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California 1400 hanging throttle

guzziken

Just got it firing!
Joined
Jun 18, 2015
Messages
5
Location
usa
I have a 2014 Cali Custom. I am in my third month of ownership and just turned over 5,000 miles. It is my daily transportation and recreation. The bike has been fantastic for the most part. When it gets hot the throttle will hang up around 3,000 rpm. I can blip the throttle and that allows it to idle normally. Initially it only happened when using compression braking but now pretty much anytime I'm over 3k in traffic it can have an onset. The dealer has cleaned the tthrottle body and then replaced it under warranty with no change in the problem. They have also fiddled with the cables but nothing has helped. Guzzi USA is stumped. My ownership experience is not what I had hoped. I seem to be the only Cali owner with the problem. Any ideas?
 
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I was wondering about that. False air was a problem on an old Alfa Romeo I owned years ago and a bugger to locate.
 
Sorry to state the obvious.
The fact that this is not a common issue says to me that there is something not right with your bike that your dealer is not able to find. Perhaps you need to take it to a better dealer. The quality of the Guzzi ownership experience can often depend on the quality of the Guzzi dealer.
Get a dealer that can fix your issue and you will be much happier.
I am pretty sure that bike uses ride by wire. The bike controls the throttle.
 
Sorry to state the obvious.
The fact that this is not a common issue says to me that there is something not right with your bike that your dealer is not able to find. Perhaps you need to take it to a better dealer. The quality of the Guzzi ownership experience can often depend on the quality of the Guzzi dealer.
Get a dealer that can fix your issue and you will be much happier.
I am pretty sure that bike uses ride by wire. The bike controls the throttle.

Yes it's RbW. I have a great dealer and they have been working with the tech people at Guzzi USA. There is no other 1400 owner having the problem apparently. I posted here hoping someone had. It may save some time. It's all warranty stuff so no cost to me other than time.
Diagnostics didn't point to any codes being tripped so I agree it is a unique problem. The Cali brain is derived from the Aprilia RS4 so I went to the Aprilia forum hoping for a lead with no joy.
USA tech and my dealer are working on a solution. I can post the results here once I know what it is. if someone else had the problem I'd already have it fixed and wouldn't be as frustrated knowing I got the "special" 1400. : )
Thanks for your input.
 
With a Ride by Wire set up the ECU controls the throttle.
If the throttle is not doing what it is supposed to do one basic step in troubleshooting a throttle not doing what it is supposed to do would be to replace the part that controls the throttle. That part would be the ECU.
If the dealer does not know what is causing the issue a simple method to trouble shoot it would be to swap parts with a known good bike, perhaps their demo. That process should result in finding the part causing the issue. After the bad part is identified we can then figure out why it caused the symptoms. It is nice to figure out an issue like this and know the hows and whys first, but sometimes you need to work from a different angle for the sake of time.
I am glad you have faith in your dealer, they are the ones who are going to make or break your Guzzi ownership experience.
Good luck.
 
With a Ride by Wire set up the ECU controls the throttle.
If the throttle is not doing what it is supposed to do one basic step in troubleshooting a throttle not doing what it is supposed to do would be to replace the part that controls the throttle. That part would be the ECU.
If the dealer does not know what is causing the issue a simple method to trouble shoot it would be to swap parts with a known good bike, perhaps their demo. That process should result in finding the part causing the issue. After the bad part is identified we can then figure out why it caused the symptoms. It is nice to figure out an issue like this and know the hows and whys first, but sometimes you need to work from a different angle for the sake of time.
I am glad you have faith in your dealer, they are the ones who are going to make or break your Guzzi ownership experience.
Good luck.
If I may, this machine was PADS diagnosed with a throttle opening that was not called for by the throttle command position sensor, they deviated by 1.9 degrees from one another. This is the reason the throttle body was thought to be sticking and was replaced. Now the challenge is to figure out why the new throttle body is still giving us the hanging throttle problem, MAP sensor? Ignition sensor? These are viable options that will be investigated. Italy has been advised and everything in our power will be called into action to diagnose and fix this bike to the customers satisfaction. In our shop, we typically don't remove parts and replace them willy nilly with other parts without some proper diagnosis to try and fix the problem. Diagnosis is the key, The bike is trying to tell us something, we just need to figure out what that is, and we will I assure you. Thanks for listening, cheers
 
Diagnosis is the key,
I am glad it is not my bike you have.
"Key" is resolving the issue quickly so that the customer is not sitting there wondering why he bought this motorcycle.
I agree, being able to diagnose the problem correctly is the best option. But being able to recognize when that is not happening and moving to a plan B like swapping known good parts until the issue is resolved would go a long way towards the real "key" of resolving the issue quickly. It is not always the cheapest way to go, and it should not be plan A. But sometimes you can't actually figure out the explanation of the problem until you have more information like identifying which part is actually causing the issue.
Tools like PADS are great tools. But if that is your only tool you are using things may not always go well. Tools like PADS can mislead you sometimes.
 
guzziken, the important thing here that seems to be forgotten is the safety issue.
Explain to your dealer that if the throttle stays open at the wrong time someone could be hurt or worse, not to mention the legal ramifications that could ensue.
It could be a recall issue if enough folks are seeing this. As it stands now it appears its only happening to your c1400 so its safe to assume its a one-time occurance. That does not make it any less important to get it resolved quickly by your dealer.
Swapping parts is a good idea but might be frowned upon by MG, in my line of work we can't swap out parts to troubleshoot because of legal and ISO standards.
 
For the record, I've seen about a half dozen here that have this issue. Tends to happen when the motor is quite hot, more so then anything else I've noticed. Can those with the issue say the same?
 
With a Ride by Wire set up the ECU controls the throttle.
If the throttle is not doing what it is supposed to do one basic step in troubleshooting a not doing what it is supposed to do would be to replace the part that controls the throttle. That part would be the ECU.
If the dealer does not know what is causing the issue a simple method to trouble shoot it would be to swap parts with a known good bike, perhaps their demo. That process should result in finding the part causing the issue. After the bad part is identified we can then figure out why it caused the symptoms. It is nice to figure out an issue like this and know the hows and whys first, but sometimes you need to work from a different angle for the sake of time.
I am glad you have faith in your dealer, they are the ones who are going to make or break your Guzzi ownership experience.
Good luck.
I am glad it is not my bike you have.
"Key" is resolving the issue quickly so that the customer is not sitting there wondering why he bought this motorcycle.
I agree, being able to diagnose the problem correctly is the best option. But being able to recognize when that is not happening and moving to a plan B like swapping known good parts until the issue is resolved would go a long way towards the real "key" of resolving the issue quickly. It is not always the cheapest way to go, and it should not be plan A. But sometimes you can't actually figure out the explanation of the problem until you have more information like identifying which part is actually causing the issue.
Tools like PADS are great tools. But if that is your only tool you are using things may not always go well. Tools like PADS can mislead you sometimes.
I'm siding with my dealer on this one. I've worked on my own Italian and German cars for about 40 years. That included engine rebuilds, clutches, valve adjustments, tune ups, fuel pumps, etc. I've rebuilt Weber and Zenith carbs. The only computer car Ii had had issues and none of them were the ECU. Not saying its not a possibility but diagnostics, as my,dealer stated is the key. The only way swapping out the ECU is going to save any time is if that turns out to be the issue. Otherwise we've got two bikes apart for a couple of hours with nothing to go on but a "gee it could be the ECU." That doesn't work for me and is one of many reasons I chose my dealer. I don't want a Dr. doing exploratory surgery on a guess either. Its not the way I worked on my cars over the years. I learned a lot from old school technicians who diagnosed and then acted. Sure sometimes things didn't work but the reasoning was sound and led to a proper fix. Yes, the ECU could be the culprit but it needs good information from sensors, etc. to do its job properly. This baby is going to be fixed and fixed correctly. I give my dealer credit for not wasting time and moneyon hunches. I'm not trying to be offensive. That's just the way I prefer things done.

Someone mentioned the saftety issue. I have a clutch and brakes. I don't put myself in situations where if I have the issue it impinges on my safety or those around me. Its annoying and dilutes the overall experience.
Another contributor metioned seeing this issue on hot bikes. As this is my daily driver it does get hot in gridlock traffic at times. Most California 1400 owners probably don't use their bikes that way. Maybe it is a more widespread issue than just me and a proper fix will help other Cali owners going forward. Thanks
 
If you are fine with the dealer taking their time to resolve this, fine. I was under the impression from your first post that you were tired of this taking so long.
If you think everything is going as it should, I can't see it from my house.

And, if they swapped ECU's and it did not resolve the issue, you would actually be further along than you were before they tried it. You would have something to show for it, you would know that it is not the ECU. Then you could focus on other issues.
While swapping out parts should not be plan A, when plan does not work sometimes swapping out parts is how you find out what is wrong. The cost of swapping ecu's is minor, but as I said,I can't see it from my house.
 
GuzziMoto post: 108027 said:
If you are fine with the dealer taking their time to resolve this, fine. I was under the impression from your first post that you were tired of this taking so long.
If you think everything is going as it should, I can't see it from my house.

And, if they swapped ECU's and it did not resolve the issue, you would actually be further along than you were before they tried it. You would have something to show for it, you would know that it is not the ECU. Then you could focus on other issues.
While swapping out parts should not be plan A, when plan does not work sometimes swapping out parts is how you find out what is wrong. The cost of swapping ecu's is minor, but as I said,I can't see it from my house.
I'm not happy It's taking time. It's an annoying issue. If I have a beef I'd like Italy to get on it asap so my dealer can move forward. Italians have a different concept of time. Considering they build some of the fastest, most passionate and soulful vehicles in the world I always found that ironic.
Thanks
 
For the record, I've seen about a half dozen here that have this issue. Tends to happen when the motor is quite hot, more so then anything else I've noticed. Can those with the issue say the same?

I saw a funny throttle issue last week and I was caught in a hell of a traffic jam and my bike was HOT. I haven't ridden it since last week so I can't say if Its still an ongoing thing with my bike, but I do plan to ride it tomorrow to see. My throttle wasn't stuck open but i did notice once releasing the throttle to the "off" or neutral position it took a few extra seconds to idle back to the usual idle point of 1-1100 RPM. I don't understand why heat would affect this as I got caught in a ton of traffic this summer with this bike and I really didn't notice this issue in the heart of the summer and now I'm seeing it.
 
I've noticed the same thing as well when stuck in traffic for a while with little bits of forward movement, ie stop and go a few feet, repeat. When I finally was able to get past that and ride the bike at normal speed, it'd idle high at the next light. Odd for sure.
 
mine too..i used the clutch to bring the speed down.......
I will bring it to the dealer...hopefully an ECU update will fix it.
I haven't looked yet to see if there is a TPS(throttle position sensor) in the service manual but it is under warranty.

btw: otherwise nearly 6k trouble free miles of enjoyment.
 
Saw some issues again last night. Takes a bit to step down after coming to a stop. I don't remember the bike doing this when it was brand new, hope someone finds a cure soon, I'd like to hope this will correct itself but what are the chances?
 
You all may want to check the micro-switch on the clutch lever (located under the lever). I found that when I broke mine, the idle would only go to normal at a stop when I was in neutral. If I just pulled in the clutch lever, the idle stayed around 1500RPM.

After replacing the switch, all is normal.

I am not suggesting that you replace your clutch switches, but it does mount with slotted holes which implies adjustment. Maybe the clutch switch has moved back far enough that it is not being fully made when you pull in the clutch lever.

Hey, adjustment is free and maybe it will make a difference!
 
You all may want to check the micro-switch on the clutch lever (located under the lever). I found that when I broke mine, the idle would only go to normal at a stop when I was in neutral. If I just pulled in the clutch lever, the idle stayed around 1500RPM.

After replacing the switch, all is normal.

I am not suggesting that you replace your clutch switches, but it does mount with slotted holes which implies adjustment. Maybe the clutch switch has moved back far enough that it is not being fully made when you pull in the clutch lever.

Hey, adjustment is free and maybe it will make a difference!
All tips and suggestions should be welcome here. A shame if it is this switch as all our bikes are pretty much still new. I'm out of warranty and my bike just hit 3500 miles.
 
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