier with the swingarm in the bike than it would be struggling with it on the floor or bench.

As with most things Guzzi. Just approach it methodically and remember if you seem to be using too much force? You've missed something! Stop and check your work.

" It is to all intents and purposes impossible to reinstall the swingarm onto the frame without removing the bevelbox."

Sure, NOW you tell me...

I took the swingarm off with the bevelbox attached because it was glued on and yanking and banging got me nowhere.

I just set the whole thing aside and did the bearings and shock greasing. After doing the needful I came back to reassembly when: "...and result in not just frustration but physical exhaustion from trying to juggle huge, inconveniently shaped, heavy assemblies..."

Eventually, the light came on and I took the swingarm to the workbench where it was easily separated by a little force at a right angle.